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According to Dr MichaelMosley, creator of the 5:2 Diet,the recent outbreak of the coronavirus has shown us just how vulnerable we are to the emergence of new infectious diseases: The spread of this novel virus is a particular problem becausecurrentlywe have no reliable drugs to combat it and no vaccine, he says, so currently one of our best forms of defence, alongside following government advice on social distancing and hand washing, is a fully active immune system.

Your immune system is a complex army of cells, says DrMosley, which are there to identify and destroy any potentially dangerous invaders. But to do this effectively the army needs to be in the best possible condition for combat.

As we get older our immune system tends to get weaker and less effective, but there are things we can all do to keep ours in good shape and ready to take on all comers. One way is to bolster your microbiome, the microbes that live in your gut. They are central to our health, our mood, better sleep, allergy prevention, and importantly at the moment, immunity. Along with the guts ability to help manage a healthy weight, its clear that for long-term health, we need to start from the inside.

The microbiome is a community of trillions of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes that live mainly in the large intestine or colon. Our personal microbiome is shaped by our genetics, but it is also strongly affected by what we eat, how we exercise and how we live day-to-day.

As we get older, having lots of good bacteria living in our gut is increasingly important because they help us fight infection and prevent the onset of diseases like type 2 diabetes, says DrMosley. One of the best ways to improve the good microbes that live in our guts is through eating a Mediterranean diet because the high fibre content is a great way to supercharge your microbiome. The diet is widely seen as the healthiest, most nutrient-rich on the planet, and contains lots of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, spices and olive oil, as well as some oily fish, cheese and full fat yoghurt.

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Dr Michael Mosley on how improving your gut health in lockdown will boost immunity - Telegraph.co.uk

By now everybody knows about the threat the coronavirus poses to our physical health, and, indeed to the economy. But perhaps there is one threat that many of us are overlooking: loneliness.

With the UK entering its fifth week of lockdown, insurer Cigna Europe is highlighting the issue noting that more than nine million people regularly experienced loneliness even before the pandemic began.

COVID-19 is not only a life-threatening global health crisis - for many societies, its also becoming a major social crisis, said Dr Peter Mills. The pandemic is unprecedented for the entire world, and is having a tremendous impact on healthcare professionals, businesses, and above all, individual people.Were having to adjust to dealing with uncertainty, working differently, having to home school children, and trying to make sure that everybody stays healthy, safe, and is physically active.

Feelings of loneliness can happen because of many factors, however in this current period of social isolation, it most frequently arises because of the forced separation from those we love, or due to the lack of social connections with other people, added Dr Inge Schrever. For this reason, its important to bear in mind that, despite the fact that it is a temporary phenomenon, solitude during the isolation period can, without question, significantly reduce our quality of life, negatively impacting our health and well-being, especially among the most vulnerable groups. Although the seriousness of the situation is undeniable, the good news is that, by applying certain guidelines, we can help curb the feeling of loneliness, so that our health and wellbeing are not affected during this period.

With this in mind, the insurer is offering eight top tips that it believes can help keep your mental health on track at this time.

Read more here:
Cigna shines spotlight on the 'other' great COVID-19 threat - Insurance Business UK

Let us step away from the dreaded C word that has engulfed us and focus on how one can focus on ones well-being and how Mother Nature provides both the means and the solutions to balance ones life. Both an art and a science, one of mankinds oldest forms of plant-based wellness and healing methodology from India, which dates back more than 5,000 years, is Ayurveda (translated as the science of life in Sanskrit), also referred to as Mother of All Healing.

Ayurveda finds mention in the ancient Vedic culture, and its knowledge was passed down orally from the gurus (masters or teachers) to their disciples for many thousands of years. This practice of wellness places emphasis on prevention and encourages the maintenance of health through close attention to balance in ones life, right thinking, diet, lifestyle, and the use of herbs.

It is said that knowledge of Ayurveda enables one to understand how to create this balance of body, mind, and consciousness according to ones own individual constitution and how to make lifestyle changes to bring about and maintain this balance.

Like many beliefs from India, where energy fields are at the focal point, Ayurveda also says that each person has a particular energy pattern a unique combination of physical, mental, and emotional characteristics that comprise their own constitution. This constitution is determined at conception by a number of factors and remains the same throughout ones life.

Many factors, both internal and external, act upon us to disturb this balance and are reflected as a change in ones constitution from the balanced state. Examples of these emotional and physical stresses include ones emotional state, diet and food choices, seasons and weather, physical trauma, and work and family relationships. Once these factors are understood, one can take appropriate actions to nullify or minimise their effects or eliminate the causes of imbalance and re-establish ones original constitution. Balance is the natural order; imbalance is disorder. Health is order; disease is disorder. Within the body, there is constant interaction between order and disorder. When one understands the nature and structure of disorder, one can re-establish order.

In Ayurveda, body, mind, and consciousness work together in maintaining balance. They are simply viewed as different facets of ones being. Ayurveda identifies three basic types of energy, or functional principles, that are present in everyone and everything. Since there are no single words in English that convey these concepts, we use the original Sanskrit words vata, pitta, and kapha. These principles can be related to the basic biology of the body. Vata is the energy of movement, pitta is the energy of digestion or metabolism, and kapha is the energy of lubrication and structure.

All people have the qualities of vata, pitta, and kapha, but one is usually primary, one is secondary, and the third is usually least prominent. The cause of diseases, according to Ayurveda, is a lack of proper cellular function due to an excess or deficiency of vata, pitta, or kapha. Disease can also be caused by the presence of toxins. According to Ayurvedic philosophy, the entire cosmos is an interplay of the energies of the five great elements space, air, fire, water, and earth.

Vata, pitta, and kapha are combinations and permutations of these five elements that manifest as patterns present in all creation. In the physical body, vata is the subtle energy of movement, pitta is the energy of digestion and metabolism, and kapha is the energy that forms the bodys structure. To learn how to balance the body, mind, and consciousness requires an understanding of how vata, pitta, and kapha work together. Diet and lifestyle appropriate to ones individual constitution strengthen the body, mind, and consciousness.

Western allopathic medicine currently tends to focus on symptomatology and disease and primarily uses drugs and surgery to rid the body of pathogens or diseased tissue. However, drugs, because of their toxicity, often weaken the body. Ayurveda does not focus on disease. Ayurveda maintains that all life must be supported by energy in balance. When there is minimal stress and the flow of energy within a person is balanced, the bodys natural defence systems will be strong and can more easily defend against disease.

It must be emphasised that Ayurveda is not a substitute for Western allopathic medicine. There are many instances when the disease process and acute conditions can best be treated with drugs or surgery. Ayurveda can be used in conjunction with Western medicine to make a person stronger and less likely to be afflicted with disease and/or to rebuild the body after it is treated with drugs or surgery.

Ayurveda encompasses various techniques for assessing health. Basic techniques such as taking the pulse; observing the tongue, eyes, and physical form; and listening to the tone of the voice are employed during an assessment.

Palliative and cleansing measures are used to help eliminate an imbalance, along with managing the causes of the imbalance. This includes the implementation of lifestyle changes, starting and maintaining a suggested diet, and the use of herbs. In some cases, participating in a cleansing program, called panchakarma, is suggested to help the body rid itself of accumulated toxins to gain more benefit from the various suggested measures of treatment.

Plant- and animal-based treatments in Ayurveda may be derived from roots, leaves, fruits, bark, seeds such as cardamom and cinnamon, and milk. In addition, fats are prescribed both for consumption and for external use. Ayurveda also uses alcoholic beverages, which are said to adjust the doshas. The sedative and pain-relieving properties of opium are also used in Ayurveda.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognises Ayurveda, among other complementary health systems. It is also a part of the 2013 WHO-WIPO-WTO TRIPS study on health innovation and access to medicines. The WTO mentions Ayurveda in its intellectual property strategy. Although Ayurveda originated in India, it has now become a common heritage of mankind, and millions of people around the world use its principles and techniques to lead a healthy life.

According to some sources, up to 80 per cent of people in India use some form of traditional medicine for personal wellness. The Indian government has a Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha Medicine and Homeopathy (AYUSH) for the development of Ayurveda in India.

In essence, Ayurveda touches all facets the body, mind, and spirit and also recognises that each of us is unique, each responds differently to the many aspects of life, each possesses different strengths and weaknesses.

This ancient system of Indian medicine presents a vast wealth of information on the relationships between causes and their effects, both immediate and subtle, for unique individual that is in us.

As for coronavirus, it shall pass, but it will present us with a new normal, whatever that may be the key, as this ancient system of wellness promotes will be to strike the equilibrium between the mind, body and spirit. Right now, we need all the positive affirmations, however diverse we may be as humans, let us spread positive energies and help to heal each other.

Background information courtesy of the High Commission of India in Jamaica. amitabh.sharma@gleanerjm.com.

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The art and science of Ayurveda | Art & Leisure - Jamaica Gleaner

Youll also have to reckon with the fact that even if you keep quiet about your own struggles, your children will notice if youre swearing off gluten to lose weight while they scarf down cheesy crackers, or if you never wear shorts on the hottest of summer days because you dont like your legs. Kids are so perceptive, Dr. Millner said. We need to be honest with ourselves and recognize that if were dieting, our kids will pick up on that. They may not have the language for it yet, but theyll know theres something going on for you with food.

Avoid statements like, Youre so lucky you can eat cake, when Im stuck with these carrot sticks! It may feel as if youre giving your kids permission to enjoy their treat, but youre also reinforcing the message that treats need to be earned, or that eating carrots is a punishment. Instead, try your best to share meals and snacks with your children. And consider whether following a diet that makes it difficult for you to embrace family meals is healthy for you, as a parent and as a person.

[Is mealtime miserable? Try this.]

If youre feeling like, I need to hide my diet from my kids, maybe what youre really saying is, I dont want to do this but I dont know what else to do, said Rebecca Scritchfield, M.A., R.D.N., a registered dietitian nutritionist who offers family counseling in Washington, D.C. Its OK to be in a hard place with your body. You dont have to have all the answers. But if you want your kids to not have such a fraught relationship with pizza, then you need to work on your own relationship with it.

Scritchfield suggests evaluating any potential diet or workout plan by asking two questions: In the long run, will this plan allow me to have a flexible, positive and joyful connection to food and movement? And, Is this advice Id happily teach my kids? If the answers are no, it might be time to reframe your health goals in a kinder, more body-positive light. Forget calories, and focus on enjoying your food even the ones you think of as bad, Scritchfield advised.

One recent study on intuitive eating found that giving ourselves permission to eat any food resulted in a healthier, more varied diet overall. Similarly, choosing physical activities because you find them genuinely fun tends to result in more regular exercise in the long-term than forcing yourself to do punitive workouts in the name of weight loss. Above all, be as patient with yourself as you are with your child when shes mastering a new skill. Most chronic dieters have years of body bashing to unlearn, Scritchfield said. Allow time to learn and grow.

Virginia Sole-Smith is the author of The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image and Guilt in America, and co-host of the Comfort Food Podcast.

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Your Kids Dont Have to Inherit Your Body-Image Issues - The New York Times

Kamden Glade is a 25-year-old graduate student at Bemidji State University who is in charge of gathering most of the diet data. The Minnesota DNR and Bemidji State University have a contract to complete the project, with Brian Herwig of the Bemidji DNR office and Jeff Reed of the Glenwood office leading the overall research.

The work is scheduled to look at 11 bodies of water in Minnesota. Seven of those lakes hold muskies, but northern pike, largemouth bass and walleyes are also a part of the study that is designed to do a wide-ranging diet overview of some of the states most popular predatory fish and see how the species are co-existing in Minnesota waters.

Were taking diets from muskies, northern pike, walleye and largemouth bass in all the lakes so that were able to compare diets between lakes and between seasons, Glade said. Then we have (four) reference lakes too to see if theres any kind of significant difference in walleye, pike and largemouth bass diets in lakes that do or dont have muskies in them.

Miltona, Little Boy (Longville), Bald Eagle (East Metro), Ten Mile (Hackensack) and South Center (Chisago) Lakes were sampled in 2019 during the spring, summer and fall seasons. Other muskie lakes that are scheduled to be sampled for the study include Bemidji and Shamineau (Little Falls) in 2020 and North Star (Grand Rapids) and Pelican (Fergus Falls) in 2021. Lakes without muskies in the study are Ten Mile, South Center, Grace and Deer (Bemidji).

The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to stop spring sampling in 2020, but Glade said they are hopeful that sampling not done this year could be rescheduled to 2021. The work is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2021 with final publication of the results following that.

Glade has not analyzed all the numbers from every lake that was sampled in 2019 due to the study being ongoing, but he has taken a hard look at the data from Lake Miltona.

Most of the muskies that are sampled are captured through electrofishing at night. Researchers also looked at the diets of fish on Miltona by going along with crews from the Glenwood Area Fisheries department during netting surveys in 2019.

Kamden Glade watches as a muskie swims free on Lake Miltona after taking a diet sample from the fish in 2019. (Contributed photo)

Diet samples are taken from muskies by placing a small piece of clear tubing through the fishs mouth and into the back of its stomach. Water is then slowly pumped in before pressure builds enough to cause the fish to regurgitate any stomach contents. Some fish sampled had nothing in their stomachs due to not feeding recently.

Overall, we had a 67% full stomach rate on muskies throughout all seasons, which is actually quite a bit better than most of the other studies that Ive seen, Glade said.

From Miltona, 29 muskies were sampled with full stomachs in the spring, compared to two in the summer and 15 in the fall. The contents ranged from easily identifiable species that had just been eaten, down to matter that was nothing more than bones or a small piece of tissue.

Some of those you can identify the species based on the bone structure, Glade said. Beyond that, were working with Dr. Loren Miller from the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota DNR. Hes a geneticist. Hes able to take a little chunk of flesh from a diet and he can do genetic barcoding on that chunk of flesh and tell us what species it was.

The preliminary numbers on Lake Miltona showed that yellow perch made up the largest percentage of the muskies diet by numbers.

Largemouth bass were a fairly important diet item for them as well, Glade said. They had a decent amount of bullheads there, and also some crappie and bluegill. Then white suckers were also important for them.

Yellow perch came out to about 65% of the total diet items by number for Miltona muskies, but that is not the only thing researchers look at when assessing diet studies.

Percentage by mass, the total mass of one prey species divided by the total mass of all prey species present, is also an important factor. Yellow perch made up about 8% of the muskies diet by mass on Lake Miltona.

Thats because muskies will commonly feed on larger prey. One muskrat, one ring-billed gull, 11 northern leopard frogs and two northern pike were found in muskies on Miltona. A couple of bowfin, commonly known as dogfish, were also found.

Theyre not eating extremely frequently, but when they do eat theyre eating some fairly large diet items, Glade said. We had a couple muskies from Miltona that had white suckers in their stomach that were at or over 20 inches in length.

A total of three walleyes were found in muskies on Lake Miltona. That made up less than 1.5% of the muskies diet by number and less than 2% by mass.

Its definitely not like they were targeting walleyes, Glade said. We expected to see some. I was kind of surprised we didnt see more, just based on how often we saw muskies and walleyes in the same areas when we were sampling.

Kamden Glade holds up a Lake Miltona muskie. (Contributed photo)

Researchers for the study are using an overlap metric to analyze how the predator species are competing for limited resources within a lake. That overlap metric is accumulated by looking at each species diet as it relates to percentage by number and by mass.

It gives a number between zero and one. For muskies and walleye, that was about 0.23, so definitely low, Glade said. Anything below 0.4 is considered low overlap. So its definitely looking like at least on Miltona they are not competing for the same resources too much.

Yellow perch are an important prey species for all the game fish, but the low percentage by mass that perch accounted for in the muskies diet made for that low overlap with walleyes.

Northerns surveyed on Miltona had a diet of yellow perch that consisted of almost 70% by number and 40% by mass. Largemouth bass also had nearly 40% by mass of yellow perch, and walleyes relied on perch for their diet at 40% by number and about 60% by mass.

Walleyes, northern and bass exist in the lake at much higher densities. Miltona is managed as a trophy lake for muskies, and fingerlings are stocked at low numbers in order to create better opportunities for fish measuring 50-plus inches.

I havent really analyzed the numbers from a lot of the other lakes, but just from looking at Miltona, there was a lot higher chance of overlap between the other three species than muskies had on any of the other three species, Glade said. For instance, walleye had a relatively high overlap with both pike and largemouth bass. That was a little interesting to see, but not entirely unexpected. The muskies had relatively low overlap with all three of the other species.

Sampling is completed on Lake Miltona, with more lakes left to look at across Minnesota over the next two years. The end result should be some modern research that can help guide management decisions on Minnesota waters.

If there is a significant shift in diets when were stocking muskies, maybe that is something we need to look at a little closer, Glade said. If theres not, that also gives managers important information theyre able to continue stocking or increase stocking and have scientific data to back that up instead of anecdotal observations.

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What are muskies eating in Miltona? Local lake part of Minnesota diet study on four major game fish - Grand Forks Herald

The first thing Brandi Hudson saw in the pitch black night was a small light that grew closer in the Arctic cold.

A GPS signal had alerted Hudson and her three colleagues to the approach. She stood in a frozen riverbed waiting, the distant light the only indication that the eerily silent and dark Alaskan wilderness was about to turn chaotic.

When the light finally made it to Hudsons group, the night suddenly became like a scene from a silent black-and-white movie.

Steam rose from the exhalations of the team of approaching sled dogs, their path illuminated by the beam of their mushers headlamp as it sliced through the condensation to the trail ahead.

It wasnt until the sled was nearly upon Hudson that the sound of their approach exploded around her.

The first action for the Gillette-raised veterinarian at the legendary Iditarod Sled Dog Race was about to begin.

On the bucket list

The first time Hudson set eyes on the Iditarod Trail was nearly a week prior from thousands of feet above the ground as she gazed from the window of a small aircraft at the snow-covered Alaska wilderness. The trail cut a clear ribbon through a sea of green treetops.

She was in disbelief, unable to fathom how dog-sled teams could possibly complete the daunting nearly 1,000-mile adventure through the elements and rugged Alaska frontier.

Hudson had said goodbye to her husband and two children March 2, but her journey to Alaska started almost two years earlier, precipitated by an ominous dream.

Hudson dreamed she had breast cancer. The next morning she checked and, sure enough, it was true, she said.

An early diagnosis saved crucial time for the veterinarian and treatment was effective. Her final radiation appointment was Feb. 28, 2019, nine months after the dream she now calls divine intervention.

Her battle with cancer was motivation to attempt and accomplish bucket-list things she wouldnt have otherwise. Included on that list was to start a Bible study and lead young women to Christ.

So, too, was traveling to Alaska and working with dogs during the Iditarod.

As a young girl, Hudson became enthralled with Susan Butcher, a four-time champion and the second woman to win the race. That was when the race was becoming heavily publicized in the 1980s.

Actually, one of the first things I wanted to be was a musher when I grew up, she said. Then it kind of evolved into being a veterinarian.

The dream of the Iditarod never left Hudsons mind. She wanted to at least see it once in her lifetime. Her chance came last June.

She applied to be a volunteer veterinarian for the 2020 Iditarod Sled Dog Race, thinking her chances of being accepted were slim to none. In September, the letter arrived.

When I opened it up and read that I was actually accepted, it was pretty exciting, Hudson said. I actually didnt believe it for a while.

It was about a week before she shared the news with her family, waiting until she was 100% sure she wanted to go. Her two kids were outraged not that she was going, but that she would even consider passing up the opportunity.

That she could actually be a part of the Iditarod adventure didnt hit until Hudson was looking out of the plane window at all the snow and ice surrounding the inlet near Anchorage.

That was four days after her one-year anniversary of being cancer free.

Through the darkness

Hudson spent many long days and late nights calving as a girl on the Nuselli Ranch south of Gillette. The 1995 Campbell County High School graduate also has many years of pregnancy testing livestock in the middle of the night as a veterinarian.

That still wasnt anything like being on the ground supporting the mushers and their teams during the Iditarod. She felt prepared as she stood in the minus-15-degree night with the dog sled team approaching.

She and the three other veterinarians were about to begin their first night of work in Skwentna, Alaska, 83 miles into the race and third of 22 checkpoints along the trail.

There was no barking. The dogs just lay down until a runner came to grab the leash of the lead dog and guide the team to an area where their musher had straw laid out.

Then Hudson and her colleagues set to work making sure every dog was fit to continue the race a tall order with all 57 teams still racing in a relatively tight pack at that point.

Starting at 11:30 p.m., Hudson and the three other vets in Skwentna examined more than 700 dogs that night.

Robert Redington, whose father Joe founded the Iditarod in 1973, was the first musher to arrive. It was the light from his headlamp that Hudson saw.

She and the other vets worked tirelessly until the final team pulled in at 7 a.m. the following morning.

It was a mad rush, Hudson said.

By the end of it, Hudson had been awake for nearly 40 hours, including the prep time before teams arrived. Not until the final dog had been examined did the vets retire to the cabin at the Skwentna checkpoint, a small, off-the-grid community of about 90 people.

After about eight hours of sleep, Hudson and one of the other vets hopped on a plane and flew to the eighth checkpoint, McGrath, 311 miles in.

Shed already experienced what many vets dream of, but there was no way to predict all the eye-popping things she would see as she stayed ahead of the 938-mile race for the next two weeks.

Down the trail

As a child, Hudson was constantly going to the mountains with her parents, Kelly and Georgia Rice. In summers, they rode motorcycles and four-wheelers. In the winters, it was snowmobiles.

But the playing didnt start until the work on the ranch was done. Hudson was a hand since age 5. She and her sister werent spared any of the hard work of ranch life. They helped with the branding, docking, shearing, fencing and haying.

After Hudson completed her undergraduate work at the University of Wyoming, she attended veterinarian school at Colorado State University, where she met her husband, Jay.

She and Jay spent many years on 24-hour call as cattle veterinarians. With that lifestyle, shes never been a stranger to freezing cold mornings and taking care of animals at all hours of the night.

But the first time Hudson experienced doing so at minus 50 degrees (without wind chill) was at the McGrath checkpoint. It was so cold that her stethoscopes tubing was almost stiff enough to break and she had to take special care to keep it warm.

Outfitted in her brother-in-laws rock-climbing gear, she managed to fight off the biting cold for the most part. But seeing a sled proceeded by 14 furry bodies was always a welcome and awesome sight.

Thats how we stayed warm, she said.

Born to race

Hudson marveled at the dogs she saw at the six checkpoints she worked. She had spent many hours working with ranch dogs growing up and as a vet, but it didnt take long to realize sled dogs are a different breed of animal.

Those teams of dogs were doing exactly what they had been bred and trained for. They ran more than 100 miles every day and Hudson couldnt help but notice how happy and ready to go they were each day.

Chow time at days end was a sight to behold. When racing, the dogs consume 12,000 calories a day because theyre burning so much energy, and Hudson said the mushers fed them almost pure protein and fat a diet that would kill a normal dog.

She even started to recognize individual dogs as they pulled into checkpoints.

One was the lead dog from Monica Zappas team, called Steel Eyes. The way it responded to Zappa was impressive, she said.

Whenever Zappas team pulled into a checkpoint, Steel Eyes dropped straight to the ground and curled up like it was sleeping. And then was always ready to go at the drop of a hat.

As soon as Monica would say, Are you ready? It would jump up on all fours and bark twice, wag its tail and it was ready to go, Hudson said.

The highly trained canines werent the only ones Hudson took care of along the trail. She remembers second-place finisher Mitch Seavey arriving at the Ruby checkpoint covered in his own blood.

He wasnt doing too well, she said of Seavey, a three-time Iditarod winner. He was kind of panicked, because he had a nosebleed that had happened for three hours and he couldnt stop it.

Hudson and the other vets treated him, cauterizing Seavers nose to stop the bleeding.

Near the finish line in Nome, more complications arose from overflow water that accumulates on top of the snow. Hudson and the other veterinarians switched roles again and joined rescue teams driving snowmobiles with trailers to retrieve teams stuck in the deep slush.

Hudson had been driving a snowmobile since she was 8 years old and knew what she was doing. Her Wyoming upbringing was coming in handy, and not for the first time along the trail.

One of the few times she became uncomfortable was when the head veterinarian asked for volunteers to drive vans on icy roads back to headquarters. Hudson waited for one of the Alaskan workers to volunteer, but nobody did.

Finally someone says, Well, shes from Wyoming, shell do it, Hudson said. They definitely view Wyomingites as people who can deal with the stuff in Alaska.

The finish line

Hudson used to envision being a musher to glide into Nome under the famed Burled Arch having completed the legendary Iditarod Trail at the end of a wild Alaska adventure.

The adventure she had was just as satisfying. Hudson was the only rookie Iditarod veterinarian to make it all the way to the the finish line in Nome this year.

When the final team crossed, a weight was lifted off her shoulders. The race was over and not a single dog had been lost.

Hudson now looks at her Iditarod experience and doesnt feel a sense of accomplishment as much as one of being blessed to be a part of something so special, something she had dreamed of most of her life.

The veterinarians had to monitor the dogs for 72 hours before they flew home. That was when Hudson said she got to know the mushers on a completely different level.

Once the race was over, they let their guard down and told their stories. They were different people after the stress of the race dissipated.

The day after the dogs boarded planes to go home, so did Hudson.

As her flight took off from the airport in Nome, her only thought was getting back to her family. Her bucket list was now one item shorter.

Hudson never became a musher like Susan Butcher. But she completed every checkpoint and challenge put in front of her at the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and finished in Nome, something not many rookie volunteers or mushers can say.

Original post:
Gillette veterinarian treats hundreds of dogs along the Iditarod Trail - Gillette News Record

Even if a transient microbiome is not associated with you, says Alison Ravenscraft, a microbial ecologist and entomologist at the University of Texas at Arlington, if youre swallowing bacteria adapted to the environment, its possible that you could still derive a benefit from them. It would just be much harder to measure.

Even in humans, she points out, the microbiome (including transient microbes) can shift with changes in diet or behavior. Studying living systems that dont depend on a stable microbiome could help scientists disentangle the effects of those shifts. It could also allow them to better pinpoint the costs of having a microbiome and gain new insights into its evolution.

If you think about it, theres lots of reasons not to have an established microbiome, Agashe says. Its actually not surprising that there are animals that have gone a different route. But the key thing is, we dont know whywhat factors lead to and enable the formation and maintenance of a microbiome, and conversely, what factors might prevent those relationships.

Caterpillars, dragonflies, certain ants, and other animals provide a way to investigate the potential disadvantages of long-lasting symbiotic relationships with live-in microbes; such disadvantages tend to be difficult to measure and test. Researchers suspect that these animals might be selectively avoiding certain potential penalties of symbiosis: Bacteria might compete with their host for nutrients, for instance, or aggravate the immune system.

For some animals, those risks might outweigh the potential benefits. If they have already evolved whatever enzymes or behaviors they need to live on their own, theyre no longer bound by selective pressures to acquire a microbiome. That might be the case for Hammers caterpillars, which eke out their herbivorous lifestyle simply by eating massive amounts of plant material. A microbiome might theoretically enable the caterpillars to manufacture additional important nutrients or go after more nutrient-dense vegetation, but the insects can make up for quality with quantity.

Another factor that might bear on the presence or absence of microbes seems to be anatomy (although Agashe does not consider it a plausible explanation, given the blurred line between cause and effect). Many of the organisms carrying few bacteria have a short, simple gut structure, essentially a tube through which food gets rapidly swept and processed. That doesnt give microbes the time or space to gain a foothold and grow.

Ecological factors must also be considered. If you think about how a symbiosis should or could get up, Agashe says, its actually pretty incredibly amazing. Generation after generation, an organism has to encounter another species often enough to start a partnership thats consistently and mutually beneficial, even under changing conditions. Agashe speculates that because her butterflies and dragonflies are constantly flitting from place to place, consuming diets that change with the location and the season, they may not meet up frequently enough with the same bacteria to establish a stable microbiome.

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The Case of the Missing Bacteria - The Atlantic

Consuming that extra scoop of ice cream or another handful of chips or cookies, however, can cause feelings of guilt -- and even more stress -- along with fatigue and irritability from sugar highs and lows.

Yet the opposite is also true: Consuming healthy mood-boosting foods can deliver important brain nutrients while positively impacting your well-being.

Below are some nutritious and delicious foods that can improve your frame of mind while helping you avoid the #quarantine15 and other related health issues.

"Those who consume ample amounts of the omega-3 fat DHA are less prone to depression, aggressiveness and hostility," according to registered dietitian Elizabeth Somer, author of "Food and Mood" and medical advisory board member for Persona Nutrition.

The healthy fat "helps form healthy membranes that easily transport nutrients into brain cells, lowers inflammation and raises serotonin levels," Somer added. Serotonin is one of the key neurotransmitters influencing our mood, so incorporating plenty of DHA in your diet can help you maintain a balanced outlook.

Somer recommends aiming for at least two servings of fatty fish per week, such as salmon, herring, mackerel or sardines, or looking for foods fortified with the omega-3 DHA. For a tasty way to enjoy omega-3 fats, check out my simple salmon recipe below.

Green veggies: spinach, broccoli, Brussels sprouts

These green veggies are a source of folate, a B vitamin that's essential for the body's production of serotonin, according to Somer.

In addition to increasing the risk for depression, poor intake of folate is also linked to fatigue and poor memory.

Somer recommends consuming at least 400 micrograms of folate per day, an amount found in 1 cups of sauted spinach. Beans, peas, lentils, avocado and strawberries are other good sources of folate.

Probiotics: yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi

One of the easiest ways to enjoy a daily dose of probotics is to consume a cup of low-fat yogurt with fresh fruit or a smoothie with yogurt as a snack.

Whole grains: oats, brown rice, whole wheat bread

Whole grains are rich in B vitamins that are important for energy and optimal brain health. Thanks to their fiber content, whole grains also help to keep blood sugar from spiking and crashing, which can help you avoid mood swings.

"If you're eating bread, reach for the whole wheat over the white, since it also stabilizes blood sugar levels," Somer said. "Refined grains found in white bread can send you on a blood sugar roller coaster, leaving you jittery, grumpy and hungry."

Carbohydrates including whole grains also boost levels of serotonin, the "feel-good brain chemical," according to Somer. Adding some protein, like chicken, legumes, fish or nut butter with whole grains can help, too, as protein triggers the release of norepinephrine, a brain chemical that provides an energy and mood lift.

A whole grain bagel with peanut butter, for example, can make for a nutritious mini-meal. Somer also likes whole grain crackers or bread sticks with low-fat cheese.

Vitamin D: Egg yolks, fatty fish; fortified milks

Our bodies synthesize vitamin D from the sun's ultraviolet light, so most of us can meet at least some of our D needs during sunnier months. Certain factors including darker skin and air pollution, however, can reduce the ability of the sun to produce vitamin D in human skin, according to Dr. Michael Holick, an expert on Vitamin D research from Boston University.

So in the wintertime, it's especially important to seek out vitamin D-rich foods, like fatty fish, eggs and fortified foods and beverages, or vitamin D supplements.

Yes, dark chocolate (in moderation)

To keep weight in check, limit portions to 1 ounce of dark chocolate daily, or about 150 calories.

Coffee and tea

"When we consume caffeine, it has positive effects on mood and alertness, and people like these beneficial effects," said Mary M. Sweeney, an instructor who researches caffeine's effects on individuals in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Just keep in mind that people vary in their tolerance to caffeine. "Many people consume caffeine without negative consequences, but for some individuals, either regularly consuming too much caffeine or consuming too much at once can cause distress," Sweeney said.

For a healthy boost, check out my matcha (green tea) latte below.

Mood-boosting recipes

Total time: 45 minutes

Nonstick cooking spray

1 pound green beans, trimmed

2 shallots, sliced

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

12 teaspoon kosher salt

12 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 6-ounce wild salmon fillets

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons honey

Preheat the oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the green beans, and boil for 3--5 minutes or until bright green and slightly tender. Drain and run under cold water until cool.

Drain well; toss with the shallots, oil, salt, and 14 teaspoon of the pepper; and place on one half of the baking sheet. Place the salmon fillets, skin side down, on the other half of the baking sheet. In a small bowl, mix the mustard and honey and spread evenly on the salmon fillets.

Season with the remaining 14 teaspoon pepper and roast in the oven until the salmon is just cooked through and the beans are lightly browned, 12--14 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings (6 ounces salmon and 4 ounces green beans each)

Total time: 10 minutes

2 cups 1% milk fat vitamin D-fortified milk

1 12 teaspoons matcha powder

1 tablespoon hot water (boiling is ideal)

1 12 tablespoons maple syrup

In a blender, blend milk for about 30 seconds, until frothy. In a small bowl, dissolve matcha powder in hot water. Add milk, dissolved matcha, and maple syrup to a small pot and heat over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until hot but NOT boiling. The mixture should be very frothy but if it reaches boiling, the froth will start to disappear. Serve warm.

Yields: 2 servings

Lisa Drayer is a nutritionist, an author and a CNN health and nutrition contributor.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly described the milk blending time period in the matcha latte recipe.

Read this article:
Foods to boost your mood, now that you really need it - CNN

If youre a casual college football fan, then your introduction to LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson very well may have come during the Peach Bowl on December 28, when the junior caught 14 passes for 227 yards and four touchdowns in the Tigers 63-28 shellacking of the Oklahoma Sooners. Its a crazy stat line, only made crazier when you remember all four touchdowns were in the first half.

Jefferson was a steady hand in the National Championship game as well, catching nine balls for 106 yards as he, Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Joe Burrow, and Americas favorite head coach Ed Orgeron capped off an undefeated season with a 42-25 victory over the Clemson Tigers.

Now Jefferson is a week away from being selected in the 2020 NFL Draft, almost certainly in the first round. Of course, this years draft, which runs April 23 to April 25, wont resemble prior years. Because of the coronavirus crisis, NFL general managers will be making their picks from their own homes, and incoming rookies like Jefferson will also be hunkered down. (For Jefferson, thats with his family in St. Rose, Louisiana.) As a highly-ranked prospect, Jefferson was sent camera gear by the NFL thatll capture the exact moment he finds out his pro destination.

In the meantime, Jefferson is mixing in receiving drills and whatever weight training he can, while also studying playbooks in order to ace phone interviews with NFL general managers and scouts. Below, Jefferson tells GQ more about this unusual draft prep, what Coach O is like in the weight room, and who would win a game of one-on-one between himself and his LSU teammate Burrow, the presumed top overall pick.

GQ: Whats the at-home draft-day outfit going to be?

Justin Jefferson: I dont know yet. Still thinking about whether I want to be all classy, or if I want to lay back. Itll be a last-minute decision, but Ive got to figure out what to rock.

I imagine its been a busy few weeks for you. Can you walk me through an average day of late?

Its been very weird. Everything has been all over the place. Nothing is really scheduled besides interviews. You go to sleep whenever you can and wake up whenever you wake up. I usually get a breakfast in with eggs and bacon and toast, because Ive been trying to keep this weight on me. I tried to keep weight on at school too, but just with all the running we were doing, and the college schedule we have, I wasnt able to maintain the weight that I wanted to. My parents are cooking for me, so for other meals, Im having chicken on the grill, salmon, beans and rice, lots of protein.

I do an afternoon workout, and its chilling the rest of the day. Im not as much a morning person, so if its on my time, I workout in the afternoons. Ive been cleaning up the little things I need to improve on to be the versatile receiver the coaches want me to be. Ive got a field near my house that Ive been working out on with a couple of high school friends. Its been a combination of football workouts and weight-room workouts. I want to keep this strength on me.

How are you staying mentally sharp, especially given all the draft interviews you have lined up?

Im making sure Im studying and looking over plays at night on my iPad when Im laying down and chilling. As long as Im doing that, Im still being reminded of the formations and maintaining my football smarts. [The NFL general managers] definitely want to see if Im a smart football player. Luckily we had similar concepts at LSU, so its been more so seeing what NFL teams call those concepts, and adjusting from there.

The rest is here:
Justin Jefferson: The Real-Life Diet of the LSU Receiver and Likely First-Round NFL Draft Pick - GQ

Editors note: Beginning this week, the WJ brings back a column that was loved by readers in the past: Cooks Corner will offer tips, insights and recipes for towboat cooksand anyone interested in good food and towboat life. The column is planned to appear monthly.

Introduction: My name is Mary Ann Kuper. I currently work as a cook for American Commercial Barge Line. I have proudly worked here for 3-1/2 years. The vessel I work on is the mv. Capt. Carl Page. I am a young grandma at age 60 who enjoys her job very much. Prior to my years on the boats, I was a family and consumer science teacher in the bootheel of Missouri. A family and consumer science teacher is the good old home economics class where you learn to cook, sew and understand child care as well as health classes.

I am married and live in a cute little log cabin home. Being married to my husband has brought me 32 years of blissful love and three grown kids. OK, that sounds a little corny, but Ive got a great family. I also have three brothers and three sisters. We all love to cook. Family gatherings bring plenty of food with always exchanging recipes. I grew up in Wisconsin and moved to Missouri. I mostly enjoy and cook comfort foods. My husbands favorite meal is meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans and pecan pie, but Im pretty good at making homemade apple pies.

During my education years I had the opportunity to prepare foods for the hospitality room, veterans dinner and the school board. I also guided my students in lessons on how to run a restaurant and prepare foods. Before being a teacher, I worked at a nursing home as an activity director. During this job, I engaged the elderly in cooking. This brought them many memories. Before that, in my early 20s, I was a flight attendant serving food on airplanes.

I enjoy developing strong relationships, professionally and personally. My crew I work for today is like family. They are terrific people to be with for 28 days on the river. The sunrises and sunsets on the river are remarkably beautiful. With that I would like to close with stating:

Live well, laugh often and eat much!

Being a barge cook, my crew members rely on my ability to serve nutritious and tasty meals. This also means I need to follow the norms and expectations that each boat follows. Because the vessel works 24 hours a day, meals are offered at 5 a.m., 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day. In addition to that, weekends also have their expectations. Friday night is fish fry. Saturday is steak day, and Sunday is fried chicken day. We like to roll in taco Tuesday.

However, there is nothing worse than eating the same old thing every week. Yes, it is easier to cook something that you know how to prepare. However, how about trying something new? Still offer the same fried fish that is expected, but sneak in a little twist on the side to see how well it goes. I worked for a captain for a couple of years who shared a shrimp touffe recipe with me. It is really good and better than a couple of restaurants that serve this. The recipe may call for a few canned goods, but it is very tasty. Best of all, this recipe is so simple, it wont take away too much time from your busy day frying fish.

Marks Shrimp touffe

Ingredients:

2 lbs. shrimp (peeled and deveined is best)

1 stick butter

1 large sweet onion, largely chopped

1 large red pepper, largely chopped

1 large green pepper, largely chopped

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning or Tony Chacheres Creole seasoning

1 teaspoon all-purpose Greek seasoning

1 Tablespoon dried parsley

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can Rotel tomatoes

Directions:

Peel and prepare shrimp. Melt stick butter in a kettle over medium heat. Add onion, peppers and garlic. Cook until tender. Remove vegetables from kettle. Add peeled shrimp to kettle and rest of butter. Cook until pink. Add seasonings, soups and Rotel tomatoes. Return vegetables to kettle. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice. Serves 4-6.

Being a cook on a boat is just like being a cook anywhere. However, the galley is yours. Youre pretty clear to cook what you want with the exception of your weekend expectations of fish (Friday), steak (Saturday) and chicken (Sunday).

It is a good idea to know your crew. Why is this important? Someone could be severely allergic to mushrooms and may not have seen this in the food you have prepared. Now you have a problem. So get to know your crew! This makes for great introduction conversation if youre just starting or a new person comes aboard. Showing a real appreciation for them with the foods they like and dislike will build a sense of trust. Besides, youre there to cook for them just like a cook anywhere.

Try to understand a diet your crew member may be on so you can fulfill those needs. By offering healthy eating choices that work with someones diet, the food will be eaten. Why prepare something that will not be eaten? When at the workplace, you will want your crewmembers to feel comfortable and tell you what they like to eat. This only gives you ideas what to make, so roll with it.

One captain I worked with liked the Keto diet. This is a fun diet because you get to eat foods high in fats but low in carbohydrates. The recipe below calls for cream cheese, which is a good source of vitamin A, low in lactose and a good source of antioxidants.

Rodneys Lemon Fluff

Ingredients:

3 bricks of cream cheese (8 ounces each)

1 quart heavy cream

2 boxes sugar free lemon pudding (1 ounce boxes)

cup Splenda

Directions:

Use a standard mixer with whisk attachment. Be sure to chill the bowl. This can be done quickly with ice for a minute. Cut up your cream cheese into small, 1-inch chunks. Add one brick of cream cheese and 1/3 of the heavy cream. Whip until smooth. Continue to add rest of cream cheese and heavy cream until all is whipped. Mix in pudding and Splenda until fully combined. Continue to whip until soft, smooth and silky. Using a spatula, spread into a 9 x 13 pan. (I like using a glass pan.) This dessert is really good with any chopped up fruit.

Original post:
Cook's Corner Returns To WJ Pages - The Waterways Journal - The Waterways Journal

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