A little about: Weekly Gravy

All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

EPA Moves to Cancel Key Climate Regulations That Limit Pollution

By | | Add a Comment

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking to remove the legal underpinning for most regulations against climate change. If approved, the EPA’s proposal would rescind the 2009 decision that set forth a legal basis to regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants. Known as the “endangerment finding,” it allowed the EPA to limit emissions from vehicles, power plants, and oil and gas companies under the Clean Air Act. The new proposal argues that Congress didn’t give the EPA permission in the Clean Air Act to regulate these emissions and that the agency essentially overstepped its power. “If finalized, today’s announcement would amount to the largest deregulatory action in the history of the United States,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said, as reported by The Washington Post. The EPA issued the endangerment finding in 2009 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane are air pollutants. The finding said these gases endanger public health and welfare, allowing the EPA to set rules to limit them. These rules have led to stricter standards for car emissions and limits on pollution from power plants. Former EPA adviser Zealan Hoover told The Post that the new proposal was “not just an attack on science but on common sense.” “The National Climate Assessment provides over 2,000 pages of detailed evidence that climate change harms our health…  read on >  read on >

EPA Moves to Cancel Key Climate Regulations That Limit Pollution

By | | Add a Comment

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking to remove the legal underpinning for most regulations against climate change. If approved, the EPA’s proposal would rescind the 2009 decision that set forth a legal basis to regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants. Known as the “endangerment finding,” it allowed the EPA to limit emissions from vehicles, power plants, and oil and gas companies under the Clean Air Act. The new proposal argues that Congress didn’t give the EPA permission in the Clean Air Act to regulate these emissions and that the agency essentially overstepped its power. “If finalized, today’s announcement would amount to the largest deregulatory action in the history of the United States,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said, as reported by The Washington Post. The EPA issued the endangerment finding in 2009 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane are air pollutants. The finding said these gases endanger public health and welfare, allowing the EPA to set rules to limit them. These rules have led to stricter standards for car emissions and limits on pollution from power plants. Former EPA adviser Zealan Hoover told The Post that the new proposal was “not just an attack on science but on common sense.” “The National Climate Assessment provides over 2,000 pages of detailed evidence that climate change harms our health…  read on >  read on >

Cardiac Rehab Is Safe for Folks With A-Fib, And Might Even Help Ease It

By | | Add a Comment

If you’ve had a heart attack or are in heart failure, doctors often prescribe cardiac rehabilitation to strengthen your heart.  A new study contends that these programs are also appropriate for folks with the common irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation (A-Fib), and may even help treat the condition. That could be game-changing news: Up till now, some doctors have been reluctant to advise cardiac rehab for patients with A-Fib, worrying that exercise might trigger an A-Fib episode. However, the study’s authors say A-Fib guidelines should now “reflect this updated evidence base, by recommending [exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation] alongside drug and ablation therapies for patients with [A-Fib].” The findings were published July 29 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The study noted that up to 12 million Americans are expected to develop A-Fib by 2050.  The condition occurs when the heart’s upper chambers begin to malfunction and “twitch,” triggering more general heart rhythm dysfunction and causing symptoms such as palpitations, chest pain, fatigue, dizziness and shortness of breath. A-Fib can also raise the odds for clots that can cause stroke.   Current treatments involve drugs and an electrical zapping procedure called ablation, to try and correct the dysfunction. A-Fib often occurs alongside heart attack or heart failure — but might cardiac rehab provoke A-Fib episodes? The new study aimed to find out.  It was led by…  read on >  read on >

Cardiac Rehab Is Safe for Folks With A-Fib, And Might Even Help Ease It

By | | Add a Comment

If you’ve had a heart attack or are in heart failure, doctors often prescribe cardiac rehabilitation to strengthen your heart.  A new study contends that these programs are also appropriate for folks with the common irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation (A-Fib), and may even help treat the condition. That could be game-changing news: Up till now, some doctors have been reluctant to advise cardiac rehab for patients with A-Fib, worrying that exercise might trigger an A-Fib episode. However, the study’s authors say A-Fib guidelines should now “reflect this updated evidence base, by recommending [exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation] alongside drug and ablation therapies for patients with [A-Fib].” The findings were published July 29 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The study noted that up to 12 million Americans are expected to develop A-Fib by 2050.  The condition occurs when the heart’s upper chambers begin to malfunction and “twitch,” triggering more general heart rhythm dysfunction and causing symptoms such as palpitations, chest pain, fatigue, dizziness and shortness of breath. A-Fib can also raise the odds for clots that can cause stroke.   Current treatments involve drugs and an electrical zapping procedure called ablation, to try and correct the dysfunction. A-Fib often occurs alongside heart attack or heart failure — but might cardiac rehab provoke A-Fib episodes? The new study aimed to find out.  It was led by…  read on >  read on >

‘Ultra-Processed’ Foods Could Hike Your Odds for Lung Cancer

By | | Add a Comment

Experts already know that high consumption of ultra-processed foods is bad news for your health, and new research suggests these foods can raise risks for a major killer: lung cancer. Besides the fact that ultra-processed foods are often high in salt, sugar and fat, people who consumed a lot of these foods also tended to avoid healthier, cancer-fighting fare, researchers noted. “Low consumption of minimally processed foods like fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains was linked to increased lung cancer risk,” noted a team led by Yongzhong Wu of Chongqing Cancer Hospital, in Chongqing, China.   They published their findings July 29 in the journal Thorax. Ultra-processed foods are made mostly from substances extracted from whole foods, like saturated fats, starches and added sugars. They also contain a wide variety of additives to make them more tasty, attractive and shelf-stable, including colors, emulsifiers, flavors and stabilizers. Examples include packaged baked goods, sugary cereals, ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat products and deli cold cuts. Consumption of ultra-processed foods has already been associated with 32 health problems, including heart disease, obesity, diabetes, some types of cancer and depression.  The new study may add the leading cancer killer, lung cancer, to that list. Wu’s team looked at data from the US Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trials.  The trials tracked cancer incidence and deaths between 1993 and 2018…  read on >  read on >

‘Ultra-Processed’ Foods Could Hike Your Odds for Lung Cancer

By | | Add a Comment

Experts already know that high consumption of ultra-processed foods is bad news for your health, and new research suggests these foods can raise risks for a major killer: lung cancer. Besides the fact that ultra-processed foods are often high in salt, sugar and fat, people who consumed a lot of these foods also tended to avoid healthier, cancer-fighting fare, researchers noted. “Low consumption of minimally processed foods like fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains was linked to increased lung cancer risk,” noted a team led by Yongzhong Wu of Chongqing Cancer Hospital, in Chongqing, China.   They published their findings July 29 in the journal Thorax. Ultra-processed foods are made mostly from substances extracted from whole foods, like saturated fats, starches and added sugars. They also contain a wide variety of additives to make them more tasty, attractive and shelf-stable, including colors, emulsifiers, flavors and stabilizers. Examples include packaged baked goods, sugary cereals, ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat products and deli cold cuts. Consumption of ultra-processed foods has already been associated with 32 health problems, including heart disease, obesity, diabetes, some types of cancer and depression.  The new study may add the leading cancer killer, lung cancer, to that list. Wu’s team looked at data from the US Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trials.  The trials tracked cancer incidence and deaths between 1993 and 2018…  read on >  read on >

Over 60? Healthy Lifestyle Change May Help Boost Your Brain

By | | Add a Comment

Two years’ involvement in programs focused on healthy eating, regular exercise and “brain training” exercises appears to have helped a wide range of older adults — even those at heightened risk for Alzheimer’s — avoid cognitive decline, a new study finds. The findings, presented Monday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto, “encourage us to look at the potential for a combination of a lifestyle program and drug treatment as the next frontier in our fight against cognitive decline and possibly dementia,” said Dr. Joanne Pike, president of the Alzheimer’s Association. The research, known as the U.S. Study to Protect Brain Health Through Lifestyle Intervention to Reduce Risk (U.S. POINTER), is funded by the association.  The study involved more than 2,100 people aged 60 to 79 who were enrolled at five academic centers across the U.S.   To qualify for enrollment, people had to have had certain risk factors for cognitive decline — a sedentary lifestyle, a “suboptimal” diet, poorer heart and metabolic health, and a family history of memory impairment.  These at-risk individuals were then asked over two years to help turn some of those risk factors around.  For example, they were asked to abandon their previously unhealthy diets and adopt the MIND diet, known to be especially beneficial for the brain.   They were also asked to get off the couch and meet…  read on >  read on >

Over 60? Healthy Lifestyle Change May Help Boost Your Brain

By | | Add a Comment

Two years’ involvement in programs focused on healthy eating, regular exercise and “brain training” exercises appears to have helped a wide range of older adults — even those at heightened risk for Alzheimer’s — avoid cognitive decline, a new study finds. The findings, presented Monday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto, “encourage us to look at the potential for a combination of a lifestyle program and drug treatment as the next frontier in our fight against cognitive decline and possibly dementia,” said Dr. Joanne Pike, president of the Alzheimer’s Association. The research, known as the U.S. Study to Protect Brain Health Through Lifestyle Intervention to Reduce Risk (U.S. POINTER), is funded by the association.  The study involved more than 2,100 people aged 60 to 79 who were enrolled at five academic centers across the U.S.   To qualify for enrollment, people had to have had certain risk factors for cognitive decline — a sedentary lifestyle, a “suboptimal” diet, poorer heart and metabolic health, and a family history of memory impairment.  These at-risk individuals were then asked over two years to help turn some of those risk factors around.  For example, they were asked to abandon their previously unhealthy diets and adopt the MIND diet, known to be especially beneficial for the brain.   They were also asked to get off the couch and meet…  read on >  read on >

The Gut-Healthy Secret Weapon Hiding in Your Sauerkraut

By | | Add a Comment

A small scoop of sauerkraut every day may do more than add crunch to your meal. It could also protect your gut. In a new study from the University of California- Davis, researchers found that fermented cabbage, also known as sauerkraut, may help support the gut lining and reduce inflammation in the body. “A little bit of sauerkraut could go a long way,” lead author Maria Marco, a professor of food science and technology at UC Davis, said in a news release. “We should be thinking about including fermented foods in our regular diets and not just as a side on our hot dogs.” The research — published in the journal Food Microbiology — showed that fermentation transforms cabbage into something much more powerful.  When raw cabbage is transformed into sauerkraut, it produces special compounds that may boost the immune system, reduce inflammation and promote a healthy digestive system. It’s important to note, however, that these benefits only appeared after fermentation. Raw cabbage or salty brine alone didn’t have the same effect, the researchers noted. Researchers also tested individual components of sauerkraut to see if one compound was responsible for the health effects, but no single part worked on its own. “It’s the full combination of nutrients created during fermentation working together that makes the real difference for your gut,” the researchers explained. And you…  read on >  read on >