The idea that a vegan diet cannot provide enough protein to support a healthy lifestyle is one of the most persistent myths about it. But if you know where to look, it's actually quite simple to get the daily recommended amount of protein! If you need a little pick-me-up, there is an amazing selection of vegan protein powders available, but the best course of action is to get your protein from whole foods like beans, lentils, and vegetables.
According to Viva! statistics, half of the people in the UK are reducing their meat consumption, and many are trying veganism during Veganuary. Approximately two million people, or 3% of the population, already identify as vegans. So, how do you confidently follow a vegan diet and ensure that you are getting the recommended amount of protein?
How much protein should we eat per day?
The UK Eatwell Guide states that each kilogram of body weight requires 0.75 grams of protein. For the average woman, this equates to roughly 45 grams per day.
The best sources of vegan protein
1. Lentils and beans (20 g of protein per 100g)
Any simple dinner hack to start with is to replace the meat in recipes like chili or stews with a plant-based substitute, like beans or lentils.
Lentils and beans work well to thicken dips and sauces, as well as adding flavor to soups and curries. They are a great way to get some vitamins B and fiber.
To increase the nutritional value and bioavailability of beans, fermenting them—a process also called tempeh—is a great idea. Although soy is frequently used, any bean will do. As an alternative, you can sprout them and use the results to make Ezekiel bread, which is made from sprouted legumes or whole grains and has about 8 grams of protein per slice.
2. Nuts and seeds (100g of pumpkin seeds contain 24.4g of protein).
Nuts and seeds are a good source of plant-based protein, whether you add them to smoothies, eat them as a snack in the afternoon, or sprinkle them over porridge. However, there are other advantages as well: "They have the added benefit of containing calcium, zinc, selenium, and fatty acids. Think outside the box and include a wide variety of foods in your diet."
3. Chickpeas (100g protein, approximately 7.7g)
Chickpeas can be used in almost any type of dish, including stir-fries, wraps, and curries. In fact, the leftover aquafaba—a term for chickpea water—can be used to make meringue and mousse, two delectable desserts.
As a source of protein, chickpeas are extremely adaptable. They can be roasted with a little olive oil and paprika for a nutritious afternoon snack, added to curries, blended into soups, and much more. They serve as a good source of fiber and iron as well.
4. Foods made from soy (about 8g of protein per 100g)
Foods made from soy, like tofu, offer fatty acids, calcium, and an alternative plant-based protein source with a good amino acid profile. Tofu can be especially delicious when added to noodle dishes and Asian-inspired curries. It can also be crispy-fried in a mixture of oil, corn flour, and soy sauce. If you haven't already, give it a try!"
Remember that soy beans and edamame have an impressive 11 grams of protein per 100 grams of food.
5. Vegetables and fruits
(roughly 2–9 grams of protein per cup)
All fruits and vegetables contain protein, which may surprise you. Green peas, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, artichokes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts, which normally contain 5g of protein per cooked cup, or sweetcorn, despite being categorized as a grain, are among the vegetables that have the highest protein content.
The expert continues, "We can look at guava, cherimoyas, mulberries, blackberries, nectarines, and bananas with around 2-4g of protein per cup." Let's not forget about our fruit friends.
The largest internal organ in the human body is the liver. It is especially vulnerable to the negative effects of alcohol and is more likely to experience them. However, if you quit drinking, your liver can regenerate.
How Alcohol Affects Liver
Detoxification is one of the hundreds of physiological functions that depend on the liver, particularly following alcohol intake. Prolonged and excessive alcohol use can damage not only the liver but also the brain and heart.
Ashwin Dhanda, an associate professor of hepatology at the University of Plymouth, clarified that consuming too much alcohol is linked to a number of illnesses, including fatty liver degeneration, which is the accumulation of fat in the liver, and cirrhosis of the liver, which is the formation of scars. Certain conditions might not manifest symptoms until much later in the course of the damage.
First of all, drinking alcohol causes liver fat. The liver becomes inflamed due to this fat. The liver tries to heal itself in reaction by producing scar tissue. If this keeps happening uncontrollably, the liver may develop cirrhosis, or an entire network of scars separated by tiny patches of healthy liver.
When the liver fails in the later stages of cirrhosis, patients may have jaundice, edema from fluid retention, drowsiness, and confusion. This can be fatal and is a serious matter.
Liver obesity will be seen in the majority of people who consistently consume more alcohol than the advised limit of 14 units per week (roughly six pints of regular-strength beer (4% strength) or roughly six medium (175 ml) glasses of wine (14% strength). Extended and heavy alcohol use raises the possibility of liver cirrhosis and scarring.
Your sexual life is no different from any other aspect of your life in that it changes with time.
"Health problems, physical changes, or changes in desire are just a few of the challenges that partners in relationships face that can affect intimacy," says Dr. Sharon Bober, director of the Sexual Health Program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which is affiliated with Harvard. "Older couples often have core beliefs, including that their sex life is bound to diminish or that individuals need to conform to a certain ideal as they age, but with communication, planning, and creativity, both partners can continue to enjoy a satisfying sexual relationship over time."
Here are three typical problems that older couples encounter and how to resolve them:
Get into a rut
Most long-term partners eventually fall into romantic ruts. Here are some ways to get back on course.
Restart your dating life. Your fulfilling sexual life doesn't start in the bedroom. Plan regular dates with your significant other and think about doing things that are novel for you both, such as attending a class together, taking part in a local event, or taking an impromptu overnight or weekend romantic getaway. "Doing something different and unexpected can offer a shared sense of excitement that increases desire and can bring you and your partner closer together, which also helps cultivate desire," Dr. Bober says.
Turn it around. Pay more attention to your partner's happiness and contentment and less attention to yourself. According to Dr. Bober, "this can be a big turn-on for both people."
According to a study published online by Menopause on September 12, 2023, women who have both of their ovaries removed prior to menopause have significantly increased chances of developing multiple chronic health conditions decades later.
The 274 women (average age 67) in the study had either undergone a hysterectomy or had their ovaries removed prior to menopause for a noncancerous condition. The women had thorough physical examinations for an average of 22 years following their surgery to determine whether any chronic conditions existed and to assess their level of strength and mobility.
Women under 46 who had their ovaries removed had 64% higher odds of having arthritis, twice the likelihood of having obstructive sleep apnea, and almost three times the likelihood of having had a bone fracture as compared to women of the same age who still had their ovaries. In a test that involved a six-minute walk, they also did worse. In addition, ovary removal patients between the ages of 46 and 49 were more likely to develop arthritis and sleep apnea than non-operating patients of the same age. Nonetheless, ovary excision prior to menopause was not associated with any of the following conditions: cancer, diabetes, dementia, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, irregular cardiac rhythm, osteoporosis, or diseases of the kidney, liver, or thyroid.
The authors of the study advised women who have their ovaries removed before menopause to think about starting estrogen therapy around age 50.
Are you depressed? Here are a few ways to cheer yourself up and clear your mind:.
Everyone experiences times when they are depressed, tired, or anxious. These phases eventually pass, but occasionally you can become emotionally and mentally mired in a rut. Here are some ways to help you get out of that situation when it occurs.
Get going.
Exercise increases the release of endorphins, which are feel-good chemicals released by the brain.
The British Journal of Sports Medicine recently published an online review of over 1,000 trials. The review revealed that individuals who regularly engaged in physical activity, such as walking, resistance training, Pilates, and yoga, experienced lower levels of anxiety and improved symptoms related to mild depression when compared to sedentary individuals.
According to additional research, aerobic exercise can have a significant impact on mood. Dr. Darshan Mehta, medical director of the Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital's Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine, says that any kind of exercise is beneficial. "Your exercise could be as simple as tending your garden or working on house projects," according to him. "The point is to get moving, and move often."
Spend time in nature.
Researchers have found that spending time in a natural setting can reduce neural activity in the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain linked to negative emotions. Additionally, studies have shown that spending time in nature can reduce the stress hormone cortisol and blood pressure. As long as you find the environment relaxing, it doesn't matter what kind it is. Dr. Mehta says, "So, you sit in an urban green space or walk a nature trail." If you are unable to go outside, you can still experience a similar feeling by gazing at images of beautiful natural environments and playing natural sounds on your computer or smartphone.
It's 105°F in your yoga class, and that's intentional. This is the environment for "hot," or Bikram, yoga, which consists of a series of breathing exercises and poses performed in a warm, humid room. Additionally, according to a randomized controlled trial that was published online by the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry on October 23, 2023, it may help lessen moderate-to-severe depression. Researchers from Harvard Medical School divided 65 depressed adults (some on antidepressants, ages 18 to 60) into two groups at random. For eight weeks, participants in the first group were required to attend at least two 90-minute hot yoga classes at nearby hot yoga studios. The other group members were put on an eight-week waiting list. Even though they only took one yoga class a week on average, those in the yoga group had significantly fewer symptoms of depression by the end of the study compared to those on the waiting list. For instance, compared to 6% of those on the waiting list, approximately 60% of yoga practitioners reported that their symptoms had subsided by 50% or more. The effectiveness of hot yoga in treating depression in comparison to other forms of yoga was not examined in this study. Yet, it implies that hot yoga can be used to treat depression either by itself or in combination with prescription drugs. Before attempting hot yoga, consult your doctor because there may be risks involved if you have certain medical conditions, such as heart issues.
Recently, a lady was waiting in line at a pharmacy while the person in front of me picked up her prescription. Matter-of-factly, the pharmacist stated, "That'll be $850." Her only response was, "Really?" Telling the pharmacist she would have to call her doctor about a less expensive option, she left without her prescription.
Many of us regularly get sticker shock when we see how much drugs cost. More and more dramatic examples imply that there is no end to it. Let's discuss how to reduce our spending on prescription drugs, how we got to the point where some medications cost a million dollars or more per dose, and what needs to be changed in our exorbitant medication-industrial complex.
7 strategies to cut back on prescription medication costs
Take a look at these seven tactics to cut prescription costs. Savings will differ based on cost-sharing, deductibles, insurance, and donut holes.
Three questions to pose to your healthcare provider are: Are all of the medications you take really necessary? Can you safely cut back on the dosage of any medications you take? Could a generic or less expensive medication be used instead?
Take a look at these seven tactics to cut prescription costs. Savings will differ based on cost-sharing, deductibles, insurance, and donut holes.
Three questions to pose to your healthcare provider are: Are all of the medications you take really necessary? Can you safely cut back on the dosage of any medications you take? Could a generic or less expensive medication be used instead?
Check your health insurance plan's preferred medication list, or formulary, as these typically have lower costs than other comparable medications.
Split pills: If each pill contains more than the recommended dosage and can be divided, in certain circumstances, the cost of a prescription will be lower. For instance, if you typically take a 25-mg pill, splitting a 50-mg pill in half could result in lower copays and medication expenses. If the math doesn't add up for you, ask your pharmacist.
Find out if copays would be lower with a 90-day supply as opposed to a 30-day supply.
Look for prescription drug discount plans that provide savings. There are limitations and regional variations in availability. It's not always less expensive to use discount programs because payments made through them might not be deducted from your maximum out-of-pocket expenses or insurance deductible.
Evaluate your options with a pharmacist and compare costs at several pharmacies. There are instances when not using your insurance results in a lower cost.
Think about ordering online from a mail-order company (like Blink Health or Cost Plus Drug Company). Spending made via these websites, though, might not be deducted from your insurance deductible. Furthermore, online prices aren't always cheaper.
There’s a mini-chemistry lab in every cell of us, transforming food into fuel around the clock. It will affect our energy, weight, and even mood. Think of ourselves as cars. Cars run on gasoline, and we run on calories, i.e., the unit of energy. Even while sleeping, we’re also burning calories.
Most ladies who want to slim down will think about fat, carbohydrates, energy, and how to add an exercise plan to their schedule. But many have this confusion: why can’t I lose weight even though I plan exercise and control the amount of food? In fact, at this time, you need to have a certain understanding of metabolism because it is a matter of weight loss. Today, we are going to look at how to boost it and lose weight effectively. Here are some tips.
Interval exercises
For a simple example, you can walk for 2 minutes and then run or walk briskly for 1 minute instead of walking at a constant speed. Repeating the above method of walking for 20–30 minutes can help you improve your metabolism and efficiently burn fat. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) works on the same principle: give the body a high intensity of stimulation in a short time to achieve the effect of high-efficiency fat burning.
Healthy fat intake
Some people think they have to avoid fat intake to lose weight, but that’s terribly wrong. You need to eat healthy fat, such as omega-3 and unsaturated fatty acids, which can boost your metabolism while eating. You can absorb these healthy fats in nuts, fish, some olives, and so on.
Eat high-protein food.
Protein plays an important role in losing fat. First, it increases your metabolic rate because your body needs to consume extra energy to digest it. Second, it can maintain and help your muscles grow, and muscles will burn much more calories than fat. Finally, eating high-protein foods can increase your satiety and help you reduce your calorie intake. High-protein foods come mainly from meat, such as beef, lamb, and chicken, as well as eggs, soy products, and so on. Eating multiple small meals can also boost metabolism compared to three larger meals.
Eat more vegetables.
Vegetables such as spinach, purple cabbage, and broccoli can boost your metabolism because they may aid digestion. Black vegetables are rich in iron, which is very important for women and can increase the number of red blood cells in the blood to help the body transport nutrients.
Eat some spicy food.
Studies have shown that spicy foods can increase the body's level of fat burning. The spicy food contains capsaicin, which may increase body temperature to burn fat. But you should eat in moderation because eating too much spicy food may hurt your stomach.
Eat apples
Apples are rich in vitamins and dietary fiber, which can help boost metabolism and reduce the sense of hunger. It can also aid digestion between two meals.
Drink green tea.
Green tea contains tea polyphenols, which can help boost metabolism. Besides, green tea can also enhance its antioxidant abilities and strengthen its defenses against cancer.
Drink more water.
By increasing the amount of water you drink, you can increase your metabolic rate by up to 30%. According to your own situation, you must drink more than 2 liters of water per day. If you don’t like pure water, add lemon or lemon juice to it.
Avoid eating before bedtime.
Your metabolism slows down at night and doesn’t burn as many calories as during the day, so the calories you absorb during this period are easily converted to fat.
Reduce stress
When you’re stressed out, it’s hard for the body to burn fat. Try to reduce your stress levels and relax your mind with relaxation techniques and regular exercise to dissolve fat!
Promise enough sleep.
Lack of sleep will lead to endocrine disorders and slow down your metabolism. This is not a good thing. At the same time, it will increase your desire for high-calorie foods.
Go to the doctor.
If the above tips don’t work for you, you’d better go to the doctor. The situation of each person’s metabolism is much more complicated than controlling weight. Your family medical history, thyroid, hormones, and so on are all possible influences. If you can’t tell for yourselves, go to the doctor for a scientific evaluation of your body!
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One of the most prevalent and crippling signs of Parkinson's disease, which is a neurological condition that affects over 9 million individuals globally, is freezing. A person with Parkinson's disease freezes; their feet frequently stop moving in mid-stride, causing them to staccato stutter and take shorter and shorter steps until they stop completely. These falls are one of the main causes of falls in Parkinson's disease patients.
Currently, a variety of pharmaceutical, surgical, and behavioral interventions are used to treat freezing, but none of them are very successful.
The patient may walk with a longer stride thanks to the robotic garment, which is placed around the thighs and hips and gently presses the hips when the leg swings, helping the patient to achieve a longer stride.
The wearer was able to walk faster and farther than they could have without the assistance of the garment because the technology totally removed their freezing while they were indoors.
Conor Walsh, the Paul A. Maeder Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at SEAS and co-corresponding author of thestudy,y stated that it was found that the small amount of mechanical assistance from the wearable robot made an intermediate effect and consistently helped improve walking across a range of conditions for the individual.
The research showed the potential of soft robotics used to treat the dangrous symptoms of Parkinson disease, giving people the ability to regain both their mobility and independence.
The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering supported some of those technologies, including an exosuit for post-stroke gait retraining, and Harvard's Office of Technology Development arranged a license arrangement with ReWalk Robotics to commercialize the technology.
SEAS and Sargent College received a grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to support the development and translation of next-generation robotics and wearable technologies in 2022. The Move Lab's goal is to support advancements in human performance and enhance them by providing the R&D infrastructure, funding, collaborative space, and experience needed to transform promising research into mature technologies that can be translated through industry partnerships, which serves as the focal point for the research.
Three months were spent by the team working with a 73-year-old man who had Parkinson’s disease and had significant and incapacitating freezing episodes more than ten times a day. Despite using both surgical and pharmaceutical treatments, he still had frequent falls, making him rely on a scooter to move around and prevent him from walking around his community.
In previous research, Walsh and his team made use of human-in-the-loop optimization to demonstrate that a soft, wearable device can be used to augment hip flexion and assist in swinging the leg forward to provide an efficient approach to reducing energy expenditure during walking in healthy individuals.
The researchers addressed freezing using the same approach. It is worn around the waist and thighs, and it is powered by actuators and sensors. With the motion data collected by the sensor, algorithms determine the phase of gait and produce assistive forces in sync with the muscle contraction.
The result was immediate. The patient was able to walk without freezing indoors and with just sporadic episodes outdoors without the need for any extra training. Without the gadget, he was also able to walk and talk without freezing, which was unusual.
The team was quite thrilled to observe how the technology affected the subjects' gait," stated Jinsoo Kim, a co-lead author of the study and a former Ph.D. candidate at SEAS.
Ellis went on to say, "We don't really know why this approach works so well because we don't really understand freezing." This study, however, points out the potential benefits of approaching gait freezing from the "bottom-up" rather than the "top-down" perspective. The recovery to nearly normal biomechanics alters the peripheral gait dynamics and may influence the processing of central gait control.
Currently, a variety of pharmaceutical, surgical, and behavioral interventions are used to treat freezing, but none of them are very successful.
What if there was a method to completely avoid freezing?
To assist people with Parkinson's disease in walking without freezing, researchers from Boston University Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences and Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) used a soft, wearable robot that is placed around the tightened hips to gently press the hips when the leg swings.The patient may walk with a longer stride thanks to the robotic garment, which is placed around the thighs and hips and gently presses the hips when the leg swings, helping the patient to achieve a longer stride.
The wearer was able to walk faster and farther than they could have without the assistance of the garment because the technology totally removed their freezing while they were indoors.
Conor Walsh, the Paul A. Maeder Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at SEAS and co-corresponding author of thestudy,y stated that it was found that the small amount of mechanical assistance from the wearable robot made an intermediate effect and consistently helped improve walking across a range of conditions for the individual.
The research showed the potential of soft robotics used to treat the dangrous symptoms of Parkinson disease, giving people the ability to regain both their mobility and independence.
The research is published in Nature Medicine.
Walsh's Biodesign Lab at SEAS has been developing technologies to improve life.The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering supported some of those technologies, including an exosuit for post-stroke gait retraining, and Harvard's Office of Technology Development arranged a license arrangement with ReWalk Robotics to commercialize the technology.
SEAS and Sargent College received a grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to support the development and translation of next-generation robotics and wearable technologies in 2022. The Move Lab's goal is to support advancements in human performance and enhance them by providing the R&D infrastructure, funding, collaborative space, and experience needed to transform promising research into mature technologies that can be translated through industry partnerships, which serves as the focal point for the research.
Three months were spent by the team working with a 73-year-old man who had Parkinson’s disease and had significant and incapacitating freezing episodes more than ten times a day. Despite using both surgical and pharmaceutical treatments, he still had frequent falls, making him rely on a scooter to move around and prevent him from walking around his community.
In previous research, Walsh and his team made use of human-in-the-loop optimization to demonstrate that a soft, wearable device can be used to augment hip flexion and assist in swinging the leg forward to provide an efficient approach to reducing energy expenditure during walking in healthy individuals.
The researchers addressed freezing using the same approach. It is worn around the waist and thighs, and it is powered by actuators and sensors. With the motion data collected by the sensor, algorithms determine the phase of gait and produce assistive forces in sync with the muscle contraction.
The result was immediate. The patient was able to walk without freezing indoors and with just sporadic episodes outdoors without the need for any extra training. Without the gadget, he was also able to walk and talk without freezing, which was unusual.
The team was quite thrilled to observe how the technology affected the subjects' gait," stated Jinsoo Kim, a co-lead author of the study and a former Ph.D. candidate at SEAS.
Ellis went on to say, "We don't really know why this approach works so well because we don't really understand freezing." This study, however, points out the potential benefits of approaching gait freezing from the "bottom-up" rather than the "top-down" perspective. The recovery to nearly normal biomechanics alters the peripheral gait dynamics and may influence the processing of central gait control.
Andrew Chin, Teresa Baker, Nicholas Wendel, Hee Doo Yang, Jinsoo Kim, and Franchino Porciuncula were co-authors of the study. Ada Huang, Asa Eckert-Erdheim, and Dorothy Orzel also contributed to the technology's design, and Sarah Sullivan oversaw the clinical research.
It was supported by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's Collaborative Research and Development Matching Grant, the National Institutes of Health's NIH U01 TR002775, and the National Science Foundation's CMMI-1925085.
If you are staying with one of two of your family members, then there are chances that they must have offended you, or you must have offended them. When you are stressed or angry, it is very unlikely that you will say words that are unkind and lash out at someone you care about. We all make thoughtless mistakes.
Not sure if you should apologize?
It is important that you apologize to someone you have offended or injured, even if you don't think your actions or words were particularly offensive or if you think the other person was at fault. "You have to let go of concerns about right and wrong and try instead to understand the other person's experience in order to preserve or re-establish connections with other people," says Dr. Ronald Siegel, an assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. This skill is fundamental to emotional intelligence, which is the foundation of all positive, fruitful relationships.
How do you genuinely apologize?
For an apology to be effective, it has to be genuine. Making an accepted and successful apology acknowledges responsibility by accepting that your actions caused the other person pain that was not good. You want to express to yourself that you truly feel sorry and care about the person who was hurt. Make amends immediately or later, but do not make promises you cannot keep.According to the late psychiatrist Dr. Aaron Lazare, who is an apology expert and former chancellor and dean of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, a good apology has to contain these four elements:
Acknowledge the offense you have committed. Take responsibility for the offense, no matter whether it was physical or psychological harm, and assert that your behavior was not acceptable. Avoid making an apology in a way that downplays the pain or raises doubts about whether the victim was truly harmed, as well as using evasive or ambiguous language.
Explain what happened. Explain what happened without excusing it. In fact, sometimes the best strategy is to say that there is no excuse for what you have done.
Express remorse and be real about it. If you feel sorry or ashamed about your actions and errors, this is all part of expressing how remorseful you are.
Offer to make amends if you can. A good example is if you destroy someone's property, repair it, or replace it.
Example of a heartfelt apology
I am sorry for my outburst last night. Even if I've been working under a lot of stress, my actions are not justified or acceptable. I love you, and I promise not to vent my frustrations on you again.
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