7 Ways to Eat an Earth-Friendly Diet

Since 1970, people around the globe have been celebrating Earth Day on April 22nd.  Considering the state of our planet and the political, corporate and industrial forces that seem intent on destroying it, everyday should be Earth Day. Our world needs more care and healing and, in the absence of true leadership from elected officials and the business elite, it is up to “the little people” to lead the way.

In honor of Earth Day, here are seven ways you can eat an earth-friendly diet:

1) Grow your own food

It sounds crazy, but something our ancestors did naturally for millennia has now become one of the most significant acts of revolution we can undertake. At the turn of the previous century, most American households grew all or most of their own food. As late as the mid-1980s when they passed away, my grandparents purchased staples such as flour and salt at the grocery store but grew everything else.

How did we get so far removed from this natural act? The short answer is this: we have been told for decades that buying your food in stores is a sign of affluence. Now that food production is industrialized and run by companies equally interested in chemicals, buying food in stores is increasingly associated with obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other diet-related diseases. Do yourself a favor and take charge of your personal food supply. Whether you have a balcony, a backyard or an acreage, give it a try. You’ll be surprised how easy and rewarding it is and you’ll be even more surprised at how much delicious, fresh food you can get out of even the smallest spaces. 

2) Eat local

If growing your own food just isn’t feasible, consider stocking your pantry with locally-grown products from markets and independent grocery stores. Many smaller produce markets and even some health food stores stock fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and prepared foods from local producers. Not only do you support your local businesses and keep dollars in the local economy, you cut down on the amount of food that needs to be shipped into your community from elsewhere. Less shipping means fewer trucks on the road and fewer fossil-fuel emissions into the atmosphere.

3) Buy food from local farmers

Buying directly from local farmers ensures that your food doesn’t make the lengthy trip to your grocery store, a trip which causes untold pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. You’ll be rewarded with much more nutritious food as well. That’s because food quickly loses its nutritional value after it has been picked. Those precious first days in transport causes a significant loss of nutrients.

4) Eat more plant-based foods

No matter how some people try to spin the facts, the reality is that a plant-based diet is far better for the planet than to use the extensive resources required to grow meat and poultry. Additionally, plants actually absorb carbon dioxide emissions while animals emit them. The bonus is that countless amounts of research shows that plant-based diets are far healthier for your body as well. A study published in the American Medical Association’s own online journal JAMA Network, found that eating a plant-based diet was more effective than other diets to lose weight. Another study published in the journal Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases found that a plant-based diet slashes mortality risk from heart disease by a whopping 40 percent. A plant-based diet is healthier for you and the planet.

5) Choose chemical-free or organic

Buying organic means that you’re not supporting chemical-based agriculture. When you buy organic, or better yet, grow your own food organically, you’re helping to ensure that many acres of land will not be sprayed with toxic chemicals—chemicals that have been linked to many diseases, including cancer.

6) Drink purified tap water

Choosing tap water over bottled water helps to ensure that billions of plastic bottles don’t end up in landfills, roadsides or waterways. Even the simple act of carrying your own reusable water bottle that you refill can help make a difference to the level of plastic pollution on the planet.

7) Eat fewer packaged and processed foods

Making your own food from scratch isn’t just better-tasting and healthier, it reduces the amount of waste in landfills, as well as the amount of packaging that needs to be processed even if it is recycled. It’s a simple act but just choosing foods with less packaging, or better yet, no packaging at all, will make a big difference to the planet.

Shocking Study Finds Young Adults at Risk of Fatty Liver Disease

Before you dive into all the chocolate and candy promoted just about everywhere for the upcoming holiday weekend, you might want to think twice. That’s because a shocking new population-based study published in the United Kingdom found high levels of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease among youth and young adults, driven by obesity.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an umbrella-name given to liver conditions that are not linked to alcohol consumption. The main issue in fatty liver disease is that too much fat becomes stored in liver cells, which can cause inflammation and a host of other health problems. At its worst, it can cause cirrhosis or liver failure. In the United States, it is the most common form of chronic liver condition and is believed to affect 80 to 100 million people.

Researchers from Bristol University studied over 4000 people as part of their research, calling it the Children of the 90s, following children born in 1991 and 1992 in Avon, England. At age 18, they were given ultrasounds which revealed that 2.5 percent had NAFLD. Five years later, another type of scan revealed that 20 percent of people had fatty deposits on the liver. Half of these people were classified as severe, with scarring on the liver. Severe liver scarring can cause cirrhosis of the liver. The findings were among primarily Caucasians with no symptoms of the disease other than being overweight. Sixty percent of the people with the largest number of fatty liver deposits were obese.

While the study excluded people who drank heavily, drinking alcoholic beverages is one of the main risk factors for fatty liver disease.

SYMPTOMS OF FATTY LIVER DISEASE

While there can be no symptoms of fatty liver disease, which is what makes it particularly dangerous, some of the most common ones are:

-Abdominal fat

-Abdominal swelling

-Enlarged liver 

-Enlarged blood vessels just beneath the skin’s surface

-Enlarged breasts in men

-Enlarged spleen

-Fatigue

-High blood pressure

-High triglyceride levels

-Pain in the upper right abdomen

-Red palms of the hands

-Yellowing of the skin and eyes

It is more commonly linked to older adults, believed to start among people in their 40s to 50s, mostly as a result of poor diet, obesity and type 2 diabetes. But, the new study found that even teenagers and twenty-somethings are at risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO AVOID OR REVERSE FATTY LIVER DISEASE

The best ways to reverse fatty liver disease, or avoid it altogether, involve:

-Eat a healthy, plant-based diet replete with plentiful amounts of vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds.

-Restore a healthy weight—excess fat or obesity are the main reasons for fatty liver disease. Strive to restore or maintain a healthy body weight for protection from fatty liver disease.

-Exercise regularly—you’ll need to make your workout cardiovascular in nature to reap the rewards and to help supply your liver with oxygen-rich blood. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t do weight training and other forms of activity, just be sure you’re raising your heart rate for at least 20 minutes 3 times weekly. But, don’t overdo either. You should be able to comfortably carry on a conversation.

-Avoid drinking alcohol in excess, or better yet, drink only small amounts of alcohol on an infrequent basis.

In an interview with The Guardian, professor Philip Newsome, vice-secretary of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, best summarized the situation: “This requires swift changes in public policy if we are to defuse the ticking time-bomb of obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.”

Are the BPA-Free Alternatives Safe?

Recent human studies indicate that exposure to the plastics chemical BPA may be associated with infertility, miscarriage, premature delivery, reduced male sexual function, polycystic ovaries, altered thyroid and immune function, diabetes, heart disease, and more. Yet, “[a]s recently as March 2012, FDA stated that low levels of BPA in food are considered safe.” However, just months later, to its credit, the agency banned the use of BPA plastics in baby bottles and sippy cups. Regulators standing up to industry? Maybe I shouldn’t be so cynical! But, wait. The ban was at the behest of the plastics industry. It had already stopped using BPA in baby bottles so it was their idea to ban it.

The industry had switched from BPA to similar compounds like BPF and BPS. So, our diets now contain everything from BPA to BPZ, and the majority of us have these new chemicals in our bodies as well. Are they any safer?  

We’ve known BPA significantly suppresses testosterone production, and, from “the first report describing BPS and BPF adverse effects on physiologic function in humans,” we know those compounds do, too. Well, kind of. The experiments were performed on the testicles of aborted human fetuses. But, the bottom line is that BPS and BPF seem to have “antiandrogenic [anti-male hormone] effects that are similar to those of BPA.” So when you’re assured you shouldn’t worry because your sales slip is BPA-free, the thermal paper may just contain BPS instead. What’s more, BPS receipts may contain up to 40 percent more BPS than they would have contained BPA. So BPA-free could be even worse. In fact, all BPA-replacement products tested to date released “chemicals having reliably detectable EA,” estrogenic activity.

This includes Tritan, which is specifically marketed as being estrogen-activity-free. However, researchers dripped an extract of Tritan on human breast cancer cells in a petri dish, and it accelerated their growth. This estrogenic effect was successfully abolished by an estrogen blocker, reinforcing it was an estrogen effect. Now, the accelerated growth of the cancer cells from the Tritan extract occurred after the plastic was exposed to the stressed state of simulated sunlight. Only one out of three Tritan products showed estrogen activity in an unstressed state, for instance when they weren’t exposed to microwaving, heat, or UV rays. “Because there would be no value in trading one health hazard for another, we should urgently focus on the human health risk assessment of BPA substitutes.”

In the meanwhile, there are steps we can take to limit our exposure. We can reduce our use of polycarbonate plastics, which are usually labeled with recycle codes three or seven, and we can opt for fresh and frozen foods over canned goods, especially when it comes to tuna and condensed soups. Canned fruit consumption doesn’t seem to matter, but weekly canned vegetable consumption has been associated with increased BPA exposure. If you do use plastics, don’t microwave them, put them in the dishwasher, leave them in the sun or a hot car, or use once they’re scratched. But using glass, ceramic, or stainless steel containers is probably best.

5 Reasons You Burp So Much

It can be incredibly frustrating to find yourself constantly burping. Whether it’s first thing in the morning, mid-morning, lunch, afternoon, dinner or bedtime, anytime you burp excessively seems like a bit too much. Especially when you’re being intimate with another, working closely with a partner or group at work, or on an important phone call.

WHAT CAUSES BURPING?

Before we dive into why you are burping a lot, let’s first clear the air. There are many people who feel they are burping “more than normal” but in reality they burp no more than every other person. Burping is natural part of being human. The foods and drink we consume create gas or we may swallow air in various ways.

The air needs a way to escape. And our body releases it either through one end or the other. But if you do find that it seems to really be a bit more than normal, it’s good to take a look at the following reasons for excessive burping.

Burping, or belching, can be mildly embarrassing and even more difficult to deal with if you hold it in. So why are you burping so much? 

5 CAUSES OF EXCESSIVE BURPING

1. Acid Reflux

Also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), acid reflux occurs when the contents of our stomach backflow into the lower portion of your esophagus. It can make you burp. The burp is more like a liquid burp, and it can causes irritation of the esophageal lining.

You can treat reflux with over-the-counter medications only when it occurs occasionally. Otherwise, you may need to make some major changes to your diet. Acid reflux is very often an indicator of food intolerance. Caffeine or foods high in fat, salt and sugar or processed foods can all cause acid reflux. An elimination diet can help you nail down exactly what foods and drinks are causing your excessive burping.

2. Stomach Ulcers

The number one cause of stomach ulcer is a bacteria called H. pylori (Helicobactor pylori). You’ll need to visit your doctor to receive treatment to help remove this bacteria. If it goes untreated, it can cause serious health problems down the road.

3. Indigestion

Indigestion is also known as dyspepsia. You may experience pain or discomfort in the upper portion of your stomach or belly area. Indigestion is common and it comes along with other symptoms like nausea and vomiting or bloating and cramps or even heartburn.

4. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

IBS affects about 10-15 percent of the U.S. population, but most individuals remain undiagnosed.

IBS can cause cramps, bloating, diarrhea or constipation along with excessive burping. Because the symptoms are so general, it can be easy to overlook. It’s usually not until IBS becomes severe that individuals seek help or remain undiagnosed.

Your doctor will most likely use a combination of dietary changes and medication to manage your IBS.

5. Gastritis

Finally, gastritis could be the source of your excessive belching. It’s a less common occurrence, but it’s a possibility nonetheless.

Gastritis is the irritation of the lining of the stomach. You can experience a burning ache and pain, heartburn, indigestion, or easily feeling full in the upper portion of your stomach after eating. You may also vomit. If these symptoms persist or become worse, you’ll need to see a doctor for treatment.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Burping is a normal bodily function, but excessive belching could be a sign of a larger problem. You need to visit your doctor if you feel you are consistently burping too much, especially in the setting of other symptoms.

Shocking Study Finds Young Adults at Risk of Fatty Liver Disease

Before you dive into all the chocolate and candy promoted just about everywhere for the upcoming holiday weekend, you might want to think twice. That’s because a shocking new population-based study published in the United Kingdom found high levels of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease among youth and young adults, driven by obesity.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an umbrella-name given to liver conditions that are not linked to alcohol consumption. The main issue in fatty liver disease is that too much fat becomes stored in liver cells, which can cause inflammation and a host of other health problems. At its worst, it can cause cirrhosis or liver failure. In the United States, it is the most common form of chronic liver condition and is believed to affect 80 to 100 million people.

Researchers from Bristol University studied over 4000 people as part of their research, calling it the Children of the 90s, following children born in 1991 and 1992 in Avon, England. At age 18, they were given ultrasounds which revealed that 2.5 percent had NAFLD. Five years later, another type of scan revealed that 20 percent of people had fatty deposits on the liver. Half of these people were classified as severe, with scarring on the liver. Severe liver scarring can cause cirrhosis of the liver. The findings were among primarily Caucasians with no symptoms of the disease other than being overweight. Sixty percent of the people with the largest number of fatty liver deposits were obese.

While the study excluded people who drank heavily, drinking alcoholic beverages is one of the main risk factors for fatty liver disease.

SYMPTOMS OF FATTY LIVER DISEASE

While there can be no symptoms of fatty liver disease, which is what makes it particularly dangerous, some of the most common ones are:

-Abdominal fat

-Abdominal swelling

-Enlarged liver 

-Enlarged blood vessels just beneath the skin’s surface

-Enlarged breasts in men

-Enlarged spleen

-Fatigue

-High blood pressure

-High triglyceride levels

-Pain in the upper right abdomen

-Red palms of the hands

-Yellowing of the skin and eyes

It is more commonly linked to older adults, believed to start among people in their 40s to 50s, mostly as a result of poor diet, obesity and type 2 diabetes. But, the new study found that even teenagers and twenty-somethings are at risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO AVOID OR REVERSE FATTY LIVER DISEASE

The best ways to reverse fatty liver disease, or avoid it altogether, involve:

-Eat a healthy, plant-based diet replete with plentiful amounts of vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds.

-Restore a healthy weight—excess fat or obesity are the main reasons for fatty liver disease. Strive to restore or maintain a healthy body weight for protection from fatty liver disease.

-Exercise regularly—you’ll need to make your workout cardiovascular in nature to reap the rewards and to help supply your liver with oxygen-rich blood. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t do weight training and other forms of activity, just be sure you’re raising your heart rate for at least 20 minutes 3 times weekly. But, don’t overdo either. You should be able to comfortably carry on a conversation.

-Avoid drinking alcohol in excess, or better yet, drink only small amounts of alcohol on an infrequent basis.

In an interview with The Guardian, professor Philip Newsome, vice-secretary of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, best summarized the situation: “This requires swift changes in public policy if we are to defuse the ticking time-bomb of obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.”

Turkey eyes Donald Trump protection from any sanctions for Russian defence purchase

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that Washington had told Ankara it could face retribution for buying the S-400s.

Turkey expects President Donald Trump to use a waiver to protect it if the US Congress decides to sanction Ankara over a planned purchase of a Russian missile defence system, a Turkish presidential spokesman said on Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that Washington had told Ankara it could face retribution for buying the S-400s under a sanctions law known as Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CATSAA).

Turkey has not backed down from its purchase and said it should not trigger sanctions as Ankara is not an adversary of Washington and remains committed to the NATO alliance.

Speaking to reporters during a trip to Washington, Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman to Turkey`s President Tayyip Erdogan, said Ankara hoped a solution would be found to avoid sanctions. "If it comes to that, that is the sanctions proposed to be implemented by the Congress, of course we will expect President Trump to use his power for a waiver on that issue," Kalin said. "He may have a good case to make to the Congress," he said.

Asked if Trump has explicitly signalled he would issue a waiver, Kalin said he did not. "I cannot say that he did. This is a message we are conveying."
US officials have called Turkey`s planned purchase of Russian-made S-400 missile defence systems "deeply problematic," saying it would risk Ankara`s partnership in the joint strike fighter F-35 programme because it would compromise the jets, made by Lockheed Martin Corp. Turkey has refused to back down and said it will take delivery of the S-400s in July.

Kalin said Ankara has proposed to Washington that the two countries establish a technical committee under the umbrella of NATO to determine whether S-400 system endangers the F-35 jet as the US argues and that it was waiting to hear back from the United States and NATO. "Because it really comes down to this technical issue. The main argument that we are presented with is that it will jeopardise the F-35s. Let`s find out if that`s really the case," Kalin said.

The United States and other NATO allies that own F-35s fear the radar on the Russian S-400 missile system will learn how to spot and track the jet, making it less able to evade Russian weapons.

The disagreement is the latest in a series of diplomatic disputes between the United States and Turkey. They include Turkish demands that Washington extradites cleric Fethullah Gulen, differences over Middle East policy and the war in Syria, and sanctions on Iran.

Asked what Turkey would do if Trump abstained from providing a waiver, Kalin said Turkey would have to wait and see the scope of the sanctions but hopes it does not come to that. "Threats and sanctions would be very counterproductive, backfire and will not produce any results positively," he said.

Satellite images may show reprocessing activity at North Korea nuclear site: US researchers

"The current activity, along with their configurations, does not rule out their possible involvement in such activity, either before or after a reprocessing campaign."

 Satellite images from last week show movement at North Korea's main nuclear site that could be associated with the reprocessing of radioactive material into bomb fuel, a US think tank said on Tuesday. 

Any new reprocessing activity would underscore the failure of a second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi in late February to make progress toward North Korea`s denuclearisation

Washington`s Centre for Strategic and International Studies said in a report that satellite imagery of North Korea`s Yongbyon nuclear site from April 12 showed five specialised railcars near its Uranium Enrichment Facility and Radiochemistry Laboratory. It said their movement could indicate the transfer of radioactive material.

"In the past, these specialised railcars appear to have been associated with the movement of radioactive material or reprocessing campaigns." the report said. "The current activity, along with their configurations, does not rule out their possible involvement in such activity, either before or after a reprocessing campaign."

The U.S. State Department declined to comment on intelligence matters, but a source familiar with U.S. government assessments said that while U.S. experts thought the movements could possibly be related to reprocessing, they were doubtful it was significant nuclear activity. 

Jenny Town, a North Korea expert at the Stimson Centre think tank, said that if reprocessing was taking place, it would be a significant given U.S.-North Korean talks in the past year and the failure to reach an agreement on the future of Yongbyon in Hanoi. "Because there wasn`t an agreement with North Korea on Yongbyon, it would be interesting timing if they were to have started something so quickly after Hanoi," she said.

Trump has met Kim twice in the past year to try to persuade him to abandon a nuclear weapons programme that threatens the United States, but progress so far has been scant.

The Hanoi talks collapsed after Trump proposed a "big deal" in which sanctions on North Korea would be lifted if it handed over all its nuclear weapons and fissile material to the United States. He rejected partial denuclearisation steps offered by Kim, which included an offer to dismantle Yongbyon.

Although Kim has maintained a freeze in missile and nuclear tests since 2017, U.S. officials say North Korea has continued to produce fissile material that can be processed for use in bombs.

Last month, a senior North Korean official warned that Kim might rethink the test freeze unless Washington made concessions. Last week, Kim said the Hanoi breakdown raised the risks of reviving tensions, adding that he was only interested in meeting Trump again if the United States came with the right attitude.

Kim said he would wait "till the end of this year" for the United States to decide to be more flexible. On Monday, Trump and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brushed aside this demand with Pompeo saying Kim should keep his promise to give up his nuclear weapons before then.

Town said any new reprocessing work at Yongbyon would emphasise the importance of the facility in North Korea`s nuclear programme. "It would underscore that it is an active facility that does increase North Korea`s fissile material stocks to increase its arsenal."

A study by Stanford University`s Centre for International Security and Cooperation released ahead of the Hanoi summit said North Korea had continued to produce bomb fuel in 2018 and may have produced enough in the past year to add as many as seven nuclear weapons to its arsenal. Experts have estimated the size of North Korea`s nuclear arsenal at anywhere between 20 and 60 warheads