If you search the internet for foods and diets that can help boost your immunity, youll get back suggestions, ideas and promises galore.

Most though, have no science behind them as in reality we cant boost our immune system we can, however, eat well to support it.

There is evidence, for example, that being deficient in certain nutrients can weaken our immune responses, which may leave us more likely to fall prey to illness and possibly to increased severity of symptoms.

There are two questions that come from this statement, which need answering.

They include: vitamins A, C, D, E, B2, B6, B12, folic acid, iron, selenium and zinc.

For example, we need vitamin A to help to keep the linings of our mouths and airways in good condition.

If we are deficient, the linings can become less strong making it potentially easier for bacteria and viruses to enter our bodies.

A deficiency of vitamin D, on the other hand, may increase the risk of infection because it plays a role, among other things, in stimulating immune cell proliferation and regulating antimicrobial proteins.

If we are eating in a healthy and balanced way over time, then we should be able to reach our recommended intakes of these nutrients.

One exception to this rule, however, is vitamin D. In England, the Department of Health recommends that we supplement with this nutrient throughout the winter because we rarely eat sufficient vitamin D to meet our needs, and in winter months do not convert sufficient pre-vitamin D under our skin into the active form due to lack of sunlight on our skin.

Some groups of people, such as pregnant women, children under five and people over 65, are recommended to also supplement during summer months.

Another exception is vitamin B12, if following a vegan style of eating. It is crucial that a daily supplement is taken or that daily foods fortified with this vitamin are consumed. The Vegan Society website has excellent advice, prepared by registered dietitians, for further information.

A mineral that some people, especially women and teenage girls, may be struggling to get a sufficient intake of is iron.

If feeling constantly tired, it is a good idea to ask your doctor for a blood test to establish whether you have iron deficiency anaemia because as well as exhaustion, it is needed for our innate immune systems to work well. For instance, iron is involved with the process of white blood cells called neutrophils killing pathogens.

The way it is presented differs pictorially in different countries but essentially the Department of Healths Eatwell Guide in England describes things well. It is a pictorial expression with descriptions to help you get a balance of healthier and more sustainable foods.

It describes how much of what you eat overall is advised to come from each food group. Eating in this style can help in providing a good intake of essential vitamins and minerals (with the exception of vitamin D, and B12 if following a vegan diet) and support physical wellbeing, which research in humans indicates may also help our immune systems to work normally.

In summary, to help our immune systems to work normally we need to think about:

Eating the right amount of energy for our needs Having a variety of vegetables and fruits each day Switch from refined carbohydrates to wholegrain versions Try to have lean sources of protein When including fats in your diets, try to have oils such as olive oil and fish oils rather than saturated animal fats.

Watch Amandas video on nutrition and immunity by visiting: https://youtu.be/6Jq3xSwSx74

W: http://www.chandcogroup.com/education

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In search of immunity - Independent Education Today

Is any panic more primitive than the one prompted by the thought of empty grocery store shelves? Is any relief more primitive than the one provided by comfort food?

Most everyone has been doing more cooking these days, more documenting of the cooking, and more thinking about food in general. The combination of meat shortages and President Trumps decision to order slaughterhouses open despite the protestations of endangered workers has inspired many Americans to consider just how essential meat is.

Is it more essential than the lives of the working poor who labor to produce it? It seems so. An astonishing six out of 10 counties that the White House itself identified as coronavirus hot spots are home to the very slaughterhouses the president ordered open.

In Sioux Falls, S.D., the Smithfield pork plant, which produces some 5 percent of the countrys pork, is one of the largest hot spots in the nation. A Tyson plant in Perry, Iowa, had 730 cases of the coronavirus nearly 60 percent of its employees. At another Tyson plant, in Waterloo, Iowa, there were 1,031 reported cases among about 2,800 workers.

Sick workers mean plant shutdowns, which has led to a backlog of animals. Some farmers are injecting pregnant sows to cause abortions. Others are forced to euthanize their animals, often by gassing or shooting them. Its gotten bad enough that Senator Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, has asked the Trump administration to provide mental health resources to hog farmers.

Despite this grisly reality and the widely reported effects of the factory-farm industry on Americas lands, communities, animals and human health long before this pandemic hit only around half of Americans say they are trying to reduce their meat consumption. Meat is embedded in our culture and personal histories in ways that matter too much, from the Thanksgiving turkey to the ballpark hot dog. Meat comes with uniquely wonderful smells and tastes, with satisfactions that can almost feel like home itself. And what, if not the feeling of home, is essential?

And yet, an increasing number of people sense the inevitability of impending change.

Animal agriculture is now recognized as a leading cause of global warming. According to The Economist, a quarter of Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 say they are vegetarians or vegans, which is perhaps one reason sales of plant-based meats have skyrocketed, with Impossible and Beyond Burgers available everywhere from Whole Foods to White Castle.

Our hand has been reaching for the doorknob for the last few years. Covid-19 has kicked open the door.

At the very least it has forced us to look. When it comes to a subject as inconvenient as meat, it is tempting to pretend unambiguous science is advocacy, to find solace in exceptions that could never be scaled and to speak about our world as if it were theoretical.

Some of the most thoughtful people I know find ways not to give the problems of animal agriculture any thought, just as I find ways to avoid thinking about climate change and income inequality, not to mention the paradoxes in my own eating life. One of the unexpected side effects of these months of sheltering in place is that its hard not to think about the things that are essential to who we are.

We cannot protect our environment while continuing to eat meat regularly. This is not a refutable perspective, but a banal truism. Whether they become Whoppers or boutique grass-fed steaks, cows produce an enormous amount of greenhouse gas. If cows were a country, they would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.

According to the research director of Project Drawdown a nonprofit organization dedicated to modeling solutions to address climate change eating a plant-based diet is the most important contribution every individual can make to reversing global warming.

Americans overwhelmingly accept the science of climate change. A majority of both Republicans and Democrats say that the United States should have remained in the Paris climate accord. We dont need new information, and we dont need new values. We only need to walk through the open door.

We cannot claim to care about the humane treatment of animals while continuing to eat meat regularly. The farming system we rely on is woven through with misery. Modern chickens have been so genetically modified that their very bodies have become prisons of pain even if we open their cages. Turkeys are bred to be so obese that they are incapable of reproducing without artificial insemination. Mother cows have their calves ripped from them before weaning, resulting in acute distress we can hear in their wails and empirically measure through the cortisol in their bodies.

No label or certification can avoid these kinds of cruelty. We dont need any animal rights activist waving a finger at us. We dont need to be convinced of anything we dont already know. We need to listen to ourselves.

We cannot protect against pandemics while continuing to eat meat regularly. Much attention has been paid to wet markets, but factory farms, specifically poultry farms, are a more important breeding ground for pandemics. Further, the C.D.C. reports that three out of four new or emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic the result of our broken relationship with animals.

It goes without saying that we want to be safe. We know how to make ourselves safer. But wanting and knowing are not enough.

These are not my or anyones opinions, despite a tendency to publish this information in opinion sections. And the answers to the most common responses raised by any serious questioning of animal agriculture arent opinions.

Dont we need animal protein? No.

We can live longer, healthier lives without it. Most American adults eat roughly twice the recommended intake of protein including vegetarians, who consume 70 percent more than they need. People who eat diets high in animal protein are more likely to die of heart disease, diabetes and kidney failure. Of course, meat, like cake, can be part of a healthy diet. But no sound nutritionist would recommend eating cake too often.

If we let the factory-farm system collapse, wont farmers suffer? No.

The corporations that speak in their name while exploiting them will. There are fewer American farmers today than there were during the Civil War, despite Americas population being nearly 11 times greater. This is not an accident, but a business model. The ultimate dream of the animal-agriculture industrial complex is for farms to be fully automated. Transitioning toward plant-based foods and sustainable farming practices would create many more jobs than it would end.

Dont take my word for it. Ask a farmer if he or she would be happy to see the end of factory farming.

Isnt a movement away from meat elitist? No.

A 2015 study found that a vegetarian diet is $750 a year cheaper than a meat-based diet. People of color disproportionately self-identify as vegetarian and disproportionately are victims of factory farmings brutality. The slaughterhouse employees currently being put at risk to satisfy our taste for meat are overwhelmingly brown and black. Suggesting that a cheaper, healthier, less exploitative way of farming is elitist is in fact a piece of industry propaganda.

Cant we work with factory-farming corporations to improve the food system? No.

Well, unless you believe that those made powerful through exploitation will voluntarily destroy the vehicles that have granted them spectacular wealth. Factory farming is to actual farming what criminal monopolies are to entrepreneurship. If for a single year the government removed its $38-billion-plus in props and bailouts, and required meat and dairy corporations to play by normal capitalist rules, it would destroy them forever. The industry could not survive in the free market.

Perhaps more than any other food, meat inspires both comfort and discomfort. That can make it difficult to act on what we know and want. Can we really displace meat from the center of our plates? This is the question that brings us to the threshold of the impossible. On the other side is the inevitable.

With the horror of pandemic pressing from behind, and the new questioning of what is essential, we can now see the door that was always there. As in a dream where our homes have rooms unknown to our waking selves, we can sense there is a better way of eating, a life closer to our values. On the other side is not something new, but something that calls from the past a world in which farmers were not myths, tortured bodies were not food and the planet was not the bill at the end of the meal.

One meal in front of the other, its time to cross the threshold. On the other side is home.

Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of Eating Animals and We Are the Weather.

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The Coronavirus and a World Without Meat - The New York Times

Going to extremes. Ellie Goulding revealed that she sometimes doesnt eat for up to 40 hours as part of her strict diet.

I do it very safely by having a purposefully nutritious food day the day before and after, the Love Me Like You Do singer, 33, admitted during a recent interview with The Mirror. On the fast day, I drink high-grade electrolytes and a LOT of water (plus tea and coffee). Fasting is safe and beneficial unless you are diabetic or have serious health issues. I built my way up to 40-hour fasts over time (started with 12).

The British songstress later added that while her regimen may seem unhealthy, fasting is a great way to give your digestive system a break and her routine was approved by a friend who works in healthcare.

After learning of her extreme dieting methods, fans were quick to criticize the Hate Me singer on social media for seemingly promoting dangerous eating habits. @elliegoulding do you think this is good advice to be giving out to the younger generation, giving them ideas?! one Twitter user asked. In a world where everyone thrives [sic] to be perfect, I myself had anorexia when I was younger and to see this actually makes me feel sick! This is not normal.

Another follower took issue with Gouldings particular choice of words, tweeting, Call it fasting or reducing inflammation but this is an eating disorder.

Despite the backlash, the Grammy nominee proudly defended her tactics. I eat a seriously huge amount and exercise regularly, she wrote via Twitter. Im super healthy, I drink sometimes, eat whatever I want, and then I fast for one day a week. It is not starving myself. As far as people in the spotlight go I consider myself a good role model x.

In a separate tweet, Goulding clarified that she wasnt giving her fans advice. Was asked about my health and fitness during an interview, and consider fasting for one day (plus the night- when Im asleep) part of that, she explained. I do it safely and am incredibly fit and healthy.

Earlier this year, the musician claimed that she was recovering from a gym addiction that made her feel like she had to exercise every single day.

I dont know whether it was a survival thing, because touring was so tiring, so hard, really taxing on your body and your mental health, she told The Sun in March. I felt as though it was a survival instinct to be working out all the time But when it got to the point where I was skipping the studio and skipping writing sessions to go to the gym, that was when it just wasnt worth it.

Link:
Ellie Goulding Reveals She Fasts for Up to 40 Hours at a Time: I Do It Very Safely - Us Weekly

Every cat owner knows that cats are curious creatures. And, it's the curious character of cats that makes them often take a keen interest in our food. It can be hard to not spoil your lovable furball with a special treat off your plate, especially when they're begging. Their winning personality can make it near impossible to resist.

But some human foods are toxic to cats, since they have different nutritional needs than us which is why it's important to know what foods are safe for your cat to eat and which aren't. Remember that cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they thrive on a high-protein and low-carbohydrate diet. Hence, if you decide to let your cat snack on human treats, you should consult your veterinarian to make sure your cat is still fulfilling its nutritional needs. You should also make sure you feed any human food to your cat in moderation and in bite-size pieces to avoid choking, said Jessica Kirk, DVM, a veterinary writer for Vet Explains Pets. Here are seven human foods you can feed to your cat.

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Your Cat Is Totally Allowed to Eat These 7 Human Foods We Asked 2 Vets to Be Sure - POPSUGAR

Even in the best of times, spring's long days, warming temperatures, greening landscapes, and sunshine represent a time of growth and optimisma time to open windows, go outdoors, perhaps even try one's hand at gardening or fishing.

This spring, during a moment in history that will be remembered for its uncertainty, the arrival of spring feels especially welcome and fishing is among the activities that people will be engaged in as the weather warms.

For some, fishing is a means of outdoor recreation. For others, it is a livelihood. And for others, it represents an affordable way to meet their nutritional needsespecially pressing now, given the economic hardship and potential supply-chain disruptions brought on by the novel coronavirus virus.

Since the pandemic began, grocery store fish and shellfish sales in the United States have risen and the consumption of self-harvested fish and shellfish may also increase as a result of this pandemic.

Changes in dietary patterns have public health and environmental implications, and it is important for health and environmental professionals to consider revisiting the usual approach to weighing benefits and risks of fish and shellfish consumption to better reflect a full scope of considerations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In some cases, this may mean shifting the narrative around fish consumption advisories from the current harm-prevention framework, to more of a risk-reduction model.

Fish advisory sign in Monroe County, Indiana. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Fish consumption presents a critical tradeoff to consumers even under normal circumstances.

Fish are a major source of protein and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, a class of lipids associated with a wide range of health benefits, including decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Unfortunately, environmental contaminants accumulate in fish tissue, posing health risks to consumers.

Contaminants known to be associated with adverse health effects that are commonly found in fish include methylmercury; per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs); and other organochlorines.

In the U.S., state agencies use a traditional risk assessment process to establish fish consumption advisories. The process is predicated on harm prevention and estimates how much fish can safely be consumed from a specific body of water or region that is contaminated.

The advisories state the frequency with which fish servings of a given size (e.g., two 4-oz servings of locally-harvested trout per month) should be consumed by sensitive populationsusually women of child-bearing age and young children.

While fish consumption advisories are considered best practice for protecting fish consumers there are key shortcomings. Common limitations include:

A Yakama Nation member fishing at the Horn Rapids in Washington State. Most current fish advisories don't account for cultural or personal significance of fish in one's diet. (Credit: Scott Butner/flickr)

For example, the evaluation of risks of mercury exposure and benefits of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids improves the recommendations about fish species and vulnerable populations.

In the North American Great Lakes region, about half of advisories would be more stringent if they considered inter-chemical interactions.

Further, communities fish for different reasons. A study on residents of Robeson County, North Carolina, found that the African American and native Lumbee communities sought local fish for cultural reasons, whereas Latino community members procured local fish for reasons of economic necessity.

In sum, fish consumption advisories are not well-equipped to address the complex simultaneous cost-benefit analyses of fish consumption.

Despite these limitations, fish consumption advisories have proven effective in altering consumers' perceptions and behaviors.

These results indicate that fish consumption advisories can be an effective tool if they contain clear, comprehensive recommendations.

While the advisories attempt to balance the risks of contaminant exposure with the health-protective benefits of fish intake, the relative importance of these competing factors may shift given individual circumstancesor a global pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned people's lives upside-down, including shifts in diet, lifestyle, and finances. Established fish consumption advisories are based on assumptions about fish consumers' behaviors and the availability of alternative sources of nutrition. Yet, the validity of these assumptions may be tested by cultural preferences or abrupt circumstantial changes such as natural disasters.

As individuals face economic hardship, disruptions in access to other protein sources, and the loss of recreation options, the relative benefits of fishing and of consuming self-harvested fish and shellfish may change in ways that existing consumption advisories did not anticipate.

As the pandemic and its fallout continues, health and environmental professionals need to reevaluate fish consumption advisories to ensure that they reflect the current needs of their constituents.

In some instances, this will require shifting the consumption advisories from a harm-prevention framework to a risk-reduction model. It is not reasonable, or even safe, to expect consumers to prioritize minimizing contaminant exposures if doing so will undermine their basic food security.

For example, public health professionals and risk assessors should consider making recommendations about where people can most safely fish and which species are safest to consume locally. This will help people minimize their risk of exposure to contaminants, while recognizing the importance of self- and locally-harvested fish in their lives.

Angler on the Milwaukee River. (Credit: Brandon Blanke/flickr)

Environmental and health authorities should consider prioritizing additional seafood tissue monitoring in 2020 to ensure that risk assessors and public health professionals have the best available data when making recommendations about areas where fish are the least contaminated.

Clinicians should consider asking patients whether their dietary patterns have changed during the pandemic, particularly changes in their reliance on self-harvested foods, including fish and shellfish.

Clinicians should also consider recommending that patients prioritize other sources of protein for members of their family who are most vulnerable pregnant women; children; women of childbearing ageto the adverse effects of contaminants in fish.

Fish and game agencies and other environmental organizations should make additional efforts to publicize fish consumption advisories to ensure that anglers have the available information to make the best choices for themselves and their families. Distributing local advisories with fishing licenses and/or posting new signs in all languages commonly spoken in a region are examples of how the information could be better disseminated.

Researchers should consider asking questions about commercial and self-harvested fish and shellfish consumption patterns among participants in new and existing studies to document how the pandemic has affected fish consumption.

Finally, it is important for health and environmental professionals to identify their own communities' specific needs with respect to self-harvested fish. While we know that fishing confers many nutritional and psychological benefits, the salience of different benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic will vary across populations.

Advising the public effectively about fish consumption requires an understanding of the risks presented by contaminant exposures, but it also requires a willingness to listen.

Knowledge about environmental hazards is only as valuable as knowledge of their context, and as the context shifts, so must we all.

Kathryn Crawford is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Brittany Cleary is a Junior at Dartmouth College. Caredwen Foley is a graduate student at the Boston University School of Public Health, Wendy Heiger-Bernays is a Clinical Professor of Environmental Health at the Boston University School of Public Health.

Their views do not necessarily represent those of Environmental Health News, The Daily Climate or publisher, Environmental Health Sciences.

Banner photo: Fishing in New York City. (Credit: Liz/flickr)

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Reevaluating fish consumption advisories during the COVID-19 pandemic: Analysis - Environmental Health News

While the Mediterranean Diet is not one specific diet plan, it reflects an eating pattern common to many countries in the Mediterranean region (Greece, Italy, Crete, Turkey, etc.) that is associated with decreased health risks and increased longevity.

Principles of this eating pattern include incorporating more whole grains, nuts, and legumes/beans; eating more fruits and vegetables; using olive oil as the primary fat in the diet, choosing fish and beans as the primary protein source, and limiting refined flours, sugars and high fat meats.

Studies have shown that for people with Type 2 diabetes, following a Mediterranean meal plan can decrease fasting glucoses, decrease A1C levels, and increase insulin sensitivity. It can also improve markers for heart disease, including decreasing blood pressure levels, and improving cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

If youre not already following a meal plan that is Mediterranean based, it is easier than most people think. Its a good idea to start with small changes. For instance, start with one of these steps at a time and before you know it, youll be eating healthier.

1. Substitute one meat meal a week with a fatty fish based meal. Examples of fatty fish include salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines.

2. Substitute one meat meal a week with a vegetarian based meal using beans or lentils.

3. Try a new whole grain once a month. Ideas include brown rice, quinoa, farro, barley or oats.

4. Increase your vegetable intake by at least one more serving per day

5. Use olive oil when sauting, roasting and in homemade salad dressings. This will help to reduce your intake of other fats.

During COVID-19, it is still possible to incorporate Mediterranean eating principles into your diet. Canned and dried beans and lentils are readily available, as are canned tuna, salmon and sardines.

These, plus whole grains like farro, barley and oats, keep for long periods of time. Fresh vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, onions, turnips and carrots also store well. Take advantage of frozen vegetables, too.

Tip #1 recipe: Mediterranean Tuna Salad

2 (5 ounce) cans chunk light tuna in water, drained

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon dried

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Combine tuna, onion and parsley in a medium bowl.

2. Whisk oil, lemon juice, lemon zest and pepper to make the dressing. Toss with the tuna mixture.

Serve on lettuce/spinach leaves with whole grain crackers

Serves: 4; Calories: 165; Carbohydrate: 2g; Protein: 17g; Total fat: 9.5g; Sodium: 200mg

Tip #2 recipe: Instant Pot Curry Lentil Soup

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced or 1 tsp dried ginger

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 (13.5 oz) can lite coconut milk

1 (28 oz) can low sodium crushed or diced tomatoes

2 cups low sodium vegetable broth

2 cups fresh spinach or unthawed & drained spinach

1. Add all ingredients except spinach into an instant pressure cooker.

2. Seal instant cooker and set to pressure cook on high for 5 minutes.

3. Once the 5 minutes are complete, do a quick release of the pressure. Wait to open the lid until all the pressure has been released.

Serves: 12; Calories: 188; Fat: 12g; Protein: 9 g; Carbohydrate: 28 g; Fiber: 6 g; Sodium: 307 mg

Melissa Gaither is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes care and education specialist and provides both nutrition counseling and diabetes education and support. Melissa works with patients at the Healthpark, in Madisonville and Ohio County. She is also a certified lifestyle coach for the Diabetes Prevention Program. She helps with the diabetes support group and cooking programs for the public.

Amanda Owen is the founder and executive director of Puzzle Pieces. Follow Amandas Blog: Pieces of Me: Perspectives on Inclusion and Acceptance, http://www.piecesofme.org.

Amanda Owen is the founder and executive director of Puzzle Pieces. Follow Amanda's Blog: Pieces of Me: Perspectives on Inclusion and Acceptance, http://www.piecesofme.org.

Originally posted here:
Diabetes and the Mediterranean diet | News - messenger-inquirer

BATON ROUGE Since 2018, orange cones have been lining Government Street while crews work on the road diet project.

The project has been delayed with rain being the biggest problem. But DOTD says they have a completion date, and the lack of drivers on the road during the coronavirus pandemic is helping in this.

This has allowed us to come back and reclaim some of the time that weve lost, DOTD Secretary Dr. Shawn Wilson said. Maybe not necessarily finish it early, but it may help us finish on time based on the weather delays that weve experienced.

Wilson says the contractor has been able to move extra crews to work during the day rather than at night for the past couple of weeks.

Working at night is difficult because you have to set up your safety, do your work, and then demobilize your safety. So you dont get the full time of work that you work during a day time configuration, Dr. Wilson said.

Right now, the project is looking to be done in the Fall. Crews are now adding in left-turning lanes and medians.

This will reduce some of the congestion in this corridor, Dr. Wilson said.

The medians are only being built in certain spots, including in front of Jays Bar-B-Q.

Which means if anyone is traveling east they will not be able to turn in. They have to turn in on the corner over here, the owner, Melton Leblanc said. Its going to be a bit on an inconvenience, but I dont think its going to kill us.

The roundabout on Lobdell will likely take the longest to complete.

Roundabouts are built in segments and in phases, so I suspect that it will be one of the latter ends because of the sequencing and needing to manage traffic through there during construction, Dr. Wilson said.

The road diet includes reducing a 4 mile stretch of Government St. from four lanes to three, with one lane in each direction and a center turn lane.

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Less traffic helped keep Government Road Diet on track for completion - WBRZ