Jynneos is approved for adults considered at high risk for infection  read on >

Love the taste of wild rice, but aren’t sure how to make it yourself? It’s easier than you think once you know how to prep and cook it the correct way. Wild rice is not actually rice, but rather the seed of an aquatic grass. It’s a Native American food that has a delicious, chewy texture. Like other seeds and grains, it’s high in mineral content — zinc and manganese, in particular. Shop for wild rice in the grain aisle of your local grocery store, at specialty food stores or even online. With the right ingredients, wild rice can go from a side dish to this main course. Creamy Wild Rice With Mushrooms 1 cup wild rice 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 3 celery stalks, trimmed and sliced 5 ounces mushrooms, sliced 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese Rinse the rice in a fine mesh colander under cold, running water. Place 3 cups of water in a large stock pot along with the rice and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cover, simmering about 1 hour, until the rice is tender and bursts open. Drain off any excess liquid and set aside. Warm a large skillet over high heat. Add the butter and olive oil. When the butter…  read on >

Want to warm up as the temperature cools down and get in more nutrients, too? Roasted vegetables are a delicious way to do both. Starchier root veggies, like carrots, parsnips and potatoes, lend themselves to roasting since their natural sugars intensify as they cook. Carrots have beta carotene for skin health. The parsnips are high in vitamin C, great for immune health. And rather than reaching for typical white potatoes, look for exotic Peruvian potatoes with high levels of antioxidants plus fiber in their purple skins. To turn these vegetables into a full meal, serve them with shredded roasted chicken and a cooked grain such as quinoa or brown rice or your favorite beans — in a pinch, a store-bought rotisserie chicken and a can of chickpeas or kidney beans will do fine. Roasted Root-Vegetable Dinner 1 pound carrots 1 pound parsnips 1/2 pound baby purple potatoes or other exotic variety 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tablespoon dry 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 cups shredded, skinless roasted chicken 2 cups cooked grains or beans, if canned, drained and rinsed Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Peel the carrots and parsnips, and cut them in half and then lengthwise. Cut the potatoes in half. Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl. Add the oil, rosemary,…  read on >

A new study warns that even your soothing cup of tea might serve up some invisible health hazards. Some tea companies are replacing traditional paper teabags with plastic ones, but the new bags may be adding billions of tiny bits of plastic to your beverage, a team from Canada reports. “We show that steeping a single plastic teabag at brewing temperature [205 degrees Fahrenheit] releases approximately 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics into a single cup of the beverage,” concluded a team led by Nathalie Tufenkji. She’s a professor of chemical engineering at McGill University in Montreal. The global proliferation of microplastics — bits of plastic so small they are often invisible to the naked eye — have made headlines recently, having been found in large numbers in ocean and tap water, seafood and even human poop. “In the past few years, there has been a steadily increasing body of scientific literature demonstrating that not only are microplastics permeating the broader environment, they are entering our bodies, as well,” noted Dr. Kenneth Spaeth, chief of occupational and environmental medicine at Northwell Health in Great Neck, N.Y. He wasn’t involved in the new research. Spaeth stressed that there’s just too little data on whether or not microplastics pose a threat to human health. However, “based on the molecular composition of microplastics, there is reason to…  read on >