Ireland To Maintain A ‘GMO-Free Status’

The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten, has secured Cabinet approval to enable Ireland to prohibit or restrict the cultivation of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in Ireland.

The Government approved for the transposition of Directive 2015/412 of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 11 2015, which will enable Ireland to opt out of cultivation of GMO crops approved for cultivation elsewhere in the EU.

Announcing the Cabinet’s decision today, Minister Naughten said:

“This is a very significant development; I believe it is critically important that Ireland takes whatever steps are necessary to maintain our GMO cultivation-free status, which is a key element of our international reputation as a green, sustainable food producer.”

The maintenance of the country’s ‘GMO-free status’ will take place on a much wider range of policy grounds than had previously been the case.

“Whilst it is my intention to apply the opt-out provision, I propose to keep the matter of Ireland’s GMO cultivation policy under review in consultation with my colleagues in Government and in light of scientific developments in this rapidly-evolving sector,” said the minister.

AgriLand

20 Hidden Reasons Your Diet Isn’t Working

Wait, isn’t the point of a diet that you are supposed to cut calories? Yes, but according to registered dietitian and author of Belly Fat for Dummies Erin Palinski-Wade, RD, CDE, it’s only one piece of the puzzle.

Focus on improving the nutritional quality of your diet rather than your calorie intake for improved body weight and health,” Palinski-Wade says. Intrigued? These are the other weight loss tips doctors wish you’d stop following.

You aren’t eating enough calories

Wait, isn’t the point of a diet that you are supposed to cut calories? Yes, but according to registered dietitian and author of Belly Fat for Dummies Erin Palinski-Wade, RD, CDE, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. “A calorie is not just a calorie,” she says. “Depending on what you consume, calories from nutrients such as protein and unsaturated fat keep you full for an extended period, whereas calories from simple sugars digest rapidly.”

You’re skipping meals

As with cutting calories, skipping meals isn’t effective for healthy weight loss. Ignoring hunger cues throws off the signaling in your body, as Laura Moore, RD, director of the dietetic internship program at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health, explains. “Energy intake, or what’s consumed, and expenditure, or what’s burned, is coordinated by signals from several systems, including the endocrine, adipose tissue, neurologic, and gastrointestinal systems,” she says.

You’re not mindful when you eat

“Take small bites of food and chew it slowly, stopping two or three times during a meal to determine if you are hungry or if you feel satisfied,” she says. If you get into the habit of mindful eating, you’ll be less likely to finish off those extra bites of mac and cheese from your kid’s plate. Another strategy is to change up your plate size—according to research from Cornell, subjects serving themselves food on larger plates dished out more, consumed more, and wasted more.

Continue Reading at Reader’s Digest

Addressing Emotional Wellness In the Workplace

When it comes to employee wellness, a lot of the discussion centers on physical wellness: encouraging employees to increase their physical activity levels, develop healthier eating habits, getting more sleep, etc. In addition to being easier to relate to, these kinds of wellness initiatives produce results that are not only easier to see and quantify (weight loss, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, etc.), but also easier to link to business outcomes, such as reducing insurance costs and absenteeism.

Ignoring emotional health – both on a personal level and on an organizational level – can have consequences that are much more concerning than a few moments of awkwardness, such as higher rates of employee burnout, interpersonal conflicts, and decreased productivity. “Emotionally unwell” employees can also spread their personal feelings of stress or unhappiness to other members of the organization, even those they don’t directly interact with, infecting the overall company culture.

EAPs are employee benefit programs that provide workers with resources and tools to help them deal with personal problems (addiction, debt, family issues, etc.) that may be affecting their work performance. More actively promoting the EAP to employees, both on a global scale and individually to those managers are concerned about, is a simple but effective way to enhance emotional wellness with very little additional expense.

Read more at Benefits Pro

Sore Throat Remedies: Honey & More

Suffering from a dry, achy throat? You’re not alone. Sore throat is one of the most common ailments Americans experience each year, especially when the seasons are changing. In fact, shifts in barometric pressure and an uptick in seasonal allergens can irritate the throat and weaken the immune system, causing sore throats.

No matter the cause, if you are on a mission to soothe a sore throat and get back on the mend, try these natural remedies and tips:

1. Harness the superpowers of honey.


Honey is a sore throat go-to for a reason. The sweet stuff feels (and tastes) great on a scratchy throat, plus it has major inflammation-fighting power. If your sore throat is coupled with a cough, you might want to try a little honey before bed. One study found that honey was able to relieve nighttime cough and cold symptoms as effectively as an over-the-counter cough suppressant.

2. Gargle salt water.


A salt-water gargle might seem simple, but science says it can do wonders for your sore throat. Studies have found that gargling a mix of warm water and salt can help thin and loosen mucus buildup, clearing the way for a pain-free throat.

3. Sip on bone broth.


Bone broth offers a boost to your immune system, which can help you combat a cold. Some believe that inhaling the water vapors from warm liquids and soups are to credit for their throat-soothing capabilities, but one study found that sipping chicken soup through the straw of a covered container still provided significant nasal-mucus-clearing improvements.

More of this at MBG Health

Balanced Diet May Be Key to Cancer Survival

Eating a nutritionally balanced high-quality diet may lower a cancer patient’s risk of dying by as much as 65 percent, new research suggests.

The finding that total diet, rather than specific nutritional components, can affect a cancer patient’s prognosis “was particularly surprising to us,” said the study’s lead author, Ashish Deshmukh.

Total diet, he explained, was one that appeared to be “balanced” and “nutrient-rich” with a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, proteins and dairy.

To explore the impact of nutrition on cancer, the researchers sifted through data collected between 1988 and 1994 by the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). Almost 34,000 people were included in the survey, which asked all participants to offer up a 24-hour diet diary.

The team then used the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” as a yardstick for ranking the nutritional quality of the diets used by 1,200 people who had been diagnosed with cancer.

Deshmukh noted that the investigation did not assess the exact length of the survival benefit, nor did the researchers explore how exercise or other types of healthy behavior may impact cancer outcomes. Only an association was seen between diet and death risk, not a cause-and-effect link.

Read more at US News

What Is The Zodiac Diet? These Are The Best Foods To Stick To

Hey girl, what’s your sign? No, this isn’t a cheesy pick-up line, it’s research. If you’re anything like me, your zodiac sign is as much a priority as your blood type — aka, it’s not, really. Then again, maybe you and I are polar opposites, and checking your horoscope is like a morning ritual: brush your teeth, drink your coffee, read up on the inevitable fate the stars and planets have in store for you.

In other words, take the following suggestions with a grain of salt, but if you’re curious to find out how the stars align in order to create the ideal meals of your sign, read on.

  • An Aries Diet Is All About Convenience
  • Tauruses Take Their Time, Baby
  • You’ll Definitely Find A Gemini At A Dinner Party
  • Cancers Should Be Mindful Of Their Sensitive Stomachs
  • Leos Are Super Passionate About Their Food 

Read the full article at Elite Daily

Avoiding GMO Food Might Be Tougher Than You Think

While there’s currently no evidence that genetically modified organisms harm human health, that isn’t to say there aren’t legitimate reasons to avoid them.

GM experts and proponents also have legitimate concerns that adding a label identifying GMOs gives the impression that there are scientifically proven risks to worry about. Studies on perception of GM food suggests that the public has a baseline aversion, and a label may increase wariness. Labeling advocates, of course, argue that if Americans want to avoid GMOs, they have a right to do so.

“Can people avoid them? The answer is certainly yes. Especially in the last few years there have been more products on the market that are non-GMO or organic,” says Jayson Lusk, an economist at Purdue University who studies the consumer side of GMOs. “Now, those products are more expensive—no one ever said you can avoid them for free. But they can if they’re willing and able to pay, and one way they’ll pay is in the time to find the products.”

Highly processed ingredients like high fructose corn syrup have little to no traceable DNA in them, and so the U.S. Department of Agriculture (which regulates food labels) doesn’t require manufacturers to add a label to indicate those bio engineered foods.

Popular Science

Avoiding GMO Food Might Be Tougher Than You Think

While there’s currently no evidence that genetically modified organisms harm human health, that isn’t to say there aren’t legitimate reasons to avoid them.

GM experts and proponents also have legitimate concerns that adding a label identifying GMOs gives the impression that there are scientifically proven risks to worry about. Studies on perception of GM food suggests that the public has a baseline aversion, and a label may increase wariness. Labeling advocates, of course, argue that if Americans want to avoid GMOs, they have a right to do so.

“Can people avoid them? The answer is certainly yes. Especially in the last few years there have been more products on the market that are non-GMO or organic,” says Jayson Lusk, an economist at Purdue University who studies the consumer side of GMOs. “Now, those products are more expensive—no one ever said you can avoid them for free. But they can if they’re willing and able to pay, and one way they’ll pay is in the time to find the products.”

In contrast, the USDA regulations allow companies to choose between three options: write out the warning (as in “contains a bioengineered food ingredient”), include a BE label, or use a QR code that would link the consumer to a page disclosing all the information.

Read more at Popular Science

Is Crash Diet Really A Solution For Perfect Body?

We are what we eat. Maybe, because of this statement, many people go through the ‘diet phase’ more than once in their life. But, how far can one go to get into the desired shape? How desperate can someone be to lower the blood pressure and diabetes levels? Well, there a few (actually many) who are very keen on shedding that extra fat.

Did you know there is something called ‘vampire diet’ which calls its followers to eat only red foods at each meal? Red meat is the main component of this diet but there is a catch, the diet prefers uncooked meat (supposedly to preserve nutrients).

And this is not the only diet which commands its followers to go raw. There is this diet named ‘The raw food diet’. This diet bars you from eating anything which is heated beyond 115°F. Well, your palate is not going to be happy with this.

“The society should value only professionals to give diet advice and not quacks, just because it worked for them at personal level,” says Dr Janaki Srinath, NEC member Indian Dietetic Association.

Read the full article at Telangana Today

How To Cure Insomnia Naturally: 5 Remedies That May Help

If you struggle with insomnia, you’re not alone. According to the Sleep Health Foundation, sleep disorders affect 33 to 45 percent of Australians, preventing them from getting the meaningful rest they need to be productive the next day.

Whether you reach for chamomile tea or seek therapy to treat underlying issues of anxiety or depression, a natural cure for insomnia is within reach.

Here are five remedies that can help you cure insomnia naturally:

1. Herbal sleep remedies
2. Find time for exercise
3. Eat the right bedtime snack
4. Perfect your nighttime routine
5. Seek cognitive therapy

According to WebMD, the branch of therapy dedicated to treating insomnia can make real inroads for patients who need to treat underlying issues — rather than just fix the negative cycles of insomnia.

“Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia [CBT-I] is a structured program that helps you identify and replace thoughts and behaviors that cause or worsen sleep problems with habits that promote sound sleep,” explain the experts at WebMD. “Unlike sleeping pills, CBT-I helps you overcome the underlying causes of your sleep problems.”

Honey Coach