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New research proves travelling can slow down the ageing process

It turns out that going on holiday is good for you in more ways than one. According to new research conducted at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia, travelling can actually slow the ageing process both physically and mentally. The study, published in the <a title="Journal of Travel Research" href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00472875241269892#:~:text=The%20principle%20of%20entropy%20increase%20provides%20a%20dynamic%20perspective%20to,Silva%20%26%20Annamalai%2C%202008)." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Journal of Travel Research</a>, is believed to be the first-ever that applied the theory of entropy - the general trend of the universe towards death and disorder – to tourism. "Tourism isn't just about leisure and recreation. It could also contribute to people's physical and mental health," ECU PhD candidate Fangli Hu said. "Ageing, as a process, is irreversible. While it can't be stopped, it can be slowed down." According to the research, travelling, exploring new corners of the world and engaging in unique and relaxing activities can stimulate stress responses and elevate metabolic rates, positively influencing metabolic activities and the body's self-organising capabilities. "Leisurely travel activities might help alleviate chronic stress, dampen over-activation of the immune system, and encourage normal functioning of the self-defence system," Fangli added. While some people prefer relaxing holidays, others prefer to stay on their feet and keep active during their travels, enjoying the many well-known benefits of exercise. It can "enhance the body's immune function and self-defence capabilities, bolstering its hardiness to external risks". In response to their study, the experts suggested that "travel therapy could serve as a groundbreaking health intervention." Despite the positive results of the research, experts also warned that travelling can exposed to infectious diseases, accidents, injuries, violence, water and food safety issues, and concerns related to inappropriate tourism engagement, which in turn will have the opposite effect on our health. "Conversely, tourism can involve negative experiences that potentially lead to health problems, paralleling the process of promoting entropy increase," Fangli said. Image credits: Shutterstock

Travel Tips

4 ways to cut down on meat when dining out – and still make healthy choices

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> .<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/laura-marchese-1271636">Laura Marchese</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katherine-livingstone-324808">Katherine Livingstone</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> Many of us are looking for ways to eat a healthier and more <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-sustainable-is-your-weekly-grocery-shop-these-small-changes-can-have-big-benefits-234367">sustainable diet</a>. And one way to do this is by reducing the amount of meat we eat. That doesn’t mean you need to become a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-you-should-eat-a-plant-based-diet-but-that-doesnt-mean-being-a-vegetarian-78470">vegan or vegetarian</a>. Our <a href="https://jn.nutrition.org/article/S0022-3166(24)00333-X/fulltext">recent research</a> shows even small changes to cut down on meat consumption could help improve health and wellbeing. But not all plant-based options are created equal and some are <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30744710/">ultra-processed</a>. Navigating what’s available when eating out – including options like tofu and fake meats – can be a challenge. So what are your best options at a cafe or restaurant? Here are some guiding principles to keep in mind when cutting down on meat. <h2>Health benefits to cutting down</h2> Small amounts of lean meat can be part of a healthy, balanced diet. But the majority of Australians <a href="https://cancer.org.au/about-us/policy-and-advocacy/prevention/obesity/related-resources/meat-and-cancer#consumption">still eat more meat</a> than recommended. Only a small percentage of Australians (10%) are vegetarian or vegan. But an <a href="https://www.foodfrontier.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Food-Frontier-Hungry-For-Plant-Based-Australian-Consumer-Insights.pdf">increasing</a> number opt for a <a href="https://theconversation.com/love-meat-too-much-to-be-vegetarian-go-flexitarian-73741">flexitarian</a> diet. <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-difference-between-vegan-and-vegetarian-225275">Flexitarians</a> eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, while still enjoying small amounts of meat, dairy, eggs and fish. Our <a href="https://jn.nutrition.org/article/S0022-3166(24)00333-X/fulltext">recent research</a> looked at whether the average Australian diet would improve if we swapped meat and dairy for plant-based alternatives, and the results were promising. The study found health benefits when people halved the amount of meat and dairy they ate and replaced them with healthy plant-based foods, like tofu or <a href="https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/blog/why-you-need-legumes-in-your-life">legumes</a>. On average, their dietary fibre intake – which helps with feeling fuller for longer and digestive health – went up. Saturated fats – which increase our blood cholesterol levels, a risk factor for heart disease – went down. Including more fibre and less saturated fat helps reduce the risk of <a href="https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/healthy-living/healthy-eating/healthy-eating-to-protect-your-heart">heart disease</a>. Achieving these health benefits may be as simple as swapping ham for baked beans in a toastie for lunch, or substituting half of the mince in your bolognese for lentils at dinner. <h2>How it’s made matters</h2> For a long time we’ve known processed meats – such as ham, bacon and sausages – are bad for your health. Eating high amounts of these foods is associated with poor <a href="https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/healthy-living/healthy-eating/protein-and-heart-health">heart health</a> and some forms of <a href="https://cancer.org.au/cancer-information/causes-and-prevention/diet-and-exercise/meat-and-cancer-risk">cancer</a>. But the same can be true of many processed meat alternatives. Plant-based alternatives designed to mimic meat, such as sausages and burgers, have become readily available in supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. These products are ultra-processed and can be <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-looked-at-700-plant-based-foods-to-see-how-healthy-they-really-are-heres-what-we-found-222991">high in salt and saturated fat</a>. Our study found when people replaced meat and dairy with ultra-processed meat alternatives – such as plant-based burgers or sausages – they ate more salt and less calcium, compared to eating meat or healthy plant-based options. So if you’re cutting down on meat for health reasons, it’s important to think about what you’re replacing it with. The <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-09/n55g_adult_brochure.pdf">Australian Dietary Guidelines</a> recommend eggs, legumes/beans, tofu, nuts and seeds. Tofu can be a great option. But we recommend flavouring plain tofu with herbs and spices yourself, as pre-marinated products are often ultra-processed and can be high in salt. <h2>What about when dining out?</h2> When you’re making your own food, it’s easier to adapt recipes or reduce the amount of meat. But when faced with a menu, it can be difficult to work out what is the best option. Here are our four ways to make healthy choices when you eat out: 1. Fill half your plate with vegetables When cutting down on meat, aim for half your plate to be vegetables. Try to also eat <a href="https://theconversation.com/were-told-to-eat-a-rainbow-of-fruit-and-vegetables-heres-what-each-colour-does-in-our-body-191337">a variety of colours</a>, such as leafy green spinach, red capsicum and pumpkin. When you’re out, this might look like choosing a vegetable-based entree, a stir-fry or ordering a side salad to have with your meal. 2. Avoid the deep fryer The Australian Dietary Guidelines <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/the_guidelines/n55a_australian_dietary_guidelines_summary_130530.pdf">recommend limiting</a> deep fried foods to once a week or less. When dining out, choose plant-based options that are sautéed, grilled, baked, steamed, boiled or poached – instead of those that are crumbed or battered before deep frying. This could mean choosing vegetarian dumplings that are steamed not fried, or poached eggs at brunch instead of fried. Ordering a side of roast vegetables instead of hot chips is also a great option. 3. Pick wholegrains Scan the menu for wholegrain options such as brown rice, wholemeal pizza or pasta, barley, quinoa or wholemeal burger buns. Not only are they good sources of protein, but they also provide more <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/five-food-groups/grain-cereal-foods-mostly-wholegrain-and-or-high-cereal-fibre">dietary fibre</a> than refined grains, which help keep you fuller for longer. 4. If you do pick meat – choose less processed kinds You may not always want, or be able, to make a vegetarian choice when eating out and with other people. If you do opt for meat, it’s better to steer clear of processed options like bacon or sausages. If sharing dishes with other people, you could try adding unprocessed plant-based options into the mix. For example, a curry with lentils or chickpeas, or a vegetable-based pizza instead of one with ham or salami. If that’s not an option, try choose meat that’s a lean cut, such as chicken breast, or options which are grilled rather than fried.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/236505/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/laura-marchese-1271636">Laura Marchese</a>, PhD candidate at the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katherine-livingstone-324808">Katherine Livingstone</a>, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/4-ways-to-cut-down-on-meat-when-dining-out-and-still-make-healthy-choices-236505">original article</a>. </div>

Food & Wine

The voice in your head may help you recall and process words. But what if you don’t have one?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/derek-arnold-106381">Derek Arnold</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> Can you imagine hearing yourself speak? A voice inside your head – perhaps reciting a shopping list or a phone number? What would life be like if you couldn’t? Some people, including me, cannot have imagined visual experiences. We cannot close our eyes and conjure an experience of seeing a loved one’s face, or imagine our lounge room layout – to consider if a new piece of furniture might fit in it. This is called “<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-blind-and-deaf-mind-what-its-like-to-have-no-visual-imagination-or-inner-voice-226134">aphantasia</a>”, from a Greek phrase where the “a” means without, and “phantasia” refers to an image. Colloquially, people like myself are often referred to as having a “blind mind”. While most attention has been given to the inability to have imagined visual sensations, aphantasics can lack other imagined experiences. We might be unable to experience imagined tastes or smells. Some people cannot imagine hearing themselves speak. A <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/we-used-to-think-everybody-heard-a-voice-inside-their-heads-but-we-were-wrong">recent study</a> has advanced our understanding of people who cannot imagine hearing their own internal monologue. Importantly, the authors have identified some tasks that such people are more likely to find challenging. <h2>What the study found</h2> Researchers at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09567976241243004">recruited 93 volunteers</a>. They included 46 adults who reported low levels of inner speech and 47 who reported high levels. Both groups were given challenging tasks: judging if the names of objects they had seen would rhyme and recalling words. The group without an inner monologue performed worse. But differences disappeared when everyone could say words aloud. Importantly, people who reported less inner speech were not worse at all tasks. They could recall similar numbers of words when the words had a different appearance to one another. This negates any suggestion that aphants (people with aphantasia) simply weren’t trying or were less capable. <h2>A welcome validation</h2> The study provides some welcome evidence for the lived experiences of some aphants, who are still often told their experiences are not different, but rather that they cannot describe their imagined experiences. Some people feel anxiety when they realise other people can have imagined experiences that they cannot. These feelings may be deepened when others assert they are merely confused or inarticulate. In my own <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1374349/full">aphantasia research</a> I have often quizzed crowds of people on their capacity to have imagined experiences. Questions about the capacity to have imagined visual or audio sensations tend to be excitedly endorsed by a vast majority, but questions about imagined experiences of taste or smell seem to cause more confusion. Some people are adamant they can do this, including a colleague who says he can imagine what combinations of ingredients will taste like when cooked together. But other responses suggest subtypes of aphantasia may prove to be more common than we realise. The authors of the recent study suggest the inability to imagine hearing yourself speak should be referred to as “anendophasia”, meaning without inner speech. Other authors had suggested <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8551557/">anauralia</a> (meaning without auditory imagery). Still other researchers have referred to all types of imagined sensation as being different types of “imagery”. Having <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010945222000417">consistent names</a> is important. It can help scientists “talk” to one another to compare findings. If different authors use different names, important evidence can be missed. <h2>We have more than 5 senses</h2> Debate continues about how many senses humans have, but some scientists reasonably argue for a <a href="https://www.sensorytrust.org.uk/blog/how-many-senses-do-we-have#:%7E:text=Because%20there%20is%20some%20overlap,sensation%20of%20hunger%20or%20thirst.">number greater than 20</a>. In addition to the five senses of sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing, lesser known senses include thermoception (our sense of heat) and proprioception (awareness of the positions of our body parts). Thanks to proprioception, most of us can close our eyes and touch the tip of our index finger to our nose. Thanks to our vestibular sense, we typically have a good idea of which way is up and can maintain balance. It may be tempting to give a new name to each inability to have a given type of imagined sensation. But this could lead to confusion. Another approach would be to adapt phrases that are already widely used. People who are unable to have imagined sensations commonly refer to ourselves as “aphants”. This could be adapted with a prefix, such as “audio aphant”. Time will tell which approach is adopted by most researchers. <h2>Why we should keep investigating</h2> Regardless of the names we use, the study of multiple types of inability to have an imagined sensation is important. These investigations could reveal the essential processes in human brains that bring about a conscious experience of an imagined sensation. In time, this will not only lead to a better understanding of the diversity of humans, but may help uncover how human brains can create any conscious sensation. This question – how and where our conscious feelings are generated – remains one of the great mysteries of science.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/230973/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/derek-arnold-106381">Derek Arnold</a>, Professor, School of Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-voice-in-your-head-may-help-you-recall-and-process-words-but-what-if-you-dont-have-one-230973">original article</a>. </div>

Mind

Queen Mary’s wedding dressmaker reveals process behind iconic gown

The Danish designer and dressmaker who designed Queen Mary’s wedding gown has recalled the “rather terrifying” process of making the iconic dress. Birgit Hallstein created the custom gown for the Aussie-born royal for her to marry Prince Frederik in 2004, as the designer recalled having to adhere to an unusual royal tradition when creating the dress. Hallstein said that she put the finishing touches on the dress on the wedding day: a decision that was mentioned to her by Mary's new mother-in-law, Queen Margrethe. Hallstein admits the old tradition, which involves doing the final loops and stitches the morning of the wedding, also helped her process in the long run. "[It] was a thing I did because it's a tradition in some families, but honestly I don't remember if Queen Margrethe would have mentioned such a thing," Hallstein told <a href="https://style.nine.com.au/latest/queen-mary-of-denmark-20th-wedding-anniversary-wedding-dressmaker-birgit-hallstein-interview/9f0c57eb-2d7b-44fd-ae0b-487d1b3592a5">9Honey</a>. "Maybe, because she knows a lot of those things... I am sure we talked about it, but anyway it was practical to gather the dress on the day because it's big." The process for Hallstein began in November 2003, as she admitted it was the most important garment she had ever worked on. "It was rather terrifying," she admitted with a laugh. "It's a bit like an exam, just a really big one, because if you fail everyone will see." Hallstein worked in a dedicated space at Amalienborg Palace to deliver the gown as well as the outfits worn by the bridesmaids, page boys and flower girls. "The sewing took hundreds of hours, starting in January 2004 and ending right before the wedding," she recalled. There was also the added pressure of adhering to royal traditions and protocols around the use of the antique veil and the lace attachment to the petticoat, which was from Queen Margrethe's private collection. "There are rules to follow, [you're] not allowed to cut in it and only skilled repairs [are allowed]," Hallstein said. "I had to hide around two or three metres of the antique lace in between layers of organza inside the dress to make sure it was not damaged by high heels, chairs, cars and carriages during the day." In a social media post to mark 20 years since the world got their first look at the classic gown, the dressmaker explained to fans that "the wedding gown consists of three parts". “There's a big tulle petticoat, edged with almost 60 yards of Chantilly lace, on this a big light blue silk bow were placed, to make sure the first born would be a son," she said. Image credits: Hounsfield-Klein-Zabulon/ABACA/Shutterstock Editorial

Beauty & Style

Not all ultra-processed foods are bad for your health, whatever you might have heard

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gary-sacks-3957">Gary Sacks</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kathryn-backholer-10739">Kathryn Backholer</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kathryn-bradbury-1532662">Kathryn Bradbury</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-auckland-waipapa-taumata-rau-1305">University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sally-mackay-1532685">Sally Mackay</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-auckland-waipapa-taumata-rau-1305">University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau</a> In recent years, there’s been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11036430/">increasing</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ultra-processed-foods-heres-what-the-evidence-actually-says-about-them-220255#:%7E:text=Hype%20around%20ultra%2Dprocessed%20food,or%20worry%20about%20their%20health.">hype</a> about the potential health risks associated with so-called “ultra-processed” foods. But new evidence published <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/385/bmj-2023-078476">this week</a> found not all “ultra-processed” foods are linked to poor health. That includes the mass-produced wholegrain bread you buy from the supermarket. While this newly published research and associated <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/385/bmj.q793">editorial</a> are unlikely to end the wrangling about how best to define unhealthy foods and diets, it’s critical those debates don’t delay the implementation of policies that are likely to actually improve our diets. <h2>What are ultra-processed foods?</h2> <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30744710/">Ultra-processed foods</a> are industrially produced using a variety of processing techniques. They typically include ingredients that can’t be found in a home kitchen, such as preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners and/or artificial colours. Common examples of ultra-processed foods include packaged chips, flavoured yoghurts, soft drinks, sausages and mass-produced packaged wholegrain bread. In <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7719194/#CR13">many other countries</a>, ultra-processed foods make up a large proportion of what people eat. A <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31676952/">recent study</a> estimated they make up an average of 42% of total energy intake in Australia. <h2>How do ultra-processed foods affect our health?</h2> Previous <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33167080/">studies</a> have linked increased consumption of ultra-processed food with poorer health. High consumption of ultra-processed food, for example, has been associated with a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38418082/">higher risk</a> of type 2 diabetes, and death from heart disease and stroke. Ultra-processed foods are typically high in energy, added sugars, salt and/or unhealthy fats. These have long been <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet">recognised</a> as risk factors for a range of diseases. It has also been suggested that structural changes that happen to ultra-processed foods as part of the manufacturing process <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31105044/">may</a> lead you to eat more than you should. Potential explanations are that, due to the way they’re made, the foods are quicker to eat and more palatable. It’s also <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35952706/">possible</a> certain food additives may impair normal body functions, such as the way our cells reproduce. <h2>Is it harmful? It depends on the food’s nutrients</h2> The <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/385/bmj-2023-078476">new paper</a> just published used 30 years of data from two large US cohort studies to evaluate the relationship between ultra-processed food consumption and long-term health. The study tried to disentangle the effects of the manufacturing process itself from the nutrient profile of foods. The study found a small increase in the risk of early death with higher ultra-processed food consumption. But importantly, the authors also looked at diet quality. They found that for people who had high quality diets (high in fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, as well as healthy fats, and low in sugary drinks, salt, and red and processed meat), there was no clear association between the amount of ultra-processed food they ate and risk of premature death. This suggests overall diet quality has a stronger influence on long-term health than ultra-processed food consumption. When the researchers analysed ultra-processed foods by sub-category, mass-produced wholegrain products, such as supermarket wholegrain breads and wholegrain breakfast cereals, were not associated with poorer health. This finding matches another recent <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38417577/">study</a> that suggests ultra-processed wholegrain foods are not a driver of poor health. The authors concluded, while there was some support for limiting consumption of certain types of ultra-processed food for long-term health, not all ultra-processed food products should be universally restricted. <h2>Should dietary guidelines advise against ultra-processed foods?</h2> Existing national <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-09/n55_australian_dietary_guidelines.pdf">dietary</a> <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/eating-activity-guidelines-new-zealand-adults-updated-2020-oct22.pdf">guidelines</a> have been developed and refined based on decades of nutrition evidence. Much of the recent evidence related to ultra-processed foods tells us what we already knew: that products like soft drinks, alcohol and processed meats are bad for health. Dietary guidelines <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35184508/">generally</a> already advise to eat mostly whole foods and to limit consumption of highly processed foods that are high in refined grains, saturated fat, sugar and salt. But some nutrition researchers have <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj.q439">called</a> for dietary guidelines to be amended to recommend avoiding ultra-processed foods. Based on the available evidence, it would be difficult to justify adding a sweeping statement about avoiding all ultra-processed foods. Advice to avoid all ultra-processed foods would likely unfairly impact people on low-incomes, as many ultra-processed foods, such as supermarket breads, are relatively affordable and convenient. Wholegrain breads also provide important nutrients, such as fibre. In many countries, bread is the <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/a-focus-on-nutrition-ch3_0.pdf">biggest contributor</a> to fibre intake. So it would be problematic to recommend avoiding supermarket wholegrain bread just because it’s ultra-processed. <h2>So how can we improve our diets?</h2> There is strong <a href="https://www.foodpolicyindex.org.au/_files/ugd/7ee332_a2fa1694e42f423195caf581044fccf1.pdf">consensus</a> on the need to implement evidence-based policies to improve population diets. This includes legislation to restrict children’s exposure to the marketing of unhealthy foods and brands, mandatory Health Star Rating nutrition labelling and taxes on sugary drinks. These policies are underpinned by <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37659696/">well-established systems</a> for classifying the healthiness of foods. If new evidence unfolds about mechanisms by which ultra-processed foods drive health harms, these classification systems can be updated to reflect such evidence. If specific additives are found to be harmful to health, for example, this evidence can be incorporated into existing nutrient profiling systems, such as the <a href="http://www.healthstarrating.gov.au/internet/healthstarrating/publishing.nsf/content/home">Health Star Rating</a> food labelling scheme. Accordingly, policymakers can confidently progress food policy implementation using the tools for classifying the healthiness of foods that we already have. Unhealthy diets and obesity are among the <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/burden-of-disease/burden-of-disease-study-2018-key-findings/contents/key-findings">largest contributors</a> to poor health. We can’t let the hype and academic debate around “ultra-processed” foods delay implementation of globally recommended policies for improving population diets.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/229493/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gary-sacks-3957">Gary Sacks</a>, Professor of Public Health Policy, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kathryn-backholer-10739">Kathryn Backholer</a>, Co-Director, Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kathryn-bradbury-1532662">Kathryn Bradbury</a>, Senior Research Fellow in the School of Population Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-auckland-waipapa-taumata-rau-1305">University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sally-mackay-1532685">Sally Mackay</a>, Senior Lecturer Epidemiology and Biostatistics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-auckland-waipapa-taumata-rau-1305">University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-all-ultra-processed-foods-are-bad-for-your-health-whatever-you-might-have-heard-229493">original article</a>. </div>

Food & Wine

Sydneysiders witnessed horrific scenes on Saturday. How do you process and recover from such an event?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kim-felmingham-9075">Kim Felmingham</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> Like many, I watched the reports of the violent attack at Bondi Junction yesterday with shock, horror and disbelief. My heart goes out to the people involved, the courageous first responders and to those who have lost loved ones in this tragic event. I also feel for those who witnessed the horror and will be working out how to get through the initial shock and, over time, put it behind them. Distress and strong emotional reactions are <a href="https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/the-psychological-and-psychiatric-effects-of-terrorism-lessons-fr">common</a> after these types of mass violent events. But different people will have <a href="https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/types/mass_violence_help.asp">different emotional reactions</a> – and some may experience a range of shifting emotions. <h2>The first few days and weeks</h2> In the days and weeks after traumatic events like these, people <a href="https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/isitptsd/common_reactions.asp#:%7E:text=All%20kinds%20of%20trauma%20create,stop%20thinking%20about%20what%20happened.">often experience</a> a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306457320308670">range of emotions</a>: from fear and anxiety, anger, sadness and grief, disbelief and numbness, guilt and worry about safety. They may be jittery, more irritable or on edge, or it may affect their sleep. For many, their sense of risk may be heightened, particularly as such random violence occurred during such an ordinary event – shopping on a Saturday afternoon. This <a href="https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/types/mass_violence_help.asp">can lead to</a> a heightened awareness of danger and concern for safety. <h2>What’s likely to happen over time?</h2> For most people, as they begin to process and make sense of what happened, these feelings will gradually reduce in intensity and people will begin to recover. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25311288/">Research shows</a> the majority of people recover from mass violent events within the initial few months. However, for people with more direct exposure to the trauma, these events and reactions may be more difficult to process. Some people <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26084284/">may go on</a> to develop mental health difficulties, most commonly anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Understandably, those <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26084284/">more at risk</a> are people who were present during the trauma and experienced a direct threat, as well as those who witnessed the violence or aftermath, first responders (paramedics and police) and those who had loved ones injured or lost during the event. People who had more intense emotional responses during the trauma, or previous psychological difficulties or traumatic experiences, may also be <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26084284/">at greater risk</a>. <h2>What helps – and hinders – your recovery?</h2> To help process these traumatic events and promote recovery, social support is <a href="https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/types/mass_violence_help.asp">particularly important</a>. Spending time with trusted family and friends can help people process the events and their emotional reactions. Talking about your feelings with supportive people can help you understand and accept them. But even if you don’t want to talk about your feelings, spending time with loved ones is helpful. It is also fine to need some time to be alone, but try not to isolate yourself or withdraw. If you can’t talk about your feelings, try not to bottle them up or deal with them by using alcohol or drugs. Find <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7957853/">another way to express them</a> – whether through writing, art or music, or exercise. Give yourself permission and time to feel these emotions. Remind yourself you have just been through something extremely traumatic, take things day by day, and don’t expect too much of yourself. Try not to judge yourself for your actions or how you are coping. Keep some structure in your day, setting small goals, and increase your self-care: eat well, rest (even if you can’t sleep well), try yoga or relaxation. When you’re ready, try to get back to your normal routine. Seek out information from <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7957853/">trusted sources</a>, but try to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0886260517742915">avoid</a> being saturated by images or stories about the trauma, particularly graphic footage or speculation common on social media. <h2>What if children have witnessed it, too?</h2> If your children have been impacted, reassure them that they are safe and loved. When they are ready, talk to them gently about the trauma, acknowledge it and answer their questions. Encourage them to express their feelings and spend more time together doing family activities. Importantly, try to limit their exposure to graphic footage and images of the events in the media, and on social media. <h2>When to seek mental health care</h2> Reach out for professional mental health support if you experience ongoing difficulty with your emotional reactions, or if you’re having distressing memories of the trauma, difficulty sleeping or nightmares, or you want to avoid things that remind you of the traumatic event. Not everyone requires professional mental health support, but if you are experiencing these types of post-traumatic stress reactions a few weeks after the trauma, it’s important to speak to your GP to seek out professional support from psychologists or counselling services. If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/227867/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kim-felmingham-9075">Kim Felmingham</a>, Chair of Clinical Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/sydneysiders-witnessed-horrific-scenes-on-saturday-how-do-you-process-and-recover-from-such-an-event-227867">original article</a>.

Caring

You can’t reverse the ageing process but these 5 things can help you live longer

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hassan-vally-202904">Hassan Vally</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> At this time of year many of us resolve to prioritise our health. So it is no surprise there’s a <a href="https://digiday.com/marketing/health-food-brands-ramp-up-marketing-efforts-around-consumers-new-years-resolutions/">roaring trade</a> of products purporting to guarantee you live longer, be healthier and look more youthful. While an <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4822264/">estimated</a> 25% of longevity is determined by our genes, the rest is determined by what we do, day to day. There are no quick fixes or short cuts to living longer and healthier lives, but the science is clear on the key principles. Here are five things you can do to extend your lifespan and improve your health. <h2>1. Eat a predominantly plant-based diet</h2> What you eat has a huge impact on your health. The evidence overwhelmingly <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8210981/#:%7E:text=According%20to%20an%20expansive%20review,13%20Given%20that%20so%20many">shows</a> eating a diet high in plant-based foods is associated with health and longevity. If you eat more plant-based foods and less meat, processed foods, sugar and salt, you reduce your risk of a range of illnesses that shorten our lives, including heart disease and cancer. Plant-based foods <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-019-0552-0">are rich</a> in nutrients, phytochemicals, antioxidants and fibre. They’re also anti-inflammatory. All of this protects against damage to our cells as we age, which helps prevent disease. No particular diet is right for everyone but one of the most studied and <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-weight/diet-reviews/mediterranean-diet/#:%7E:text=%5B6%5D%20Those%20who%20had%20the,who%20had%20the%20lowest%20adherence.">healthiest</a> is the <a href="https://www.eatingwell.com/article/291120/mediterranean-diet-for-beginners-everything-you-need-to-get-started/">Mediterranean diet</a>. It’s based on the eating patterns of people who live in countries around the Mediterranean Sea and emphases vegetables, fruits, wholegrains, legumes, nuts and seeds, fish and seafood, and olive oil. <h2>2. Aim for a healthy weight</h2> Another important way you can be healthier is to try and achieve a healthy weight, as obesity <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/obesity/how-obesity-affects-body">increases the risk</a> of a number of health problems that shorten our lives. Obesity puts strain on all of our body systems and has a whole myriad of physiological effects including causing inflammation and hormonal disturbances. These <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK572076/">increase your chances</a> of a number of diseases, including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes and a number of cancers. In addition to affecting us physically, obesity is also <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6052856/">associated with</a> poorer psychological health. It’s linked to depression, low self-esteem and stress. One of the biggest challenges we face in the developed world is that we live in an <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6817492/">environment</a> that promotes obesity. The ubiquitous marketing and the easy availability of high-calorie foods our bodies are hard-wired to crave mean it’s easy to consume too many calories. <h2>3. Exercise regularly</h2> We all know that exercise is good for us – the <a href="https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/au/news/breaking-news/hcf-reveals-australias-most-popular-new-years-resolutions-for-2023-431665.aspx">most common resolution</a> we make this time of year is to do more exercise and to get fitter. Regular exercise <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity">protects</a> against chronic illness, lowers your stress and improves your mental health. While one of the ways exercising helps you is by supporting you to control your weight and lowering your body fat levels, the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1402378/#:%7E:text=For%20instance%2C%20routine%20physical%20activity,HDL%5D%20cholesterol%20levels%20and%20decreased">effects</a> are broader and include improving your glucose (blood sugar) use, lowering your blood pressure, reducing inflammation and improving blood flow and heart function. While it’s easy to get caught up in all of the hype about different exercise strategies, the evidence <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320760">suggests</a> that any way you can include physical activity in your day has health benefits. You don’t have to run marathons or go to the gym for hours every day. Build movement into your day in any way that you can and do things that you enjoy. <h2>4. Don’t smoke</h2> If you want to be healthier and live longer then don’t smoke or vape. Smoking cigarettes affects almost every organ in the body and is associated with both a shorter and lower quality of life. There is no safe level of smoking – every cigarette increases your <a href="https://theconthatkills.org.au/?utm_source=googlesearch&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=theconthatkills23&utm_content=RSA&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqP2pBhDMARIsAJQ0Czrlep6EQHC-8_9xUhpz0h9v2ZglMF-6-k7_65awq8FxVaIL5HRoivwaAqJwEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds">chances of developing</a> a range of cancers, heart disease and diabetes. Even if you have been smoking for years, by giving up smoking at any age you can experience <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_smoking/how_to_quit/benefits/index.htm">health benefits</a> almost immediately, and you can reverse many of the harmful effects of smoking. If you’re thinking of switching to vapes as a healthy long term option, <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-vaping-help-people-quit-smoking-its-unlikely-204812">think again</a>. The long term health effects of vaping are not fully understood and they come with their own <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-vapes-arent-95-less-harmful-than-cigarettes-heres-how-this-decade-old-myth-took-off-203039">health risks</a>. <h2>5. Prioritise social connection</h2> When we talk about living healthier and longer, we tend to focus on what we do to our physical bodies. But one of the most important discoveries over the past decade has been the recognition of the importance of spiritual and psychological health. People who are lonely and socially isolated have a much higher risk of dying early and are <a href="https://healthnews.com/longevity/healthspan/social-connection-and-longevity/#:%7E:text=One%20of%20the%20biggest%20benefits,the%20following%20factors%20and%20influences.">more likely</a> to suffer from heart disease, stroke, dementia as well as anxiety and depression. Although we don’t fully understand the mechanisms, it’s likely due to both behavioural and biological factors. While people who are more socially connected are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3150158/">more likely</a> to engage in healthy behaviours, there also seems to be a more direct physiological effect of loneliness on the body. So if you want to be healthier and live longer, build and maintain your connections to others.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214580/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hassan-vally-202904">Hassan Vally</a>, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/you-cant-reverse-the-ageing-process-but-these-5-things-can-help-you-live-longer-214580">original article</a>.

Caring

The 10 step process to get moving and keep moving for a healthier you

Looking at the <a href="https://mind.uci.edu/research-studies/90plus-study/">research</a>, especially around longevity, the answer to a healthier you lies in the way we live. It’s really about the choices we make every day and the little things we do that accumulate to form the larger picture. If we look around, our lifestyles are full and quite sedentary. We run busy schedules, we work long hours and have many commitments that leave us with little to no time to be active. We spend all day at a desk to then go home and relax, sitting some more, this time on the couch. We need to move more. It is really that simple. Life quality goes hand in hand with being (and keeping) active. When I work with my clients to help them uncover their inner athlete, I follow a 10 step process that helps them shift perspective and move from a short term fix to a framework that lasts the test of time. At the heart of this process is the belief that everyone can learn these steps and create their very own formula, embracing what works for them and them alone. Let’s take a look: 1) Rediscover Think back to a time when being active was second nature to you, something you would just do. Follow the clues that lit you up to understand where your passions lie. Your past is the teacher that can help you rekindle your love of movement. 2) Driving Forces Your beliefs, your values as well as those little things that warm your heart and make you smile carry great power and meaning. They can ignite a spark in you so use them to drive change. 3) Athletic Mindset What goes on between your ears is the difference between being active and letting gravity pull you back down to the couch. Look at your mindset, the way you talk to yourself and the questions you ask. The aim is to remove internal hurdles to help you stay on track. 4) Your Why Think of who you want to become and why. Your why will give you strong roots to weather the storms and a reason to keep moving. 5) Realistic Goals When you work towards a realistic goal you automatically bring order into your life. Structure fosters change and tightens our priorities. 6) Energy Boost To bring about change you require energy. There are 5 elements you can tweak (one at a time and gradually) to boost your energy: food, sleep, breath work, timing and movement. 7) Maximum performance It takes time to develop the skills that go hand in hand with an active lifestyle. The secret is to make your movement incremental, follow your pace (slow burn it) and be deliberate in what you do. 8) Rituals and routines How you greet the morning determines the flavour of every day. Slowly build habits that keep you hungry for more and align with the person you want to become. 9) Recognise Progress Recognising your progress helps you shift perspective and understand that every journey has its setbacks. In life’s transitions you are still moving forward and your focus is now the long game. 10) Celebrate the Wins Take time to pat yourself on the back, celebrate you and how far you’ve come. Lightness and laughter are key ingredients in building momentum. There will be bumps along the way. Nothing is a straight line. Moving challenges every aspect of your being: the physical, the emotional and the cognitive. But to make the change you have all you need inside of you. Enjoy the ripple effects that moment brings into your life. Be playful, creative and make it your own. Dr Brett Lillie, author of Rediscover Your Athlete Within, is a sought-after speaker, coach and rehab professional who helps people rekindle their love for movement and find their mojo so they can live their best life. To find out more about Dr Brett’s programs, go to his website www.brettlillie.com Image credits: Getty Images <p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; min-height: 12px;">

Body

Eight key questions about lab-grown meat

<div class="copy"> It’s been around for a decade now — but <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/podcast/lab-grown-meat/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cultured meat</a> still faces some huge hurdles. On 5 August, it will be ten years since the world was introduced to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-23576143" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the first lab-grown burger</a>. A decade after its arrival, biotechnologist Professor Paul Wood answers eight key questions about cultured meat. <h2>What is lab-grown meat?</h2> Cultured meat, also colloquially referred to as lab-grown meat, is <a href="https://academic.oup.com/af/article/13/2/68/7123477" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the concept</a> of taking a biopsy from a living animal, selecting an individual cell type and growing these cells in large scale <a href="https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/ajpcell.00408.2022" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bioreactors</a>. Technically, it’s a viable alternative to growing an animal to maturity before harvesting meat from its carcass. Multiple cell types can be used from animals, such as muscle, fat or <a href="https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Fibroblast" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fibroblasts</a>. The initial stage of cell selection requires the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123745538002537" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">creation of a cell line</a> which will grow continuously in a selective culture medium. <h2>How long has it been around?</h2> The technology for the culture of cells in laboratories has been used for many decades to produce drugs like <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/immunotherapy/monoclonal-antibodies" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">monoclonal antibodies</a> or <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7161866/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">viral vaccines</a>. The difference with cultured meat is the cells themselves are used to produce edible products rather than used as production systems for monoclonals or viral antigens. Cultured meat was first introduced back in 2013 with <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-23576143" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the unveiling of the world’s first lab-grown burger</a>, which cost a whopping USD$330,000 to produce. The first commercial cultured meat product was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55155741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a chicken nugget licensed in Singapore</a> in 2020. <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lab-grown-meat-approved-for-sale-what-you-need-to-know/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">In June 2023</a>, the US Department of Agriculture granted two companies — Upside Foods and Good Meat — licences to sell chicken-based products. Significant excitement ensued in the food industry with <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ind.2021.29240.ctu?journalCode=ind" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predictions</a> that cultured meat will transform the meat industry by 2030. <h2>Is lab-grown meat commercially viable?</h2> Currently <a href="https://gfi.org/resource/cultivated-meat-eggs-and-dairy-state-of-the-industry-report/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">around USD$3 billion</a> has been invested in over 150 companies working on beef, chicken, pork, lamb and exotic cell-based products. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/03/woolly-mammoth-meatball-stunt-food-marketing/673578/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Woolly mammoth meatball</a> anyone? Upside Foods has launched its <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/01/business/lab-grown-chicken-san-francisco/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">new cell-based chicken product in a Michelin star restaurant</a>, but it is only available one night a month and the price has not been disclosed. Commercial success will require significant scaling in production, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/bit.27848" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cost reductions</a> and consumer acceptance, or these products will be confined to niche markets for wealthy consumers. Cultured meat is unlikely to be the solution for the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/6/7/53" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">increasing protein needs of developing nations</a>. The <a href="https://academic.oup.com/af/article/13/2/68/7123477" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">technical challenges</a> involve scaling up cell growth in over 10,000 litre fermentation vessels, while significantly reducing the cost of cell-culture media, the capital cost of equipment and the operating cost of high-quality sterile biocontainment facilities. It has been estimated that the cost of production of cultured meat <a href="https://cedelft.eu/publications/tea-of-cultivated-meat/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">must be reduced by over 1,000-fold</a> to match that of conventional meat production. Proponents of cultured meat like to quote the concept of <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/moores-law" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Moore’s law</a> that predicts that the cost of all new technology will be significantly reduced with time. However this law has never been applied to a biological system that has innate growth limits. <h2>Is it good for you — and does it taste okay?</h2> Currently <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-20061-y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">all cultured meats are hybrid or blended products</a>, in which the harvested cell paste — the meat component — is combined with plant-based materials, plus vitamins and minerals to produce burgers, meatballs, sausages and dumplings. Yes, you have to add the vitamins in, and no, you can’t make a steak with it yet. From a commercial perspective this is important, as cultured meat products will compete in the commodity meat market. Cultured meat does not produce a three-dimensional steak with multiple cell types and complex taste and texture. However, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lanabandoim/2021/02/12/worlds-first-3d-bioprinted-and-cultivated-ribeye-steak-is-revealed/?sh=4b6baf0a4781" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">there are companies</a> aiming to develop whole cuts of meat using 3D printing and bioengineering technology. <h2>What is the motivation to produce cell-cultured meat?</h2> The drivers for cultured meat are that <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-05-06/vegan-alternative-plant-based-meat-grown-in-lab/9726436" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">animals are not slaughtered</a>, there can be less land and water usage and less greenhouse gases are produced than conventional meat production, particularly from ruminants like cattle and sheep. A lower manufacturing footprint is a terrific plus. And not killing animals is something a lot of people advocate for, but until cultured meat has been scaled significantly, it won’t be known if it’s really better for the planet or for humans. The <a href="https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2022/04/21/cultivated-meat-upside-foods-closes-400m-series-c-round-to-support-commercial-scale-plant-with-production-capacity-of-tens-of-millions-of-pounds" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">largest facility built so far</a> is a pilot plant in the USA that aims to produce around 1,000 pounds (approximately 450 kilograms) of product per week, which is equivalent to the dressed weight of three carcasses — what a single suburban butcher processes in one day. <h2>Will it be expensive to buy?</h2> The taste and texture of food is critical to consumers — but so is value for money. So, it’s not surprising <a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/mapped-meat-consumption-by-country-and-type/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chicken is the dominant choice of meat</a> currently. With high-end lab-grown meat products, both taste and texture can most likely be matched, and with supplementation with vitamins like B12 it should be possible to make cultured meat nutritionally equivalent to its traditional counterpart too. However, cost will be a major challenge and sales data indicated that <a href="https://www.freshplaza.com/oceania/article/9535792/consumers-are-not-willing-to-pay-more-for-sustainability/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">consumers will not pay any significant premium for slaughter-free or more sustainable products</a>. <h2>Who wants to eat meat grown in a factory?</h2> There are also questions around who the consumers will be for cultured meat. Vegans avoid animal products, vegetarians often reject the taste of meat and this new group of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924224421003952" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">flexitarians</a>, while interested in trying new products, are seldom converted to <a href="https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2021/11/16/What-do-flexitarian-consumers-want-Plant-based-innovation-opportunities-revealed" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">regular customers</a>. In the US at least, this is one of the reasons that the many plant-based meat products have only captured <a href="https://gfi.org/marketresearch/#plant-based-meat" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">1.3 percent of the meat market</a>. It is also likely that plant-based products will be a <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/agriculture/our-insights/alternative-proteins-the-race-for-market-share-is-on" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">major competitor</a> to these new cultured meat products. <h2>Who will be next to approve cell-cultured meat?</h2> While the first cultured meat products have been licensed in Singapore and the US, it is expected more will follow from other regions. Even though <a href="https://www.fao.org/food-safety/scientific-advice/crosscutting-and-emerging-issues/cell-based-food/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a recent FAO report</a> identified over 50 potential health risks with cultured meat, it concluded that the overall risk was not greater than that seen with conventional meat products. There could be delays in Europe due to the conservative regulatory approach taken in the EU. In Australia, products are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-06-27/cultured-lab-meat-to-sell-in-australia-to-rival-plant-based-meat/102527330" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">expected to be approved in 2024</a>. For now though? Well, the message to Aussie meat producers is … don’t sell the farm. Image credits: Getty Images </div> <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/nutrition/explainer-lab-grown-meat/">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="null">Cosmos</a>. </div>

Food & Wine

Is red meat bad for you? And does it make a difference if it’s a processed burger or a lean steak?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katherine-livingstone-324808">Katherine Livingstone</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> A juicy burger is a staple in many Australians’ diet. Yet research shows regularly eating red meat can increase your risk of developing <a href="https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/advance-article/doi/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad336/7188739?searchresult=1">type 2 diabetes, heart disease</a> and <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(15)00444-1/fulltext">certain cancers</a>. But is eating a beef burger worse for your health than eating a lean grass-fed steak? And how much red meat should we really be eating? <h2>Types of red meat</h2> First of all, it’s good to clarify that <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240074828">red meat</a> refers to all mammalian muscle meat. So that includes beef, lamb, pork, veal, mutton and goat. Then we can distinguish red meat types by how the animal has been raised and how the meat is processed. Here are some key terms to know. Conventional meat, also called grain-fed, is meat from animals that are grass-fed for part of their lives and then given a grain-based diet for the remainder. Most red meat available in major supermarkets is grain-fed. Grass-fed meat comes from animals that have grazed on pasture for their entire lives. This means grass-fed meat tends to have higher levels of unsaturated fats than conventional meat, and is why some <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/5/646">research</a> suggests it’s healthier. Grass-fed meat is also likely to cost more. Organic meat is seen as a premium product as it has to meet <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/export/controlled-goods/organic-bio-dynamic/national-standard">government standards</a> for organic produce. For example, meat labelled as organic cannot use synthetic pesticides or use hormones or antibiotics to stimulate growth. Processed meats have been preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or by adding chemical preservatives. Examples include sausages, ham, bacon and hot dogs. <h2>What is the nutritional value of red meat?</h2> <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/five-food-groups/lean-meat-and-poultry-fish-eggs-tofu-nuts-and-seeds-and">Red meat</a> contains many nutrients that are important for health, including protein, vitamin B12, iron and zinc. Red meat is a good source of iron and zinc as they are more easily absorbed by the body from meat than from plant foods. Red meat is often high in saturated fats, but this can <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/science/monitoringnutrients/ausnut/ausnutdatafiles/Pages/foodnutrient.aspx">range widely</a> from less than 1% to over 25% depending on the cut and whether it’s trimmed of fat or not. Minced meat typically ranges from 2% to 9% saturated fat depending on whether its extra lean or regular. To limit intake of saturated fats, opt for leaner mince and leaner cuts of meat, such as pork tenderloins or beef steak with the fat trimmed off. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5243954/">Wagyu beef</a> (which simply translates to Wa = Japanese and Gyu = cow) has been touted as a healthier alternative to conventional red meat, as it tends to be higher in unsaturated fats. But research is limited, and ultimately it still contains saturated fat. Processed meats, such as bacon, salami and sausages, contain beneficial nutrients, but they are also high in saturated fat, sodium and contain preservatives. <h2>Is red meat bad for your health? And does the type matter?</h2> It’s widely reported eating too much red meat is bad for your health, because it can increase your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. But most of the evidence for this comes from observational studies, which cannot determine whether red meat intake actually causes the condition. Most evidence is observational because it’s simply not ethical or feasible to ask someone to eat large amounts of meat every day for many years to see if they develop cancer. So let’s take a look at the evidence: Heart disease and type 2 diabetes In a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01968-z">review</a> of 37 observational studies, the authors found weak evidence of an association between eating unprocessed red meat and heart disease and type 2 diabetes. But for processed meat, a recent <a href="https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/44/28/2626/7188739">review</a> showed that for each additional 50g of processed meat consumed per day, the risk of heart disease increased by 26% and the risk of type 2 diabetes increased by 44%, on average. Cancer Leading international organisations have declared there’s strong evidence consumption of red and processed meat <a href="https://www.wcrf.org/diet-activity-and-cancer/cancer-prevention-recommendations/limit-red-and-processed-meat/">increases the risk of colorectal cancer</a>. For example, in a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/49/1/246/5470096">study</a> of nearly 500,000 people, each additional 50g of red meat consumed per day increased the risk of colorectal cancer by 18%. And each additional 25g of processed meat consumed per day, equivalent to a slice of ham, increased the risk by 19%. While <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34455534/">research</a> has linked consumption of red and processed meat with increased risk of other types of cancer, such as lung, pancreatic and breast, the evidence is not consistent. It also matters how red meat is cooked. For example, cooking a steak over a high heat, especially an open flame, chars the outside. This causes <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/diet/cooked-meats-fact-sheet">chemical compounds</a> to form that have been shown to cause cancer in very high doses in animal models, and some studies in humans have found an <a href="https://aacrjournals.org/cebp/article/16/12/2664/260099/Meat-and-Meat-Mutagen-Intake-and-Pancreatic-Cancer">association</a> with increased cancer rates. When it comes to how the animal was raised or its breed, based on current evidence, it’s unlikely the nutritional differences will have a substantial impact on human health. But research is limited in this area. <h2>How much red meat should you eat?</h2> Our national <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/the_guidelines/n55a_australian_dietary_guidelines_summary_book.pdf">dietary guidelines</a> recommend the average adult eats a maximum of 455g of cooked lean red meat per week (or less than 65g a day, equivalent to one small lamb chop). This is also what’s recommended by the national <a href="https://www.cancer.org.au/cancer-information/causes-and-prevention/diet-and-exercise/meat-and-cancer-risk">Cancer Council</a>. For heart health specifically, the national <a href="https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/getmedia/d5b9c4a2-8ccb-4fe9-87a2-d4a34541c272/Nutrition_Position_Statement_-_MEAT.pdf">Heart Foundation</a> recommends eating less than 350g of cooked, unprocessed red meat per week (or less than 50g a day). Many dietary guidelines around the world now also recommend limiting red meat consumption for environmental reasons. To optimise both human nutrition and planetary health, the <a href="https://eatforum.org/lancet-commission/eatinghealthyandsustainable/">EAT-Lancet commission</a> recommends consuming no more than 98g a week of red meat and very low intakes of processed meat. <h2>So what does all of this mean for your diet?</h2> The bottom line is that red meat can still be enjoyed as part of a <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/five-food-groups/lean-meat-and-poultry-fish-eggs-tofu-nuts-and-seeds-and">healthy diet</a>, if not eaten in excess. Where possible, opt for unprocessed or lean cuts, and try to grill less and roast more. Consider swapping red meat for lean chicken or fish occasionally too. If you are looking for alternatives to meat that are better for your health and the environment, minimally processed plant-based alternatives, such as tofu, beans and lentils, are great options.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207927/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katherine-livingstone-324808">Katherine Livingstone</a>, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-red-meat-bad-for-you-and-does-it-make-a-difference-if-its-a-processed-burger-or-a-lean-steak-207927">original article</a>.

Food & Wine

The cost of living is biting. Here’s how to spend less on meat and dairy

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/clare-collins-7316">Clare Collins</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-newcastle-1060">University of Newcastle</a> The cost of groceries has risen substantially <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/monthly-consumer-price-index-indicator/may-2023">over the last year</a>. Food and non-alcoholic drinks rose by 7.9% in the year to May, with biggest increases in dairy products (15.1%), breads and cereals (12.8%) and processed foods (11.5%). Meat costs rose by 3.8%, but the absolute increase was high, with a kilo of fillet steak costing up to A$60 for a kilogram. Australians spend around <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/6530.0Main+Features12009-10?OpenDocument">15% of their weekly food budget</a> on meat and half that (7.4%) on dairy products. About <a href="https://www.finder.com.au/cost-of-living-report">43% of householders</a> say grocery prices are a cause of financial stress, with half trying to reduce spending. So how can you save money on meat and dairy products without skimping on nutrients? <h2>Meat</h2> <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/five-food-groups/lean-meat-and-poultry-fish-eggs-tofu-nuts-and-seeds-and">Meat</a> is a good source of protein, iron, zinc and vitamin B12. Recommendations are for a maximum of three serves of cooked lean red meat a week. This includes beef, lamb, veal, pork, or kangaroo, with a serve being 65g cooked, which equates to 90–100g raw. This means purchasing 270–300g per person per week. Check prices online and weekly specials. Less expensive cuts include oyster blade, chuck or rump steak ($22–$25 per kilogram). They can be tougher, making them better for casseroles or slow cook recipes, like this <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/clares-slow-cooked-beef-stroganoff">beef stroganoff</a>. One exception is mince because higher star, lower fat, more expensive products shrink less during cooking compared to regular mince, which shrinks by 25–30%. Extend casserole and mince dishes by adding vegetarian protein sources, such as dried or canned beans and legumes. A 400g can of red kidney beans costs about $1.50 and contains 240g of cooked beans, equivalent to 1.6 standard serves. Add a can of any type of legume (black, adzuki, cannelloni, butter, chickpeas, four-bean mix, brown lentils) or use dried versions that don’t need pre-soaking like dried red lentils at about $5 per kilogram. This <a href="https://www.glnc.org.au/resource/legumes-nutrition/">adds nutrients</a> including protein, B vitamins, iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium and dietary fibre. <h2>Dairy</h2> Dairy products are important sources of protein, calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium and vitamins A, B2 and B12. <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/how-much-do-we-need-each-day/recommended-number-serves-adults">Australian recommendations</a> are for two to three serves a day for adults and four serves for women over 50. One serve is <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/how-much-do-we-need-each-day/serve-sizes">equivalent to</a> a cup of milk or 40g cheese. Fresh milk costs between $1.50 and $3.00 per litre depending on type and brand, while UHT milk is cheaper, about $1.60 per litre. It’s even cheaper to buy powdered milk ($10 per kilogram pack, which makes ten litres), equating to $1 per litre. Making yoghurt at home costs about $5–6 per kilogram using a powder mix and yoghurt maker ($25). Once set, divide into smaller tubs yourself. Use as a substitute for cream or sour cream. Fresh yoghurt varies from $11–$18 per kilogram, with individual serves and flavoured varieties more expensive (but not always). Compare per kilogram or per 100g prices and check for specials. Cheese prices vary a lot so compare prices per kilogram. As a guide, block cheese is cheaper than pre-sliced or grated cheese. Home brand products are cheaper than branded ones. Mature cheeses are more expensive and processed cheese least expensive. But, if you cut block cheese really thick you end up using more. Block cheese ranges from $15 to $30 a kilogram, while packets of pre-sliced cheese vary from $18 to over $30. Pre-grated cheeses range from $14 to $30 per kilo, with most around $20, and processed cheese varies from $10 to $15. Extend grated cheese by mixing with grated carrot (about $2 a kilogram) and use as a topper for tacos, wraps, pasta and pizza. Use processed cheese slices for toasted sandwiches. Most recipes work adding less cheese than specified. A high-calcium alternative to cheese in sandwiches is canned salmon, but at $15–$30 per kilogram ($6–$7 per 210g can) you add variety but may not save money. <h2>3 tips to save on your food bills</h2> 1. Have a household food budget Ensure everyone is on the same page about <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs/how-to-save-money-at-the-supermarket">saving money on food and drinks</a>. <a href="https://www.suncorpgroup.com.au/news/features/food-for-thought-australians-spend-272-billion-on-food-annually">About 50% of household food dollars</a> are spent on takeaway, eating out, coffee, alcohol, food-delivery services and extras, so have a budget for <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/discretionary-food-and-drink-choices">discretionary</a> food items. This is where you can make big savings. Your household might need an incentive to stick to the budget, like voting on which “discretionary” items food dollars get spent on. 2. Have a rough weekly meal plan Use your meal plan to write a grocery list. Check <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs/ingredient-swaps-to-limit-supermarket-trips-during-lockdown">what you already have</a> in the pantry, fridge and freezer. If you’re not sure where to start, look at ours at <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au">No Money No Time</a>, <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs/take-our-nmnt-2-week-food-budget-challenge-and-eat-for-55-a-week">either for one person</a> or a <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/ebooks-meal-plans-more/feeding-a-growing-family-on-a-budget-meal-plan-1">family with young children</a>. 3. Avoid food waste Australians <a href="https://www.ozharvest.org/food-waste-facts/">waste 7.6 million tonnes of food</a> each year yet 70% is edible. Before heading to the shops, check your <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs/creating-kitchen-space-for-christmas-and-preventing-food-waste-too">fridge</a>. Turn <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs/managing-kitchen-stock-and-using-leftovers-to-minimise-food-waste">leftovers</a> into tomorrow’s lunch or dinner. When clearing the dinner table, pack leftovers straight into lunch containers so it’s grab and go in the morning (or freeze for days you’re too busy to cook). Use our resources at <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs?search=budget">No Money No Time</a> for ideas on how to help your food dollars go further. If you need food help right now, the <a href="https://askizzy.org.au/">Ask Izzy</a> website can locate services in your area.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206703/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/clare-collins-7316">Clare Collins</a>, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-newcastle-1060">University of Newcastle</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-cost-of-living-is-biting-heres-how-to-spend-less-on-meat-and-dairy-206703">original article</a>.

Food & Wine

"Makes us feel sick": Angry vegan slams meat-eating neighbours

A letter from a vegan neighbour has gone viral, as they asked a close-by resident to close their windows while they cook meat. The hand-written note was published on a community Facebook page for the Perth northern coastal suburb of Burns Beach, and was labelled as an "Important message" for the recipient to "Please take seriously". The note began, "Hello, neighbour." "Could you please shut your side window when cooking, please?" "My family are vegan (we eat only plant-based food), and the smell of the meat you cook makes us feel sick and upset." "We would appreciate your understanding." The letter went viral not long after it was posted, and drew in a range of divided comments. Some people believed the request was a ridiculous ask, with many people wondering where they draw the line when it comes to catering for others. "I'd understand if they were smoking cigarettes and the smoke and smell was spreading and affecting the family's health," one person wrote. "But not liking the smell of meat, this isn't really a good reason to ask someone to close their windows." "What does she do when she takes the kids to the park, and people are cooking BBQs? Ask them to stop cooking. Audacity." Others thought the request was reasonable, and praised the writer's politeness. "I feel like this was a genuinely polite letter, and it’s true the smell of meat is overpowering," one person wrote. "It would be nice to see some respect for your neighbours, and not publicly trying to shame them for holding strong ethical morals." Another put it simply, "Be vegan. Eat meat. Each to their own!" One commenter suggested the recipient resort to good old neighbourly pettiness, encouraging them to "Write back and say you're offended and sad by what they said about your cooking and could they please move to a different room as you would appreciate their understanding." Image credits: Facebook

Food & Wine

ChatGPT, DALL-E 2 and the collapse of the creative process

In 2022, OpenAI – one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence research laboratories – released the text generator <a href="https://chat.openai.com/chat">ChatGPT</a> and the image generator <a href="https://openai.com/dall-e-2/">DALL-E 2</a>. While both programs represent monumental leaps in natural language processing and image generation, they’ve also been met with apprehension. Some critics have <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/chatgpt-ai-writing-college-student-essays/672371/">eulogized the college essay</a>, while others have even <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/technology/ai-artificial-intelligence-artists.html">proclaimed the death of art</a>. But to what extent does this technology really interfere with creativity? After all, for the technology to generate an image or essay, a human still has to describe the task to be completed. The better that description – the more accurate, the more detailed – the better the results. After a result is generated, some further human tweaking and feedback may be needed – touching up the art, editing the text or asking the technology to create a new draft in response to revised specifications. Even the DALL-E 2 art piece that recently won first prize in the Colorado State Fair’s digital arts competition <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/artificial-intelligence-art-wins-colorado-state-fair-180980703/">required a great deal of human “help”</a> – approximately 80 hours’ worth of tweaking and refining the descriptive task needed to produce the desired result. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Today's moody <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AIart?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AIart</a> style is... 🖤 deep blacks ↘️ angular light 🧼 clean lines 🌅 long shadows More in thread, full prompts in [ALT] text! <a href="https://t.co/tUV0ZfQyYb">pic.twitter.com/tUV0ZfQyYb</a> — Guy Parsons (@GuyP) <a href="https://twitter.com/GuyP/status/1612539185214234624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2023</a></blockquote> It could be argued that by being freed from the tedious execution of our ideas – by focusing on just having ideas and describing them well to a machine – people can let the technology do the dirty work and can spend more time inventing. But in our work as philosophers at <a href="https://www.umb.edu/ethics">the Applied Ethics Center at University of Massachusetts Boston</a>, we have written about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/mopp-2021-0026">the effects of AI on our everyday decision-making</a>, <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429470325-28/owning-future-work-alec-stubbs">the future of work</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-022-00245-6">worker attitudes toward automation</a>. Leaving aside the very real ramifications of <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-12-21/artificial-intelligence-artists-stability-ai-digital-images">robots displacing artists who are already underpaid</a>, we believe that AI art devalues the act of artistic creation for both the artist and the public. <h2>Skill and practice become superfluous</h2> In our view, the desire to close the gap between ideation and execution is a chimera: There’s no separating ideas and execution. It is the work of making something real and working through its details that carries value, not simply that moment of imagining it. Artistic works are lauded not merely for the finished product, but for the struggle, the playful interaction and the skillful engagement with the artistic task, all of which carry the artist from the moment of inception to the end result. The focus on the idea and the framing of the artistic task amounts to <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-paul-mccartneys-the-lyrics-can-teach-us-about-harnessing-our-creativity-170987">the fetishization of the creative moment</a>. Novelists write and rewrite the chapters of their manuscripts. Comedians “write on stage” in response to the laughs and groans of their audience. Musicians tweak their work in response to a discordant melody as they compose a piece. In fact, the process of execution is a gift, allowing artists to become fully immersed in a task and a practice. It allows them to enter <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/flow-mihaly-csikszentmihalyi?variant=32118048686114">what some psychologists call the “flow” state</a>, where they are wholly attuned to something that they are doing, unaware of the passage of time and momentarily freed from the boredom or anxieties of everyday life. This playful state is something that would be a shame to miss out on. <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p073182">Play tends to be understood as an autotelic activity</a> – a term derived from the Greek words auto, meaning “self,” and telos meaning “goal” or “end.” As an autotelic activity, play is done for itself – it is self-contained and requires no external validation. For the artist, the process of artistic creation is an integral part, maybe even the greatest part, of their vocation. But there is no flow state, no playfulness, without engaging in skill and practice. And the point of ChatGPT and DALL-E is to make this stage superfluous. <h2>A cheapened experience for the viewer</h2> But what about the perspective of those experiencing the art? Does it really matter how the art is produced if the finished product elicits delight? We think that it does matter, particularly because the process of creation adds to the value of art for the people experiencing it as much as it does for the artists themselves. Part of the experience of art is knowing that human effort and labor has gone into the work. Flow states and playfulness notwithstanding, art is the result of skillful and rigorous expression of human capabilities. Recall <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUOlnvGpcbs">the famous scene</a> from the 1997 film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/">Gattaca</a>,” in which a pianist plays a haunting piece. At the conclusion of his performance, he throws his gloves into the admiring audience, which sees that the pianist has 12 fingers. They now understand that he was genetically engineered to play the transcendent piece they just heard – and that he could not play it with the 10 fingers of a mere mortal. Does that realization retroactively change the experience of listening? Does it take away any of the awe? <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/04/the-case-against-perfection/302927/">As the philosopher Michael Sandel notes</a>: Part of what gives art and athletic achievement its power is the process of witnessing natural gifts playing out. People enjoy and celebrate this talent because, in a fundamental way, it represents the paragon of human achievement – the amalgam of talent and work, human gifts and human sweat. <h2>Is it all doom and gloom?</h2> Might ChatGPT and DALL-E be worth keeping around? Perhaps. These technologies could serve as catalysts for creativity. It’s possible that the link between ideation and execution can be sustained if these AI applications are simply viewed as mechanisms for creative imagining – <a href="https://openai.com/blog/dall-e-2-extending-creativity/">what OpenAI calls</a> “extending creativity.” They can generate stimuli that allow artists to engage in more imaginative thinking about their own process of conceiving an art piece. Put differently, if ChatGPT and DALL-E are the end results of the artistic process, something meaningful will be lost. But if they are merely tools for fomenting creative thinking, this might be less of a concern. For example, a game designer could ask DALL-E to provide some images about what a Renaissance town with a steampunk twist might look like. A writer might ask about descriptors that capture how a restrained, shy person expresses surprise. Both creators could then incorporate these suggestions into their work. But in order for what they are doing to still count as art – in order for it to feel like art to the artists and to those taking in what they have made – the artists would still have to do the bulk of the artistic work themselves. Art requires makers to keep making. <h2>The warped incentives of the internet</h2> Even if AI systems are used as catalysts for creative imaging, we believe that people should be skeptical of what these systems are drawing from. It’s important to pay close attention to the incentives that underpin and reward artistic creation, particularly online. Consider the generation of AI art. These works draw on images and video that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/12/when-ai-can-make-art-what-does-it-mean-for-creativity-dall-e-midjourney">already exist</a> online. But the AI is not sophisticated enough – nor is it incentivized – to consider whether works evoke a sense of wonder, sadness, anxiety and so on. They are not capable of factoring in aesthetic considerations of novelty and cross-cultural influence. Rather, training ChatGPT and DALL-E on preexisting measurements of artistic success online will tend to replicate the dominant incentives of the internet’s largest platforms: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josp.12489">grabbing and retaining attention</a> for the sake of data collection and user engagement. The catalyst for creative imagining therefore can easily become subject to an addictiveness and attention-seeking imperative rather than more transcendent artistic values. It’s possible that artificial intelligence is at a precipice, one that evokes a sense of “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/04/the-case-against-perfection/302927/">moral vertigo</a>” – the uneasy dizziness people feel when scientific and technological developments outpace moral understanding. Such vertigo can lead to apathy and detachment from creative expression. If human labor is removed from the process, what value does creative expression hold? Or perhaps, having opened Pandora’s box, this is an indispensable opportunity for humanity to reassert the value of art – and to push back against a technology that may prevent many real human artists from thriving. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-dall-e-2-and-the-collapse-of-the-creative-process-196461" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Art

Can reading help heal us and process our emotions – or is that just a story we tell ourselves?

The <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4306897">oldest known library</a>, dating back to the second millennium BC, in Thebes, Egypt, reportedly bore a sign above its portals in Greek: Psyches Iatreion, translated as “healing place of the soul”. The idea that reading may confer healing benefits is not new, but continues to intrigue readers and researchers. Of course, this doesn’t apply to reading about how to put up the tent, or tidy our piles of household stuff. When we talk about books that might offer a balm for the soul, we mean fiction, poetry and narrative non-fiction (including memoir). The idea of emotional catharsis through reading is intuitively appealing. But does it work that way? Or do we read for interest, pleasure, escapism – or love of words? <h2>Reading as catharsis and transport</h2> “The highest aspiration of art is to move the audience,” claims <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/609280/a-swim-in-a-pond-in-the-rain-by-george-saunders/">George Saunders</a>. Who is not still moved by the first book that affected them on a cellular level – whether that’s Storm Boy, The Little Prince, or their high-school reading of To Kill a Mockingbird? According to the authors of <a href="https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/the-novel-cure">The Novel Cure: an A-Z of Literary Remedies</a>, "novels have the power to transport you into another existence, and see the world from a different point of view […] sometimes it’s the story that charms; sometimes it’s the rhythm of the prose that works on the psyche, stilling or stimulating." Humans imitate or re-present the world through art: poetry, drama and epic. That drive, claimed <a href="https://www.amherst.edu/system/files/media/1812/The%252520Poetics%252520of%252520Aristotle%25252C%252520by%252520Aristotle.pdf">Aristotle</a>, sets humans apart from animals. In 1987 Jerome Bruner proposed that “world making” is the “principal function of mind”, in both the sciences and arts. As humans, we are drawn to the momentum of narrative to tell our stories, <a href="https://ewasteschools.pbworks.com/f/Bruner_J_LifeAsNarrative.pdf">he says</a>. We seek to make sense of the events in our lives, as if life really were a three-act play with a clear narrative arc. (Conveniently summarised as: “Get him up a tree; throw rocks at him; get him down.”) <h2>How reading works</h2> Reading is one way we seek to understand our worlds. Evolutionary psychologists propose the brain is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/009164710203000101">“designed for reading”</a>, just as it is for language, facial recognition or other drives. The act of reading engages both cognitive and – especially where there’s a narrative – emotional processes. Children learning to read must first grasp the basics of recognition (sound-letter-phoneme-word) and then proceed to the higher-order cognitive skill of comprehension of the meaning of the text (semantics). It is at that next level of meaning-making that words connect and stir the emotions. That might be fear (<a href="https://theconversation.com/frankenstein-how-mary-shelleys-sci-fi-classic-offers-lessons-for-us-today-about-the-dangers-of-playing-god-175520">Frankenstein</a>), love (<a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/pride-and-prejudice-9780241374887">Pride and Prejudice</a>), outrage (Germaine Greer’s polemic <a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-female-eunuch-at-50-germaine-greers-fearless-feminist-masterpiece-147437">The Female Eunuch</a>) or existential angst (Albert Camus’ philosophical novel L’Etranger/<a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-outsider-9780141198064">The Outsider</a>). But how does this process “work”? Or, as Saunders puts it: “How does [the writer] seduce, persuade, console, distract?” <h2>How reading between the gaps invites us in</h2> World or meaning making can occur directly by acquiring knowledge (for example, when reading that tent manual) or indirectly, through our engagement with the social world, art and our meaning-making faculties. Works of art invite thought and feeling. This “<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27449184/">indirect communication</a>” of literature is one of the unique affordances (or benefits) it offers readers. Meaning-making <a href="https://www.onfiction.ca/p/books.html">is</a> a transaction between author, text and reader; the “gap” between the words and the reader’s interpretation, shaped by their own experiences and predispositions, is critical. Thus, an author might seek to move a reader – but whether the reader is moved will depend on individual circumstances and preferences. (Not the least among these is the skill of the writer, of course.) <a href="https://theconversation.com/book-week-is-good-for-kids-and-book-clubs-are-great-for-adults-30783">Book clubs</a>, where heated discussions can be motivated by how books and their characters made readers feel, are a great example. So is consumer review site <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-the-world-of-goodreads-do-we-still-need-book-reviewers-56455">Goodreads</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-booktok-and-how-is-it-influencing-what-australian-teenagers-read-182290">#BookTok</a>, the sector of TikTok where books that make readers cry dominate. As <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/609280/a-swim-in-a-pond-in-the-rain-by-george-saunders/">Flannery O’Connor</a> says, “the writer can choose what he writes about but he cannot choose what he is able to make live” (my italics). In other words, some books will always speak to some readers. And those same books will leave other readers cold – or even make them regret joining a book club. <h2>What neuroscience tells us about reading</h2> Virginia Woolf wrote of books as “<a href="http://lemasney.com/consulting/2015/05/05/books-are-the-mirrors-of-the-soul-virginia-woolf-cc-by-lemasney/">mirrors of the soul</a>”. And contemporary neuropsychologists have proven it, with brain-imaging studies. These studies have demonstrated that when a person indirectly experiences an event associated with an emotion, the same regions of the brain are activated as if they had experienced the event directly. We feel disgust, whether we actually discover (or half-eat) the maggot in the ham sandwich or view a TikTok video of the simulated event. The same fear is elicited in the brain when we walk a tightrope in a virtual reality simulation, view the film of Phillipe Petit in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3488710/">The Walk</a>, or high-wire walk ourselves (do not try this at home). Mirror neurons prompt us to yawn or smile or frown when another person yawns, smiles or frowns. The other person – the protagonist, in a book – can be completely fictional, the entire plot make-believe: yet we still cry. Who of us hasn’t wept real tears when tragedy befalls a favourite character in a novel? (For me, it’s the death of shell-shocked World War I soldier Septimus in Virginia Woolf’s novel <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/mrs-dalloway-9780241468647">Mrs Dalloway</a>.) <h2>The psychology of fiction</h2> University of Toronto professor emeritus and author-psychologist <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Such+Stuff+as+Dreams:+The+Psychology+of+Fiction-p-9780470974575">Keith Oatley</a> explains that reading narratives allows us to “simulate” a social world where we identify with characters and their struggles, and observe their way of solving conflicts. This way we can process emotional content and solve life’s problems indirectly. It’s much more effective than being given the solution! Oatley’s research has also demonstrated that readers’ long-term engagement in fiction (especially literary fiction) <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27449184/">improves their empathy</a> and their ability to take the perspective of another person (referred to as “Theory of Mind”). Oatley suggests: “We need not lead one life; through fiction we can lead many lives”. In this sense, reading can prompt us to understand the inner lives of others as well as our own. It can even help us to re-imagine the narrative of our lives – especially if we are not happy with the one we are actually leading. In this way, reading can provide both escape and a way to imagine (and perhaps start to plan for) alternative ways to live. In her book <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1kgqwk8">Why We Read Fiction</a>, Lisa Zunshine argues "fiction helps us to pattern in newly nuanced ways our emotions and perceptions […] it creates new forms of meaning for our everyday existence." Quite apart from the practical benefits of this kind of cognitive and emotional gymnastics, Zunshine says our biggest reason for doing it is enjoyment itself. <h2>Does reading prompt emotional catharsis?</h2> Marcel Proust wrote that a novelist can, in an hour, “set free all kinds of happiness and misfortune which would take years of our ordinary lives to know”. Reading, as a hard-wired impetus and a form of engaging with art, allows us to process our emotions. Importantly, this can be at a distance. We don’t have to directly, for example, pursue forbidden love and sort out the ensuing mess (Graham Greene’s <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-end-of-the-affair-9780099478447">The End of the Affair</a>), or cope alone with alienation or discrimination (Alice Walker’s <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/alice-walker/the-color-purple-the-classic-pulitzer-prize-winning-novel">The Colour Purple</a>). We can scare ourselves without ever having to go into the dark woods. We can access experiences unavailable to us in life – and the positive feelings they produce can remain with us. For example, we can transform ourselves into magical, powerful heroes and heroines who prevail against impossible odds (<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-tolkien-and-lord-of-the-rings-inspired-the-commercial-and-artistic-success-of-the-fantasy-fiction-genre-170958">Lord of the Rings</a>). Saunders suggests art (including literature) might be "an offering of sorts – a hypothesis for both writer and reader to take up and consider together […] the goal of that offering might be to ease the reader’s way; to make the difficulty of this life less for her. We try to give the reader a way of thinking about reality that is truthful, yes, and harsh, if need be, but not gratuitously harsh, a way of thinking that, somehow, helps her." Image: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-reading-help-heal-us-and-process-our-emotions-or-is-that-just-a-story-we-tell-ourselves-197789" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Books

Meat Loaf – a complicated musical giant

Ridiculed by critics and custodians of cool, Meat Loaf’s bombastic performances were loved by millions, providing the soundtrack to the lives of various generations. The man born Marvin Lee Aday was something of an unreliable narrator. He offered contradictory accounts in interviews of such basic details as his date of birth, real name, or why and how he came to be known as Meat Loaf. According to <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/to-hell-and-back/david-dalton/meat-loaf/9780753504437">his autobiography</a>, an inheritance from his mother allowed him, as a disturbed and distressed teenager, to leave the house of a violent alcoholic father to live, first in Dallas, and subsequently California. He was cast in the original Los Angeles productions of both Hair and The Rocky Horror Show, also appearing in the 1975 film adaptation of the latter. On auditioning for budding playwright/songwriter <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/meat-loaf-remembers-jim-steinman-1160041/">Jim Steinman’s</a> More Than You Deserve musical – the title track of which would later pop up on the Dead Ringer album – Steinman identified his ideal leading man for the Bat out of Hell project. Record executives were less convinced. They thought that the pairing of a large sweaty singer with unorthodox musical arrangements, pitched somewhere between Phil Spector and Wagner, was a complete anomaly in the age of punk and disco. The odd pair were eventually signed by independent label Cleveland after getting Todd Rundgren onboard as a producer. The Texan-born singer and actor outlived his chief collaborator by less than a year. Their signing with Cleveland would be the start to a career full of hits and as many highs as there were lows. <h2>Difficult success</h2> Bat Out of Hell – one of the top five selling records of all-time – was released in 1977. Almost all the songs originated from a university project of Steinman’s based on Peter Pan. Unable to clear the rights with JM Barrie’s estate, Steinman recycled the material into Bat Out of Hell instead. Jukebox musicals typically rely on a pre-existing songbook but Bat out of Hell is best characterised as a cast album that had its first outing in the charts before the stage. Given that three of the album’s seven songs exceed eight minutes, remarkably not a moment is wasted. Epics such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C11MzbEcHlw&ab_channel=MeatLoafVEVO">Paradise by the Dashboard Light</a> and Bat out of Hell (designed to top the 1960s hit <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTjQgkHzbTk&ab_channel=John1948Ten">Tell Laura I Love Her</a> as the ultimate motorcycle crash song) are more than guilty pleasures. They encapsulate the sensations if not perhaps the realities of being a hormonal teenager in thrall to sex, death and rock‘n’roll. The album sold over 10 million copies in the US, and spent over ten years on the UK charts. Meat Loaf was not, however, mentally or physically prepared for the pressures of success or large-scale touring. After losing his voice on the Bat Out of Hell tour in 1978, he had multiple nervous breakdowns and attempted suicide. Steinman lost patience, and a planned sequel to Bat was put on the backburner. There were occasional hits in the 1980s without Steinman (for instance <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCHWD9HeRKY&ab_channel=PeterSchulz">Modern Girl</a> and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/5TvUFX8blX7LAw4nMtYji4?highlight=spotify:track:0UeoAe8yipWeSNr3zfCPfx">Midnight at the Lost and Found</a>) but Meat Loaf’s star was on the wane. Despite recording one of the most successful albums of rock’s golden age, by 1983 the singer was facing the prospect of bankruptcy. Yet by playing smaller venues and adopting more sophisticated vocal techniques, a constant touring schedule through the latter part of the 1980s transformed Meat Loaf into one of world’s most accomplished live performers. A nearly three-hour 1988 concert recording <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0gkNPhmn-0">from Edinburgh</a> shows why this period is considered his live peak by hardcore fans. It also ensured he was better prepared to reap the rewards when he and Steinman staged one of rock’s most unlikely comebacks with Bat out of Hell II in 1993, with lead-single I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t do That) topping the charts in 28 countries. The 1990s marked Meat Loaf’s imperial phase, selling out arenas and enjoying celebrity, appearing in films such as Fight Club (1997) and Spice World (1999). Yet unlike Peter Pan, Meat Loaf wasn’t forever young, often appearing lost in the new millennium. After collapsing on stage in Newcastle in 2007, he said he wouldn’t perform in concert again. In reality, he continued touring for another decade, the musical equivalent of a veteran boxer not knowing when to hang up the gloves. Steinman also launched a legal action when the singer sought to go it alone with <a href="https://ultimateclassicrock.com/meat-loaf-bat-out-of-hell-iii/">Bat Out of Hell III</a> (2006). An out of court settlement effectively gave the songwriter free rein to develop a stage version of Bat out of Hell. Despite their differences, Meat Loaf took on promotional duties as Steinman’s health prevented him from undertaking for the 2017 premiere of <a href="https://www.batoutofhellmusical.com/">Bat Out of Hell the Musical</a>. Now that so many of rock’s founding fathers have died, my current research into rock musicals such as this and David Bowie’s Lazarus sees them as repositioning one of the major forms of cultural expression from the second half of the last century. Blessed with one of rock’s most distinctive voices (admirers include Axl Rose and Kurt Cobain), quality control was never Meat’s forte. At his best, however, the Loaf was a heavyweight contender, able to hold his own alongside the world’s finest performers irrespective of genre. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/meat-loaf-a-complicated-musical-giant-175552" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Music

AI may have solved a debate on whether a dinoprint was from a herbivore or meat eater

An international team of researchers has, for the first time, used AI to analyse the tracks of dinosaurs, and the AI has come out on top – beating trained palaeontologists at their own game. “In extreme examples of theropod and ornithopod footprints, their footprint shapes are easy to tell apart -theropod with long, narrow toes and ornithopods with short, dumpy toes. But it is the tracks that are in-between these shapes that are not so clear cut in terms of who made them,” one of the researchers, University of Queensland palaeontologist Dr Anthony Romilio, told Cosmos. “We wanted to see if AI could learn these differences and, if so, then could be tested in distinguishing more challenging three-toed footprints.” Theropods are meat eating dinosaurs, while ornithopods are plant eating, and getting this analysis wrong can alter the data which shows diversity and abundance of dinosaurs in the area, or could even change what we think are the behaviours of certain dinos. One set of dinosaur prints in particular had been a struggle for the researchers to analyse. Large footprints at the Dinosaur Stampede National monument in Queensland had divided Romilio and his colleagues. The mysterious tracks were thought to be left during the mid-Cretaceous Period, around 93 million years ago, and could have been from either a meat eating theropod or a plant eating ornithopod. “I consider them footprints of a plant-eater while my colleagues share the much wider consensus that they are theropod tracks.” <div class="advert ad-in-content"> <div id="adn-00000000001fc2ca" style="display: none;"></div> </div> So, an AI called a Convolutional Neutral Network, was brought in to be a deciding factor. “We were pretty stuck, so thank god for modern technology,” says <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jens-Lallensack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr Jens Lallensack</a>, lead author from Liverpool John Moores University in the UK. “In our research team of three, one person was pro-meat-eater, one person was undecided, and one was pro-plant-eater. <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p224866-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> <form class="wpcf7-form mailchimp-ext-0.5.62 spai-bg-prepared init" action="/history/dinosaur-ai-theropod-ornithopods/#wpcf7-f6-p224866-o1" method="post" novalidate="novalidate" data-status="init"> <input class="wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text referer-page" name="referer-page" type="hidden" value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/" data-value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/" aria-invalid="false" /> </form> </div> </div> “So – to really check our science – we decided to go to five experts for clarification, plus use AI.” The AI was given nearly 1,500 already known tracks to learn which dinosaurs were which. The tracks were simple line drawings to make it easier for the AI to analyse. <div class="advert ad-in-content"> <div id="adn-00000000001fc2ca" style="display: none;"></div> </div> Then they began testing. Firstly, 36 new tracks were given to a team of experts, the AI and the researchers. “Each of us had to sort these into the categories of footprints left by meat-eaters and those by plant-eaters,” says Romilio. “In this the ai was the clear winner with 90% correctly identified. Me and one of my colleagues came next with ~75% correct.” Then, they went for the crown jewel – the Dinosaur Stampede National monument tracks. When the AI analysed this it came back with a pretty strong result that they’re plant eating ornithopod tracks. It’s not entirely sure though, the data suggests that there’s a 1 in 5,000,000 chance it could be a theropod instead. <div class="advert ad-in-content"> <div id="adn-00000000001fc2ca" style="display: none;"></div> </div> This is still early days for using AI in this way. In the future. the researchers are hoping for funding for a FrogID style app which anyone could use to analyse dinosaur tracks. “Our hope is to develop an app so anyone can take a photo on their smartphone, use the app and it will tell you what type of dinosaur track it is,” says Romilio. “It will also be useful for drone work survey for dinosaur tracksites, collecting and analysing image data and identifying fossil footprints remotely.” The paper has been published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2022.0588" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Royal Society Interface</a>.  <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=224866&title=AI+may+have+solved+a+debate+on+whether+a+dinoprint+was+from+a+herbivore+or+meat+eater" width="1" height="1" />  <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/dinosaur-ai-theropod-ornithopods/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on Cosmos Magazine and was written by Jacinta Bowler. Image: Getty Images </div>

Technology

Vegetarians more likely to be depressed than meat-eaters

Vegetarians have around twice as many depressive episodes as meat-eaters, according to a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032722010643" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new study</a>. The study, based on survey data from Brazil, chimes with <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/animals-and-us/201812/the-baffling-link-between-vegetarianism-and-depression" target="_blank" rel="noopener">earlier research</a> that found higher rates of depression among those who forgo meat. However, the new study suggests that this link exists independent of nutritional intake. It may seem straightforward to look at a link between a diet and specific health problems and assume that the former is causing the latter via some form of nutritional deficiency. Yet the new analysis, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, took into account a wide range of nutritional factors, including total calorie intake, protein intake, micronutrient intake, and the level of food processing. This suggests that the higher rates of depression among vegetarians are not caused by the nutritional content of their diet. So what might explain the link between vegetarianism and depression? Is there some non-nutritional mechanism that makes the former cause the latter? Or is the relationship down to something else entirely? First, it is possible that being depressed causes people to be more likely to become vegetarian rather than the other way around. The <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/clinical-depression/symptoms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">symptoms of depression</a> can include rumination on negative thoughts, as well as feelings of guilt. Assuming that depressed and non-depressed people are equally likely to encounter the upsetting truth of slaughterhouses and factory farming, it is possible that depressed people are more likely to ruminate on those thoughts, and more likely to feel guilty for their part in creating the demand. The depressed vegetarian, in this case, is not necessarily wrong to think this way. While depression is sometimes characterised as having unrealistically negative perceptions, <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/hide-and-seek/201206/depressive-realism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">there is evidence to suggest</a> that people with mild to moderate depression have more realistic judgments about the outcome of uncertain events and more realistic perceptions of their own role and abilities. In this case, there really is <a href="https://www.bryantresearch.co.uk/insights/acceptability-of-animal-farming-practices" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cruel treatment of animals in meat production</a>. And this really is caused by consumer demand for cheap meat. Second, it is possible that adhering to a vegetarian diet causes depression for reasons other than nutrition. Even if there is no “happy nutrient” lacking in a vegetarian diet, it could be the case that forgoing meat causes depression through other means. For example, adopting a vegetarian diet might affect one’s relationship with others and involvement in social activities, and sometimes may be associated with <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21361905/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">teasing or other forms of social ostracism</a>. Notably, the new study is based on survey data collected in Brazil, a country <a href="https://data.oecd.org/agroutput/meat-consumption.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">famous for its meat-heavy diet</a>. Some survey data has pointed to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/world/americas/brazil-vegetarian.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sharp increase in vegetarianism in Brazil in recent years</a>, going from 8% in 2012 to 16% in 2018. However, the recent paper surveyed over 14,000 Brazilians and found just 82 vegetarians – scarcely more than half a per cent. One has to wonder if the same link between vegetarianism and depression would be observed in India or other countries where vegetarianism is more of a social norm. More importantly, as the <a href="https://www.bryantresearch.co.uk/insights/uk-protein-transition-in-4-graphs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rate of vegetarianism increases in the UK</a> and other developed countries, will we see the relationship disappear over time? Finally, it is possible that neither vegetarianism nor depression cause the other, but both are associated with some third factor. This could be any number of characteristics or experiences that are associated with both vegetarianism and depression. For example, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666317305305" target="_blank" rel="noopener">women are more likely than men to be vegetarian</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5532074/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">and to experience depression</a>. However, the Brazilian study took sex into account, ruling out this particular third variable. <h2>Not examined</h2> One variable that was not examined, but is plausibly linked to both vegetarianism and depression, is exposure to violent images of the meat industry. Preventing cruelty to animals is the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1062072/reasons-for-becoming-vegetarian-or-vegan-in-great-britain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most commonly cited reason</a> vegetarians give for avoiding meat. Documentaries like <a href="https://watchdominion.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dominion</a> and <a href="http://www.nationearth.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Earthlings</a> that depict the cruelty in the meat industry cannot readily be described as feelgood films. One can easily imagine that a person who consumes this kind of media would become both vegetarian and, especially when most people choose to look the other way, depressed. There are several possible reasons for the link between vegetarianism and depression. This new study suggests that vegetarian nutrition is not the cause of depression. Instead, the vegetarian social experience may contribute to depression, depression may cause an increased likelihood of becoming vegetarian, or both vegetarianism and depression may be caused by a third variable, such as exposure to violent meat industry imagery. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/vegetarians-more-likely-to-be-depressed-than-meat-eaters-possible-reasons-191707" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Body

Who was that incredibly tall man in the Queen's funeral procession?

With thousands turning out to see Queen Elizabeth II one last time as she was farewelled in a public memorial, one mourner stood out from the procession and sent the internet into a tizzy. The figure in question was Matthew Magee, one of the Queen’s former private secretaries. Standing at an impressive 7ft 2in, he would have towered over the late five-foot Queen. According to The Mirror UK, Magee is often confused with one of the monarch’s most dedicated members of staff, Paul “Tall Paul” Whybrew. Tall Paul, who is slightly shorter than Magee at 6ft 4in, was one of only three of the Queen’s male domestic staff who were invited to join the cortege from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall last week. He earned his nickname in comparison to another of Her Majesty’s footmen, Paul Burrell, who was known as Small Paul. Despite tall being in his name, Tall Paul was overshadowed by Magee, having sparked curiosity among many on social media. “Who is this insanely tall man? Is this the royal Slenderman?” one person shared on Twitter. “Anyone know who the exceedingly tall man is?” another asked. A third wrote, “I don’t know who he is, but he is a very tall man”. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Is this tall man the Royal Giant? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tallman?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#tallman</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Queen?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Queen</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/funeral?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#funeral</a> <a href="https://t.co/UKdvFAf6za">pic.twitter.com/UKdvFAf6za</a> — Stephen Griffin (@Stephen_Griffin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Stephen_Griffin/status/1571869435039780864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 19, 2022</a></blockquote> Some asked whether he was related to English TV presenter Richard Osman, who stands at 6ft 7in, prompting Osman to trend on Twitter. “Curious as to who the tall man is - walking in the Queen’s Funeral Procession. Wearing Morning (sic) Dress and towering above everyone else. Must be knocking on 7ft tall… [Richard Osman] - though it was you!!!” one person wrote. “Wondered why Richard Osman was trending and it turns out it’s because there was a tall man wearing glasses at the Queen’s funeral,” another shared. With so many wondering about the mystery tall man’s identity, others were quick to reveal who he was - and even threw in a joke or two. “Matthew Magee. Private Secretary to the Queen. He’s 7ft 2inch tall. She always looked up to him,” one user joked. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Queens private secretary oversees everything <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/queensfuneral?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#queensfuneral</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tallman?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#tallman</a> <a href="https://t.co/bJPE3A7aO9">pic.twitter.com/bJPE3A7aO9</a> — Jade Thomas (@Jadeesther23) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jadeesther23/status/1571869355993866241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 19, 2022</a></blockquote> “The Queen’s Private Secretary Matthew Magee (the very tall man with glasses in front of the hearse) is as tall as the soldiers with the bear skin hats on,” another revealed. Magee has previously worked as the private secretary to Prince Edward, though The Sun reported that he was chosen to work for the Queen in 2018 because of his “brilliant brain”. “He is a smashing guy with a great sense of humour and the Queen will love working with him on a daily basis,” a royal insider told the outlet at the time. Image: Twitter

International Travel

Ultra-processed foods: it’s not just their low nutritional value that’s a concern

In countries such as the UK, US and Canada, ultra-processed foods now account for <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30744710/">50% or more</a> of calories consumed. This is concerning, given that these foods have been linked to a number of different health conditions, including a greater risk of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33167080/">obesity</a> and various chronic diseases such as <a href="https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937-020-00604-1">cardiovascular disease</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35896436/">dementia</a>. Ultra-processed foods are <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30744710/">concoctions of various industrial ingredients</a> (such as emulsifiers, thickeners and artificial flavours), amalgamated into food products by a series of manufacturing processes. Sugary drinks and many breakfast cereals are ultra-processed foods, as are more recent innovations, such as so-called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213453019301144,">“plant-based” burgers</a>, which are typically made of protein isolates and other chemicals to make the products palatable. The intense industrial processes used to produced ultra-processed foods destroy the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35067754/">natural structure</a> of the food ingredients and strip away many beneficial nutrients such as fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. Many of us are well aware that ultra-processed foods are harmful for our health. But it’s been unclear if this is simply because these foods are of poor nutritional value. Now, two new studies have shown that poor nutrition may not be enough to explain their health risks. This suggests that other factors may be needed to fully explain their health risks. <h2>The role of inflammation</h2> The <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj-2022-070688">first study</a>, which looked at over 20,000 health Italian adults, found that participants who consumed the highest number of ultra-processed foods had an increased risk of dying prematurely from any cause. The <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj-2021-068921">second study</a>, which looked at over 50,000 US male health professionals, found high consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with a greater risk of colon cancer. What’s most interesting about these studies is that the health risks from eating a diet high in ultra-processed foods remained even after they had accounted for the poor nutritional quality of their diets. This suggests that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8747015/">other factors</a> contribute to the harms caused by ultra-processed foods. It also implies that getting the right nutrients elsewhere in the diet may not be enough to cancel out the risk of disease from consuming ultra-processed foods. Similarly, attempts by the food industry to improve the nutritional value of ultra-processed foods by adding a few more vitamins may be side-stepping a more fundamental problem with these foods. So what factors may explain why ultra-processed foods are so harmful to our health? The Italian study found that inflammatory markers – such as a higher white blood cell count – were higher in groups that ate the most ultra-processed foods. Our bodies may trigger an inflammatory response for any number of reasons – for example, if we catch a cold or get cut. The body responds by sending signals to our immune cells (such as white blood cells) to attack any invading pathogens (such as bacteria or viruses). Usually, our inflammatory response resolves quite quickly, but some people may develop chronic inflammation throughout their body. This can cause tissue damage, and is involved in many chronic diseases – such as <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25859884/">cancer</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28744020/">cardiovascular disease</a>. Many studies have found that poor diets can increase inflammation in the body, and that this is linked to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28744020/">higher risk</a> of chronic diseases. Given that signs of inflammation were seen in participants of the Italian study who ate the most ultra-processed foods, this could suggest that inflammation may contribute to why ultra-processed foods increase disease risk. Some food additives common in ultra-processed foods (such as emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners) also increase inflammation in the gut by causing <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29899036/">changes to the gut microbiome</a>. <figure class="align-center ">Some researchers have theorised that ultra-processed foods increase inflammation because they are recognised by the body as foreign – much like an invading bacteria. So the body mounts an inflammatory response, which has been dubbed “<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24939238/">fast food fever</a>”. This increases inflammation throughout the body as a result.</figure> Although the US colon cancer study did not establish if inflammation increased in the men consuming the most ultra-processed foods, inflammation is strongly linked with an <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27821485/">increased risk of colon cancer</a>. Research shows that other mechanisms – such as <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj-2022-070688">impaired kidney function</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19502515/">toxins in packaging</a> – may also explain why ultra-processed foods cause so many dangerous health problems. Since inflammatory responses are hard-wired in our bodies, the best way to prevent this from happening is by not eating ultra-processed foods at all. Some plant-based diets high in natural, unprocessed foods (such as the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36039924/">Mediterranean diet</a>) have also been shown to be anti-inflammatory. This may also explain why plant-based diets free from ultra-processed foods can help ward off <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26148921/">chronic diseases</a>. It’s currently not known to what extent an anti-inflammatory diet can help counteract the effects of ultra-processed foods. Simply reducing your intake of ultra-processed foods may be a challenge. Ultra-processed foods are designed to be hyper-palatable – and together with persuasive marketing, this can make resisting them an enormous challenge for <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33153827/">some people</a>. These foods are also not labelled as such on food packaging. The best way to identify them is by looking at their ingredients. Typically, things such as emulsifiers, thickeners, protein isolates and other industrial-sounding products are a sign it’s an ultra-processed food. But making meals from scratch using natural foods is the best way to avoid the harms of ultra-processed foods.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189918/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/richard-hoffman-221275">Richard Hoffman</a>, Associate lecturer, Nutritional Biochemistry, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-hertfordshire-799">University of Hertfordshire</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ultra-processed-foods-its-not-just-their-low-nutritional-value-thats-a-concern-189918">original article</a>.

Food & Wine

The top 5 hacks to slow down the ageing process

The truth is you no longer have to age the way your parents or grandparents did. You can age on your own terms, starting now. In our crazy, busy world, the struggle to look after yourself is real, let alone decipher what you really can do that will actually make a difference to the way you age. As women, the expectations are high and we are constantly bombarded with messages that we need to be all things to all people, including ourselves. We need to raise children that are healthy, well educated, kept off computer games and social media but entertained with wholesome play. Add to that maintaining a home, keeping on top the bills and activities, maintaining friendships and family relationships. Plus we need to look great, exercise, sleep well and possibly even manifest our dreams and create incredible careers. PHEW, it is a lot! So how do you become more vibrant and youthful without adding complicated routines into your already busy day? It’s about knowing what simple things you can do and understanding the importance of consistency. Small, seemingly insignificant steps taken over time will create a radical difference. You don’t have to be the smartest, fastest or the strongest – you have to be the most consistent. Let’s take a look at 5 anti-ageing hacks: 1) Happiness: Understanding happiness is one of the most significant measures for longevity and it is very empowering to know that we can work on our own happiness. It has now become a scientific field of research, with evidence indicating that happy people are healthier, have a better immune function and have less heart disease. Further, happier people have great mental health and can live up to 10 years longer. We have a certain baseline of happiness and we can raise this with long term strategies rather than the instant gratifications we usually look for. Learning these tools is highly important when slowing the aging process. These include, not comparing ourselves to others, learning that we can only be happy in the present, letting go of resentment, practicing kindness, being grateful and avoiding perfectionism. 2) Fasting: Giving your body a rest from having to process what you are putting in to it has extraordinary results. You can choose to fast for a day, or to restrict the time that you are eat in any one day. For example you may choose to eat only between 11am and 7pm. Going into a fasting state not only helps you lose weight but can propel the genes to function better in repairing the body, it can increase levels of Human Growth Hormone and delay aging. Practicing this a couple of times a week consistently will have amazing results over time. 3) Meditation: Our mind is our most precious and valuable resource and we use it to experience every single moment of our life. We depend on our mind to be focused and perform at our very best and this is the way to take care of it. This can be done in a as little as 15 mins a day. Once again consistency is key and this will reduce blood pressure, stress and anxiety, improve sleep, your immune system is boosted and the aging process is slowed. This is an extremely powerful anti-aging hack. 4) Strength training: This is the biggest physical anti-aging hack you can make and you don’t have to spend long hard hours in the gym – 30 minutes twice a week will do it. Not only does this make you look great it reverses the aging process at a cellular level, increases the production of collagen and the anti-aging hormones oxytocin and progesterone. 5) Sunscreen and the ingredients in your skincare: There is no question that maintaining a consistent skincare routine promotes smooth radiant skin. You just need to be aware of the active ingredients in the products you are using. The most important are Vitamins A B and C. Peptides are also important to support collagen production. Do you know which active ingredients are in the cream you are using? Prevention using sunscreen on the face daily is a major hack in the war against aging. The majority of the above hacks don’t require you to find more time in your day, they are just a change in how you do things. A mindset change. If you were to make these 5 changes to your life right now, you will be a different person in 12 months time. Whatever you do make sure you tell yourself every day that you matter and that you are worth it and start with one simple step. Lyndal Linkin, author of To Age or Not to Age, is a 56-year-old anti-aging expert who’s spent her lifetime learning about anti-aging solutions. A successful entrepreneur, corporate leader and mother, she uses her years of research and personal experience to explain the most effective methods so you can look and feel younger. Find out more at <a href="http://www.lyndallinkin.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.lyndallinkin.com.au</a> or Instagram: @lyndallinkin Image: Getty Images

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