Category Archives: Diet And Food

FODILICIOUS was set up last year by Lauren Leisk after she tried the low fodmap diet to treat her irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). She spotted a gap in the market for convenience foods for people with digestive issues and allergies. The business supplies ready meals and snacks to Apex Hotels in Edinburgh as well as a number of wholesalers.

Age: 25

Position: Founder

WHAT IS THE BUSINESS CALLED?

Fodilicious

WHERE IS IT BASED?

Livingston

WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?

I HAVE suffered from IBS from a young age. I tried gluten-free and dairy-free diets but nothing worked. I found the low fodmap diet that cuts out trigger foods like onions, garlic, gluten and dairy. My mum helped me cook all the meals. I had lots of success with it and noticed a gap in the market for low fodmap food. The current products lack taste and quality and I wanted to make products that dont compromise on taste. I set it up when I graduated from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh with a first-class business degree. Entrepreneurship was a big part of university so setting up my own business was always something I was really interested in. The business is run by myself and my mum. Shes very supportive. We started trading in 2018 with home delivery ready meals. The cookie buttons launched in June this year. The Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation helped us develop it at Queen Margaret University.

WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?

I TRIED to create tasty products that are suitable for IBS. Were gluten-free certified by Coeliac UK which is a huge selling point. We also target the health market as the products are low calorie and low sugar too. We have already been approached by retailers across the UK. We are the only UK brand providing low fodmap snacks. Feedback has been fantastic from vegans, people with allergies and IBS. I think people are becoming more aware of dietary requirements because intolerances and allergies are rising by 15% year on year [according to Allergy UK]. We have been chosen out of hundreds as a future UK brand at Food Matters Live held at London ExCeL.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?

WE are a first in the UK for low fodmap products as most free from businesses only cater to the gluten-free market. We use premium ingredients that are all natural. The mission is to make tasty products that cater to a range of diets. The first customer for our cookie buttons is Apex Hotels. They like it because it caters to so many diets in one product.

IS SCOTLAND A GOOD PLACE FOR THIS TYPE OF BUSINESS?

WEVE had huge support in Scotland. We won The Royal Society of Edinburghs Unlocking Ambition Enterprise Fellowship programme and won the Scottish Edge award in June. Weve been really successful. The support network in Scotland is second to none. I would recommend setting up a business in Scotland to anyone, especially because of what the Scottish Government does.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?

SINCE I have IBS myself it is really rewarding to work hard to help people out there suffering with it. I can help them and Im really passionate about that.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN RUNNING THE BUSINESS?

RAISING brand awareness. Its a really exciting time as our full range is about to launch.

WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS TIME?

ID love to see it as a UK free from food market leader. I want it to be the go-to brand for low fodmap products. The products are made in an allergen-free site which makes it safe for people to eat. Its very hard to find a factory that does that in Scotland.

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'Free from' firm making life easier for those with digestive problems - The National

Twenty years ago, I wrote my first book about why women cant have it all, or at least all at once, despite what the culture tells them. (Hint: Its because no one, male or female, can perform two full-time jobs simultaneously without the bottom falling out.)

At the time, the so-called Mommy Wars were raging. Women everywhere whod been sold a bill of goods by their feminist mothers and mentors were either lamenting the futility of being able to successfully work full-time outside the home while maintaining a healthy marriage and family life, or they were defending their choice to work full-time by insisting children do fine in round-the-clock substitute care.

Since then, the messages to women about how to have a happy lifeas it relates to love and sex, work and familyhave merely served to make women miserable. Not only are they unhappier than their mothers and grandmothers ever were, theyre significantly more stressed out; much more so than men.

None of this has done anything to help men and women find their way to one another. Dating in America is all but dead, and marriage is at an all-time low. While theres more than one reason for this sad state of affairs, at the heart of it are the lies feminists have been telling for years. Here are four, in no particular order.

It started with a seemingly comical phrase Gloria Steinem didnt coin but repeatedly used during the height of the 1960s feminist movement: A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle. Its still alive and well today, whether its Jennifer Aniston talking about how women dont have to fiddle with a man to have that child or Emma Watson talking about self-partnering. Over time, as women began to make their own money and take advantage of the newfound birth control pill, they came to believe that women dont need men.

They were wrong. Biologically, women are wired to depend on menregardless of much life has changed. Most women still want to be mothers, and when they do they become vulnerable. Even today, women know instinctively that they will ultimately need a man if they want to have a family and if they want the option of being home at all, if only for a period of time.

Indeed, research shows that what matters most to womeneven to those who are economically independentis knowing they have a man on whom they can rely. Its the feeling of being safe and in good handsyes, even financiallythat matters most. That is whats known as hypergamy, and it is alive and well in 2019.

The precise moment in history when the relationship between the sexes took a nosedive is when women began to have sex like a mancasually, with no strings attachedunder the guise that women are no different from men and are thus just as capable of having casual sex. Consider this ridiculous Bustle article asserting, based on a dubious study, that men and women are now equally likely to pursue a hookup if approached the right way.

From college campuses to our nations boardrooms, many women today have learned to pursue sex the way men often do: no commitment necessary. And theyre getting burned.

If theres anything that proves this in spades, its the so-called campus rape crisis and the excesses of Me Too. For if it were true that women are just like men in their ability to disentangle sex and emotion, why would campus flings and office dalliances become a cause for the courts rather than a welcome ride?

Its not just our sexuality that confirms the disparate natures of women and men. Parenting proves it in spades. Once a baby arrives, a womans nurturing gene almost always kicks in. Providing for her child emotionally is her first instinct, which is why going back to work so soon is heart-wrenching for mothers.

A fathers reaction is different: his first instinct is to support the family financially. It is not his sole contribution, but its first on his list. Simply put, that men and women may both becapableof performing identical tasks doesnt mean they want to do them with equal fervor. Desire matters.

The biological clock may be politically inconvenient, but that doesnt make it any less real. The ideal age for a woman to get pregnant is 25, noted Gillian Lockwood, medical director at the Midland Fertility Clinic in the U.K., recently: The bleak reality is that the chance of IVF working with your own eggs once you are 40 is absolutely abysmalIn what other branch of medicine would we let, yet alone encourage, patients to pay for an elective operation with a less than five percent chance of working?

Because of this, it stands to reason that men can postpone marriage longer than women can. But we dont tell women this. Instead, we pretend they can map out their lives with career at the center, as men do, as though they wont hit a point in which their ability to conceive will invariably clash with a career. Articles abound with the goal to obscure the biological reality that its easier for women to have babies in their twenties and early thirties.

We lie to women, in other words, to further a political agenda. In doing so, feminists get what they wantfor women to reject maternal desire and to instead produce in the marketplacebut women dont.

Indeed, after decades of following the cultural script, women can often no longer find husbands. Or they cant have babies. Or if they do get married and have babies, they cant stay home with them because they mapped out a life that supported an entirely different goal.

Of all the lies feminists tell, the idea that career success is more fulfilling than marriage and family is by far the greatest. It is almost impossible to convey the depth of this lie, for it too began in the 1960s, this time with Betty Friedans insistence that being a wife and mother is akin to being in a comfortable concentration camp. Since that time, American women have been walloped with a steady diet of words and images that drive Friedans argument home.

Humans are pack animals: we need to feel part of the group to feel good about ourselves. Some of us are content to stand apart from the crowd, but most are not. Ergo, cultural messages matter.

Women are surprised to discover that work isnt nearly as satisfying as they were led to believe.

Since mothering is no longer revered or understood to be something a woman would want to do, let alone should do, women are surprised to discover how heart-wrenching it is to leave their babies and return to work. Theyre surprised to discover that work isnt nearly as satisfying as they were led to believe.

This same sense of unease is felt by single women who cant find a man with whom to settle down. Careers arent fulfilling at all, it turns out, if you wind up in bed at night alone.

Too many women map out their lives with work at the center and eventually wish they hadnt. Sadly, my inbox is loaded with emails from women who tell me they wished someone had told them this sooner.

So, here I am saying it as loudly as I can. Women have been lied to for years, and thats why theyre so unhappy. There is only one solution. Flip your prioritiesput love and family, not work, at the centerand you will win in the game of life. Thats what I did, and it made all the difference.

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4 Feminist Lies That Are Making Women Miserable - The Federalist

Even when Natalie Portman trusts a director's overall vision for a film, she enjoys working with filmmakers who are willing to take the cast's opinions into account. While working on Black Swan, she got the opportunity to help craft the narrative of the film, and Aronofsky even trusted her with revising the conclusion. Portman demonstrated that she understood her character on a deeper level, and she got to leave her mark on the script.

"We had lots of conversations about the script. In fact, she helped completely change the ending of the film," Aronofsky told The Telegraph. "At one stage, it ended with Thomas [Vincent Cassel] calling her his little princess. But Natalie said, 'No, it's got to be about Nina achieving a major victory.'"

Portman appreciated the fact that Aronofsky actually valued her input. As she said, "I'm not exactly rebellious with directors, but I like to work with people who say, 'What do you think?' and are interested in the answer."

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Why Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman were never the same after Black Swan - Looper

The oldest-known living person is Kane Tanaka, a Japanese woman who is a mind-boggling 116 years old. But if you askDavid Sinclair, hed argue that 116 is just middle age. At least, he thinks it should be. Sinclair is one of the leading scientists in the field ofaging, and he believes that growing oldisnt a natural part of lifeits a disease that needs a cure.

Sounds crazy, right? Sinclair, a Harvard professor who made Times list of the100 most influential people in the world in 2014, will acquiesce that everyone has to die at some point, but he argues that we can double our life expectancy and live healthy, active lives right up until the end.

His new book,Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Dont Have To ($28, Atria Books), out this fall, details the cutting-edge science thats taking place in the field of longevity right now. The quick takeaway from this not-so-quick read: scientists are tossing out previous assumptions about aging, and theyve discovered several tools that you can employ right now to slow down, and in some cases, reverse the clock.

In the nineties, as a postdoc in an MIT lab, Sinclair caused a stir in the fieldwhen he discovered the mechanism that leads to aging in yeast, which offered some insight into why humans age. Using his work with yeast as a launching point, Sinclair and his lab colleagues have focused on identifying the mechanism for aging in humansand published a study in 2013 asserting that the malfunction of a family of proteins called sirtuins is the singlecause of aging. Sirtuins are responsible for repairing DNA damage and controlling overall cellular health by keeping cells on task. In other words, sirtuins tell kidney cells to act like kidney cells. If they get overwhelmed, cells start to misbehave, and we see the symptoms of aging, like organ failure or wrinkles. All of the genetic info in our cells is still there as we get older, but our body loses the ability to interpret it. This is because our body starts to run low onNAD, a molecule that activates the sirtuins: we have half as much NAD in our body when were 50 as we do at 20. Without it, the sirtuins cant do their job, and the cells in our body forget what theyre supposed to be doing.

Sinclair splits his time between the U.S.and Australia, running labs at Harvard Medical School and at the University of New South Wales. All of his research seeks to prove thataging is a problem we can solveand figure out how to stop. He argues that we can slow down the aging process, and in some cases even reverse it, by putting our body through healthy stressors that increase NAD levels and promote sirtuin activity.The role of sirtuins in aging is now fairly well accepted, but the idea that we can reactivate them (and how best to do so) is still being worked out.

Getting cold, working out hard, andgoing hungry every once in a whileall engage what Sinclair calls our bodys survival circuit, wherein sirtuins tell cells to boost their defenses in order to keep the organism (you) alive. While Sinclairs survival-circuittheory hasyet to be proven in a trial setting, theres plenty of research to suggest that exercise, cold exposure, and calorie reduction all help slow down the side effects of aging and stave off diseases associated with getting older.Fasting, in particular, has been well supported by other research: in various studies, both mice and yeast that were fed restricted diets live much longer than their well-fed cohorts. A two-year-long human experimentin the 1990s found that participants who had a restricted diet that left them hungry often had decreased blood pressure, blood-sugar levels, and cholesterol levels. Subsequent human studiesfound that decreasing calories by 12 percent slowed down biological aging based on changes in blood biomarkers.

Longevity science is a bit like the Wild West: the rules arent quite established. The research is exciting, but human clinical trials havent found anything definitive just yet.Throughout the field, theres an uncomfortable relationship between privately owned companies, researchers, and even research institutes like Harvard: Sinclair points to a biomarker test by a company called InsideTrackeras proof of his own reduced biological age, but he is also an investor in that company. He is listed as an inventor on a patent held by a NAD booster thats on the market right now, too.

While the dust settles, the bestadvice for the curious to take fromLifespan is to experiment with habitsthat are easy, free,and harmlesslike taking a brisk, cold walk and eating a lighter diet.With cold exposure, Sinclair explains, moderation is the key. He believes that you can reap benefits by simply taking a walk in the winter without a jacket. Hedoesnt prescribe an exact fasting regimenthat works best, but he doesntrecommend anything extremesimply missing a meal here and there, like skipping breakfast and having a late lunch.

Lifespan is a timely book, but its not necessarily an easy read. The science is dense, and even listening to Sinclair explain it on podcasts and during presentations doesnt help cut through all of the nerd speak. But if youre even mildly hopeful about dunking a basketball at the age of 50, or hiking the Appalachian Trail at 70, or blowing 100 candles out on your birthday cake someday, you might consider making room for Lifespan on your bookshelf. Theres enough useful information to make it worth your time.

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This Scientist Believes Aging Is Optional - Outside

There are so many misconceptions one has for the celebrities involving their lifestyle. One such misconception has to be that a celebrity goes through a strict diet with a few or no days for cheat meals.Well, if this is something you had in your mind then the actor, Shaheer Sheikh who is one of the fittest and active actors in the industry will burst your bubble.Shaheer recently took to his Instagram story and shared a picture of his pre-workout food regime and no it didnt have a picture of any fancy diet. He in-fact uploaded a picture of rather tempting Puri-Bhaji and captioned it as #PREWORKOUT. If eating Puri-Bhaji is what will help us in achieving a well-toned body like Shaheer, then his diet regime is definitely worth a try.Shaheer has always been very close and attached to all of his fans. He has always had a presence on social media and has made sure of keeping his fans on track with all of his latest activities.Talking about Shaheers professional life, he is currently seen playing the role of Ahir in the serial Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar Ke opposite Rhea Sharma who portrays the role of his love interest, Mishti.Before Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar Ke, Shaheer was seen in the serial Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi in which he played the role of Dev Dixit opposite Erica Fernandes who played, Sonakshi.

Read more from the original source:
Did you know that Shaheer Sheikh eats Puri-Bhaji before working out? - Times of India

(Source: goodluz/Shutterstock.com)

by Sponsored | November 12, 2019

This article was written by, and released in partnership with, 26-year-old Lithuanian world traveler and blogger Aistis. Better known as ASTraveler, Aistis of writes on the topics of travel, plant-based living, and wellness. You can find his travel blog here.

Headed on a luxury trip to Europe? Gone backpacking? No matter the cost or glam factor of your trip, you may find yourself wondering if you can stay vegan abroad.

Worry not. While there are some countries where it might be a challenge, vegans in Europe can absolutely get their plant-based needs met so long as they plan ahead and, in certain areas of the continent, you may even find yourself spoiled for choice.

What follows are the tips youll need to come prepared and travel Europe in style.

Before you even set out, be sure to do your homework with the help of apps like HappyCow and the Yelp Mobile App.

The HappyCow app will help you to find vegan-friendly restaurants near your accommodation. If you are not staying in a remote part of Europe, you should find a few good options nearby and the reviews shared on the app can help with decision making.

While in some countries, like Monaco for example, youll be met with restaurants boasting seasonal ravioli, pastas, burgers, smoothies, and more. In others, however, you may find options to be more few and far between either way, HappyCow can help you find them.

If you are staying in a secluded part of Europe, you may be able to use Yelp to identify nearby restaurants that are vegan-friendly. From there, you can check out menus online and try to sort out which spots suit your taste. Making a list for each city youll visit is not a bad idea, either. Dont want to end up hangry abroad.

All of that said, for those visiting a super small town or village in some remote part of Europe, it may not be possible to find options in advance. In such situations, its better to visit the restaurant and check what is available so maybe do this before you get hungry.

In some cases, you may be surprised to find some perfectly suitable options, even if they are just fries and salad. However, you can also ask to speak with a chef or staff member and ask if they can make alterations to any of their dishes.

For instance; you may politely ask them to make pizza or pasta without cheese. Youll find many are happy to oblige. You may even suggest that the chef cook a plant-based dish of their choice for you. Doing this in advance can help save you from a drawn out dinner table conversation with or without nonvegan companions.

Most countries in Europe have at least one item theyre known for which can be made vegan. If you are planning for a trip to Switzerland, for example, you can take advantage of some excellent dark chocolate. Also, Brezelkonig is a well-known Swiss chain where you can buy all vegan brezels. You may want to pack some of both for your journey to your next destination.

In Greece, on the other hand, youll find a wide array of vegan options like grilled mushrooms, fried zucchini, and eggplant appear often in the cuisine.

By sorting out the vegan specialties of each country ahead of time, you can help to ensure you have a wonderful trip abroad.

There may also be times when you arent be able to get healthy, nutritious vegan meals during your trip French fries, anyone?

Consider carrying some healthy snacks with you so that you have something to munch on until you find a good vegan restaurant, or in case you dont! I also recommend that you carry an excellent vegan multivitamin alongside your healthy, easy-to-transport snacks. Dried fruits, healthy vegan snack bars, and nuts all make great options.

If you have already booked a hotel or hostel, get in touch with customer care to find out whether its vegan friendly and theres a kitchen on site. This will help you to prepare well in advance and pack appropriately. You may want to bring some ingredients along.

Airbnb, VRBO, and most hostel booking sites have filters that allow you to find accommodation with kitchens, no matter where you go. Couchsurfing can be another great way to find vegan-friendly accommodation as the website includes a filter for vegan hosts. Many are travellers themselves and would be more than happy for you to whip up some vegan options while staying in their home and, if youre really lucky, they may just make something for you! Either way, staying with like-minded people will certainly make your holiday a memorable one but do take precautions to travel safely.

Those looking for super smooth sailing may want to simply plan an itinerary around their diet.

Some of Europes most vegan-friendly cities include Barcelona, Lisbon, London, and Berlin. If you dont want to bend over backward, and want to keep things as simple as possible, these are excellent options but there are many more! Happy Cow can help you sort out which cities make staying vegan abroad a walk in the park.

You can also rest assured knowing the European Union ensures that the food allergens are clearly indicated on all packaged products, a great tool which can help vegans pick suitable snacks! You may even find some restaurants that mention allergens like eggs, fish and dairy on the menu.

While all of these tips can help to ensure you have some of the best vegan meals of your life while exploring Europe, it never hurts to brush up on a few phrases in the local language of countries you visit so dont forget to embrace, enjoy, and have a wonderful time!

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Travelling Europe As A Vegan: Everything You Need To Know - Raise Vegan

I cant remember when I crossed over the line between seeing my pets as animals and seeing my pets as people.

Perhaps it was at my nine-year-old birthday party, when the first guest on my list was Perky, my green and yellow parakeet bestie.

Or maybe it was when, around age 12, my folks convinced me it would be best for our growing collection of water turtles to release them to a local animal sanctuary so they could live a wild life. But then Red, the eldest of the bunch, turned around and tried to follow us back to the car.

I still cry thinking about it.

(tissue break.)

But I suspect it was an older me who first actively, consciously, stepped across that line and didnt look back. Until now.

This is relevant because I grew up feeling very afraid of dogs. Size didnt matter. What mattered was that they all had teeth. And each and every one of them could chomp down on my wrist just like the very first dog I tried to pat at the innocent age of two.

So around the age of 30, worn out after a much more serious bite incident that sent me to urgent care, I started reading about dogs. I wanted to know what everyone else thought was so great about them. I needed to understand, since all I saw was a bunch of drooling, slavering, stark raving lunatics, barking, barking, barking at all hours of the day and night, pooping and peeing absolutely everywhere and basically making my whole life feel like I was always just one bite away from my next bite.

What DID all these people including my own parents see in dogs that compelled nearly every single solitary homo sapiens except myself to own one?

I had to know.

So I started to read. I read about dog behavior. I read about dog psychology. I read about dog health. I read about dog training and dog breeds and dog history. Eventually, thanks in large part to all that reading, I even got a job as a dog blogger.

Slowly but surely, I started to see the wonder and magic in Canis lupus familiaris. I knew the tide had turned when I found myself cuddling a tiny dachshund puppy who is now three years old and lives with my folks. His name is Flash Gordon and I think he loves me most of all.

Flash wants to go where we go and be where we are and eat what we eat and do what we do. When he gets really tired or bored or hungry, he will bark and bark and bark until someone notices and does something about it. He hates being alone and he likes to have both of my parents within eyesight at all time (one parent really isnt good enough).

He acts a lot I mean a LOT like my first nephew did when he was about three years old.

Then the other day I was reading a post from one of my favorite Instagrammers and she made such a good point. She was talking about this exact topic how much animals can seem like little people with fur or feathers or a shell or scales.

They really can except that they arent. They are animals.

It is easier to see this when the animal is truly wild. Take wild cockatiels, for example. I might see a cockatiel in the wild (bucket. list.) and walk right up and stick out my hand assuming the little cutie will readily hop up onto my hand for a neck pat.

Hah.

Id be lucky to even get close enough to see that the bird was a cockatiel before the entire flock was hightailing it up, up and away from the terrifying large featherless two-legged predator.

And this is as it should be.

Now compare that wild cockatiels behavior with the behavior of my 21-year-old, hand-raised, hand-tame pet cockatiel, Pearl.

In Pearls world, everything is his, including me. I am his flock, his mama, his mate, his whole world. If he was a human child a psychologist might say he is insecurely attached to me. He loves my parents so much, but even when we are visiting them and he is safely perched on or near one of them, if I try to leave the room he will scream until I come back.

And here is where it starts to make such sense that animals are people and yet they arent.

The screaming behavior Pearl exhibits might well be abnormal behavior for a healthy young human child. But it is entirely normal for a cockatiel of any age, since cockatiels are a flocking species for whom being alone is basically equal to being lunch.

This is why I dont get frustrated with Pearl when he screams if I break line-of-sight. Instead, I come right back. Or I take him with me in the first place. I cant explain to Pearl that mommy will be right back. He will never understand and this is a protective function in his DNA that I cant and dont want to undo.

And I think this might be what the Instagrammer I mentioned earlier meant by remembering that pets are little people and yet they are not.

Another great example is the case of wild dogs or wolves versus companion canines.

Thanks to science, we dog lovers now know that dogs have literally evolved in such a way as to foster further closeness with people. Dogs facial expressions, maturity rates, social behaviors, dietary needs and certainly their appearance all of it reflects adaptations away from their wild Canis lupus wolf ancestors and towards becoming a species that is ideally equipped to live side-by-side with humans.

Yet our companion canines still have instincts, urges, behaviors and preferences that only make sense when we remind ourselves that they are dogs, not people.

Birds do too.

So do cats.

Horses, goats, chickens and other livestock do as well.

All animals that have lived alongside homo sapiens through the ages have deliberately evolved in ways that support the animal-human connection it is survival of the fittest at its finest.

And actually, this is basically the first period in the evolution of our species that we have lived lives that are so separate and apart from animals! Perhaps this is at the root of the rise of the pet, an animal that has no work in life aside from keeping their person company.

These are the animals that are most commonly mistaken for little people. I do it every day. I even wrote a whole blog post about it.

When I chose to share my life with Pearl nearly 21 years ago, I chose to put his needs on a level with my own. As Anatole France so famously said, You are forever responsible for that which you have tamed.

And I do feel forever responsible. It is a joyful responsibility, yes, but a responsibility nevertheless.

A huge part of that responsibility, to me at least, is to remember that my animals and all animals are not truly little people. They are little (or not so little) animals. They have people-like qualities, which are especially easy to see in the animals that have evolved side by side with my own species for mutual gain.

But they also have animal-like qualities that I will never understand or be able to relate to (if you have ever caught yourself wondering why your dog/cat/bird/turtle seems to relish in eating other animals waste, you already get my point precisely).

There are reasons for these very un-human-like qualities that speak to the survival needs of a species that is not my own. I dont have to allow my animals to eat poop if I can catch them in the act and stop them, that is but I do need to ask myself what may be missing in their diet that could only be met by eating waste if they were in a wild setting.

Then I need to talk to our veterinarian or do some reading or both and remedy the situation as best I can.

It is an ever-finer line, for sure, the one that separates homo sapiens from all the rest. The more we learn, the more we realize how very similar we are, right down to our DNA. And yet we are different, too.

The more I remind myself that my trio, Pearl, Malti and Bruce, are little animals who are part of my interspecies family, the better able I will be to meet their needs in full so we can continue to share our lives together.

With great respect and love,

Shannon

Here is the original post:
Pets Are People.And Yet They Aren't - PsychCentral.com

Research conducted as part of Science Week, which runs from 10-17 November

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Read More: climate change research Science Foundation Ireland Science Week sustainability

Research from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) found that 49% of Irish people find information on climate action confusing and unclear.

As part of the currently ongoing Science Week 2019, SFI commissioned iReach Insights to investigate the Irish publics understanding and awareness of climate change. It identified what the public are willing to do to make a positive climate impact and what they understand to be the biggest changes they can make as individuals. This research aligns with the central theme of this years Science Week: climate action.

The vast majority (86%) of participants studied agreed that climate change is mostly due to human activity. This belief is most common among younger participants, in fact 91% of 18-34-year-olds agreed with the statement. Plus, 88% agreed that the earth is getting warmer as a result of climate change.

In terms of making a personal impact, 74% of respondents said they would be willing to use reusable drinking bottles, coffee cups or shopping bags, while 73% could commit to reducing their food waste. While 36% would reduce their meat consumption, 10% would eat a plant-based diet to make a positive environmental contribution.

Respondents believe they can make the biggest personal impact by using energy efficient products in their home (55%); using reusable drink containers or shopping bags (49%); and by cycling, walking or using public transport more (49%).

Science Week 2019 is already in full bloom, having kicked off on 10 November. Hundreds of events will take place over the course of the week to bring science and climate action to the fore of the Irish publics minds.

Climate change is the biggest crisis facing humanity today. Climate disruption is already having diverse and wide-ranging impacts on Irelands environment, society, economic and natural resources. It is changing where people, plants and animals can safely live, and the recent media and policy focus on climate emergency and action is to be welcomed, said Prof Mark Ferguson, director general, SFI and chief scientific adviser to the government of Ireland.

As part of Science Week 2019, we are seeking to help people understand climate change, how science and technology can help us create a positive climate future and the impact we as individuals can have on climate change. Given that a significant majority of our research respondents stated that they find information on climate action confusing, we hope to provide research-based information and solutions as part of Science Week 2019.

Reducing plastics is only one of a multitude of actions required, we need to widen the engagement with the public in relation to solutions to greenhouse emission and climate action.

For more information about Science Week visit: http://www.scienceweek.ie

TechCentral Reporters

Read More: climate change research Science Foundation Ireland Science Week sustainability

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Half of Irish people find information on climate action confusing - SFI - TechCentral.ie

Using mice, scientists have revealed for the first time how stress hormones control fat and sugar levels over a 24-hour cycle. In addition, they have shown that a high calorie diet can alter the time-sensitivity of metabolic cycles.

The new study, led by researchers from Helmholtz Zentrum Mnchen and the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), also in Munich, Germany, helps to explain the rhythmic nature of stress hormones, whose levels surge before waking and feeding and ebb during sleep and fasting.

The findings also clarify how this hormonal cycle links to the daily routine that the liver follows in storing and releasing sugar and fat.

A recent Molecular Cell paper describes how the researchers made these discoveries by investigating glucocorticoid activity in the livers of mice.

Because the glucocorticoid receptor is also the target of anti-inflammatory synthetic steroids, the results suggest that glucocorticoid drugs could have different effects on people with and without obesity.

The adrenal glands release glucocorticoid hormones in the morning under the control of clock-related signals from the brain.

The biological clock that resides in every cell of the body helps to regulate the daily timing of hormone release. Sunlight and lifestyle factors help keep the biological clock in sync.

The glands also release the hormones in response to stress, which is why they are also called stress hormones.

The stress hormones reach their peak before waking, helping the body to prepare for the day's activities by getting energy from raised levels of fats and sugar.

However, disruption to biological clocks such as from working shifts or through jetlag can greatly upset metabolism and contribute to related disorders, such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and fatty liver.

Glucocorticoid drugs and a condition called Cushing syndrome, both of which raise glucocorticoid levels, can have the same effect.

The new study aimed to understand the connection between the daily stress hormone surges, the biological clock, and metabolic cycles by focusing on glucocorticoid receptors.

Glucocorticoids regulate numerous molecular processes in functions ranging from metabolism and immunity to bone growth and cognition.

Nearly every cell of the body has receptors for these hormones. Without the matching receptor, the hormone cannot enter the cell and influence it.

For the new study, the team investigated the metabolic activity of glucocorticoids in the livers of mice by assessing the properties of their matching receptor.

They used a range of advanced techniques to map what happened to glucocorticoid receptors in mouse livers every 4 hours over a 24-hour cycle. They used two groups of mice: one group was on a normal diet, and the other group was fed a high fat diet.

The team also examined in detail what happened to the mice's 24-hour liver metabolism as a result of daily surges in glucocorticoid secretion.

The methods that they used allowed them to show that the effects of glucocorticoids were different when the animals fasted during sleep, and while they fed when they were awake and active.

The researchers found that the glucocorticoid receptor exerted these effects through time-sensitive binding with the genomes of the liver cells.

In addition, it appears that the receptor, and therefore the associated stress hormones, help regulate nearly all circadian genes.

"Highlighting the dominant role [the glucocorticoid receptor] plays in synchronizing circadian amplitudes," write the authors, "we find that the majority of oscillating genes are bound by and depend on [the glucocorticoid receptor]."

The researchers showed that the livers of mice that lacked the receptor did not control fat and sugar levels according to day and night.

The team suggests that the findings reveal how the liver controls levels of sugar and fat in the blood differently during the day compared with nighttime.

A further set of experiments also revealed that normal weight and obese mice responded differently to a glucocorticoid drug.

The team believes that the study is the first to show that diet can alter the effect of hormones and drugs on metabolic tissues.

The researchers suggest that their findings will help inform the emerging field of chronomedicine, which emphasizes the role of the biological clock in health and disease.

"We could describe a new link between lifestyle, hormones, and physiology at the molecular level, suggesting that obese people may respond differently to daily hormone secretion or to glucocorticoid drugs," says senior study author Nina Henriette Uhlenhaut, a professor at Helmholtz Zentrum Mnchen.

"Understanding how glucocorticoids control 24-hour cycles of gene activity in the liver and consequently blood levels of sugar and fat provides new insights into chronomedicine and the development of metabolic disease."

Prof. Nina Henriette Uhlenhaut

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Diet, body clock, hormones, and metabolism: What's the link? - Medical News Today

Diet plays an essential role in lowering blood pressure and a growing body of evidence recommends certain foods for their blood pressure-lowering properties.

One study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, makes a strong case for supplementing a diet low in saturated fats with walnuts to help lower blood pressure.

In a randomised, controlled trial, researchers examined the effects of replacing some of the saturated fats in participants' diets with walnuts.

Saturated fat is the kind of fat found in butter, lard, ghee, fatty meats and cheese. Eating a diet high in saturated fat is associated with raised levels of non-HDL (bad) cholesterol, a waxy substance found in your blood that is tied to cardiovascular complications, explains the British Heart Foundation.

They found that when participants ate whole walnuts daily in combination with lower overall amounts of saturated fat, they had lower central blood pressure.

READ MORE:High blood pressure: The surprising food that could lower your reading

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High blood pressure: Include this snack in your diet to lower your reading - Express