PARIS: Bits of plastic have been detected in the faeces of people in Europe, Russia and Japan, according to research claiming to show for the first time the widespread presence of plastics in the human food chain.
All eight volunteers in a small pilot study were found to have passed several types of plastic, with an average of 20 micro-particles per 10g of stool, researchers reported Tuesday at a gastroenterology congress in Vienna.
The scientists speculated that the tiny specks – ranging in size from 50 to 500 micrometres – may been ingested via seafood, food wrapping, dust or plastic bottles.
Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/plastics-enter-human-food-chain-study-microplastics-10856832
Category: Nutrition
The Food We Eat
Microplastics found in 90 percent of table salt
Microplastics were found in sea salt several years ago. But how extensively plastic bits are spread throughout the most commonly used seasoning remained unclear. Now, new research shows microplastics in 90 percent of the table salt brands sampled worldwide.
Sadly this probably not much worse than what many Americans are eating now anyway. I am still up for some sort of global ban on plastics.
“The findings suggest that human ingestion of microplastics via marine products is strongly related to emissions in a given region,” said Seung-Kyu Kim, a marine science professor at Incheon National University in South Korea.
Is fasting the fountain of youth?
So far, research has revealed promising results. One study published last year divided 100 people, all free of disease, into two groups. For three months, participants either ate whatever they wanted, or consumed between 800 and 1,100 calories for only five days out of the month — a pattern researchers refer to as a “fasting mimicking diet” or “FMD.” At the end of the study period, participants on the FMD who were at risk for disease saw their fasting glucose, an indicator of diabetes risk, return to normal. Markers for heart disease, along with high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, decreased, as did levels of the 1GF1 marker of various cancers. Additionally, participants lost abdominal fat, while preserving lean muscle mass and metabolism, which is often sacrificed on a lower calorie diet.
As someone how is notorious for forgetting to eat this all sounds good to me.
Is Your Salad Habit Good for the Planet?
“That’s why I think Sweetgreen is taking off,” she said. “People don’t want to feel heavy because they want to feel productive.”
The trash cans, however, are getting very heavy indeed. Robert Buffolino, the general manager of American Recycling Management in Jamaica, Queens, said that it would be difficult to evaluate systematically whether the number of salad bowls in garbage cans had actually increased.
But if you were asking him anecdotally? “Yeah, sure, there’s been an increase. Just by sight and sound, sure.”
Moreover, “most waste occurs at the consumer level,” said Marc Bellemare, who directs the Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy at the University of Minnesota. “Restaurants and grocery stores don’t waste as much as consumers do.” He added, “most of what gets wasted is not frozen pizza, it’s not ice cream, it’s produce, it’s stuff that goes in salad. I suspect that the rise of those restaurants, my intuition is that those will mean the rise of food waste as well, because they sell this stuff to consumers, where the bulk of the losses tend to occur.”
It’s not just the food, it’s the food system.
The White Castle Impossible Burger Is a Cult Hit. Now the Veggie Slider Is Going National
I think it is kinda cool and interesting that “vegetarian burgers” are going mainstream. At the same time, I can’t help thinking this is just more processed food. Be it Beyond Meat or The Impossible Burger these are both like super-processed food. I can’t think of a really healthy processed food? Why not just eat portabello burgers?
A Major Victory For The Impossible Burger, The Veggie ‘Meat’ That Bleeds
(Wired)
Impossible Foods pulled its notice and resubmitted with additional safety studies done on rats. And on Monday, in a win for the faux meat startup, the FDA came back with no further questions. “Based on the information that Impossible Foods provided, as well as other information available to FDA,” the agency wrote in a letter to the startup, “we have no questions at this time regarding Impossible Foods’ conclusion that soy leghemoglobin preparation is GRAS under its intended conditions of use to optimize flavor in ground beef analogue products intended to be cooked.” Meaning, the FDA needs no further clarifications on Impossible Foods’ arguments that consuming soy leghemoglobin in the Impossible Burger will not have adverse impacts on human health.
Instagram! Patient Zero For The Orthorexia Epidemic Or Meeting Ground For Recovery?
(Mic)
People with orthorexia are overly concerned with whether their food is “pure,” “healthy” and “clean” enough, and often restrict their diet to a small number of “safe” foods. Those foods tend to be fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and little else.
While anorexia is an obsession with controlling the amount of food consumed, orthorexia is an obsession with controlling the quality of food consumed. The disorder is thought to have a close connection to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Many people, like Coleman, are believed to experience both anorexia and orthorexia concurrently.
Either way, you seem to end up talking a lot about kale looking at even more pictures of food. I wouldn’t know since I avoid both Kale and Instagarm. Though I am told by people in the know I have a lot of followers for someone who has never posted.
Chefs and seed breeders collaborate to create flavorful new foods
From The Splendid Table
The unfortunate reality about seeds is that most are not bred and selected for flavor. Rather, they are chosen specifically for the yield, uniformity and shelf stability of their fruit or vegetable. Chef Dan Barber wants to change that. The chef-owner of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns wants to help create seeds that bring forth new foods with unexpected and unique flavors. Which is why he – along with seedsman Matthew Goldfarb and seed breeder Michael Mazourek – cofounded of a new seed company called Row 7. They work directly with professional chefs, who give guidance on what flavors to breed for in their vegetables. Barber explained to Francis Lam that this type of partnership could change how and what we all eat. See the Cook + Grow section of Row 7’s website for more information on growing and cooking with their unique produce.
Clinical Trial Finds Mediterranean Diet Works for Depression
Felice Jacka PhD is a trailblazing researcher at Deakin University in Australia who is calling the world’s attention to the powerful impact of food on mood. On January 30, 2017, the journal BMC Medicine published her new randomized controlled study called The SMILES Trial. This groundbreaking research demonstrates for the first time that people with moderate to severe depression can improve their mood by eating a healthier diet.
Dean’s List 