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The Mediterranean diet may help reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, according to new research.

The study, which was published in JAMA Network Open Thursday, over 6,000 Hispanic and Latino individuals who followed a Mediterranean diet and found that strict adherence to the diet was associated with greater cognition and less memory decline.

There are currently over 6 million people living with Alzheimers disease in the U.S., and that number is expected to rise to 13 million by 2050.

Data also shows that the risk of Alzheimers disease and other dementias is substantial among Hispanic and Latino individuals. The number of Hispanic and Latino people who have Alzheimers disease is expected to increase by 832 percent between 2012 and 2060.

The Mediterranean diet, which prior research has found to be protective against cognitive decline, may help mitigate that risk, the researchers say.

These findings support what other studies have found and strengthen the link between cognitive health and the Mediterranean Diet. Its great that the population was specifically Latino/Hispanic and that the foods were culturally appropriate because it suggests that anyone, anywhere, can benefit from a Mediterranean-style diet, Danielle McAvoy, MSPH, RD, a registered dietitian with Strong Home Gym, told Healthline.

The researchers evaluated the health data of 6,321 Hispanic or Latino adults who either loosely, moderately or strictly adhered to the Mediterranean diet.

Participants completed diet assessments and underwent two cognition tests.

Of the group, 35.8% loosely adhered to the Mediterranean diet, 45.4% moderately adhered to it, and 18.8% strictly adhered to the eating plan.

The research team found that strict adherence to the diet was associated with greater cognition and a lower risk of learning and memory decline than those who loosely adhered to the diet.

According to the researchers, the findings suggest that strict adherence to the Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimers disease in the Hispanic and Latino population.

While Mediterranean Diets have been consistently linked with reduced dementia risk, this study reminds us that rather than something specific to any particular dietwith any given label, or related to any one culturethe benefits come with eating robust amounts of foods that help maintain brain performance and health and avoiding or limiting those that likely cause harm, Dr. Scott Kaiser, a geriatrician and Director of Geriatric Cognitive Health for the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint Johns Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, said.

Healthy lifestyle habits have long been associated with a lower risk of dementia, even among those at risk for developing the condition.

According to Dr. Dana Ellis Hunnes, a senior clinical dietitian at UCLA medical center, assistant professor at UCLA Fielding school of public health, and author of Recipe for Survival, the cognitive benefits of the Mediterranean diet have to do with the diets anti-inflammatory effects.

Research has shown that inflammation is closely associated with chronic diseases. Inflammation has also been linked to the buildup of plaques in the brain that are characterized by Alzheimers.

There are a lot of nutrition and epidemiological studies that indicate that healthy diets such as the Mediterranean diet lower inflammation, Hunnes said.

One of the best things we can do to slow down aging and cognitive decline is to eat a very healthy, anti-inflammatory, and primarily plant-based diet such as a Mediterranean diet, Hunnes added.

McAvoy says the Mediterranean diet is easy for most people to follow.

It does not specify portions or the amount of food you should eat you eat as much as you need depending on body size and activity level, McAvoy said.

According to Kaiser, the study also shows that we do not need to abandon our culture, tastes, or food preferences to maintain a brain-healthy diet.

Rather, within the frame of our likes and dislikes, we can aim to include generous amounts of brain-boosting beneficial foods and avoid or limit those that are most likely to do harm, Kaiser said.

The Mediterranean diet is comprised of nuts, seeds, and olive oil along with plant-based foods, including fruits, grains, legumes and vegetables. Fish, poultry, eggs and dairy are also key components of the Mediterranean diet.

Hunnes says you can also eat a Mediterranean diet that is fully plant-based and include walnut and algal oils for the omega-3 fatty acids.

Red meat, processed foods and butter should be avoided.

Following this type of diet is not only extremely good for your own personal health and cognition, but it is also healthy and beneficial for the environment and climate change, Hunnes said.

The Mediterranean diet may help reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, according to new research, according to new research. Dietitians say the Mediterranean has a strong anti-inflammatory effect, which helps combat the development of chronic diseases.

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The Mediterranean Diet May Help Reduce Risk of Cognitive Issues - Healthline

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Food deserts and food inequality problems were issues that existed before COVID-19 that have only been made worse by the ongoing pandemic. With obesity rates climbing, there is plenty of concern that the pandemic has resulted in poor dietary decisions and habits that could exacerbate this growing issue.

And obesity is a well-known risk factor for plenty of negative outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and several other diseases and disorders.

In an interview with HCPLive, Colleen Ereditario, MPH, RD, LDN, Program Manager, Healthy Food Centers, Allegheny Health Network, Megan Klucinek, Manager, Ambulatory Nutrition, Allegheny Health Network, and Tori Vallana, RD, LDN, Project Coordinator, Healthy Food Centers,Allegheny Health Network, spoke about how obesity is connected to different diseases and why diet is so important for men in avoiding some of these outcomes.

HCPLive: What are some of the diseases that can possibly be prevented with better diet decisions from men?

Ereditario: The main ones are obesity, heart disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. So eating a healthy diet, along with getting enough physical activity and sleep can help prevent overweight and obesity, which can then put people at risk.

HCPLive: Specifically in gastroenterology, diet is used both as a preventative measure and a treatment when someone develops a disease like IBD. How important is it to continue to promote gut health diets with gastrointestinal diseases in mind?

Ereditario: So when you have some gastrointestinal diseases, it's really important that you seek help from your doctor and also a registered dietitian, because everybody's plan is going to be individualized and different.

So you want to make sure you have a plan as far as your nutrition goes. And also make sure you're taking your medications as prescribed. But what you are eating can have a huge effect on your stomach with these type of issues.

A lot of times, dietitians will put you on a low residue diet. That limits foods that are higher in fiber. So those are suggested when someone has Crohn's or colitis flares.

But it is important to make sure you're getting foods that include probiotics like yogurt, and also prebiotics like bananas. And this is where you know working with a dietitian, they can help you come up with a meal plan and different ideas of what you can eat.

Some foods that you want to avoid with IBD symptoms could be and again, everyone's different, but some of these foods that can irritate your stomach can be milk and other dairy products, caffeinated drinks, carbonated drinks, alcohol, fruit and fruit juices, spicy foods, fried or high fat foods.

Normally you tell people you need to eat a high fiber diet like whole grains. But when you're having a flare up, you want to decrease the foods that are higher in fiber, like whole grain breads, raw vegetables, beans, anything thing with nuts or seeds that can irritate the stomach.

HCPLive: What are some of the common mistakes men often make in regard to their diet?

Klucinek: Oftentimes men are known for skipping meals, possibly just working through the day and waiting to have one meal. Of course they're hungry, and they'll just eat anything and not be really mindful of perhaps what they're eating and might overeat at one meal.

Also what's in that meal. So oftentimes, they're highly processed foods, eating out, foods that are high in salt, high in fat, and cholesterol and calories. That can be an issue that we often hear with men.

Also something that is different from the CDC is taking a look at alcohol intake. And men are two times more likely to binge drink than women are. 59% of men say in the past 30 days that they might have engaged in that behavior compared to 47% of women.

So not only do you have issues with calories and not eating because you're replacing liquid and maybe not the best judgment with what you might be eating. But also it can increase your risk for obesity and for different cancers and for liver disease.

And something kind of unique, maybe not to men only, is they might have been former athletes and used to training and working out and eating a certain diet and a certain portion size of food when they work out to make up the caloric needs that they would have.

They kind of keep up with that intake, but don't keep up with the exercise at that same time. So that can predispose us to diabetes and some of the chronic illnesses that Colleen had mentioned.

HCPLive: How concerning are the obesity rates among men, which obviously is related to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some other diseases? And are we actually seeing those rates come down a little?

Vallana: I always like to be positive. And this one, it's a little tough because we do see the obesity rates rising among men and women, particularly in the US. The Trust for America's Health, they took a look at those rates. And overall, we're at a 42.4% obesity rate in this country, for the last reported years of 2017 to 2018.

In 2008, just doesn't seem that long ago, but we were at 26%. If we keep going at this rate, this is not good for the whole country. And when we take a look at men, in particular, the latest CDC figures, one in three men are classified as being obese or overweight.

When we look at the age classes, the men who are ages 22 to 39, are coming in at 40.3%, obesity and overweight risk. To me looking at that, we have younger people that are experiencing obesity for a greater portion of their lives. And where might that lead them more, it's a little different than in previous generations.

And then for men 40 to 59, that rate is 46.4%. And men 60 and over is 42.2%. So we look at that perfect storm of increase of age and increase of weight that might leave us at greater risk.

And I think one positive thing though, is people have used the pandemic for different reasons.

During the pandemic, we saw folks that maybe took more time for eating and exercising.

But we also have more data to show that patients who were more obese had more difficulty recovering from COVID-19 and increased severity of COVID-19. So hopefully these things will make all men and women but particularly men take a look at their health and go to the doctors more and really start to address these things so we see the rates go down.

HCPLive: Are you afraid during the pandemic that many people developed poor dietary habits and poor routines that some of these habits may stay with people?

Vallana: Working at the healthy food centers, we focused on patients experiencing food insecurity. So coming out it from that angle, just seeing the amount of job loss or hours cut, you know, people are struggling with their budget, that's less money to spend on food.

If you're on that limited budget, you're probably not buying the fresh fruits and vegetables or things that are going to expire really quickly.

So I think it definitely did lead to poor diet quality among the existing food insecure population. And then we saw a lot of people that became food insecure throughout the pandemic.

I'm sure that it negatively impacted their diet quality as well. But beyond just that, a lot of people move to remote work through the pandemic. So just staying at home a lot more not getting out as much.

But hopefully, now that things are opening up, more people are getting back outside the weather's nicer. They're starting to get back into those healthy habits. And that's something that as dieticians, we're always trying to encourage.

HCPLive: How does food access impact the risk of disease in patients? And what can be done to improve these access problems across the country?

Vallana: There's definitely an association between lack of food access and poor diet quality and poor health outcomes, which is partially why the healthy food centers exist is to try and overcome that gap.

As dietitians, we're always telling people specifically how to eat or your doctor wants you to eat in a certain way. But if you can't afford those foods, or can't even get access to those foods, how are you supposed to be successful?

So we want to make sure we're getting people access to not just food but nutritious foods and foods that are appropriate for them and for their diet. So how do we fix that problem is a little bit of I don't know if I can solve that in this interview.

But on a smaller scale, doing things like the healthy food centers, giving people, just directly getting people the food, whether it's a produce distribution of food pantry, different forms of food distributions, but also the education that goes with it.

So just teaching people how to shop on a budget, what foods are low cost, but still going to be good for you how to stretch their food budget a little bit.

I think that's how we bridge it on a smaller scale. And then on a larger scale, looking at inequities and food access, looking for food deserts, how can we make sure that people have grocery stores in their area and have grocery stores that are affordable and that they can get you there on a bus line.

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Improving the Diet of Men, Reducing the Risk of Disease - MD Magazine

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Wouldnt it be nice if there was a magic weight loss pill or perhaps some concoction that you could consume that will melt away all your unwanted fat?

Lets assume there was, would you have to take it for the rest of your life for the results to last forever?

And if you do take it in the long term, what would the side effects be?

Wouldnt it also be nice if those exercise routines promising a six pack in six days work, or if you could get your dream body in six weeks.

I once bought a fat burning cream that you apply on areas you want to lose fat, in the hope that I would not have to exercise or eat clean.

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I even bought an electric vibrating belt and several ab machines promising to give you a sixpack. But thats nothing compared to what my biggest buy was- a fat melting machine- salon style- which I imported from the United States.

With that baby in my life, I thought that if I ate healthy and used the fat buster I would never have to exercise again in my life if I didnt want to.

While I may have seen some difference in everything I bought- call it the placebo effect if you like- nothing really worked.

That aside, the problem with everything I bought is that it all had to used/applied regularly.

I didnt have the patience, time or discipline to follow the instructions and use as required. Weight loss is hard work, and maintaining your weight after weight loss is just as hard.

I have been on numerous diets or eating plans from the low-carb, whole-food diet to a high protein diet to the quick fix cabbage soup diet.

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The protein diet I recall all too well. I had met a prosecutor in court who I hadnt seen in months. She looked as if she had shrunk.

The second I had a free moment, I immediately went to her and started complimenting her weight loss.

She bragged that it was the protein diet she had been on for three months that had led to her weight loss.

She even detailed how it worked.

That night I went home and researched it and most of the comments or reviews of the diet were favourable.

So, before I knew it, I was on the protein diet and in a week or two I lost 1 kilogram. However, it wasnt long afterwards that I got sick and tired of only eating protein and that was the end of the diet.

These days I do intermittent fasting when it suits me, which is an eating plan that switches between fasting and eating on a regular schedule.

However, the downside is that you can end up eating less calories which is actually bad for the body.

What I can say about majority of the diets out there is that a lot of them actually do work, however, it may not be sustainable in the long term, because you just get sick of them.

The key to staying at a particular weight is exercising and cutting out junk or unhealthy foods. But this is difficult to stick to because there are those days, where you crave a donut or chocolates or anything sweet. But thats okay, you are human after all.

However, its important to stick on the healthy side of food more than on the unhealthy side. Its even okay to have a cheat day, or even a cheat weekend, but dont overdo it.

I have always admired celebrities and have held a lot of them in high esteem, always wondering how on earth they manage to stay looking so beautiful and in shape at red carpets events.

But then when you look at unposed photos of them, snapped by paparazzi you realise they are not as perfect as you thought they were.

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For the movie Monster, South African born actor Charlize Theron put on 80 pounds or rather 13.6 kilograms.

It reportedly took her six weeks to lose the weight. Can you or me lose so much weight in that timeframe?

Maybe we can if we had a personal dietician, chef and personal trainer. But many of us are not that lucky.

These personal trainers are like alarm clocks that just wont stop going off. I mean they arrive at your home as scheduled and your training gets started. No time for procrastination.

As a working-class person, with no personal dietician, chef and personal trainer, its difficult to be disciplined especially when it comes to exercising and eating healthily.

In addition, for a lot of people not in the public limelight, they dont get paid for looking good, or having a Size 6 figure.

They do it for themselves.

The bottom line is that if you want to lose weight, or stay in shape there are no quick fixes, you have to put in the work, exercise and eat healthy.

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Opinion | Discipline and hard work - The Citizen

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Larsa Pippen is soaking up the sun. The Real Housewives of Miami star flaunts her curves in a swimsuit via her latest social media post, while sunbathing on a boat. The only caption needed? A sun emoji. "Gorg," commented Brielle Biermann, while Melissa Gorga simply added three fire emojis. How does the reality star maintain her fit physique? Read on to see 7 of Larsa Pippen's top tips for staying in shape and the photos that prove they workand to get beach-ready yourself, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bathing Suit Photos!

Larsa doesn't believe that cutting carbs is the key to weight loss. "I don't think you can sustain that keto diet or the Atkins Diet," she told HollywoodLife. "Personally, I don't feel like those work. For me it's more about eating healthy and portion control. That's the only thing that lasts forever." "A portion is the amount of food you put on your plate, while a serving is an exact amount of food. To get a better handle on what you're eating, you could carry around measuring cups. Or you could use everyday objects as reminders of appropriate serving sizes, which is what the Mayo Clinic Diet recommends," says the Mayo Clinic.df44d9eab23ea271ddde7545ae2c09ec

"Change your attitude, poor eating habits, and maintain active rather than embarking on a standardized diet that promises a quick fix," she wrote on her blog. "Remember: Slow and steady wins the race."

"If you want to lose a couple of pounds, you have to eat a little bit less," Larsa added to HollywoodLife. "That's the only thing that's gonna work for life, because you can do all these diets, you can start them, but I don't feel like you can live that [way] forever. When you stop doing these diets and you go back to what you normally are used to, you're going to have the same results that you had before. It's a lifestyle of balance eating right, feeling good about yourself, working out for your mind, your body, your soul. It's all connected."

It all boils down to diet, says Larsa. "Being fit is 80 percent diet and 20 percent exercise- you can't outrun your fork," Larsa captioned an Instagram post.

Larsa revealed to HollywoodLife that she works out five times a week, for about 40 minutes. However, she again emphasizes that a balance of the two is key. "What you choose to eat is far more important than the amount of exercise you put in," she added. "The nutrition aspect helps to provide a balanced lifestyle. You have to do both. You cannot win if you just do one or the other."

Larsa suggests meal prepping. "I'm really big on prepping what you eat for the whole week," she told HollywoodLife. "I cook every day for my kids. I have a menu that I draw up [for] all week so I know what we're gonna eat. If you're prepared like that you tend to eat healthier, as opposed to not knowing what you're gonna eat and then you end up eating junk."

Larsa is all about the occasional indulgence "I do love chocolate," she told HollywoodLife "I love dessert and I'm known to make pies. Me and my kids make pies like twice a week apple pie, pumpkin pie. I do cheat, but that's normal. I'll just do 10 extra squats that day. I'll do 20 extra jumping jacks."

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Larsa Pippen in Bathing Suit Enjoys the "Sun" Celebwell - Celebwell

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Unfortunately, a lot of the work of keeping nitrates and nitrites low in deli meat is out of the consumer's control, according to ANSES. Many of the practices that would curb the level of nitrates and nitrites happen on the farming and manufacturing side of the equation. Since there's nothing the average person can do about that, we have to instead look at how we can change our diets to protect ourselves. Luckily, ANSES has clear, proactive information on how to limit your deli meat intake to lower your personal risk of cancer. They suggest keeping your intake of the kind of meat you'd get from your grocery store's deli counter below 150 grams per week, which is about one serving of deli turkey or chicken breast meat, per Fat Secret.

ANSES also echoes what the NHS says about maintaining a balanced diet: Consume at least five different "portions" of fruit and vegetables per day. Fruits and vegetables not only provide vitamins and minerals like vitamin C and potassium. They also provide fiber, and a diet high in fiber can reduce your risk of colorectal cancers and keep your digestive system healthy. If you're also concerned about losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight, fruit and vegetables are low in both calories and fat. Practice switching out a serving of processed meat every week with a serving of fruits and/or veggies they're delicious, and they could very well help reduce your risk of cancer.

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The Scary Link France Just Found Between Cancer And Processed Meat - Mashed

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Charismatic performance has only grown more important in tech. As a CEO, your job is to sell to all sorts of different people, said a founder-CEO in Boston. First and foremost, you need to convince people to join the company and buy into the mission. You also need to sell to customers.

Especially important are investors. Many tech companies subsist on investment capital for years, making investors perceptions critical. To do the role well, you do have to build a bit of a persona, said a founder-CEO in San Francisco. Investors are often attracted to founders that have some sort of unique charisma or personalityspecial, I think, is the word they would use.

Although neither of them do restrictive diets, these founders understand the social pressures that compel such performances.

Intensifying the need to be special is the uncertainty and gigaton magnitude of potential rewards. Founders have to convince investors that, with time and dollars, their companies will metamorphose into fat, pearly unicorns. But they have little that sets them apart, especially early on. Theres no revenue. There are no profits. Theres an idea, which I dont want to discount, said Khurana. But that leaves you very little to evaluate, other than what school did the person go to, who do they know, where did they work. Like shamans then, founders fall back on personal qualities to convince investors that they can do something near-miraculous.

While CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey talked about intermittent fasting on podcasts, in Twitter posts, and during an online Q&A hosted by WIRED. Non-intuitive, he tweeted, but I find I have a lot more energy and focus, feel healthier and happier, and my sleep is much deeper.

Perhaps. But if the scientific literature is any indication, his self-denial isnt all laser-focus and cozy nights. Intermittent fasting seems promising for people with obesity or diabetes, but studies testing the short-term effects of fasting on sleep and cognitive function typically show either no change or deficits.

So are CEO-shamans putting on a show? People everywhere intuit that self-denial and other shamanic practices cultivate power. Being human, tech executives presumably draw the same inferences. At least part of their decision to engage in shamanic practices, then, might stem from a sincere desire to be special.

But humans are also skillful performers. We pay close attention to which identities are esteemed and then craft ourselves to conform. We are guided by automatic, often selfish psychological processes and then delude ourselves with noble justifications. All the world is not, of course, a stage, wrote the sociologist Erving Goffman, but the crucial ways in which it isnt are not easy to specify. If CEOs are anything like the rest of us, their personas (including the shamanic elements) are tweaked for acclaim and then rationalized afterward.

Whatever the motivation, the outcome is the same. Look past buzzwords like biohack and transhumanism and many tech executives look a lot like the trance-dancers and witch doctors of past societies. As long as people search for miracles, others will compete to look like miracle-workers, forever resurrecting ancient and time-tested techniques. Shamanism is neither lost wisdom nor superstition. Rather, its a reflection of human nature, a captivating tradition that develops everywhere as humans turn to each other to produce the extraordinary.

Updated 7/15/2022 9:15 am ET: This story has been updated to correct that Daniel Gross is a former partner at Y Combinator, not a current partner as previously stated.

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The Shamanification of the Tech CEO - WIRED

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For many years zinc oxide was the most cost effective way to reduce post-weaning diarrhea in piglets. For EU pig producers this era came to an end on June 26 2022. Increasing antibiotics is not an option and another substitute for medicinal zinc isnt found yet, therefore pig producers need to adopt a new production strategy.

We at the Danish Pig Research Centre believe that it is important to share the knowledge that is available so that the phasing out of medicinal zinc does not affect antibiotic consumption, animal welfare and economic profitability.

During the Zero Zinc summit scientists presented latest results and showed practical examples of how to phase out medical zinc, while maintaining productivity. With the aim of increasing our knowledge in this area, we have brought together professors and other leading scientists who have devoted many working hours to finding a solution to weaning diarhoea. We at the Danish Pig Research Centre believe that it is important to share the knowledge that is available so that the phasing out of medicinal zinc does not affect antibiotic consumption, animal welfare and economic profitability, said Christian Fink Hansen https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-fink-hansen-9a20216/?originalSubdomain=dk, Sector Director, Danish Pig Research Centre, Danish Food and Agriculture Council, when opening the summit.

In 2 days it became clear that the microbiome of the piglets is one of the most, or even most important factor in reducing diarrhoea, and improving animal health and performance. The right development of the microbiome in early life will influence animal health later on. However, there a multiple factors in the current production strategies that could have a negative impact on establishing a healthy gut.

Most attention goes out to the period after weaning, looking at feeding strategies, however there is the lactation period before weaning where some opportunities exist.

It all starts in the very early life of the piglets, before weaning with the colostrum intake, farrowing environment and weaning age. All factors that could influence the occurrence of post weaning diarrhea and performance. John Pulske, CEO and Chief scientist, of the Australasian pork research institute states: Most attention goes out to the period after weaning, looking at feeding strategies, however there is the lactation period before weaning where some opportunities exist.

According to John Pulske, supplementary feeding of the piglet before weaning, with either creep feed or supplemental milk is essential to modulation of the microbiome of the young piglet: Both feeding of the sow in gestation and lactation and supplementary feeding of the piglet, has potential to establish a favorable intestinal environment at weaning, that may reduce antimicrobial use. Feed intake after weaning, is influenced by pre-weaning intake of feed. One of the strategies to increase creep feed intake is to wean piglets at an older age. Pulske: Pre-weaning feed intake will increase as the lactation length increases with the result that diarrhea will be reduced.

This statement was endorsed by Charlotte Amdi of the University of Copenhagen, At the moment piglets are weaned with an immature digestive system. In her study she determined the effect of liquid versus dry creep feeding and weaning age (4 versus 5 weeks). The results of this study showed that pigs weaned in the 5th week were half a kilo heavier than pigs weaned in the 4th week at 9 weeks of age. In addition, pigs given liquid feed weighed nearly 1 kg more than pigs given dry feed at 9 weeks of age.

According to Mike Bailey, of the University of Bristol, one of the problems is that there is a lot unknown on how the microbiome works. He agrees with the fact that piglets are weaned too young, when their mucosal immune system is still poorly developed. These animals dont have the appropriate immune responses yet against pathogens. The active immune systems of young piglets are poorly developed and they seem to have a reduced ability to distinguish between harmless proteins and potential pathogens, mounting strong immune responses to dietary components.

we still dont fully understand the underlying mechanisms, like the impact from the environment or from nutritional interventions in detail.

He adds that the mucosal ecosystem will still develop in the first 8 weeks of life. The early rearing environment has a impact on the development of important components of the immune system. And we still dont fully understand the underlying mechanisms, like the impact from the environment or from nutritional interventions in detail. This all together will contribute to low postweaning performance and the occurrence of diarhoea. Mick Bailey, argues for more detailed studies that show why and how some interventions are successful and why others dont.

WELFARE AS A PREVENTIVE MEDICINETo improve piglet health and performance it is important to look at pig behavior and welfare, said Laura Boyle of Teagasc, Ireland during a symposium of DSM in run-up to the Zinc Summit. It is know that in current systems pigs are close to their biological limit what challenges their health and therewith increased the need for medicinal interventions. You got to get the basics right, treat the cause. The same model is followed for years, but is not working anymore, new systems are needed, stated Laure Boyle. She adds that especially improving welfare of the sows and piglets could work as a preventive medicine. In the farrowing crate there is still a lot of improvement possible. Enrichment in the farrowing crate seems a good tool to increase the welfare of the piglets and also giving the sow more space will benefit not only welfare but also performance, study results show. Inonge Reimert, of Wageningen University studies the effect of loose housing on sows during lactation and results show that the robustness of the piglets will improve in this new farrowing crate design. The transition to weaning is improved what will lead to better postweaning performance.

With so many factors impacting the early life of piglets, it is clear that moving to zero zinc asks for a totally new strategy. Frances Molist of Schothorst Feed Research advocates for a holistic approach: With the restrictions on the use of medical zinc and antibiotics in Europe we need more tailor made diets and apply an integral approach that starts already around farrowing and will continue after the post-weaning period. After the Zero Zinc summit it can be concluded that raising piglets without zinc requires looking at the total picture, evaluating the piglet diets (see box 1) , but also the environment in which the piglets grow up and the associated stress factors (see box 2). That all to ensure that piglets have the chance to develop their microbiome. Zero zinc requires a healthy and well developed gut.

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Zero zinc requires a healthy gut - All About Feed

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Main findings of the study

This study examined the associations of childhood and adult SEC with recommended food habits among 1939-year-old Finnish municipal employees. Both childhood and adult SEC were positively associated with the recommended consumption of fresh or cooked vegetables, fruit or berries, dark bread, skimmed milk products, fish, and cooking oil, but inconsistently associated with red or processed meat and fat spread. When investigating all eight food habits together, we observed clear socioeconomic gradients in having several [6,7,8] recommended food habits, regardless of the SEC measure used. The strongest associations were found for participants own education, occupational class, and current financial difficulties. Participants own education, however, explained a considerable part of the associations between participants own occupational class and having several recommended food habits. Although adult SEC were more strongly associated with recommended food habits than childhood SEC, childhood SEC remained associated with having several recommended food habits after adjustment for participants own education, occupational class, and household income. Participants country of birth, marital status and children living in the household did not contribute to the associations of childhood and adult SEC with food habits. However, since only a minority of all participants (16% of women and 8% of men) had several recommended food habits, improvements in food habits are needed among all employees, including those with advantageous SEC.

Of the single food habits, the found associations of more advantaged SEC with more frequent consumption of fruit and vegetables have been broadly supported in previous studies [7, 9, 10, 40]. In addition to quantity, the variety of consumed fruit and vegetables has been shown to be greater among individuals with more advantaged SEC [41]. Beyond fruit and vegetables, we found that consumption of skimmed milk products, fish, and vegetable-based cooking fat were socioeconomically patterned. A recent systematic review showed that more advantaged SEC, especially higher parental education, were associated with greater consumption of fruit and vegetables and dairy products, and lower consumption of sugary sweetened beverages and energy-dense foods among adolescents and young adults in high-income countries [9]. Another review found that fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, fish, and low-fat dairy products were more likely to be consumed among individuals with more advantaged SEC, whereas refined grains and added fats were less likely to be consumed among these individuals [7]. Moreover, a systematic review on the Australian population showed that socioeconomically more advantaged groups were more likely to consume healthier food groups in general, but variations existed between and within studies depending on the SEC measure and food group used [40].

The inconsistent findings for fat spread in our study might be explained by the modernity hypothesis: although butter consumption has traditionally been higher among individuals with more disadvantaged SEC in Finland [11], the increasing selections of oil butter spreads (whose fat compositions are not as recommended) may attract more individuals with advantaged SEC who are more open to new and fashionable food products [2, 21]. Additionally, the inverse associations of housing tenure and household wealth with recommended red or processed meat consumption may suggest that individuals with greater wealth can afford to buy a variety of expensive meat products. However, other socioeconomic measures such as occupational class and parental and participants own education showed positive associations with recommended red or processed meat consumption, which is in line with a recent study on Finnish adults [12].

While there exist some heterogeneities in the associations between different SEC measures and single food habits, the associations between advantaged SEC and healthier overall diets have been consistent [9, 40]. These studies have used dietary patterns and scores, for instance, to measure diets more broadly [9, 40]. Our findings, which indicated that multiple adult SEC were associated with having several recommended food habits, are in line with our previous study on midlife employees [25]. In both studies, childhood SEC did not explain these associations. In contrast to the previous study [25], however, we found that more advantaged childhood SEC were also associated with having several recommended food habits, independently of conventional adult SEC measures. One probable explanation for this is that childhood is temporally closer in young than in midlife adults, thus, the impacts of childhood SEC on current health behaviours can be stronger for younger adults. Parental food habits and eating behaviours, which are socioeconomically patterned, commonly transfer to offspring [42, 43], and these probably mirror young adults food habits. Another difference between this study of younger employees and our previous study of midlife employees [25] is that in this study, participants own education explained most of the associations between occupational class and food habits, but not vice versa. Thus, educational attainment, which often precedes occupational class [24], seems to play a central role in how SEC are associated with younger adults food habits. A recent systematic review also found that education, more than occupational class and income, showed a clear association with overall diet among adolescents and young adults [9]. The effect of occupational class can possibly increase over time as employees are longer influenced by work-related characteristics such as working conditions [44].

The associations between material circumstances, especially current financial difficulties and household wealth, showed consistent and independent positive associations with both single food habits and the dichotomous several recommended food habits variable. Financial difficulties, in particular, have shown a strong and consistent association with food habits in previous studies [4]. Subjective experiences of material challenges presumably affect the diversity of foods individuals buy, and consequently how nutritious their diets are. An Australian systematic review found that although socioeconomically disadvantaged groups spent less money on food than socioeconomically advantaged groups, they used proportionally more of their household budget on food [45]. Moreover, cost acts more often as a barrier to consuming healthy foods among individuals with disadvantaged SEC [46]. Diet cost has also been shown to mediate the pathway between income and diet quality [18]. Although individuals can experience financial difficulties across all socioeconomic groups, these problems have a larger influence on everyday food choices and eating practices of individuals with disadvantaged SEC [25, 47].

The 14-item FFQ provides only limited information on participants food and dietary habits. Portion sizes were not available, which limits the possibilities to make strong conclusions about the healthiness of participants diets. For instance, consumption of vegetables, fruit, or berries at least twice a day may not reach the recommended amount of at least 500g a day [28]. However, we did not use a stricter criterion for the consumption of vegetables, fruit, and berries since few participants (12% of women and 5% of men) met this criterion (Table S10, Additional file 1). Supplementary analyses for women showed that the associations between SEC and recommended food habits were mostly similar or slightly stronger when using the stricter criterion (Table S11, Additional file 1). The FFQ did not enable us to estimate participants energy intake, which could have provided more information about the healthiness of their diets. Participants consumption of each food was based on self-reports, which are known to be affected by recall and social desirability biases [48, 49]. The ability to quantify consumed foods may also be less developed among individuals with disadvantaged SEC [10]. Additionally, retrospective data on childhood SEC may be influenced by recall bias, especially among individuals with disadvantaged SEC [50] and among older participants.

We analysed women and men together in our main analyses because of the small number of men in the study (and target) population, which disregards potential gender differences in the associations. A previous study of midlife employees of the City of Helsinki showed that the associations between SEC and food habits were mostly parallel but varied somewhat by gender [25]. For instance, participants occupational class showed stronger associations with healthy food habits among women than men, whereas home ownership and financial difficulties in adulthood showed stronger associations for men than women. However, we did not observe gender interaction in the associations between SEC measures and food habits. The supplementary analyses confirmed that the associations were mostly parallel between genders, though statistically significant associations were more often observed in women (Tables S3S6, Additional file 1).

The response rate for the survey was 51.5%, and we further excluded participants with telephone interviews and with missing data on key variables (22%), which may produce selection bias. Non-respondents were more often men, manual workers, and from the lowest income quartile [27], thus it is possible that the socioeconomic gradient is stronger in the target population (see 2.1 Data and participants). However, our sensitivity analyses suggested that the participants in this study (N=4621) did not differ from participants in the initial study sample (N=5898) in terms of socioeconomic characteristics and vegetable consumption (Table S9, Additional file 1). Differences in the distributions of socioeconomic and health-related factors have also been shown to be small in general between the target population (N=11,459) and the initial study sample (N=5898) [27]. Thus, although the results are not generalisable to the general Finnish population (since the participants are municipal employees and mostly women), the data represent the target population reasonably well. Additionally, the large proportion of women (80%) in this study well corresponds to their proportion in the Finnish municipal sector.

Another strength of this paper is the use of multiple measures of both SEC and food habits, which provides a comprehensive view on socioeconomic differences in employees food habits. Research on socioeconomic differences in food habits in younger adults has been scarcer than in older adults [9], although younger adults are an important population group from the prevention point of view. For example, a previous study showed that most of adult weight gain occurred in early adulthood where socioeconomic differences in body weight already existed [51]. Thus, our findings provide useful and up-to-date information for employers and policy makers to plan targeted interventions to reduce socioeconomic differences in employees food habits. This is topical especially now as the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to further increase socioeconomic differences in food habits [20].

Since our study showed that socioeconomic differences in employees food habits were consistent, regardless of the SEC measure used, policy actions should ensure that individuals with less material resources can afford diverse selections of healthy foods. Environmental changes to promote choosing healthy foods might be efficient; for instance, improving the availability of staff canteens in workplaces characterised by employees of lower socioeconomic groups could increase consumption of healthy foods among these employees [52, 53]. Additionally, targeted interventions to promote nutrition knowledge among individuals with disadvantaged SEC may increase healthy food choices among these individuals [6, 54]. Overall, improvements in material and structural factors (e.g., working conditions, food taxes, and subsidies) that consider sociocultural and cognitive aspects of adhering to healthy diets are needed among individuals with disadvantaged SEC, so that socioeconomic differences in food habitsand in health more broadlycan be diminished.

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While it is no secret that light can affect mood, scientists have long wanted to understand more about that connection. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences explores how a pathway in the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain associated with cognitive and emotional functioning, may play a role in this.

Researchers from Brown University in Providence, RI, and from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem used functional MRI scans to determine how light intensity affects the brain.

Their research may help shape treatment for certain mood disorders.

People with mood disorders often feel a distorted mood, and depending on the nature of the disorder, they may experience extremely low moods or even elevated moods.

Major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) fall under the category of mood disorders.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 21.4% of adults in the United States experience a mood disorder at some point in their lives. While some people are able to manage symptoms through therapy and medications, others have difficulty with treatment, which can lead to worsening depression and even suicide.

Some treatments for mood disorders include:

Occasionally, medical providers recommend that patients with SAD utilize light boxes (also known as sun lamps) to help alleviate symptoms. This may be helpful since people with SAD experience depression during months with reduced sunlight.

One of the study authors, Dr. David Berson, professor of neuroscience at Brown University, discovered that mice have a neural pathway that makes them sensitive to light intensity in a previous study. Dr. Berson and the members of the research team for the current study wanted to build on this study to see if they would find similar results in humans.

The researchers recruited 20 healthy participants for the study and used Teflon goggles to expose the participants to different levels of light intensity.

All four light intensities were tested three times in each 6-minute run, and each session included five runs, providing 15 total blocks at each light intensity, the authors wrote.

The researchers viewed functional MRI scans to check which areas of the brain were activated during the light exposure.

According to the study results, 26 brain regions showed what the authors referred to as luxotonic-related activation, meaning these brain regions responded to light. Ten of those regions showed significant sustained activation.

Additionally, five regions that responded to light activation have clear involvement in cognitive and emotional processes.

The researchers reported that the functional MRI scans showed suppression of the prefrontal cortex in relation to the light intensity.

According to the study, These findings offer a functional link between light exposure and [prefrontal cortex]-mediated cognitive and affective phenomena.

The study adds to a growing body of work in humans that light is used by the brain as a multi-purpose signal. Dr. Fabian Fernandez, assistant professor of psychology and neurology at the University of Arizona

Identifying this pathway and understanding its function might directly promote the development of approaches to treat depression, says study lead author Jerome Sanes, professor of neuroscience at Brown University.

Prof. Sanes spoke with Medical News Today in more detail about what the future holds for this line of research.

We anticipate conducting what Ill call more fundamental studies of the response properties to graded illumination in the frontal cortex of humans so as to gain a fuller understanding of the range of frontal cortical responses to light, he commented.

A next step would investigate how light intensity influences a cognitive function, say decision making while measuring functional MRI dynamics in the prefrontal cortex. We have designed several studies along these lines but have yet to start them, he continued.

Prof. Sanes also mentioned functional MRI scans could potentially become part of a process to determine treatment for patients with depression.

Dr. Fabian Fernandez, assistant professor of psychology and neurology and director at the Cognition and Neural Systems Program at the University of Arizona in Tucson, also spoke with MNT about the findings.

This is an elegant translational study (building from previous observations in laboratory rodents) that light activation of a special cell type in the retina can suppress parts of the human prefrontal cortex important for regulating the many mental processes comprising cognition and emotion, said Dr. Fernandez.

The current imaging study provided a comprehensive functional atlas of all parts of the brain that are likely to exhibit sustained responses to activation by the specialized retina cell type, he continued.

What this means is that current bright light therapies (and future improvisations) can be used to shape the function of prefrontal circuits underlying non-adaptive processes that may increase probability of depression and suicide. Dr. Fabian Fernandez

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(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

(THE CONVERSATION) The Middle Easts population is growing almost twice as fast as the world overall, and one-third of its people are under the age of 15.

As Joe Biden takes his first trip to the region as president, he plans to focus on the prospects for peaceful international relations. A key factor often overlooked is the Middle Easts lack of opportunities for young people.

As a scholar who has spent almost 20 years studying conflict, migration and youth in the Middle East, I believe their frustration could ultimately lead to an international crisis way beyond the borders of the region.

A rapidly changing situation

The region encompassing the Middle East and North Africa is diverse economically, geographically, historically, politically and socially, and often fraught with tension. Most of the major armed conflicts in the last decade have occurred there apart, obviously, from Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Since the pro-democracy protests and uprisings of the Arab Spring in 2010, the region has experienced some sort of significant conflict in eight of its 21 countries: Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen.

In addition, the regions population is growing at a much faster rate than the global average and has been since the World Bank began keeping records in 1961. Its people now number over 450 million, up from 300 million in 2001.

Widespread youth unemployment

The regions young workers those from ages 15 to 24 already struggle with the highest unemployment rates in the world, averaging 25%. Thirteen countries in the region have a youth unemployment rate of at least 20%, with the rate above 50% in Libya, above 40% in Jordan and Palestine, and above 30% in Algeria and Tunisia.

And more young workers are on the way.

The World Bank estimates that to provide employment for those currently out of a job and those who will soon be seeking work, Middle Eastern and North African nations need to create more than 300 million new jobs by 2050. This number is almost twice as many jobs as are currently in the U.S.

Economic struggles

The struggle of high youth unemployment in the region is not a new challenge. Local and international governments and organizations have tried for years to create more opportunities for young people, but with little success.

In many Middle Eastern nations, regulations and laws about hiring and firing workers discourage employers from creating new jobs when times are good, for fear theyll have to keep those people employed when times get worse again. Other rules discriminate against young women seeking work. Education and training programs dont always line up with the jobs that are available.

In many countries, the government is the one of the largest employers. In Egypt, Tunisia and Syria, government jobs are almost one-third of all employment. In Egypt, government work accounts for 70% of nonagricultural jobs. In most countries, government jobs pay about 20% less than private industry, but in the Middle East, government jobs pay about 30% more on average. This means people will often just wait for a public sector job instead of taking available private sector jobs.

Even those young people who manage to get jobs say they often are searching for several years before landing work. During this time, they rely on financial support from their families. This causes them to experience what has been called prolonged adolescence, in which they are unable to develop financial and social independence, such as moving out and getting married, until their 20s or even their 30s.

Other compounding challenges

The region faces other obstacles that make it even harder for governments to tackle youth unemployment.

In addition to internal conflict, the International Monetary Fund reports that several of the regions countries including Egypt, Iraq and Tunisia are facing a slow economic recovery from the pandemic, inflation in the costs of basic commodities such as energy and food, and financial and debt obligations needed to stabilize the economy.

Several countries across the region including Algeria, Libya, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen have less water than their populations need.

There are other environmental concerns, such as pollution, agriculture land scarcity and poor public infrastructure, which hinder sustainable economic growth.

The crisis in Ukraine threatens food supplies. More than one-third of Egyptians diets are based on wheat, but 85% of Egypts wheat comes from Russia and Ukraine. Supplies have been reduced, and prices are expected to rise on bread and other wheat-based staple foods.

All these problems have contributed to varying degrees of lack of public confidence in the economies in the region. For instance, in a nationally representative survey, 78% of Iraqis describe the economic situation in their country to be either bad or very bad. In Yemen, that proportion is 68%.

Potential effects

Often the way to improve young peoples prospects is education. But in several Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia, university-educated young people have a higher unemployment rate than their less-educated peers because most of the available opportunities are for low-skill jobs.

Rather than bringing higher earnings, education for Middle Eastern young people can deliver frustration.

Its no surprise, then, that vast numbers of young people at least one-fourth of young Egyptians, Iraqis and Yemenis, and more than 60% of Lebanese youth are looking to emigrate, often to Europe.

All these forces at work in the Middle East economic pressures, political conflict and water shortages have the potential to spread international tension, refugees seeking safety and opportunity, or even disease. The challenges facing Middle Eastern nations are all made more difficult by the lack of faith their young people have in the prospect of a fulfilling future at home.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/young-people-in-the-middle-east-struggle-to-see-a-promising-future-179927.

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Young people in the Middle East struggle to see a promising future - Plainview Daily Herald

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