A Thousand simple pleasers offered by nature

Art by Brigid Marlin – Image source: Petie Barre

Good morning 🌞🌄 with . . . Nature offers us a thousand simple pleasers…

Being beautiful and being yourself

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Being beautiful means being yourself..
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Mooi en jezelf zijn

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Mooi zijn betekent jezelf zijn.
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How Putin’s gas empire crumbled

The Telegraph, May 3, 2024

Event

Vladimir Putin is throwing everything he has got at ramping up Russia’s war machine.  That is why the nation’s economy – if one believes Moscow’s figures – has held up better than might have been expected in the face of Western sanctions. Rather than reflecting anything remotely like prosperity, the statistics show more weapons being produced for the meat grinder of eastern Ukraine. But Putin’s financial firepower does not include one previously reliable source of cash: natural gas.

Gazprom, the largely state-owned energy giant, has tumbled to its worst loss in a quarter of a century, losing 629bn roubles, equivalent to £5.5bn, last year, as its revenues dived by more than one quarter in rouble terms.  It is the biggest loss in at least 25 years. The loss is a humiliation for the business and for the regime. In 2021, more than 40pc of European Union gas imports came from Russia. That dropped to 8pc last year, according to the European Commission.

Comment

Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany, which built much of its industrial prowess on the back of cheap Russian energy, swore the country must “never again” become so beholden to hostile suppliers.
Europe replaced the loss of Russian gas at considerable expense, but new networks have now been established which mean Moscow has lost its grip on the Western market forever. One of the new gas suppliers to the EU is Israel.

A deal was signed between the EU and Israel and Egypt to aim to allow significant exports of Israeli gas to the continent. Some Israeli gas is already sent by pipeline to liquefaction plants on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, from where it is re-exported as liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe. This is the spoil that Gog comes and takes….

Bible quote

Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:  And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,  To take a spoil. (Ezekiel 38:1-12)

Weekly World Watch, Andy Walton

Climate change: ‘Uncharted territory’ fears after record hot March

BBC, April 9, 2024

Event

Climate change could move “into uncharted territory” if temperatures don’t fall by the end of the year, a leading scientist has told the BBC. The warning came as data showed March was the world’s warmest March on record, extending the run of monthly temperature records to 10 in a row. It’s fuelled concerns among some that the world could be tipping into a new phase of even faster climate change.

A weather system called El Niño is behind some of the recent heat. Temperatures should temporarily come down after El Niño peters out in coming months, but some scientists are worried they might not.

“By the end of the summer, if we’re still looking at record breaking temperatures in the North Atlantic or elsewhere, then we really have kind of moved into uncharted territory,”

Gavin Schmidt, the director of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told BBC News. March 2024 was 1.68C warmer than “pre-industrial” times – before humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels – according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Comment

Due to record heat in parts of the Atlantic this year, and the La Nina weather pattern expected to take hold at the height of the season the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is likely to be one of the most active on record, a forecasting service has said. The forecasters are expecting up to 23 named storms, of which 11 could become hurricanes and five major hurricanes. These are “well above” the average of for the 1991-2020 period of 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes. We wait to see what happens in this regard. But we know the physical world is in groaning and in labour pains just as the political and spiritual world is. We need Jesus to return….

Bible quote

For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. (Romans 8:22-23 NLT)

 

Being there for someone else

°If you really want to be there for someone else
and help mentally recover,
love him or her without an agenda.
Unconditional.
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Er zijn voor een ander

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Als je er echt graag voor een ander wil zijn
en wil helpen mentaal te herstellen,
heb hem of haar dan lief zonder agenda.
Onvoorwaardelijk.
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Nothing wrong with you

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Remember for the difficult moments that there is nothing wrong with you.
In essence, you are just a beautiful person.
It’s time to find this in yourself again and really believe it.
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Be willing to try new things

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”Be willing to try new things!
If you don’t, how will you know what you enjoy?
There’s so much value in challenging yourself to do something different.
You may not stick with an activity,
but the point is you tried it!”
— Craig Melvin,
news anchor of Today, co-host of 3rd Hour of Today, and author of the children’s book I’m Proud of You.”

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Niets mis met jou

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Onthoud voor de moeilijke momenten dat er niets mis met jou is.
In essentie ben je gewoon een prachtig mens.
Het is dan tijd om dit weer in jezelf te vinden en echt te geloven.
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A Spoonful of Olive Oil a Day Could Lower Risk of Dementia-Related Death by 28%

A lot has been written down about olive oil for human consumption. Positive as well as negative thoughts.

By Tessa Koumoundouros.

Mounting evidence suggests adding just a spoonful of olive oil to your diet each day can have powerful health benefits. A new study from the US suggests this includes protection against dementia.

While healthy ‘Mediterranean’ diets in general tend to include a dash of olive oil, the researchers claim the ingredient itself stands out for its beneficial qualities.

“Typically, people who use olive oil for cooking or as a dressing have a better overall diet quality, but interestingly, we found the association to be regardless of this factor,”

Harvard University nutritionist Anne-Julie Tessier told Kaitlin Vogel at Healthline.

Tessier and colleagues combined the results of surveys on nurses and health professionals conducted from the 1970s and 1980s. All were free of heart disease and cancer when the surveys first introduced questions on olive oil consumption in 1990. In the years that followed, 4,751 of the 92,383 selected participants died from dementia-related causes.

The researchers found adults who regularly consumed more than 7 grams of olive oil a day (about half a tablespoon) were 28 percent less likely to die of dementia-related diseases compared to those who never or rarely consumed olive oil.

“Olive oil may exert anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects due to its high content of monounsaturated fatty acids and other compounds with antioxidant properties such as vitamin E and polyphenols,”

Tessier and team explain in their paper.

Animal studies suggest specific types of fats, such as monounsaturated fatty acids found in olive oil, can have protective benefits on health, and polyphenols can help prevent the amyloid-plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

“There is… some evidence showing that it is the combination of all these different compounds more than a single element responsible for the positive effects,”

Temple University neuroscientist Domenico Praticò, who was not involved in the study, told Robby Berman at Medical News Today in 2023.

Study participants were primarily White and educated, meaning the results can’t yet be generalized across diverse populations. What’s more, as it was an observational study the researchers can’t directly link the outcomes to olive oil, just yet.

However, previous research has also suggested people who regularly consume olive oil have about a 30 percent lower risk of dying from a neurodegenerative disease.

With rates of dementia continually increasing globally and no cure, preventative measures through diet, physical and mental exercises are the best chance we’ve got of mitigating these diseases, which currently affect more than 55 million people globally.

Olive oil is likely a key component behind the consistently positive health outcomes of a Mediterranean diet. But not everyone has the same access to the full diet, so understanding which parts of it make the biggest health impacts can go a long way towards helping our most vulnerable people improve their health.

This research was published in JAMA Network Open.

> Consumption of Olive Oil and Diet Quality and Risk of Dementia-Related Death

Tessa Koumoundouros is Journalist and editorial assistant at ScienceAlert. She is fascinated by all living things, so it’s no surprise she mainly writes about biology, health, and the environment.

Tessa has contributed behind the scenes at The Conversation and the Climate Council, and her science reporting has been published by Lateral Magazine. She holds a Bachelor of Science with honors, majoring in zoology and genetics, and a Masters in Science Communication. She also worked as an exotics veterinary nurse, before joining the ScienceAlert editorial team in 2018.

She is an accomplished illustrator and designer, and puts her skills to work when curating incredible images for ScienceAlert’s social media, and designing infographics such as the This Week in Science series.

In her spare time, Tessa loves exploring wild places, stalking wildlife with a camera, reading, and drawing.

Risk of Dementia Among Patients With Diabetes in a Multidisciplinary, Primary Care Management Program

Key Points

Question  Is a multidisciplinary diabetes management program in primary care settings associated with a reduced risk of dementia incidence among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D)?

Findings  This cohort study of 55 618 participants in Hong Kong found patients with T2D who attended the diabetes primary care management program had a 28% lower risk of all-cause dementia incidence compared with patients who did not attend the program and received only usual care.

Meaning  These findings suggest that a multidisciplinary diabetes management program in primary care settings was associated with beneficial outcomes for patients with T2D against dementia.

Abstract

Importance  Although poorly controlled diabetes is associated with a higher incidence of dementia, few studies have examined the association of diabetes management interventions with dementia incidence.

Objective  To examine the association of receiving a multidisciplinary diabetes management program (the Risk Assessment and Management Program-Diabetes Mellitus [RAMP-DM]) that enables better glycemic control with subsequent risk of dementia incidence and the association of dementia with glycemic control.

Design, Setting, and Participants  This territory-wide, retrospective, matched cohort study with more than 8 years of follow-up was conducted using electronic health care records from all the patients who used public health care services in Hong Kong from 2011 to 2019. Eligible participants included all patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) who were managed in primary care settings. Patients who received RAMP-DM were matched in a 1:1 ratio with patients who received usual care only. Data analysis occurred from April 2023 to July 2023.

Exposures  Diagnosis of T2D, hemoglobin A_1C (HbA_1C) level, and attendance at a general outpatient clinic or family medicine clinic. Patients received either RAMP-DM or usual care.

Main Outcomes and Measures  Incidence of all-cause dementia and subtypes of dementia were compared between the RAMP-DM and usual care participants using a Cox proportional hazard model with other baseline characteristics, biomarkers, and medication history adjusted. HbA_1C levels were measured as a secondary outcome.

Results  Among the 55 618 matched participants (mean [SD] age, 62.28 [11.90] years; 28 561 female [51.4%]; 27 057 male [48.6%]), including the 27 809 patients in the RAMP-DM group and 27 809 patients in the usual care group, patients had been diagnosed with T2D for a mean (SD) of 5.90 (4.20) years. During a median (IQR) follow-up period of 8.4 (6.8-8.8) years, 1938 patients in the RAMP-DM group (6.97%) and 2728 patients in the usual care group (9.81%) received a diagnosis of dementia. Compared with those receiving usual care, RAMP-DM participants had a lower risk of developing all-cause dementia (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.72; 95% CI, 0.68-0.77; P < .001), Alzheimer disease (aHR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.76-0.96; P = .009), vascular dementia (aHR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.51-0.73; P < .001), and other or unspecified dementia (aHR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.66-0.77; P < .001). Compared with having a mean HbA_1C level during the first 3 years after cohort entry between 6.5% and 7.5%, a higher risk of dementia incidence was detected for patients with a 3-year mean HbA_1C level greater than 8.5% (aHR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.31-1.80]), between 7.5% and 8.5% (aHR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.19-1.48), between 6% and 6.5% (aHR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.07-1.29), and 6% or less (aHR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.24-1.57).

Conclusions and Relevance  In this cohort study of patients with T2D, the findings strengthened evidence of an association of glycemic control with dementia incidence, and revealed that a multidisciplinary primary care diabetes management program was associated with beneficial outcomes for T2D patients against dementia and its major subtypes. A moderate glycemic control target of HbA_1C between 6.5% and 7.5% was associated with lower dementia incidence.

 

Read more > Risk of Dementia Among Patients With Diabetes in a Multidisciplinary, Primary Care Management Program

Singing birds and you

Show up. sing. shine. The world needs you as you are.

Image: Lizzie Riches – source: The Cosmic Dancer

The world needs you as you are.

Staying active cuts your chances of insomnia, says new study

Leading an active lifestyle results in better sleep, according to new research from Reykjavik University in Iceland. The study, published in the journal BMJ Open, found that people who engage in regular exercise, like jogging or swimming, at least twice weekly were 42% less prone to insomnia and more likely to sleep at least six hours a night. The research demonstrates how maintaining good exercise habits is “vital to preventing insomnia from taking hold,” The Times said.

Antioxidant properties, fibres, other foods and getting fit

There are all kinds of teas we could drink. Besides herbal teas, infusions and yerba mate, there are various green and black teas.
In more and more trendy joints these days, you can order exotic-sounding teas such as chai latte with oat milk or yerba mate.

Yerba mate is served in a separate cup made of gourd or clay and is drunk with a special straw with a kind of tea strainer at the end: a so-called ‘bombilla’. Yerba mate is an invigorating tea that also offers other health benefits. The tea also has an intriguing history.

Just as some cannot do without their cup of coffee, others, like Rishi Sunak , cannot do without their tea.

“Tea is rich in polyphenols – natural bioactive plant compounds – that have antioxidant effects in the body,” says Dr Carrie Ruxton, a dietician from the Tea Advisory Panel. “Getting enough antioxidants in the diet from fruit, vegetables, wholegrains and drinks is important for fighting the effects of ageing and modern lifestyles which cause damage to cells (via oxidation of cell membranes).”

Discover | The health benefits of tea – and when to drink it

 

 

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The skies in Beijing turned an apocalyptic orange when the city was hit in March 2021 by its worst sand and dust storm in a decade.

Visibility fell to under 300 metres and toxic particulate levels were 160 times higher than the safe level set by the World Health Organization. People were advised to stay indoors, and flights and public transport systems were halted.

“It looks like the end of the world. In this kind of weather, I feel that I really don’t want to be outside,” Beijing resident Flora Zou said at the time.

As the number of storms increases across the planet, scientists are now racing to explain the trend – with deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion and climate change all identified as potential factors. They are also trying to understand its impacts on human health.

Then there is the question of whether this phenomenon will come to threaten life here in Europe and the UK. The skies in Athens were turned orange by Saharan dust on Tuesday April 23, one of the worst episodes since 2018.

> Dust storms are becoming ‘more frequent and severe’ – so are we prepared?

As haze from the Sahara envelops Athens, scientists are racing to explain a worrying global trend>

Six stories you should read today

Ozempic: an expert separates fact from fiction As the ‘miraculous’ drug has risen in popularity, so have the myths surrounding it Forget impossible health goals like 10,000 steps – set these achievable targets instead Overwhelmed by how many health targets you are expected to hit? Here’s what to do instead The four types of sleeper – and how each one can affect your health Napper or love a lie-in? No matter your style, it’s important to know what it means for your health – and what you can do about it How many healthy years do you have left? Use our tool to find out When it comes to the number of ‘good years’ we can expect to live there’s a huge discrepancy across the UK – are you in a health black spot? An expert guide to what to eat from your 20s to your 60s From supporting fertility to avoiding ‘Sniper’s Alley’, nutritionist Dr Federica Amati advises on how to thrive at each new stage ‘I caught herpes after re-entering the dating scene aged 46’ The number of sexually-transmitted infections among middle-aged people has doubled in the last decade – here’s how to stay safe

To help you out today You probably aren’t getting enough fibre – here’s how to up your intake How to conquer your sleep paralysis demons An expert guide to the microbe ‘garden’ in your gut Can you polish off a tub of ice cream? You’re probably addicted to junk food The weight-loss workout that burns 1,500 calories per hour – that anyone can try Ten steps to get fit from scratch if you’ve never exercised before Mini strokes (TIAs): Symptoms, causes and how to respond Five reasons it’s good to have a firm and shapely bottom

Six easy ways to lose an inch from your waist – in a week

Do I have dementia and how to test for it

How to identify ultra-processed foods – and the surprising ones hiding in your cupboard

Shane Watson: ‘We must reluctantly admit that parenting norms are improving’

Never eat berries and bananas together – and other tweaks to supercharge your food

 

Fitness | The military workout that burns 1,500 calories per hour

The surprising truth about how to keep your home truly clean

Not so long ago, it was a custom to have an annual Spring cleaning, even if it was for Lent or purification before Passover or Pesach. In some households, the big cleaning crisis broke out.

We all keep our sheets, floors and fridges respectable (don’t we?), but how often should we be doing it?

From shower heads to keyboards, experts tell the shocking trut.

It is best that we regularly shed our clothes and bedding and make sure that the environs where we spend several hours a day anyway, also get a regular cleaning.

We also may not forget that dirty towels can spread viruses, fungi and bacteria and that household bins are also a germ hotspot. Closed cabinets, such as refrigerators, do get overlooked a bit more easily. But that fridge could certainly use its weekly cleaning as well. A filthy fridge isn’t just unappetising; it can pose a serious health risk. There could be more than 1.8m bacteria lurking in your fridge, which can cause food poisoning and other illnesses.

What is very much overlooked are things that we do use on a daily basis but don’t think much about cleaning, such as phones, tablets, computers and other electronic stuff that we are so used to that we often stop thinking about them. Cleaning expert Laura Mountford recommends a weekly clean.

“Firstly, unplug your laptop or keyboard,”

she says.

“Use a handheld vacuum with the brush attachment to remove dust and debris before wiping it down with a dry microfibre cloth.

“Clean your computer screen with a quality clean lint-free cloth to remove dirt and fingerprints: the ones for window and glass work really well. Don’t spray anything directly on to the screen or keyboard – if your laptop is sticky, spray glass cleaner on to a cloth and wipe.”

I wouldn’t exactly go cleaning the light switches and door handles every week or month, but it is recommended.

We carry more germs on our hands than we may realise – about 3,200 different types.

“In a busy household, I’d recommend that door handles are wiped every few days,”

says Natasha Blythe, a food hygiene expert at online training provider High Speed Training.

“For a single person in an apartment, I’d probably say once a week or every fortnight. The same goes for the light switches.”

Wipe them down with antibacterial wipes or a spray (and cloth), and dry off with a clean, disposable cloth or kitchen roll. Remember not to use too much liquid when cleaning the light switch, or it’ll end up seeping into the gaps, says Blythe.

Think about cleaning

• Daily: the kitchen sink, the countertop and kitchen island (if you have one), Reusable water bottles
• Every other day: Toilet
• Weekly: Wooden floors, Rugs, Bedding, Bath towels, Toothbrushes, Phone screens, Keyboards
• Monthly: Bins, Fridges, Light switches and door handles, Shower heads, Bath toys, Washing machines
• Every 3-6 months: Curtains

> Read more about it: Have you washed your toothbrush lately? The surprising truth about how to keep your home truly clean

 

 

 

 

 

Bee see, bee do

Bumblebees can learn complex tasks by observing their fellow bees, scientists said in a new study published in Nature.

Researchers long thought only humans were capable of such advanced social learning, but during the study, bees who struggled to solve a two-step puzzle on their own could do so after watching a “demonstrator” bee trained by the researchers. Scientists now want to explore whether there is cumulative culture in the world of bees.

The reason people dance

Scientists have discovered what makes us want to dance.

Researchers from France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research and Aix-Marseille University found that humans feel compelled to boogie because of the effect of syncopation on their left sensorimotor cortex. The study suggests this brain region is vital for integrating auditory and motor systems. The team discovered that just the right level of syncopation — a mismatch between rhythm and beat — generates surprise, and when people’s expectations are not met, it gets them dancing.

How a few minutes’ exercise can unleash creativity – even if you hate it

Can exercise boost creativity? Illustration: Tim Bouckley/The Guardian

If you often find yourself dawdling away the day, frustrated that your brain won’t click into gear, then the answer to your mind’s logjam may well actually lie in your legs. Need to get your creative juices flowing? Get moving. A long line of influential thinkers have instinctively moved their bodies to open their minds, from Darwin, who advanced his theory of evolution while accumulating laps of his “thinking path”, to Nietzsche, who in 1888 warned: “Do not believe any idea that was not born in the open air and of free movement.” And now scientists are not just confirming the link between exercise and creativity, but unpicking precisely how it works. In this investigation, Sam Pyrah speaks to the experts drawing ever-stronger links between physical exercise and creative output. “Even a single, brief bout of aerobic exercise can ignite creative thinking,” Dr Chong Chen of Yamaguchi University, Japan, tells her. Creative thinking can be divided into two aspects – the drawing of associations between unrelated things that is the creation of ideas, known as divergent thinking, and the weighing up of the value of such ideas, known as convergent thinking. Studies have demonstrated that the former is stimulated by everything from dancing and running to simply walking up stairs. As Amir-Homayoun Javadi, a reader in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Kent, explains: “When performed regularly, aerobic activity can trigger structural changes, such as increased brain volume, particularly of the hippocampus, which benefit many aspects of cognition. This gives the brain more potential to be creative.” + Read more: All it takes is a quick walk’: how a few minutes’ exercise can unleash creativity – even if you hate it

Pizza and pasta hallmarks of Italian cuisine

Pizza and pasta may be hallmarks of Italian cuisine, but they are also longtime favourites in the U.S., regularly topping the list of Americans’ favourite dishes. Many people say that a slice of fresh pizza is the perfect food. But others say nothing beats all the different shapes and flavours of pasta.

It is certain, in any case, that both dishes leave people short of vegetables. But then pasta meals are usually preceded by the anti-psasta where vegetables do manage to tempt people’s heavenly tongues.

Real pasta must always be made from durum or hard flour. In France and Italy, it is even forbidden to make pasta from soft flour. This is even considered fraudulent there. So look out for it in Dutch shops where a lot of “fake” or “inadmissible pasta” is on offer. To find the better pasta, it is also best to choose the one that has gone through bronze moulds (al bronzo) making it rougher, so that the sauce sticks more and becomes one with the spaghetti.