Food and Health Room

[Anthea]

Humans are too numerous on earth. If they stop to age and die, what a mess.

AGREED

Humans breed like ants

The only difference being that ants work together

Humans are stupid, they are destroying the very land and water needed to survive. As well as destroying all the wonderful creatures and plant life

Here in the UK, most people limit themselves to having 2 children

Some countries women just seem to churn them out like rabbits

I do not believe that we, as humans, have a right to destroy everything we deem to be lessor animals

In the UK people are known to be animal lovers

Have you noticed that as the media spreads horror stories of injured animals. It NEVER mentions all the animals killed or left dying slowly in pain every time someone drops a bomb

[Piling]

Have you noticed that as the media spreads horror stories of injured animals. It NEVER mentions all the animals killed or left dying slowly in pain every time someone drops a bomb

In France we have few reports. An old man in Aleppo risking his life to feed abandoned cats under bombs, the rescue of Mosul Zoo survivors (my vet in Duhok was among the team), but not much.

French state is one of the bigger bastard seller of weapons in the world so we can't expect they worry about that. Our minister of war even shamelessly pretends that the weapons we sell to Saudi does not target civilians in Yemen… So imagine if they care of cats, donkeys and birds…

I'm trying the 13h/11h fasting to control my weight after Lent. In fact, it is quite the Kurdish meals : only tea or coffee at dawn, a breakfast at 9.30/10.am, and a big late lunch (or early dinner), a light collation to place everywhere (I don't like to eat a lot at noon).

[Anthea]

Perhaps you should not have eaten any of the enormous strawberry filled Easter Egg

[Anthea]

Want to lose weight?
You need to eat less of everything!

Want to lose weight? You need to eat less of everything! Leading geneticist comes up with strikingly simple advice for the perfect diet

Geneticist Giles Yeo has six top tips for losing weight in his new book

The Cambridge tutor said dieters should not cut out whole food groups

He told Hay Festival eating less of everything is key and we should not fear food

Whether it's the Atkins or the Paleo diet, many weight watchers have agonised over ways to slim down.

But now a leading geneticist has come up with a very simple solution to dieting – saying we should eat less of everything and not 'blindly' count calories.

Giles Yeo, a tutor at Cambridge University, has offered his six top tips for losing weight in his book 'Gene Eating: The Science of Obesity and the Truth About Diets.

Giles Yeo, a tutor at Cambridge University, recommends eating less of everything and not counting calories

He said at the Hay Festival that dieters need to accept weight loss is 'difficult', but achievable if they 'chip away at it a little bit at a time'.

His second tip is to 'eat less of everything' – but not to cut out certain food groups unless you have an allergy.

He said: 'Don't demonise and exclude whole food groups, unless medically warranted. Too much of anything is bad, and too little of anything is also bad.'

Mr Yeo said he once spent 29 days on a vegan diet and lost 10lb (4kg) while eating as much as he wanted. Meanwhile his blood cholesterol dropped by 12 per cent.

The geneticist said dieters need to accept weight loss is 'difficult', but achievable if they 'chip away at it a little bit at a time'

Some of his other tips include eating food that takes longer to digest, because it makes you feel fuller, and avoiding blindly counting calories.

'Food that takes longer to digest will travel further down the gut and make you feel fuller,' he added. He also advises eating more unsaturated fats, including avocado, nuts and olive oil.

Finally, he said 'don't fear food', saying it is 'better to understand food better and work with it, rather than be afraid of it'.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... thing.html

[Piling]

Want to lose weight?
You need to eat less of everything!

LOL what a REVELATION !

Mr Yeo said he once spent 29 days on a vegan diet and lost 10lb (4kg) while eating as much as he wanted

Correcting : as much as he was allowed to eat with a vegan diet, which is not much.

[Anthea]

Thinking:

Rabbits live of vegan diets and some of them become extremely fat

[Piling]

A rabbit eats all day. A pet stays most of its time in a box with few physical activity. So I suppose they make fat as a pig in its cage.

[Anthea]

I could live on vegan food

IF I HAD TOO

I love hummus

Hummus and salads

But I need chocolate

[Piling]

Eat chocolate if without oil palm. Less devastating for nature to eat milk chocolate than all vegan oil-palmed sweeties.

[Anthea]

Physiotherapist reveals exactly
how you should sit on your chair

How to sit properly: Physiotherapist reveals exactly how you should sit on your chair when you're upright, sitting back or leaning forward

Many people spend the majority of their day sitting, whether at home or work

A leading physiotherapist said there are a few things you should keep in mind

Leon Straker is a professor of physiotherapy at Curtin University, Australia

He explain how you should sit when upright, reclined or leaning forward

Many people spend the majority of their waking hours sitting – at home, commuting and at work.

Particularly when we're sitting for long periods at a desk, there are a few things we should keep in mind.

Here, in a piece for The Conversation, Leon Straker, a professor of physiotherapy at Curtin University, reveals how you should sit when upright, reclined or leaning forward.

This is probably the posture you think of as 'good' posture. The defining feature of this option is that the trunk is upright. A key component of upright sitting is that the feet can comfortably rest on a surface, whether the floor or a footstool

Option 1: upright sitting

This is probably the posture you think of as 'good' posture. The defining feature of this option is that the trunk is upright.

A key component of upright sitting is that the feet can comfortably rest on a surface, whether the floor or a footstool.

This position also makes it easy to adjust posture within the chair (fidget) and change posture to get out of the chair.

It's also important the arms hang down from the shoulders vertically with elbows by the trunk, unless the forearms are supported on the work surface.

Holding unsupported arms forward requires the muscles connecting the shoulder and neck to work harder. This often results in muscle fatigue and discomfort.

WHAT ELSE SHOULD YOU THINK ABOUT WHEN SITTING FOR LONG PERIODS?

Consider how much time you spend sitting each day, and if it's more that around seven hours, look for ways to reduce the total amount of time you spend sitting. For example, if you're an office worker you can stand instead of sit for some tasks (but don't stand for too long either)

Break up long periods of sitting with movement. Aim never to sit for longer than 30-60 minutes without allowing your body to experience alternative posture and movement, such as a short walk

Vary your sitting posture using the three options outlined above so your body has changes in the stresses placed on it

Remember there is no one good posture, but any posture held for a long period of time becomes a bad posture. Our bodies are meant to move regularly.

The head should be looking straight ahead or a little downwards. Looking upwards would increase tension in the neck and likely lead to discomfort.

This posture is useful for common office tasks such as working on a desktop computer.

Option 2: forward sitting

The defining feature of this posture is that the trunk is angled forward, and the arms are rested on the work surface.

Allowing the thigh to point down at an angle may make it easier to maintain an inward curve in your lower back, which is suggested to reduce low back stress.

For a time special chairs were developed to enable the thigh to be angled downwards, and usually had a feature to block the knees, stopping the person sliding off the angled seat base.

By perching on the front of an ordinary chair and resting your elbows on the work surface, you can use this posture to provide variety in sitting.

This posture is useful for tasks such as drawing or handwriting on a flat work surface, either with paper or a touch screen device.

The defining feature of this posture is that the trunk is angled forward, and the arms are rested on the work surface. Allowing the thigh to point down at an angle may make it easier to maintain an inward curve in your lower back, which is suggested to reduce low back stress

The defining feature of the third option is the trunk is angled backward, supported by the chair's backrest. Back muscle activity is lowest in this posture, as some of the upper body weight is taken by the chair

Option 3: reclined sitting

The defining feature of the third option is the trunk is angled backward, supported by the chair's backrest.

Back muscle activity is lowest in this posture, as some of the upper body weight is taken by the chair.

This position may reduce the risk of fatigue in the back muscles and resultant discomfort.

But sitting like this for hours each day may result in the back muscles being more vulnerable to fatigue in the future.

This posture is useful for meetings and phone conversations. But it doesn't work well for handwriting or using a computer as the arms need to be held forwards for these things, requiring neck and shoulder muscle activity likely to result in discomfort.

HOW SHOULD YOU SIT?

Many people think there is one 'good' posture. But actually, there isn't just one way of sitting.

Different ways of sitting will place different physical stresses on our bodies, and variety is good.

To work out if a posture is 'good' or not, we can assess it based on several things:

the amount of muscle activity required to hold the position (too much muscle activity could be a problem as it can result in fatigue if held continuously for a long period)

the estimated stress on joints, including the discs between the vertebral bones of the spine (too much physical loading stress could be a problem as it may cause pain in the joints and ligaments or muscles around them)

whether the joints are in the middle of their range of movement or near the extreme (awkward, near end-of-range postures may put more stress on tissues around joints)
the amount of fidgeting people do (moving about in your seat, or fidgeting, can be an early indicator of discomfort and may suggest a risk of later pain).

Given these criteria, research suggests there are three main options for how you can sit well at a desk. Each option has different pros and cons, and is suitable for different tasks.

Link to Article - Charts:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/arti ... chair.html

[Piling]

I am still searching the best position to read.

I might try this seat :

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B016J310K0/?co ... _lig_dp_it

[Anthea]

I am still searching the best position to read.

I might try this seat :

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B016J310K0/?co ... _lig_dp_it

Reminds me of a bean bag

What you really need as a writer is a handsome toyboy to massage your back

You need a firm computer chair but one that is large and allows you to move around in

You need a lot of stretching exercises, especially for your hands and arms, and eye exercises

Focus on something close, then look out of your window and focus on things in the distance

Enlarge the font, also, give your eyes short breaks every now and then

Drink plenty of water get up and move around, do not sit glued to one spot for hours

[Anthea]

'Homing beacon' guides chemotherapy drugs straight to the tumour

'Homing beacon' that guides chemo drugs straight to the tumour 'can kill cancerous cells while sparing healthy ones'

Chemotherapy often destroys healthy cells, leading to nasty side effects

Injecting a chemical nearby to the tumours 'guided' the drugs to the cancer cells

When tested on mice, the chemical shrunk the tumours and lowered side effects

Scientists have created a 'homing beacon' that could guide chemotherapy drugs directly to a tumour.

The destruction of healthy cells, as well as cancerous ones, is the cause of common chemotherapy side effects, such as hair loss.

But a study has found a new gel injected near nearby to tumours could direct more of the potent drugs to the cancerous site.

When tested on cancer-ridden mice, the gel helped to shrink their tumours while easing chemotherapy's side effects.

Scientists attached a dye to a gel that contained chemicals that target chemotherapy drugs. They injected the gel near the tumours of cancer-ridden mice. The gel 'guided' the drug to the cancerous cells, while sparing the animals' healthy ones. The gel lingered in the rodents' for 35 days, which would allow for repeated chemotherapy doses to be administered

The gel contains a compound that can be targeted by certain chemicals, which were attached onto the chemotherapy drugs.

The study was carried out by the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Destroying tumours while sparing healthy cells remains an ongoing challenge cancer treatment.

Chemotherapy targets rapidly growing cells. This includes those found in the roots of hair, which can result in baldness.

It also affects parts of the stomach and brain that detect toxic substances. This may trigger nausea and vomiting as the body tries to rid itself of the 'poison'.

In the past, scientists have tried to guide chemo drugs to tumours by attaching antibodies that bind to proteins on the surface of cancer cells.

However, this resulted in less than one per cent of the drug reaching the tumour.

WHY CAN CHEMO FAIL TO WORK?

Cancer cells may figure out how to resist chemotherapy.

There are several reasons this may happen.

The cells that are not killed may mutate and change in response, repair the DNA damaged by the drug or develop a mechanism that renders it useless.

Therefore, the drugs' success often relies on the failure of the cancer cell's repairing mechanisms.

Cancer cells may produce hundreds of copies of a particular gene, known as gene amplification, triggering an overproduction of a protein which stops the effectiveness of treatment.

Cancer cells are sometimes able to push the drug out of itself, using a molecule called p-glycoprotein.

Because chemotherapy is the first line of treatment, it is a major concern when it fails to work.

Professor Workman chief executive of The Institute for Cancer Research, said: 'Cancer's ability to adapt, evolve and become drug resistant is the cause of the vast majority of deaths from the disease and the biggest challenge we face in overcoming it.'

The Notre Dame team of academics, led by Lei Zou, therefore tried a different approach using cucurbituril.

Cucurbituril is a hexagon-shaped synthetic receptor which can capture certain chemicals in its central cavity.

The team thought injecting the receptor and attaching chemicals it targets onto cancer drugs would guide more of it to the tumour.

The tumour's acidic contents would rupture the link that holds the drug and the attached chemicals together, allowing the medication to be released.

To put their hypothesis to the test, the researchers first injected a hydrogel that contained cucurbituril beneath the skin of mice.

They then attached a dye to a chemical that targets cucurbituril to make it easily traceable.

This chemical was injected into the rodents' bloodstreams, the researchers wrote in the journal ACS Central Science.

Results revealed 4.2 per cent of the injected dye was inside the hydrogel within a few hours, far better than any other approach.

In the second part of the experiment, the researchers injected the hydrogel next to the animals' tumours.

They then treated the mice with the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin, which was attached to a targeting chemical.

These rodents experienced much slower tumour growth and fewer side effects than the animals that were just given doxorubicin.

And the hydrogel remained in the bodies of the mice for 45 days, according to the results of the study.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/arti ... umour.html

[Anthea]

Cleaning fans reveal hacks to keeping spiders away from the home

Cleaning fans reveal their natural hacks for keeping spiders away from the home including conkers and lavender oil

A home owner desperate to keep eight-legged insects out begged for advice

Several people suggested using conkers place strategically around the home

It's believed that a chemical inside repels spiders but it hasn't been proven

Cleaning fans have revealed the best way to keep out pesky spiders from coming indoors are conkers placed strategically around the house.

A home owner desperate to keep eight-legged insects out begged for advice on a Facebook cleaning group after the lavender spray she had been using stopped working as well.

Luckily many others were on hand to reveal that conkers worked a treat despite initially being thought of as an old wives' tale, as it's believed there is a chemical inside that repels spiders, but this hasn't been scientifically proven.

As well as conkers (above) suggestions include moving any plants outside further away from the house so spiders had less chance of coming indoors

One home owner asked for the best advice when it comes to getting rid of spiders and many suggested conkers, or get a cat to attack them

The woman wrote on Facebook group 'We Love Mrs Hinch': 'SPIDERS!!! How does everyone cope? I already use lavender but it’s stopped working.'

'Put conkers on window ledges!' offered one.

'Conkers in little dishes or vases hidden all over the house,' added another.

'Conkers. We collect fresh conkers each year and have them in bowls in the rooms. It really helps a lot,' shared one organised woman.

Others were more practical in their bid to keep spiders away by revealing they trained their cats to attack and kill the creatures.

Some advised that if conkers didn't work that anything citrus or mint based would also help to deter the insects away

Although conkers proved a popular solution some said that if that didn't work, choosing oils with citrus or mint scents were a great hack, or move plants outside away from the house.

'I found the method water mint spray really worked well on the skirting boars and around the doors and it smells amazing too. My bathroom was so spidery but not since I've been doing that,' revealed one pleased woman.

'Few drops of peppermint oil mixed with water in a spray bottle, spray around windows and outside doors etc, you won't see them again,' said another.

In the past scientists have cast doubt on the effectiveness of conkers with some experts say saponin gives the seeds a bitter taste and a smell that could act as a natural repellent.

As spiders seek to find somewhere dry inside home owners are desperate to keep them away from their house

But Dr Geoff Oxford of the British Arachnological Society pointed out that the Royal Society of Chemists debunked it as a myth in 2010.

Schoolchildren in Cornwall placed spiders in boxes with conkers, and found they climbed over the seeds.

Spiders were also placed in a water tank with a choice of escaping across a bridge made of wood or conkers, and most chose the conker route.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/arti ... nkers.html

I go for MINT it really does work

[Piling]

Keeping spiders away is not a good idea. Spiders are good cleaners by themselves.

Of course, some people are allergic to spiders' bites. But in Duhok, the house was full of jumping spiders, tiny and multicolored, which don't bite. They were cute.