Have you ever heard someone say, "breakfast is the most important meal of the day", or give you advice about why it's vital to start the day with a healthy breakfast? It seems that this meal, for many of us, is necessary for our day to start well, but is it really that important?
The word "breakfast" comes from "breaking the fast"— the idea of ending the period in which we don't eat during the night. The regeneration process that takes place while we sleep consumes some of our natural food reserves. Breakfast gives us an opportunity to replenish those reduced stores of things like protein and calcium. So, in that way, a healthy breakfast makes sense.
There are also many often-quoted studies which seem to connect a state of being overweight with not eating breakfast. In fact, it leads many health experts to advise a healthy breakfast to not only control but also lose weight. In a US study, 50,000 people were monitored over seven years, and those who ate a healthy breakfast were found to have a lower BMI (体重指数), which seems to suggest that breakfast may indeed help people maintain a healthy weight.
But it might not be as simple as that. Alexandra Johnstone, professor of appetite research at the University of Aberdeen, suggests those who do not have breakfast might be less aware of healthy diets and nutrition, and people who eat breakfast might have a healthier lifestyle overall exercising and not smoking, for example. And he also points out that with the rise in popularity of intermittent (间歇性的) fasting to lose weight, there may also be some benefits to not eating breakfast, like improving blood sugar control and lowering blood pressure.
So, while breakfast has its benefits, it might not be the most important meal. It seems that a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet might be more important for many of us than just one single meal.
Got vegan milk? The amount of faux (人造的) dairy products is growing and the choices seem endless. You can buy products made of soy, almond, rice, oats, and coconut, in regular or flavored varieties.
A report shows that sales of plant-based dairy alternatives grew twice as fast in 2020 as real milk. But some people won't make the switch because the alternatives don't taste the same as milk. Now, a milk alternative is being launched that actually tastes like it came from a cow. Danone, which is known for its yogurt, will be launching two new milk alternatives in North America that the company expects to fill this place.
Silk's Next Milk and So Delicious' Wondermilk will both be made of oat milk, coconut milk, coconut oil, and soy. Danone is counting on the new products to reach people who want to switch from dairy for health or ethical reasons but enjoy the taste of milk in their coffee and breakfast cereal.
"There's been a group of consumers who remain skeptical about plant-based offerings, largely because of their taste and texture, "John Starkey said. "From our research, we saw that there were about 53 per cent of people who say that they wouldn't purchase plant-based beverages because of their taste."
While the company has been in the faux dairy business since 2016, the products did not have the real dairy taste. The company used its experience with both real dairy and faux dairy products to refine the new offerings.
There are other milk alternatives available that also aim to be more milk like. Notco, a company, located in Chile, produces a milk alternative called Not Milk that is made of sunflower oil, pea protein, water, and pineapple juice. Another pea-based product called Wunda was launched by Nestle in Europe in 2021. The food giant Impossible Foods is also working on their own version of milk called Impossible Milk. The company is looking to corner the faux dairy market the same way its Impossible Burger did when it was released in 2016.
Despite the life-saving COVID-19 vaccines (疫苗), so many people died in the second year of the pandemic in the US that the nation's life expectancy dropped for a second year in a row last year, according to a new analysis.
The analysis of government statistics found US life expectancy fell by just under half a year in 2021, adding to a dramatic drop in life expectancy that occurred in 2020. Dr. Steven Woolf, a professor of population health and health expert at Virginia Commonwealth University, who helped conduct the analysis, said many of the deaths occurred in people in the prime of their lives. And Woolf added that it drove the overall US life expectancy to fall to 76.6 years—the lowest in at least 25 years.
"Shame on the US," said Noreen Goldman, a professor at Princeton University. The 2021 drop came after US life expectancy fell in 2020, dropping by almost two years. It's unclear why this happened, but Woolf and others thought it may be due in part to some Americans more likely to live in states with fewer restrictions, so they let down their guard more, while often refusing to get vaccinated.
"The deaths that occurred in 2021 were a product not only of a lack of COVID-19 vaccines, which was a factor, but also being in places that didn't observe policies like masking and social distancing that prevented spread of the virus, which was the main reason," Woolf said.
The 2021 drop also widened the gap in life expectancy between the US and other countries, the analysis found. That was due primarily to lower vaccination rates in the US, researchers said. The researchers also said a big part of that was fewer restrictions and more vaccine hesitation in the US, which resulted in lower vaccination rates and a much higher death number. The other health problems like heart attack and overweight also played a role, they said.
"We spent a fortune on medical care and we're a high-income country. Our government should be able to do far better," Goldman said.
As the weather gets colder, we start wearing jackets, and most of us stop thinking about the sun. But the sun's rays can be just as harmful when it's cold and cloudy outside. "Any exposed area of your body can still get sunburned," Dr. Apple A. Bodemer, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Live Science.
Whether you spend a day on the slopes or clearing snow out of your driveway, your face is still getting exposed to the sun's radiation in the form of ultraviolet（紫外线）（UV）light, which can go deep into your skin cells, causing DNA damage, according to Bodemer.
The sun's long ultraviolet A (UVA)waves can cause earlier aging and wrinkles, while its shorter ultraviolet B (UVB) rays are known for causing skin reddening and bums.
Skin damage caused by UV exposure increases over time. More exposure to radiation contributes to severer damage, even skin cancer. In addition, snow and ice can also make sun damage worse. They reflect up to 80 percent of UV rays reaching the ground. That means you get heat from both the sky and the ground. And skiers and snowboarders increase their risk of getting sunburned even more because UV exposure increases at higher altitudes.
"Generally, the biggest factor for sun-sensitivity is how pale your skin is," Bodemer said. "But the reality is that even the individual with the darkest skin can get sun damage. "
Luckily, the solution to protecting your skin is simple: Wear sunscreen every day. Rigel recommended using sunscreen with a sun protection factor（SPF）of at least 30, and that SPFs go higher at higher altitudes. As a rule of thumb, SPF 30 will block 97 percent of UVB rays, SPF 50 blocking 98 percent, and SPF 100 blocking 99 percent. Whatever kind of sunscreen you use, it's important to apply it once about every 2 hours.
Rigel also suggested sunscreens with "broad spectrum" - to protect against both UVB and UVA rays - as well as sunscreens that are water-resistant for up to 80 minutes. That way, you can go about your day without it wearing off too quickly.
"You are what you eat" is one of the most common cliches in dieting and health, entering wide use with the publication of Victor Lindlahr's book in 1942. The phrase narrowly assumes that our health is only determined by dieting, something that advocates of popular diets also want us to believe. The reality, however, is that our health and longevity are determined by much more than just diet. Exercising, avoiding risky behaviors, and staying productive can offset a less-than-perfect diet.
"What it suggests is that our health is rigidly determined by the specific foods and nutrients we put in our bodies. It says that if two people put the same foods in their bodies, they will have the same level of health, "sports nutritionist Matt Fitzgerald wrote in his 2014 book Diet Cults, in which he criticized many popular diet trends for being unscientific and ultimately ineffective.
Science has revealed a more detailed truth, Fitzgerald says. "We are what our bodies do with what we eat, "he clarified. The two great pillars of a healthy body are diet and exercise, and both affect physical functioning. "You are what you eat" ignores the fact that what we do with our bodies may be just as important as what we put in them. Fitzgerald cautions that one cannot simply eat whatever one wants. Candy for every meal will not provide the nutrients that the body needs. But one also doesn't have to eat a perfect diet all the time to maximize health and longevity.
As the century-long Longevity Project, a study which followed long-lived individuals, has shown, there are numerous aspects of a person's life equally or more important than diet that determine health and lifespan. Simply being ambitious, productive, and engaged while avoiding destructive behaviors like smoking, drinking to excess, abusing drugs, or driving too fast prolongs life and keeps us in good shape.
So yes, we are much, much more than what we eat.
The federal school lunch program for 30 million low-income children was created more than half a century ago to combat malnutrition(营养不良). A breakfast program was added during the 1960s, and both attempted to improve the nutritional value of food served at school.
More must be done to fight the childhood obesity epidemic(流行的), which has caused a frightening peak in weight-related disorders like diabetes, high-blood pressure and heart disease among young people. The place to start is schools, where junk food sold outside the federal meals program—through snack bars and vending machines—has pretty much canceled out the benefits of all those efforts.
Federal rules that govern the sales of these harmful foods at school are limited and have not been updated for nearly 40 years. Until new regulations are written, children who are served healthy meals in the school cafeteria will continue to buy candy drinks and high sodium(钠) snacks elsewhere in school.
Many states' school districts have taken positive steps, but others are likely to resist, especially districts that sell junk food to finance athletic program extracurricular activities, and even copier expenses.
Those districts should take note of a study released in 2009 in West Virginia showing that the budgetary costs of switching from sodas to healthy drinks such as fruit juice, milk, and water were very little. Even if the switch costs money, so be it. The school should not be trading their students' health to buy office supplies.
Over the last 50 years, the obesity rates for adolescents have tripled. Unless there is decisive action, weight and inactivity-related disorders will bother a steady larger proportion of the work force and replace smoking as the leading cause of premature death.
From crystal-blue lakes to snow-capped mountains and thousand-year-old trees, Canada's nature is admired around the world. Now it might also be just what the doctor ordered. An ambitious new programme allows doctors to write prescriptions (处方) for free annual passes to Canada's national parks, encouraging their patients to improve their health -both mental and physical-by taking a stroll in nature.
The prescriptions are provided by PaRX, in partnership with Parks Canada. The first passes were handed out last month, giving holders access to more than 80 national parks, historic sites and nature reserves. PaRX, a health initiative launched in 2019 by the British Columbia Parks Foundation, notes on its website that spending lime in nature can lead to longer lives, increased energy, reduced stress and anxiety, improved heart health, less pain and better mood. Vitamin D from the sun's rays has proven health benefits. The organization also hopes that the prescriptions will boost investment in conservation in Canada.
The initial provision covers four Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Manitoba. Participating doctors have only 100 annual passes to hand out for now, but PaRX hopes that the programme will be expanded.
"Medical research now clearly shows the positive health benefits of connecting with nature," Steven Guilbeault, the environment minister, said. "I am confident this programme will quickly show its enormous value to the well-being of patients as il continues to expand throughout the country."
Canada's physicians are already in the habit of prescribing "nature therapy" as a treatment for anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, immune function and insomnia (失眠). Previously, though, they would write more general prescriptions, such as spending time in nature twice a week, for at least 20 minutes at a time. This is the first time that they have been able to equip their patients with tickets.
Anyone who's tried different weight-loss diets is probably familiar with their pitfalls. Low-calorie diets often leave you tired and hungry. Low-fat diets are also tough to follow and, contrary to popular belief, they do not seem to prevent heart disease.
Another diet trend, intermittent fasting, takes a different approach. Rather than limiting what you cat, this diet limits when you cat. It normally involves eating only during a certain time window, usually eight hours, over a single day. For example, you would eat only during the hours of 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. and then fast during the other 16 hours. For some people, that change may be easier to manage, says Dr. Eric Rim, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
Short-termism studies suggest that people stick to intermittent fasting diets as well as or better than they do to other diets. And according to a 2019 review article in the journal Nutrients, intermittent fasting promotes weight loss and may reduce risk factors linked to heart disease, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and unhealthy blood lipid levels.
"However, we are currently unsure about how well this diet works over the long term, "says Dr. Rim, noting that there are just two long-term studies of intermittent fasting, each lasting a year. Nor are there large populations of people who've followed this eating pattern for years. That's in contrast to two other diets linked to a healthy heart and healthy body size—the Mediterranean diet and a vegetarian diet.
Some experts add that intermittent fasting diets typically don't specify what foods you should eat. "As a nutritional epidemiologist, that makes me a little uncomfortable," Dr. David Mushen admits. Eating burgers and French fries five days a week and a single breakfast sandwich on your low-calorie day wouldn't be-healthy, he says. But with any diet, it's often a good idea to ease into the changes. You could start by trying a 5:2 diet or time-resisted eating. Once you start losing weight, you can gradually introduce more healthy foods, he suggests.
Getting less sleep has become a bad habit for most American kids. According to a new survey(调查) by the National Sleep Foundation, 51% of kids aged 10 to 18 go to bed at 10 pm or later on school nights, even though they have to get up early. Last year the Foundation reported that nearly 60% of 7- to 12-year-olds said they felt tired during the day, and 15% said they had fallen asleep at school.
How much sleep you need depends a lot on your age. Babies need a lot of rest: most of them sleep about 18 hours a day! Adults need about eight hours. For most school-age children, ten hours is ideal(理想的). But the new National Sleep Foundation survey found that 35% of 10- to 12-year-olds get only seven or eight hours. And guess what almost half of the surveyed kids said they do before bedtime? Watch TV.
＂More children are going to bed with TVs on, and there are more opportunities to stay awake, with more homework, the Internet and the phone,＂ says Dr. Mary Carskadon, a sleep researcher at Brown University Medical School. She says these activities at bedtime can get kids all excited and make it hard for them to calm down and sleep. Other experts say part of the problem is chemical. Changing levels of body chemicals called hormones not only make teenagers' bodies develop adult characteristics, but also make it hard for teenagers to fall asleep before 11 pm.
Because sleepiness is such an issue for teenagers, some school districts have decided to start high school classes later than they used to. Three years ago, schools in Edina, Minnesota, changed the start time from 7:25 am to 8:30 am. Students, parents and teachers are pleased with the results.
Life was easier when it wasn't so long: learn when you're young, work while you're able, then resign yourself to a slow period repose（休息）— and decline. But in the past century, scientific advancements have added decades to the average human life span, leaving a person's timeline with a long, often aimless tail.
Finding rewarding ways to fill these extra years - particularly in ways that emphasize social ties — is the best way to prolong them, research is finding. "The things that we understand now to be important for healthy longevity" — things like connecting with others, a positive outlook, making peace with getting older — "have been trivialized over the years by some scientists. We now know that shouldn't be the case," says Paul Irving, chairman of the Center for the Future of Aging at the Milken Institute, a think tank that studies older age. "One of the great opportunities we all have is to continue that search for meaning, that aspiration to do our most enjoyable and important work later in our lives."
Here are other strategies that may help you make the most of your extra years.
EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY
It's hard to beat face time, but Face Time (and the like) can also help older adults feel less alone, research shows. "I think a lot of work can be done to make the existing social networks more accommodating to older adults," Irving says.
WELCOME AGING
Your feelings about getting older might determine how well you age and even how well your brain holds up against Alzheimer's. A team of researchers at Yale University found that when people who thought negatively about aging were simply primed to view it in a better light, they said they felt more positively about aging and even showed improvements in physical strength.
SET GOALS, TAKE RISKS
Plenty of research links a sense of purpose to longevity. But how do people search for a purpose if they don't have one? Take an online course, volunteer, do anything new that challenges you. "The assumption that you should only do one thing in your life, to me, makes no sense," says Irving.
EXPECT THE BEST
People with a positive outlook recover better after having a heart attack than those who are more pessimistic, a recent study shows. That's partly because a hopeful attitude is linked to other healthy behaviors, like quitting smoking and maintaining a healthy diet. Optimism is also linked to fewer chronic illnesses, less depression and even a stronger immune response to bugs like the flu.
