Food and Health Room

[Anthea]

Today is Spinach Day or Nougat Day. Make your choice !

[Piling]

Bad news for vegetarians! Plants can ‘hear’ themselves being eaten - and become defensive when attacked

Most people don't give a second thought when tucking into a plate of salad.
But perhaps we should be a bit more considerate when chomping on lettuce, as scientists have found that plants actually respond defensively to the sounds of themselves being eaten.
The researchers at the University of Missouri (MU) found that plants can identify sounds nearby, such as the sound of eating, and then react to the threats in their environment.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... z4cUgqHSCg

Today is whisky day and I can't because of Lent

It is also paella day a meal impossible to cook in a country where 99 % of people never saw sea food

[Anthea]

Bad news for vegetarians! Plants can ‘hear’ themselves being eaten - and become defensive when attacked

Most people don't give a second thought when tucking into a plate of salad.
But perhaps we should be a bit more considerate when chomping on lettuce, as scientists have found that plants actually respond defensively to the sounds of themselves being eaten.
The researchers at the University of Missouri (MU) found that plants can identify sounds nearby, such as the sound of eating, and then react to the threats in their environment.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... z4cUgqHSCg

Today is whisky day and I can't because of Lent

It is also paella day a meal impossible to cook in a country where 99 % of people never saw sea food

I have a strong belief that people should not eat any sort of food they could not kill themselves

It is easier to kill a lettuce than kill a cow

I never drink alcohol so not going to be drinking any whisky

Very difficult to find a toyboy who is able to cook a good paella

[Anthea]

The battery farm calves: Shocking photos show young cattle squeezed into cramped cages by farm that supplies milk to Marks & Spencer

The pictures were taken at Grange Dairy in Winfrith Newburgh, near Dorchester, Dorset
They show calves, that will go on to supply milk to leading supermarkets, living in cramped solitary hutches
Law states cows should only live in the hutches until eight weeks of age but some were up to six months old
Marks & Spencer said it was 'disappointed' to see the photos and has carried out an audit of the revelations

The rows of pens and hutches could not be more removed from the storybook idea of farm life.

This site, effectively a battery farm for calves, is used to rear cows that will go on to supply milk to leading supermarkets including Marks & Spencer.

Welfare law states that cows should only be reared in these solitary hutches for up to eight weeks of age. But the calves captured in these images are significantly older – making this practice potentially illegal.

What is clear from the pictures is the calves are too large for the hutches.

They struggle to bend to get inside the cramped shelters when they need protection from the cold and rain. This has left some of them with grazes on their backs.

The Holstein calves, raised at Grange Dairy in Winfrith Newburgh, near Dorchester, Dorset, will be sent to other farms to join a dairy herd.

Once they are old enough to calve, their milk will be supplied to supermarkets across the country.

The farm belongs to J F Cobb & Sons, which has been run by the Cobb family in Dorset since 1928. It is part of a group of farms that supplies 240,000 pints of milk to the high street every day.

Trading standards officers confirmed the calves are older than eight weeks, based on information on their ear tags, and have begun an investigation.

Bosses at M&S have also carried out an audit of the ‘disappointing’ revelations.

The welfare group Animal Equality UK, which captured these pictures, claim some of the calves are up to six months old. This is denied by M&S and the farm, but both refused to give the age.

Animal Equality director, Dr Toni Shephard, said: ‘Seeing row after row of baby calves alone in tiny pens, when they should naturally still be with their mothers, is truly heartbreaking. But realising that some of these young female cows have been confined like this for months on end without exercise or companionship is shocking.

‘UK law recognises how important social interaction is for calves and restricts solitary housing to just eight weeks. Yet on this farm we found calves that were several months old in pens on their own.

‘We are calling on retailers, including M&S, to break ties with this supplier immediately.’

Marks & Spencer said: ‘We are very disappointed to see these images; any breach of our standards is completely unacceptable.

‘Our experts are on site and working with the farm to take immediate action and all necessary steps to address the situation. We work hard to uphold the highest welfare standards.’

The JF Cobb & Sons website, which has an RSPCA endorsement, reads: ‘All our energy is focused on keeping our cows comfortable and healthy.’

Partner Nick Cobb said: ‘We work closely with vets and industry welfare experts to establish the best approach to looking after our animals and our health and welfare performance is industry-leading.

‘There is no suggestion that the health and welfare of our animals has been compromised.

Link to Article - Photos - Video:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... orset.html

[Anthea]

Revealed: The 13 surprising foods you can safely eat past their use-by dates
(including the goods that last up to four YEARS)

UK households throw away £13bn of wasted food each year
Canned goods can last for up to four years if stored in cool and dry place
Spirits are still safe to drink well past sell by date as long as they still taste good
Unopened frozen veg safe indefinitely, although texture may change over time

Most of us are guilty of wasting food because we're worried about adhering too rigidly to use by dates for fear of getting ill, with UK households throwing away £13bn of food each year.

But while it's wise to stick to pay attention when it comes to meat, fish and seafood there are plenty of foods you can safely eat past the date on the packaging.

In a post for Sheer Luxe Carla Griscti has revealed 13 foods you can safely eat past their use by date, including those that will last for years after.

CANNED PRODUCE

Most tinned food will come with a best before date several years ahead, but you can add on extra time without any risk.

As long as you store your undamaged cans somewhere cool away from direct light, then they can last up to four years.

BISCUITS AND CRISPS

Although your favourite snacks might lose some crunch once their best by date has passed, it won't do you any harm to consume them a few weeks after.

To restore crispness, place them on a paper towel on top of a plate and microwave them for 40 seconds to evaporate the moisture that's made them go a little soggy, and allow them to cool before you eat.

Biscuits are safe to eat a few weeks after the expiration date, and you can restore any lost crunch by placing them in the microwave

DRIED PASTA

Dry pasta usually comes with a long shelf life in any case.

And provided you store it in an airtight container in a cool, dry cupboard, there's no reason why you can't push the expiry date to three years.

Dried pasta can have a shelf life of three years, provided it's stored in an airtight container

EGGS

If you keep your eggs in the fridge, they're safe to eat up to three weeks after the sell by date.

Any unpleasant odour when you crack them is an indication they should be thrown away, and another way to check if they're still good is to drop them in a bowl of water.

Fresh eggs sink to the bottom, while bad ones float to the top. If the egg rests on the bottom and tilts upwards, it's a sign it's going off and should be eaten as soon as possible.

Eggs are safe to eat up to three weeks after the best before date, provided they're kept in the fridge

FROZEN VEGETABLES

The temperatures in your freezer prevent food going off, so unopened packets can , in theory, last indefinitely.

Eating frozen veg that's past its sell by date shouldn't do you any harm.

However, the texture may change over time so the real test will be in the taste.

Unopened frozen veg should be safe to eat well past its sell-by date, but the texture may change over time

BREAD

The best before date on bread is based on the assumption that you'll leave it out on the kitchen counter.

If you leave it out where it's exposed to higher temperatures, mould will start to form within a few days.

However, you can make your loaf last for up to two weeks if you keep it in the fridge.

A loaf of bread can last up to two weeks if you keep it in the fridge

PICKLES

Preserved foods such as pickles, sauerkraut and beetroot have been through a process of salting and are stored in a very acidic vinegar, which prevents thee growth of bacteria.

Pickles can last for up to two years past their sell-by date if they're stored in an airtight jar in the fridge, although they may start to lose some of their crunch.

Jams and chutneys will also still be safe to eat past their sell-by date.

Pickles can be safely eaten for up to two years after their sell-by date, although they may start to lose some of their crunch

YOGHURT

As long as it's not been opened, you usually have up to two weeks after the sell-by date to eat yoghurt before it starts to go off.

Mould can start to form if it's been open for a while, but as long as there's no sign of this and it doesn't smell bad, then you're on safe ground.

Unopened yoghurt is usually safe to eat for two weeks past the best before date

CHOCOLATE

As a rule of thumb, as long as your chocolate tastes fine then there's no harm in eating it long after the sell-by date.

Sometimes, a white film begins to form on older chocolate, which is caused by the sugar crystallising, but it won't do you any harm to eat.

You can also chop it up to use as chocolate chips in baking or grate over ice-cream.

Chocolate can be eaten well past its best before date, even if there are white patches caused by the sugar crystallising

HARD CHEESE

You might be tempted to throw away your block of cheese at the first sign of mould, but it's only dangerous on soft cheese such as brie or ricotta, as it can send out threads that you can't see.

Mould can't penetrate harder cheeses such as parmesan and cheddar.

So you can safely enjoy hard cheese that's past its sell by date once you've removed any growths.

Hard cheese such as parmesan and cheddar is safe to enjoy past its sell-by date, as long as you've removed any mould

SALAD LEAVES

There's no reason to bin your out of date salad leaves.

As long as they haven't gone mouldy, then you're perfectly safe to tuck in.

And you can revive any limp looking leaves with a few splashes of water.

Provided there's no mould on your salad leaves, they're safe to consume past the best-by date

SPIRITS

Unlike wine, spirits have an extremely long shelf life provided they're stored properly.

Whiskey, for instance, only ages in the cask, but not in a bottle. You should store it at 15.5 to 19.4 degrees in a dark environment, and make sure it's upright so it doesn't come into contact with the cork.

When taken care of properly, whiskey can be kept indefinitely, while the same goes for gin and vodka.

Take care with cream liqueurs however, that will start to spoil over time.

When stored upright in a dark environment at the right temperature, whiskey can keep indefinitely

MILK

When it comes to milk, then as long as it tastes and smells fine then there's no need to worry too much about the sell-by date.

Keeping it sealed in the fridge will maintain freshness, and a carton usually stays in a drinkable state for up to a week past the best before date.

Milk usually keeps for up to a week past the best before date, and as long as it tastes and smells fine then there's no harm in drinking it

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... dates.html

[Anthea]

Is this pink pill the elixir of youth?

A Harvard scientist claims NMN drug has already knocked 20 years off his age - and given his 77-year-old father the energy of a 30-year-old

The NMN pill could be key in reversing the effects of ageing
It was developed by Austrailian scientist Professor David Sinclair
He has spent two decades investigating how to ‘cure’ ageing

The small pinkish pill sitting in my palm looks no more exciting than a battered Smartie. And yet it represents the culmination of centuries of ceaseless striving and quests for magical elixirs.

The Australian scientist who has developed it predicts that, in decades to come, people will look back on its creation as a moment as historically significant as the Wright brothers’ first flight.

Apparently, it tastes like salted popcorn, but for form’s sake Professor David Sinclair would rather I didn’t swallow this little dose of nicotinamide mononucleotide, or NMN — although he’s confident it wouldn’t harm me.



On the contrary, Professor Sinclair — one of the world’s leading experts on the science of ageing — believes it is the key to not only warding off the process of human ageing but even reversing it.

Now professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, he has spent two decades investigating how to ‘cure’ ageing and believes NMN is by far the best prospect of providing the answer.

His fountain of youth is actually a specialised variant of vitamin B3 that is found in many foods, including broccoli, cucumber and avocado, that helps our cells repair damaged DNA. The latter is believed to be a major cause of natural ageing.

In the body, NMN is converted into a related chemical called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), which is found in every cell of living organisms and is essential for life. NAD is crucial in fuelling the seven different genes in our body that govern ageing.

However, our NAD levels decline by about 50 per cent as we age, turning off the body’s defences against ageing and age-related diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer’s.

Experiments on mice by Professor Sinclair and his team showed that after just a week of being fed NMN dissolved in their drinking water, the cells of ageing mice were indistinguishable from those of young mice. Their muscles looked and behaved like those of a young mouse, too.

In human terms, it was the equivalent of a 60-year-old’s cells and muscles transforming into those of a 20-year-old. According to the team’s paper in the international journal Science, the mice suffered no negative side-effects.

Often what works brilliantly in lab mice doesn’t translate to the more complex systems of humans. However, Professor Sinclair says no one has ever tried to replace our dwindling NAD before.

‘NAD is a naturally occurring molecule in the body, so we’re really just replenishing what’s been lost over time,’ he says. ‘That’s different to other strategies that have introduced a foreign molecule from a bacterium or a plant, which could have all sorts of side-effects.

‘This is the closest we are to a safe and effective anti-ageing drug that’s perhaps only three to five years from being on the market if the trials go well.’

The first tests on humans will soon begin in Boston in the U.S., focusing first on safety and then on whether the treatment can actually reverse ageing in people, too.

They will be monitored closely by the U.S. space agency NASA, which is interested in using the drug during future missions to Mars to stop the accelerated ageing process that affects astronauts exposed to radiation in space.

Professor Sinclair is so convinced of his pill’s safety that not only has he been taking it himself, so has his 77-year-old father.

The results certainly sound encouraging. Before he started taking a 500mg NMN pill every morning, 47-year-old Professor Sinclair had his blood tested and was told his body had a biological age of 58.

After consuming NMN for three months, he was tested again and his biological age was 32.

As for his father, he’s recently been out-pacing the professor’s younger brother on mountaineering expeditions in their native Australia.

‘He’s as vigorous as he was in his 20s and 30s, and he seems to be getting more energetic,’ says Professor Sinclair.

The manufacturing process of the NMN pill is complicated and expensive, and it currently costs Professor Sinclair more than $1,000 (£797) a month to buy it just for himself.

Large-scale manufacturing would bring the cost down, but he says that ultimately it won’t be cheap. Of course it won’t — if it lives up to the hype, then it really is the long-sought-after elixir of youth.

We each have our own image of what it might entail, and taking a pill with my Bran Flakes is certainly not what I had in mind.

I mention Ursula Andress bathing in mystical cold flames that kept her forever young and gorgeous in the 1960s film version of the H. Rider Haggard story She.

Professor Sinclair remembers it, too. Nothing like that is quite on the cards, he admits… at least not yet.

For a start, what his NMN pill cannot do is rejuvenate our exterior appearance — especially if we’re already old.

The fact that Professor Sinclair, a father of three young children, still has no grey hairs and very few wrinkles seems a miracle in itself, but he suggests it isn’t because of his pills.

Hair loss, grey hair and wrinkled skin are not yet reversible, he says, although if you start taking NMN young, it may delay visible ageing, as it’s much easier to prevent hair loss and grey hair than reverse it.

‘I don’t think people will go from 80 to looking like they are 20, although a person who started taking it in their 40s could stay looking in their 40s for longer.

‘What I am expecting is that their body’s internal workings will function better and people will be better protected against diseases as they get older,’ he explains.

And yet all is not lost for Ursula Andress wannabes. Stem cell replacement — the field that could rejuvenate skin and hair — is still in its infancy, but is looking hopeful, he says.

Professor Sinclair mentions Samumed, a California research company whose backers include the venture capitalist arm of IKEA and which claims considerable success in reversing the cosmetic aspects of ageing.

By reprogramming genes to be younger, it is developing molecules that could restore hair and hair colour and remove skin wrinkles.

Another drug could even regenerate cartilage in the knees of arthritis patients.

Professor Sinclair, a molecular biologist by training who sold his first research company to British drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline for $720 million and who was in Time magazine’s 2014 list of the world’s 100 most influential people, is certainly not a lone voice.

There’s a growing scientific consensus that ageing is not inevitable.

There’s considerable disagreement, however, over to what extent the inevitable can be put off. A minority, so-called ‘immortalists’ — who are big on imagination but short on serious scientific credentials — believe we can avoid death indefinitely.

They include Aubrey de Grey, a British technology expert and thinker who reckons we can live for 1,000 years.

Then there’s the American futurist, Ray Kurzweil, who believes that humans will eventually physically merge with artificial intelligence and transcend our biological limitations.

Finally, there’s Martine Rothblatt, a transgender woman and one of America’s highest-paid chief executives, who intends to grow new organs from people’s DNA.

She has already commissioned a ‘back-up version’ of her own wife — a robot which has been uploaded with the real woman’s thoughts, memories and even feelings.

Ageing science is a world full of quacks and charlatans, but that hasn’t stopped Silicon Valley billionaires and celebrities terrified by the thought of death from plunging vast sums into scientifically dubious projects.

A recent Los Angeles meeting to discuss the latest theories brought together the actress Goldie Hawn, pop star Moby and Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who has talked of ‘curing death’.

More serious scientists, including Professor Sinclair, are relatively modest in their ambitions: they speak of adding at most a few extra decades to our lifespans. But what’s possibly more important, they say, is improving our ‘health-spans’.

For what’s the use of having another 50 years to live, if you have to spend it in a wheelchair, crippled by arthritis?

Professor Sinclair has strong personal reasons for devoting his career to unlocking the secrets of ageing.

He was in the middle of studying for his PhD when his mother contracted lung cancer. And he vividly recalls his sense of outrage watching his once vibrant grandmother grow old, enfeebled and pass away.

It’s a tragic story being played out in everybody’s family, so why aren’t we up in arms about ageing, he asks.

The answer, he knows, is because we regard ageing as inevitable. In fact, everyone believed that until scientists identified genes that control DNA repair, and therefore the ageing process, in the Nineties.

It was known that strenuous exercise and a low-calorie diet put stress on our cells, prompting them to produce more NAD and so build up their defences against the sort of damage that will age us.

But we learned that over-exercising and starving ourselves is damaging, too, especially for older people — and so scientists intensified their search for a drug that could mimic their effect.

It was Professor Sinclair who initially identified a possible candidate in resveratrol, an antioxidant found in tiny amounts in red wine and in cocoa which reversed ageing in mice.

Complicated to manufacture, difficult to administer and of limited effectiveness, resveratrol was not the miracle it had appeared. And so his search for a far more powerful substance led him to NMN.

As to what exactly it may do for us, he mentions strengthened endurance and fitness, enhanced energy, and muscles and organs such as the liver that will function more like they did when we were much younger. (If DNA damage is repaired or minimised, our organs don’t have a shelf life as such.) An increased metabolism might lead to weight loss, too.

Serious ageing researchers are wary of being too specific on how many extra years their discoveries may give us, but given what it’s done for mice, Professor Sinclair’s estimate that NMN could buy us an extra five or ten years of healthy life sounds a little disappointing.

But it’s only a start, he insists. Combined with other research that scientists are doing around the world, our age span could be extended by half again.

‘I’ve stated before that the first person to live to 150 has already been born, and that’s me projecting where we’ll be [scientifically] 50 years from now,’ he says.

‘I don’t think we’re going to be immortal, but there’s no law of biology that says we can’t live for 200 years.’

What are these other areas of research? Professor Sinclair mentions two more promising drugs. One is metformin, a drug used to treat diabetes, which has been found to help some diabetics live longer than non-diabetics.

The other is rapamycin, derived from a fungus found on Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean and used to prevent organ transplant rejection. Tests have shown it suppresses the onset of cancer in mice. Both of these drugs, like NMN, trick our body into upping its defences against diseases and negative effects of ageing.

The market for an effective anti-ageing drug has been estimated at $26 billion a year.

However, Professor Sinclair and his team must first convince regulators to accept that ageing is a treatable condition — essential if they want NMN officially approved as a drug — before the floodgates can open to the millions who may want to buy it.

In the meantime, many may ask whether we want to live until we’re 150 and — just as important — whether the world can cope if we do.

Critics of extending human lifespans warn that it will impose a crippling burden on healthcare and the global economy.

But Professor Sinclair believes the opposite, arguing that it’s economically essential that we find a way of keeping the elderly healthy and productive.

‘We’re talking about people in their 90s playing tennis and educating their great-grandkids,’ he says.

‘It’ll be a totally different world where your 80s and 90s will be the equivalent of your 60s and 70s now.’

And from work with laboratory mice and observations of the very elderly, it seems death when it comes will be much more rapid, possibly after a short illness such as pneumonia. Scientists call this phenomenon the ‘compression of morbidity’.

Professor Sinclair says he thinks about the ethics of his work every day. What bothers him most is the idea that he could be sentencing people in unpleasant, unrewarding jobs to decades more misery as they struggle towards a far later retirement.

In the developed world, we’re well past the Bible’s approximation of the human lot of threescore years and ten — even without molecular tinkering.

Advances in medical and pharmaceutical technology, and improving lifestyles, mean that lifespans will continue to extend for much of the world’s population.

The prospect of a pill to boost longevity further still is a very good reason for our children, at least, to start looking forward to that 120th birthday party.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... youth.html

Remember the date

[Anthea]

Always bloated and can't shed the pounds?

Experts reveal how everything from painkillers to low-carb diets and fizzy drinks could be wrecking your gut health

Experts reveal everything you need to know about good gut health
Painkillers can disrupt your bacterial level – and therefore your digestive system
Probiotic pills are also useless if you consume a hot drink within the next hour

Do you spend your life feeling bloated? Or just can't slim down, no matter what diet you try?

It might not just be what you eat that's to blame. More likely, in fact, is the activity of the 100 trillion bacteria living in your gut.

Not a week goes by when the phrase 'gut bacteria' isn't linked to a new health claim by leading scientists around the world.

In the last week alone it has been hailed with having a crucial effect on weight gain.

It might not just be what you eat that's to blame. More likely, in fact, is the activity of the 100 trillion bacteria living in your gut

Research published in the International Journal of Obesity found that people who have a stable weight, or who lose weight, have a larger number of different types of microbes in their guts, eat more fibre and have a higher abundance of certain types of gut microbes.

And if bloating and/or poor digestion plague your life, then these bugs are most likely to blame too.

'People with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have been found to have less of the 'good' types bacteria in the gut (lactobacilli and bifidobacteria),' says Dr Megan Arroll, a psychologist and author of IBS – Navigating Your Way To Recovery.

There have also been links between gut health and asthma, endometriosis, obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and even anxiety and depression.

'A growing body of research suggests that having the right balance of probiotic [good] bacteria gut in the gut is important for health' says Arthur Ouwehand, professor of microbiology and an expert in probiotics, from the University of Turku, Finland.

But what actually is it? And how do you know if yours is in the state it should be?

Did you know, for example, that bog-standard painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen could disrupt your bacterial level – and therefore your digestive system?

Or that popping a gut-friendy probiotic pill or yogurt is useless if you consume a hot drink within the next hour?

Here, leading experts reveal everything you need to know about good gut health – and why it's so important…

WHAT'S GOING ON?

The body is full of bugs that make up one of the most complex ecosystems in the world - with over 400 different species living in the gut

Our guts are populated with trillions of tiny organisms including thousands of different types of bacteria, explains Dr Arroll.

'These organisms are very important to us - not just to help digest food - but also for our immune system. Collectively, this group of organisms is known as the gut "microbiota', or gut flora.'

In fact, the body is full of bugs that make up one of the most complex ecosystems in the world - with over 400 different species living in the gut, says Rob Hobson, head of nutrition at the supplement company Healthspan.

'Generally, these bugs are not harmful and many have a beneficial role to play in the body,' he adds.

'They help to synthesise certain vitamins including B12, folic acid and thiamin that are required for energy metabolism, red blood cell production and maintaining a healthy nervous system,' he explains.

'These clever microbes also teach our immune systems to recognise foreign invaders and produce anti-inflammatory compounds that fight off disease-causing bacteria.'

HOW BUGS MAY AFFECT YOUR WEIGHT

Why do some people seem to eat whatever they want and not gain weight, and others appear to gain weight even if they eat reasonable amounts of food?

The answer, at least in part, may be found in the bacteria that live in our guts, says Ana Valdes, an associate professor and reader at King's College London.

'Our latest research, published in the International Journal of Obesity, shows that people who have a stable weight, or who lose weight, over a nine-year period have a larger number of different types of microbes in their guts, eat more fibre and have a higher abundance of certain types of gut microbes,' she told The Conversation last week.

GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT

What's crucial is that our gut microbiota is in a state of balance - between so-called 'good' and 'bad' bacteria – but many things can knock it out of kilter.

'The balance of bacteria in our gut can be easily upset by a number of factors including stress, poor diet, illness and drugs such as antibiotics,' says Dr Ouwehand.

THE KEY OFFENDERS

Antibiotics

While antibiotics kill the 'bad' bacteria that cause infections, they also destroy the 'good' bacteria in our bodies.

This can lead to further health problems such as thrush and gut issues such as bloating and constipation.

'It's important to begin taking probiotics from the moment you start antibiotics and continue for a few weeks after finishing the course,' says Professor Ouwehand,

'Take the probiotic between one or two hours after the antibiotic to get the most benefit.'

Low-carb diets

Low-carb diets may have a negative effect on our gut bacteria because they starve the bacteria of food which they need to grow and thrive, experts say

Dr Ouwehand believes the current craze for low-carb diets may have a negative effect on our gut bacteria because they starve the bacteria of food which they need to grow and thrive.

Research carried out at the University of Copenhagen found that almost a quarter of people on these diets had 40 per cent fewer 'good' bacteria than are normally found in a healthy gut.

Processed food, high-sugar diets

Modern diets are full of processed foods which are often transported and stored for lengthy periods of time, says Dr Arroll. They also lack the dietary fibre that we used to consumed half a century ago.

Research in mice has shown that after just one day, a diet high in fat and sugar and low in fibre changed the composition of the microbiota in mice.

And in humans, children from rural Africa who have a diet very high in fibre have been shown to have a more diverse microbiota than children from urban areas of Europe (where the fibre intake is lower).

A poor diet rich in sugary or processed foods can cause good bacteria in your gut to become weakened, she adds.

'You basically provide an all-you-can-eat buffet for bad bugs to thrive on and take over.

'And a build-up of bad bacteria may result in health problems such as food allergies, yeast infections or inflammatory bowel disease.'

Diet drinks

Israeli researchers have found that artificial sweetener use led to an imbalanced microbiota

Artificial sweeteners are the most commonly used food additives in the world.

They provide a sweet taste without the calories and so are added to diet food and drinks.

But, there has been a huge jump in the use of artificial sweeteners in the past century, which coincides with the rise in obesity and diabetes.

Israeli researchers have found that sweetener use led to an imbalanced microbiota. This in turn raised the risk of glucose intolerance and other changes associated with both diabetes and obesity.

Painkillers

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) such as aspirin and ibuprofen may also be playing havoc with your gut microbiota. In a study published in the

British Journal of Nutrition, older adults who did not use this type of medication had higher numbers of the good type of bacteria Lactobacillus in their guts.

Stress

Research has shown that exposure to stressful situations can disrupt the balance of bacteria

The gut and brain are connected via the brain-gut axis – the biochemical signalling that takes place between the gut and the nervous system, which plays an important role in healthy brain function.

Research has shown that exposure to stressful situations can disrupt the balance of bacteria, says Dr Arroll.

But we're also starting to understand this can go the other way, too – that a healthy and diverse gut microbiota can (in mice at least for now) help with the stress response.

By influencing the balance and types of bacteria in the gut, studies show it may even be possible to lower stress and boost mood.

Use relaxation techniques to reduce stress and protect the gut microbiota,' advises Dr Arroll.

EATING YOUR WAY TO A HEALTHY GUT

A good way of boosting levels of friendly bacteria is by eating foods rich in prebiotic fibre, says nutritionist Mr Hobson. Prebiotics are a special type of fibre which stimulates the growth of the probiotic bacteria in the gut.

Prebiotic fibres are found in asparagus, Jerusalem artichoke, onions, garlic and leek and bananas.

What nutritionists call resistant starch - found in foods like cold potatoes, cold pasta and barley - will also have the same effect.

DO WE REALLY NEED PROBIOTIC SUPPLEMENTS?

Probiotic supplements usually contain several different strains of bacteria

'For many people, however, diet alone cannot provide the right strain and level of live bacteria we need to maintain a healthy gut,' says Mr Hobson.

His advice?

1. Choose a supplement that contains at least 10 million bacteria per serving and take regularly.

Probiotic supplements usually contain several different strains of bacteria, but the number of probiotic bacteria that a supplement delivers is also important – to be effective you need to choose one that contains at least 10 million bacteria per serving.

SuperPro 50 (60 capsules for £28.50), a probiotic from Healthspan, launched earlier this month.

It contains over 50 billion bacteria from 4 different strains, including the bacteria Bifidobacterium lactis which are known to decline with age.

2. Look for strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium as these are the most widely researched

3. Make sure you check the check the expiry date because once that's passed there may not be any live bacteria left in the product.

THE BEST TIME TO TAKE YOUR GOOD BACTERIA

Health-conscious Britons who spend hundreds of pounds a year on vitamin supplements could be undoing the benefits just moments after taking them.

Most of us - 70 per cent - pop our pills at breakfast, according to new research by Healthspan.

But the vast majority of us have no idea that heat can reduce the effects of tablets – and even kill the so-called 'friendly' bacteria in probiotics.

Therefore popping a supplement or downing a probiotic drink with breakfast – as most of us do – will render it less effective, or even useless, if washed down with tea, coffee or hot food such as porridge.

Research from the University of East Anglia has found that drinking coffee at the same time as a meal inhibits the absorption of iron by up to 73 per cent.

This is because compounds in coffee bind to iron and stop it being absorbed by the intestines.

As a result, experts say we should wait at least an hour after consuming hot food or drinks before taking the tablets.

'I don't advise taking probiotics, vitamin or mineral supplements with tea or coffee,' said Dr Sarah Brewer, a GP and medical nutritionist.

To ensure the beneficial bacteria survive, Glenn Gibson, a leading authority on probiotics and professor of food microbiology at the University of Reading, advises washing down the supplements with water or milk.

Breakfast is still the best time to get your hit, as the gut has been 'rested' overnight – and is therefore more receptive to the friendly bacteria, he explains.

But it's important to leave an hour window to ensure the efficacy.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... ealth.html

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I've bought many vegetables at the bazar, yesterday. Spring is for Kurds the time to eat herbs, roots, bulbs and other strange things

https://larosededjam.wordpress.com/2017/04/01/primeurs/

I didn't buy the thistle but I might do when I'll finish the fresh almonds.

[Anthea]

I've bought many vegetables at the bazar, yesterday. Spring is for Kurds the time to eat herbs, roots, bulbs and other strange things

https://larosededjam.wordpress.com/2017/04/01/primeurs/

I didn't buy the thistle but I might do when I'll finish the fresh almonds.

What is this horrible looking mess in the photo on the left!?!

I do not like the look of it at all

[Piling]

In French we call it panicaut :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eryngium

Kurds say it is very good to eat. I will try.

[Anthea]

In French we call it panicaut :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eryngium

Kurds say it is very good to eat. I will try.

I read the article and no doubt it has some beneficial qualities

I suggest you have one of the locals cook it traditionally for you

NOT the man you threw your crockery ta

[Anthea]

You've been cooking them wrong! Blogger reveals how to make the PERFECT baked potato everytime (and her clever method may surprise you)

Minnesota blogger Tonia Larson, of The Gunny Sack, shares her ultimate recipe2
She cuts her baked potatos in a way that looks like a blooming flower
The end result is crispy, salty potato skin with creamy, soft potato inside

A baked potato is one of the simplest - and cheapest - lunches you can make at home.

But a blogger has revealed a clever new way of cooking them that shows we may have been making them wrong our whole lives.

And the trick is to cut your potato in a very specific way.



Instead of just wrapping your potato in foil and bunging it in the oven for an hour, blogger Tonia Larson of The Gunny Sack, from Minnesota, reveals there's some lengthy - but crucial - preparation work to do before you put the spud in the oven.

She calls her recipe 'The Bloomin' Baked Potato' after the way she cuts the potato to look like a blooming flower before she puts it the oven.

Cutting it in this way turns the skin crispy while leaving the potato inside creamy and soft, she says.

Tonia uses Yukon Gold potatoes, but BBC Good Food says Vivaldi, Sante and Melody potatoes also bake well.

1. First preheat the oven to 220C.

2. Cut the bottom off the potato so one surface is flat and use a small knife to make rings around the inside of the potato.

3. Then flip the potato over so it's resting on the flat surface and make vertical cuts around the side of the potato. Leave a space at the top that is uncut. The cuts should go all the way into the centre of the potato.

4. Brush the potato with olive oil and sea salt. Put the potato on a sheet of foil and bake for 30 minutes.

5. Take out of the oven and brush with more olive oil and sprinkle again with sea salt. Return it to the oven for another 30 minutes.

6. If you like, add grated cheese to the top and bake for another five minutes until the cheese is toasted and melted.

7. Remove from the oven, top with crispy bacon pieces and serve.

The whole process takes about one hour and 20 minutes, with one hour and five minutes of cooking time and 15 minutes of preparation.

After baking, you can then customise your potato in any way you want, by topping with sour cream, chilli, tuna, or just having plain and simple.

It comes just a few days after Food Network chef Tyler Florence revealed that most people are cooking their mashed spuds incorrectly.

The expert cook told Popsugar that the age old method of boiling, draining the water and then mashing is incorrect, as you're throwing all the flavour away with the cooking liquid.

Instead, he recommends cooking the potatoes in cream and butter and then collecting the resulting liquid to use to mash the potatoes with.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/ ... ytime.html

[Anthea]

I have just found this great blogg about people who have recovered from cancer using natural remedies

I’m currently wearing about 7 hats…
I’m a husband, father, real estate investor, musician, blogger, health coach, and public speaker.

How do I do it all? I have no idea!

The cliff notes version of my story:
In December 2003 I was diagnosed with Stage IIIc colon cancer. There was a golf ball sized tumor in my large intestine, and the cancer had spread to my lymph nodes. It was two days before Christmas, and I was 26 years old.

The oncologist told me I was “insane” but I decided against chemotherapy after surgery.

After prayerful consideration I radically changed my diet and did every natural non-toxic therapy I could find.

I started this blog in 2010 to share my story and everything I’ve learned about nutrition and natural therapies for cancer. I also started sharing cancer healing testimonials from other survivors.

Fast forward to 2016
By the grace of God, I’m cancer free, healthy and strong, and in the best shape of my life.
My wife and I have two beautiful daughters, Marin and Mackenzie.
I thank Him every day for my life, health and healing.

For details about my diagnosis and what I did check out my FAQ page.

You are probably here for one of three reasons:

1) You have cancer, and you don’t like the options you’ve been given.

2) Someone you care about has cancer, and you want to help them.

3) You want to transform your health and reduce your risk of ever developing cancer.

Whatever your reason, you’ve come to the right place!

The information I’m sharing here saved my life. And the good news is these principles are holistic, they don’t just apply to cancer…

The human body is Intelligently Designed to heal itself, and given the proper nutrients and care, it will.

Despite what conventional doctors may have told you…

Your body can heal

I’m not going to give you pseudo-healthy tips like: “Follow the food pyramid, eat a low-fat diet, count your calories, drink diet soda instead, use artificial sweeteners,” etc. That kind of lousy advice is the reason so many of us are sick now!

What you’re going to find here is Hardcore Health Advice:
The absolute healthiest way to live, how I healed cancer, and how others have as well.
You have options

Many more than you’ve been told.
You have the power to transform your life and regain your health.
If I did it, you can too!

There is a 4 minute video of me sharing my story at the 2011 Cancer Control Convention.

Link to blogg:

http://www.chrisbeatcancer.com/what-eve ... s-to-know/

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First cherries arrived in the bazar : delicious (cherries are my favorite fruit)

[Anthea]

First cherries arrived in the bazar : delicious (cherries are my favorite fruit)

Are they homegrown?

I love almost all fruit