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For 340 days, Scott Kelly circled the Earth aboard the International Space Station, gathering data about himself.

He drew blood from his arms. He saved his urine. He played computer games to test his memory and reaction speed. He measured the shape of his eyes.

Two hundred and forty miles below, Mr. Kelly’s twin brother, Mark, who also served as an astronaut, carried out identical tests. Now, a comparison of these two men has provided a unique opportunity to learn what happens to the human body in space[https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6436/eaau8650] — down to the molecular level.

On Thursday, just over three years after Mr. Kelly, 55, returned to Earth, NASA researchers reported that his body experienced a vast number of changes while in orbit. DNA mutated in some of his cells. His immune system produced a host of new signals. His microbiome gained new species of bacteria.

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Many of these biological changes seemed harmless, disappearing after he returned to Earth. But others — including genetic mutations and, after his return, declines in cognitive test scores — did not correct themselves, provoking concern among scientists.

Some considered the risks manageable, while others wondered whether it would ever be safe for astronauts to take long journeys to Mars or beyond. Final answers will depend on studies of still more astronauts.

“I believe it’s the most comprehensive assessment of human beings to date,” said Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, who was not involved in the study. “I don’t know that there’s been anything close to this.”

Although astronauts have been carried aloft for almost six decades, there’s much about life in space that scientists still don’t understand. With investigations like the NASA Twins Study, published in the journal Science, the agency hopes to answer some of the questions before sending astronauts on longer flights.

In 2012, NASA picked Mr. Kelly to join the Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko aboard the space station for a yearlong examination of the challenges of space travel, twice as long as previous studies.

In the run-up to the mission’s announcement, Mr. Kelly asked officials if they had any plans to compare him to his twin. “We have these two guys who are genetically identical,” Mr. Kelly recalled telling them. “They’d make for an interesting experiment.”

Officials had no such plans, but soon decided to take him up on the offer. Mark Kelly agreed, and the NASA Twins Study was born. (Mark Kelly, who retired from NASA in 2011 and is the husband of former Representative Gabrielle Giffords, is running for John McCain’s Senate seat in Arizona.)

By comparing the brothers, NASA hoped to better understand the changes that Scott Kelly experienced during his mission.

“The fact that they’re twins really narrows down the alternatives,” said Susan Bailey, a cancer biologist at Colorado State University and a co-author of the new study. “We can say that, as best as we can tell, these changes are due to spaceflight.”

Ten research teams designed experiments for the twins; they are likely to bring an avalanche of research. But to Mr. Kelly, the experience didn’t feel very different from previous missions.

Drawing his own blood in zero gravity, for example, was a familiar routine. “I’ve had a couple spills in my time,” Mr. Kelly said. “You just reach out and grab the blobs of blood.”

By many measures, the scientists eventually found, Mr. Kelly changed about as much as astronauts who stayed on the space station for only six months. Eventually the pace of biological change slowed, suggesting that perhaps the human body reaches a new equilibrium in space.

But Mr. Kelly’s body was also altered in some surprising ways.

Dr. Bailey studied special sections of his DNA called telomeres, which sit at the end of chromosomes, protecting them from deterioration.

As people age, their telomeres tend to get shorter. Stress — such as radiation or pollution — may hasten aging by fraying telomeres even faster than usual.

Strangely, the average length of Mr. Kelly’s telomeres increased in space, rather than decreasing, as if his cells were becoming more youthful.

Regular exercise and a healthy diet might be part of the reason. But going to space also might have awakened a quiet population of stem cells in Mr. Kelly’s body, Dr. Bailey said.

His cells might not have grown longer telomeres, in other words. Instead, perhaps his body manufactured a new supply of young cells with longer telomeres.

Activated genes

Going to space also appeared to trigger a genetic shift in Mr. Kelly. Thousands of genes that were once quiet increased their activity — genes that remained quiet in Mark Kelly’s body back on Earth. The longer Scott Kelly stayed aloft, the greater the number of genes becoming active.

Some of the awakened genes are known to encode proteins that help fix damaged DNA. That would make sense, given that radiation levels in the International Space Station are higher than on Earth.

Christopher Mason, a geneticist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, estimated that Mr. Kelly was exposed to 48 times more radiation than the average exposure on Earth over the course of a year. His cells might have been busy repairing radiation injury.

A number of other activated genes, however, play roles in the immune system. What exactly triggers those changes isn’t clear.

It may be the overall stress of life in the space station provokes an immune response. But recent studies have also shown that latent viruses can awaken in astronauts.

Or maybe it’s that the immune system, which never evolved for survival in space, simply gets confused.

“Is it good or bad? We just know it’s more,” Dr. Mason, a co-author of the new study, said of the immune activity. “To know for sure, we’d need more astronauts.”

Mr. Kelly’s return to Earth on March 1, 2016, proved to be one of the biggest moments — biologically speaking — of the whole mission. His body showed signs of intense stress, and his immune system was in high gear.

Michael Snyder, a geneticist at Stanford University and co-author of the research, cautioned that this response might not be typical. “Maybe he got a viral infection,” he speculated. “This is why you want to see it in more people.”

Despite that shock, Mr. Kelly’s body mostly returned to preflight condition. Some species of bacteria that thrived in his gut while he was in space, for example, became rare again on his landing.

The strange lengthening of Mr. Kelly’s telomeres disappeared after less than 48 hours on Earth. In fact, Dr. Bailey and her colleagues started finding many cells with telomeres that were shorter than before Mr. Kelly went to space.

“People have asked me, ‘Well, is going to space the fountain of youth?’” said Dr. Bailey. “I don’t think so. If it is, you’re going to have to stay up there forever.”

‘Fighting through quicksand’

Some aspects of Mr. Kelly’s biology didn’t return to the preflight norm.

Six months after he came back to Earth, 8.7 percent of his genes were still behaving in an altered way. Judging from the small size of this shift, Dr. Snyder described the change as modest.

The researchers also found that Mr. Kelly didn’t do as well on his return on cognitive exams. “He got slower and less accurate on virtually all of the tests,” said Dr. Mathias Basner, a cognitive scientist at the University of Pennsylvania.

It’s possible that some biological change was to blame. But Dr. Basner noted that Mr. Kelly also faced a lot of demands back on Earth, including a busy schedule of television interviews and public speaking.

And on an unconscious level, he may no longer have been pushing himself. “I mean, he basically retired the moment he hit the ground, and so perhaps he just wasn’t as motivated any longer,” Dr. Basner said.

In his 2017 memoir, “Endurance,” Mr. Kelly describes struggling after his return with pain, sleeping troubles and other woes. One night he felt as if he was “fighting through quicksand,” he wrote.

In an interview, Mr. Kelly speculated those difficulties might be to blame for his cognitive scores. “It’s hard to concentrate when you’re not feeling well,” he said.

Another enduring change, scientists found, was a collection of genetic mutations that Mr. Kelly gained in space. “We see them appear in flight, and then they persisted afterward,” Dr. Mason said.

Sometimes radiation triggers a type of mutation that makes cells prone to gain still more mutations as they divide. Eventually, the cells may start growing uncontrollably — “taking steps on the road to cancer,” Dr. Bailey said.

Peter Campbell, a cancer biologist at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Britain who was not involved in the new study, said scientists can’t predict what the extra mutations will mean for Mr. Kelly’s health.

“It is hard to be sure, but I believe those sorts of numbers would be associated with a moderate increase in cancer risk,” he said.

These two lingering changes — in Mr. Kelly’s cognition and DNA — left a number of experts concerned about the risks of a trip to Mars, which could take a year.

Gary Strangman, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School, said that a decrease in speed and accuracy “could potentially have serious consequences on long-duration missions.”

After a grueling journey to the red planet, astronauts would probably need to take quick, accurate actions as they landed.

“If you had a period of slower cognitive processing speed and difficulty with balance and eye-head coordination, those behaviors would be at risk,” said Rachael Seidler, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Florida.

A heavy load of genetic mutations would not present immediate dangers to astronauts on their missions, but it might raise their lifelong risks of cancer.

Dr. Mason estimated that a mission to Mars would expose an astronaut to eight times more radiation than Mr. Kelly experienced.

“Every effort will need to be made to limit exposure to astronauts during periods of prolonged space travel,” said Charles Swanton, a cancer biologist at the Francis Crick Institute in Britain who was not involved in the new study.

Dr. Topol, of the Scripps institute, found the implications of Mr. Kelly’s experience to be grim.

“The main conclusion I got from this paper, based on all the objective data, is why would anybody want to go to Mars or be in space?” he said. “Because this is really scary.”

Jerry Shay, a cell biologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, was much more optimistic. He held out hope for countermeasures that would protect astronauts.

Already he and his colleagues, for example, are testing drugs to trigger cells to fix DNA damaged by radiation. “I think all these problems are solvable,” Dr. Shay said.

NASA has begun sifting through all these results to help plan the next round of missions to the International Space Station.

“It won’t be a replication of what you saw in the Twins Study,” said Jennifer Fogarty, the chief scientist at NASA’s Human Research Program.

“We’re going to learn from that, and we’re going to be smarter about the questions we ask. There’s a lot of fascinating stuff to go measure. It’s just not clear what it means.”

Dr. Bailey, for her part, plans to keep on studying Mr. Kelly’s baffling telomeres. Solving that mystery might shed light on ordinary aging and the diseases it brings.

“When we figure out the how and why of that, it’s going to be important for astronauts as well as for us mere Earthlings,” she said.

PHOTO: Astronaut Scott Kelly in the cupola of the International Space Station in 2011. (PHOTOGRAPH BY JSC/NASA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)

For 340 days, Scott Kelly circled the Earth aboard the International Space Station, gathering data about himself.

He drew blood from his arms. He saved his urine. He played computer games to test his memory and reaction speed. He measured the shape of his eyes.

Three-hundred-and-eighty-five kilometres below, Scott's twin brother, Mark, who also served as an astronaut, carried out identical tests. Now, a comparison of these two men has provided a unique opportunity to learn what happens to the human body in space - down to the molecular level.

On Thursday, just over three years after Scott Kelly, 55, returned to Earth, NASA researchers reported that his body experienced a number of changes while in orbit. DNA mutated in some of his cells. His immune system produced a host of new signals. His microbiome gained new species of bacteria.

Many of these biological changes seemed harmless, disappearing after he returned to Earth. But others - including genetic mutations and, after his return, declines in cognition test scores - did not correct themselves, provoking concern among scientists.

Some considered the risks manageable, while others wondered whether it would ever be safe for astronauts to take long journeys to Mars or beyond. Final answers will depend on studies of still more astronauts.

"I believe it's the most comprehensive assessment of human beings to date," said Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, who was not involved in the study. "I don't know that there's been anything close to this."

Although astronauts have been carried aloft for almost six decades, there's much about life in space that scientists still don't understand. With investigations like the NASA Twins Study, published in the journal Science, the agency hopes to answer some questions before sending astronauts on longer flights.

By comparing the brothers, NASA hoped to better understand the changes that Scott Kelly experienced.

"The fact that they're twins really narrows down the alternatives," said Susan Bailey, a cancer biologist at Colorado State University and a co-author of the new study. "We can say that, as best as we can tell, these changes are due to space flight."

By many measures, the scientists eventually found, Kelly changed about as much as astronauts who stayed on the space station for only six months. Eventually the pace of biological change slowed, suggesting that the human body reaches a new equilibrium in space.

But Kelly's body was also altered in some surprising ways.

Bailey studied special sections of his DNA called telomeres, which sit at the end of chromosomes, protecting them from deterioration.

As people age, their telomeres tend to get shorter. Stress - such as radiation or pollution - may hasten aging by fraying telomeres even faster than usual.

Strangely, the average length of Kelly's telomeres increased in space, rather than decreasing, as if his cells were becoming more youthful.

Regular exercise and a healthy diet might be part of the reason. But going to space also might have awakened a quiet population of stem cells in Kelly's body, Bailey said.

His cells might not have grown longer telomeres, in other words. Instead, perhaps his body manufactured a new supply of young cells with longer telomeres.

Going to space also appeared to trigger a genetic shift in Kelly. Thousands of genes that were once quiet increased their activity - genes that remained quiet in Mark Kelly's body back on Earth. The longer Scott Kelly stayed aloft, the greater the number of genes becoming active.

Some of the awakened genes are known to encode proteins that help fix damaged DNA. That would make sense, given that radiation levels in the International Space Station are higher than on Earth.

Kelly's return to Earth on March 1, 2016, proved to be one of the biggest moments - biologically speaking - of the whole mission. His body showed signs of intense stress, and his immune system was in high gear.

Michael Snyder, a geneticist at Stanford University and co-author of the research, cautioned that this response might not be typical. "Maybe he got a viral infection," he speculated. "This is why you want to see it in more people."

Despite that shock, Kelly's body mostly returned to pre-flight condition. Some species of bacteria that thrived in his gut while he was in space, for example, became rare again on his landing.

The strange lengthening of Kelly's telomeres disappeared after less than 48 hours on Earth. In fact, Bailey and her colleagues started finding many cells with telomeres that were shorter than before Kelly went to space.

"People have asked me, 'Well, is going to space the Fountain of Youth?' " Bailey said. "I don't think so. If it is, you're going to have to stay up there forever."

Some aspects of Kelly's biology didn't return to the pre-flight norm.

Six months after he came back to Earth, 8.7 per cent of his genes were still behaving in an altered way. The researchers also found that Kelly didn't do as well on his return on cognitive exams.

Another enduring change, scientists found, was a collection of genetic mutations that Kelly gained in space.

Sometimes radiation triggers a type of mutation that makes cells prone to gain still more mutations as they divide. Eventually, the cells may start growing uncontrollably - "taking steps on the road to cancer," Bailey said.

These two lingering changes - in Kelly's cognition and DNA - left a number of experts concerned about the risks of a trip to Mars, which could take a year.

Topol found the implications of Kelly's experience to be grim.

"The main conclusion I got from this paper, based on all the objective data, is why would anybody want to go to Mars or be in space?" he said.

Jerry Shay, a cell biologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, was much more optimistic. He held out hope for countermeasures that would protect astronauts.

Already he and his colleagues, for example, are testing drugs to trigger cells to fix DNA damaged by radiation.

"I think all these problems are solvable," Shay said.

Experts and parents are at odds, finds Chloe Lambert, over whether it can be treated - and if we should even try

Tim and his wife sensed that their son, Sam, was different from an early age. The little boy was slow to reach his milestones, made very little eye contact, and still wasn't speaking a word at the age of two.

Their GP insisted he was simply a late developer. "We swallowed it initially," Tim recalls. "But when he was three and a bit, we ended up seeing someone privately and paying for a proper test."

The psychologist's diagnosis was unequivocal: Sam had autism, a developmental disability causing problems with behaviour, social communication and learning.

"We were told this was a lifelong and incurable thing," says Tim. "But, of course, we wanted to do something. We wanted to help him."

Around 700,000 people in the UK are thought to have autism - that's almost one in 100 of us - and though it is more than 50 years since it was first described, the condition remains fraught with emotion and controversy. Never more so than over the idea of recovery or "cure".

It's widely agreed that most people who receive a reliable diagnosis will forever be autistic. But researchers continue to explore the theory that some can outgrow it: in a US study published last month, out of a cohort of 569 children who were diagnosed with autism before the age of three, an average of four years later, 38 of them (7 per cent) no longer displayed the criteria for it - though almost all still required support for other accompanying issues.

Many experts say cases like this can be explained by autism being initially mis- or over-diagnosed. But the study's author, Lisa Shulman, a professor of paediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said: "Our sense is that some children with autistic spectrum disorder respond to intervention, while others have unique developmental trajectories that lead to improvement. Those children who evolve in a positive direction generally have the mildest symptoms to begin with."

Meanwhile, the role of the gut in autism continues to attract worldwide attention. It's long been known that people with autism have higher rates of gastrointestinal problems such as gut pain. Now, studies show they have a different make-up of gut bacteria to the healthy population. Increasingly, scientists believe that tweaking those bacteria could offer benefits.

Last week came reports of a trial in which 18 children with autism underwent faecal transplants - transferring healthy bacteria from donors into the intestine. After two years, there was a 58 per cent drop in gastrointestinal symptoms and a 45 per cent drop in behavioural, language and social interaction symptoms. The trial was small, and the researchers admit the results could be biased by a placebo effect or other interventions. But faecal transplants, and other treatments to improve gut flora, are soaring in popularity as potential solutions to a conditions from depression to obesity. Such studies have reignited the debate over whether autism is treatable.

For experts, it is deeply problematic.

Autism remains poorly understood, which has left it vulnerable to conspiracy theories over the years.

A host of alternative clinics and practitioners offer a variety of equally unproven and potentially dangerous "treatments" for autism. In 2017, campaigners exposed a Facebook group used by parents who believed autism was caused by "parasites", with one mother from Cheshire allegedly writing that she had given her son a "bleach enema" to treat it.

"There are all sorts of charlatans out there," says Richard Mills, an expert in autism at the University of Bath. "Faecal transplants may not seem as mad as they appear, but people should be seen by a gut specialist and not simply given this treatment, as it is a serious procedure with risks."

Tim, however, is in little doubt that it is possible to treat autism. Soon after their son was diagnosed with a severe form, he and his wife embarked on a rigorous regimen, including a glutenand dairy-free diet and an intensive behavioural therapy called ABA.

He believes they began to see changes immediately. "Previously, he was running up and down with no eye contact. He became calmer and started interacting with the world a bit.

"Sam had gut trouble - alternating constipation and diarrhoea, which also improved when we changed his diet."

Some of what they tried had no effect, but the behavioural therapy, which they spent their pension savings on, helped Sam to make such progress that after a year their local authority began to fund it.

Three years after Sam's diagnosis, the couple returned to the specialist for him to be assessed again with ADOS, a diagnostic test. The severity of his autism had dropped from a score of 19 out of a possible 20, to 16.

Since then, Sam has defied all his doctors' predictions. Now 17, he has attended mainstream school since the age of four, recently passed six GCSEs and has begun A-levels.

Tim says his son still has autism, but the condition has been "mitigated and improved". "Social interaction is still quite primitive, but it's there.

Before, it was non-existent," he adds.

Many in the autism community disagree with the idea that autism can be reversed, outgrown or significantly treated, not only because it is scientifically unproven, but because it sets up the wrong narrative about the condition.

"A lot of people are rightly twitchy about the idea of autism as a disease," says Mills. "It can prevent acceptance and opportunity, and lead to treatments that may give the message that it would be better if autism didn't exist."

Harry Thompson was diagnosed with autism at 13. Though very bright, he had a difficult childhood and an even more turbulent adolescence, unable to hold down a job, struggling with bulimia and drug use. After a breakdown at the age of 18, however, he went to live with a teacher who had mentored him through his teens, who specialised in educating neurodiverse children.

"She helped me to understand my own strengths. I realised that rather than trying to dilute my autism, I needed to find my natural habitat - that autism can be a gift, if you're in the right environment."

Today Harry, 26, is a public speaker, author and YouTuber who is passionate about neurodiversity. He says autism is a genetic condition, "wired into the brain" and while research "is absolutely paramount", talk of treatments and cures sends the message to autistic people that they are unacceptable.

"Autism is so frustrating and exhausting, and autistic children can be nightmares for parents, so I understand why people want a cure. But autism is just a different way of being What we need is cooperation from schools, employers, society, to bring out the best in it."

Laura James, a mother-of-four diagnosed with autism four years ago, aged 45, agrees. After initially feeling an urge to "go out and fix it", she now feels that would be impossible. "Trying to be less autistic would be like me trying to be less female," she says. "It's an intrinsic part of oneself, and it would be better to spend our energy talking about it more and helping people to cope."

Tim and Sam's names have been changed For information and support, visit the National Autistic Society: autism.org.uk The PDA Paradox: The Highs and Lows of My Life on a Little-Known Part of the Autism Spectrum by Harry Thompson

'I understand why people want a cure. But autism is just a different way of being'

1 The Woo-Woo: How I Survived Ice Hockey, Drug Raids, Demons, and My Crazy Chinese Family Lindsay M. Wong (Arsenal Pulp Press)

2 The Secret Wisdom of Nature: Trees, Animals, and the Extraordinary Balance of All Living Things: Stories from Science and Observation Peter Wohlleben, translated by Jane Billinghurst (Greystone Books)

3 George Garrett: Intrepid Reporter George Garrett (Harbour Publishing)

4 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act Bob Joseph (Page Two Strategies)

5 Chop Suey Nation: The Legion Cafe and Other Stories from Canada's Chinese Restaurants Ann Hui (Douglas & McIntyre)

6 A Year on the Wild Side: A West Coast Naturalists Almanac Briony Penn (TouchWood Editions)

7 One Eagle Soaring Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd (Harbour Publishing)

8 E.J. Hughes Paints Vancouver Island Robert Amos (TouchWood Editions)

9 105 Hikes In and Around Southwestern British Columbia Stephen Hui (Greystone Books)

10 The Whole-Body Microbiome: How to Harness Microbes - Inside and Out - for Lifelong Health B. Brett Finlay and Jessica M. Finlay (Douglas & McIntyre) Compiled by the Association of Book Publishers of B.C.

VALMONT VITAL FALLS CLEANSER

They say: A soothing and energizing face tonic from the luxury skin care brand Valmont that relies on Swiss glacial spring water and "selected probiotics" to gently clean skin, and remove impurities and makeup.

We say: Our tester used this tonic on a water-splashed face. The luxurious elixir boasts a water-like consistency and applied easily with a cotton pad. The product absorbed quickly and left skin feeling hydrated and smooth. $85-$115 Valmont; valmontcosmetics.com

CLOVE + HALLOW HYDRATINT

They say: A water-based "glow serum" that can be used as an illuminator, an add-in for foundation or a primer. The product, which is cruelty-free and vegan, features meadow-foam oil and hyaluronic acid.

We say: Our tester loved the way this product felt on her skin. It was lightweight and non-greasy. The formula, which is available in four shades, gave cheeks a pretty flush of colour. $25 cloveandhallow.com

L'OREAL ROUGE SIGNATURE MATTE COLOUR INK

They say: A lightweight matte lip "ink" that promises to provide a "satin feel with the colour impact of a liquid lipstick." The pigmented hues provide a matte finish and long wear.

We say: Our tester found this lip ink easy to apply, and, true to its claims, it felt super smooth and lightweight on lips. With a fine tip, our tester commented on how precise the doe-foot applicator was, making application much easier than with a thicker wand. The formula is long-wearing and the colours are super saturated. $13.99 Mass retailers

"So Boulder."

I heard it first from friends who moved there, as in: "The woman swimming in the lane next to me today was an Olympian. So Boulder." Or: "Our grocery store is offering goat yoga. So Boulder." Then I began visiting, and I heard it not only from Boulderites (in an adoring, self-deprecating way that makes you want to search for skits about "Boulderlandia") but also under my own breath. Like when I found a rack of Prana dresses at McGuckin's, the beloved hardware store; or when I realized that a pet shop called P.C.'s Pantry sells gluten-free biscuits and has an in-house baker; or when I learned that February is Stout Month.

For a city of just 103,000 residents (almost a third of whom are students at the University of Colorado at Boulder), it packs a lot of punch. And for good reason: at 5,430 feet and generally sunny, it's a spectacularly beautiful destination that's been smart (and pioneering) about growth and preserving open space, so it's a magnet for athletes, bohemians, scientists and outdoor enthusiasts of every ilk. When I visited my friends, for example, they both were training: she for her umpteenth Ironman; he for a 50-mile run at 10,000 feet. So Boulder. With a progressive dining and brewing scene, it's a breeze to eat healthfully and drink locally. Even outdoor music is better in the Front Range: you won't regret splurging for a concert ticket at Red Rocks, just to the south.

Here's a hiking tip: when you're winded climbing up Mount Sanitas and a runner flits by you in fluorescent yoga pants (and then passes you again after summiting), remind yourself you're still adjusting to the altitude. Just west of downtown, Sanitas is among the most popular hikes for locals and dogs. My friends and I chose a moderate 2.5-mile loop that gained 1,350 feet in elevation, and the view from the top was stunning. I looked out to see Denver, the I.M. Pei-designed National Center for Atmospheric Research and CU-Boulder's red-roofed campus. If you really want to roll like the locals, end your adventure at Sweet Cow for a scoop of the best ice cream in town.

At Boulder Creek, locals come out to play every day of the week. The creek meanders from Boulder Canyon through downtown, and the adjacent 5.5-mile paved path is great for walking, running and biking. Pick up provisions at the farmers' market or hotdogs at Mustard's Last Stand and picnic by the water. Dip your toes into the local culture, which often involves students swaying in hammocks and smoking weed. Tubing season lasts all summer.

On the Celestial Seasonings Tour, the factory in northeast Boulder sounds and looks like any other. But it smells like stepping into a box of Sleepytime tea. Our guide, Debbie, asked us not to touch anything: "You don't have to put your nose on something to smell it. That's just gross." Wearing super-flattering blue hairnets, we learned about blendmaster Charlie, who might taste 120 teas and herbal infusions a day, and walked into the calming - and eye-wateringly strong - peppermint room. At the end, Debbie explained that it takes three seconds for a machine to wrap a box in plastic "and 10 minutes to get it off."

Since it opened in 1898, the Colorado Chautauqua - part of a national cultural movement from the late 19th and early 20th centuries - has celebrated nature, lifelong learning, music and the arts. Nestled against the famed Flatirons, it remains a treasured spot that operates in the spirit of its founders. You can hike 48 miles of trails, rent original cottages, eat in the dining hall or attend a concert. On a nice day, you'll see a steady stream of hikers. Start at the Ranger Cottage, the hub for all city hikes, plenty of which are accessible and kid-friendly. For a steep climb, rock scrambling and epic view, try the First and Second Flatiron hike.

At Shine Restaurant & Potion Bar, my friend Sarah said "It's a sign of an excellent menu that you're paralyzed by all the good choices," which is how I felt in general about dining in Boulder. Shine features a spirited menu - mushroom bisque, probiotic slaw sampler, lamb meatballs - and life-enhancing libations. (One of our "potions" included a B12 shot from a syringe.) It wasn't until we were later recalling the scrumptious buttermilk biscuit of Sarah's veggie burger that we remembered the restaurant is 100 per cent gluten free. If you can't get a table, head to nearby Rincon Argentino for killer empanadas.

A comfortable, intimate neighbourhood farmhouse kitchen and pub, Bramble & Hare may be better known for its cocktails. But equally notable: nearly all the food is sourced at the chef's northeast Boulder farm. A young tattooed server wearing a crocheted bow tie had me at mention of the seared farm carrots with a pistachio tarator. The menu changes daily, but the mac and cheese is a staple, as are rustic dishes such as pork and white bean chili, root vegetable curry and beef bread pudding. Bramble's elegant sibling, Black Cat, adjoins in the back. Peek next door for some magical decor.

If Boulderites ever kick off their Birks and dress up for dinner, it very well may be for Pizzeria Locale. The elegant restaurant serves classic Neapolitan-style pizza with perfectly doughy crust and spare, flavourful toppings. Locale - those in the know pronounce the "e" - takes pride in its Stefano Ferrara pizza oven, which cooks pizza in 90 seconds at 900 degrees, and its almost exclusively Italian wine list. A marble bar curves around the open kitchen, and alfresco dining is as good for seeing and being seen as it is for pizza-savouring.

The Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse was constructed 30 years ago by hand (as in no power tools) in Boulder's sister city, Dushanbe, Tajikistan, before it was disassembled, shipped and rebuilt here. Whether you visit for breakfast, lunch, dinner or afternoon tea - during which you can order Argentine mushrooms, Thai fish cakes, Indian samosas or Chinese tea glazed ribs - you'll think you've walked into a Persian shrine.At the bar, find more than 100 loose-leaf tea options. In late July, the tea house hosts the Rocky Mountain Tea Festival.

Easy to navigate by bike, Boulder is a favourite of triathletes. But even mere mortals can bike here, and University Bicycles is the place to start. U-Bikes, as it's called, has a solid collection of rentals, a great inventory of helmets, bike bags and maps, and fun vintage cycles hanging from the ceiling. Mountain bikers, try Valmont Bike Park and the more challenging Betasso Preserve.

When I travel, I'm all about finding gifts that are local, consumable and compact, so I hit the jackpot at Savory Spice Shop. Who wouldn't love Red Rocks Hickory Smoke Seasoning and Pyramid Peak Lemon Pepper?

Oh, the bounty! Among the pleasures I sampled at the Boulder County Farmers Market: tomatoes so red they looked like they'd been Photoshopped, dried peaches, black-bean dip, artisanal mole, hard pretzels, goat cheese, pea shoots, edible flowers, pesto and a bitter mustard green called mizuna. Every Saturday through mid-November, the market delights its throngs of locals and visitors. The Wednesday evening market is less crowded; both have live music weekly.

My old neighbours loved jigsaw puzzles, and it was at their house that I first saw a work of art from Liberty Puzzles with its gorgeous, quarter-inch maple veneer pieces that send their cardboard brethren sulking back to the closet. So I was pleased to learn that Liberty, a throwback company founded in 2005, produces its puzzles in Boulder. Weekday afternoons, guides will show you around the factory, which includes laser-cutting machines, a take-apart room where humans check that pieces are fully separated, and the wall of shame - a photo collage of naughty dogs. (Liberty will replace pieces that are lost and, er, eaten.) Each of the 700 puzzles includes "whimsy" shapes that reflect the theme, and visitors can pick a free one from the extras jar. I picked a guitar. Buy puzzles here, or visit its retail location in the Pearl Street Mall.

Boulder Adventure Lodge is the real deal. Just three miles west of the Pearl Street Mall, its rustic rooms sit on Four Mile Creek (crack your windows to hear the babble) with trails and the Boulder Creek path minutes away. The pet-friendly A-Lodge has 27 rooms, hostel-style bunks and sites for campers and #vanlife. Rooms include kitchenettes, and I was happy to try a local porter on tap at check-in. After soaking up some outdoors, enjoy the hot tub, slackline park, yoga, Thursday bluegrass jams, Saturday bands and monthly film nights, which attract hundreds. Summer rates start at $179 for rooms and $55 for the hostel.

Struggling to picture Boulder before athleisure and cold-pressed juices? Step into Hotel Boulderado, where you can ring a bell for service on a 1909 Otis elevator and sip from a historical drinking fountain that sources its water from Arapahoe Glacier on the Continental Divide. The 160-room, 109-year-old hotel, a block off Pearl Street, is also home to Spruce Farm & Fish restaurant and License No. 1, said to be the first city restaurant with a liquor license after local prohibition ended in 1967. In this cavernous speakeasy, enjoy Sidecars and Pisco Sours, billiards and comedy nights. Summer rates start at $203. If ritzy is more your style, head to the nearby St. Julien Hotel & Spa.

Car-free and vibrant, Pearl Street Mall is the 40-year-old, four-block promenade that serves as Boulder's commercial and social hub. With a nice mix of boutiques, sidewalk cafés, indies and chains, you'll find Fior Gelato, the three-storey Boulder Bookstore and Prana, which offers free daily yoga classes. Stroll slowly enough to enjoy the musicians and performance artists. In the span of a few days, I caught a high school string quartet, mime, bagpiper, tarot-card reader, sombrero-wearing percussionist, accordionist and the legendary Zip Code Man who stands before a crowd, asks spectators' hometowns and (almost always) guesses their number.

The month began with gin, and it wasn't long before strange, melancholic headaches became a regular feature. By the third week of this particular month (I'm not saying which), things needed to change.

That's how I find myself at the Barberyn retreat and spa in Beruwala, an unfussy little town on Sri Lanka's west coast, a two- hour drive south from the capital Colombo.

I'm having a first meeting with my Ayurvedic doctor and sheepishly responding to questions about my vices. The doctor surveys me with kind, non-judgmental eyes, takes my pulse and blood pressure and fills in a form as the roof fan wobbles drunkenly from the ceiling above.

My name is Patient 57. My medicine will be placed in my locker at 4pm every day, and whenever I go to the restaurant, my personal table will have bottles of strange tasting concoctions to help purge the gin and other evils from my body.

My room at Barberyn is a hexagonal number with views out over the golden mile, the name the locals use to describe the beach the colour of burnt caramel that stretches south and disappears beyond the horizon.

Small numbers of tourists roam by day and if the internet is to be believed, smugglers chance their luck by night.

I think it's fair to say that they don't go for mega creature comforts here, but that's half the point. Wi-fi only can be found in the area around reception. I don't see any TVs. No one rushes, staff congregate in the shade, waiting for their sunburned charges to arrive for their next treatment. I get the impression that not much has changed in the 50 years the hotel has been in operation.

On my first day, I saunter off past the smiling staff to the buffet. I'm hungry and need, to quote from Withnail & I, 'something's flesh'. But I am going to be a vegetarian, or pescatarian if I fancy, for a week.

I select a plate full of bits and trudge back to my seat. And wow! My tastebuds don't know what's hit them. Mint, zest, lemon, spice. Each of the tiny bowls holds some secret invigorator. After a few days of this, I feel lighter and much more energised.

Sri Lanka is a thrilling place. I was here in 2005 to visit a friend who was helping rebuild the shattered coastline after the Boxing Day tsunami.

I saw a steam locomotive that must have weighed hundreds of tonnes, perched high up in palm trees. I was left in awe, not only by the disaster itself, but of the great courage of all those devastated by that horrific event.

Chari, a local who arranged some fishing for me, says that as the sea was sucked back to fuel the coming waves, all seven of the offshore reefs became visible and before finding shelter in the second floor of a hotel, he had dashed towards the ocean and collected a sizeable barracuda that flipped and flapped on what was the seabed moments before.

He watched the devastation unfold while clutching this fearsome predator to his chest. He was 12 years old.

The Barberyn retreat clientele are a kindly bunch. I'd forgotten to bring sunscreen and, after two days applying Sri Lanka's answer to Ambre Solaire, I am medium rare. That's when a gentle, sophisticated German lady gives me her suncream and tells me I must look after myself. That's why I'm here, I dutifully reply.

The days consist of being massaged and covered in oils and pressed with hot towels. The evenings I spend reading or walking down the beach to watch the deep red sunsets. I must confess, I do imbibe the  occasional Lion Lager towards the end of the week in one of the many little bars that dot the beach.

I leave feeling at peace and rejuvenated. A rarity for me with any form of short break. I think two weeks would serve better, but I still have a bounce in my step.

I now try to eat vegetarian once a week and have discovered some tasty recipes. If you're interested in a no-frills detox, the Barberyn is the place for you.

Travel Facts

Classic rooms at the Barberyn Resorts (barberynresorts.com) start at £100 per night. Ayurveda treatment is mandatory for all guests and costs £73 per day. Minimum stay is seven nights and includes full-board, an initial Ayurveda consultation and various treatments.

***

÷ Known as the Science Of Life, Ayurveda dates back to 1,000 BC and has been recognised as a medical system since Indian independence in 1947.

÷ From the Sanskrit terms Ayur (life) and Veda (knowledge), it aims to balance mind, body, senses and soul, seeing each person as an individual with unique physical, mental and emotional needs. The goal is to be in harmony with your true nature as an antidote to the effects of modern living.

÷ To prevent illness, you need to maintain perfect balance between mind, body and spirit: any imbalance — believed to 'deviate from nature' — will create disharmony. Disease is treated by working on reversing these imbalances.

÷ Digestion and gut health are key to Ayurveda, as is living alongside nature and the flow of the seasons. The elements of ether/space, air, fire, water and Earth give rise to three energetic forces (doshas), with each person's constitution, body type, physical and mental characteristics corresponding to either Vata (ether and air), Pitta (fire and water) or Kapha (water and Earth).

÷ Ayurvedic spa treatments include wraps, massage and body scrubs. They often involve massage — tapping, kneading and squeezing as well as the more traditional massage strokes — with therapeutic natural essential oils to suit your dosha. Ayurvedic herbal baths relax and revitalise, with flowers added to the water along with herbs and oils. Christy Turlington, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts are devotees.

÷ To find out your dosha and lifestyle guidelines, see euroved.com/en/ayurveda/test/

© Daily Mail

[00:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no one in this country that is above the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN VAUSE, HOST, CNN NEWSROOM: Now comes the messy transatlantic legal battle over WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange who was dragged from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after his almost seven-year-long asylum was revoked.

Sudan's Dictator Omar al Bashir overthrown and forced but his regime remains and so do the protestors, staying on the streets and defying a nighttime curfew imposed by their new but old military rulers.

Plus, a shot to the moon, details about the crash of the first privately-funded lunar mission.

Hello. Welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, wherever you are. It's great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

One of the big unanswered questions, one of the big mysteries over the past few years has been how much longer will Julian Assange stay in that small room in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London? The answer came Thursday when the founder of WikiLeaks was hauled out of his self- reposed exile where he had been hiding in plain asylum protected sight.

His stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy costing that government more than $6 million. And when he appeared in court, the judge called Assange a narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interest. He was found guilty of breaking his bail conditions and faces up to a year in jail but that may be only the start of his legal problems.

CNN's Jessica Snyder reports.

JESSICA SNYDER, CONTRIBUTOR: Julian Assange is detained after being dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy by British police. The now long bearded WikiLeaks founder shouted before being stuffed into a police van. He's been hold up in the embassy for nearly seven years and he now faces extradition to the U.S. on one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.

The single charge has been sealed for more than a year but it revolves around WikiLeaks' publishing nearly a million documents in 2010, including classified material about America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and secret state department cables. Assange's attorneys insist he's always acted as a journalist and is protected under the First Amendment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER ROBINSON, LAWYER TO JULIAN ASSANGE: This precedent means that any journalist can be extradited for prosecution in the United States for having published truthful information about the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNYDER: But federal prosecutors say Assange broke the law when he conspired with then-U.S. Army Intelligence Analyst Chelsea Manning who is now in jail to crack a government password and steal the classified documents.

U.S. officials have said the leaks created a serious national security risk, in part because the leaked documents exposed details about a 2007 U.S. airstrike in Iraq that killed journalists and civilians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BURR (R-NC): Julian Assange has put American lives at risk and it's a fair, legal process but one that judges him based upon the national security breaches that happened in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNYDER: So far, Assange is not charged for WikiLeaks' role in the Russian hack of thousands of Democratic and Clinton campaign e-mails that were posted on WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIAN ASSANGE, FOUNDER, WIKILEAKS: We have more material related to the Hillary Clinton campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNYDER: But a U.S. official tells CNN more charges against Assange are expected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: WikiLeaks. I love WikiLeaks. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SNYDER: The president praised WikiLeaks as it dropped the stolen e- mails during the campaign. Roger Stone, a former advisor to Trump, was indicted in January for lying about seeking out the stolen e-mails from WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange.

Assange's arrest comes after his bizarre behavior prompted Ecuador to end his asylum at the embassy. Ecuador's interior minister said Assange spread feces on the walls inside and believed his physical and mental health were deteriorating.

Jessica Snyder, CNN Washington.

VAUSE: Joining us now from San Diego is Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney, and former deputy assistant attorney general. Harry, thank you for being with us.

HARRY LITMAN: Thanks for having me, John.

VAUSE: We heard from one of Assange's lawyers a few hours ago again pushing this argument that Assange and WikiLeaks have done nothing wrong. It's just like any other media organization trying to get the truth out. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTINN HRAFNSSON, EDITOR IN CHIEF, WIKILEAKS: It's simply is all that the organization that WikiLeaks published information pertaining to the upcoming election. It's the primary duty of every journalist to do. It would have been a journalistic crime not to publish the information.

Whatever the outcome, whatever feelings people may have toward the parties or party involved, that is just simply the basis of the entire thing. That's what should be in the main focus in the journalistic world. It's simply journalism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And the Democratic Presidential Candidate, [00:05:00] Tulsi Gabbard, has warned in a tweet that the arrest of Assange was meant to send a warning to journalists to be quiet, to toe the line. But what's intrigued federal authorities have charged Assange under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act which is a very vague one size fits all approach for misconduct online.

In the case of Assange, it's alleged he conspired to break into a government computer trying to break the password. There's nothing in the indictment which shows whether or not Assange is a journalist, whether he's considered a journalist.

Does that mean the Justice Department sees merit in what Assange and WikiLeaks are claiming that they're in fact journalists or is it just simply an argument they would rather not have? HARRY LITMAN, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: I think as between the two, John, it's an argument they would rather not have. But everyone has been focused on this. From day one, Assange has sort of wrapped himself in the free press flag. He'll continue to do it and I think it was a very deliberate decision by the Department of Justice to steer well clear of it.

It was a decision that was greeted with some relief in the United States even among people who are dubious about Assange and dubious about his claims that he's just another journalist. There's a real argument you could have on the merits that he's not.

But the U.S. wanted to steer clear of any such argument and just focus on, I wouldn't say such a (INAUDIBLE) conduct. He and Manning conspired in the indictment to break the secret code of a computer. That would be a crime whether you're a journalist or a hacker or a fun lover or an enemy. It's that conduct and it really is a very studied way in the indictment something entirely separate from journalistic activity.

VAUSE: It's interesting because Assange's lawyers actually want to try and take that and move it back into the journalistic sphere. One of the lawyers, Barry Pollack, he issued a statement which read in part the factual allegations boil down to encouraging a source to provide him information and taking efforts to protect the identity of that source.

It seems a big stretch to say encouraging Chelsea Manning to break into a government computer, to get into the password, and access all those secrets is the same thing as encouraging a source to give over information. Those two things seem completely unrelated.

LITMAN: It's a lot of boiling down as Barry Pollack would try to have it. It doesn't boil down to that at all and he very noticeably avoided saying what the charge actually is.

So that's going to be the point that the -- for Assange's defenders. OK, we know what it says on paper but here's what it's really about. It's really about his being a journalist who is opposed to the United States. That's in the grand tradition of the free press whom you want to protect the most. And that's what it's "really about".

Of course, it's not. And when you go to court, it will be quite clear when there's a jury there, here's what we have to prove, here's what we have proven. And in fact, it might even be that Assange isn't even permitted to introduce some of the First Amendment defenses because, as you say, if everything had stopped just after he acquired the password, it would still be a crime. It really is irrelevant that he is a sort of self-defined swashbuckling hero journalist. That's got nothing to do with the conduct that United States Alleged.

Now, there's going to be possibly more crimes charged. They will likely also avoid anything about free press and free expression and tact very carefully to the security problems that Assange is charged within this so-called 10:30 charge, this conspiracy with Manning to break a secret password. VAUSE: It seems to be that there has been this debate which has been ongoing within the U.S. government, whether or not to arrest Assange. On Thursday, President Trump weighed in on that. He was asked about Assange's arrest. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It's not my thing and I know nothing really about him. It's not my deal in life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Yes, except it is. He knows plenty about WikiLeaks. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: This just came out. WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks. This WikiLeaks stuff is unbelievable.

Another one came in today. This WikiLeaks is like a treasure trove.

Well, I love reading those WikiLeaks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Yes. it is what it is. The Russia investigation is closed but there are all still these unanswered questions about Assange and WikiLeaks. Russia used them according to intelligence both as a way -- both Assange and WikiLeaks as a way of releasing these stolen [00:10:00] e-mails from the Clinton campaign.

So what are the chances here that Assange can now face questioning and maybe even charges on that front? I guess if there was enough evidence of wrongdoing, he would have been indicted when the Mueller probe was handed in.

LITMAN: Maybe. Look, the Mueller probe is completed but that doesn't mean that everything here is complete. There is a pending counterintelligence investigation. There are other cases that were offshoots of the Mueller probe.

Roger Stone is under indictment and that case is going to go forward. He essentially is alleged to have conspired with WikiLeaks and to have known about the discharge of their hacked e-mails. And we sort of stopped at the final step to know whether or not he had spoken with the president. But that's a very live issue.

And in fact, there's a flip side here. It's possible that in addition to playing the First Amendment free press card, Assange will try to sort of tie up his case with national security information to make it difficult for the U.S. to go forward without revealing classified information.

Sometimes defendants will try that as well but the possibility that even though the Mueller probe is finished, the extent parts of the probe that have gone out to other places, especially the Roger Stone case will still delve into Assange's conduct with people in the United States.

VAUSE: Harry, we're out of time but I just want to very quickly show you some of the high profile visitors who turned up to that small room in the Ecuadorian Embassy. There was Pamela Anderson of Baywatch Fame and vegan sandwiches. We had Lady Gaga turning up. That was back in 2012 I think.

We had Noam Chomsky there sharing his wisdom with Julian Assange. Also at one point, Manchester United Eric Cantona was giving him a couple of workout lessons here. It's amazing to think that there were 24/7 British police outside of that coastal bridge, taxpayer of 13 million pounds. His stay at the embassy cost Ecuador $6 million. It's been a costly seven years, right.

LITMAN: Yes, it has and a strange one also.

VAUSE: Yes, bizarre indeed. Harry, thank you. Good to see you.

LITMAN: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Well, Sudan is facing an uncertain future after its long-time Omar al-Bashir was ousted in a coup and a military council has taken over. Thousands of protestors were demanding he step down.

Well, activists say they will not rest until the military now hands over power to a civilian government and they plan to keep the demonstrations going until that happens. For 30 years, the Sudanese people lived under the rule of a president accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

CNN's Farai Sevenzo has the very latest.

FARAI SEVENZO, CONTRIBUTOR: April 12, 2019, was the day that Sudanese will remember for a long time. It's the day that Omar al-Bashir, their ruler, their dictator, their president for three decades finally was forced to give up power. All morning, people in Sudan had been celebrating this news until the military council made an official announcement on their state television and media outlets.

They announced that there would be a two-year period of a military transitional government. They also announced three months of an extended state of emergency and a month of a curfew from 10:00 at night to 4:00 in the morning.

This, of course, completely changed the mood in Khartoum because the people were saying no, we got rid of one feat. Now, you have given us another, you will go the same way. All through the night and all through this evening, Khartoum people are all very disappointed with the outcome because they have given up one soldier president and put in place more military people.

Even the Sudanese Professional Association, the whole body of doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, and even journalists are calling on people of Sudan to stay at the military headquarters until their demands are met. And what is this demand? They desperately want a change from the military to a civilian rule.

Now, whether they'll get that or not is another question but certainly, Omar al-Bashir's departure has left more questions than is answered.

Farai Sevenzo, CNN, Nairobi.

VAUSE: You're watching now for more on the political upheaval in Sudan. Joining us is Mohamed Abubakr, president of the African Middle Eastern Leadership Project.

So, Mohamed, it seems this was a popular uprising which was snatched away at the last minute by essentially a military coup. The end result is that a brutal ruthless dictator has been replaced by that brutal ruthless dictator's close confidant.

And already General Ibn Auf wants to suspend the constitution, dissolve parliament, impose a curfew. Also, it's a two-year transition period of which will have military rule. What are the chances the good general has actually zero intentions of handing over power?

MOHAMED ABUBAKR, PRESIDENT, AFRICAN MIDDLE EASTERN LEADERSHIP PROJECT: This has been a step that [00:15:00] has been expected by the young people protestants in Sudan. They knew this step is likely to happen and they were prepared for it for the most part.

And the response of the young people who are now in the streets despite the curfew is the biggest testament to their principled and to their dedication to get into a civil transitional interim government that would oversee the democratic transition in Sudan. I don't think they will settle for anything less than that.

VAUSE: OK. So you said there were ready for it. Protest leaders have been urging civil disobedience. They want to be able to defy that 10:00 p.m. curfew for example.

In one tweet, they called on demonstrators to rally in the yard of the sit-in which is a reference to the military's headquarters and stay there and secure the barricades and prepare for Friday prayers. They have also been chanting, "It fell once, it can fall again." And by it, they mean the regime.

But now, you have this new military strong montage. He may not go quite quietly. In fact, he may not have plans to go anywhere at all. So where does this all end up? Does it end up in bloodshed?

ABUBAKR: We can only hope that that's not going to be the case. The young people have been quite martins strategic who have been leading this uprising from day one and have been quite successful in avoiding bloodshed at all costs.

And the way I think this will actually go, they will continue to protest and continue to stop life as usual in Sudan until this new, even off this new so-called president steps down. This step I think is actually likely to happen and even less of a challenge than al- Bashir stepping down because he has less things to lose. I think if the pressure is right and the conditions are right, I think they will have to hand power back to the people.

VAUSE: What's interesting is that for the first time in 30 years, Sudan is not ruled by Omar al-Bashir. He seeds power in a military coup 30 years ago. He is the only sitting leader ever to be indicted by the National Criminal Court, three counts of genocide in Darfur as well as crimes against humanity, use of barrel bombs and he presided over in the civil war itself to these rebels.

He is Osama bin Laden's friend. He gave him a place to stay. And during this four-month long protests, his security forces have been accused of torturing, killing, and jailing protestors.

And the only thing known about his whereabouts at this moment is that we're told he is in a safe place. Does it look to you like he cut a deal with the military?

ABUBAKR: That is the general suspicion. But to the people in the streets right now, it doesn't really matter if it was a show raid or not. Military rule is rejected as a whole. And whether it's a show raid or not, it's not going to work on people and that is is the message that I would love to get across.

These young people are not going back home. They are not settling for a half victory and they will not yield until a civil government is handed the power to oversee the democratic transition.

VAUSE: I just want to follow up because you said it doesn't really matter if Bashir left in some kind of deal, or if he cut a deal, or whether he kind of left, he was forced out. All that matters to these protesters is the fact that he's gone.

Do they not want him to be held accountable for the crimes against humanity, everything he has done to the country over the last 30 years?

ABUBAKR: Actually, the order of priority of demands they put forward is quite elegant. And it puts transitional justice as a secondary demand that will only come in the light of a military -- of a civil government in the transition period.

And that clear order is what makes the deal or no deal actually an irrelevant conversation right now in mood point. All they are focusing on right now is the fact that they don't want any form of military government taking charge of the country.

And that priority and that set and clear vision for where they want is actually quite impressive. And it really shows dedication to the values they have set forth from day one.

VAUSE: So what you're saying is that they're in it for the long haul and this ain't over yet by a long shot I guess.

ABUBAKR: Absolutely.

VAUSE: Mohamed, thank you.

ABUBAKR: Thank you.

VAUSE: Thanks for being here. Good to see you.

ABUBAKR: Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: Still to come here, when he announced his plans to retire, Pope Benedict promised to remain silent but now he's made his first public comment in six years (INAUDIBLE) on the clerical sexual abuse crisis.

[00:20:00] Also ahead, Venezuela is set to have the world's biggest oil reserves. So with so much oil, why are the country's shells all empty? Why is there nothing to eat and no toilet paper? CNN travels to Venezuela's oil region in search of answers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Former Pope Benedict XVI has made his first public comments, known to be taking a very different stand from the current Pope on the causes of the sexual abuse crisis within the Catholic Church. In an essay, he blames the scandal on teachings in the clergy, as well as the sexual revolution of the 1960s. That contradicts to Pope Francis' two-fold church culture which puts priests above ordinary Catholics.

Dellia Gallagher reports now from Rome.

DELLIA GALLAGHER, CORRESPONDENT: It's rare to hear from retired Pope Benedict XVI as one of the things that makes this essay interesting. The other is his take on the causes of the sexual abuse scandal which he says are linked to the sexual revolution of the 1960s which he blames for allowing pedophilia to be considered appropriate.

Those suicidal changes together with the loss of religious belief, the former Pope writes, also effected seminaries and church leaders who rejected traditional Catholic teaching on sexuality. He mentions homosexual clicks and pornography in seminaries.

CNN's Vatican analyst John Allen says the essay is already causing quite a stir.

JOHN ALLEN, SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Catholic social media is absolutely blowing up over this. Conservatives feel triumphal indicated. This is exactly what they have been waiting to hear. Liberals, on the other hand, find what Pope Benedict said divisive and embarrassing particularly because Benedict appears to propagate the idea of a link between clergy sex abuse and homosexuality which efficiently at least is something the church has been trying to walk away from.

GALLAGHER: Pope Benedict also outlines the conflict between the Vatican and U.S. church leaders over how to handle allegations of sexual abuse. And the pope who published this essay in a German Magazine for priests says he contacted Pope Francis before publishing. So it's an essay likely to cause even more debate about the sexual abuse crisis. Pope Benedict writes that he hopes it will help contribute to a new beginning.

Dellia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

VAUSE: Author and CNN commentator Father Edward Beck will join us next hour to discuss Benedict's essay which he says [00:25:00] has very faulty reasoning and then some.

Well, the U.S. would like to see Nicholas Maduro leave Venezuela's presidential palace. It's urging the United Nations to recognize Juan Guaido as the country's leader. And to make this happen, the USS hold an input, although (INAUDIBLE) main's source of revenue and that would be oil.

CNN traveled to Western Venezuela to visit the heart of oil country. Once a thriving region, its rigs are now in shambles.

CNN's David McKenzie spoke to some oil workers, brings us their stories.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CONTRIBUTOR: Venezuelan oil workers giving us a rare look inside their crumbling industry. They brought us to La Salina's oil fields. It's risky speaking out, they could be fired or detained by Venezuelan intelligence but they want the truth to get out.

Populism finished all of this, he says. Do you see this? Nothing works anymore. The government finished us completely. They say successive Venezuelan regimes use state oil company, PDVSA, as a slush fund for socialist programs and their own personal gain.

This entire coastline is just covered in oil sludge. The regime blames the collapse of the oil industry on the U.S. but it's been collapsing for years. Trump administration sanctions could make it worse.

The U.S. was PDVSA's biggest customer. In March, the U.S. bought zero barrels of oil. The first time since the 70s.

And the retired oil workers that helped build this company say they gave decades of their lives for almost nothing. Some say they're forced to eat dog food. They say their pensions worth around $5 a month, "It's outrageous, outrageous. Look at us," he says.

We don't have money for medication, for food. Soon, we'll have to bring our dead colleagues to this protest." "Normal? Well normal if you're living in this country," he says.

I want America to take out Maduro, to take him out of here. He says he's stealing from the people. He's taking food from us while they're taking for themselves.

Last week, loses ransacked this pharmacy looking for medicine. In nearby Maracaibo, a mob spent two days tearing the hotel apart, even ripped out the carpets. The true scale of Venezuela's crisis becomes clear when the sun sets. Business leaders say it's like "The walking dead." A zombie economy with 80 percent of businesses closed here and this energy-rich region, people are left to shelter in their homes in darkness.

David McKenzie, CNN, Maracaibo, Venezuela.

VAUSE: A lightning-fast visit to the White House by South Korea's president but will it be enough to jumpstart denuclearization between U.S. and North Korea. A live report in a moment.

Also, Israel came just so close to joining the exclusive club, landing a spacecraft on the moon that just didn't get there. We'll tell you what went wrong when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. I'm John Vause with an update of the top stories this hour.

[00:30:42] WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange taken into custody in London on Thursday. He resisted arrest and was carried out of the Ecuadoran embassy, where he spent the past seven years in self-imposed exile. A British judge found him guilty of violating bail. Assange now faces possible extradition to the United States on one count of conspiring to steal military secrets.

Protestors in Sudan are urging anti-government demonstrators to stay in the streets, even after the ouster of longtime dictator Omar al- Bashir. The military is now in control, and protestors want them to step aside and allow a new civilian government to take control.

The U.S. president has hinted he's open to a third summit with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, but it's now up to Kim. President Moon Jae-in of South Korea met with Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday to try and restart those stalled nuclear talks.

Earlier this week the North Koreans warned it would deal a telling blow to hostile forces who think sanctions can cripple the country. The U.S. president seems unmoved by that, saying he's happy to keep sanctions in place, because they're at a, quote, "fair level."

CNN's Paula Hancocks in Seoul, South Korea, watching all this for us.

I guess, Paula, if nothing else, this visit by Moon Jae-in shows that the North Korean leader, he's still on their radar. You know, it's still an important issue. They're still talking about it and may discourage him from taking other measures to seek attention, maybe like a nuclear test or a missile test.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, what they decided at this meeting as they were talking from the readouts we received afterwards was that both leaders believed that North Korea was not going to revert back to nuclear activity, that they did believe he was going to keep on this -- this economic path that he said that he wants. That they also agreed that the top-down approach, which is effectively the leaders meeting and trying to decide things amongst themselves, rather than the working-level talks, is the right way to go.

We did hear from the president, as well, of South Korea, through his people, that he is going to, once he gets back here to Seoul, try and have another summit with -- with Kim Jong-un.

And the reason for this is he's going to try and talk to the North Korean leader and then pave the way for a third U.S.-North Korean summit.

But there was an acknowledgment from President Trump that this is very much in Kim Jong-un's court. He is the one who can decide which direction this goes in now.

But there was a sign that the U.S. and South Korea were not completely on the same page. We've heard from the South Koreans that they just want the momentum to keep going. A small deal is not a bad deal in their eyes.

But President Trump once again saying he wants the big deal. He wants complete denuclearization and then others -- other things like lifting sanctions will follow. Although he did suggest there's a little bit of wiggle room there -- John.

VAUSE: There's always a little bit of wiggle room, it seems.

Paula, thank you. Good to see you. Paula Hancocks there, live in Seoul.

Well, as the saying goes, better to have tried and failed than never have tried at all. An Israeli spacecraft made it tantalizingly close to landing on the Moon, only to crash just as it was about to touchdown.

CNN's Oren Liebermann reports on what was a daring attempt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Moments before the Israeli spacecraft called Beresheet was supposed to land on the moon, the team in the control room in Israel lost communications with the craft.

At the same time, it was experiencing issues with its main engine. The $100 million privately-funded spacecraft was well into its landing sequence, traveling at more than 2,100 miles per hour, about 75 miles from its intended landing site, according to the telemetry data being fed in live, and the problems began and escalated quickly.

There was a moment of silence in the control room. Then one of those monitoring the landing sequence said, "There's a suspicion that we didn't land on the moon in the best fashion. We're trying to clarify the matter." Just a short time later, one of the team leaders said, "I'm sorry to say we didn't make it to the moon in one piece." Beresheet spacecraft had crashed.

Trying to put a positive spin on the accomplishment, the team leader said, "We made it all the way to the moon. We're the seventh country to make it all the way to the moon."

Had this been successful it would have made Israel the fourth country to ever soft land a spacecraft on the moon, essentially a controlled landing on the lunar surface. The three other countries? The U.S., the former Soviet Union and China, all world powers. Israel would have been, by far, the smallest country and the smallest program.

Some even joked that instead of calling the spacecraft Beresheet, which means, in Hebrew, the beginning of the Bible, "In the beginning," this should have been called Chutzpah, for Israel believing it had the gall to pull this one off.

[00:35:08] In the end, to keep the weight of the craft down, there were very few redundancies built in. And the landing was always going to be the most difficult part. And it was in that landing sequence that Beresheet crashed on the lunar surface.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, now to a successful space mission of another kind. SpaceX launched its first ever mission for a paying customer with its Falcon heavy rocket on Thursday. The U.S. company sent a communications satellite in orbit for a Saudi company.

What also made this mission unique: The Falcon's three powerful boosters returned safely to Earth, which makes them reusable, which makes them cheaper, lowering costs.

Extended stays in space can change the body in many ways, right down to the genetic level. A NASA study reached that conclusion after comparing American astronaut Scott Kelly -- he's on the right -- with his identical brother, Mark. He's on the right. No, just kidding.

Scott Kelly spent almost a year in space while his twin remained here on earth. Researchers say the study suggests human health can be mostly sustained for a year in space. Despite changes in weight, gut bacteria, cognitive abilities, astronaut Kelly's body returned to normal six months after making it back to Earth.

British lawmakers have a little bit of breathing room before another Brexit deadline, but for the rest of Britain, patience is done. How a dose of dry humor might just be keeping the public sane. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Well, the world's largest general election still underway in India. Nearly 900 million eligible voters are casting their ballots. The main contenders are the BJP, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the Indian National Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi.

Nikhil Kumar has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIKHIL KUMAR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Voting began Thursday in India's marathon general election, but this is just the beginning. It's a weeks' long process, seven phases in all. And it all has to do with the size of this exercise. It's colossal.

There's about 900 million people eligible to vote in these elections. They're going to be voting at about a million voting stations that are all over this country. And about 10 million officials are involved in overseeing the whole exercise.

We won't know the results until May when all of it comes to an end and results are declared on the 23rd. This election will decide whether or not Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who came to power in 2014 in a landslide, whether or not he gets a second term.

Until last year it looked like this was going to be a cakewalk for him. But there have been questions about his record on the promises he made on things like the economy. And he's facing a challenge from the opposition, including the principal opposition, Congress by Rahul Gandhi.

What will happen? A lot hinges on where I am, Utter Pradesh state, the most consequential state in this entire contest. Its voters like these who will decide who gets to run India when we know the result in May.

Nikhil Kumar, CNN, Utter Pradesh in India.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, Brexit has been delayed. Lawmakers have a few extra months to hold nonbinding aspirational votes that don't mean anything. And this three-year-long process continues to drag on and on and on.

[00:40:07] And the only bright spot, it seems, to all of this has been that gallows humor of the British public, the stiff upper lip as they keep trying to push ahead. Nick Glass takes a look at how humorists and artists are turning the country's tragic comedy into masterpieces.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK GLASS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We are all familiar now with the "B"-word. Just animate the cartoons, and here's a movie franchise.

Theresa May, crash test pilot. Also from "The Guardian," May, plucked duck.

From "The New Yorker," a walk-on part. Big Ben as cuckoo clock.

So what are they all looking at here? Why all the mobile phones? Well, a simple reason: a big painting by the street artist Banksy is back on show in Bristol. His version of the House of Commons.

(MONKEY NOISES)

GLASS: The image has been widely disseminated on Facebook.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so topical, I think.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very, very apt. Very apt.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wondering if that is actually based on an actual photo from -- from Parliament. You can imagine that people probably are, like, yawning and picking their noses. And there's a load of them all screaming over there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think they're all monkeys. I think Parliament are doing a good job of not passing a mess and not making a big mistake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The way they're behaving recently, I don't think he's gone far enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The country's divided now around the political situation. It's a kind of God help us all. You've got to laugh. There's nothing left to do.

GLASS: The artist John Springs has worked obsessively on this huge Brexit canvas for almost two years. Jean-Claude Juncker driving an apparent gravy train in a hellish vision partly inspired by Hieronymus Bosch.

JOHN SPRINGS, ARTIST: You can't put their heads on spikes anymore, so this is all you can do.

Through humor, it has a rather comforting effect, and it's what brings people back together, whether Remainders or Brexiteers.

GLASS: A more sobering response to Brexit from another British artist, Anish Kapoor, a relief map of the kingdom violently ripped apart and in urgent need of surgery. The work is called "Brexit, Broxit, We All Fall Down."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brexit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brexit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brexit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brexit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brexit.

GLASS: The fact is there's simply no escaping the "B"-word, used teasingly to promote a book makers --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brexit, it's like (UNINTELLIGIBLE). He's the only one who doesn't sink to complete disaster. It's why you, my dear British champs, must hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

GLASS: And for a television newspaper ad, the Commons turned into an open-plan zoo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I could talk to the animals, learn their language, maybe take an animal degree.

GLASS: An Edvard Munch exhibition has just opened at the British Museum with an original lithograph of "The Scream." "The London Evening Standard" cartoonist just couldn't resist it.

The museum was so impressed it acquired his Theresa May version for its collection.

The truth is, we all need cheering up at this Brexatious time. Being British, that means ever darker art, wit, and satire.

Nick Glass, CNN, in London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. WORLD SPORT is up next. You're watching CNN, the world's news leader.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

[01:00:00]

END

Colorectal cancer remains a major source of cancer incidence and death in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2019, there will be 145,600 new cases of the disease and 51,020 deaths across the United States, making it the fourth most diagnosed form of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer mortality.

This means that every hour, 17 families in the nation will learn that one of their members has colorectal cancer, or cancer of the large intestine or rectum, and that six families will lose one of their members to the disease. Despite these sobering numbers, there is good news.

Overall incidence and mortality rates for colorectal cancer have been on the decline since the mid-1980s, primarily as a consequence of increased engagement in preventive screening, more effective diagnosis and treatment, and greater awareness of risk factors (such as family history, obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, heavy alcohol use, and diets rich in red and processed meats) and symptoms (chronic diarrhea or constipation, narrowing of the stool, rectal bleeding, blood in the stool, cramping or abdominal pain, and chronic weakness and fatigue).

Unfortunately, such is not the case for young people. Colorectal cancer incidences and deaths have been increasing in the past 30 years in people under 50. As a scientist conducting basic research on colorectal cancer, I have been generally aware that this was occurring. But two recent events impassioned me about the issue.

First, in 2017, Rebecca Siegel and colleagues published detailed and compelling statistical data clearly showing that while the disease in younger people remains a relatively small fraction of the total, it is rising at an alarming rate.

This is in striking contrast to the situation for older people, in whom colorectal cancer is decreasing. These findings brought the young adult issue into focus and raised public awareness of its existence.

Second, at about the same time, I attended a conference where I met a number of young people, including several in their 20s and 30s, who had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer and were in the middle of fighting it. I also met parents who lost young adult children to the disease. The emotions displayed by these people were particularly acute, representing the intersection of anger, resentment, embarrassment, hopelessness and fear. I came away from that meeting committed to gaining an understanding of the increase in colorectal cancer among young adults — and doing something about it.

With screening, precancerous growths called polyps and early-stage cancers can be readily detected and actually removed before they advance to dangerous, life-threatening stages. Thus, screening has become an indispensable strategy for the early-detection and prevention of colorectal cancer. Any of a number of methods for colorectal cancer screening are now available, including colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, imaging and several stool-based tests.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that, for the general population, screening should begin at age 50, based on the knowledge that about 90 percent of cases occurs in those 50 and older. It is this population that is experiencing the decrease in colorectal cancer incidence and death that is currently being observed.

But screening is not typically recommended for those under 50. This — along with a general lack of awareness about colorectal cancer and its symptoms among young people, their families and their primary care providers — results in prolonged times for symptomatic patients to obtain a firm diagnosis. Late diagnoses often result in more advanced stages of the disease, when it is harder to treat.

To address this, the American Cancer Society recently recommended lowering the screening age to 45 to catch a good percentage of the younger people who may be at risk for disease. Though this recommendation is based upon detailed analysis of the efficacy and costs of colorectal cancer screening, health-related professional organizations such as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have yet to adopt them.

What is causing colorectal cancer to increase in young adults? We do not know for certain, but a great deal of ongoing research is aimed at answering this important question. Several studies have indicated that the disease in young people is different in pathology, genetics and response to treatment from that in older people. Lifestyle trends, such as being overweight and obesity, lack of physical activity and changing diets, have been suggested to play roles.

Indeed, a recent study shows that obesity is associated with increased risk of early-onset colorectal cancer in women.

While these trends may be involved, many physicians have told me anecdotally that many of their young colorectal cancer patients appear thin, fit and active, suggesting that something else may be going on.

What could that something else be?

There is persuasive evidence that features of early life contribute to risks for a number of adverse health effects that occur in later childhood, teen ages and even in young adults. This include such things as: whether a baby was born via Caesarean section or vaginally; diet and nutrition; antibiotic use; whether a baby was nursed or fed formula; contact with microbes; and stress.

The health effects of these various factors have been linked to obesity, immune disorders, allergies, asthma and diabetes, among others. The billions of microbes that live on and within our bodies, collectively termed the microbiota, undergo many changes during the period between birth and ages 3 to 4, and are highly susceptible to perturbation by the kinds of exposures listed above.

It is possible, therefore, that microbes may be key in linking early life exposures to later life health. Our research group is examining the possibility that increasing colorectal cancer incidences in young adults may be a consequence of environmental exposures that occur at very young ages, during the first few years after birth. For example, we have recently shown that in mice, antibiotic treatment causes depletion of the microbiota, along with an increase in development of precancerous tumors.

Sorting out the causes of young-adult colorectal cancer — and understanding the nature of the disease more thoroughly — will take time. While this research is going on, it is critical that young people, their families and their primary care providers become aware of, and pay attention to, family histories, lifestyles and symptoms, so the possible occurrence of colorectal cancer is recognized early and dealt with in a timely manner.

Colorectal cancer is a difficult and emotional disease at any age. This is especially so in young adults. Awareness of signs and symptoms, along with engagement in screening as appropriate, will lead to the eventual eradication of the disease as a major form of cancer.

health-science@washpost.com

Berger is research and outreach director at the University of South Carolina. This report was originally published on theconversation.com.

Research suggests surgical delivery may make babies more prone to respiratory infections

Babies delivered by caesarean section are slower to acquire certain types of “good bacteria” in their gut and have higher levels of potentially problematic bacteria than those born vaginally, researchers say.

A study of more than 100 babies showed that those born vaginally had a very different make-up of their gut microbiome (clusters of gut microbes), potentially making caesarean babies more prone to respiratory infections. The differences were found to reduce as the babies grew older.

Previous studies have suggested that the mode of delivery affects the newborn’s microbiome, but some said this might be because many mothers who have had caesarean sections require antibiotics.

The new research, which will be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Amsterdam, backs up claims that it is specifically the mode of delivery that drives the differences.

The research involved the team collecting faeces at 10 points in the year from 46 babies born by caesarean section and 74 babies born vaginally, starting from their first faeces, and analysing its microbial makeup.

Crucially, the team says that antibiotics, if needed, were only given to mothers once the baby was delivered – meaning babies were not directly exposed to the antibiotics.

The results, based on analysis of stool both from the mothers and the babies, also showed that babies born by caesarean section were slower to acquire certain “good bacteria” that are important in digesting milk, and had higher levels of certain types of potentially harmful bacteria than those born vaginally.

“We feel that it is proved that mode of delivery is an important driver or modifier of the gut microbiome in young infants,” said Prof Debby Bogaert from the University of Edinburgh, who worked on the project with colleagues in the Netherlands.

She added that the conclusion was backed up by findings that antibiotics given to mothers after delivery did not appear to affect their own gut microbiome, and that differences in babies’ microbiomes were also seen in babies that were only bottle-fed, suggesting the effects were not down to babies receiving antibiotics through breast milk.

The team adds that babies with higher levels of the potentially harmful bacteria tended to have more respiratory infections within their first year.

That, said Bogaert, might help to explain why some studies suggest babies born by caesarean section have a greater risk of respiratory infections.

A second study to be presented at the conference looked at whether the microbes found in babies’ guts were linked to their chance of becoming overweight as they grew up.

The team of researchers from Finland collected faeces from 212 newborn babies, including the first stool passed after birth, which is thought to form when the baby is in the womb. The results show that the makeup of the microbiome within a baby’s first stool is linked to whether the child is overweight at three years of age.

Katja Korpela, one of the researchers involved in the study from the University of Oulu, said there could be many factors affecting the microbial makeup of a baby’s first stool, including the mother’s use of antibiotics during pregnancy and the living environment of the pregnant mother.

However, it is unclear whether the observed link is one of cause and effect, or whether the mode of delivery influences the results.

“The concept of foetal microbiome is very controversial and the colonisation process after birth is better understood than the colonisation process before birth,” said Korpela. But, she said, it was interesting that the microbiome formed before the birth was possibly linked to children’s later health.

Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London and an expert on the human microbiome, said the studies extended what had previously been suspected about the importance of gut microbes early in life.

“One study has confirmed large cross-sectional studies about C-section causing immune problems later in life with an increased risk of infections and the other showing that the very first microbes of a baby, which often come from the mum, increase the risk of obesity,” he said. “We need to take gut health more seriously when dealing with babies if we are to improve their health later in life.”

Coalition promises $42m on mental health initiatives for young and Indigenous Australians

The Coalition has pledged a further $42m on mental health initiatives for young and Indigenous Australians, on top of $461m in the budget for mental health and suicide prevention.

Of the new funding, $22.5m will be spent on research grants to help find better treatments for mental health problems and $19.6m on the Indigenous advancement strategy to prevent suicide, particularly in the Kimberley.

In the first three months of this year, there were at least 35 suicides among Indigenous people[https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/22/indigenous-suicide-35-dead-in-three-months-including-three-12-year-old-children], three of whom were only 12 years old.

The findings of an inquest into 13 suicides among young Aboriginal people in the Kimberley, handed down in February[https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/07/intergenerational-trauma-and-poverty-behind-spate-of-young-indigenous-suicides], found that crushing intergenerational trauma and poverty, including from the harmful effect of colonisation and loss of culture, were to blame.

The Morrison government has made “securing essential services” central to its re-election pitch, using its projection of a surplus in 2019-20 and perceived strength of economic management to pre-empt Labor attacks that it is not spending enough on health and other social causes.

Labor is promising to not only build bigger budget surpluses but also outspend the Coalition in health, beginning with its $2.3bn cancer package that it announced in the budget reply.

On Saturday, the opposition will add a further $8.6m to work with Cancer Council Australia to relaunch a sun protection awareness campaign.

In a joint statement, Bill Shorten and the shadow health minister, Catherine King, said Australia was the world’s skin cancer capital.

“At least two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by age 70, and more than 2,200 people die from the disease each year,” they said. “We need to keep getting the message out – there’s no such thing as a healthy tan.”

Related: Gut bacteria may have impact on mental health, study says[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/feb/04/gut-bacteria-mental-health-depression-study]

The research component of the Coalition’s mental health package has been allocated to a series of grants, including about emergency department management of acute mental health crises and culturally appropriate mental healthcare for Indigenous Australians.

In a statement, Scott Morrison said he would do “whatever it takes and whatever we can to break the curse of youth suicide in our country and ensure young people get the support they need”.

The Indigenous health minister, Ken Wyatt, said young Indigenous people “face many barriers to accessing healthcare” including finding services “that are safe and tailored to meet their needs”.

“This work will help change the way we deliver general mental health services so they draw on the value of culture, community and country to enrich the care provided to our First Nations people.”

Fed up Fay Harrison, from Colchester in Essex, wants other people to realise the daily battle she faces

Fay Harrison is in agonising pain almost every day - but no one would ever know.

The18-year-old[https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/teenagers]suffers from regular flare ups ofIrritable Bowel Syndrome[https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/how-banish-misery-irritable-bowel-7689088], which means she can't go out with friends or even make it to college.

Sick of suffering in silence Fay decided to 'paint her pain' onto her abdomen so it would no longer be an 'invisible illness'.

And after her latest flare up Fay, who has suffered wth IBS for he last 12 months, she decided to distract herself from the pain by recreating it in eyeshadow and lipstick on her stomach to show what it feels like.

The part-time waitress spent an hour working with light and dark pink-hued pigments of her makeup to 'show' what her pain felt like to others who had never experienced it.

The 10 simple simple ways you can boost gut health[https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/how-boost-your-gut-health-13984554]

Using darker tones for the more inflamed areas around her belly button, photos show the whole of Fay's abdomen tinged pink and looking tender.

The teenager then posed with her hands holding her stomach and posted four photos of her art online to raise awareness of the invisible illness.

In the post, Fay wrote: "To anyone who struggles with IBS or any other digestive/stomach related disorder, maybe even chronic pain - this is for you.

"Today my IBS started to flare up and instead of sitting in bed, crying because of the pain, I decided to visualise my pain on my stomach with makeup.

"With health issues like this, people can't always fully understand the chronic pain that comes with it. This is because it is an invisible illness.

"Hopefully these photos will make people aware that a flare-up isn't just a minor 'tummy ache'.

"It's a massive burning sensation, it's a sharp, excruciating pain that lingers.

"It'sheartburn[https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/how-get-rid-heartburn-reflux-12583171]. It's stomach cramps. It's a pain so severe that any small movement is difficult."

The post went viral with more than 5,600 likes, comments and shares.

Fay said: "I basically had a bit of a flare-up that day. Normally whenever I get a flare up I just end up sitting in bed because it's so painful it just hurts to move.

"Instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself, I thought I would just try and visualise it so that other people could understand how painful it is.

"Flare-ups are so difficult to describe. I get heartburn with it. They're basically like stomach cramps where it feels like you're constantly being punched.

"Sometimes it will feel like a stabbing pain in places. It feels like a burning pain. It's across the whole of my abdomen. It's mainly in the centre of my stomach.

"It took me about an hour [to draw]. I just used eyeshadow and lipstick. It did distract me from the pain because obviously I was focussing on something else.

"I had darkened the bits that were hurting me the most. Going over that was quite painful because it was tender but it did take the thought away from the pain.

"If I hadn't been doing that I would have just been sitting around."

Fay was initially diagnosed with gastritis, or inflammation of the stomach lining, around a year ago but struggled when medication failed to help her.

She was later diagnosed with IBS after doctors noticed the pain got worse depending on how stressed she was.

Fay now says she suffers symptoms nearly every week - but still can't pinpoint what causes them.

Fay said: "IBS is common, so it makes me feel like it's not as bad in a sense. At the beginning I got flare ups quite often.

"I had to stop going to college for a few weeks. Even just simple tasks such as emptying the dishwasher, I really struggled with that.

"Nowadays I don't get them as often but when I do they're still really painful. I had a flare up on Monday and I'm feeling a lot better now, but still a bit tender.

"Whenever I get a flare up, it's really difficult toeat healthily[https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/food]. Anything seems to [make me] hurt. I had a sandwich meal deal with fruit in it and I just couldn't eat that.

"It's upsetting seeing everyone [my age] be able to go and get a McDonald's or whatever for their lunch and I just can't.

"I just try and make my food as bland as possible and avoid all the spicy food. I know that's definitely a trigger for me.

"I think with most people they are able to identify what foods hurt them but for me it's quite random."

Fay now cooks for herself to avoid accidentally eating something that would trigger a flare up and rarely drinks alcohol.

Her mum, Teresa Dent, 49, says Fay finds it hard to not take part in activities like any other normal 18-year-old.

Teresa, who works in admin, said: "If I could just take the IBS and have it myself, if I could take it and Fay could live her life much more freely, I would do that for her.

"It's not a very nice thing to watch, especially for a young person. I just don't think a lot of people understand and see it as a bit of a sick note, but it isn't. She copes well.

"She's really strong, but it does get her down and it's really sad to see her when she's low. I keep an extra special eye on Fay because she needs it more [than my other children].

"It's completely unfair for a youngster, or anyone of any age, but of someone that age especially.

"There isn't a week goes by that she doesn't have symptoms and more often than not they are symptoms which really bring her down.

Sam Smalling reveals she has IBS

"I'm glad that visualisation has helped people. The main response has been really positive and thanking her for visualising it. She's done a good job on it."

The photos received a lot of positive feedback from other people, including many other IBS sufferers.

One person said: "I've just seen this on a friend's profile and I'm so glad you have done this.

"I also suffer from an invisible illness (U/C) and I am currently sat here with hot water bottles to try and alleviate the pain so know just how your feeling… sending hugs xxx."

One person commented: "This is accurate! IBS can be so painful."

Another added: "Totally agree worst pain I've ever had."

Read more inspiring features

[02:00:00] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: A dramatic moment seven years in the making. Julian Assange is arrested at the Ecuadorian Embassy. He now faces extradition to the United States.

A dictator is toppled after three decades of rule. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir arrested and forced from power in a military coup. We will have a live report about that.

Also this hour, the U.S. and South Korean presidents hold talks at the White House, and those talks about the possibility of a third Trump- Kim summit. We will get into that as well with a live report for you.

Hello, welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. We appreciate you watching. I'm Natalie Allen. This is "CNN Newsroom."

Thanks again for joining us. Our top story, one of the big unanswered questions over the past few years has been, when will Julian Assange be arrested, and for what? The answer came Thursday when the bearded founder of WikiLeaks was hauled out of his self-imposed exile where he had been hiding in plain asylum protected site. His stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy is costing that government more than $6 million.

And when he appeared in court, the judge called Assange a narcissist, who cannot get beyond his own selfish interest. He was found guilty of breaking his bail conditions and faces up to a year in jail. But Assange also faces extradition to the U.S. on one count of conspiring to steal military secrets and possibly other charges down the road.

Our Isa Soares is in London, live for us. Good morning to you, Isa. It's really amazing how this ended after seven years there in the embassy where you are. Julian Assange is out and behind bars. Talk more about how this unfolded.

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Natalie. Very much a dramatic turn of events for Julian Assange after more than 2,487 days inside a very tiny (INAUDIBLE) inside the embassy behind me of Ecuador, seven years in total. All this unfolded in a dramatic fashion, as you pointed out, Natalie, in the early hours of Thursday morning, yesterday morning around 9:15 local. Arresting officers arrived here behind me and that's when they met the head of the embassy, the ambassador. At 10:00 a.m. local, he was revoked. His status was revoked inside the embassy. And then the officers tried to introduce themselves to him after taking his asylum, trying to introduce themselves, and he barged passed them into his private room.

It was then that he was told what he was being arrested with. One is skipping bail back in 2012, the other on the charge that you mentioned, that U.S. extradition charge. He refused. He had to be really put -- reprimanded in many ways.

And he was that image that everyone recognizes, of course, as him just coming down the stairs, on the steps just behind me here, and then that's when we see him being dragged out by police, looking rather old. Of course, he has clearly aged after seven years, a long beard, looking rather (INAUDIBLE) as well, and being dragged into the van.

After that, around 2:00 local, he then appeared -- 2:15, I should add -- he appeared at a magistrates court where he was charged for skipping bail, can get as much as 12 months. And now we are waiting for the extradition hearing which is now taking place on the 2nd of May, Natalie, from now until then, the next three weeks. He will have to pay via video link to the court to be seen (ph).

So, he's really now, Natalie, waiting his fate. But his lawyers speaking to CNN said they will fight every aspect of this extradition. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTINN HRAFNSSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, WIKILEAKS: Illegally of course the extradition will be fought in the courts here. That's with every means possible. It will be exposed that this is a politically motivated prosecution and therefore a persecution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: The lawyer went on to say that this sets a dangerous precedent to journalists and journalism right around the world, Natalie.

ALLEN: Right. Many people see him as a hero. Many people see him as a villain. It depends on who you ask and certainly WikiLeaks new territory that he started with that campaign.

[02:04:59] Isa Soares for us outside the embassy there, thank you so much.

Ecuador's foreign minister says that Assange's physical and mental health were seriously declining after living almost seven years in that building. And when you consider his living quarters, that may not be surprising. His room measures just 18 square meters. It was packed with a desk, a dresser, a meeting table, a treadmill, a bookcase, and a mattress. The foreign minister says Assange also rode scooters and played soccer inside the embassy and blasted loudspeakers well after midnight. He says Assange also tried to block security cameras and used an unauthorized cell phone.

And all of it was costing Ecuador a small fortune. The foreign minister says it costs more than $6 million dollars to house Assange all these years. Most of that went towards security expenses, some $5.8 million there. And Ecuador reportedly spent roughly $400,000 dollars on Assange's food, medical, laundry and legal expenses. It seems in many ways, for Ecuador, sheltering Assange became too high a price to pay.

And sometimes the story is just right themselves, especially when it comes to President Trump over this story and his changing stories on the subject, for instance, WikiLeaks and the arrest of Julian Assange. Here's Mr. Trump before his election as president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: WikiLeaks! I love WikiLeaks.

This WikiLeaks stuff is unbelievable. It tells you the inner heart. You got to read it.

It's been amazing what's coming out on WikiLeaks.

This WikiLeaks is fascinating.

This WikiLeaks is like a treasure trove.

Getting off the plane, they were just announcing new WikiLeaks, and I wanted to stay there but I didn't want to keep you waiting.

Well, I love reading those WikiLeaks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Well, here is this from Thursday, just after Assange's arrest from the U.S. president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Mr. President, do you still love WikiLeaks?

TRUMP: I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It's not my thing. I know there is something having to do with Julian Assange. I've been seeing what happened with Assange. That will be a determination, I would imagine, mostly by the attorney general, who is doing an excellent job. So, he'll be making a determination. I know nothing really about it. It's not my deal in life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Joining me now to talk about this is CNN legal analyst Jennifer Rodgers. Jennifer, thanks for being with us, good to see you.

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good to see you.

ALLEN: Let's begin with the Ecuador embassy where Julian Assange was safely (INAUDIBLE) for some seven years. Why suddenly release him?

RODGERS: Well, it sounds like it has to do with his relationship with the Ecuadorians, and we know that Ecuador had a government change recently. It seems like they just weren't getting along and so it had really nothing to do with the Americans or the Brits.

It sounds like it was just a decision by the Ecuadorian government to eject him essentially from the embassy and that then allowed the Brits to pick him up on an outstanding warrant that they had for a bail jumping essentially.

ALLEN: As we see him being taken away, he certainly didn't go lightly. No one probably expected that for Julian Assange. Can you reflect a little bit on what he has been through and what he is facing now?

RODGERS: Well, you know, I don't really know what he's been through although I think we can all imagine how it would be to stay inside a building for seven years like he did. He did that of course to avoid being criminally charged or facing criminal charges.

What he's facing now is essentially two things, potentially three things. One, of course, is the British charge of not going to a judicial proceeding which is a small matter that I think probably they won't really try to proceed with in the face of the U.S. charges.

United States charges of conspiring to hack into a computer with classified information on it. And then potentially a third thing -- really four things, I guess, third thing being the Swedish charges that have been brought against him and were dropped for rape. It is unclear whether that will resurface. They apparently are thinking about whether to re-file those charges.

And then the U.S. is reportedly considering additional charges against Assange and those may be related to the 2016 release of information by WikiLeaks in connection with the hacking of the DNC and John Podesta's e-mails.

ALLEN: Right. That was a really big deal and the question is will this uncover what we don't know about what may or may not happen there?

RODGERS: Yeah, that's really kind of what a lot of folks here are looking out for.

[02:10:02] If he is charged with releasing that information or conspiring with Russian intelligence assets to hack those e-mails for their ultimate release, that will be very interesting to see what information surfaces in connection with that. We have one of President Trump's close associates, Roger Stone, currently charged here in his role with respect to that information. So, we are all kind of waiting for additional facts on that. If Assange is charged with that and once he appears here to face those charges, we may learn more details about that, that whole incident.

ALLEN: Let's talk about the other big issue when it relates to Julian Assange, Jennifer, and that is the case of free speech. It's also always been about spree speech. One of his lawyers suggested in a statement the indictment could chill press freedoms and journalists should be deeply troubled by the unprecedented charges.

And that was an issue also at the U.S. Justice Department which debated whether prosecuting Assange would indeed encroach on First Amendment protection. So, will that debate be a part of the case?

RODGERS: I think it inevitably will be a part of the case. But they were very careful in the way that they charged him here. They have not charged him with disseminating information that is classified. That would be your kind of classic free speech defense, right? All I've done is publicize information that is classified. That's not what they've charged him with. They've charged him with conspired to hack into computers.

So that is an offense. It really has nothing to do with whether someone is a journalist or any other sort of person with a First Amendment claim. I think they obviously did that purposely. They didn't want to charge him with something that he would have a legitimate First Amendment claim to. So, that was done on purpose.

There are still people saying that it could chill journalist but, you know, really the truth is journalists, of course, should not be involved in conspiracies to hack computers and to steal classified information. If you steer clear of those things, you should steer clear of criminal liability.

ALLEN: Right. By doing that, like you say, by design, does that mean as we see this case move forward that there is still a big question about how do entities like WikiLeaks operate, and whether it's legal for these type of entities (ph) to operate and do what they do, which is expose certain government secrets?

RODGERS: I think it is risky to do that. I mean, there's no question that folks were talking about whether WikiLeaks or Julian Assange would be charged for just the dissemination of classified information or dissemination of hacked information. But that hasn't happened yet. And I think if he is charged for the 2016, WikiLeaks releases, it will also be not just for the dissemination but as a conspiracy with Russian intelligence to hack the information in the first place.

So, yes, if I were a journalist and I were in the business of releasing classified information, I would continue to be worried, but they haven't taken a step here to make me more worried than I would have been yesterday or the day before.

ALLEN: Final question for you, how big of a deal is this case? Finally, the United States looks like they've got Julian Assange and they are going to bring him before them, he's been indicted, and they are going to get him. How big is this?

RODGERS: Well, I think it depends, you know. He's just one person, so it's not that big of a deal as far as the scheme of things, when you look at the Justice Department in the cases they bring. I do think it could be a big deal if it allows us to learn more about what happened in 2016.

Certainly the Russian interference in our election is still a topic that is of great importance to the United States in terms of national security and the more we learn about their efforts, the better. So in that sense, I think it could be a big deal. And I hope that we do learn more through this case and through other means to make sure that that doesn't continue to happen.

ALLEN: We appreciate your insights, Jennifer Rogers for us. Thank you, Jennifer.

RODGERS: Thank you.

ALLEN: We'll have more discussions about this in our next hour. I will interview an expert from Australia on international law. Of course, Julian Assange is an Australian citizen.

Our next story reverts to Sudan which is facing an uncertain future now after its long-term dictator, Omar al-Bashir, was ousted in coup and a military council took over. For months, nationwide protests had demanded he stepped down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN (voice-over): And activists now say they won't rest until the military hands over power to a civilian government. They plan to keep the demonstrations going until that happens. CNN's Farai Sevenzo is following this for us.

[02:15:00] He is in Nairobi, Kenya for us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Hello to you, Farai. The president is out in Sudan after 30 years. The question, who might take his place? Will the political system change in the citizens' favor?

FARAI SEVENZO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, absolutely not, Natalie. This morning, a day after, a man who had ruled Sudan was thrown away after 30 years in power. The military is still in charge. We are hearing reports that defense minister, who is also vice president, Mr. Ahmed Awad lbn Auf, has been sworn in as the man in charge of the Military Transitional Council, which will take charge for about two years.

We also know that there is going to be several months of -- three months, I believe, of state of emergency. For another month, between the hours of 10:00 to 4:00 a.m., there will be a curfew in the city of Khartoum. Now, of course, the Sudanese people are very unhappy about this, especially people who organized these protests that have been going on since December 2018, remember, Natalie. They're saying this is not what the people have been coming out on the streets for. They want a move to civilian transition.

At the moment, things are very tense, indeed. Then you put on top of all of that mixture, the idea that this new man in charge of the Military Transitional Council is under United States sanctions for his part in the atrocities and therefore -- and then of course, we know that Mr. Omar al-Bashir himself is wanted by the international criminal court.

So there are a lot of people within that military Kabul (ph) that ran this country for over 30 years, that the people of Sudan said they do not trust, Natalie.

ALLEN: And as you mentioned, the young people that are out on the streets, they are reportedly going to defy a curfew and stay out on the streets. This has been a peaceful protest, but is there concern as this drags on for their safety?

SEVENZO: Absolutely. The issue of youth, this is very important, as you pointed out, Natalie. Remember, many of these people that are going out, this new generation, are under 30. All the universities are close. They are very young people who are defying this. I mean, the other day, we saw horrific images of gunfire everywhere, but they still stay despite the gunfire.

And when the military, some of the soldiers went on their side, they still stayed. So there's a great deal of concern about safety, Natalie. Consider this: If there's going to be a curfew for the next month and the new military authorities wiped (ph) these people off the streets, and the people refused to leave, we are heading of course to an obvious confrontation. Let's see how the day turns out.

ALLEN: And we thank. We will stay in close contact with you as we follow the story, Farai Sevenzo for us. Thank you, Farai.

We are also following an attack that has occurred in Pakistan. Police tell CNN a bomb blast at a fruit market in Quetta has killed 16 people, wounded more than two dozen others. So far, no immediate claim of responsibility. One government official said in a statement, "We will not bow before terrorists."

The White House came out with the plan to send crowds of detained migrants to certain American cities. Just let them go. Well, why the U.S. president thought that would be a message and a punishment for his political rivals. We will delve into that coming up here.

Also, an Israeli spacecraft almost makes it safely to the moon. Then the worst happened. We will explain.

[02:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." A source tells CNN that U.S. President Donald Trump personally pushed a plan to release detained immigrants into so-called American sanctuary cities. The White House proposed the idea to the Department of Homeland Security as a way to retaliate against Democrats who opposed his border wall. But Homeland Security lawyers stopped that plan, saying it would likely be illegal.

Let's get more details on this with senior U.S. justice correspondent Evan Perez, joining us now. Evan, what are you hearing about this plan?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, this is a plan that was considered inside the Homeland Security Department. It came from the White House. At one point, even President Trump raised it was pushing for the secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, to carry it out.

The idea was to alleviate some of the pressure on a very full facility that had a lot of people in it by essentially bashing immigrants to what are known as "sanctuary cities," the cities in the United States that do not cooperate in turning over illegal immigrants to the Homeland Security Department to immigration authorities.

And so the idea was to punish some of these cities which are largely democratic-leaning. They are not supporters of Donald Trump. The idea was to politically punish those places, including members of Congress who don't support President Trump's border wall by essentially flooding them with these immigrants, releasing them in those cities.

Obviously, that is something that is not only politically unpalatable to the Homeland Security Department, but also the lawyers there thought that it would be likely illegal for them to do that, to carry it out. They said this is something that has angered members of Congress, especially Democrats who feel that essentially immigrants and children were going to be used as pawns as part of a political retribution against the president's opponents and the president's critics on his immigration policy.

ALLEN: Right. And to that, we had a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi whose district is in a sanctuary city saying, "Using human beings including little children as pawns in their warped game to perpetuate fear and demonize immigrants is despicable." So we know this isn't going to happen, but is this related somewhat to the White House pushing out the head of Homeland Security?

PEREZ (via telephone): It's definitely one of the things that was adding to the dissatisfaction by the president as well as his senior adviser, Stephen Miller, who was behind a lot of these very hardline policies. The president looks at these policies as a key to his reelection. The idea of a crackdown on immigration is something that is popular with a small segment of the American electorate, and so he believes that this is the way for him to be re-elected. And so that's what's driving a lot of these policies and these ideas.

Kirstjen Nielsen obviously was in a very tough position because even though she went along with some of the policies including the separation of families, there were things that the Homeland Security Department felt were too far for them to go along with.

[02:25:05] And so that led to a lot of the president's dissatisfaction with her and why there had been a purge of some of the officials at the Homeland Security Apartment. Bear in mind that some of the lawyers including the general counsel of the Homeland Security Department who refused to go along with this plan of bashing immigrants to the sanctuary cities are among the people who Stephen Miller and the White House officials are still trying to get fired from the Homeland Security Department.

ALLEN: We know that the White House is rebuilding Homeland Security, so it will be interesting to see what policies they look to try and push through with a new team. Evan Perez, talking with us about this developing story. Thanks very much, Evan.

PEREZ (via telephone): Thank you.

ALLEN: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence says the Trump administration will not bring back the policy of separating migrant families at the border. Pence spent the day touring the border in Arizona and stressed that America needs to fix its broken immigration system.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is no question that the people are suffering on both sides of the border. I just finished walking through the detention center, and every American has a heavy heart. The fact that we have loopholes in our laws today, the human traffickers and drug cartels are using to entice vulnerable families to make the long and dangerous journey from Central America to come in to our country illegally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Customs and Border Protection says 92,000 undocumented migrants were arrested along the southern border in March alone. That's one month. And that's up 37,000 from last year.

When we come back, Julian Assange, the Russia connection, just how did he get those Democratic e-mails and there's something curious about this.

Also, the U.S. and South Korea are talking about the possibility of talking again with North Korea, but Mr. Trump says it all depends on the North's unpredictable leader. That story ahead in a live report. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Welcome back. You're watching "CNN Newsroom." I'm Natalie Allen. Let's update you on our top news this hour. Protesters in Sudan are urging anti-government demonstrators to stay in the streets even after the ouster of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir. The military is now in control of the country.

[02:30:00] ALLEN: Protesters want them to step aside for a new civilian government.

CNN has learned the White House of U.S. President Trump pushed the Department of Homeland Security to implement a plan that would send detained immigrants to so-called sanctuary cities across the country. It was intended in part to retaliate against Democrats who oppose Mr. Trump's border wall. But Homeland Security lawyer said the plan would likely be illegal.

WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, taken into custody in London, Thursday. He resisted arrest and was carried out of the Ecuadorian embassy where he has spent the past seven years in self-imposed exile.

A British judge found him guilty of violating his bail. Assange now faces possible extradition to the United States on one count of conspiring to steal military secrets.

But Assange could very well face other charges in the United States, in particular for his role and posting hacked democratic e-mails during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. And, of course, how he got those e-mails. That is where Russia comes in.

For more about that, here's Matthew Chance for us in Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the posting of this classified footage of a deadly American airstrike killing Iraqi journalists in 2007 that earned WikiLeaks and Julian Assange of with the United States.

The U.S. have tried to keep the incident under wraps, calling it a tragic accident. Only after it was posted online for all to see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not detected.

CHANCE: Later, embarrassing damps of classified U.S. diplomatic cables and secret files on Guantanamo Bay, have now left the WikiLeaks founder facing U.S. criminal charges, and request to the United Kingdom his extradition.

But there are other U.S. suspicions too.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing.

CHANCE: Of malign Kremlin contacts after WikiLeaks dumped thousands of hacked Democratic Party e-mails in 2016 amplifying alleged Russian- U.S. election interference.

Although in his last CNN interview later in 2016, Julian Assange from his Ecuadorian embassy hiding place, categorically refused to tell me the source of his leaks.

CHANCE (on-camera): I mean, how concerned are you that the e-mails that WikiLeaks has released? Could have been hacked by the Russian secret services and could have been released to you as a way of manipulating or influencing the U.S. presidential election.

JULIAN ASSANGE, FOUNDER, WIKILEAKS: Well, what we try and do as a source protection organization is, we like to create maximum ambiguity as to who our sources are. Because maybe it was a hard drive that came from e-bay, maybe consultants, maybe activists, maybe state actors, maybe --

CHANCE: But you're not specifically ruling out the Russian secret services, are you? So, who are you protecting?

ASSANGE: Well, perhaps one day, the source or sources will step forward and that might be an interesting moment. Some people will have egg on their faces. It will be interesting.

CHANCE (voce-over): But the only face with egg on it, so far, is the Kremlin's. The U.S. Justice Department says Russian military intelligence transferred the democratic e-mails to WikiLeaks. Twelve of its serving agents have been indicted. Despite the fact Russia denies any official involvement. Casting the hackers instead as patriotic freelances.

Free like artists. The Russian president explained when confronted on the issue. If they're patriotic, they fight against those who speak badly about Russia, he added, inclusively.

It's probably coincidental that the only camera recording the Assange arrest in London was from Russian state television. But the condemnation from Moscow seems carefully calculated. The Russian foreign ministry calling this the hand of democracy squeezing the throat of freedom.

But for his critics, this controversial whistle blower is a tool of the Kremlin. A coconspirator employed to disrupt democracy. And finally getting his just desserts.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: The U.S. president suggested he is open to a third summit with North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. But the ball is in Mr. Kim's court. And that comes as South Korea's leader is pushing for new talks.

President Moon Je-in met with Mr. Trump at the White House Thursday to discuss the possibility. One important issue, U.S. sanctions.

[02:35:02] This week, North Korea warned, "It would deal a telling blow to hostile forces," that's a quote, a telling blow to hostile forces who thinks sanctions can crippled the country. But Mr. Trump says he's happy to keep him in place, because they're at a fair level.

Let's talk about these developments with Paula Hancocks, as always. She is in Seoul, South Korea for us. And, Paula, hello to you.

I want to talk about first what the president said about keeping sanctions in place, but not doing anything further about it. What might the response be from North Korea?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Natalie, the North Koreans won't be happy with that. Mr. Trump clearly thought that by saying that he wasn't going to increase sanctions that have been suggested by, for example, his national security advisor, John Bolton. He assume that that is some kind of a concession.

But for North Korea, they don't believe that these sanctions are at a fair level as the U.S. president said. They want to see sanctions lifted. So that is a real key difference.

We did see potentially some more wiggle room in what the U.S. president was saying. Saying that there could be potentially a step by step process. But saying it is not going to be a fast process.

Saying that if they do a fast deal, then it's not going to be a good deal. We did though, within this meeting between President Moon and President Trump, see a fundamental difference in how they want to proceed.

We heard Mr. Trump say that he wants the big deal. He wants to have complete denuclearization and that is what he is working towards. The South Koreans, however, has said that they would be happier with a small deal. A small deal is better than no-deal, they say. They want to have momentum. And President Moon clearly wants to get the relationship back on track between Washington and Pyongyang.

So it's a real fundamental differences to the way that they want to go forward. They both did agree though, according to the -- at the meeting afterwards, that they don't believe North Korea is going to go back to the nuclear path. They do believe that Kim Jong-un is going to continue along the economic path.

More interesting thing that Moon Jae-in said is that he will try and push for another inter-Korean summit. That as soon as he gets back to Seoul from Washington, he will try to get in touch with North Koreans, suggest that they do meet once again.

ALLEN: And is that seen as an important steppingstone, perhaps to this third summit that Mr. Trump talked about with North Korea? Because we certainly know that the first two didn't achieve anything concrete for denuclearization. So, what would be on the line with the objectives in the third meeting? And what role might South Korea play?

HANCOCKS: Well, critics would argue that you didn't achieve anything in the first two summits, as you say, so why have a third summit? We did hear from the two leaders that they agreed to top down approach is the best approach. That the leaders should be meeting and hammering out the details as opposed to working level talks, which is what you usually see in these kind of scenarios in summits between leaders.

So what President Moon wants at this point is to keep these talks alive. That he has staked a huge amount of his credibility on making sure that the U.S. and North Korea are talking on making sure that the inter-Korean relationship is improving. But recently, the cooperation between North and South Korea has been at a standstill since the Hanoi summit and since that ended with any kind of agreement. South Korea, at this point, is carrying out searches along the DMZ for remains of fighters from the Korean War on its own. That was supposed to be a joint effort and it was up until Hanoi.

So certainly from President Moon's point of view, he's in a tricky situation. But he wants to try and push the situation forward by saying he is happy and wants to have further talks with North Korea. He's then going to try and lay the groundwork for a potential third U.S. North Korea summit.

And President Trump has been very clear that he wants President Moon to walk -- work towards that as well and get back to him as soon as he has any kind of information.

ALLEN: All right. We will see what happens next. We always appreciate it. Paula Hancocks for us there in Seoul. Thanks, Paula.

More pressure from Venezuela's embattled President Nicolas Maduro. The International Monetary Fund says Venezuela isn't getting one penny of 400 million dollars in IMF aid money, because of the political chaos gripping the country.

The IMF, along with the World Bank, still is not sure whether to recognize Venezuelan assembly president, Juan Guaido, as the country's leader.

More than 50 nations, including the U.S. have already thrown their support behind Guaido.

Well this comes as U.S. has been stopping imports of the Maduro government's main source of revenue that, of course, oil.

CNN traveled to western Venezuela to visit the heart of oil country. Once a thriving region, its rigs are now in shambles.

[02:40:06] Our David McKenzie spoke with some oil workers and brings us their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Venezuelan oil workers giving us a rare look inside their crumbling industry.

They brought to the Salina's oil fields. It's risky speaking out, they could be fired or detained by Venezuelan intelligence, but they want the truth to get out.

"Populism finished all of this," he says, "Do you see this? Nothing works anymore. The government finished us completely."

They say successive Venezuelan regimes used state oil company, PDVSA as a slush fund for socialist programs and their own personal gain. MCKENZIE (on-camera): This entire coast line is just covered in oil sludge. The regime blames the collapse of the oil industry on the U.S. But it's been collapsing for years.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Trump administration sanctions could make it worse. The U.S. was PDVSA's biggest customer. In March, the U.S. bought zero barrels of oil. The first time since the 70's.

And the retired oil workers would help build this company say they gave decades of their lives for almost nothing. Some say they are forced to eat dog food. They say their pensions worth five dollars a month.

"It's outrageous. Outrageous. Look at us," he says. We don't have money for medication, for food. Soon, we'll have to bring our dead colleagues to this protest."

"Normal? Well, normal if you're living in this country," he says.

"I want America to take out Maduro, to get him out of here," he says. He's stealing from the people. He's taking food from us."

Now, they're taking for themselves. Last week, looters ransacked this pharmacy looking for medicine.

And nearby a Maracaibo, a mob spent two days tearing a hotel apart. They even ripped out the carpets.

The true scale of Venezuela's crisis becomes clear when the sun sets. Business leaders say it's like the walking dead. A zombie economy with 80 percent of businesses closed here. And this energy-rich region, people are left a shelter in their homes in darkness.

David McKenzie, CNN, Maracaibo, Venezuela.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Coming up here, a mission to the moon, a successful launch. But the arrival, well, let's put it this way, Israel, we have a problem. We'll explain coming up here.

Also, British lawmakers have a bit of breathing room before Brexit. But the rest of Britain is losing patience. How a dose of dry humor is keeping the public staying. That's next as well. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:35] ALLEN,: Well, they tried. An Israeli spacecraft made it tantalizingly close to a soft landing on the moon. The scientists suddenly had to deal with some hard facts. CNN's Oren Liebermann has that for us.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Moments before the Israeli spacecraft called Beresheet was supposed to land on the moon. The team in the control room in Israel lost communications with the craft. At the same time, it was experiencing issues with its main engine.

The $100 million privately funded spacecraft was well into its landing sequence, traveling at more than 2,100 miles an hour, about 75 miles from its intended landing site, according to the telemetry data being fed in live in the problems began and escalated quickly.

There was a moment of silence in the control room, and one of those monitoring the landing sequence said, "There is a suspicion that we did not land on the moon in the best fashion. We're trying to clarify the matter."

Just a short time later, one of the team leader said, "I'm sorry to say, we didn't make it to the moon in one piece. Beresheet spacecraft had crashed." Trying to put a positive spin on the accomplishment, the team leader said, "We made it all the way to the moon, we're the seventh country to make it all the way to the moon.

Had this been successful? Will, they made Israel the fourth country to ever soft land a spacecraft on the moon, essentially a controlled landing on the lunar surface? The other countries, the U.S., the former Soviet Union, and China -- all world powers. Israel would have been by far the smallest country and the smallest program.

Some even joke that instead of calling the spacecraft, Beresheet, which means in Hebrew, the beginning of the Bible, in the beginning, it should have been called Chutzpah, for Israel believing it had the goal to pull this one off.

In the end, to keep the weight of the craft down, there were very few redundancy's built in, and the landing was always going to be the most difficult part. And it was in that landing sequence that Beresheet crash on the lunar surface. Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.

ALLEN: Had to be quite the disappointment. But elsewhere in the solar system, an American company is celebrating. SpaceX launched its first ever mission for a paying customer with its Falcon Heavy rocket on Thursday.

There she goes. It's in a satellite into orbit for a Saudi Arabian company. What makes the mission unique? Is that its three massively powerful rocket boosters returned to earth -- here they come back. Making them reusable and thereby lowering future cost. Pretty cool stuff.

We're also learning more about being in space, extended stays there can change the human body in many ways right down to the genetic level. A NASA study reach that conclusion after comparing American astronauts Scott Kelly on the right there, with his identical brother, Mark.

Scott, spent almost a year in space while his twin remained on earth. Researcher state that the study suggests human health can be mostly sustained for a year in space despite changes in weight, gut bacteria, and cognitive abilities. Astronaut Kelly's body return to normal six months after he came back to earth. Well, Brexit has been delayed given lawmakers a few extra months to see if they can dig themselves out of the unholy mess they've created. Nick Glass takes a look at a how humorous an artists are turning the country's mess into masterpieces.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK GLASS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We were all also familiar now what the B-word, just to animate the cartoons, and he has a movie franchise, Theresa May crashed the pilot. Also from the Guardian, May plucked. From the New Yorker, walk on part Big Ben has cuckoo clock.

So, what are they all looking at here, why all the mobile phones? Well, a simple reason, a big painting by the street artist Banksy is back on show in Bristol. His version of the House of Commons. The image has been widely disseminated on Facebook.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so tropical I think we go, yes.

GLASS: Sorry, sorry, out. Sorry out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wondering why it's actually not based on that actual photo from Parliament. You can imagine that they probably are that (INAUDIBLE), and picking the noses, and as it loaded among screaming over there.

[02:50:02] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think they're all monkeys. I think Parliament are doing a good job of not passing a mess, not making a big mistake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The way they're behaving recently, I don't think he's gone far enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the country has developed now around the political situation is the kind of God help us all. We've got to laugh, there's nothing left to do.

GLASS: The artist John Springs has worked obsessively on this huge Brexit canvas for almost two years. Jean-Claude Juncker, driving in apparent gravy train in a hellish vision partly inspired by Hieronymus Bosch.

JOHN SPRINGS, ARTIST AND CARICATURIST: He come for the hazel spikes anymore. So, this is all you can do. Through humor, it has a rather comforting effect, and it's the biggest people in that together, about the remainers or Brexiteers.

GLASS: A more sobering response to Brexit, Broxit, We All Fall Down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brexit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brexit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brexit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brexit. GLASS: The fact is that simply no escaping the B-word, used teasingly to promote bookmakers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brexit, it's like Boris Johnson. He's the only one who doesn't seem to complete disaster. It's why you, my dear British jump must hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

GLASS: And for a television newspaper ad, the Commons turned into an open-plan zoo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I could talk to the animals, learned their learners, maybe I take an animal degree.

GLASS: And Edvard Munch exhibition has just opened at the British Museum with an original lithograph of The Scream. The London Evening Standard cartoonists just couldn't resist it.

The museum was so impressed. It acquired his Theresa May version for its collection. The truth is we all need cheering up at this Brexacious time, and being British that means ever darker art wit and satire. Nick Glass, CNN, in London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: There will, of course, be more cartoons to come because Brexit goes on.

All right. We want to show you what springtime looks like in the United States. Well, some states getting pummeled with a blizzard. Derek Van Dam will tell you about the spring snow, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: It might be springtime in the United States, but you couldn't tell it in Minnesota, where there are snow and blizzard conditions. A trooper was directing traffic around a truck on the highway right there. Look at that, when he got knocked down by a gust of wind. The Minnesota state patrol says he wasn't injured. We're happy to say.

The misery from this late-season snowstorm is not quite over, either. Derek Van Dam, joins us with the latest. Have you seen that?

[02:49:32] DEREK VAN DAM, CNN INTERNATIONAL WEATHER ANCHOR: Wow. That's the first time I've seen that video. That's incredible.

ALLEN: Yes. Yes.

VAN DAM: I mean that just shows you the full force behind the system. And if the satellite imagery on the left doesn't explain it all in a million words, I don't know what else does. I mean, this thing is just incredible to look at. It's almost mesmerizing. The low pressure just spinning its way across the central plain states, and a significant amount of moisture associated with this, fortunately, it is slowly starting to ease up and move north within the Canada as well. Let's talk about the impacts that this had on parts of the Midwest because obviously, were significant. You saw the video just a moment ago, but that's not only -- the only social media video that we've seen come out of the region.

Check out this -- well, porch swing getting just completely pushed around in the strong gusty winds. This is coming out of southwestern Minnesota. A lot of flat land there so winds can easily pick up across that region quite quickly. And you know, there's still blizzard conditions taking place across portions of western Minnesota and into the Dakotas.

Remember, in order for a storm to have blizzard conditions, you need to have visibilities under 3/4 of a mile and winds sustained over 35 miles per hour for a three hour period. So that actually is the official definition for blizzard conditions.

Now, Minneapolis is starting to transition into rainfall. They're starting to get into the warmer side of the storm. You can also see a few showers and thunderstorms moving into the Great Lakes region.

So, they've had the entire four seasons all bundled up into about a 24 hour period. So an incredibly powerful storm system, lots of energy. But as I mentioned before, the majority of it is starting to move eastward and kind of break apart as it does so. But, so still, some impressive snowfall totals coming out of South Dakota right through Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and portions of Minnesota. Here is the storm system rain edges eastward. Here's the wind. You can see how it's starting to die down, although there could still be some travel delays from Chicago, to Detroit, as well as Minneapolis today. So, double-check your flight plans.

Rainfall totals looking pretty impressive. But one thing I want to show you is what's happening a little further to the south as we edge into the early parts of the weekend. And on Saturday, well, it's going to get interesting. This is the next storm that we're monitoring coming out of Texas and into Louisiana, we have the potential for a widespread severe weather outbreak. Especially, Saturday afternoon.

Latest information from the Storm Prediction Center, Natalie, has a moderate risk of severe weather. And when we see that this far in advance, that means that they're becoming more and more certain that severe storms with possible tornadoes could break out Saturday afternoon across this area. So, something will monitor very closely.

ALLEN: All right, it's a teased season for tornadoes. But it's not for snow.

VAN DAM: Teased season. Yes, right.

ALLEN: Derek, thank you. Thank you for joining us this hour. I'm Natalie Allen. I'll be right back with another hour of news in just a moment. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Studies suggest that a component of human milkcould provide health benefits for grown-ups as well as babies, but some scientists remain sceptical

Mother’s milk isn’t just for babies anymore.

Global chemical giants DowDuPont and BASF are investing millions to ramp up production of an indigestible sugar found naturally in breast milk. Infant formula makers like Nestle can’t get enough of the synthetic ingredient. Now the companies are eyeing a potentially bigger customer: adults. DuPont estimates the annual market could reach $1bn(£770m).

Human milk oligosaccharide is the third most common solid in breast milk, after lactose and fat. HMO escapes digestion, allowing it to reach the colon where it feeds beneficial bacteria[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/probiotic-yogurt-drink-gut-health-good-bacteria-digestion-kefir-yakult-a8525676.html]. HMOs may explain why breast-fed babies tend to fare better than formula-fed, said Rachael Buck, who leads HMO research at Similac formula-maker Abbott Laboratories.

“It’s just been a fascinating treasure trove of benefits that we’ve uncovered,’’ Buck said.

In babies, HMOs strengthen the developing immune system, helping fight infection and inflammation while aiding brain development, according to early research. New studies show those benefits may extend to people of all ages, fitting neatly into consumers’ growing fascination with probiotics — the “good” bacteria that can help keep a human body healthy.

Read more

Goldman Sachs to start shipping working mothers' breast milk back home

Synthetic HMOs come from the formula industry’s quest to manufacture a breast-milk substitute that’s as close to the real thing as possible. The purported benefits are still viewed with skepticism by some in the scientific community — especially when they come at a premium price.

“Never assume that the addition of a component of human milk actually makes the formula like human milk,’’ said Steven Abrams, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on nutrition. “It’s not,” said Abrams, a Dell Medical School professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

HMOs could lead to treatments for adult ailments such as irritable bowel syndrome, allergies and even the ageing brain, Buck said. An animal study at Abbott’s labs showed that HMO stimulated the vagus nerve, “a superhighway communicating from gut to brain,” she said. “This has the potential to help both brain development early in life and, later in life, brain decline.”

Commercial production is typically accomplished through a fermentation process using giant vats filled with microbes genetically engineered to produce specific HMO varieties, such as 2’FL.

DuPont plans to spend $40m building out its HMO production capacity this year, its second biggest capital investment after expanding a factory that makes Tyvek. Meanwhile, it’s partnering with Lonza Group AG to make enough product to meet current demand. DuPont will become a stand-alone company when it splits from DowDuPont on 1 June.

Read more

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Omega 3 and vitamin D fail to protect against heart attacks or cancer

Are probiotics actually good for you?

Now that we know probiotics are useless, stop hoarding supplements

After two decades of research, Abbott was first to bring HMOs to the USbaby nutrition market in 2016. It’s now expanded to 15 countries. Nestle last year rolled out HMO formula in Gerber and other brands across 40 countries. HMOs nourish bacteria that “train’’ immune system cells, 80 percent of which reside in the gut, said Jose Saavedra, Nestle chief medical officer.

The health claims propelled about $600m in sales of HMO formula last year for each of Abbott and Nestle.

Among Abbott’s customers was Heidi Haydock, a senior manager at Cardinal Health, who two years ago wasn’t able to breast feed her newborn son because she was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. Concerned about the development of his digestive system, she fed him Similac with HMO.

“With a mom who can’t give breast milk, you kind of feel deficient,’’ Haydock said. “Being able to give the next best alternative made me feel better.’’

While some research indicates advantages to HMO-enhanced formula, it’s not clear that there’s a long-term health difference, Abrams said. In the US, babies fed generic formulas, which are as much as 50 per cent cheaper, have outcomes “every bit as good’’ as those fed pricier formulas, Abrams said.

Even in nature, breast milk can vary depending on the different kinds of sugars produced by each mother. DuPont and BASF are focusing on making the most common version of HMO, which consists of the 2’FL sugar. That’s where the benefits can be seen most clearly, according to Nestle’s Saavedra: Babies getting 2’FL from their mothers have slightly lower rates of acute infection than babies whose mothersare deficient in that HMO.

BASF began scaling up production of 2’FL earlier this year, and it’s studying how the different health effects of HMOs might be developed into a range of products beyond baby formula.

“Our aim is to expand on our scientific know-how on specific health functions of HMOs to adults as well,” said Stefan Ruedenauer, BASF director of human nutrition research and development. “BASF will have a pipeline of science-driven products with substantial health benefits of HMOs in the near future.”

Smaller rivals making the ingredient include closely held Jennewein Biotechnologie and FrieslandCampina of Germany.

Omega 3 and vitamin D fail to protect against heart attacks or cancer in major trial which show supplements a 'waste of time'

Danish biotechnology company Glycom is targeting the adult digestive health market with HMO supplements it began selling in the USand Europe late last year. The company touts its Holigos IBS product as managing symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, including abdominal pain, constipation diarrhoea and bloating. It sells 28 doses on Amazon for $50.

HMO is just one part of DuPont’s larger foray into digestive health, a loosely regulated market growing 20 per cent a year. The company sees an estimated $5bn annual opportunity developing gut-health products, though some experts question whether the supplements benefit everyone. DuPont is already a leader in probiotics, offering the widest variety of strains and operating the world’s largest probiotics fermentation plant, in Rochester, New York.

DuPont’s is marketing its 2’FL HMO, branded as CARE4U, to consumer manufacturers who can use it in adult supplements for digestive and immune health, said Ratna Mukherjea, global research and development leader at DuPont.

DuPont is researching how to produce more of the 130 or so HMO varieties found in breast milk as the company identifies those with the most potential health benefits, Mukherjea said. More HMO varieties are already in the commercial pipeline.

“This is just the beginning for HMO,’’ she said.

Bloomberg

Mariana Trench believed to be home to greatest concentration of hydrocarbon consuming bacteria of anywhere on Earth

At the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Earth’s oceans, scientists have discovered unique oil-eating bacteria.

Similar kinds of bacteria have previously been found and even used to help deal with oil spills, such as that from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, but the new research reveals the Mariana Trench is home to the greatest concentration of these life forms anywhere in the world.

The 2,550km (1,585 mile) long ocean trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean and reaches a maximum depth of about 11,000 metres. By comparison, Mount Everest is 8,848 metres high.

As a result, voyaging to the bottom of the trench is hazardous and expensive, and only a few expeditions have investigated the organisms inhabiting this ecosystem.

One expedition was organised and led by the film director and avid underwater researcher James Cameron, who built a specialised submersible to collect samples from the trench.

“We know more about Mars than the deepest part of the ocean,” said Prof Xiao-Hua Zhang of the Ocean University in China, who led the new study.

Dr Jonathan Todd, from the University of East Anglia's School of Biological Sciences, said: “Our research team went down to collect samples of the microbial population at the deepest part of the Mariana Trench – some 11,000 metres down. We studied the samples that were brought back and identified a new group of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria.

“Hydrocarbons are organic compounds that are made of only hydrogen and carbon atoms, and they are found in many places, including crude oil and natural gas.”

He explained the bacteria “essentially eat compounds similar to those in oil and then use it for fuel. Similar microorganisms play a role in degrading oil spills in natural disasters such as BP’s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.”

“We also found that this bacteria is really abundant at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.”

Read more

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In order to understand the source of the hydrocarbons ‘feeding’ this bacteria, the team analysed samples of sea water taken at the surface, and all the way down the water column to the sediment at the bottom of the trench.

Dr Nikolai Pedentchouk, from the UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences, said: “We found that hydrocarbons exist as deep as 6,000 meters below the surface of the ocean and probably even deeper. A significant proportion of them probably derived from ocean surface pollution.

“To our surprise, we also identified biologically produced hydrocarbons in the ocean sediment at the bottom of the trench. This suggests that a unique microbial population is producing hydrocarbons in this environment.”

“These hydrocarbons, similar to the compounds that constitute diesel fuel, have been found in algae at the ocean surface but never in microbes at these depths.”

Dr David Lea-Smith, from UEA’s School of Biological Sciences, added: “These hydrocarbons may help microbes survive the crushing pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, which is equal to 1,091 kilograms pressed against a fingernail.

“They may also be acting as a food source for other microbes, which may also consume any pollutant hydrocarbons that happen to sink to the ocean floor. But more research is needed to fully understand this unique environment.”

In 2017 it was reported a similar naturally occurring underwater bacteria had “eaten” a considerable proportion of the oil that spilled out of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform.

Recovery teams poured millions of barrels of chemicals into the ocean to disperse the oil and force it to much deeper parts of the ocean, where it is believed to have been consumed by the microbes.

It is not yet clear if the newly discovered bacteria could also help clean up pollution from oil spills.

The research is published in the journal

Microbiome

.

April 12 (Reuters) - Kaleido Biosciences Inc:

* KALEIDO BIOSCIENCES ANNOUNCES PRESENTATION OF CLINICAL STUDY AND EX VIVO DATA SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL MICROBIOME METABOLIC THERAPIES FOR HYPERAMMONEMIA AT THE INTERNATIONAL LIVER CONGRESS™ 2019 (EASL) Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

Astronauts may be better able to withstand long missions to the Moon and even Mars than previously realized, lifting what had loomed as a barrier to space exploration, a unique study of twin astronauts revealed.

The longer people stay in space the more their vital signs change in small but significant ways, but there aren't long-term health consequences, the study found.

While astronaut Scott Kelly, 50 years old, spent a record 340 days aboard the space station, researchers intensively monitored his life signs, from changes in gene activity, metabolism, gut bacteria and immune responses to variations in how his brain worked. They sequenced his DNA, analyzed his stool samples, distilled his body fluids and studied his cells.

They then compared those findings to the same measures in his identical twin -- retired astronaut Mark Kelly -- who remained on Earth and displayed none of the same effects. Mark Kelly, who is married to former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, is running for Senate in Arizona.

In a report published Thursday in Science, the scientists revealed a cascade of biomedical and genetic changes as Scott Kelly adapted to space. Genes related to the immune system and DNA repair ramped up their activity. The biochemistry of stress flooded his system.

"As soon as he got into space, we saw a thousand genes dynamically changing," said biophysicist Christopher Mason at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York who analyzed the astronaut's DNA. "Gene expression data indicated six times the number of genes going up and down in the last six months of the mission compared to the first six months."

Scott Kelly's blood pressure also dropped. The bacteria living in his intestinal tract changed. He lost 7% of his body weight and his optic nerves thickened, affecting his sight. Moreover, he seemed to think more quickly, in measures of spatial orientation and motor accuracy, perhaps as a response to weightlessness, they said.

None of the changes appeared to pose a health hazard, the scientists reported. Most of his biometric measures returned to normal within six months after Scott Kelly returned to Earth.

"We had two genetically identical individuals," said Susan M. Bailey, an oncologist at Colorado State University. A specialist in the study of telomeres, which protect DNA as cells divide and multiply, she was one of the principal investigators who led 84 researchers at a dozen universities involved in the NASA project. "Any of the differences we saw, we could attribute to space flight and not differences between the two individuals."

"We learned the human body is pretty resilient," said Mark Kelly. "We can survive and maybe even thrive on these long-duration flights."

All told, hundreds of men and women have flown into orbit. Many of them shared common symptoms of life in space.

Away from Earth, astronauts typically got severe headaches as quarts of body fluids shift in response to low gravity. Microgravity made many of them queasy. They endured chronic sleeplessness, as circadian rhythms were disrupted by artificial light and the spectacle of 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets every 24 hours.

They lost muscle mass, bone density and red blood cells. Many times, their vision changed: Astronauts who went to space with excellent eyesight often returned to Earth needing glasses, NASA medical experts said.

The intensive study of the Kelly twins, relying on advanced techniques for measuring a body's molecular changes during spaceflight, points the way toward a kind of precision medicine for space travelers. Treatments and countermeasures could be tailored specifically to the biochemistry of individual astronauts and the conditions they expect to encounter, the scientists said.

"What this really does is open a door to the kind of analysis you could never do before that's going to be important for astronauts when they go on long-duration space flight to Mars and they're going to have to be progressively independent from the resources that are on the ground," said Andrew Feinberg, a specialist in epigenetics at Johns Hopkins University and a lead investigator on the Twins Study.

One sure cure, however, for most ailments of life in space is being back home, the study showed.

License this article from Dow Jones Reprint Service[http://www.djreprints.com/link/DJRFactiva.html?FACTIVA=WJCO20190412000092]

The trees are turning green, the flowers are blooming, and the sniffles are starting. Springtime is always bittersweet for hayfever sufferers: much as we’d love to be out celebrating the return of the sun, that blasted pollen is conspiring to keep us indoors with the windows firmly sealed.

And this year it's started earlier than normal[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6909363/Hayfever-season-starts-three-weeks-early-warm-weather-February-March-brings-pollen.html], as trees are already releasing pollen after the unusually warm winter. Cue a rush to the local pharmacy to stock up on all the usual tablets, eye-drops, and nasal sprays.

But could there be another way to treat hayfever? Like so many health trends that are emerging[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/gut-health-clinic-changed-life/], some believe that the fight against seasonal sniffles could be waged in the gut.

That’s because hayfever is the response of an overactive immune system, and it is believed that this immune system is controlled to a large proportion by your gut microflora – healthy bacteria that live in your innards. Therefore, the thinking goes, the healthier your gut, the more effective your immune system.

“The mucosa[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucous_membrane] of the whole body can be seen as one big organ," says Dr Maximilian Schubert, medical director at Austrian gut-health clinic, VIVAMAYR Altaussee, referring to the membrane that lines our skin and organs. "If there is a reaction to a certain entrance point, there are always reactions in other locations as well.

“For a non-human protein to contact the immune system, this protein must pass the mucosa lining. Therefore this lining must be leaky, inflamed, and at least partly destroyed. This problem is known as ‘silent inflammation’.

"The organ with the biggest mucosa skin is the gut. Therefore repairing the gut will improve the strength of the mucosa skin.”

This assertion is backed up by a 2004 study by the University of Michigan[https://iai.asm.org/content/iai/73/1/30.full.pdf] on mice. One group of mice were given antibiotic-filled water designed to mess with their microflora. Another group were not. The mice were then exposed to allergens. The group whose microflora was out of whack from the antibiotics showed allergic reactions; the group with healthy microflora did not.

Dr. Schubert and his colleagues have used the idea that gut health and hayfever are linked to create a treatment programme designed to help in the yearly fight.

“We help the gut with a gentle cleansing, a calming diet and very good detoxification process to reach its best healthy levels,” says Schubert. This process requires people to chew every mouthful of food up to 30-40 times, stop eating immediately when full, drink between meals rather than with them, leave a gap of 4-5 hours between meals, and eat nothing raw after 4pm.

The clinic recommends starting the prevention techniques from as early as January (too late? There's always next year) and supplementing with gut-healthy vitamins such as Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, zinc and copper. These are supposed to “help reduce the irritation of the soft tissue not only in your sinuses, but across your body.”

However, if all this sounds too good to be true, well, that’s because it just might be. When I asked the VIVAMAYR Clinic about specific studies linking hayfever with the gut, they were unable to provide an answer.

The closest evidence I could find was a 2015 systematic review of 23 studies[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/alr.21492] looking at the link between gut health and hayfever. The studies examined research that had tried to use probiotics to improve gut health in the hopes of observing an improvement in hayfever symptoms.

The review found only one measure where taking probiotics improved sufferers' wellbeing – a quality of life survey about how allergic reactions affected respondents on a daily basis. That study found that though the symptoms weren't reduced, people felt less affected by them, which begs the question: how did probiotics improve sufferers’ quality of life without reducing the symptoms? Unfortunately, the review provided no answer.

So while there is some evidence to suggest that looking after your gut health will help ease your hayfever problems, the science is perhaps inconclusive at this stage.

Even so, given the wealth of[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/body/looking-gut-could-transform-health/] evidence[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/nutrition/seven-things-can-do-right-now-improve-gut-health/] that looking after your gut has other major health benefits, it can’t hurt to try...

Beauty fridges are the latest beauty trend to set skincare obsessives abuzz after YouTube influencer[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/meet-30-famous-youtube-instagram-stars-never-heard/] Safiya Nygaard took to Twitter to share a picture of her newly acquired mini chiller, admitting that she uses it solely for her skincare.

Though the concept of chilling beauty products may be new to some, in truth skincare savvy women have been doing it behind the scenes for years. Reacting to Nygaard’s tweet, one Twitter [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/twitter/] user kindly reminded us all: “My grandma has been doing this since I've had life on earth.”

Indeed, skincare experts have long advocated a need for cooled products. When asked about refrigerating skin care goods in 2017, Joshua Zeichner, the director of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, said: “Refrigerating products will help extend their shelf life.”

“Moreover, the cooling sensation on the skin from applying a refrigerated product may help to calm itch and give a more soothing effect than a room-temperature product. This is likely because the cool temperature may calm over-firing nerves that lead to itch and discomfort in the skin."

As well as the obvious cool sensory experience, cold products also help to de-puff and boost circulation as cold temperatures constrict blood vessels and reduce swelling.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Michelle Lee (@heymichellelee)[https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvu9MQxgoZ4/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_medium=loading] on Apr 1, 2019 at 5:51pm PDT

If you’re familiar with using natural skincare brands[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/body/best-natural-beauty-products/], like LUSH and Tata Harper, you will already know of the need to refrigerate products. Made in smaller batches, printed with an expiry date and usually free of chemical preservatives,[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2018/12/04/chemicals-lipstick-nail-varnish-deodorant-may-trigger-early/] these skincare goods must be kept in the fridge not out of luxury, but necessity. Organic ingredients with no chemical preservatives can go off, especially if they’re exposed to sunlight and heat and so keeping them cold ensures the stability and purity of the active ingredients.

Though it may appear as somewhat excessive at first, companies such as, The Makeup Fridge[https://makeupfridge.com/products/makeupfridge] have reimagined the common soft drink chiller in the form of a skincare chiller. Which frankly, is a much smarter use for it than unhealthy fizzy drinks.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/nutrition/11-reasons-to-stop-drinking-fizzy-drinks/]

The petite 7" by 9" mini fridge, which has a handy pocket in the door for sheet masks, sold out only moments after its last restock - a firm nod to the grandmothers who have long told their young kin to put their lipsticks in the freezer. Do you need a skincare fridge on your dressing table? Probably not. But if you want to get the most out of your beauty investments, in the spirit of small gains, it could be a smart move for you and your face.

These are the 5 products that deserve to be chilled...

Sheet masks

This cherished Korean import has become a staple in many skincare routines thanks to their targeted and quick-fix approach to beauty, but if you really want to make the most of these little wonders, apply them chilled. The refreshing, tightening and brightening effects commonly found in these masks, like the Givenchy Hydra Sparkling Express Fresh Moisturising Masks, £43.50,[http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=2991&awinaffid=73846&clickref=customid&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.escentual.com%2Fgivenchy%2Fgivenchyskincare0106%2F%3Fgclid%3DEAIaIQobChMI2ezEwLHF4QIVxp3tCh1QUQ5vEAQYByABEgI8PfD_BwE] will reach new levels.

Eye creams

If there’s one area of the body that can really give away signs of tiredness, it’s the eyes. Chilling eye creams and gels can have a major effect on deflating your under-eye bags, "the fact that it's cold helps to vasoconstrict and may help with puffiness," says Elizabeth Tanzi, founder and director of Capital Laser & Skin Care. If there’s one product that really benefits from being served up cool, it’s this.

Face mists

If you already love the properties of setting sprays and skincare facial mists, such as the Elemis Superfood Kefir-Tea Mist, £26[http://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=INH%2FSVPJb1Y&mid=42744&u1=customid&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.elemis.com%2Fsuperfood-kefir-tea-mist.html], you’ll especially enjoy applying them while cooled- instantly refreshing and radiance boosting.

Facial tools

A fairly recent addition to many skincare routines, facial massaging tools, such as those made of jade of rose quartz like facial rollers or gua sha, are known for their relaxing and potent skincare benefits.

These tools are made with the gemstone jade for its ability to maintain a cool temperature, despite being exposed to body heat. Given that chilled temperatures are an essential part in the functioning of jade rollers, using them while cold will work wonders.

When used to massage the face, the cool and smooth surface of jade encourages lymphatic drainage to de-puff the skin while firming and brightening the complexion by increasing circulation, blood flow and decreasing inflammation.

Probiotic and preservative-free skincare

As mentioned above, natural beauty products without preservatives like parabens benefit from being refrigerated due to their short shelf life. Ethical beauty brand Lush for instance recommends its fresh face masks are kept in the fridge, and only left out for no longer than four hours. Similarly, live probiotic products, like those of Mother Dirt, have to be kept in the fridge to maintain the life of the bacteria within the product.

A study of twin astronauts revealed unexpected changes in chromosomes linked to age and disease

WHEN Nasa scientists set out to study identical twin astronauts, leaving one on Earth and sending the other to the International Space Station (ISS) for a year, they expected that microgravity would have largely negative impacts.

But on board the ISS, Scott Kelly, 51, experienced a transformation that baffled researchers - the telomeres in his white blood cells became longer.

Telomeres are caps that sit at the end of chromosomes, protecting the DNA inside, like the plastic aglets on the end of shoelaces.

As people age, telomeres shorten and eventually vanish in a process that experts think is linked to diseases such as cancer or heart disease.

Longer telomeres are associated with a longer lifespan, so it appears Kelly was ageing more slowly than his twin, Mark, back on Earth.

The effect wore off when he returned from space after 340 days, but researchers are keen to work out what caused the growth in his telomeres and determine if it could be harnessed to create anti-ageing therapies.

State e twins' hening in Prof Susan Bailey, of Colorado University, who tested the ' blood, said the telomere lengthening space was "striking". "Telomeres shorten as we and they can serve as a biomarker accelerated ageing or of some associated health risks like cardiovascular disease or cancer," said Bailey.

"We imagined going into the study that the unique kinds stresses and extreme environmental exposures like space radiation and microgravity would act to accelerate telomere loss.

"It was really quite a surprise to us that what we saw was a very space flight-specific elongation of telomeres. We're scratching our heads.

"We all worry about getting older, and everyone wants to avoid cardiovascular disease and cancer. I don't think it can really be viewed as the fountain of youth. But if we can figure out what's causing changes in telomere length, perhaps we could slow it down." While most of Scott's telomeres returned to near pre-flight levels on his return to Earth, he now has more short telomeres than prior to the mission, suggesting he is now at greater risk from disease than his brother.

Previous studies have shown the Apollo astronauts were five times more likely to have died from cardiovascular disease than those who went into low orbit or never left the Earth.

The Tw journal S universit are cruci Mars or s by Nasa not send knowi body Nor Twins Study, published in the Science, was conducted by 12 universities across the US. Such studies crucial if astronauts are to travel to set up a lunar base as is planned and other agencies. "We cannot humans to Mars without knowing how space flight affects the body," said Dr Fred Turek, of Northwestern University, Illinois, who led the study into changes in the twins' microbiome, or gut flora.

"The plan is to send people to Mars in 2035, so we cannot wait until 2033 to gain this information." Scott's gut flora was largely unaffected, but there were noticeable changes in genes that control bone formation, DNA repair and the immune system.

"We don't know yet if these changes are good or bad," said Dr Christopher Mason, an associate professor of physiology and biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine, who studied DNA changes in the twins. "This could just be how the body responds, but the genes are perturbed, so we want to see why and track them to see for how long."

An Israeli spacecraft has failed to make history as the first privately funded lunar mission. The SpaceIL spacecraft lost contact with Earth late on Thursday moments before it was due to land on the moon, and scientists declared the mission a failure.

Health in orbit How going into space affects the body Height: Because of microgravity, spinal discs are no longer compressed, so astronauts get taller.

Muscles and joints: Without resistance from gravity, astronauts lose 20-40 per cent of muscle mass and need rehabilitation on their return. Bones: Astronauts lose around 1.5 per cent of their bone mass for each month spent in space. Immune systems: More than half of astronauts show signs of immune dysfunction on return.

Circadian rhythms: Are disrupted in orbit because astronauts experience 16 sunrises and sunsets every day.

* The deepest part of our planet is the Mariana Trench, which stretches some seven miles down[https://www.businessinsider.com/submarine-to-visit-deepest-parts-of-the-ocean-in-five-deeps-expedition-2018-10?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest] into the depths of the Pacific Ocean.

* This dark and deep world is home to many denizens[https://www.google.com/search?q=business+insider+mariana+trench&oq=business+insider+mariana+trench&aqs=chrome..69i57.3415j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8] that are a far cry from the cuddly marine life found closer to the surface. One such resident is a new group of bacteria that degrade hydrocarbons — molecules that are found in everyday crude oil and gas.

* A new study[https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-019-0652-3] reveals that these hydrocarbon-eating bacteria are more abundant in the Challenger Deep (the deepest part of the Mariana Trench) than anywhere else on the planet.

* These oil-eating microbes[https://www.businessinsider.com/oil-eating-bacteria-could-help-clean-up-the-next-oil-spill-2018-4?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest] could help clean-up the next major man-made oil spill[https://www.businessinsider.com/exxon-valdez-spill-other-disasters-contaminated-ocean-2019-3?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest] on the ocean surface.

Scientists know more about the farthest reaches of deep space than they do about the deepest parts of our planet's oceans.

In the heart of the Pacific Ocean, some 125 miles north of Guam under nearly 11,000 meters (roughly 7 miles) of ocean, lies the Challenger Deep.

The deepest part of the infamous Mariana Trench — a 43-mile-wide crescent canyon that cuts its way through 1,500 miles of ocean at the edge of two tectonic plates — the Challenger Deep is home to a unique ecosystem of creatures and microorganisms. (It's also the final resting place of thousands of man-made microplastic pollutants[https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-plastic-particles-polluted-mariana-trench-2018-12?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest].)

Read More: Tiny plastic particles are polluting the deepest point in the ocean[https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-plastic-particles-polluted-mariana-trench-2018-12?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest]

According to a new study[https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-019-0652-3] published in the journal Microbiome, a group of bacteria trawled from the depths of the Challenger Deep can not only survive its extreme conditions, but also chomp on hydrocarbon molecules found in everyday crude oil and natural gas.

Oil-eating bacteria like these are also found on the ocean's surface, and helped degrade much of the oily refuse that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster[https://www.businessinsider.com/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-regulator-proposes-rolling-back-regulations-2017-12?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest]. The scientists think these microbial deep ocean oil-eaters can also be used to clean up surface oil spills.

Challenger Deep is "inhospitable to nearly every organism on the planet. Cold and completely dark. What is most extreme is the intense water pressure which would crush most organisms in a fraction of a second," Jonathan Todd, a biologist from University of East Anglia in the UK and a co-author on the study, told Business Insider.

"How the microorganisms survive this environment is still a mystery and this is another of our key future research questions," he added.

Collecting samples from 7 miles below the surface

Collecting samples from the crushing depths of the Challenger Deep is no easy feat. To date, only a few expeditions[https://www.businessinsider.com/submarine-to-visit-deepest-parts-of-the-ocean-in-five-deeps-expedition-2018-10?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest] have investigated the denizens that make their homes 7 miles below the ocean's surface (sorry Jason Statham fans, no live Megaladons have been discovered as of yet).

In order to get samples, researchers dropped bottles and corers into the ocean and sampled water and sediment at different depths in the Mariana Trench.

"Just think about the size and weight of the cable required to fish at depths of more than 10 kilometers [or 6 miles]," Todd said.

After they examined their samples, the team identified a new group of oil-eating bacteria, and determined that the proportion of hydrocarbon-munching bacteria in the Mariana Trench is higher than anywhere else on Earth. (These bacteria are found in nearly every environment on the planet.)

Todd and his team aren't sure yet why that's the case. "It may be that there is a higher proportion of hydrocarbons compared to other nutrient sources in the Mariana Trench, which supports this particularly large population," Todd said. These hydrocarbons could accumulate within the trench due to its unique topography, he added.

The study authors think the hydrocarbon nutrients could be the secret to these bacteria's success in the Challenger Deep's extreme environment, where pressures reach some 15,000 pounds per square inch — more than 1,000 times the pressure at sea level.

These oil-chomping microbes could combat man-made spills

Hydrocarbon-eating organisms have already been used to help degrade man-made oil spills.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon spill off the coast of Louisiana poured some 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. An area the size of Rhode Island[https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2018/03/22/exxon-valdez-29-years-later/] was closed off from fishing, and local economies tanked[https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a6032/bp-oil-spill-statistics/].

Several species of hydrocarbon-eating bacteria, like Alcanivorax borkumensis, feasted on the spilled oil[https://www.businessinsider.com/oil-eating-bacteria-could-help-clean-up-the-next-oil-spill-2018-4?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest], assisting with the disaster clean-up efforts.

Alcanivorax was one of the types of bacteria that Todd and his group found in the Challenger Deep.

Todd thinks it's possible the bacteria pulled from the Mariana Trench could similarly assist in oil spill clean-ups. When tested in the lab, these microorganisms from the ocean depths "very efficiently consumed" the types of hydrocarbons that surface bacteria like Alcanivorax borkumensis degraded after the 2010 Gulf oil spill.

While Todd said further work is required "to test the potential of these novel bacteria," the team believes that the hydrocarbon-eating bacteria from the bottom of the ocean could consume any oil found on the surface.

NOW WATCH: A molecular biologist warns chemicals in plastic can seep into food and lead to major health effects like obesity, heart disease, and diabetes[https://www.businessinsider.com/bpa-plastic-containers-bad-health-risks-obesity-heart-disease-diabetes-2019-2?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest]

See Also:

* So many animals are going extinct that it could take Earth 10 million years to recover[https://www.businessinsider.com/mass-extinction-earth-take-10-million-years-recover-2019-4?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest]

* Nibbled-on bones found in a cave revealed that our Neanderthal ancestors ate each other. Scientists may have figured out why.[https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-made-neanderthals-cannibals-2019-4?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest]

* Paleontologists have discovered an ancient whale that had four legs and could walk on land[https://www.businessinsider.com/ancient-whale-had-four-legs-2019-4?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest]

SEE ALSO: Oil-eating bacteria could help clean up the next oil spill[https://www.businessinsider.com/oil-eating-bacteria-could-help-clean-up-the-next-oil-spill-2018-4?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest]

Astronaut Scott Kelly made himself a guinea pig for all the people who dream of human journeys to Mars and other destinations in space. In 2015, Kelly rode a rocket into space and spent nearly a year on the International Space Station in low Earth orbit, while his identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, stayed on Earth's surface for NASA's celebrated "twins study," designed to see what spaceflight does to the human body.

The full results, published Thursday in the journal Science, showed that Scott Kelly experienced numerous physiological and chromosomal changes during his long sojourn in orbit, including changes in gene expression. His immune system went on high alert, both when he went to space and upon returning to Earth. His body acted as if it were under attack.

Mark Kelly served as the comparison subject for the experiment. The retired astronaut is married to former congresswoman Gabby Giffords (D) and is running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Arizona.

The researchers, echoing what NASA has suggested previously, said the twins study turned up no showstoppers — no shocking health consequences that would surely prevent a human mission to Mars or similar long-duration mission. But the report shows anew that the human body is adapted for life on the surface of Earth and goes haywire in zero gravity.

One of the most dramatic findings concerned epigenetics — how genes are turned on or off to produce proteins. (Contrary to some breathless headlines, Scott Kelly didn't undergo a space-induced change in his genetic code.) Gene expression changed in both Kellys during the study but in significantly different ways. The study found that more than 90 percent of Scott Kelly's gene expression changes reverted to normal when he returned to the surface.

Blood samples indicated that his telomeres — structures that protect the ends of chromosomes, much like the plastic caps on the ends of shoelaces, and which erode over time as part of the natural aging process — lengthened in space. But space is no fountain of youth: The telomeres shortened dramatically when he returned to Earth.

The cause of these changes in telomere length is unclear, said Susan M. Bailey, a biologist at Colorado State University who led that part of the study. In a teleconference with reporters Thursday, she raised a number of possible explanations, from the healthier lifestyle in space, which includes a great deal of exercising, to some kind of injury or wound response due to radiation, leading to a rise in the number of stem-like cells with longer telomeres.

Scott Kelly, who along with his brother Mark was on the call, interjected that previous experiments had found that worms have longer telomeres in space. "I'm pretty sure the worms weren't exercising more than on Earth," he said.

Although his average telomere length returned roughly to normal after he returned to Earth, tests showed that he retained a slightly elevated number of cells with short telomeres. "He might be at some increased risk for cardiovascular disease or some types of cancer," Bailey said in a teleconference with reporters earlier in the week.

"Although average telomere length, global gene expression, and microbiome changes returned to near preflight levels within 6 months after return to Earth, increased numbers of short telomeres were observed and expression of some genes was still disrupted," the report states.

The study found certain cognitive deficits during a battery of tests in orbit, which lingered when Scott Kelly later took tests back on Earth.

But in an interview with The Washington Post, Scott Kelly, now 55, said that after landing he suffered flulike symptoms and felt bad for many weeks, and that altered his cognitive performance.

"Imagine going to take the SATs when you have the flu. You probably wouldn't do as well," Kelly said.

Adjusting to life back on the ground was actually harder than adjusting to life in zero gravity, he said. In his memoir, "Endurance," he wrote about suffering from skin rashes, burning sensations and horribly swollen legs as well as nausea in the days after he returned.

"When first up there, I felt crappy because of the fluid shift and the carbon dioxide levels. I can't say I felt a change in my immune system, but I definitely felt not well. But I felt much worse coming back," he told The Post. "The most worrisome symptoms I had, which was swelling in my legs, the rashes, were gone after a couple of weeks. After a month I felt mostly better. I would say it took eight months before I felt completely back to normal."

He said one of the hardest problems he faced was adjusting to an unscheduled existence, in sharp contrast to life on the space station.

"When you get back, you feel a little bit directionless," he said.

The new study points out: "In addition to re-exposure to Earth's gravity, the post-flight period can be demanding for astronauts owing to participation in research studies and media events."

Andrew P. Feinberg, one of the study co-authors and an epigenetics expert at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, cautioned that this research study is limited, focusing on a single pair of twins, and should not be seen as providing universal truths about the human health effects of spaceflight.

"The study sample is two people," Feinberg said. "If you see a difference between these two people, how do you know if what you're looking at is because of the twin on the ground or the twin in space?"

Moreover, Scott Kelly remained in low Earth orbit under the protective shield of the Earth's magnetic field. Interplanetary spaceflight, or journeys to the moon, will expose astronauts to much higher levels of radiation.

"We need to get outside of low Earth orbit, and we need for the astronauts to spend longer periods of time to really evaluate some of these health effects. Radiation exposure will certainly be a very big concern," Bailey said.

At the start of the teleconference Thursday, Mark Kelly took a moment to praise his brother: "As a citizen of our country, not just as his twin brother, I appreciate the sacrifice he took to spend a year in space."

Mark Kelly is six minutes older than his brother. But Scott Kelly says he's actually a few milliseconds younger still, due to having spent 500 more days in space than his astronaut brother. Einstein's special theory of relativity leads to a "twins paradox" in which someone moving at a high velocity, such as 17,500 mph in low Earth orbit, ages more slowly than a twin on Earth.

"I look younger than he does," Scott said. "He's busy running for office. His telomeres are going to be way worse than mine. I'm not worried. I'll be on a beach in the Bahamas, and he's going to be hopefully in the U.S. Senate. He's going to age much faster than me."

Read More:

The truth about Scott Kelly's viral "space genes"

How Andy Weir and "The Martian" may have saved NASA's Mars dream

Investigation on impact of life in space on human body could inform potential missions to Mars

When Nasa set out to study identical twin astronauts – one orbiting in space for nearly a year, the other left behind on Earth – the outcome was uncertain. Would Scott Kelly return to Earth younger than his brother, Mark, as depicted in the film Interstellar?

The answer, outlined in the most comprehensive investigation on the impact of life in space on the human body, is that there were apparently no substantial or lasting health changes. However, the findings reveal subtle biological effects caused by Scott’s 11-month residence in zero gravity[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/29/scott-kelly-astronaut-interview-space-younger-twin-endurance] at the International Space Station. Scientists say these could provide crucial information about the risks posed by future long distance missions to Mars and beyond.

“This opens a door to the kind of analysis you could never do before, that’s going to be important for astronauts when they go on long duration space flight to Mars and they’re going to have be progressively independent from the resources that are on the ground,” said Andrew Feinberg, a professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University and co-author of the study.

Scientists have long monitored the physiological effects of space travel on astronauts[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/05/hallucinations-isolation-astronauts-mental-health-space-missions]. However, most of these astronauts travel on missions of six months or less, and no previous studies have involved a genetically identical control back on Earth.

Ten teams of investigators were recruited to monitor and analyse almost every aspect of the Kelly twins’ physiology, from gut bacteria to gene activity and cognitive abilities, before, during and after Scott’s 2015-16 stay at the ISS.

Changes included striking differences in gene activity in Scott. Some of these genes related to the immune system, which is under greater strain in space.

Other differences included to the shape of Scott’s eyeball, including a thickened retinal nerve, while the skin on his forehead became thicker. These effects are thought to be because more fluid gathers in the head without the usual downwards pull of gravity. A series of tests also showed Scott’s cognitive abilities declined slightly.

Perhaps most intriguing was what happened to the astronaut’s telomeres – tiny structures that sit at the ends of chromosomes, like the plastic ends of shoelaces. The length of telomeres gives an indication of ageing – they shorten throughout life and in particular during times of physical stress.

Scott’s telomeres unexpectedly lengthened in space, contrary to what might have been expected. Susan Bailey, professor at Colorado State University, who led this element of the research said: “We’re scratching our heads on exactly how those really dramatic shifts in telomere length are happening. I don’t think that that can really be viewed as the fountain of youth and that people might expect to live longer because they’re in space.”

After returning to Earth, Scott’s telomeres shortened again, bringing him back in line with his brother.

Mike Snyder, a geneticist at Stanford University, said: “There are thousands of genes and molecular changes that occur as someone goes in space. Somewhat reassuring of course, is that when he comes back … virtually all of those returned to normal by six months.”

The scientists had to contend with a variety of challenges, including being able to collect enough blood from Scott (blood volume shrinks during space flight due to dehydration. One shipment of equipment blew up aboard a SpaceX rocket[https://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2015/jun/28/nasa-spacex-rocket-explodes-moments-after-launch-international-space-station-video]. And they also faced other scientific limitations: while genetically identical, the twins had different lifestyles in space and on Earth.

Mark was able to drink alcohol, while Scott was forbidden from doing so, for instance. “Even the tiniest little whiff of alcohol actually does something to the electronic components that I think Nasa doesn’t totally understand, but they ban all alcohol,” said Feinberg. “And that can have a significant effect on the epigenome.”

The findings are published in the journal Science[https://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aaw7086].

When Nasa set out to study identical twin astronauts, leaving one on Earth and sending the other to the International Space Station (ISS) for a year, they expected that the rigours of microgravity would have largely negative impacts.

But on board the ISS, Scott Kelly, 51, underwent a very strange transformation which has left scientists scratching their heads.

The telomeres [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11721228/Why-you-might-be-20-years-older-than-your-actual-age.html] in his white blood cells got longer. Telomeres are the protective caps which sit at the end of chromosomes, protecting the DNA inside, like the plastic aglets on the end of shoelaces.

As people age, telomeres shorten and eventually vanish entirely in a process which experts think is linked to diseases like cancer or heart disease.

Longer telomeres are associated with a longer lifespan[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2018/11/28/running-strength-training-put-test-see-best-keeps-body-young/], so it appears that Scott was actually ageing more slowly than his twin Mark back on Earth.

Researchers are keen to work out what caused the growth and whether it could be harnessed to create anti-ageing therapies.

Professor Susan Bailey, of Colorado State University[https://www.colostate.edu/], who tested Mark and Scott’s blood over 25 months, spanning time points before, during and after spaceflight, said the telomere lengthening in space was ‘striking.’

“Telomeres shorten as we get older and they can serve as a biomarker of like accelerated aging or some of the associated health risks like cardiovascular disease or cancer,” said Prof Bailey.

“So certainly we imagined going into the study that the unique kinds of stresses and extreme environmental exposures like space radiation and microgravity would act to accelerate telomere loss.

“It was really quite a surprise to us that what we saw was a very space flight specific elongation of telomeres. We’re scratching our heads.

“We all worry about getting older, and everyone wants to avoid cardiovascular disease and cancer.

“I don’t think that that can really be viewed as the fountain of youth. But if we can figure out what's going on, what's causing these changes in telomere length, perhaps we could slow it down. That's something that would be of benefit to everybody."

However while most of Scott’s telomeres returned to near pre-flight averages on his return to Earth, he now has more short telomeres than he did prior to the 340-day mission suggesting he is now at greater risk from disease than his brother.

Previous studies have shown that the Apollo astronauts were five times more likely to have died from cardiovascular disease[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/07/28/moon-disease-apollo-astronauts-more-likely-to-die-of-heart-probl/] than those who went into low orbit or never left the Earth.

Neil Armstrong, died following complications arising from heart bypass surgery to relieve blocked arteries in 2012.

The Twins Study [https://www.nasa.gov/twins-study] was conducted by 12 universities and more than 80 researchers across the US and is the most in depth look of the effect of space travel on health ever carried out.

Such studies are crucial if astronauts are ever to travel to Mars or set up a lunar base, both mission planned by Nasa and other space agencies.

“We cannot send humans to Mars without knowing how spaceflight affects the body, including the microbes traveling with humans to Mars," said Dr Fred Turek, of Northwestern University, who led the study into changes in Scott and Mark’s microbiome, or gut flora.

“And we need to know sooner rather than later. The plan is to send people to Mars in 2035, so we cannot wait until 2033 to gain this information.”

The results showed gut flora was largely unaffected, and 91 per cent of Scott’s gene expression returned to normal [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2018/03/15/nasa-astronaut-twins-scott-mark-kelly-no-longer-genetically/] or baseline levels within six months of returning to Earth. But there were noticeable changes in genes controlled bone formation, DNA repair, and the immune system, suggesting space travel may cause long term damage to health.

“Gene expression changed dramatically,” said Dr Christopher Mason, an associate professor of physiology and biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine, who studied DNA changes.

"We don't know yet if these changes are good or bad. This could just be how the body responds, but the genes are perturbed, so we want to see why and track them to see for how long.”

The scientists also found that the shape of Scott's eyeball changed over the course of the flight, including a thicker retinal nerve and folds in the layer that surrounds the eye. These changes typically affect vision and around 40 per cent of male astronauts need glasses after space flight.

The research was published in the journal Science[https://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aaw7086] .

An evening protein drink or a bowl of comforting rice pudding could help to improve sleep, build muscle mass, and boost your metabolism, according to experts – but a low-carb, low-energy diet can make it more difficult to switch off.

An ice cream company in the US has even launched a new nighttime ice cream named “Nightfood”, which claims to help you fall asleep.

The product sold out after it went viral – but has now completed its second production run, to the delight of its fans. The ice cream is cashing in on America’s $28 billion (and counting, according to P&S Market Research[https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/05/28/1512594/0/en/Sleeping-Aids-Market-Size-to-Hit-101-9-Billion-by-2023-P-S-Market-Research.html] ) sleep aid market.

“I’ve never been involved in a new product launch that was so powerfully on-trend and well received,” commented Jim Christensen, Nightfood’s vice president.

The consumer lifestyle habits and consumption habits of the US are likely to make their way here next: and sure enough, we’re also developing a taste for sleep-inducing food and drink here in Blighty.

Motion Nutrition[https://www.motionnutrition.com/], a British brand co-founded by Joe Welstead, ex-professional swimmer and Commonwealth Games finalist, has just launched a chocolate spice evening protein shake to “help your brain to produce more happy hormones and melatonin for calmer mood and deeper sleep” (and will set you back £24.99 for 12 sachets at Whole Foods Market or Planet Organic).

Bodyism, the Notting Hill gym frequented by David Beckham and Pippa Middleton, has also launched a “Pure Serenity” cacao shake, a calming blend with chamomile, pea and brown rice designed by Rosie Hungtington-Whiteley’s personal trainer James Duigan ( £50 for 240g, Net-a-Porter[http://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=INH%2FSVPJb1Y&mid=24448&u1=customid&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.net-a-porter.com%2Fgb%2Fen%2Fproduct%2F478904%2Fbodyism%2Fserenity-shake--240g] ).

Protein shake behemoths MyProtein are also getting in on the trend, with their Overnight Recovery Shake ( £24.99 for 1kg[http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=3196&awinaffid=73846&clickref=customid&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myprotein.com%2Fsports-nutrition%2Fovernight-recovery-blend%2F10529559.html%3Faffil%3Dthggpsad%26switchcurrency%3DGBP%26shippingcountry%3DGB%26variation%3D11366941%26shoppingpid%3D30_Off_RRP_Nov18%26thg_ppc_campaign%3D71700000047622989%26product_id%3D11366941%26gclid%3DCjwKCAjwv6blBRBzEiwAihbM-fwxEy2H5jlgcbHC08ULyvxL3gwJWV5Q_50xEckF1asF6I3oJ0y8ShoCMxkQAvD_BwE%26gclsrc%3Daw.ds] ).

So, how can it be that protein shakes or guilty pleasures such as a tub of ice cream could help to regulate our sleeping patterns, and what other changes can we make to our diets to improve our sleep?

According to registered Harley Street nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert[https://rhitrition.com/], diet and nutrition has a huge role to play in producing the hormones that regulate our circadian rhythms and sleeping patterns.

“A large amount of the happy hormone serotonin is produced in our gut – and much of it comes from our diets. Serotonin has an active role in the production of melatonin, which regulates our sleeping patterns,” she explains.

“It’s derived from carbohydrates and an amino acid which forms a protein called tryptophan – so certain carbohydrates and tryptophan-rich foods absolutely have a role to play in promoting better sleep.

“As a result, a lot of the time I find that people who are under-eating or who follow a low-carb or low-energy diet don’t sleep as well or find it harder to switch off. Many people just aren’t aware of the role food and gut health has to play in regulating sleep, and the fact that food – and carbohydrates in particular – can be a vital sleep aid.”

Lambert recommends oats, yogurt, and turkey as some of her favourite tryptophan-rich foods, and suggests consuming such foods throughout the day as well as just before bed. Chicken, eggs, fish, peanuts, pumpkin and sesame seeds are other examples of other foods which contain tryptophan, the amino acid which is so vital to the production of serotonin and sleep-aiding melatonin.

Dairy is particularly good, and the old trick of enjoying a cup of hot milk before bed is no old wives' tale – dairy is one of the top-sleep inducing foods. This is because it contains small doses of tryptophan, but also has the additional benefit of being rich in calcium [https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/163169.php] (which studies have shown serves to help your body to convert serotonin to drowsy melatonin.) However, rice and pea milks are a good plant-based alternative source of tryptophan.

Lambert also notes that mineral-rich foods with a high potassium, calcium, magnesium or zinc content can help you to relax. She suggests bananas for potassium, and dark leafy greens for their magnesium (a renowned muscle relaxant and sedative). “Before bed, some people like to enjoy a handful of nuts and seeds, but for me, easily digestible smoothies and hot drinks work really well. A yogurt and banana smoothie is the dream team, or a mini-bowl of sunflower seed porridge or rice pudding.”

While Lambert is certain about the power of nutrition to aid sleep, she does note that there are also other factors at play. “Diet isn’t powerful enough alone to solve your sleep woes - if you’re eating a brilliant diet but if you’re at your screen until midnight or you don’t have a good sleep environment, that isn’t conducive to a good night’s sleep.”

So, it’s true that the likes of Motion Nutrition’s protein shake hot chocolate alternative with tryptophan-rich pea, rice, sunflower, pumpkin and oat protein could well aid your sleep. Likewise the cult Nightfood ice cream (which contains prebiotic fibre in the form of chicory root, a natural sweetener, milk protein, brown rice syrup, glycerin and a mineral blend including magnesium citrate, calcium citrate and zinc citrate).

The science behind the idea that consuming protein supplements before bed can build muscle mass is also sound: research by Dr Tim Snijders[https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2019.00017/full] at the Department of Human Biology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands shows consuming protein supplements before bed can increase muscle protein synthesis. It's vital for the over-35s, as muscle mass naturally decreases as we age.

"When applied over a prolonged period of resistance-type exercise training, pre-sleep protein supplementation has a beneficial effect on the increase in muscle mass and strength," he says.

However, a homemade milky drink, snack or frozen smoothie could be just as effective as expensive supplements, and Lambert advises making sure to avoid a high added sugar content, particularly before bed.

For an easy mid-week, sleep-aiding pud, she suggests this delicious, protein-rich homemade berry rice pudding dessert and a mug of hot cacao with an added tryptophan boost from her book Re:Nourish: A Simple Way to Eat Well ( £19.99, Telegraph Books[https://books.telegraph.co.uk/Product/Rhiannon-Lambert/Re-Nourish--A-Simple-Way-to-Eat-Well/21071449] ).

Berry rice pudding

"This has become a firm favourite in my family. You can choose the milk you use and even swap the rice for quinoa for an added protein boost. Berries are high in antioxidants such as anthocyanins, which may protect cells from free radical damage; they are also high in fibre and low in calories, so tuck in."

SERVES

2

INGREDIENTS

* 400ml milk (or use a plant-based or dairy-free alternative)

* 100g pudding rice

* 10g honey

* 2 tsp vanilla extract

* ½ tsp ground cinnamon

For the berries

* 200g mixed berries (fresh or frozen)

* 2 tbsp water

* ½ tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

* Put the milk into a small pan and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add the rice, honey, vanilla and cinnamon, stir well, then cover and cook over a low-medium heat for 25–30 minutes, making sure you stir frequently to prevent it from sticking to the pan.

* Meanwhile put the berries, water and vanilla into another small pan and warm over a medium heat for 2 minutes, then cover the pan and cook for a further 2 minutes, by which point the fruit should be starting to soften, and the natural juices should have released. Remove the lid, turn up the heat to medium-high and cook for a further 2 minutes to bubble away some of the juices.

* Serve the pudding in small dessert bowls with the warm berries on top.

Hot cacao

"If you have a sweet tooth then a mug of hot cacao with the addition of sleep-aiding nut or seed butter can be the perfect way to curb those chocolate cravings. Try this hot drink to get some benefit without damaging your waistline."

SERVES

1

INGREDIENTS

* 1 tbsp good-quality cocoa powder or raw cacao powder

* 1 tsp honey

* 1 tsp nut butter (optional)

* 250ml almond milk (or any milk of choice)

* ½ tsp ground cinnamon

METHOD

* In a small pan, make a smooth paste with the cocoa powder, honey, nut butter, if using, and a couple of tablespoons of the milk.

* Place over a medium heat and, using a balloon whisk, whisk in the rest of the milk. Keep whisking to ensure bits don’t get stuck to the bottom of the pan, while the cocoa heats up to the perfect drinking temperature (don’t allow the mixture to boil).

* Whisk in the cinnamon, pour into a mug and enjoy!

If you’re reading this from the loo, where you have been sitting for 15 minutes, you may already have an inkling about the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

It’s the hidden condition that affects at least 1 in 10 of us in the UK, leaving us clutching our stomachs in agony and cursing certain foods.

Unsurprisingly, problems with your gut can affect your mood – and it can be made even worse if you don’t fully understand the problem.

That’s why we have created this comprehensive guide to understanding the causes and symptoms of IBS, and how to treat the condition.

IBS: What are the symptoms?

No two cases of IBS are the same, and people experience different symptoms, with varying triggers.

However, the most common symptoms of IBS tend to be:

*

Stomach aches and bloating

*

Diarrhoea

*

Constipation

These can last for any amount of time, from a couple of hours in the evening to weeks or even months in the future.

Other symptoms you may experience include:

*

Flatulence

*

Incontinence

*

Nausea

*

Backache

*

Tiredness

If you think you may have IBS, you should consult your GP. Seek an urgent appointment if you have lost a lot of weight, turned pale, found a hard lump in your stomach, or if you are suffering from shortness of breath and heart palpitations.

When you visit the GP, they will talk to you about your symptoms. There is no absolute test for IBS, but they may take a blood test to check for other problems like coeliac disease, which has overlapping symptoms with IBS.

At a glance | How do I know if I have coeliac?[https://cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk/4ac3cb5d-3d1e-449d-bb45-895df9e9af71.html]

What causes IBS?

There are three common causes of IBS, according to Alison Reid, CEO of The IBS Network[https://www.theibsnetwork.org/] . Firstly, the after-effect of a powerful course of antibiotics, as this can unbalance the microbiome and make the bowel more sensitive. Secondly, you can have "post-traumatic IBS" in response to a series of distressing events. Or, finally, the condition may be caused by food poisoning – which is the case for 1 in 10 of IBS sufferers.

When you have IBS, your symptoms can be triggered by a combination of diet and lifestyle.

Certain foods can upset a sensitive gut[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/fodmap-advice-and-recipes/ibs-foods-to-avoid/], according to Reid. She advises you moderate your intake of: fatty foods, spices, caffeine, alcohol and certain vegetables – especially onions, broccoli, pulses, beans and lentils. These vegetables contain medium chain complex sugars that can’t be absorbed, so ferment in the colon, which causes flatulence and bloating.

A common IBS misconception is that it’s all about food intolerance. However, lifestyle factors are important. “Mood plays a big part in it. People’s anxiety and stress levels can cause them to have a sensitive gut,” Reid says. So you could have a bit of broccoli one week and be fine but the next week, if you’ve just had a row with your partner, the same meal could trigger your IBS symptoms.

If this is true, then why doesn’t everyone get stomach cramps if they have a chilli when they’re stressed? Not everyone has IBS because we all express stress differently, Reid explains. “Those with IBS express stress through issues in their gut in the same way people get neck ache or migraines.”

How can you treat IBS and minimise the symptoms?

Unfortunately, there is no magic pill for IBS and no absolute cure. “It’s a long-term condition that people can learn to live well with but it’s about them taking some responsibility to self-manage the condition,” Reid says.

Lifestyle changes are essential in learning to live with the symptoms. Cook using fresh vegetables, exercise and make time to relax. Plus avoid overloading on caffeine and alcohol and moderate your intake of fatty and spicy foods. The NHS also advise you don’t eat quickly or skip meals.

Invest in a food diary, writing down what you eat each day and whether there are any adverse effects. As IBS is individual to each person, you may find there are other foods you need to avoid. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/thought-had-gluten-intolerance-new-gut-test-transformed-way/] If, however, you find this list seriously restricts your dietary choices, go back to your GP and they may prescribe medication or recommend you to a dietitian.

A gut health clinic may be also beneficial, as Telegraph writer Claire Irvin found on her trip to the clinic that changed her life. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/gut-health-clinic-changed-life/]

If stress is your major trigger, you may benefit from mindfulness or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), a talking therapy that helps to relieve anxiety. One recent study followed 558 serious IBS sufferers [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2019/04/10/irritable-bowel-syndrome-psychological-new-study-shows/] who were either put on a programme of CBT or received standard care. Researchers found that patients in the CBT group were more likely to have experienced significant improvement in their symptoms after a year. They also reported a lower level of IBS's impact on their work and daily life.

Support groups can also be beneficial to your mental health, to reassure you that you’re not alone in this condition - find a group through The IBS Network[https://www.theibsnetwork.org/] .

Katie Lolas is starting a food, exercise and body image revolution after ditching her scales, rigid exercise plan and obsessive calories counting

Katie Lolas has always had a figure most women would envy.

But her slim build was hiding a painful secret - and herdiet[https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/diet]was the cause.

Katie, from Sydney, Australia, now has tens of thousands of followers on Instagram, where she's known as the queen of food prep and body positivity.

She still loves towork out[https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/fitness]- but only doing things that she loves and which nuture her body.

But things haven't always been this way for full-time teacher Katie.

'It makes me special': Woman embraces huge birthmark in stunning Instagram snaps[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/it-makes-special-woman-embraces-14159685]

She admits she used to obsessively count calories, exercised like a demon and did all she could to ensure she stayed what she believed was the perfect weight for her.

That magic number was 68kg - 10stone 7pounds - and as well as religiously monitoring what she put into her body, super fit Katie would go without eating for huge periods of time.

She explained: "I was always slim. I would describe myself as 'skinny fat' but in my mind I had to be thin.

"As I started to get a little older I thought I had to do lots and lots of cardio and count calories obsessively.

"All I did was cardio, running and walking and keeping my weight below 70kg, 68kg was where I thought I needed to be to look my best."

'I spent months in hospital with anorexia - now I help women love their bodies'[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/i-hospitalised-anorexia-now-help-14052055]

But after suffering from crippling stomach pain, full-time English and drama teacher Katie was diagnosed with IBS and knew things had to change.

She said: "I was always going to get that condition but going for long periods of time, restricting calories and not eating as much as I needed to made the issue worse."

Not only that, Katie's gruelling training regime of huge amounts of cardio had caused another problem.

She explained: "I wasn't doing any strength training and I'm 6ft tall. I didn't have any core strength and I was constantly injuring my back.

"It got to the stage where I would hurt my back getting out of the car. I had poor gut health and poor back health."

Then three years ago Katie had her light bulb moment - and has never looked back.

She said: "I realised I needed to make a change and I went to see a nutrionist to teach me how to eat properly.

"It hadn't mattered to me what I was eating as long as I was only eating the right amount of calories, which was about 1,700.

"I was lethargic all the time and I was so obsessed at keeping my weight at 68kg.

"With professional help I started to understand that I could eat more and weigh more and feel better and look better. I look healthy now.

"I feel healthier, I'm strong and it just completely changed my life."

Her husband Scott, known as SG on her hugely popular Instagram page, has been massively supportive of Katie's transformation.

She said: "He was actually the catalyst to me changing.

"I was in a lot of pain with my gut, I had constant cramps and was going to the bathroom all the time. My gut health wasn't the best."

Katie admits strength training had scared her previously.

And she became anxious when she saw her weight starting to creep up.

Katie said: "I wanted to revert back to my cardio and restricting my calories but I looked in the mirror and could see what the reality was.

"I was feeling better and I wasn't hurting my back. I had more energy and it was such a turn around.

"I was looking better and feeling better."

And her new outlook towards food and exercise transformed her into the queen of food prep.

Katie explained: "I'm a teacher so I can't just pop out to a cafe to have my lunch so I need to make sure I bring healthy choices to work with me.

"It's a really good strategy, eating regularly and eating more and I've stopped caring about calories.

"I'd encourage people to be organised because this is a sustainable strategy.

"It's about finding something you enjoy doing that makes you feel good. If you can find that then the results will come."

And as well as feeling and looking better, not obsessing about calories had an unexpected benefit.

Katie said: "As soon as I stopped obsessing about the scales and found exercise that I enjoyed it made me feel strong.

"I was sharing the story of my transformation but I don't think I'm going to change too much more now, which is why I include fewer pictures.

"I don't want to compete in a bikini competition but those things don't matter to me.

"I started posting my progress onInstagram[https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/instagram]so I had some accountability.

"My close friends and social network aren't very health focused and I was looking for other women to connect with."

Inspriational Katie now wants to use her story to persuade others to ditch the scales, calorie counting and obsessive exercising.

Katie

Instead she wants them to focus on doing things they enjoy and eating tasty food that's good for their body.

Katie said: "I mentally associated being smaller with being lighter. We weigh ourselves because it's an accessible measure.

"I found so much freedom in sharing my honest journey online. There is so much support.

"I know a lot of girls compare themselves to people online but I have found the strength to be myself and own my wieght and my height.

"Meal plannning is key but it needs to be sustainable for you. Healthy eating doesn't have to just be chicken and broccoli, you can get interesting with your food."

here

here

Soul Stories

Share amazing stories DMJ

The old adage says ‘you are what you eat’ – but there is almost daily new evidence that what’s inside us, the quality of the microbiomes in our body, can affect everything from our mental health to our immune system. Claire Irvin takes tough action on her tummy

It was Hippocrates who said, ‘All disease begins in the gut,’ yet over 2,000 years later, as science enables an ever-greater understanding of the microbiomes [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/parents-must-stop-beating-childrens-gut-health/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/gut-feeling-home-microbiome-test-offers-glimpse-healthier/] (collections of bacteria, fungi and microbes in our bodies which help fight germs, break down food and produce vitamins), you could be forgiven for thinking it’s a new medical discovery. Already this year, scientists have discovered more than 100 new types of bacteria or ‘gut microbiota’ in the human gut, and have made further advances in understanding how our guts, brains and microbiomes interact and affect everything from our immune systems to our moods.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/body/looking-gut-could-transform-health/]

Low levels of key bacteria in your gut can lead to depression, and there is now evidence that dementia starts in the gut microbiome. Bowel disorders, such as coeliac disease, irritable bowel syndrome or leaky gut, can mean you’re more likely to suffer from autoimmune diseases, depression and anxiety.

Symptoms of poor gut health include abdominal pain, bloating after meals, reflux or flatulence, but also less obvious ones, including headaches, fatigue, joint pain and immune system weakness. Gastrointestinal problems[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/nutrition/diet/take-care-digestive-system/] – so prevalent in our time-pressed, high-stressed, processed lives – are not just digestive issues. They can be the root cause for other physical and mental-health issues – not to mention making you fat.

And I should know. For several years, abdominal pain, bloating, restless nights and fatigue have become my norm. Long hours and a testing commute, breakfast and lunch on the go, a busy schedule fuelled by vending-machine caffeine hits, and a work life punctuated with business dinners and drinks receptions haven’t helped. A GP once identified my symptoms as IBS, and prescribed healthy eating and a balanced approach to work and home life.

Easier said than done. While psychologically I thrive on ‘busy-ness’ and a managed level of ‘healthy’ stress, even when I have detoxed and eaten puritanically healthily (dairy- and gluten-free meals, no caffeine and alcohol, snacking on fruit), the pain has often got unfathomably worse – a depressing cycle that has had me reaching for the cheese and wine before a fortnight was out.

But things came to a head last year when a health MOT pointed to a steady increase in weight and my symptoms were aggravated by pretty much anything. I felt constantly cowed by the pain – if I could have spent all day doubled up, I would have. I’d spend work meetings trying not to be distracted by stomach cramps, and have to take ‘a moment’ away from my desk several times a day. I’d lie in bed in the morning and immediately start stressing over what to wear to best mask the bloating, and what to eat to try to limit the pain.

Thanks to thrice-weekly gym classes, I was physically fitter and stronger than I’d been since having children nine years earlier, yet my complexion was grey and puffy, my waistline a distant memory, and even when I felt at my most relaxed, family and friends would ask why I was ‘edgy’. (NB: if there’s anything guaranteed to push someone who looks on the edge, over it, it’s this.) What they meant, of course, was that I constantly looked (and felt) pained, had very little patience, didn’t love being cuddled and wasn’t – well, shall we say, very fragrant company of an evening.

Over a cuppa (green tea, since you ask), a friend regaled me about a transformative health kick at a Lanserhof clinic. She too had suffered problems with her gut,[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/thought-had-gluten-intolerance-new-gut-test-transformed-way/] though comparatively mild next to the ones I was experiencing, and I burst into tears at the realisation of how bad I felt. And so I did something I’d always mentally filed under ‘for the rich, bored and spoilt’: booked myself into the same hotel, hundreds of miles away from home and family, in the pursuit of my own well-being.

The Lanserhof Lans is a luxury modernist bolthole nestled in the Tyrolean mountainside of Austria. Lanserhof practises the LANS Med Concept, a diagnostic programme based on the renowned physician FX Mayr’s approach to gut health that combines holistic medicine with regeneration and prevention.

Since its launch more than 30 years ago, the brand has opened two further resorts and a medical gym in Germany – and this May will see the opening of a new London outpost, Lanserhof at The Arts Club. Set to be one of the world’s foremost state-of-the-art medical gyms, this facility will be the first of its kind to offer members an MRI scan as part of its training programme, which includes bespoke menus, cryotherapy chambers, butler service and price-on-application memberships. It promises to be the spiritual home of a whole new tribe of gut-health devotees focused on how good a better functioning gut can make them feel.

‘Self-care is healthcare,’ my friend reminded me by text, as I boarded the plane to Innsbruck wondering what the hell I was letting myself in for. ‘You’re doing this for them,’ my husband reassured me, as I phoned home during my airport transfer, my children’s reproachful farewell faces fresh in my mind. ‘Maybe this won’t be so bad after all,’ I thought on arrival, as I inhaled a breath of soft, pine-scented mountain air.

However, my first reaction to Lanserhof was dismay. There was a dining room – and people in it were actually eating. What about the fasting I’d come here for?

My confusion continued through the first evening. Emerging from my cocoon-like bedroom, I was shown to my seat (guests are allocated a seat on a table for four for the duration of their stay, to foster an atmosphere of conviviality but presumably to encourage chewing not chatting) and served three courses of super-healthy but very definitely solid fine dining: soup, fish and vegetables, and fruit.

The next morning, my regeneration started in earnest. After a medical examination and analysis (I do love an analysis), each guest gets their own programme based on the six pillars of modern FX Mayr therapy: rest, cleansing, training, substitution, exercise and mindfulness. In other words, a holistic health-over[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/nutrition/the-30-day-gut-makeover/] that is designed so you can continue it at home.

My programme comprised an array of treatments and analytics combining natural healing techniques with the latest medicine and nutritional insights. The first step is the detoxification and deacidification of the body, to best enable it to regenerate and respond to different treatments.

Each programme works alongside optional group classes such as Pilates, yoga, talks on gut health and early morning ‘wake up in nature’ walks – nature is central to the Lanserhof approach, and gentle gymnastics plus a forest power walk are a wonderful way to wake up, particularly if you have no breakfast to look forward to.

Are probiotics the solution?[https://cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk/af5fc2ec-ca02-4d6f-aa57-25c10ff9e351.html]

Food – or lack thereof – punctuates the day (and your mind), with predestined appointments with supplements (Epsom salts first thing to flush out your system; basenpulver alkaline powder three times a day to reset your alkaline levels; bitters – solutions that support your digestive function by stimulating bitter receptors on the tongue, stomach, gall bladder and pancreas – before you eat to ensure adequate salivation to digest your food). Clear vegetable soup is served between 10am and 12pm to great excitement. (It’s savoury! It’s salty! It’s not tea!)

Oh yes, the tea. Tea is a big deal at Lanserhof. It comes in lots of different varieties, it’s available from self-serve stations around the clock, it’s delicious and I couldn’t get enough of it – apart from during soup time, of course, and mealtimes: you’re not allowed to drink half an hour before, during or after meals, to avoid diluting stomach acids and inhibiting digestion.

As it turned out, my programme, called the Energy Cuisine plan, did include food – albeit gluten-, dairy- and histamine-free. Breakfast is a menu of carbohydrate ‘chewers’ such as buckwheat toast or a spelt roll served with avocado purée or non-dairy ‘cheese’; lunch is a jacket potato and the same spreads. No dinner means your body has time to fully digest what you’ve eaten.

Each mouthful is meant to be chewed 30 to 40 times to encourage saliva to aid digestion. This also relieves the stomach, as it doesn’t have to work as hard to break down the food you’ve eaten, whereas hasty eating can be damaging and lead to uncomforatble bloating. For the first couple of days, this feels very odd. After that, it’s addictive. (If not very sociable.)

The days that followed were full of discoveries. Appointments with your personal doctor double up as health therapy sessions. Not eating in the evening was surprisingly easy. And once I’d got through day three, when my caffeine/histamine/ sugar withdrawal symptoms gave me the worst headache I’ve ever suffered (it turns out there’s a – secret recipe – supplement to cure that, too), I woke up hungry but full of energy.

Gut health food heroes[https://cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk/92fc7ff6-b208-49d5-9735-fdf91647601a.html]

Many of the treatments to aid digestion are hi-tech and super-specialised: cryotherapy [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/body/cryotherapy-can-help-lose-weight-look-younger-feel-better/] (spending three minutes at a time in sub-zero chambers ranging from -10 to -100 degrees celsius), Kniepp (alternating a warm foot bath with a very cold one) and stomach massage. However you can learn circulation-boosting techniques – a cold blast after your hot shower or a hot-water bottle wrapped in a damp cloth and applied to your abdomen for 20 relaxing minutes – and use them at home.

There were other life-changing insights to be had. Tested for intolerances[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/think-have-food-allergy-probably-dont/], I discovered off-the-scale fructose malabsorption (no wonder my fruit-full healthy-eating plan always failed). Dairy protein and gluten are not my friends either. The puffiness? Histamine intolerance (look it up: it’s everywhere, including all fermented foods, tomatoes, and – eek – wine). Onions and garlic were once the bedrock of my home cooking – not any more. And while calories are no longer the focus of healthy eating, it turns out that on an average day without high-impact exercise, I can only burn 1,500 of them. No wonder, then, that during my short stay I averaged a weight loss of just over 1lb a day.

Read more: I thought I had a gluten intolerance – until a new gut test transformed the way I eat[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/thought-had-gluten-intolerance-new-gut-test-transformed-way/]

After just 24 hours, I had the feeling of being able to stand up straight – the first time, I realised, for years that I’d not been cowed by internal discomfort. After 36 hours, a fellow guest proclaimed I looked like ‘a different Claire’. I certainly felt like one. The tea and easily digested food – along with the nightly hot-water bottle – eased my insides. My bloated tummy deflated like a balloon (and almost as quickly). I felt light: in body and in spirit.

You can see why many of my fellow guests had been before, some returning two or three times a year. Talk was of the debilitating diseases their stays had reversed or cured –diabetes, cirrhosis, colitis. There were whispers of even more serious ailments that had been miraculously reversed.

365 RHS[https://cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk/990040e0-4ca0-4592-af10-b9842ac1af7a.html]

Thanks to the Energy Cuisine plan, continuing the good work when I left was straightforward. I’ve reintroduced some histamine and fructose gradually. And, as I was told, ‘it’s impossible to overeat if you chew correctly’. Alcohol is now an occasional treat, not a daily pick-me-up, and I sleep the better for it. Shortening the amount of time my digestive system is active by eating two meals a day is easier than you might think – my husband and I now skip our evening meal every Monday to Thursday.

I try to follow a healthy-eating plan, but it’s neither obsessive nor restricting in the way other diets have been – cutting out a few evening meals means it matters less if I fall off the wagon for a weekend or even a holiday, and has helped maintain my original Lanserhof weight loss.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/body/can-you-lose-weight-without-exercise/]

This was also the first winter I didn’t succumb to a chest infection. My stomach rumbled in a meeting this week, but I didn’t inwardly flinch, waiting for the cramps that used to follow; I was just hungry – if happier and healthier than I can remember being. And cuddlier…

Read more about gut health:

Seven things you can do right now to improve your gut health[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/nutrition/seven-things-can-do-right-now-improve-gut-health/]

Antibiotics can harm your gut health - here's how to undo the damage[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/nutrition/perfect-meal-heal-gut-course-antibiotics/]

How looking after your gut could transform your health ​[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/body/looking-gut-could-transform-health/]

Seven nights at Lanserhof Lans starts from £3,670, inclusive of the LANS Med Basic Package and single occupancy in a double bedroom; lanserhof.com/en[https://www.lanserhof.com/en/lans]

A growing body of scientific evidence underscores the role probiotics, or beneficial live microbes, play in optimal health, from strengthening the immune system to easing symptoms of mood and stress.

Yet despite the proven positive effects of these live microbes, many people don’t fully understand how to incorporate them into their daily regimes.

“Probiotics have been well-researched,” says Sara Celik, a Toronto-based naturopathic doctor. “Their role has been studied for immune health, gastrointestinal health, including constipation, gas and bloating, and issues relevant to women, like yeast overgrowth and urinary tract infections.”

While some people know supplemental probiotics can be useful in counteracting the side effects of antibiotics, they may not be as familiar with their function outside of this scenario.

Experts suggest taking a daily probiotic to ensure the body has more good bacteria. “Each day we are exposed to antibiotics in our soil, food, and water [i][https://secure.tgam.arcpublishing.com/ellipsis/#_edn1] , which may disrupt the balance of bacteria in the gut,” Celik says, “Higher than normal stress levels, a diet low in fibre, and other factors which can also cause dysbiosis or microbial imbalances.”

While the relationship between the gut and gut microbes is intrinsic, researchers have determined that their interaction is profound. “Although we’re still in the early stages of research, the gut-brain link is attracting attention worldwide,” she notes. “Some people are now referring to the gut as ‘the second brain’ since they are connected via the vagus nerve. It appears to be a bi-directional pathway used by gut bacteria to communicate with the brain.”

It is also important to note that 95 percent of serotonin – the body’s happiness hormone – are produced by enterochromaffin cells in the gut. “With the gut and the brain so closely connected, an imbalance in the gut microbiome could increase symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety,” Celik says.

In one recent clinical study, researchers looked at the effects of taking a probiotic formulation with Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 and Bifidobacterium longum R0175 – for 30 days. They found oral intake showed a beneficial effect on symptoms of mood andstress.

Renew Life[http://www.renewlife.ca/] ® offers Mood + Stress, a formulation containing both probiotic strains.

New research is also looking at the potential benefits of probiotics for menopausal women. There is evidence to support the use of supplements to address common conditions linked to menopause such as recurrent urinary tract infections (a common condition in menopausal women due to the thinning of the tissue in the urethra), bone health, and improved mood.

Studies are also looking at the correlation between probiotics and bone density, which diminishes as a woman’s estrogen levels drops. Data, published by the Journal of Clinical Investigation[https://www.jci.org/articles/view/86062] , examined two groups of mice. The ones not receiving daily doses of probiotics lost half of their bone density within one month, compared to the probiotic group which remained stable and experienced no change.

While the impact of probiotics is becoming more well-known, particularly through food sources (such as yogurt and other fermented foods), probiotic supplements can provide a much higher dose. A 2017 study by University of Toronto found that the level of probiotics in some yogurt was 25 times lower than what clinical trials found to be effective. That underscores the need for taking daily supplements in capsule form. “Capsules can have a delivery system that aids in the safe arrival of the live bacteria to the intestines,” Celik says.

Renew Life[http://www.renewlife.ca/] ®, for example, clearly lists the amount of active cultures and the type of strains contained in each capsule, which is helpful for selecting the right health benefits from probiotics.

Fact or Fallacy: How well do you understand probiotics?

* FALLACY: You only need probiotics if you’re taking antibiotics. Even if you’re not taking antibiotics, research shows supplementing with probiotics can offer other health benefits, including better immune health, improved mood.

* FALLACY: Your microbiome – the trillions of microorganisms that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract – is determined within the first two years of life and you can’t do much about it. We have the ability to improve healthy gut flora in adulthood by eating healthy, and taking probiotic supplements.

* FALLACY: You can eat yogurt to get the same level of probiotics as a supplement can provide. You’d have to consume as many as 50 cups a day of yogurt to get the same amount as a single capsule of a probiotic supplement.

Citations:

Antiobiotics in soil, food, water: Ma J, Zhai G (2014) Antibiotic Contamination: A Global Environment Issue. J Bioremed Biodeg 5:e157. doi:10.4172/2155-6199.1000e157

Seratonin levels in gut: Psychobiotics in mental health, neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders. January 2019, Journal of Food and Drug Analysis. https://www.jfda-online.com/article/S1021-9498(19)30015-8/pdf[https://www.jfda-online.com/article/S1021-9498(19)30015-8/pdf]

Anxiety/depression and gut health link: The neuroactive potential of the human gut microbiota in quality of life and depression, Nature Microbiology, February 2019. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-018-0337-x[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-018-0337-x]

Mice study for bone density: Sex steroid deficiency–associated bone loss is microbiota dependent and prevented by probiotics, Journal of Clinical Investigation, April 2016. https://www.jci.org/articles/view/86062[https://www.jci.org/articles/view/86062]

Yogurt and probiotic claims: Mismatch between Probiotic Benefits in Trials versus Food Products, Nutrients, April 2017. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409739/[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409739/]

Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.

Follow this link to view this story on globeandmail.com: Gut feeling: Probiotics do far more than support digestive health[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/adv/article-gut-feeling-probiotics-do-far-more-than-support-digestive-health/]

The Globe and Mail

THE PROGNOSIS

Bernie Sanders – the senator who first coined the term "Medicare-for-all" – will unveil an updated, expanded version of his bill this morning. And it's one that would dramatically overhaul the U.S. health-care system and promise an even more generous array of benefits to Americans.

Sanders's new Medicare-for-all bill will propose to cover long-term care -- a steeply expensive health benefit that shows progressives' increasing willingness to lay out their pie-in-the-sky dreams, even if they are unrealistic.

That goes far beyond what Sanders proposed when he first introduced Medicare-for-all in September 2017 -- and is much like a House version introduced in February by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.)

Sanders's new bill will again be cosponsored by 14 Democratic senators, including four running for president: Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts (check out The Post's graphic charting where candidates stand on Medicare-for-all). Sanders's office said the number of national organizations in support of the bill has more than doubled, to 62.

Yet it's clear from recent history how hard it is to create a sustainable program for seniors and people with disabilities who need ongoing care. Look no further than the Affordable Care Act.

Congress tried to set up a long-term care program as part of the 2010 health-care law. But the Obama administration was forced to suspend it just a year later, underscoring the enduring challenges of paying for ongoing care for seniors and people with disabilities.

The CLASS Act, short for the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, offered daily cash benefits of at least $50 to beneficiaries who paid a monthly premium. It was aimed at solving a perplexing problem for the elderly in the United States, who currently must purchase a private plan or pay out of pocket until they're poor enough to qualify for long-term care services through Medicaid.

But Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services at the time, declared in 2011 that she couldn't find a way to make the program pay for itself and suspended it indefinitely. Congress later repealed the program as part of a 2013 budget agreement.

Sanders's office said its proposal for long-term care isn't the same approach as CLASS. But its addition certainly won't make the Medicare-for-all proposal more palatable to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who controls the fate of such legislation in her chamber and has so far resisted committing to a vote on it. Yesterday she told hospitals that she's more interested in improving the ACA than in passing Medicare-for-all -- which would upending the existing, largely private health insurance system.

"We all share a common goal: affordable quality health care coverage for all," Pelosi said in a speech at the American Hospital Association conference. "There are many paths to this goal. You've heard of some of them."

"Medicare-for-all, single-payer, whatever it is, all of that creative tension is valuable as we go forward," she added. "But we can't go down any path unless you strengthen the Affordable Care Act."

There certainly appear to be some headwinds behind Medicare-for-all bills. In addition to the 2020 candidates who have endorsed Sanders's bill, more than 100 House members have signed onto Jayapal's bill. 

But the leaders of the top House committees with health-care jurisdiction – House Ways and Means and House Energy and Commerce – have been working on drug pricing legislation instead. Any serious attempt to pass a Medicare-for-all bill would almost certainly involve hearings before both those panels.

And House Rules and House Budget – two other committees that have said they'd consider such proposals – have yet to move on Medicare-for-all. A Budget spokesman told Health 202 no such hearings have yet been scheduled.

Capitol Hill Republicans are clearly happy for the health-care conversation to swing back towards Medicare-for-all, after President Trump went on his recent tear pressuring Congress to again try to repeal and replace the ACA. Speaking at the same hospital conference yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell earned applause when he referred to Medicare-for-all as "Medicare-for-none."

"This radical scheme would be serious bad news for America's hospital industry," McConnell told the hospital leaders. "You should not be the guinea pigs in some far-left social experiment."

McConnell was speaking to a receptive audience. Hospitals have partnered with other corners of the health-care industry specifically to oppose any form of Medicare-for-all.

"Medicare for all is the opposite of practical, and it destroys our system rather than building on its successes," said Lauren Crawford Shaver, executive director of the Partnership for America's Health Care Future, in a statement on Sanders's bill shared in advance with Health 202. "That is the wrong way forward for America."

The Hill's Peter Sullivan:

Larry Levitt, a vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation:

AHH, OOF and OUCH AHH: Attorney General William Barr defended the administration's refusal to defend the Affordable Care Act, telling lawmakers on a House Appropriations subcommittee that it's his job to argue the case, and declining to comment on the merits of policy, our Post colleagues Karoun Demirjian and Matt Zapotosky report.

"I'm a lawyer. I'm not in charge of health care," Barr told lawmakers.

"I can't imagine that you would take that kind of a dramatic, drastic action without even trying to evaluate the consequences for the American consumers, the people using the health care," Rep. Matthew Cartwright (D-Pa.) told Barr.

But Barr dismissed policy concerns from Democratic lawmakers. "If this was such a hokey position to take, what are you worried about?" Barr asked. "You say that administration's position is hokey and then you say the sky is falling?"

He also dismissed charges from Democrats that the lawsuit would gut health-care protections. "The president's made clear that he wants strong health-care legislation and he wants to protect preexisting conditions, in the event that the court accepts the legal arguments we've presented," Barr said.

— Meanwhile, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit yesterday granted the request from Wisconsin to withdraw from the Texas-led coalition of states seeking to invalidate the health-care law.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D):

— Back in Washington, the chairmen of five House committees sent letters to the White House, Justice Department and top Trump health officials demanding information about the administration's call for the ACA to be invalidated.

"The Department owes Congress and the public an explanation as to why it refuses to enforce the law," the Democrats wrote in a letter to Barr.

OOF: The Trump administration is considering a revised version of its family separation policy. The new policy would "force parents to choose whether to remain detained as a family or agree to a separation to keep their children out of custody, according to administration officials," our colleagues Nick, Josh Dawsey and Rachael Bade report. 

The administration considered the policy as Trump yesterday denied reports that he has plans to separate families again. "We're not looking to do that, now," Trump said about whether plans to revive the "zero tolerance" policy. He added: "But it brings a lot more people to the border when you don't do it."

Our colleagues write: "Administration officials said Tuesday that while a return to the previous family separation tactic, known as 'zero tolerance,' is not in the works, the White House is considering a 'binary choice' policy, which would give parents the option of remaining in detention with their children or allowing their children to be separated and placed with another caregiver." 

Trump also falsely claimed that his predecessor carried out the same policy, telling reporters that he was the one who stopped it. "I'm the one who stopped it...President Obama had child separation," Trump said in a claim our colleague and Post Fact Checker Salvador Rizzo writes is a "four Pinocchio claim, yet Trump keeps repeating it when he's pressed on family separations." 

OUCH: New York City officials declared a public health emergency yesterday, ordering mandatory measles vaccinations amid an outbreak in Brooklyn. At least 285 people have contracted the disease in the city since September, and many of the reports have been in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, our Post colleagues Alex Horton, Lindsey Bever Lena H. Sun, Lenny Bernstein and Gabrielle Paluch report. It's the broadest vaccination order in the nation in nearly three decades, they add. 

"This is the epicenter of a measles outbreak that is very, very troubling and must be dealt with immediately," Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said at a news conference. "The measles vaccine works. It is safe, it is effective, it is time-tested … The faster everyone heeds the order, the faster we can lift it."

Anyone who resists the mandatory vaccine order could be fined up to $1,000. The orders include four Zip codes in the region, which includes a concentration of Orthodox Jews, some of whom have resisted vaccines. On Monday night, city health officials said yeshivas in Williamsburg that do not comply will face fines and possible closure.

"Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also announced Tuesday that they were setting up a special team to oversee and manage the agency's response to ongoing measles outbreaks," our colleagues write."The agency said it 'continues to be seriously concerned about the accelerating numbers of measles cases being confirmed nationally.'"

HEALTH ON THE HILL — Pharmaceutical benefit manager executives got their turn yesterday before the Senate Finance Committee, whose members grilled the leaders about why they can't do more to create transparency in their negotiation process. But overall, the PBMs came out of the hearing relatively unscathed. 

During his opening statement, the top Democrat on the Committee Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) criticized the secrecy around the industry.

"The committee is looking at one of the most confounding, gnarled riddles in American health care today," he said. "What these pharmaceutical benefit managers actually do to take in all of these profits is a mystery. The deals they strike with drugmakers and insurers are a mystery, how much they're pocketing out of the rebates they negotiate is a mystery… Whether PBMs bring any real value to taxpayers is a mystery."

Later, as our colleague Christopher Rowland writes, Wyden referenced an example where CVS Caremark required patients to get special approval to purchase an Amgen cholesterol treatment with a lower list price than a more costly version of the same drug. CVS Caremark Executive Vice President Derica Rice explained Amgen gave a bigger rebate for the costlier version, which made the net price lower. Wyden called this an example of PBM "gouging." "It sure looks like you all are taking deliberate action to pad your bottom line at the expense of patients,'' Wyden said.

Some other highlights from the hearing: 

* The committee's leaders, chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Wyden, expressed interest in working on legislation related to PBM transprency. Grassley said he and Wyden are committed to "working on a bipartisan basis to bring drug costs down. Our next step is to work with Committee members to develop policies to help Medicare and Medicaid patients and protect the taxpayers."

* Wyden also asked the executives if they would support legislation to ban spread pricing in Medicare and Medicaid. Three executives signaled they would support it, one said the company would be neutral and another said they would not oppose.

S&P Global News's Donna Young: 

* Grassley signaled he did not believe it was right to eliminate the PBMs from the drug pricing chain. "This system of private entities negotiating is what I envisioned as an author of the Part D program," Grassley said. "I still believe that this is absolutely the right approach." He added: "It's our duty to understand how the system is working today and what we can do to improve it."

* Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) seemed to point fingers at the drug makers during his questioning. "It's got to be interesting to you all to witness how the pharmaceutical industry has been able to take political pressure on their pricing and turn it into, with political jiujitsu of an almost magical variety, pressure on their greatest adversary, the most powerful force for pushing prices down," he said to the PBM executives. "I appreciate the scrutiny of the PBMs but let's not go away without remembering they are a $23 billion out of a $480 billion problem."

— The House Ways and Means Committee advanced bipartisan drug pricing legislation yesterday that aims to increase transparency for consumers. The Prescription Drug Sunshine, Transparency, Accountability and Reporting (STAR) Act would require drug makers to justify price hikes for existing drugs and require the HHS Secretary to disclose rebates, discounts and other price concessions PBMs get on a public website, among other requirements.

In a statement, Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), the lobbying group for PBMs commended lawmakers efforts to increase transparency on drug prices, but expressed concern that "the current version of the legislation requiring additional reporting on negotiated rates may inadvertently provide drugmakers and drugstores access to competitive information, such as negotiated rebates, discounts, or price concessions."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) praised movement on the measure: 

— Pelosi called on the Trump administration to keep the president's campaign promise to bring down drug prices, urging him to sign a bill to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

During remarks at the American Hospital Association conference, she said she wants to "insist that [HHS Secretary Alex Azar] negotiate for lower drug prices," The Hill's Peter Sullivan reports.  

"Together we must hold the president to his campaign promises to ensure that he signs this legislation when it reaches his desk," Pelosi said. "Every time I speak to him he says, 'Yes, yes we've got to lower the cost of prescription drugs.' We want to enable him to do that."

— And here are a few more good reads: 

AGENCY ALERT INDUSTRY RX OPIOID OPTICS STATE SCAN MEDICAL MISSIVES REPRODUCTIVE WARS DAYBOOK Today

* The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations holds a hearing on the rising cost of insulin.

SUGAR RUSH Stephen Colbert on the president's claim that the Obama administration is to blame for family separations: 

It’s celebrated in emojis, party bags and board games, piled on cup cakes and meringues – and there’s even a museum dedicated to it. How did we get here?

‘I was a little hesitant about setting up the National Poo Museum[https://www.poomuseum.org/],” begins Daniel Roberts, co-creator of the Isle of Wight’s most intriguing new tourist destination. “I thought, am I going to be socially contaminated? Are people going to point at me? Am I going to become Mr Poo?”

He needn’t have worried. The museum’s exhibits – encased in balls of resin, like something from a slightly troubling reimagining of Jurassic Park – were a hit. During the year in which the attraction was housed at the Isle of Wight Zoo, the zoo reported its busiest-ever summer. “People just loved it,” Roberts says. “We were nobodies, but because we mentioned poo, the whole world came running.” The museum’s arrival couldn’t have been better timed because, as Roberts puts it: “In the two years since we launched, we’ve seen an explosion in poo.”

This is what we might term the sheitgeist. Is there a parent in the land whose child has not arrived home in the last two years clutching a party bag containing some sort of poo-related item: an emoji keyring, a poo-themed eraser, a pot of white or rainbow-coloured “unicorn poo” slime or putty? A-list party bags are not exempt: at this year’s Oscars, coveted goodie bags given to nominees included a toilet plunger in the shape of a smiling poo[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/feb/22/oscars-gift-bags-2019]. The “pile of poop” emoji may have peaked in cultural terms when Patrick Stewart voiced the cheery plop in 2017’s The Emoji Movie[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESCkKYOjjek], but nothing could stop this movement. Last August, according to Google Trends, poop became bigger than Beyoncé; last month the Unko Museum opened in Japan, offering interactive exhibits, a ball pit (maybe give that one a miss), games and art. Its mascot, Umberto, is “a philosopher who recalls the truth of the universe on the toilet seat”.

Bowel-based interests are nothing new – whoopee cushions date back to ancient Rome and a Sumerian one-liner from 1900 BC, cited as the world’s oldest joke, centres on flatulence. But poo merchandise has leapt from the joke shop to the high street. In 2019 Play-Doh offers a special Poop Troop set[https://boingboing.net/2018/10/03/just-dropped-play-dohs-poop.html] containing four brown pots promising “squishy, poopy fun”. Unicorn excrement tops Asda cupcakes[https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/worklife/a12779545/unicorn-poop-biscuits/] and BBC Good Food offers directions on how to create poop meringues[https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/unicorn-poo-meringues]. There’s fun for all the family with board games like Hook-A-Poop, Doggie Poo and Don’t Step In It. Claire’s Accessories has sold poo-themed earrings and lip gloss. For a poo nightlight, find your local branch of The Entertainer. Head to Hamleys for a Poopsie Slime Surprise Assortment. Drones configured as flying dung? Sure, why not: £4 on Amazon.

Last year H Grossman, Scotland’s biggest toy manufacturer, sold half a million pots of unicorn poo[https://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/must-have-christmas-toy-is-unicorn-poo-1-8904569]. Spokesperson Julie Pittilla says Grossman also offers dog poo (“That one comes with two flies – a classy touch”), unicorn poo, llama poo, mermaid poo (“It brings up all sorts of images, doesn’t it?”), dinosaur poo, flamingo poo and sloth poo. “Kids have always loved poo,” Pittilla declares. “It’s a bit of defiance – it’s like walking into a room full of vicars and shouting something rude.”

Creating similar products is Tobar, whose sub-brand The Throne Room offers a tightly coiled “poo hat” and something called the Floater. “We’ve got a pack of two wind-up poos,” adds CEO David Mordecai. “You can put them in the bath so you have poos racing against each other.”

Top items routinely sell in the tens of thousands, Mordecai notes. “Poo sells. I don’t think 2019 will see any decline in demand.” I ask whether there’s been pushback from retailers – regardless of demand, it’s hard to imagine enthusiasm from stores like John Lewis. “There are some retailers who have said: ‘We just can’t sell it, we’re not allowed’,” Mordecai admits. He has been able to get poo in through the back door, though: “Some people wouldn’t take the brown poo, but they will take unicorn poo.”

The importance of visual differentiation, echoed in the linguistic nuance that finds some brands eschewing “poo” in favour of the more playful, less graphic “poop”, is clear when you compare Britain’s National Poo Museum with Japan’s Unko Museum. The former is a celebration of actual excreta, some human, while Yokohama’s answer is all about cute, colourful, kawaii-style[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3275459/Kawaii-style-born-Japan-taking-world.html] poo with origins in the early-80s manga Dr Slump and its character Poop-Boy[https://drslump.fandom.com/wiki/Poop], often cited as inspiration for the “pile of poop” emoji that first appeared on Japanese phones in the late 90s.

Before recent developments the concept of cheery, anthropomorphised excrementertainment was already familiar to many. This year sees the 20th anniversary of South Park character Mr Hankey scoring a worldwide hit with his single Mr Hankey, The Christmas Poo[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ABUYLeyR3k], with its lyric: “A present from down below, spreading joy with a ‘Howdy-Ho!’/He’s seen the love inside of you, ’cause he’s a piece of poo”. Hankey had a real-life counterpart in Tió de Nadal, a Catalan festive tradition involving a pile of logs being “fed” until it excretes nougat, but the South Park creation’s comic power lay in the fact that, surely, nobody in the real world would ever celebrate or play with poo.

Yet here we are. Last summer toy giant Mattel launched a game called Flushin’ Frenzy[https://eu.usatoday.com/story/life/allthemoms/2018/12/05/gross-toys-like-pooping-dogs-and-pimple-poppers-2018-s-big-toy-trend/2192131002/], in which children fight to grab poo as it’s hurled out of a toilet in a manner so evocative of Buckaroo that you wonder why the game isn’t called Chuckapoo.

Perhaps it was inevitable that Generation Hankey, those teens of the late-1990s who are now parents, would be amenable to their own kids playing a game like Flushin’ Frenzy. Or maybe it’s not just their kids: in 2017 research into the £300m annual “kidult” toy market suggested that for every 11 toys sold, one was bought by an adult for themselves[https://www.retailtimes.co.uk/300m-kidult-toy-market-growing-three-times-faster-toy-sector-overall-npd-group-reports/]. Either way, it’s strange how Mr Hankey’s legacy lives on: this year Nasa engineer Kevin M Gill spotted a familiar-looking cyclonic region[https://twitter.com/kevinmgill/status/1084570508941701122] in the solar system, a discovery summarised by a memorable HuffPost headline[https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jupiter-south-park-mr-hankey-nasa_n_5c3f5f56e4b0922a21db3710] : Nasa Discovers “South Park” Character Mr Hankey The Christmas Poo On Jupiter.

For a more down-to-earth take let’s speak to Nick Haslam, professor of psychology at the University of Melbourne and author of the 2012 book Psychology in the Bathroom. Of traditional attitudes towards poo, he says: “Poo is a primal object of disgust and shame, and we are motivated to remove and conceal it for that reason. And if you are putting something out of sight, it’s usually also the case that you put it out of mind as well by making it a taboo.” Haslam wonders if poo’s repositioning is part of a broader shift: “I suspect it’s driven by a cultural trend towards violating polite taboos with comic intent.”

When I ask what this is doing to kids’ minds, Haslam’s reply is straightforward: “Probably nothing.”

He cites a study in which children were fed crackers topped with what they were told was poo. It concluded that after the age of three children learn poo is to be avoided at all costs, but that they also come to realise the difference between poo itself and representations of it. Kids, Haslam says, are “flirting with the taboo of doing something revolting”, which he equates to riding on a rollercoaster – a “controlled microdose of an intense negative emotion”.

Roberts, currently renovating the derelict fort that will become the the National Poo Museum’s permanent home this summer, takes an interesting view when asked if this is all a flash in the pan. “It’s a concern for us in a sense,” he says, “but if poo comes in waves I think there are different waves going on right now. We might have reached peak ‘jokey poo’, but more serious things have been unleashed.”

He mentions advances in the field of faecal microbiota transplants[https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/nov/06/microbiome-gut-health-digestive-system-genes-happiness], which involve the transfer of a donor’s poo, containing healthy bacteria, into a recipient’s intestines. The procedure can treat infections where antibiotics cannot; studies are showing that transplants could also help with obesity and even depression. Reporting on faecal transplants last year, the BBC used the phrase “ medicine’s most disgusting procedure[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43815369] ”; would progress in the field have come sooner had people been more open to discussing poo? The NHS seems to think so: in February it included “poo”[https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2019/mar/19/why-nhs-wants-patients-to-poo-pee-be-sick] in a list of around 100 suggested words for people writing about health. “We know some people think we shouldn’t use words like ‘pee’ and ‘poo’,” wrote NHS content designer Sara Wilcox in a detailed blog, “but we haven’t seen anyone have problems knowing what we mean. Most importantly, if someone with poor literacy understands ‘blood in your poo’, it might just save their life.”

“After we opened,” Roberts adds, “one of the first things that happened was that we were contacted by several cancer charities. Bowel cancer charities had been struggling with finding ways to talk openly about poo. People weren’t going to the doctor until it was too late – thousands of people a year were dying of embarrassment.”

The key to truly unlocking the public conversation, he thinks, may lie in the National Poo Museum securing a celebrity donation. His wishlist escalates quite dramatically: Chris Evans, Radio 1’s Greg James, David Attenborough, the Queen, the pope. “They could have a massive effect on the whole poo taboo, just by donating,” Roberts suggests. “Either way, I hope we’ve had some role in making poo into a positive thing that people can talk about.”

Following extensive study of the body’s bacterial occupants, researchers are turning to how our fungal residents may contribute to inflammatory bowel diseases and other maladies.

The connections among different parts of the human body are full of surprises, but here’s one you might not have considered: Could a thing that causes dandruff on your head also be contributing to your digestive problems?

That’s one mystery that scientists are trying to unravel with research into the fungi that live in your gut. While the bacteria that colonize our intestines have been a scientific focus for more than a decade, the fungal critters there are starting to get more attention.

Already, these studies have uncovered striking connections between fungi and several chronic illnesses, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. As is typical in medical science, a simple explanation (A causes B, which can be cured by C) is unlikely.

[Read about new research on connections between pancreatic cancer and fungi[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/health/pancreatic-cancer-fungi.html].]

But the potential to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients — and to uncover complex processes we never realized were at the root of these diseases — has made the fungal field tantalizing to medical researchers.

“It’s a very exciting area of science to be involved in,” said David Underhill, research chair for inflammatory bowel diseases at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. “I think over the next five years, certainly 10 years, we will develop a very different understanding of this area.”

Dr. Underhill’s team is investigating the links between fungi in the gut and inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s.

[Like the Science Times page on Facebook.[http://on.fb.me/1paTQ1h]| Sign up for the Science Times newsletter.[http://nyti.ms/1MbHaRU]]

Researchers first became interested in studying the microbiome when advances in DNA technology made it easier to identify microorganisms in and on the human body. Earlier work, Dr. Underhill said, focused mainly on bacteria, because there are far more of them in our bodies, compared with any other type of organism.

There are trillions of bacteria in the digestive tract, and as many as 100 different species. Fungi number in the hundreds of thousands, with just a handful of different species. For years, fungi were given scientific short shrift.

Now, with our understanding of the bacterial microbiome better established, researchers have turned their attention to fungi, what some call the mycobiome. It has quickly become evident that these organisms play a distinct role in our health.

One fungus at the center of Dr. Underhill’s research is Malassezia. Though its name may be unfamiliar, you’re currently coated in it.

The fungus is ubiquitous on a healthy human body; it colonizes the skin shortly after birth. For some people, Malassezia on the scalp creates irritation that causes dandruff.

But it also turns up inside our bodies, along the digestive tract. Recently, Dr. Underhill and his colleagues published a study in the journal Cell Host & Microbe[https://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/pdfExtended/S1931-3128(19)30045-9] that suggested a link between Malassezia in the gut and Crohn’s disease.

Individuals with Crohn’s had high concentrations of Malassezia on their intestine walls, while healthy patients had almost none. The researchers then demonstrated that simply adding this type of fungi to the gut — at least, in mice — was enough to exacerbate the inflammation seen in Crohn’s.

This work built on a growing body of evidence linking fungi to inflammatory bowel diseases. As early as 2010, researchers reported [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21039684]that antifungal medications helped I.B.D. patients go into remission. By 2012, Malassezia in particular was found to be associated with these kinds of disease[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22699834].

In 2016, researchers in France published a study[https://gut.bmj.com/content/66/6/1039] that showed the fungal populations in people with bowel conditions were wildly different than those in healthy patients.

“It’s small pieces that we are putting together,” said Mathias L. Richard, a microbiologist at the Micalis Institute in France and a co-author of that study.

The race is on to make these connections and add to the growing body of evidence. The findings could benefit hundreds of thousands of people.

Crohn’s disease, for example, is commonly treated using anti-inflammatory drugs known as TNF inhibitors. But these treatments are only effective for about 60 percent of patients[https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/resources/facts-about-inflammatory.html], according to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.

The drugs are also costly: The anti-TNF drug Humira can run as much as $38,000 per year[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/06/business/humira-drug-prices.html], depending on a patient’s insurance.

The link between Crohn’s and Malasseziaraises the possibility — not yet proven — that something as simple as a generic antifungal drug could provide relief: Wipe out the fungus, wipe out the inflammation. Dr. Underhill and his colleagues are moving into clinical trials now, just one of many teams eager to test the idea.

Scientists in Montreal are pursuing a similar clinical trial, with treatment beginning as early as this summer, according to Martin Laurence, a researcher and the creator of The Malassezia Project,[https://www.malassezia.org/] which tracks the research published on this particular organism.

It’s not just inflammatory bowel diseases that have been connected to the mycobiome. A study published last year showed[https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1007260#sec009] that altering the composition of gut fungi in mice exacerbated symptoms of asthma. Some early evidence suggests a link between fungal infections and prostate cancer[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pros.22778].

“The technology improves every year, we get better and better at identifying organisms and their role in disease and symptom processing,” said Dr. J. Curtis Nickel, a urologist at Queen’s University in Canada.

Dr. Nickel is the co-author of forthcoming research that suggests links between Malassezia and interstitial cystitis, a chronic and painful bladder condition.

He said the next step for many researchers is to investigate how these fungi interact with and are affected by the other organisms that live alongside them.

“I personally suspect that it’s an interaction of all the different bacteria, fungi and viruses,” Dr. Nickel said. “An unhealthy population of these organisms exacerbates disease and perhaps even — this is the next step — causes it. But boy, we’re not there yet.”

Although we’re far from declaring antifungals a panacea for gut ailments, scientists are optimistic that further research into the mycobiome will help solve the mysteries surrounding these inflammatory diseases, and may even offer new forms of treatment.

“When you speak about this research to the people who have these diseases, it’s like a new light in the dark,” Dr. Richard said. “It’s a new hope.”

Vinegar is a fermented liquid made from a wide array of ingredients that is used primarily to preserve and flavor food.

But the uses for vinegar are almost as extensive as the variety of flavors it's available in.

The word "vinegar" comes from the French "vin aigre," or "sour wine." Vinegar is a diluted solution of acetic acid that forms with the fermentation of grapes, apples, rice, corn, and many other ingredients.

Apple cider vinegar, or ACV, is a type of vinegar that has recently skyrocketed in popularity due to its purported health benefits. The following are just a handful of the purported benefits credited to ACV.

1. ACV IMPROVES HEALTHY GUT FLORA Like other fermented foods and beverages (think yogurt and kombucha), ACV is rich in enzymes and probiotics. Probiotics can aid in digestion and make sure that the digestive system is working efficiently. According to the health and wellness team at MyFitnessPal, unpasteurized ACV can deliver probiotics and energize digestion. Others say that ACV can assist with easing an upset stomach by addressing unhealthy bacteria. Some remedies suggest that the pectin in ACV can help soothe intestinal spasms as well.

2. ACV CAN BE USED AS A DISINFECTANT ACV and other vinegars can kill harmful bacteria or prevent them from multiplying, according to Healthline. ACV has historically been used as a disinfectant and natural preservative and may help reduce instances of E. coli. Those same antibacterial properties also may help head off infections of the throat. Reader's Digest indicates that gargling with ACV can soothe a sore throat and create an acidic environment in the esophagus that most germs can't survive.

3. ACV CONTRIBUTES TO FEELINGS OF FULLNESS Many people insist that ACV helps with weight loss. According to dietician and certified diabetes instructor Katie Rankell at UC Irvine Medical Center, ACV has been shown to lower blood sugar by reducing the absorption of carbohydrates, while also contributing to feelings of fullness that can help people avoid overeating.

4. ACV NATURALLY LOWERS CHOLESTEROL A 2016 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found consumption of the acetic acid found in ACV reduced serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels in rats. More research is needed to determine if humans can reap similar rewards

. 5. ACV CAN TREAT DANDRUFF AND OTHER SKIN AILMENTS The acidity of ACV changes the pH of the skin and scalp, making it harder for yeast to grow. Applying ACV to the scalp can inhibit dandruff. It also can be used as a toner that exfoliates the skin and makes it less oily.

‘The influence of the indoormicrobiomeon human health becomes more important for astronauts during flights due to altered immunity associated with space flight,’ says researcher

The International Space Station[https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/international-space-station] is brimming with bacteria and fungi that can cause diseases and form biofilms that promote antibiotic resistance, and can even corrode the spacecraft, a new study has found.

The station, built in 1998 and orbiting around 250 miles above the Earth, has been visited by more than 222 astronauts and up to six resupply missions a year up until August 2017.

NASA scientists discovered microbes mainly came from humans and were similar to those found in public buildings and offices here on Earth.

The study – the first to provide a comprehensive catalogue of the bacteria and fungi lurking on interior surfaces in closed space systems – was published in the journal

Microbiome

.

Dr Kasthuri Venkateswaran, a senior research scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory andone of the study’s authors, said: “The ISS is a hermetically sealed closed system, subjected to microgravity, radiation, elevated carbon dioxideand the recirculation of air through HEPA filters, and is considered an ‘extreme environment’.”

He noted that microbes are known to survive and even thrive in extreme environments. The microbes that are present on the International Space Station could have been in existence since the station’s inception, he added, while others may be introduced every time new astronauts or payloads arrive.

Read more

Twenty facts about the International Space Station as it turns 20

Dr Venkateswaran added: “The influence of the indoor microbiome on human health becomes more important for astronauts during flights due to altered immunity associated with space flight and the lack of sophisticated medical interventions that are available on Earth.

“In light of an upcoming new era of human expansion in the universe, such as future space travel to Mars, the microbiome of the closed space environment needs to be examined thoroughly to identify the types of microorganisms that can accumulate in this unique environment, how long they persist and survive, and their impact on human health and spacecraft infrastructure.”

Researchers say the study can be used to help improve safety measures that meet NASA requirements for deep space human habitation.

April 9 (Reuters) - Precision Therapeutics Inc:

* PRECISION THERAPEUTICS’ SUBSIDIARY HELOMICS TO COLLABORATE WITH VIOME TO EXPLORE THE IMPACT OF THE GUT MICROBIOME ON OVARIAN CANCER

* PRECISION THERAPEUTICS - COLLABORATION WILL START WITH PILOT STUDY TO DETERMINE WHAT CHANGES OCCUR IN GUT MICROBIOME DURING OVARIAN CANCER THERAPY Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

It’s an uncomfortable, unsightly, yet common skin condition that many midlife women are ignoring or misdiagnosing...

If you could see me now, you may wonder what I’ve got to be so embarrassed about. But my blotchy, red face is not a blush, or an allergic reaction, or even sunburn. I’m red because I went for a run this morning and it triggered a rosacea flare up.

I’ve always had a tendency to flush after exercise, but it would subside as my heart rate recovered. In recent years, however, it began lasting much longer. I developed a similar blush when stressed, or after certain drinks, and I could no longer tolerate the sun or steam rooms without my skin feeling tight, parched and itchy.

I assumed my skin was becoming sensitive and dry with age (I was nearing 40) and that my GP would dismiss my concerns as vanity. So instead I mentioned them to the dermatologist Dr Stefanie Williams[http://www.eudelo.com], who diagnosed rosacea.

"Rosacea is one of the conditions I diagnose most often in fair-skinned women from their late 30s onwards," she told me. "Figures suggest it affects one in 10 people, but I’d say many more go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. It’s more common than adult acne, for example. The incidence is lower in men but the cases more severe."

Rosacea often starts with temporary flushing and as it progresses there are several sub-types. Symptoms flare up and down and can include: dry-feeling, tight, itchy skin; burning and stinging; permanent redness; raised red bumps (papules) or pus-filled swellings (pustules); broken blood vessels (telangiectasia); skin thickening and dry, sore eyes.

An inflammatory condition, it may be caused by an overgrowth of the microscopic Demodex mites that live on everyone’s skin. There may also be an abnormality in the facial blood vessels. "Sufferers will have a genetic predisposition to rosacea," explains Dr Williams. "It tends to develop in mid-life, and something tends to triggers it, which can be anything from stress to sunlight, spicy food, alcohol, hot drinks, pollution or chemical irritants."

Rosacea will deteriorate without good management and, at its worst, can be disfiguring. "Even a mild case can be uncomfortable and cause psychological distress," says dermatologist Dr Justine Kluk[http://www.drjustinekluk.com/] . So, what can be done?

Listen to your doctor

"Although rosacea is stubborn and can’t be cured, it can be well managed," explains GP Dr Ross Perry. "Your doctor may prescribe a course of low-dose antibiotics for two to three months, especially if your rosacea is the papule/pustule type. You may also be given a topical antibiotic cream such as metronidazol (Rosex)."

Other creams like azaleic acid (Finacea) work to reduce the inflammation while ivermectin (Soolantra) targets the mites. Brimonidine (Mirvaso) constricts facial blood vessels for up to 12 hours, although some people find this causes irritation, acne or ‘rebound redness’.

"Ask for regular medication reviews and seek a referral to a dermatologist if your GP isn’t helping," advises Dr Kluk.

"Identifying triggers is as an important as medication in managing the condition." So keep a diary, noting food, drink, workouts, emotions, any medications you’re taking, new products you’re trying - and how your skin responds.

Rethink your skincare

Whatever you’re currently using, there’s a good chance it’s not helping. "I see many patients who either mistake it for acne and use products for oily skin that are too harsh, or confuse the tight, sore sensation with dryness and slather on rich creams, balms and oils," says Williams, "but this is absolutely the worst thing for rosacea micro-inflammation."

"Keep skincare simple to complement your prescription creams," says Dr Kluk. "Avoid scrubs, wipes, flannels, hot water and steam. Opt for fragrance-free products for sensitive skins, always do a patch test, and remember that 'natural' or 'botanical' can still be highly irritating." I prefer gentle products like Bioderma Sensiobio H20 micellar water, the La Roche Posay Effaclar H range and Neostrata Redness Neutralising Serum. And as sunlight is such a common trigger, an SPF of at least 25 is a must year round.

The best sunscreens for sensitive skin[https://cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk/4e5c25ac-ac23-4f05-af6d-862d37832a5c.html]

Good news: you can still use some anti-ageing products – with care. Dr Williams’ holy trinity of age-defying ingredients are: 1) Sunscreen, 2) an antioxidant and 3) a retinoid (vitamin A) cream. The key is to start gradually with the highest dilutions. Use a gentle vitamin C serum in the morning as your antioxidant and at night, taper in a low-dose retinoid.

Diet and supplements

Many medics and nutritionists recommend an anti-inflammatory diet to help rosacea: avoiding sugars, high-GI carbohydrates, starchy and processed foods, and filling up on wholegrains, fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, healthy fats and high-quality protein instead. Some sufferers swear by going gluten and dairy free but evidence remains anecdotal. Gut health is a hot topic at the moment for everything from mood to heart health, and it's said to also help those with inflammatory skin conditions like rosacea. So adding in fermented food and drink to your diet like natural yoghurt, kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi and miso is a boon for your microbiome and your skin.

365 EOA[https://cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk/729ee614-a326-4b21-a6a8-06d75a692ed2.html]

The patient, a 48-year-old real estate professional in treatment for anxiety and mild depression, revealed that he had eaten three dozen oysters over the weekend.

His psychiatrist, Dr. Drew Ramsey, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, was impressed: ''You're the only person I've prescribed them to who came back and said he ate 36!''

Dr. Ramsey, the author of several books that address food and mental health, is a big fan of oysters. They are rich in vitamin B12, he said, which studies suggest may help to reduce brain shrinkage. They are also well stocked with long chain omega-3 fatty acids, deficiencies of which have been linked to higher risk for suicide and depression.

But shellfish are not the only food he is enthusiastic about. Dr. Ramsey is a pioneer in the field of nutritional psychiatry, which attempts to apply what science is learning about the impact of nutrition on the brain and mental health.

Dr. Ramsey argues that a poor diet is a major factor contributing to the epidemic of depression, which is the top driver of disability for Americans aged 15 to 44, according to a report by the World Health Organization. Together with Samantha Elkrief, a chef and food coach who sits in on many of his patient sessions, he often counsels patients on how better eating may lead to better mental health.

The irony, he says, is that most Americans are overfed in calories yet starved of the vital array of micronutrients that our brains need, many of which are found in common plant foods. A survey published in 2017 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that only one in 10 adults meets the minimal daily federal recommendations for fruit and vegetables -- at least one-and-a-half to two cups per day of fruit and two to three cups per day of vegetables.

Nutritional psychiatrists like Dr. Ramsey prescribe antidepressants and other medications, where appropriate, and engage in talk therapy and other traditional forms of counseling. But they argue that fresh and nutritious food can be a potent addition to the mix of available therapies.

Americans routinely change what they eat in order to lose weight, control their blood sugar levels and lower artery-clogging cholesterol. But Dr. Ramsey says that it is still rare for people to pay attention to the food needs of the most complex and energy-consuming organ in the body, the human brain.

The patient Dr. Ramsey was seeing that day credits the nutritional guidance, including cutting down on many of the processed and fried foods and fatty meats that used to be part of his diet, with improving his mood and helping him overcome a long-term addiction to alcohol.

''It's one part of the whole package that helps alleviate my depression and helps me to feel better,'' he said.

Research on the impact of diet on mental functioning is relatively new, and food studies can be difficult to perform and hard to interpret, since so many factors go into what we eat and our general well-being. But a study of more than 12,000 Australians published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2016 found that individuals who increased the number of servings of fruits and vegetables that they ate reported that they were happier and more satisfied with their life than those whose diets remained the same.

Another study of 422 young adults from New Zealand and the United States showed higher levels of mental health and well-being for those who ate more fresh fruits and vegetables. Interestingly, the same benefits did not accrue to those who ate canned fruits and vegetables. ''We think this is due to the higher nutrient content of raw fruits and vegetables, particularly B vitamins and vitamin C, which are vulnerable to heat degradation,'' said Tamlin Conner, a study author and senior lecturer at the University of Otago.

One of the first randomized controlled trials to test whether dietary change may be effective in helping to treat depression was published in 2017. In the study, led by Felice Jacka, a psychiatric epidemiologist in Australia, participants who were coached to follow a Mediterranean diet for 12 weeks reported improvements in mood and lower anxiety levels. Those who received general coaching showed no such benefits.

A Mediterranean diet, rich in whole grains, legumes and seafood as well as nutrient-dense leafy vegetables that are high in the fiber, promotes a diverse population of helpful bacteria in the gut. Research suggests that a healthy gut microbiome may be important in the processing of neurotransmitters like serotonin that regulate mood.

''Our imaging studies show that the brains of people who follow a Mediterranean-style diet typically look younger, have larger volumes and are more metabolically active than people who eat a more typical Western diet,'' said Dr. Lisa Mosconi, the director of the Women's Brain Initiative at the Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. Such brain benefits may be protective against the onset of dementia, she said.

Dr. Mosconi noted that ''there is no one diet that fits all'' but advises patients to cut out processed foods, minimize meat and dairy and eat more whole foods like fatty fish, vegetables and whole grains and legumes to cut the risk of developing degenerative brain diseases associated with aging.

She and Dr. Ramsey both recommend ''eating the rainbow,'' that is, consuming a wide array of colorful fruits and vegetables like peppers, blueberries, sweet potatoes, kale and tomatoes. Such foods are high in phytonutrients that may help to reduce harmful inflammation throughout the body, including the brain, and promote the growth of new brain cells throughout our adult years, they say.

Dr. Emily Deans, a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, cautions that a plant-only diet may carry some risks. Some large observational studies suggest, for example, that strict vegetarians and vegans may have somewhat higher rates of depression and eating disorders than those who eat a more varied diet. Those on a meat-free diet may also need to take supplements to provide missing nutrients. ''Some of the key nutrients for the brain, like long chain omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin B12, are simply not found in vegetable only diets,'' says Dr. Deans.

Samantha Elkrief, the food coach who assists Dr. Ramsey, adds that it's not just what we eat but the attitudes that we bring to our food that contribute to mental well-being. ''I want to help people find the foods that give them joy, that make them feel good,'' she says. ''It's about slowing down and becoming more mindful, noticing your body, noticing how you feel when you eat certain foods.''

The connections among different parts of the human body are full of surprises, but here's one you might not have considered: Could a thing that causes dandruff on your head also be contributing to your digestive problems?

That's one mystery that scientists are trying to unravel with research into the fungi that live in your gut. While the bacteria that colonize our intestines have been a scientific focus for more than a decade, the fungal critters there are starting to get more attention.

Already, these studies have uncovered striking connections between fungi and several chronic illnesses, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. As is typical in medical science, a simple explanation (A causes B, which can be cured by C) is unlikely.

But the potential to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients -- and to uncover complex processes we never realized were at the root of these diseases -- has made the fungal field tantalizing to medical researchers.

''It's a very exciting area of science to be involved in,'' said David Underhill, research chair for inflammatory bowel diseases at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. ''I think over the next five years, certainly 10 years, we will develop a very different understanding of this area.''

Dr. Underhill's team is investigating the links between fungi in the gut and inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's.

[ Like the Science Times page on Facebook. | Sign up for the Science Times newsletter. ]

Researchers first became interested in studying the microbiome when advances in DNA technology made it easier to identify microorganisms in and on the human body. Earlier work, Dr. Underhill said, focused mainly on bacteria, because there are far more of them in our bodies, compared with any other type of organism.

There are trillions of bacteria in the digestive tract, and as many as 100 different species. Fungi number in the hundreds of thousands, with just a handful of different species. For years, fungi were given scientific short shrift.

Now, with our understanding of the bacterial microbiome better established, researchers have turned their attention to fungi, what some call the mycobiome. It has quickly become evident that these organisms play a distinct role in our health.

One fungus at the center of Dr. Underhill's research is Malassezia. Though its name may be unfamiliar, you're currently coated in it.

The fungus is ubiquitous on a healthy human body; it colonizes the skin shortly after birth. For some people, Malassezia on the scalp creates irritation that causes dandruff.

But it also turns up inside our bodies, along the digestive tract. Recently, Dr. Underhill and his colleagues published a study in the journal Cell Host & Microbe that suggested a link between Malassezia in the gut and Crohn's disease.

Individuals with Crohn's had high concentrations of Malassezia on their intestine walls, while healthy patients had almost none. The researchers then demonstrated that simply adding this type of fungi to the gut -- at least, in mice -- was enough to exacerbate the inflammation seen in Crohn's.

This work built on a growing body of evidence linking fungi to inflammatory bowel diseases. As early as 2010, researchers reported that antifungal medications helped I.B.D. patients go into remission. By 2012, Malassezia in particular was found to be associated with these kinds of disease.

In 2016, researchers in France published a study that showed the fungal populations in people with bowel conditions were wildly different than those in healthy patients.

''It's small pieces that we are putting together,'' said Mathias Lavie-Richard, a microbiologist at the Micalis Institute in France and a co-author of that study.

The race is on to make these connections and add to the growing body of evidence. The findings could benefit hundreds of thousands of people.

Crohn's disease, for example, is commonly treated using anti-inflammatory drugs known as TNF inhibitors. But these treatments are only effective for about 60 percent of patients, according to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.

The drugs are also costly: The anti-TNF drug Humira can run as much as $38,000 per year, depending on a patient's insurance.

The link between Crohn's and Malassezia raises the possibility -- not yet proven -- that something as simple as a generic antifungal drug could provide relief: Wipe out the fungus, wipe out the inflammation. Dr. Underhill and his colleagues are moving into clinical trials now, just one of many teams eager to test the idea.

Scientists in Montreal are pursuing a similar clinical trial, with treatment beginning as early as this summer, according to Martin Laurence, a researcher and the creator of The Malassezia Project, which tracks the research published on this particular organism.

It's not just inflammatory bowel diseases that have been connected to the mycobiome. A study published last year showed that altering the composition of gut fungi in mice exacerbated symptoms of asthma. Some early evidence suggests a link between fungal infections and prostate cancer.

''The technology improves every year, we get better and better at identifying organisms and their role in disease and symptom processing,'' said Dr. J. Curtis Nickel, a urologist at Queen's University in Canada.

Dr. Nickel is the co-author of forthcoming research that suggests links between Malassezia and interstitial cystitis, a chronic and painful bladder condition.

He said the next step for many researchers is to investigate how these fungi interact with and are affected by the other organisms that live alongside them.

''I personally suspect that it's an interaction of all the different bacteria, fungi and viruses,'' Dr. Nickel said. ''An unhealthy population of these organisms exacerbates disease and perhaps even -- this is the next step -- causes it. But boy, we're not there yet.''

Although we're far from declaring antifungals a panacea for gut ailments, scientists are optimistic that further research into the mycobiome will help solve the mysteries surrounding these inflammatory diseases, and may even offer new forms of treatment.

''When you speak about this research to the people who have these diseases, it's like a new light in the dark,'' Dr. Lavie-Richard said. ''It's a new hope.''

Researchers have been looking at the gut when studying possible causes of mental health issues

This is the era of the microbiome – your gut bacteria. It seems they affect many more systems than we thought.

Now scientists in Belgium believe a wide range of gut bacteria can produce chemicals that significantly impact the brain, including several linked to mental health.

The experiment, known as the Flemish Gut Flora Project, examined case studies of depression and stool samples from more than 1,000 people.

It found two types of bacteria were consistently depleted in participants who suffered from depression. This was true even if they were taking antidepressants.

Our understanding of how the gut and brain are linked is in its early stages, and researchers acknowledge that their findings could be considered controversial.

Lead researcher Jeroen Raes, of KU Leuven University, said: “The notion that microbial metabolites can interact with our brain – and thus behaviour and feelings – is intriguing.”

Dr Miriam Stoppard: 'Cancer rates in young soaring due to obesity'[https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/dr-miriam-stoppard-cancer-rates-14249261]

The scientists studied 1,063 depressed people from the Netherlands and another group of clinically depressed patients in Belgium, and got similar results in the two groups.

The team behind the research studied the genomes of more than 500 types of gut bacteria and analysed their ability to produce a range of neuroactive compounds – chemicals shown to affect how the brain works.

They found several that could produce compounds linked to a variety of mental processes.

The experiment showed a clear link between the levels of certain bacteria in the gut and a person’s mental ­wellbeing. But Raes stressed that didn’t mean one thing directly caused the other.

The two microbe groups, ­Coprococcus and Dialister, are known to have anti-inflammatory effects.

Government too distracted by Brexit to tackle toxic levels of air pollution[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/government-brexit-toxic-air-pollution-14248212]

“We also know neuro-inflammation is important in depression. So, our hypothesis is that somehow these two are linked,” said Raes.

Antidepressants are now the most commonly prescribed drug in many countries, and Raes said his team’s research could pave the way for new smarter treatments for the illness.

“I really think there is a future in this: using cocktails of human-derived bacteria as treatment – bugs as drugs, as they say,” he said.

Raes said medical advances had allowed researchers to zero in on the gut when looking into possible causes of mental health issues.

“The field went for the obvious diseases first –obesity, diabetes, colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome,” he said.

“But then evidence started coming in from animal studies. It’s really exciting.”

Let’s hope new treatments emerge.

Dr Miriam

Researchers from the University of Louisville have found that eating garlic could help to prevent memory loss

Eating pungent garlic could help prevent age-relatedmemory loss[https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/mental-health]suffered byAlzheimer's[https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/alzheimers-disease]and Parkinson's patients, scientists suggest.

The natural compound found in garlic - allyl sulfide - improves the health of bacteria in the stomach and also improve cognitive health in the elderly.

US scientists found the compound restores trillions of microorganisms - also known as gut microbiota - in the intestine.

Previous research has highlighted the importance of gut microbiota in maintaining health, but few studies have explored gut health and age-related conditions.

Why drinking alcohol makes you crave junk food, according to scientists[https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/drinking-alcohol-makes-you-crave-14252926]

Dr Jyotirmaya Behera at theUniversity of Louisville[https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/university-of-louisville]in Kentucky said: "Our findings suggest that dietary administration of garlic containing allyl sulfide could help maintain healthy gut microorganisms and improve cognitive health in the elderly."

Co-author Dr Neetu Tyagi added: "The diversity of the gut microbiota is diminished in elderly people, a life stage when neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's develop and memory and cognitive abilities can decline.

"We want to better understand how changes in the gut microbiota relate to ageing-associated cognitive decline."

The team tested the theory on 24-month-old mice - an age which correlates to humans aged between 56 to 69-years-old.

The rodents were given allyl sulfide and compared to mice who were younger and the same age and not given the garlic compound.

The results revealed that the older mice who ate the supplement showed better long-term and short-term memory as well as a healthier gut compared to the other rodents who suffered impaired spatial memory.

Just THINKING about coffee makes your brain more alert, study reveals[https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/just-thinking-coffee-makes-your-14202160]

Further research found that allyl sulfide preserved a gene expression of neuronal-derived natriuretic factor (NDNF) in the brain which is crucial for long-term and short-term memory.

The gene was previously discovered by University of Louisville scientists.

Researchers discovered the mice who were given the garlic compound also showed higher levels of NDNF gene expression as well as hydrogen sulfide gas - a molecule that prevents intestinal inflammation in the gut.

The team plan to further investigate how restored gut bacteria can prevent age-related memory loss and if garlic could even be used as a treatment for conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Garlic has been used for thousands of years to treat human disease and can reduce the risk of developing certain kinds of cancers such as breast and stomach, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.

Garlic's unique flavour comes from sulphur compounds.

Papa Johns new black Halloween garlic bread will spook you senseless

Eating 'small amounts' of red and processed meats increases risk of DEATH[https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/eating-small-amounts-red-processed-14192257]

Like other members of the allium family, the plant absorbs sulphate from the soil and incorporates it into amino acids and sulphur storage molecules.

These sulphur storage molecules can then be broken down into approximately 50 different sulphur-containing compounds when the garlic is prepared and eaten

Garlic could ward off hospital superbugs, a new study revealed.

Ajoene, an active sulphurous compound found in the pungent vegetable, when combined with antibiotics helps break down a bacteria's defences.

Scientists hope the breakthrough could fight incurable cystic fibrosis and chronic wounds in diabetics as well as tackling MRSA and common hospital infection P. aeruginosa.

The findings were presented at the American Physiological Society's annual meeting during the 2019 Experimental Biology meeting in Orlando.

Food stories

Move over spinach and kale – blue and dark berries are having their moment on the juicing scene. Dominique Temple reports.

For years we’ve been sold the benefits of green juice[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/11369684/Gordon-Ramsays-green-juice-recipe.html] by health influencers who say dark, leafy greens are the most vitamin-rich vegetables for your health, skin and gut. However, it looks like the tide might be turning as a host of new, blue juices are appearing in health-food shops and supermarkets.

Purearth has recently added a range of kefir drinks [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/best-kefir-cultured-milks-smoothies-put-taste-test/] to its collection of healthy tonics. Its hero ingredient is Blue Majik spirulina, thought to be more powerful than its green sister. ‘Blue Majik is an extract of spirulina, a fresh-water algae. It is superior to other green algae due to the rich pigment that makes it high in antioxidants,’ says Tenna Anette, co-founder of Purearth.

‘The spirulina in the drink also has an isotonic component, making it a great option after a workout.’ If you are used to blending your own juice at home[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/nutrition/juicing-really-good/], you’ll be pleased to know that sweet-tasting blue berries are having a resurgence.

New research is hailing them as the most potent superfood[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/nutrition/whats-so-special-about-superfoods---and-do-they-work/] . Nutritional expert Gabriela Peacock says that, according to The Institute of Functional Medicine, ‘Blue and purple superfoods are now thought to have greater health benefits than dark, leafy-green vegetables.’

Is juicing really good for you?[https://cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk/33309083-1e2d-4ded-b611-c90e5be0cbad.html]

While traditional blueberries[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/grow-to-eat/grow-eat-blueberries-vitamin-packed-brunches/] are an obvious choice, the latest fruit drawing attention is the haskap (a blue-berried type of honeysuckle found in colder climates, such as Canada). According to haskap farmer Simon Fineman, ‘They have more vitamin C than any other berry and consistently produce the highest level of antioxidants.’ Peacock adds, ‘Dark berries increase glutathione, one of the body’s most powerful antioxidants. Blackberries in particular have anti-cancer properties and help to maintain a healthy gut.’

But green vegetables shouldn’t be forgotten altogether, says Helen Bond, registered dietitian and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association. ‘Eating or drinking a variety of fruits and vegetables is important. Each colour contains different combinations of nutrients and phytochemicals that our bodies need to stay healthy.

So, to get the most nutritional benefits, I recommend that everyone tries to consume a wide variety of fruits and vegetables from each of the different colour groups – green, yellow, red, purple, orange and white.’ Rainbow it is then.

Five buys to try

Super Blue smoothie, £4, Savsé [https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/gb/groceries/savse-super-blue-750ml?langId=44&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI67KIguCz4QIV75ztCh1jFwZYEAQYASABEgKUovD_BwE&storeId=10151&krypto=UqkGU3akY88Tq2uMxnbN1L0pg0QK7XEdEIPB4hXlIKqs%2Fm48LHcjIUFdcaTOQsyGZBiK0PAROf9Gr6S3GExPQEI4yDWp3ygsE%2FQ1kBOJvW4Yc3sC8qjmQinCMiuCSB8NEjqP5%2FW%2BypikpOArmwPGAJHG%2Fd5%2Bsi4gM24PdsjnUYiKZAotJna3Ztf2JWq0sUzPsYs5FnJ%2FVyGInBKASv3GDguDcUQul48s%2BdCk5JnAWig1LSJF9otF24uuQYxaWAu57POgal6ziv6EmKZGdF5B1zQ6RkK03yeIzFlyaH17W4U%3D&ddkey=https%3Agb%2Fgroceries%2Fsavse-super-blue-750ml]

Palo Santo drink, £36, Kuji [https://kujidrinks.com/product/palo-santo/]

Sparkling Lemon + Spirulina Kefir, £2.99, Purearth[https://www.purearth.co.uk/product/lemon-spirulina-kefir/]

Liquid Iron Food Supplement, £14.99, Blueiron [http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=2041&awinaffid=73846&clickref=customid&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.boots.com%2Fblueiron-liquid-iron-food-supplement-330ml-10236513]

Blue Machine blueberry smoothie, £2.65, Naked[http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=3691&awinaffid=73846&clickref=customid&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waitrose.com%2Fecom%2Fproducts%2Fnaked-blue-machine-blueberry-smoothie%2F632616-89841-89842]

Around 40% of us will suffer from a digestive issue at some point in our lives, so we take a look at the things that could be bothering your belly…

Whether it's bloating, diarrhoea orheartburn[https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/], half of all GP visits in the UK are related to digestive disorders.

So we chatted to nutritionist Kym Lang to find out what might be causing the problems, and how you can fix them.

This is the most common digestive problem in the UK, with 7 million people a day feeling the burn.

It can be caused by anything from a greasy lunch to heavy drinking, and can also be a side effect of some medications used to treat depression, high-blood pressure and osteoporosis.

TRY THIS: ‘Caffeine, alcohol and spicy foods increase stomach acid production, so cut back for a week and see if this helps,’ says nutritionist Kym Lang.

‘Pep up your meals with herbs instead of chilli, and find a herbal tea you enjoy.

'Take the pressure off your tummy by eating smaller meals spread across the day.’

The 10 simple simple ways you can boost gut health[https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/how-boost-your-gut-health-13984554]

IBS[https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/how-banish-misery-irritable-bowel-7689088]affects a third of Brits, with twice as many women suffering as men.

Symptoms include stomach pain, bloating and anything from chronic diarrhoea to persistent constipation.

Despite being a familiar condition, it’s important to see your GP for a proper diagnosis, as these symptoms aren’t exclusive to IBS.

TRY THIS: ‘A nutritional therapist can help you adjust your fibre intake, or try the FODMAP diet (an effective plan that reduces wind and bloating in sufferers),’ says Kym.

‘But IBS is complex, and when dietary changes don’t work, you could try an intestinal absorbent like Enterosgel, £19.50, from Lloyds Pharmacy, which helps to remove harmful viruses, toxins and allergens from the gut.’

20 most painful illnesses and health conditions according to the NHS - and some are surprisingly common[https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/20-most-painful-illnesses-health-13500332]

One in three people in the UK now believes they suffer from an allergy or food intolerance, with sugar, yeast, wheat and milk being the usual suspects.

But allergy specialists estimate that only around 1.9% of Brits actually have an intolerance at all, with many misunderstanding their symptoms.

TRY THIS: ‘Keep a food and symptom diary to track the issues, and see a doctor if troubles persist,’ says Kym.

‘But don’t buy into expensive, often inaccurate intolerance tests.

'Instead remove the suspect food/drink from your diet for two weeks, then slowly reintroduce it.

'That way you don’t miss out on important nutrients, or cut out foods you don’t have to.’

Mum told by doctors she had IBS discovers she is terminally ill with cancer[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mum-told-doctors-ibs-discovers-14187903]

Most of us find ourselves constipated from time to time, but factors such as stress or medication can make it a recurring problem.

Unfortunately, healthy foods like brown rice and multigrain bread can make it worse, but there are natural ways to get things moving again, such as adding a couple of dessert spoons of linseed to your food and making sure you drink 2 litres of water a day.

TRY THIS: ‘You do need fibre to stay regular and keep your bowel healthy, but too much insoluble fibre can increase the problem,’ says Kym.

‘Soluble fibre forms a gel in the gut, softening stools.

'Good sources are oats and root vegetables, like carrots, parsnips and celeriac (that’s a Sunday roast, then!).’

Nothing ruins a holiday like an upset tummy, but sadly as many as 30% of travellers suffer from diarrhoea or vomiting caused by food and drinking water contaminated by pathogenic bacteria, such as E. coli, salmonella and shigella.

Symptoms typically show a day or two after consuming the contaminated food or drink, and you might also have nausea and stomach cramps.

TRY THIS: ‘You’re at risk of dehydration, so drink bottled water throughout the day and sip rather than gulp,’ says Kym.

‘Stick to a bland diet for a few days, topped up with a daily probiotic to boost your good gut bacteria.

'If you can’t find a supplement, live yoghurt is a good alternative.’

It’s a common complaint: after eating your tummy swells up like a balloon, leaving you feeling uncomfortable for the rest of the day.

There are many reasons for this, so it might take a while to discover the cause, but foods such as kale, broccoli, cabbage, sprouts, onions, beans and some artificial sugars are known to trigger the problem.

Other culprits are water retention and constipation, but be aware that persistent bloating is a sign of ovarian cancer, so rule this out with your GP first.

‘Processed foods are often high in salt, which causes your body to hang onto water in an attempt to balance your cells: hence a rounded tummy,’ says Kym.

‘Switch to low-sodium versions, and seek out alternatives to salt in cooking, such as herbs, vinegar or citrus.’

The following symptoms could be a sign of a serious digestive illness, so it’s best to see your GP or ring the NHS advice line on 111…

■ Losing weight unexpectedly

■ Difficulty swallowing

■ A sudden, persistent change in bowel movements

■ Bleeding from the bottom

■ Worseningheartburn[https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/how-get-rid-heartburn-reflux-12583171], indigestion or stomach pain

– Kym Lang is working with Enterosgel. VisitEnteromed.co.uk[http://Enteromed.co.uk]

Sunday Magazines

Kitchen serves up 2,000lb a day in human-quality dog food as New Yorkers' pets are spared the can

WITH menu options including turkey and mac 'n' cheese, or venison and squash, it could be just the latest hip dining hotspot in New York.

However, these tasty treats are not meant for people but their four-legged friends, with the opening of the city's first kitchen dedicated to the daily production of fresh dog food.

Pet owners will be able to come into the store, in Manhattan's Union Square, and watch as the chefs whip up 2,000lb of food each day.

Seven such kitchens are already operating in California, and capitalising on a growing trend. US sales of fresh pet food in groceries and pet stores jumped 70 per cent between 2015 and last year, to reach more than $546million (£419million), according to Nielsen, a data company.

"Just as people have become sceptical of highly processed foods for themselves, they're looking critically at their pets' foods as well," said Amy Zalneraitis, part owner and chief brand officer of We Feed Raw, a 10-year-old raw food meal plan service in Maine.

"They think, 'How could something with a shelf life of over a year be better than real, fresh food?'" Petco plans to open a series of other kitchens over the next four years, in collaboration with the Californiabased Just Food For Dogs - a company that launched in 2010. When the two companies announced the tieup, Rebecca Frechette, Petco executive vicepresident, described Just Food For Dogs as the "inventor of the most radical change in pet food in decades". And it is not just the pampered pooches of Manhattan that are dining out on fresh, organic meals.

San Francisco-based NomNomNow, which makes pre-proportioned fresh meals specific to each pet, sends hundreds of thousands of meals a month to customers in 48 states.

"The general health consciousness of Americans is transferring to their pets, because we do consider pets as part of our family," said Lynn Hubbard, the general manager of NomNom-Now's production facility in Nashville, Tennessee.

But the trend is an expensive one. NomNomNow's service costs up to $3.80 (£3.39) per meal for a 35lb dog, and up to $2.80 per meal for a 12lb cat. Normal pet food can cost around 55 cents a can.

Just Food For Dogs, meanwhile, sells its venison and squash dish for $11.95. The company is the largest buyer of human-grade venison in the US.

Some veterinarians have questioned the trend of feeding human quality food to dogs, especially if it is simply supermarket-bought meat.

"There are so many essential nutrients, from all different classes, that need to be considered," said Lindsey Bullen, a pet nutrition specialist with the Veterinary Specialty Hospital of the Carolinas.

"If they are too high or too low, it can cause significant problems for that pet in months or years to come."

Ms Bullen said she recommended her clients add canine and feline supplements to fresh foods, to ensure the animals get the correct nutrients.

Deb Colgan is a recent convert to a raw food diet for her dogs, working with her vet to add vitamin E, salmon oil, probiotics and a joint supplement.

"It's very much a relief my dogs are so healthy, and we do believe it's because of how they eat," said Ms Colgan, of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. "I can't imagine us ever going back to commercial."

On a frigid January night, a Harvard genetics professor with a billowing white beard stood stage left in a theater on Manhattan's Upper East Side, an icon of the environmentalist movement in a fleece vest beside him. Both men were staring down a toothy problem: How could they convince their counterparts on the stage, along with the 300 people who'd filed into Hunter College's Kaye Playhouse for a debate, that the world should bring back velociraptors or, at the very least, an extinct pigeon?

The theme from the 1993 blockbuster "Jurassic Park" was playing in the background, chiseling away at their argument before the debate even began. In the film, based on the 1990 Michael Crichton bestseller, dinosaurs are brought back from extinction to fill a theme park. "That film took sides. The experiment blows up. People get hurt," moderator John Donvan told the crowd during introductions. "But not before actor Jeff Goldblum declares, 'Scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should.' And then, a dinosaur eats Jeff Goldblum."

Actually, a dinosaur does not eat Goldblum's brainy and brawny mathematician character, but chaos certainly reigns in the movie and its myriad sequels because of de-extinction. Those images are what George Church, 64, of the billowing white beard, who helped launch the Human Genome Project, and Stewart Brand, 80, of the fleece vest, who is a founder and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, would need to overcome to win this evening's debate.

The official motion for the night, "Don't Bring Extinct Creatures Back to Life," was chosen by Intelligence Squared, a nonprofit that turns academic-level debates into popular live events and podcasts. The Jeff Goldblums of the evening, arguing for the motion - and against Church and Brand - were Lynn J. Rothschild, 61, an evolutionary biologist and astrobiologist with NASA, and Ross MacPhee, 70, a curator at the American Museum of Natural History across Central Park.

Brand started on the offensive. Controversy around de-extinction, he said, is "made up." He wasn't arguing they should resurrect carnivorous dinosaurs. Instead, he said, de-extinction could be achieved through hybrids, animals created from both living, endangered species and extinct ones, using CRISPR - an acronym for a relatively new tool that has been likened to "playing god" because it allows scientists to remove and replace genes. Eventually, CRISPR could be used to bolster agricultural production or to replenish wildlife that's slowly disappearing.

That is the goal of the Revive & Restore project, a California nonprofit co-founded by Brand that seeks to "enhance biodiversity through new techniques of genetic rescue for endangered and extinct species." The group is working to reintroduce the extinct passenger pigeon back into the wild by removing genes from modern band-tailed pigeons and replacing them with passenger-pigeon genes.

Restore & Revive would like to do something similar with woolly mammoths, editing the extinct creature's genes into those of modern Asian elephants. In that case, though, the goal is to help increase the population of endangered Asian elephants, which has been decimated by a herpes virus. "We're not just curing extinction," Brand told the audience. "The technology that de-extinction is leading the way in is now being used by us and by others to prevent extinction."

In 2018, Brand and Church traveled to northeast Siberia, where Russian scientists are attempting to re-create a grassland ecosystem known as the mammoth steppe, named after its predominant and extinct herbivore, the woolly mammoth. As the number of mammoths dwindled, dense foliage took root and erased grassland. To restore it, scientists have used bulldozers to knock down trees and shrubs, and brought in herbivores, including elk and moose, to graze and to keep the foliage at bay. Church said mammoth-and-Asian-elephant hybrids could once again inhabit Siberia. He also urged everyone to "loosen up" about the prospect of hybrids. "There's a lot of hybridization that occurs in mammals. ... I am partially Neanderthal," he said, referring to estimates by scientists that about 20 percent of Neanderthal genes can be found in modern humans.

(Oddly enough, no one mentioned during the debate that Jack Horner, a Montana State University paleontologist and science adviser on the first "Jurassic Park" film, is also working on a hybrid called "chickenosaurus." "As far as I'm concerned, we should discover everything. There shouldn't be any limits on it," he told NBC News in 2018. "After we discover something, then you can put some limits on it.")

But a hybrid mammoth, roaming Russia once again, raises all sorts of questions, Rothschild and MacPhee said: Could a breeding population ever be established? Would this hybrid be released into a world with no natural predators? How would a mammoth know how to be a mammoth without other mammoths around? "You've got all the problems of not having a mom, and not having people - other organisms to learn from, and not having the right microbiome and so on," Rothschild said. "And so, each of these individuals, I believe, will be suffering for something that we could be solving a different way."

During a Q&A, an audience member asked the four onstage if someone with great wealth could be moving forward with the technology, possibly for commercial purposes, while scientists were still debating whether they should. Brand said there was "exactly nothing" happening in the de-extinction world that had commercial purposes. MacPhee, in response, said he was pleased he wasn't "the most naive person on the panel tonight." He asked: "You don't think there's a future in having saber-toothed tigers that you can use for hunting purposes?"

Rothschild took the argument even further, wondering whether someone could attempt to de-extinct a Neanderthal for commerce or simply in the name of science. The idea, Rothschild said, was "morally repugnant." "We have enough trouble with humanity recognizing that we have roughly equal intellects across the races. And to purposefully re-create a species that we know is going to be inferior in some way is just asking for enormous trouble," she said in her closing argument.

"So back in the day when the Homo sapiens was interbreeding with Neanderthals, you would have discouraged that?" Brand joked. The audience laughed. But in the end, based on the votes tallied before and after the debate, more people came around to MacPhee and Rothschild's side than Church and Brand's. For once, the Jeff Goldblums won.

I circled back to Brand a month later in search of a serious answer to Rothschild's ethical concerns about bringing back Neanderthals. "I'd guess that Neanderthals would be accepted as humans today (at least in our open-minded and nurturing communities)," he replied in an email. But he was skeptical anyone would want to revive them because it would be a step back instead of forward for humanity.

I asked if he planned on seeing the next "Jurassic Park" film, which is due out in 2021. He was a maybe. He said he prefers science films that are less "dystopic," but added: "Engaging the public with any scientific details is good."

Jason Nark is a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

AT A GLANCE

For more information on RISE, visit risekombucha.com

Julian Giacomelli first tried kombucha 13 years ago in California, at a yoga teacher's training. Of course.

"Someone brought me a bottle of the leading kombucha," recalled Giacomelli, president of Canada's leading kombucha brand, RISE, sitting in the company's St-Léonard headquarters.

So what did he think? "It was complex, curious," he said, sounding like pretty much every other open-minded person trying the fermented tea beverage for the first time. "It was a nice drink. It felt good."

The experience put kombucha on Giacomelli's radar, so he was ready when he returned to Montreal and began looking for new business ventures to get involved with.

Trained initially as a civil engineer, he went back and got an MBA after realizing he was more of a business guy - albeit a business guy who was serious about yoga.

Those combined interests led him to David Côté and Mathieu Gallant, who were launching a pair of progressive, health-conscious companies: vegan food service Crudessence, and RISE.

Giacomelli invested in both from the get-go, and went on to become CEO of the former before moving over to the latter three years ago.

"I didn't think I would run either," he said. "It was more, 'How do I help incubate and nurture successful startups?'I was in a paradigm of growing things, and helping transplant what was already happening to larger spaces."

Crudessence burst out of the gate, making a splash on a Montreal food scene that at the time was sorely lacking in vegan options. One restaurant became two then three then four, followed by a cooking school, cookbook, read-made products and a series of grocery store food counters.

RISE started slower, but has since taken the lead in terms of reach. The two companies are no longer linked, Giacomelli explained, but Crudessence was essential in helping RISE find its market. "Most of the founders'energy went into Crudessence. It was a heavier, heartier business to lift. Crudessence gave RISE its energy and DNA, and was influential in the early years, in getting RISE out to people."

But now RISE is the business with the greater profile and potential. By far the biggest-selling Canadian kombucha brand, the company is beginning to test the waters stateside.

Its biggest asset, according to Giacomelli, is its ability to appeal not just to health nuts but, more and more, to "monsieur et madame tout-le-monde."

If Giacomelli has his way, kombucha's days as a strange hippie-dippie drink will soon be a thing of the past. He sees the beverage becoming increasingly understood and enjoyed by regular people who just want to sip on something that tastes good and, hey, might even have a few health benefits.

"Imagine if Coca-Cola was a villain in a superhero story," he said. "RISE is like the superhero. We're providing an alternative that has some of the same feeling - it's bubbly, a little bit sweet, and great for many occasions; but instead of being empty of everything, RISE has a good impact on the body. Kombucha is proven, anecdotally, to help with gut health."

Over 250,000 refillable bottles of RISE are capped every month out of its new 40,000-square-foot St-Léonard facility. The company boasts more than 100 employees, most of them in Montreal.

RISE can be found on the shelves of several Costco stores around Quebec and, it's hoped, soon across the country, as well as some Loblaws, Metro, Sobeys and Maxi outlets.

"We have the privilege of being the category leader," Giacomelli said. "Because it's new, they often have no idea where to put it - next to the juices or in the organic section? We're working closely with retailers, to help us and them by choosing which kombuchas are beside us.

"We're able to say, 'That's good, that's not as good.'It's not, 'Everything sucks but RISE.'We want to make sure the consumer gets good kombucha."

After standing pat with six flavours (ginger, mint & chlorophyll, hibiscus & rose hips, rose & schizandra, lemongrass, blueberry & maple) for several years, RISE is to introduce two new flavours - orange & turmeric and lychee & jasmine - at the end of April. Giacomelli hints at the possible introduction of seasonal flavours beginning in the fall.

The ultimate goal, bien sûr, is world domination - but not at any price.

"It's very difficult to go from good to great," he said. "Where we are right now has to do with timing and a bit of chutzpah, the founders'energy and having a great product.

"We're now in the league where we're a bit away from Pepsi, but as we approach the next echelon it behooves us to roll up our sleeves and build with integrity.

"I would like to see us create a business that will still be here in Montreal in 50 years, making great kombucha." tdunlevy@postmedia.com

The old adage says `you are what you eat' but there is almost daily new evidence that what's inside us, the quality of the ty y microbiomes in our body, can affect everything from our mental health to our immune system. Claire Irvin takes tough action on her tummy

It was Hippocrates who said, `All disease begins in the gut,' yet over 2,000 years later, as science enables an ever-greater understanding of the microbiomes (collections of bacteria, fungi and microbes in our bodies which help fight germs, break down food and produce vitamins), you could be forgiven for thinking it's a new medical discovery. Already this year, scientists have discovered more than 100 new types of bacteria or `gut microbiota' in the human gut, and have made further advances in understanding how our guts, brains and microbiomes interact and affect everything from our immune systems to our moods. Low levels of key bacteria in your gut can lead to depression, and there is now evidence that dementia starts in the gut microbiome. Bowel disorders, such as coeliac disease, irritable bowel syndrome or leaky gut, can mean you're more likely to suffer from autoimmune diseases, depression and anxiety. Symptoms of poor gut health include abdominal pain, bloating after meals, reflux or flatulence, but also less obvious ones, including headaches, fatigue, joint pain and immune system weakness. Gastrointestinal problems so prevalent in our time-pressed, highstressed, processed lives are not just digestive issues. They can be the root cause for other physical and mental-health issues not to mention making you fat. And I should know. For several years, abdominal pain, bloating, restless nights and fatigue have become my norm. Long hours and a testing commute, breakfast and lunch on the go, a busy schedule fuelled by vending-machine caffeine hits, and a work life punctuated with business

dinners and drinks receptions haven't helped. A GP once identified my symptoms as IBS, and prescribed healthy eating and a balanced approach to work and home life. Easier said than done. While psychologically I thrive on `busyness' and a managed level of `healthy' stress, even when I have detoxed and eaten puritanically healthily (dairy-and gluten-free meals, no caffeine and alcohol, snacking on fruit), the pain has often got unfathomably worse a depressing cycle that has had me reaching for the cheese and wine before a fortnight was out. But things came to a head last year when a health MOT pointed to a steady increase in weight and my symptoms were aggravated by pretty much anything. I felt constantly cowed by the pain if I could have spent all day doubled up,

I would have. I'd spend work meetings trying not to be distracted by stomach cramps, and have to take `a moment' away from my desk several times a day. I'd lie in bed in the morning and immediately start stressing over what to wear to best mask the bloating, and what to eat to try to limit the pain. Thanks to thrice-weekly gym classes, I was physically fitter and stronger than I'd been since having children nine years earlier, yet my complexion was grey and puffy, my waistline a distant memory, and even when I felt at my most relaxed,

family and friends would ask why I was `edgy'. (NB: if there's anything guaranteed to push someone who looks on the edge, over it, it's this.) What they meant, of course, was that I constantly looked (and felt) pained, had very little patience, didn't love being cuddled and wasn't well, shall we say, very fragrant company of an evening. Over a cuppa (green tea, since you ask), a friend regaled me about a transformative health kick at a Lanserhof clinic. She too had suffered problems with her gut, though comparatively mild next to the ones I was experiencing, and I burst into tears at the realisation of how bad I felt. And so I did something I'd always mentally filed under `for the rich, bored and spoilt': booked myself into the same hotel, hundreds of miles away from home and family, in the pursuit of my own well-being. The Lanserhof Lans is a luxury modernist bolthole nestled in the Tyrolean mountainside of Austria. Lanserhof practises the LANS Med Concept, a diagnostic programme based on the renowned physician FX Mayr's approach to gut health that combines holistic medicine with regeneration and prevention. Since its launch more than 30 years ago, the brand has opened two further resorts and a medical gym in Germany and this May will see the opening of a new London outpost, Lanserhof at The Arts Club. Set to be one of the world's foremost state-of-the-art medical gyms, this facility will be the first of its kind to offer members an MRI scan as part of its training programme, which includes bespoke menus, cryotherapy chambers, butler service and price-on-application memberships. It promises to be the spiritual

home of a whole new tribe of gut-health devotees focused on how good a better functioning gut can make them feel. `Self-care is healthcare,' my friend reminded me by text, as I boarded the plane to Innsbruck wondering what the hell I was letting myself in

for. `You're doing this for them,' my husband reassured me, as I phoned home during my airport transfer, my children's reproachful farewell faces fresh in my mind. `Maybe this won't be so bad after all,' I thought on arrival, as I inhaled a breath of soft, pine-scented mountain air.

However, my first reaction to Lanserhof was dismay. There was a dining room and people in it were actually eating. What about the fasting I'd come here for? My confusion continued through the first evening. Emerging from my cocoon-like bedroom, I was shown to my seat (guests are allocated a seat on a table for four for the duration of their stay, to foster an atmosphere of conviviality but presumably to encourage chewing not chatting) and served three courses of super-healthy but very definitely solid fine dining: soup, fish and vegetables, and fruit. The next morning, my regeneration started in earnest. After a medical examination and analysis (I do love an analysis), each guest gets their own programme based on the six pillars of modern FX Mayr therapy: rest, cleansing, training, substitution, exercise and mindfulness. In other words, a holistic health-over that is designed so you can continue it at home. My programme comprised an array of treatments and analytics combining natural healing techniques with the latest medicine and nutritional insights. The first step is the detoxification and deacidification of the body, to best enable it to regenerate and respond to different treatments. Each programme works alongside optional group classes such as Pilates, yoga, talks on gut health and early morning `wake up in nature' walks nature is central to the Lanserhof approach, and gentle gymnastics plus a forest power walk are a wonderful way to wake up, particularly if you have no breakfast to look forward to.

Food or lack thereof punctuates the day (and your mind), with predestined appointments with supplements (Epsom salts first thing to flush out your system; basenpulver alkaline powder three times a day to reset your alkaline levels; bitters solutions that support your digestive function by stimulating bitter receptors on the tongue, stomach, gall bladder and pancreas before you eat to ensure adequate salivation to digest your food). Clear vegetable soup is served between 10am and 12pm to great excitement. (It's savoury! It's salty! It's not tea!)

Oh yes, the tea. Tea is a big deal at Lanserhof. It comes in lots of different varieties, it's available from self-serve stations around the clock, it's delicious and I couldn't get enough of it apart from during soup time, of course, and mealtimes: you're not allowed to drink half an hour before, during or after meals, to avoid diluting stomach acids and inhibiting digestion. As it turned out, my programme, called the Energy Cuisine plan, did include food albeit gluten-, dairy-and histamine-free. Breakfast is a menu of carbohydrate `chewers' such as buckwheat toast or a spelt roll served with avocado purée or nondairy `cheese'; lunch is a jacket potato and the same spreads. No dinner means your body has time to fully digest what you've eaten. Each mouthful is meant to be chewed 30 to 40 times to encourage saliva to aid digestion. This also relieves the stomach, as it doesn't have to work as hard to break down the food you've eaten, whereas hasty eating can be damaging and lead to uncomforatble bloating. For the first couple of days, this feels very odd. After that, it's addictive. (If not very sociable.)

ow to help our gut

Dr Caroline Le Roy, research associate in the epartment of twin esearch and genetic pidemiology at King's ollege London, is leading researcher n gut health. Here re her tips.

Eat a wide range of foods Most of the bacteria in your body can be found in your intestines. These are called `gut microbiota' or `gut flora'. The food you consume helps feed these bacteria. Eating too much junk food, for example, can affect the balance of your gut microbiota. Eating the same things over and over again is also wrong. It is important to eat diverse foods, because if you have

bad bacteria coming into your gut, you want to have many different types of other bacteria to fight them.

Avoid drinking too much alcohol Generally, alcohol is bad for your gut, although red wine, for instance, contains molecules such as polyphenols that we know are particularly good for it. But moderation is still advisable.

Stop smoking The microbiota in your gut and your immune system are connected. It is well known that smoking compromises your immune system and therefore will harm your gut.

Use medicines wisely Taking drugs

viral cold and you take antibiotics is harmful for your gut microbiota. Obviously, you must take medicine when necessary and if prescribed by your doctor. But be sure to compensate with a diverse diet and fermented food that is rich in bacteria.

Get enough sleep The composition of your gut microbiota changes while you're asleep and

to your body's circadian rhythm. The research is quite new, but it seems that the more you sleep, the better it is for your gut.

Combat stress Research on the relationship between stress and gut microbiota is also fairly new, but we know there is a gut-brain axis: so if your neural system is stressed, this may impact on your gut microbiota, and may further

Are probiotics the solution?

Probiotics are live bacteria and yeast that are good for you to a certain extent. They are found in fermented foods, including yogurt and sauerkraut. Currently, the research on probiotics is still new. Ultimately, when it comes to the gut we want a diverse range of bacteria

­ and taking a probiotic means you're taking just one or maybe two, but not enough to really improve diversity. I would suggest eating probiotic foods instead of taking tablets, and certainly going for ones that have different bacteria: the more diversity, the more chance you have for them to work. Something we don't really understand yet is that some people respond to probiotics and some do not, and that is probably because of what they eat and what bacteria they already have in their guts.

our signs your ummy isn't happy

Dr Megan Rossi also known as The Gut Health Doctor is a registered dietitian, nutritionist and research fellow at King's College London, with a PhD in gut health. She is the founder of The Gut Health Clinic on Harley Street, and has written an evidence-based guide to your gut, to be published by Penguin Life in September.

Gut symptoms include bloating, flatulence, stomach pain or indigestion. If you have these at least one day a week and it is a chronic symptom meaning it has been there for at least three months then you should consult your GP. Another clear indicator that your gut isn't happy can be judged by your stool. The Bristol stool chart gives us seven different types of stool, with seven being watery and one being hard like Maltesers. A normal stool is type three, four or five.

You might also note the frequency with which you're opening your bowels. If you're going any more than three times a day, it's probably worth checking on why and if you're going fewer than three times a week, then that's not enough. Finally, check in with your immune system, as 70 per cent of it lives in your gut. If you're always getting sick or are the first one to catch a cold, that might indicate a problem in your gut.

The days that followed were full of discoveries. Appointments with your personal doctor double up as health therapy sessions. Not eating in the evening was surprisingly easy. And once I'd got through day three, when my caffeine/histamine/sugar withdrawal symptoms gave me the worst headache I've ever suffered (it turns out there's a secret recipe supplement to cure that, too), I woke up hungry but full of energy. Many of the treatments to aid digestion are hi-tech and super-specialised: cryotherapy (spending three minutes at a time in sub-zero chambers ranging from -10 to -100 degrees celsius), Kniepp (alternating a warm foot bath with a very cold one) and stomach massage. However you can learn circulation-boosting techniques a cold blast after your hot shower or a hot-water bottle wrapped in a damp cloth and applied to your abdomen for 20 relaxing minutes and use them at home. There were other life-changing insights to be had. Tested for intolerances, I discovered offthe-scale fructose malabsorption (no wonder my fruit-full healthy-eating plan always failed). Dairy protein and gluten are not my friends either. The puffiness? Histamine intolerance (look it up: it's everywhere, including all fermented foods, tomatoes, and eek wine). Onions and garlic were once the bedrock of my home cooking not any more. And while calories are no longer the focus of healthy eating, it turns out that on an average day without highimpact exercise, I can only burn 1,500 of them. No wonder, then, that during my short stay I averaged a weight loss of just over 1lb a day.

After just 24 hours, I had the feeling of being able to stand up straight the first time, I realised, for years that I'd not been cowed by internal discomfort. After 36 hours, a fellow guest proclaimed I looked like `a different Claire'. I certainly felt like one. The tea and easily digested food along with the nightly hot-water bottle eased my insides. My bloated tummy deflated like a balloon (and almost as quickly). I felt light: in body and in spirit.

You can see why many of my fellow guests had been before, some returning two or three times a year. Talk was of the debilitating diseases their stays had reversed or cured diabetes, cirrhosis, colitis. There were whispers of even more serious ailments that had been miraculously reversed. Thanks to the Energy Cuisine plan, continu-

ing the good work when I left was straightforward. I've reintroduced some histamine and fructose gradually. And, as I was told, `it's impossible to overeat if you chew correctly'. Alcohol is now an occasional treat, not a daily pick-me-up, and I sleep the better for it. Shortening the amount of time my digestive system is active by eating two meals a day is easier than you might think my husband and I now skip our evening meal every Monday to Thursday. I try to follow a healthy-eating plan, but it's neither obsessive nor restricting in the way other diets have been cutting out a few evening meals means it matters less if I fall off the wagon for a weekend or even a holiday, and has helped maintain my original Lanserhof weight loss. This was also the first winter I didn't succumb to a chest infection. My stomach rumbled in a meeting this week, but I didn't inwardly flinch, waiting for the cramps that used to follow; I was just hungry if happier and healthier than I can remember being. And cuddlier... Seven nights at Lanserhof Lans starts from £3,670, inclusive of the LANS Med Basic Package and single occupancy in a double bedroom; lanserhof.com/en

Food heroes

Karsten Wolf, head chef at Lanserhof, describes how to incorporate the principles of Energy Cuisine into your diet.

Choose antioxidantrich foods: Cinnamon, which is anti-inflammatory and promotes digestion. Avocado, which is high in healthy, polyunsaturated fatty acids and also provides vitamins B and E, and hematopoietic iron. Broccoli, which contains folic acid, iron, vitamin C, potassium, calcium, and beta-carotene. Also carrots, parsnip, and pumpkin.

Be mindful of how food is prepared The healthy components found in meat and vegetables can be compromised by baking or frying. Steam these ingredients in order to preserve the vitamins and minerals found within.

Choose foods that increase energy levels Opt for oats and whole grains, hempseed and hemp oil, root vegetables and fish as `superfoods' to boost energy levels throughout the day.

Simplify what's on your plate Confine your dish to just two to three healthy ingredients, allowing the body to digest all the good stuff found in these foods with ease.

Adopt these habits Stay hydrated all day with water and herbal tea. Salads and fruit are best enjoyed at lunchtime, to allow the body time to properly digest. Eat your last meal before 7pm, and avoid raw food for this meal. Leave four to five hours between meals. Choose meat just once a week. Add interest with herbs and spices such as coriander and cinnamon. Avoid water and other liquids up to 45 minutes before and after eating.

Already this year, scientists have discovered 100 new types of bacteria in the human gut

After just 24 hours, I had the feeling of being able to stand up straight the first time for years

Give that cabbage lingering at the bottom of the fridge an even longer lifespan as this popular and healthy pickle

The humble cabbage is a durable and hardy vegetable that survives the harshest conditions, from severe frost to a lifetime in the fridge. A better way to make it last is to turn it into sauerkraut.

Sauerkraut is cabbage preserved through the application of salt and time, a process that allows probiotic bacteria (mainly lactobacillus) to multiply and dominate through fermentation. This process pre-digests food and can break down even tough outer cabbage leaves.

To process the outer leaves, stack them neatly on top of each other with the stalks facing towards you. Remove the thick stems by cutting along each side in an upside-down V shape. Gather the stalks and finely chop them, then roll the stack of leaves into a tight cigar and finely shred.

Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is an acquired taste, but it’s one that’s well worth acquiring. It is one of the simplest, most affordable and nutritious things you can make, and consists of just two ingredients: cabbage and salt. Sauerkraut is traditionally made with cabbage, but any vegetable can be sliced or grated and processed in the same way, making this a great way to preserve young or old vegetables. Such a perfect and timeless recipe.

1 cabbage, including the outer leaves (red, white or a mixture of both)

Salt, to taste

Other flavourings, to taste – dill seeds, coriander seeds, fresh dill, etc

Finely cut the cabbage, season generously with salt, then mix well. Bruise the cabbage, massaging the salt into it, until the juices begin to run. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary: it should be salty, but tasty and perfectly edible.

Now pack the cabbage into a sterilised jar, pushing it down firmly as you go. When the jar is full, squash the cabbage down so the liquid rises above the surface. (If it doesn’t, add a little filtered water.)

Seal and leave at room temperature for a minimum of four days, or until it begins to bubble and tastes slightly acidic and cheesy. At this point, you can either continue fermenting the cabbage at room temperature for months or even years, or put it in the fridge to slow the fermentation.

Jeff Hordley plays hard man Cain Dingle in the ITV soap but in real life, he has had a daily battle with Crohn's for more than 20 years

It has been nearly two decades since Jeff Hordley first appeared in ITV soap Emmerdale as Cain Dingle and during that time the 49-year-old has battled Crohn's disease.

A couple of years before his debut in the soap in 2000, Jeff was diagnosed with the lifelong condition, which causes parts of the digestive system to become 'inflamed'.

The popular actor has spoken previously to theExpress[http://Express.co.uk]about the symptoms of Crohn's disease, in the hope of raising awareness of the illness.

It all started when Jeff was affected by stomach pain as a 20-year-old but this was originally dismissed asirritable bowel syndrome[https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/how-banish-misery-irritable-bowel-7689088].

Miley Cyrus pays tribute to dad Billy Ray's chart success - by posing topless[https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/miley-cyrus-pays-tribute-dad-14243524]

At the time, Jeff was a drama student in Manchester and he said that he would sometimes feel so ill he "had to miss lectures because I was too tired."

He even had to "drop out of my final year plays," as the condition hit him hard.

Jeff revealed: "Even though I tried to avoid foods that upset my digestive system, such as coffee and Chinese takeaways, I was still sick and tired and I kept losing weight."

BBC comedy Fleabag 'won't return after this series' Sian Clifford claims[https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/bbc-comedy-fleabag-wont-return-14243486]

With diarrhoea being added to the stomach pain, tiredness and weight loss, Jeff sought the opinion of specialists and it was then that the diagnosis was made.

Other symptoms could include swollen joints, mouth ulcers, inflamed eyes and rashes on the body.

Jeff had to enlist the help of a nutritionist, so that he could ensure he kept up his energy levels while avoiding food that would aggravate the condition.

Michael Jackson sex abuse accuser's lawsuit 'damaged by filmmaker's claims'[https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/michael-jackson-sex-abuse-accusers-14243392]

He now finds that avoiding wheat, dairy, sugar and alcohol for short periods, have helped to keep the symptoms at bay.

Jeff avoids coffee completely and anything that contains monosodium glutamate (MSG).

This has led to Jeff no longer needing to take medication, as such, but he does take a number of alternatives to ensure he stays on top of the condition.

What is Chron's disease?

Bebe Rexha denies pregnancy rumours by insisting 'no, I'm chubby'[https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/bebe-rexha-denies-pregnancy-rumours-14238554]

Aloe vera juice is taken to ease his digestion and Jeff takes probiotics to restore the good bacteria in the gut.

The soap award winning actor has said that he also takes a supplement called simba, to help the immune system.

Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us atwebcelebs@trinitymirror.com[mailto:webcelebs@trinitymirror.com]or call us direct 0207 29 33033.

Showbiz editor's picks

The patient, a 48-year-old real estate professional in treatment for anxiety and mild depression, revealed that he had eaten three dozen oysters over the weekend.

His psychiatrist, Dr. Drew Ramsey, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, was impressed: “You’re the only person I’ve prescribed them to who came back and said he ate 36!”

Dr. Ramsey, the author of several books that address food and mental health[https://drewramseymd.com/books-publications/], is a big fan of oysters. They are rich in vitamin B12, he said, which studies suggest may help to reduce brain shrinkage.[http://n.neurology.org/content/77/13/1276] They are also well stocked with long chain omega-3 fatty acids, deficiencies of which have been linked to higher risk for suicide and depression[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC533861/].

But shellfish are not the only food he is enthusiastic about. Dr. Ramsey is a pioneer in the field of nutritional psychiatry, which attempts to apply what science is learning about the impact of nutrition on the brain and mental health.

Dr. Ramsey argues that a poor diet is a major factor contributing to the epidemic of depression, which is the top driver of disability for Americans aged 15 to 44, according to a report by the World Health Organization[https://report.nih.gov/NIHfactsheets/ViewFactSheet.aspx?csid=48&key=M]. Together with Samantha Elkrief, a chef and food coach who sits in on many of his patient sessions, he often counsels patients on how better eating may lead to better mental health.

The irony, he says, is that most Americans are overfed in calories yet starved of the vital array of micronutrients that our brains need, many of which are found in common plant foods. A survey published in 2017 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p1116-fruit-vegetable-consumption.html]reported that only one in 10 adults meets the minimal daily federal recommendations for fruit and vegetables — at least one-and-a-half to two cups per day of fruit and two to three cups per day of vegetables.

Nutritional psychiatrists like Dr. Ramsey prescribe antidepressants and other medications, where appropriate, and engage in talk therapy and other traditional forms of counseling. But they argue that fresh and nutritious food can be a potent addition to the mix of available therapies.

Americans routinely change what they eat in order to lose weight, control their blood sugar levels and lower artery-clogging cholesterol. But Dr. Ramsey says that it is still rare for people to pay attention to the food needs of the most complex and energy-consuming organ in the body, the human brain.

The patient Dr. Ramsey was seeing that day credits the nutritional guidance, including cutting down on many of the processed and fried foods and fatty meats that used to be part of his diet, with improving his mood and helping him overcome a long-term addiction to alcohol.

“It’s one part of the whole package that helps alleviate my depression and helps me to feel better,” he said.

Research on the impact of diet on mental functioning is relatively new, and food studies can be difficult to perform and hard to interpret, since so many factors go into what we eat and our general well-being. But a study of more than 12,000 Australians published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2016[https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/intranet/manage/news/ajph_actual_july_2016_fruit_and_veg_oswald_final_proofs.pdf] found that individuals who increased the number of servings of fruits and vegetables that they ate reported that they were happier and more satisfied with their life than those whose diets remained the same.

Another study of 422 young adults from New Zealand and the United States[https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0171206] showed higher levels of mental health and well-being for those who ate more fresh fruits and vegetables. Interestingly, the same benefits did not accrue to those who ate canned fruits and vegetables. “We think this is due to the higher nutrient content of raw fruits and vegetables, particularly B vitamins and vitamin C, which are vulnerable to heat degradation,” said Tamlin Conner, a study author and senior lecturer at the University of Otago.

One of the first randomized controlled trials [https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-017-0791-y]to test whether dietary change may be effective in helping to treat depression was published in 2017. In the study, led by Felice Jacka, a psychiatric epidemiologist in Australia, participants who were coached to follow a Mediterranean diet for 12 weeks reported improvements in mood and lower anxiety levels. Those who received general coaching showed no such benefits.

A Mediterranean diet, rich in whole grains, legumes and seafood as well as nutrient-dense leafy vegetables that are high in the fiber, promotes a diverse population of helpful bacteria in the gut. Research suggests that a healthy gut microbiome[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166432814004768] may be important in the processing of neurotransmitters like serotonin that regulate mood.

“Our imaging studies show that the brains of people who follow a Mediterranean-style diet typically look younger, have larger volumes and are more metabolically active than people who eat a more typical Western diet,” said Dr. Lisa Mosconi, the director of the Women’s Brain Initiative at the Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. Such brain benefits may be protective against the onset of dementia, she said.

Dr. Mosconi noted that “there is no one diet that fits all” but advises patients to cut out processed foods, minimize meat and dairy and eat more whole foods like fatty fish, vegetables and whole grains and legumes to cut the risk of developing degenerative brain diseases associated with aging.

She and Dr. Ramsey both recommend “eating the rainbow,” that is, consuming a wide array of colorful fruits and vegetables like peppers, blueberries, sweet potatoes, kale and tomatoes. Such foods are high in phytonutrients that may help to reduce harmful inflammation throughout the body, including the brain, and promote the growth of new brain cells throughout our adult years, they say.

Dr. Emily Deans, a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, cautions that a plant-only diet may carry some risks. Some large observational studies suggest, for example, that strict vegetarians and vegans may have somewhat higher rates of depression and eating disorders than those who eat a more varied diet. Those on a meat-free diet may also need to take supplements to provide missing nutrients. “Some of the key nutrients for the brain, like long chain omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin B12, are simply not found in vegetable only diets,” says Dr. Deans.

Samantha Elkrief, the food coach who assists Dr. Ramsey, adds that it’s not just what we eat but the attitudes that we bring to our food that contribute to mental well-being. “I want to help people find the foods that give them joy, that make them feel good,” she says. “It’s about slowing down and becoming more mindful, noticing your body, noticing how you feel when you eat certain foods.”

PHOTO: (PHOTOGRAPH BY Tony Cenicola/The New York Times FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)

Maybe you think you've seen, and eaten, it all when it comes to meal-sized Asian soups in Ottawa.

There's certainly no shortage of them, from the well-established bowls of pho and won ton soup not only in Chinatown but in malls from Kanata to Orléans, to the ramen and Lanzhou beef noodle soups that arrived here more recently.

But if you're like me, you've had little exposure to "crossing the bridge" noodle soup, the pride of Yunnan province in southwestern China for more than a century. Well, there is a massive modern restaurant at Riverside Drive and Hunt Club Road that would love to better acquaint you with this style of soup, which involves not only dauntingly hot and bubbling broth but also trays stocked with tiny bowls of ingredients waiting to be dunked and then devoured.

The restaurant is called Dagu Rice Noodle, and it's no one-off. Opened last fall, it's an Ottawa location of a nine-year-old Shanghai-based company that has 400 locations in China. Since September 2017, nine Dagu Rice Noodles have opened in Canada, from Calgary to Montreal. A Dagu Rice Noodle is to open in Las Vegas later this month.

In the Riverside Drive mall that also houses Ottawa's T&T Supermarket, finding Dagu Rice Noodle is a little tricky. The signage seems to suggest that the business is beside the hotpot restaurant Morals Village, which opened in the fall of 2017. In fact, the two eateries, which are owned by the same parent company, are under the same roof. When you arrive, staff will ask you whether you're there for the hotpot or the soup.

Having reviewed Morals Village's hotpot fare in February 2018, I can say that Dagu's soups are similarly diverse and filling. If you go for lunch, and don't take half your bowl home for later enjoyment, then you're a heartier eater than I am. In fact, if eating until you're absolutely stuffed is your thing, then Dagu's offer of unlimited refills of chewy, tubular rice noodles will appeal.

Dagu's menu lists 13 soups, all of which feature rice noodles, and six of which are "crossing the bridge" style. A dozen of the soups are based on a deeply flavoured pork-bone broth (devoid of MSG, the menu notes), while the only recourse for vegetarians is the tomato rice noodle soup ($9.99).

Compared to a good tonkatsu ramen's almost creamy and umami-rich pork-bone broth, Dagu's bedrock broth is more straightforward, loudly sounding its pork-y note. It can arrive at the table unadulterated, in Dagu's "signature" soup ($9.99), which also offers chunks of bone-in pork shank for a guest to grapple with, or overlaid with other flavours (sour, spicy, kimchee, tomato, mushroom).

We preferred the more complex soups with bonus flavours. The evocatively named "mountain cliff mushrooms crossing the bridge rice noodles" soup ($9.99) - just say "B4" when ordering - brimmed with savouriness and a thick mouthfeel, not to mention the exotic mushrooms at the bottom of the bowl.

"Spicy flavoured crossing the bridge rice noodles soup" ($9.99) packed the one-two punch of potent chilies and numbing Sichuan peppercorns, not unlike some even more potent and heavily loaded hotpots.

With those "crossing the bridge" soups came mini-bowl after mini-bowl of ingredients: everything from corn kernels to cooked ground pork to bamboo shoots to stalks of imitation crab to ground, pickled mustard greens to a cooked quail egg. On the tray with those bowls were some slices of raw meat, which would cook in the piping-hot broth. Protein lovers could add sliced beef, lamb, shrimps or stuffed meatballs, each for an additional $2.99.

The meatballs impressed us the most.

Of the other rice noodle soups, the sour and spicy flavoured rice noodle soup with pulled beef ($12.99) appealed with its moderate heat and tender meat. With the tomato flavoured rice noodle soup with "pork chop" ($12.99), the soup surpassed the served-on-the-side pork, which was a deep-fried cutlet not unlike the tonkatsu served in Japanese eateries.

The kitchen's deep-fryer also sends out breaded appetizers, such as the "salty, crispy chicken" ($6.99), which was more crispy than salty, and the crispy pork with Sichuan peppercorn ($5.99), which could have used more of that tingling spice.

If the above two appetizers made you think Dagu had dumbed down its food for Western consumption, then opt for the spicy duck tongues ($6.99). Connoisseurs of this uncommon offal prize a crisp exterior and fatty interior, which must be gnawed off the bone. The omnivore among us reported that Dagu's duck tongues were like frog's legs in terms of texture, and tasted "more medicine-y" as they grew cold. I liked the dish's bed of spicy peanuts.

The restaurant is unlicensed, but notable drinks included "super fruit tea," a bubble tealike concoction thick with pieces of fruit, matcha milk, which mixes green tea with milk, and strawberry and mango yakult, which are probiotic fermented milk drinks.

Oddest of all are the assorted "cheese drinks," which top, for example, watermelon juice with a layer of what appears to be a tangy, foamy, thinned cream cheese. It wasn't unpleasant, and apparently cheese drinks are very big in Asia, but I'll stick to super fruit tea.

I should mention that Dagu, which means "big drum" in Chinese, was actually not the first place in Ottawa to serve crossing the bridge noodle soup. At the very least, the humble Vanier restaurant Fusion Yunnan was first to market here with that dish, which I tried one lunch hour more than a year ago. While I wasn't knocked out, perhaps I owe that restaurant another visit, given Dagu's arrival. phum@postmedia.com twitter.com/peterhum

DAGU RICE NOODLE OTTAWA

Where: Unit 1-3987 Riverside Dr. (at Hunt Club Road) Contact: 613-736-6503, daguricenoodle.ca Open: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily Prices: Soups from $9.99 to $12.99, additional items $2.99 each Access: No steps to front door or washrooms

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

CHARLES PAYNE, FOX NEWS HOST: Don't forget, of course, catch me tomorrow on the Fox Business Network, Making Money at 2 PM Eastern time. The markets are on the cusp of major breakouts to all-time highs, so we'll be there for you. Before you right now, THE FIVE starts now.

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Hello, everybody. I'm Jesse Watters along with Kennedy, Juan Williams, Dana Perino, and Greg. It's 5 o'clock in New York City, and this is THE FIVE.

This is a Fox News alert, Joe Biden finally responding to mounting allegations of inappropriately touching women. Four are now speaking out about the former V.P.'s behavior with two more coming forward last night. Biden addressing the allegations earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I'm always trying to make a human connection. That's my responsibility. I shake hands. I hug people. I grabbed men and women by the shoulders and say you can do this. And whether they're women, men, young, old, it's just the way I've always been. It's the way I've tried to show I care about them and I'm listening.

And on social mores have began to change. They've shifted. And the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset and I get it.

I will be more mindful and respectful of people's personal space. The idea that I can adjust to the fact that personal space is important, more important than it's ever been it is -- it's just not unthinkable. I will. I will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: All right. Let's go to the Democrat at the table here. Mr. Williams --

DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS HOST: Oh, boy.

WATTERS: -- not the smoothest rollout for Mr. Biden. You've had the indecision, the apology tour, now the women. How do you think he's doing so far?

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, I think he should do an interview. I think the paper statement and now the video just strikes me as insufficient and not up to the moment. And I think Dana has made the point that he doesn't have a campaign, so he doesn't have a campaign apparatus, a communications shop, a spokesman who could be helping him here.

I know that he does have staff. I mean, there's no question about that. But for me, I would like to just say -- see Joe Biden come out and speak to it and not engage in what looks like hiding behind the camera because he's just doing a video and throwing the video out there.

You know, to me, the difficulty for Joe Biden is that it opens the door to the Anita Hill question and how he handled Anita Hill. It opens the door to conversations about criminal justice reform that makes him out to be a guy who's just out of touch with the times. And I think that's coming from the left wing of the Democratic Party.

But I don't think it's disqualifying which is what Nancy Pelosi, the speaker, said. It's not disqualifying. But at this point, you know, you just feel for Joe. I don't think President Trump's comments in which he said welcome to -- you know, how do you like your life now, Joe? Because I think Trump wants to -- and some Republicans, unfortunately, joining him in this, make this out like this is what happened to President Trump.

President Trump grabbing women is assault. What Joe Biden did is just, at best, inappropriate, had nothing to do with sex.

WATTERS: Well, we have that sound from the president, so let's listen and Kennedy can react.

KENNEDY, FOX NEWS HOST: Very good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The only non-sort of heavy socialist, he's being taken care of pretty well by the socialists. They got to him. Our former vice president he's -- I was going to call him -- I don't know him well. I was going to say welcome to the world, Joe. Are you having a good time, Joe?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: I think he's saying it's pretty rough out there.

KENNEDY: Yes, and especially now in this political landscape. Very different than when Joe Biden might have run for president. I don't know, 1988? It's interesting because it is so dirty. But this is also a known quantity and the president is absolutely right. It's just interesting that some of Joe's foes are playing the touching card this early.

You know, obviously, trying to keep him out so he can't land those big- money donors early on because he is at the head of the pack right now. He's the biggest threat not only to the other people in the race but to the progressive people in the race and what they stand for. And what they're willing to do to dismantle the establishment and the Democrat Party.

WATTERS: All right. So, Dana, Juan did not think the video was sufficient. What do you think about the video statement?

PERINO: Well, the fact that it's Wednesday and we've been doing this story as our lead story since Monday, will tell you that that they've probably not handling it well in terms of getting over it. But there's been other - - no other like big news that has come out.

The big news that people that support Joe Biden are waiting for -- or even people waiting to run against him is his big announcement. So I think the video thing today, maybe that helps put it to bed a little bit. But see -- I also -- absolutely think this is calculated and coordinated because what's the headline this morning, two more women came out. And then tomorrow would be two more.

This is what they did to President Trump, and I can see why he was like, well, you know, how you like it now?

WATTERS: Right.

PERINO: But, this is the other thing. What do we talk about when people - - we say people like President Trump, why? It's authentic, OK. Joe Biden is now basically being told you cannot be your authentic self and run as Joe Biden. And they're trying to turn him into a straight arm -- whatever, stiff arm robot. And --

KENNEDY: Pretend like I have a cold.

PERINO: Yeah. And that's just not who we is. And his polling has held up pretty well even though he doesn't have a campaign. Across the board, he's always the number one Democrat that people -- Democrats being asked like who do you want to run and who do you think could beat President Trump? It's always Joe Biden.

Maybe there's other reasons for that, name idea, etcetera. But he hasn't taken that many wax. We'll see what this -- what else does this done. But it seems to me that the Democrats are just desperate to get him out.

WATTERS: Yeah.

PERINO: And he -- I wouldn't count him out. I think that he can overcome it.

WATTERS: I think so, too. And for some perspective, he's met probably a million people in the last ten years. Four women said they felt uncomfortable. This was not sexual assault, this nozzle-gate.

GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS HOST: Nozzle-gate. Permission to do a corny joke?

PERINO: Yeah, absolutely.

GUTFELD: Why do these women wait so long to come out?

PERINO: Why?

GUTFELD: Maybe they were Biden their time. Anyway --

PERINO: Very good. Very good.

GUTFELD: I -- you know, this story -- it shouldn't be a two idea prison. I always say that. You can state that he shouldn't be doing this sort of thing. But the Democrats shouldn't be trying to destroy him either simply because he's in the way. They're willing to destroy kind of a lasting memory of who this person is because they just don't want this old white guy around anymore.

And they're willing push him aside when he was out -- this was all known. Didn't that matter now, now it matters now. So for me, he shouldn't be doing it but it would be nice for this attack not to work because to your point it's definitely being run by a pro. This drip, drip, drip, who's next? It's got that media matters feel to it where it might be a conjoined orchestration between like the Sanders' group and media matters because it's such a calculated take-out.

And it's a point where, like, both parties could unite and say do you think maybe it's time to stop this crap? That we're just -- we're just basically ruining people's lives over politics. Meanwhile, you look over at Virginia, you still have -- you know, we still didn't know who was in blackface. The governor is still there. There's some sexual assault claims that are pretty disturbing.

That -- where the Democrats priorities on that? So it's definitely politically calculated, motivated, and maybe --

WILLIAMS: But you know it's not. You said older white male, and the Democrats don't want it. You know the suspicion to your --

GUTFELD: Sanders.

WILLIAMS: -- is Bernie Sanders, he's an older white male. And he's just raised a record amount of money. And, you know, to Dana's point. Dana, you know, the Democrats -- it's not all Democrats who are opposed to Joe Biden. As you point out, he's, I think, close to 30 percent in terms of people.

PERINO: Yeah.

WILLIAMS: So it's not Democrats. We're talking about potentially either his opponents who are trying to, you know, preempt his announcement. Or secondly, that you have people who say, you know what, there's a real issue with how men treat women and, guess what, I'm sensitive to it. And it's not saying --

GUTFELD: Just happened now?

WILLIAMS: -- oh, we don't like Joe Biden.

(CROSSTALK)

KENNEDY: Those two things can be true at the same time.

WILLIAMS: OK. All right.

KENNEDY: And that's what made --

GUTFELD: But we know that's false because it's happening now.

(CROSSTALK)

KENNEDY: It is happening now. It's happening now because people are using it for their political advantage.

GUTFELD: Right.

KENNEDY: But it's also -- to your point, people have known about this for a long time, these meme, these pictures, these montages have existed forever. And, you know, in Joe Biden's defense, what if your greatest political strength on the turn of a dime became your ultimate weakness?

GUTFELD: Yeah.

KENNEDY: What would you do? How do you adapt to that kind of political climate if the thing that you've always been known for, the things you've always been best at is now something that defines you as a horrible person.

PERINO: Right, that's what I'm saying that they're trying to basically dehumanize him.

WATTERS: And they're going to be showing video tape of Biden at these diners and these rallies, and how he's going to handle it? Is he going to hug?

GUTFELD: Handle it.

PERINO: You know what? I think you should just be your best self and just --

GUTFELD: You don't want me to be my best self.

PERINO: Have I ever seen that?

GUTFELD: Yeah -- no.

WATTERS: Can't wait for that. All right, liberal hypocrisy over the crisis at the border is in full effect. See it next on THE FIVE.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: The southern border. First it was a crisis, then it wasn't, then it was. What could it be now?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This president just used the backdrop of the Oval Office to manufacture a crisis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now we have a crisis at our southern border.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some question if there is a crisis at all as the president has claimed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do have a crisis at the border.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An intelligence official tells CNN, quote, no one is saying this as a crisis except them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We sit down instantly then start negotiating an end to this border security crisis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But no sign of the national emergency that the president has been talking about. As a matter of fact, it's pretty tranquil down here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Crisis, no crisis, crisis. The media is like your dumb friend who asked to step out of the car to see if the blinkers are working. Yeah, it's working. Not working. Working. Not working. How can you make sense of this? Journalism these days is just another form of hysteria. A cynical person might think that if the press can't pin the crisis on you, then the crisis doesn't exist.

Meanwhile, we see the crisis with our own eyes. We see the coyotes as people who traffic in suffering. The media just sees them as goofy, colorful tour guides. That's a result of childish denial that will make you say anything other than the truth, stuff that borders on the obscene. The border crisis is a long-term problem that makes problem solvers in the short term look like the bad guys. You're the parent threatening to take away the kids avocados.

Meanwhile, the Dems and media don't know what a crisis is actually is. They're like a sailor saying his leaking boat works great until it's in the water. That's how they see the border. It works just fine, until someone is crossing it. Now you have thousands crossing daily and the media reverts to its usual amnesia. It's a crisis again, everyone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This migrant situation is called a crisis. But you know what? That word is overused and doesn't do the situation justice. We're going to show you what's happening here. It's not easy to see. Let's shine a light on what is obvious. What do you say? Let's get after it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: Oh, boy.

GUTFELD: What do you expect? For two years they were screaming that we had a Russian plant in the White House, never contemplating the hysteria effects. Thankfully, smarter people kept them from destroying the country even as they destroy their own credibility. That's the bigger crisis of failed media trying to tell you what matters.

So, Kennedy, a child's view is something bad is happening now. Let's fix it. An adult view is what's happening now, happen before, and can happen later, so we need a long-term fix. Isn't that what this is really about?

KENNEDY: Yes. That's a good way of framing it. And Congress is supposed to be the adult.

GUTFELD: Right.

KENNEDY: Congress is supposed to be the body that looks at long-term effects of immigration, and perhaps allowing people in the country who want to work, and who want to help our economy, and who want to fill some of the labor spots that are in credibly tight right now.

Unemployment is very, very low. And we do need help from our friends from the south, from Central America and Mexico. Having said that, when you have people who are in limbo, they're torn between two countries, they want to go to the land of the free, they want to go to America, they want to help their families, they want to escape places that are run by drug cartels, but they can't.

So what do they do? They rush for the exits, just like if you are in a concert hall and it catches on fire, you're going to have a stampede and people are going to get hurt. And that is what's happening here. And Congress is supposed to be the body that make sure there are fire codes and fire extinguishers and plenty of exits so people aren't trampled to death.

GUTFELD: Excellent analogy.

KENNEDY: Thank you.

GUTFELD: Jesse, I believe that she may have done a better analogy than your horse one from last week.

WATTERS: You still remembered it.

GUTFELD: I do. I do. You know, should the Dems realize you can't create a country of great free stuff without a container that holds the free stuff. And that's kind of what a border is.

WATTERS: That's not what this is about, Greg.

GUTFELD: Ah, damn it.

WATTERS: This is about Democrats wanting to turn Texas blue. If Texas is blue, Republicans will never win another presidential election. You won't even have to have a conversation about the Electoral College. It's over. Forget about it. They'll win for the rest of eternity.

So they don't have a solution for the border because they don't want a solution. They want open borders. Only a few of them will say that. They don't have the political courage. They'll hide behind things like it's not a crisis. You know, let's get some more beds for the detainees. It's not true.

Have they even gone down to get a briefing from the border patrol? Have they ever even gone to Mexico or to Central America to talk to their counterparts? Do they want to change the detention policy, the asylum policy, the catch and release policy? No. We've listened to video on the show of border patrol agent say it's like a United Nations we're catching crossing. Albanians, Pakistanis. They're human traffickers. They're MS- 13. They're gang bangers.

They're literally bringing children who they don't know with them to cross the border because the minute they cross and set foot, we have to catch and release them. And say, in two years, we'll see with the immigration hearing but they don't show up. That's not a country. That's a lawless nation.

GUTFELD: Juan, do you agree? I'm sure you do. Is it an attempt to turn Texas blue?

WILLIAMS: I love hysterics. But, I mean, that's why you can't solve this problem because people will say just off-the-wall things, and you've got gang bangers and murderers and terrorists from Southeast Asia. I mean, it's just not true. Here's the thing --

WATTERS: No gang bangers that never cross the southern border, Juan?

WILLIAMS: No, come on. This is like Trump yesterday. Trump says -- Trump makes this -- oh, you know what, if I close the border, no impact. Mitch McConnell and the Republicans had to tell him, oh, Mr. President -- even the chamber of commerce had to tell him, Mr. President, that's going to damage the American economy. Don't do it, stupid.

And it's just like -- you know, he goes off and he says, oh, people applying for asylum, only 3 percent show up for the hearing. Mr. President, it's closer to 90 percent. So he does things, like separate kids from families --

GUTFELD: Obama did that too.

WILLIAMS: No. Obama had unaccompanied minors. These are families. And so, when he uses the term crisis, he uses things like, oh, we're being invaded. This is an invasion. It's a military -- no, what you've got is what Kennedy described. Families who say, you know what, it's getting harder with this guy rhetoric, and this guy threats about a wall, and so we're going to try to put our children in better position to have economic prosperity. We'd like to come.

Maybe we should go now because Trump's rhetoric is so divisive --

GUTFELD: Well, go now --

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: All right, let me get Dana in. Do you believe that it's Trump's divisive rhetoric that's enticing people from Central America?

PERINO: Is your point that his threat to close down the border --

WILLIAMS: Yeah, the whole thing, the wall -- but I think it does send a message to people if you're coming, you better go now.

PERINO: So -- we'll see if that happens. We know that happened with Obama, remember? When -- I can't remember what the decision was, but then all of a sudden you have all of these migrants coming because they were like, oh, my gosh, something is going to change, so they rush.

GUTFELD: But you could argue the opposite.

PERINO: Sure.

GUTFELD: That's the thing, it's a pointless point.

PERINO: To go back to your original point about the adults, so the issue really is laws and a court decision. The law being the asylum piece, the court decision being the one that you can't hold children for longer than 20 days, so -- let's just say that it's true that 90 percent show up for their hearings, but if a million people are coming in the year or more, so we have a 100,000 in March, you start -- it starts to get -- that's a pretty big number.

GUTFELD: Yeah.

PERINO: And the president's approval numbers with Hispanics is on the rise. Why is that? Because they don't like this. I don't think it's going to help them in Texas, the Democrats in Texas, or Arizona, or anywhere else --

(CROSSTALK)

KENNEDY: Why are we assuming that every Latino person is going to automatically vote Democrat?

PERINO: Well, the truth -- it's not true. It doesn't happen. And the president's numbers are up with Hispanics.

GUTFELD: All right, we've got to -- we've got to go. Do you want to say something --

WATTERS: They don't vote Republican.

GUTFELD: Yeah. All right, President Trump blasting the Green New Deal of the must-see tape, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERINO: President Trump pivoting to 2020 by setting his sights on potential Democratic contenders. Trump mocking the new -- Green New Deal that many of them support, but says he hopes that they make a -- the Green New Deal part of the campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm only afraid that we're going to be too hard on the Green New Deal and they're not going to do it because I want them to do it. We don't want to have them knock it out before we get to run against it. The Green New Deal done by a young bartender, 29-years-old. The Green New Deal.

You know, but it's crazy -- you know the first time I've heard it I said that's the craziest thing. You have senators that are professionals that you guys know that have been there for a long time. Wait here. Everything perfect. And they're standing behind you and they're shaking. They're petrified of her.

Please don't kill it because we want to be able to run against it. If they beat me with the Green New Deal, I deserve to lose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: That's a good line.

GUTFELD: That's a great line. You know, Green New Deal is exactly the thing a child does in class in an arts and crafts, you know, project. It's, you know, a collage of rainbows and glitter. And it's something that deserves to be on the front of a refrigerator held by a magnet with love by your mom.

But that's not enough. That's not enough of a criticism. I think that Trump should also match their fantasy with reality and go, look, you know, I credit them for their lofty ambitions. But as a Republican -- businessman, I can solve this problem with clean, safe, nuclear power. And if you don't believe me, you'll believe Bill Gates -- not Ben, his brother, but Bill Gates who is pushing, you know, nuclear power.

So it's not some crazy right-winger. It's, you know, one of the richest liberals on the planet. I don't know if mentioning AOC is a wise decision because, you know, she's a problem for Dems the way Trump was a problem for Republicans. She just -- she just gets -- she gets the heat.

PERINO: It's like -- it fuels her.

GUTFELD: Yeah, it fuels her.

PERINO: Right. The more that you make fun of her, Jesse, the more it builds her up.

WATTERS: But there's strategy behind that because what he's doing is creating tension in the Democratic ranks --

GUTFELD: True.

WATTERS: -- by bruising the egos of all of the professional politicians by saying you're getting let around by these young --

GUTFELD: Yeah.

WATTERS: -- idiotic bartender from the Bronx. And she doesn't know what she's talking about. And -- so that puts them in a tough position. But he's also sarcastically using reverse psychology. It's like, oh, wow, I can't wait to run against this Green New Deal. I don't want to hit it too hard because I don't want to kill the baby in the crib, but I'm not going to say anything but I'm licking my chops.

And that also humiliates the Democrats, because deep down even the Democrats know it's a political loser. And people don't give President Trump credit for his policy chops -- excuse me, for his political chops because governing has proven a little-bit more difficult. But on the campaign trail, he took out a Bush, took out a Clinton, was out-spent, and broke down the blue wall.

PERINO: Kennedy, do you think that the Green New Deal probably plays really well in district where you have big Democratic majorities, but not so much in the swing districts where Democrats just won to take back the House majority.

KENNEDY: Yes. I think it plays very well in the bubbles where there is a big cosmopolitan bias, in fact. And this is the first time the Republicans have actually been very passionate and very confident about capitalism. And the Green New Deal allowed them to reframe the discussion on capitalism in a very beneficial way.

For months and months, as we've slowly seen the Democrat Party turned more and more progressive, I've been wondering where are the Republicans, where are the champions of, you know, economic liberalism, and a solid economy, and small business, and entrepreneurship. Why aren't they fighting for those values. And they finally were able to do that with the Green New Deal and I think that's why the President doesn't want to let it go. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in response to the President said, the last guy who underestimated me lost and she's right about that.

But that was--

PERINO: I don't think you should underestimate - I think the problem for Democrats is they are overestimating her.

MONTGOMERY: Yes. And that's going to be--

PERINO: So, tomorrow night Juan, Bret Baer and Martha MacCallum are going to do this town hall with Howard Schultz, who's threatening the third party run against Democrats, while a third party run. But Democrats are worried about that. And then Bernie Sanders is going to also do Juan, I think April 15th in Detroit. How do you think that they might deal with the Green New Deal on a stage like that?

WILLIAMS: Well, I don't think there is any question. Almost all of them have endorsed the Green New Deal. And the reason is it's a winner. I love it though you guys laugh. I mean to me you know what's laughable - what's laughable is Trump last night saying, oh you know what, these wind turbines, the noise from them cause cancer. Really, Mr. President, wow. Wind turbines cause cancer. This is new.

GUTFELD: Sounds like a liberal.

WILLIAMS: No, I mean it's just wild wacky stuff that he says. And then of course, how condescending is the way I took it. This bartender wait a minute, this young woman is extraordinary brilliant just won her campaign is making inroads. She has no real power at the moment as a junior member. She's making inroads and you want to belittle her. I see where you're coming from. I mean it doesn't speak well of you, but it does say a lot about her.

But I will say again, the Green New Deal, if you look at the absence of discussion about climate change and global warming--

MONTGOMERY: The Green New Deal was not about climate change.

WILLIAMS: It doesn't have elements - it has elements of the--

MONTGOMERY: That was like a fifth thing darn on the list.

WILLIAMS: Economy.

MONTGOMERY: UBI, free college, Medicare for all, that's within the Green New Deal. That's not a Green New Deal. That's Green New dog crap.

WILLIAMS: No. This is part of an effort to change our economic structure not only to address--

MONTGOMERY: Yes.

GUTFELD: Because it's terrible.

MONTGOMERY: And have it swirl down the toilet.

WILLIAMS: But to deal with--

MONTGOMERY: How do you pay for $93 trillion if that's a winner. That's a loser. You know what happens when the economy suffers, people die.

WILLIAMS: It's not going to suffer. In fact, what we see right now, the big push is in terms of jobs--

MONTGOMERY: So, we spent $700 million a year on the military--

WILLIAMS: Hang on. Let me just say.

MONTGOMERY: We just spent $93 billion over 10 years. $9 billion a year on this flight.

PERINO: We've got to run.

MONTGOMERY: That's a winner.

WILLIAMS: Keep shouting. In between you are shouting, allow me to say that- -

MONTGOMERY: You can say.

WILLIAMS: That what they're talking about is looking at this issue while Republicans and Trump refuse to talk about.

GUTFELD: But to Kennedy's point, this - expanding this. The Green New Deal is about upending the most efficient phenomenal economic system in the history of the world that somehow this is suffering.

WATTERS: We don't even need to argue. Don't even argue. You said, it's a winner.

WILLIAMS: You tell that to people right now. We can't afford $400.

PERINO: OK. THE FIVE wants to be very clear. We always support our bartenders.

GUTFELD: Especially me.

PERINO: Excellent. Actresses, Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin in federal court today. The latest on the college admissions scandal. Ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin having their day in court today. The Hollywood celebrities in Boston to face charges in the college admissions cheating scandal. They were not asked to enter a plea. Loughlin and her husband accused of paying $500,000 to help their two daughters get into the University of Southern California. And the Fed say Huffman paid $15,000 to rig her daughter's college entrance exam. Kennedy, what do you think, did your parents have to help you out?

MONTGOMERY: Absolutely not. No. I went to community college for two years and then I got a scholarship to UCLA. Because I did for a while and worked real hard. And I didn't even apply to USC because it's a horrible school. It's interesting because Lori Loughlin's daughter Olivia Jade, she got both of them in there by paying $0.5 million to fake their way on to the women's crew team. How horrible is that Trojan crew team, if they're letting just Internet dumb dumbs on is like fake rowers.

Anyhow, Olivia Jade blames her parents for ruining her life, because she has lost all of these lucrative endorsements. She was a YouTube star and had various companies from Amazon to Sephora giving her a lot of money to be like my teeth look so great, because I use this and go Trojans. I like to party, and I hate college. And now she's mad at her parents because she never wanted to go, and they forced her into it. And it's a bad system and a lot of parents do it. Her parents just found a different, very dishonest unethical way.

WILLIAMS: Hey Jesse, we're talking about two people with Hollywood connections, kind of the Hollywood elite. But I noticed that in the list of people there are guys who are hedge fund magnates, big company CEOs. It looks to me like the rich and powerful have been gaming the system. And I don't want that to get lost in this.

WATTERS: It hasn't been lost. I think everybody recognizes that and it's going to be interesting to see who can buy their way out of this. Is it going to be the connected Hollywood people or is it going to be the wealthy hedge fund people? And we don't know, because Hollywood works like that to a certain extent. There is going to be a lot of favors called in. But we don't know if the prosecutors are going to want to make an example out of these people.

Are they going to be influenced by their bosses or is the judge going to feel any political pressure or are they going to say, you know what we're going to throw the book at them? We're going to ask for jail time even in a plea deal. They could still insist on jail time. I don't know if they're going to get it, but if they do get jail time, the only way to solve this is right now. You called Bravo. You call Andy Cohen and you say; I want all the cameras to follow me from now until sentencing, make it a reality show, you'll recoup the cash, she can. The little girl, she can rebound, advertisers always come back. Right, Kennedy.

MONTGOMERY: That's absolutely right.

WATTERS: So, they'll be back. And then that way everybody wins.

WILLIAMS: That's an interesting one. Dana it's a little bit of a sensitive question for you on this.

MONTGOMERY: Michael Cohen.

WILLIAMS: Which is that--

MONTGOMERY: Broken reputations.

WILLIAMS: A lot of disabled people are now saying you know what, we're getting run over in this, because we have legitimate disabilities and either need for more time for test or in terms of the requirements to get into college. And now we're being treated as if we're--

PERINO: This always happens. It happens when people cheat the system.

GUTFELD: Therapy pets.

PERINO: I was just going to say that because you have made a great point that people who cheat on the service dog thing, I've heard people that really have a problem--

WATTERS: I don't see how if for instance someone cheated on a service dog thing how that would affect other people service dogs.

PERINO: Well, we'll have to see. I also want to point this out that financial crimes, you don't necessarily get to pay your way out, because this is not punishment.

WATTERS: Right. This is a tax fraud problem.

PERINO: Yes. Because it's not punishment, right.

MONTGOMERY: That's a really good point.

PERINO: Right. Paying a fine. It's like Smollett.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PERINO: I'll forfeit 10 grands because - that's not even punishment for him. It's like us losing $100 on the street. So, the other point I would make is, it feels like we are living in a modern Great Gatsby era. And a collision is coming. You want to know why the populist fever in the country isn't breaking, it's because people that are really wealthy continue to do stuff like that that hurt people who actually need extra time on tests or a dog to take them on a plane so that they can get through the experience.

WILLIAMS: Yes. I think again what this comes back to is you know rising income inequality and the rich living by a different set of standards.

GUTFELD: That's not what it is.

PERINO: That's not my point.

GUTFELD: That's not what it is.

WILLIAMS: I think it's the point.

PERINO: Help me.

GUTFELD: You know that story about scholarships for rowing, fake crews. This is the lesson. When your kid comes to you and says, I don't want to go to college. I want to make money on Instagram. Listen to him.

MONTGOMERY: Amen.

GUTFELD: All right.

PERINO: Let him do it.

GUTFELD: Listen to him. You are now living in a time when kids can actually make money or do different things. They don't have to go to college. There is so many different things that you can do in this world. You could join the army. I would do it, but I'm 54. But the thing is, I think that Peter Thiel for example offered this internship program would pay kids 100 grand not to go to college. And I think that this is you know - when your kid doesn't want to go to college and wants to start their own business, listen to them, I wish there were more of them.

WILLIAMS: And you know how I feel. I think it's a great credentialing especially for minority people.

GUTFELD: I would agree with you that minorities need it, right.

WILLIAMS: I think even middle-class kids because a lot of people say you know professionals--

GUTFELD: They don't appreciate it.

WILLIAMS: Nobody can argue income. Income for people with college degrees is much higher than people with high school or--

MONTGOMERY: Well, don't discount the ability to educate yourself.

WILLIAMS: No, I wouldn't do that. I think life is an education.

MONTGOMERY: The power of reading and figuring out what you're passionate about, you can be an autodidact and do--

PERINO: Not to mention watching THE FIVE.

GUTFELD: I do a lot of things.

WILLIAMS: That's what I think you should do, watch THE FIVE. Adults being swaddled like babies. Come on. A new fitness trend drinking pickle juice. Come on. And Helen Mirren cursing out Netflix. Come on. Times three. These stories, up next in the Fastest Seven with Jesse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MONTGOMERY: Woo, that is. Welcome back. Time for the Fastest Seven. First up, adults swaddling, apparently all the rage. Who knows? Maybe if you're super stressed, this bizarre new trend will help you relax. The technique is supposed to help grownups relax and even reduce their pain by wrapping them up tightly in sheets like babies and then they're gently rocked back and forth on top of cushions. Greg, you look very envious of this.

GUTFELD: That's the step first step of the process. The second step is throwing them into a river, because that is dumb. I mean if they would think of it like - these are things that if you did on your own by yourself, people would think you're insane but because you're paying for it, now it's an actual trend.

MONTGOMERY: It looks like the Gimp from Pulp.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PERINO: I thought it was an April Fool's joke. I think I first saw on this on Monday and like surely this isn't true.

MONTGOMERY: We were on to something; we need to have April's Fools week.

GUTFELD: So sad.

MONTGOMERY: Yes, Jesse.

WATTERS: No one is having sex in Japan. Birth rates are way down.

MONTGOMERY: They are depopulating.

WATTERS: Young Japanese are - I think half of them are virgins. I looked it up today. And this is the reason why and for - this is both reasons why.

GUTFELD: Because they're trapped inside sheets.

WATTERS: Yes, this is the solution and the problem.

MONTGOMERY: They're trying. It doesn't feel right. Juan?

WILLIAMS: But there is a big deal now that something serious in this country which is heavy covers on your bed that there is--

WATTERS: It's duvet Juan.

WILLIAMS: Duvet whatever. The rich have a different pronunciation.

WATTERS: Income inequality.

WILLIAMS: But I like heavy covers, but I think this looks ridiculous. This looks a little bizarre.

MONTGOMERY: Swaddling helps for babies because they're babies because they're so new they need to feel like they--

WILLIAMS: But don't you like heavy covers. Don't you like heavy covers. They make you feel good.

MONTGOMERY: Yes, I like heavy covers and heavy lovers, Juan. All right. Well, up next forget about sports drinks or protein shakes, fitness fanatics are turning to a different option to quench their thirst, pickle juice. Yes, pickle juice. Believe it or not, the briny beverage is becoming a popular post workout trend. Watch.

GUTFELD: Stop it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After running like sometimes especially in the summer you're just really thirsty and water doesn't quite do it, the salt in its kind of does rehydrating.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People drink it for hydration as well as to decrease muscle cramping. But the other thing that people drink it for is the probiotic benefit of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MONTGOMERY: Pickle juice is fantastic.

PERINO: I don't work out enough to need this.

GUTFELD: The worst part about it is that bothers me is when they make health claims. It's like OK number one you don't have to buy this, if you have pickles, it's the other stuff in the damn jar.

You don't have to pay for it. But it also - making these health claims about probiotics. Save it.

MONTGOMERY: No. But that's why people have been drinking apple cider vinegar for a while.

PERINO: It's not that bad actually.

MONTGOMERY: No, it's very good, it purifies the blood.

GUTFELD: You're going to have pickle breath.

MONTGOMERY: Lot of salt. Pickle backs are quite common in bars. You drink a shot of Jameson allegedly, I'm told Alison, our stage manager and I might have had one last Thursday.

WATTERS: Yes, this is a chaser, it's not Gatorade.

WILLIAMS: But you know, in fact, that's a good point, because you could just drink Gatorade or coconut juice for the electrolytes, for the potassium. I mean I think that's what people do. Now I must tell you, I grew up in a household filled with this, because boxers use it to toughen their skin. Their hands.

PERINO: I need that.

GUTFELD: Yes.

WILLIAMS: You know what I like, I like olive juice, which is equally salty in a martini.

MONTGOMERY: That is delicious.

WILLIAMS: It's dirty.

MONTGOMERY: Yes. The dirtier the better. I like my martinis like I like my jokes, Juan. Finally, Netflix probably wants actress Helen Mirren to jail. The Oscar winner becoming the latest star to slam the streaming giant. She reportedly told the crowd of movie theater owners quote, "I love Netflix, but F Netflix. There is nothing like sitting in the cinema and the lights go down. I would like to thank you guys for making that environment possible."

PERINO: And while I do that at home. I don't need that. I hadn't been in the theater in maybe 15 years.

MONTGOMERY: That's why we have fights on Black Friday so people can turn their own homes into movie theaters and get these giant TV's for less money.

WATTERS: I just appreciate well-timed profanity from really sophisticated people.

GUTFELD: I'm just glad that we're doing the latest Helen Mirren news on THE FIVE. Tomorrow, we'll be covering Benedict Cumberbatch his take on his tailor.

PERINO: That'll be good.

MONTGOMERY: It's very, very edgy. Helen Mirren obviously needs a little bit of pickle juice.

PERINO: I like how the camera keeps picking me up drinking that. I'm going to set it back.

WATTERS: Yes. Put it down.

WILLIAMS: You mean you guys know it; you know what--

MONTGOMERY: One More Thing.

WILLIAMS: If you go to an old-time movie theater like the Uptown in D.C.

PERINO: The kind Fred Willard got caught up.

MONTGOMERY: Oh! Boy.

WILLIAMS: But you know old time movie theaters are pretty cool.

PERINO: They certainly are. And action movies, great to see.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

PERINO: Big theater.

WILLIAMS: A Dolby sound.

PERINO: Yes, I'm a fan of all of it. He blinded me with science. One More Thing is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: Time now for One More Thing, Juan.

WILLIAMS: So, how about a random act of kindness. Take a look at this video of two-year-old Cillian Jackson. Yes, he was given that fancy wheelchair by robotic students at Farmington High School in Minnesota. Cillian has a genetic condition similar to cerebral palsy. His parents couldn't afford a $20,000 wheelchair. Insurance wouldn't pay for it. So, his dad asked students at his former high school for help and using a power wheels writing toy bicycle parts and advice from the University of Delaware, they built that chariot in just a few weeks.

The high schoolers said they were thrilled to change that little boy's life. To me that's a genuine act of kindness.

WATTERS: Morally.

PERINO: Great.

WATTERS: All right. Greg.

GUTFELD: All right. Fox Nation, I've got a behind the scenes episode, what makes The Greg Gutfeld Show run, Gabby Valenti (ph), my assistant, Nor Torpi (ph), my booker and Gene Nelson (ph) one of my producers and we talk about how to put together a show. This is why you come to Fox Nation All the background, dirty stuff.

MONTGOMERY: You've got a new picture too.

GUTFELD: And my podcast is amazing. Go to foxnewspodcast.com. I interview the legend Jennifer Herrema, the lead singer from Royal Trux. Her band Black Bananas is just an interesting person. Check it out. Now it's time for this. Animals Are Great. Of course, they are.

I only do this to watch the souls of my panelists die when they hear that song. I just look at your faces and you just want to kill yourselves when you hear that song. But then you get happy when you see this little turtle trying watermelon for the first time. Never had watermelon. That is like - can you imagine what's going on in that little brain right now. Like what is this glorious--

PERINO: Like I'm 150 years old and never had watermelon.

GUTFELD: All right, I'm stopping.

WATTERS: Three One More Things. I think you should choose for four as well. Dana Perino.

PERINO: All right. So, you know I met my husband on an airplane. This young woman. Her name is Jamaica Alfiler (ph). I'm sorry. Make sure I get that right. She's 21 years old. She thinks she met her soulmate on a plane. They were sitting next to each other. He helped her with her luggage, her seat. He offered her his blanket, but she didn't get his contact information. This was a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Seattle over the weekend. She's now trying to find him and she's enlisting help on Facebook and other places to see if we can find--

GUTFELD: Scam. This is a private detective. That's a great move on her part.

PERINO: Anyway, I hope that she finds him. And he is single.

WATTERS: If AOC has her way, no one will fall in love in planes anymore. Sorry. Never would have happened. All right, my One More Thing. Crazy Hungarians walking silly. Watch this. This takes place in Budapest. I thought they were drunk. Apparently, they're not drunk. Then I thought they were weird, they're not weird. They're actually inspired by Amani Playhouse (ph) singing.

PERINO: Yes. Don't you know that one?

GUTFELD: The league of Silly Walks.

WATTERS: That was - very good. Ministry of Silly Walks.

GUTFELD: We all know this but you.

WATTERS: It was a little before my time. That money.

WILLIAMS: That's true.

WATTERS: OK.

GUTFELD: Not your haircut.

WATTERS: Juan.

WILLIAMS: No, Kennedy.

WATTERS: OK, Kennedy.

MONTGOMERY: Yes. Are you ready for a twerking barren heat?

GUTFELD: Yes.

MONTGOMERY: Here you go. She's feeling it. That's right. Has taken the web by storm. She is an actress. She's looking for a mate and she has some special feelings.

GUTFELD: This happens. This video has actually been sped out. She wasn't moving that fast when we speed it up. It's definitely more than that that is much better.

PERINO: Animals are great.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

WATTERS: Fake news everybody.

WILLIAMS: I think that's Donna Summers.

WATTERS: All right. Set your DVRs. Never miss an episode of THE FIVE.

END

The term ‘anti-ageing’ has become synonymous in recent years with luxuriously scented face creams that promise to fight the signs of ageing. But what if a new drug could reverse the significantly more serious side effects of getting older?

Earlier this week, my colleague Sarah Knapton visited the Mayo Clinic in the US to report on how scientists[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2019/04/02/wonder-drugs-target-zombie-cells-could-reverse-ageing-process/] there are trialling senolytics: anti-ageing drugs that can slow down and even reverse the ageing process, in a bid to ward off diseases like Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

Scientists now believe these diseases are triggered by ageing: as we get older, our number of ‘senescent’ cells – damaged, deteriorating cells that no longer divide – increases, which drives up our risk of disease. These cells are also known as ‘zombie cells’, and scientists have been working on drugs that can potentially ‘mop’ them up and delay the onset of disease and frailty.

The scientists at the Mayo Clinic found the drugs extended the lifespan of mice by 36 per cent, which translates to an extra thirty years of life in humans (the animals were unharmed during the testing).

“Most people don’t want to live to 130 and feel like they’re 130 but they wouldn’t mind living to 90 or 100 and feel like they’re 60. And now that can actually be achieved in animals,” says clinical geriatrician Dr James Kirkland, Director of the Robert and Arelene Kogod Center on Aging at Mayo Clinic.

Zombie cells - timeline[https://cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk/3c3b2276-8218-4f86-a80f-459f3520544a.html]

“Ageing itself is the highest risk factor for most of the chronic diseases,” he continued. “And if you get one age-related disease, you’ve got a huge chance of having several. You tend to find older individuals who are completely healthy and are playing 18 rounds of golf a day, or they’ve got three, five or 10 different conditions. There aren’t too many people in between.”

Unlike previous senolytics that focused on individual diseases, the new drugs are hoping to work like antibiotics and target a wide range of age-related illnesses. There are now plans to trial the drugs on humans, and if successful they could be available within two years. But in the mean time, how else can you anti-age your health?

Intermittent fasting

Far from being an Instagram fad, intermittent fasting has been shown (in animals, at least) to clear out damaged cells, and reduce inflammation and stress in the body. “Autophagy is a cellular maintenance process, which is stimulated by fasting,” says Max Lowery, creator of the 2MealDay Plan[https://2mealday.com/], “and it’s critical in disease resistance and longevity. Your cells create membranes that mop up damaged, aging cells. Autophagy helps to replenish them with new cells. There’s some evidence that autophagy can help control inflammation and boost immunity, which are also linked to longevity.

"Scientists have found that intermittent fasting and alternate-day fasting – where you eat normally one day and fast the next – increases the lifespan of test rats. However, lifespan is also dependent on many variables, like sleep, diet, exercise, stress, genetics and habits. Intermittent fasting isn’t a magic pill to live a longer life, but when used in conjunction with other positive lifestyle habits, it could have an impact."

Intermittent fasting has also been found to reduce oxidative stress, which contributes to diseases like Alzheimer’s, cancer and heart disease. Oxidative stress shortens telomeres, which are the protective DNA caps at the ends of your chromosomes, which can cause cells to become senescent.

One US study, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, found that increasing the time between your meals resulted in longer lifespan, compared to those who ate more frequently throughout the day, regardless of the number of calories both groups consumed overall.

"This study showed that mice who ate one meal per day, and thus had the longest fasting period, seemed to have a longer lifespan and better outcomes for common age-related liver disease and metabolic disorders," said NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, who worked on the study. "These intriguing results in an animal model show that the interplay of total caloric intake and the length of feeding and fasting periods deserves a closer look."

Exercise

We've always known that exercise is good for us: it keeps our hearts healthy, and reduces weight gain which is linked to diseases like cancer and diabetes. But its benefits work on a cellular level too: one study by the Mayo Clinic in 2016 found that exercise can prevent the build up of senescent cells in overweight mice. “The harmful effects of the [high sugar, high fat diet] were associated with dramatic increases in several markers of senescence,” said the researchers, who found that regular exercise prevents both the accumulation of senescent cells while offsetting the harmful effects of the food.

Another study, from the Harvard School of Public Health, found that even moderate activity like brisk walking can increase lifespan in the over 40s. Those who were overweight, but not obese, could expect to live an extra 3.9 years if they did 150 minutes (roughly 20 minutes per day) of moderate exercise each week. Normal weight people lived an extra 4.7 years with the same amount of exercise. "This finding provides further evidence that there is a clear, direct dose-response relationship between volume of physical activity and years of life gained," said Mark Tremblay, director of the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at the University of Ottawa, Canada.

Reducing stress

“Life’s stressors can biochemically alter your body in many ways, from your hormones to your gut health, inflammation, and your genes,” says Dr Sara Gottfried, author of Younger: A Breakthrough Program to Reset Your Genes, Reverse Aging, and Turn Back the Clock 10 Years. “Chronic stress creates oxidative damage and free radical production, ageing us on a cellular level and shortening our telomeres.” And size matters – the shorter the telomere, the poorer your overall health.

“Stress also causes inflammation in the body, which contributes to almost every disease there is,” says Gottfried. “If you're regularly stressed, your body stays in fight-or-flight mode, which sets off a chain reaction of inflammatory responses occur that can damage your health on a cellular level.”

To reduce stress, Gottfried recommends getting some regular exercise, eating well and taking steps to stop your stress spiralling out of control, whether that's meditation, mindfulness or simply getting sufficient sleep. "I used to be what I call an 'under-sleeper', but under-sleeping is health time-bomb like sugar. So stay attuned to the natural light-dark cycles by avoiding binge watching TV and staying off screens after 9pm."

365 RHS[https://cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk/990040e0-4ca0-4592-af10-b9842ac1af7a.html]

DETROIT - Kibbles for Fido? Nope. These days he's getting diced chicken with sweet potatoes and spinach.

U.S. pet owners are increasingly feeding fresh food to their dogs and cats. Some order pre-proportioned meals of meat and vegetables or frozen raw meat online. Others find them in refrigerators at big retailers like Walmart.

Later this spring, Petco and its partner, California-based JustFoodForDogs, will open a kitchen at its flagship store in New York where it expects to make 2,000 pounds of fresh pet food every day.

Proponents say fresh foods preserve nutrients better than canned or dried ones, mimic ancestral diets and improve pets' health.

"Just as people have become skeptical of highly processed foods for themselves, they're looking critically at their pets' foods as well," said Amy Zalneraitis, part-owner and chief brand officer of We Feed Raw, a 10-year-old raw food meal plan service based in Maine. "They think: How could something with a shelf life of over year be better than real, fresh food?"

But some veterinarians question the trend. They say established pet food companies like 51-year-old Royal Canin are backed by decades of research, while the verdict is still out on fresh food.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says raw pet food has a high risk of bacterial contamination. The agency is also investigating a link between grain-free diets that contain peas, lentils and potatoes and elevated levels of heart disease in dogs.

"There are so many essential nutrients, from all different classes, that need to be considered," said Dr. Lindsey Bullen, a pet nutrition specialist with the Veterinary Specialist Hospital of the Carolinas. "If they are too high or too low, or in an inappropriate proportion, it can cause significant problems for that pet that the client might not see for months or years to come."

Bullen says about 20% of her clients feed their pets fresh food. When they do, she said, she questions them about the recipes they're following to make sure they're providing essential nutrients. Canine and feline supplements can help round out fresh meals.

Pet food trends tail human ones. When gravy was popular in the 1950s, Gravy Train dog food appeared. In the 1980s, Fancy Feast cat food mirrored a growing interest in gourmet food.

This time, younger buyers are fueling the trend, choosing pet foods they consider safer and more natural, says consulting firm Mintel.

U.S. sales of fresh pet food in groceries and pet stores jumped 70% to more than $546 million between 2015 and 2018, according to Nielsen, a data company. That doesn't include online sales or people making their own fresh pet food. It's still just a fraction of the $25 billion U.S. pet food market.

Deb Colgan was initially hesitant when she caught her husband feeding raw meat to their two German shepherds seven years ago. But after researching the benefits, they started buying raw meat and bones from the grocery. She works with her vet and adds supplements like vitamin E, salmon oil, probiotics and a joint supplement.

One of her dogs stopped vomiting regularly and gained weight. The other stopped getting ear and urinary tract infections. Those dogs eventually died, but the Colgans have continued the diet with two new dogs.

"It's very much a relief they are so healthy, and we do believe it's because how they eat," said Colgan, of Oconomowoc, Wis. "I can't imagine us ever going back to commercial."

Feeding pets raw food is the most expensive option. According to Nielsen data, the average fresh pet food costs $5.26 per pound, while the average frozen raw pet food is $6.23 per pound.

Colgan spends $300 a month on three 10-pound rolls of meat plus vegetables, fruit, fish and freeze-dried dog treats. By comparison, 30 pounds of Freshpet Vital brand turkey, peas carrots and rice, which is sold in refrigerated tubes, costs around $85. A 31-pound bag of Purina One Smart Blend dry dog food costs $33.79 on Amazon.com.

NomNomNow, which makes pre-proportioned fresh meals specific to each pet, says its service costs $2.60 to $3.80 per meal for a 35-pound dog and $1.50 to $2.80 per meal for a 12-pound cat. That's a lot more than a 55-cent can of Friskies, but it's in line with some prescription pet foods.

The San Francisco-based company, which was founded four years ago, says it's making hundreds of thousands of meals per month and delivering them to customers in 48 states.

"The general health consciousness of Americans is transferring to their pets, because we do consider pets as part of our family," said Lynn Hubbard, the general manager of NomNomNow's Nashville production facility.

Jesse, a pitbull lab mix from Austin, Texas, suffered from diarrhea, vomiting and itchy skin for most of her seven years. Vets tried steroids, which stopped the itching but made her gain weight. Her owner, Lanay Kibodeaux, tried cooking for her and feeding her raw food, but those didn't ease her problems either.

So Kibodeaux turned to NomNomNow, which developed a specialized diet for Jesse and sends her four recipes on a rotating basis. Her health has vastly improved, and she's off steroids, says Kibodeaux. And she likes the food better than the meals Kibodeaux was fixing for her.

"She literally will skip over to the bowl and keep licking the bowl after she's done," said Kibodeaux, a senior administrative assistant at the University of Texas. "It's just the answer to prayers for me."

___

AP Video Journalists Carrie Antlfinger in Oconowoc, Wis., Allen G. Breed in Cary, N.C. and Kristin Hall in Nashville contributed to this story.

CIAO for now, Italy. After years as the world's healthiest country, the European nation has ceded its top spot to a dark horse contender: Spain.

According to the 2019 Bloomberg Healthy Country Index, Spain's combination of a produce-rich diet, love of olive oil and focus on enjoyment gives it a boost above its Mediterranean neighbors.

And its citizens have average life spans of 82.3 years, according to World Bank data.

None of this surprises Nico Lopez, Madrid native and head of culinary development at new Hudson Yards food hall Mercado Little Spain.

Back home, Lopez tells The Post, "Everything happens around the table." Coming together over fresh, homemade meals - which typically consist of seafood, vegetables, fruit and rice - is as natural to a Spaniard as grabbing a takeout pizza is to a New Yorker. The idea for Mercado is to offer that same experience to busy Manhattanites.

Built as a traditional Spanish market (but given an American supersize treatment, at 35,000 square feet), Mercado Little Spain offers sitdown meals, snacks, drinks and an assortment of produce and pantry items. Whereas many stateside Spanish restaurants adapt dishes based on tamer tastes and US ingredients, according to Lopez, that's not the case at Mercado, where nearly all ingredients are imported directly from Spain and traditional recipes are followed to a T.

That's not to say that all options are healthy, per se - the hall counts a pastry shop, icecream stand and churro station among its many counters. But Lopez says that the balancing of light and heavy is part of what makes a Spanish lifestyle so sustainable.

NYC-based dietitian Maya Fuller feels the same way. "When I look at these dishes, I want to start screaming, it's so fantastic," she says.

"[The food] is a mixture of protein, fats, carbs and fl avors, rather than [so-called superfoods].

It invites you to sit with your community and eat a real meal." Here are the healthiest dishes to try at Mercado's kiosks and restaurants - and at home.

Gazpacho at Frutas y Verduras and Spanish Diner ($9) The cold, tangy soup is Lopez's favorite healthy meal, for good reason - packed with raw vegetables, olive oil and a little bread, it's both fi lling and refreshing. "I love gazpacho because it's relatively easy to prepare, and you can swap the vegetables out [for your own tastes]," says Fuller. "It usually has tomatoes, cucumber, maybe some pepper, and that mix is going to give you a nice set of anti-oxidants, like lycopene." Olives at La Barra and Bar Celona ($2.50) Olives are everywhere at Mercado, served as tapas at the restaurants and bars and in oil form in gazpacho, ice cream and more. "With olives, you're going to get some vitamin E and monounsaturated fatty acids, which help reduce infl ammation . . . and reduce the chance of heart disease," says Fuller. They can also make a meal more satiating, which curbs overeating. "We're accustomed to olives that come in a can, soaked in sodium, but when you think about how people eat olives in Spain, it really does add a di* erent fl avor profi le to a dish," she says.

Potato omelet at Tortilla de Patatas (from $5) Cooked right, the humble potato is healthier than you might think. "Potatoes are a big source of potassium, and they're a resistant starch, so they're great for gut bacteria," says Fuller.

"They're inexpensive, and they're very tasty." Try the tubers paired with eggs in a traditional Spanish tortilla, which is similar to an omelet.

Mussels (mejillones) at La Barra, Mar, Bar Celona and Leña ($10) Spain is revered for its seafood, from whole fish to tinned anchovies. But Fuller says slender, black-shelled mussels get extra nutritional points for their high levels of vitamin B12, iron and vitamin C, which can translate to improved brain function and help with fi ghting inflammation. "They're also incredibly fl avorful," she says, "and not as expensive as some other fish." Find them at several of the restaurants, in paella or tinned in a vending machine near the entrance.

Paella at Leña (from $14) Paella is the star of the show at Leña, where it's cooked over a wood-fi red grill. The dish's blend of grains, meat, seafood, vegetables and spices, such as sa* ron, makes for a healthy, fun-to-eat dish, says Fuller. "Sky's the limit, in terms of what nutrients there are," she says.

"All of those spices have health benefi ts because they come from plants, and they all have anti-oxidant capabilities. But they also allow us to actually taste the food and enjoy it. When we sit down to eat, we should enjoy what we're putting in our body."

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In general, "good" skin-care and beauty products aren't affordable. The rule — whether earned or simply given — is that expensive products are better than less expensive ones. The exception to this, of course, is the handful of outstanding drugstore products that gain notoriety via word-of-mouth and then, seemingly overnight, snowball into a phenomenon.

The $11 Aztec Clay Mask[https://amzn.to/2HSePTS] — with nearly 16,000 reviews on Amazon[https://www.businessinsider.com/aztec-bentonite-clay-mask-review?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest] — is one such product.

Thayers Rose Petal Witch Hazel Toner[https://amzn.to/2JWCB2V] is another. Despite beginning as just another under-$10 product stocked alongside paper clips and floss at retailers like Target[http://goto.target.com/c/196318/81938/2092?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fp%2Fthayers-witch-hazel-alcohol-free-toner-rose-petal-12oz%2F-%2FA-51091143%3Fref%3Dtgt_adv_XS000000%26AFID%3Dgoogle_pla_df%26fndsrc%3Dtgtao%26CPNG%3DPLA_Health%252BBeauty%252BShopping_Local%26adgroup%3DSC_Health%252BBeauty%26LID%3D700000001170770pgs%26network%3Dg%26device%3Dc%26location%3D9067609%26ds_rl%3D1246978%26ds_rl%3D1247077%26ds_rl%3D1246978%26gclid%3DEAIaIQobChMIwq7vnJ-v4QIVDYvICh3mtgk5EAYYASABEgJ_NfD_BwE%26gclsrc%3Daw.ds], Amazon[https://amzn.to/2JWCB2V], and Jet[https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=EHFxW6yx8Uo&mid=41098&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fjet.com%2Fproduct%2FThayers-Alcohol-Free-Rose-Petal-Witch-Hazel-Toner-12-Oz%2Fdeffe26f01e1405a9d19c979562c8f91%3Fjcmp%3Dpla%3Aggl%3Anj_cons_gen_health_beauty_a3%3Ahealth_beauty_skin_care_toners_astringents_a3%3Ana%3APLA_786070203_37816625181_pla-405534448783_c%3Ana%3Ana%3Ana%3A2PLA15%26pid%3Dkenshoo_int%26c%3D786070203%26is_retargeting%3Dtrue%26clickid%3D847df55c-1edc-446a-b0aa-e2d454819260%26kclid%3D847df55c-1edc-446a-b0aa-e2d454819260%26gclid%3DEAIaIQobChMIwq7vnJ-v4QIVDYvICh3mtgk5EAYYBCABEgLCC_D_BwE] — the toner has racked up nearly 8,200 five-star reviews on Amazon alone, been recommended by Allure[https://www.allure.com/story/witch-hazel-skin-care-uses], and been called a "Holy Grail" product by users and celebrity makeup artists alike — including Jo Baker[https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/skin-care-expert-drugstore-recommendations#slide-5], makeup artist to Emmy Rossum, Salma Hayek, and Olivia Wilde. Right now, a different variation of the toner currently takes all three of the top spots on Amazon's most popular toners[https://amzn.to/2HTsf1D]. In all of Amazon's skin-care offerings, it cracks the top five most popular under $25[https://www.businessinsider.com/best-cheap-skin-care-on-amazon-2018-5?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest#3-differin-gel-3].

What is it?

Thayers' Rose Petal Witch Hazel Toner[https://amzn.to/2FL7hhU] is an alcohol-free toner made from witch hazel, aloe vera, and rosewater. Witch hazel, a botanical extract derived from a flowering plant that humans have used medicinally for ages, is known to be soothing, anti-inflammatory, and have antioxidant properties. More colloquially, people often use it to combat acne since it removes excess oil from the skin. That means that, if overused, witch hazel can be drying — a property that's only exacerbated by the fact that most toners that contain it also tend to include alcohol.

In contrast, Thayers' Rose Petal Witch Hazel Toner pairs the clarifying properties of witch hazel with rosewater and aloe vera to hydrate the skin. According to Thayers, the formula's rose petals work twofold: their natural oils and sugars ramp up the skin's dewiness, while its vitamin C aids collagen production, strengthens the skin, and fades blemishes and scars. Certified organic aloe vera helps pump moisture back into the skin. Altogether, it's free of alcohol, parabens, and propylene glycol (a potentially irritating synthetic).

Used after cleansing but before moisturizing, the toner will remove excess dirt, oil, makeup, and any residue left over, prep the skin to absorb the rest of the products in your regime (like moisturizers), and both clean and minimize pores.

What it's like to use

Until I tried the 10-Step Korean Skincare Routine[https://www.businessinsider.com/10-step-korean-skin-care-routine-review-2018-10?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest] (and the popular Acwell[http://www.pntra.com/t/TUJGRk1NR0JGSEhLR01CRktORkVM?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsokoglam.com%2Fproducts%2Facwell-licorice-ph-balancing-cleansing-toner%3Fgclid%3DEAIaIQobChMIu7-UhL2v4QIVkI3ICh2YKgzYEAYYASABEgJfh_D_BwE%26utm_campaign%3Dnewengen%2B-%2BSmart%2BShopping%26utm_medium%3Dpla%26utm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_term%3Dpla-383416574333%26variant%3D42821523209] iteration), my experience with toner was isolated to my early teens. Caught in the first wave of serious acne, I had allied myself with a militaristic understanding of skin-care: the more it stung, the more bacteria it must be killing, and the better it must be working. Under that logic, harsh alcoholic astringents became foundational pillars. Spoiler: they did not fix the issues.

Today, you'd probably have to pay me to slather anything that harsh on my skin again. Dermatologists typically agree that most alcohols only serve to dry out the skin, and a more sustainable approach may be feeding healthy bacteria[https://www.businessinsider.com/best-summer-skin-care-sunscreen-dermatologist-recommendations-2018-6?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest] rather than obliterating as many of them as possible indiscriminately. That way, they can self-manage a healthy microbiome on top of your skin — kind of like an immune system — rather than face the world and its pollutants every day anew.

All this meant I was skeptical of an under-$10 toner that claimed to be gentle and effective — even one that was free of alcohol. However, post-personal use, I get the enthusiastic fandom: for me, the Thayers' Rose Petal Witch Hazel Toner[https://amzn.to/2FL7hhU] was indeed gentle, relatively non-drying, and did the job of helping clean off the vestiges of earlier cleansers so the rest of my skin-care routine could sink in more effectively. My pores also looked noticeably smaller, and I've started using it as an effective spot-treatment to isolate and treat blemishes as they pop up. If you're looking for a toner, it's a solid option — and it's a big bonus that it's less than $10 for a 12-ounce bottle.

How to use it

To use it, wash your face, pat it dry, and soak either a cotton ball or cleansing pad with the toner. Lightly spread it across your face and neck. If you're following with essence or moisturizer, let the toner dry before applying other products on top of it. You may want to transition first with once-daily or every-other-day applications, but, typically, toners are fine to use twice daily — depending on how your skin reacts.

My only notes are that, while the fragrance is pleasant and natural, I typically prefer unscented skin-care. Fragrance at best is an unnecessary additive and at worst can hide harmful ingredients under a loosely vetted definition. If you're like-minded, try Thayers' Unscented version[https://amzn.to/2FL7hhU] – it's the same price and also has witch hazel and aloe vera.

And since it's always wise to test new skin-care products on smaller and/or less visible patches of the body before dousing your face, you may want to dab toner on your wrist to test your body's reaction first.

Buy Thayers Rose Petal Witch Hazel Toner, available at Amazon[https://amzn.to/2JWCB2V], Thrive Market[http://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/6415797/type/dlg/https://thrivemarket.com/p/thayers-witch-hazel-toner-alcohol-free-rose-petal], Target[http://goto.target.com/c/196318/81938/2092?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fp%2Fthayers-witch-hazel-alcohol-free-toner-rose-petal-12oz%2F-%2FA-51091143%3Fref%3Dtgt_adv_XS000000%26AFID%3Dgoogle_pla_df%26fndsrc%3Dtgtao%26CPNG%3DPLA_Health%252BBeauty%252BShopping_Local%26adgroup%3DSC_Health%252BBeauty%26LID%3D700000001170770pgs%26network%3Dg%26device%3Dc%26location%3D9067609%26ds_rl%3D1246978%26ds_rl%3D1247077%26ds_rl%3D1246978%26gclid%3DEAIaIQobChMIwq7vnJ-v4QIVDYvICh3mtgk5EAYYASABEgJ_NfD_BwE%26gclsrc%3Daw.ds], Jet[https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=EHFxW6yx8Uo&mid=41098&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fjet.com%2Fproduct%2FThayers-Alcohol-Free-Rose-Petal-Witch-Hazel-Toner-12-Oz%2Fdeffe26f01e1405a9d19c979562c8f91%3Fjcmp%3Dpla%3Aggl%3Anj_cons_gen_health_beauty_a3%3Ahealth_beauty_skin_care_toners_astringents_a3%3Ana%3APLA_786070203_37816625181_pla-405534448783_c%3Ana%3Ana%3Ana%3A2PLA15%26pid%3Dkenshoo_int%26c%3D786070203%26is_retargeting%3Dtrue%26clickid%3D847df55c-1edc-446a-b0aa-e2d454819260%26kclid%3D847df55c-1edc-446a-b0aa-e2d454819260%26gclid%3DEAIaIQobChMIwq7vnJ-v4QIVDYvICh3mtgk5EAYYBCABEgLCC_D_BwE], and Ulta from $9.30[http://ulta.7eer.net/c/196318/164999/3037?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ulta.com%2Falcohol-free-rose-petal-witch-hazel-facial-toner%3FproductId%3Dpimprod2004062]

See Also:

* 7 gender-neutral skin-care brands that literally work for everyone[https://www.businessinsider.com/gender-neutral-skin-care-products?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest]

* This $72 eye serum from Bluemercury is the only product that has actually helped the puffiness and dryness under my eyes[https://www.businessinsider.com/bluemercury-m61-hydraboost-eye-serum-review?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest]

* 13 startups that make daily rituals like brushing your teeth and taking vitamins more enjoyable[https://www.businessinsider.com/startups-that-encourage-daily-rituals?utm_source=dowjones&utm_medium=ingest]

Gut health has been a hot topic for some time now as we are learning more about the gut microbiome and the impact it can have on our lives. In fact, it's up there with wearing SPF as one of our top beauty priorities. Poor gut, poor skin. However, most of us don't know where to start. Drawing on the 'Marie Kondo' movement of streamlining, it got us thinking about some simple ways to improve our digestion. So we reached out to top experts in the field of gut health for some basic rules to follow.

What does your gut do?

"The gut prepares food for digestion and absorbs what you have eaten," says Dr Christine Stossier of Viva Mayr. "Therefore its ability to do this successfully is super important for overall health. As well as helping us to absorb food, it also eliminates any indigestible ingredients that your body can't absorb. Effectively, it's part of your immune system."

Your gut affects every organ in your body, so if it's not working properly it could be that your other organs are not working to their full ability or worse, they are having to over-work. Think about it. If you use a moisturiser and it brings you out in a rash, you stop using it, right? But if a food type makes you bloated or causes you to break out, you don't swear to never eat it again. But you should. We all should listen to our bodies more. According to Dr Des Fernandes of Advanced Nutrition Programme, "our skin is a mirror of what’s happening on the inside, so it’s no surprise that what we eat directly affects our complexion.

Try these three ways to improve your gut health

Stress less

There are a combination of factors that contribute to the growing prevalence of gut issues," advises Dr. Ragnan Chatterjee, GP, Author of the Stress Solution. "Overuse of pharmaceutical medications such as antibiotics, poor quality food, physical inactivity, not sleeping enough and, most importantly, chronic stress, all add to an unhappy gut," he tells me.

Chronic stress is often a neglected part of gut-health-management yet we put most of our focus on food. "The gut-brain axis - multiple communication channels that go both ways between your brain and your gut - are how stress signals from your brain are transported to your gut, proving stress and unhappiness to be a huge factor in causing an unhealthy digestive system," says Chatterjee.

Eat more fibre

The most effective way to a healthier gut is your food."I'll be honest, the foods that spark joy in your gut are not the delicious salted caramel chocolates or creamy pasta dishes we all crave and loves," says Kara-Mia Verno[http://www.embracinghealth.co.uk/], Naturopath and gut specialist. "Your gut likes fibre and foods that feed your gut bacteria- think beans, fresh fruit and vegetables and if you can stomach them, fermented foods such as kefir and kimchi," advises Vernon.

Slow down

Chatterjee adds, "Many people who struggle with gut problems think they are diary or gluten intolerant. But it's worth stressing that some people are not actually reacting to the foods that they are eating, but reacting to the fact that they are eating in a stressed environment, on the go, in a rush or whilst answering e-mails at the same time.

For many, once you start eating in a more relaxed manner, you will find you are much less reactive to foods that you previously thought you had problems with.

10 ways to 'Marie Kondo' your lifestyle towards a healthier gut

* Chew well = 40-50 times. All we swallow should be liquefied.

* Stop eating when you feel full. This is your body telling you it doesn't need more food.

* No snacks between meals. Use the gap to drink water or tea.

* Avoid raw food (salads, fruits, smoothies) after 4 pm. Your body will struggle to digest it and leave you bloated.

* Have a small and simple dinner made up of hot protein and vegetables.

* Try an abdominal massage - it increases blood flow in your stomach allowing oxygen to flow to your organs.

* Have a tech-free lunch break

* Do physical exercise every day, even if it's just a 15 minute walk.

* Prioritise your sleep

* Eat 5 different coloured vegetables everyday.

The Alberta Party announced a plan Monday that it says would put an immediate halt to Albertans'tax dollars winding up in Ottawa's control.

The party vowed it would terminate Alberta's Tax Collection Agreement with the federal government. The agreement sees income tax dollars collected by Ottawa remitted back to the province.

Alberta would instead collect income taxes itself, under the proposal by Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel, keeping about $11 billion in income taxes in the hands of the province.

Mandel said tearing up the province's agreement with Ottawa is "not difficult to do."

An Alberta Party government would also call on the feds to amend Canada's equalization formula.

"Alberta has to be treated fairly," Mandel said.

NDP LEADER CONFIRMED

NDP Leader Rachel Notley is confirmed to attend a much-anticipated leaders debate on Thursday.

A media consortium scheduled the leaders debate from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. It's expected to be the only leaders'debate during the 2019 election campaign. UCP Leader Jason Kenney, Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel and Liberal Leader David Khan have also confirmed attendance.

APRIL FOOL'S JOKESTERS

The NDP had fun Monday by promising a re-elected government would ensure "no Albertan will be excluded from the benefits of kombucha ('bucha) consumption.

"This refreshing, fermented tea is high in probiotics and is a favourite with the widest range of people - from yoga moms to folk fest goers," said the joking news release.

"Our plan is to improve the overall gut health of this province, one 'bucha at a time." 'NOT ALONE' A former UCP candidate released a new Facebook video Sunday, one week after she resigned when past social media posts came to light demonstrating Islamophobic and anti-gay-straight alliance views.

In a video released Sunday, Eva Kiryakos said she's received an outpouring of support since her resignation, helping her to realize she's "not alone."

Kara Barker, the UCP's Edmonton-Riverview candidate, commended Kiryakos in the comment section of the video, calling her an "amazing strong person." cclancy@postmedia.com twitter.com/clareclancy

April 2 (Reuters) - Lonza Group AG:

* LONZA AND CHR. HANSEN IN JOINT VENTURE TO ACCELERATE MOMENTUM IN MICROBIOME

* PHASED INVESTMENT OF APPROXIMATELY EUR 90 MILLION TO BE SHARED EQUALLY BETWEEN PARTNERS OVER THREE YEARS

* LONZA GROUP - JV WILL BE A 50/50 CONTROLLED LEGAL ENTITY THAT WILL OPERATE FROM ITS HEADQUARTERS IN BASEL (CH) AND HAVE PRODUCTION FACILITIES IN DENMARK AND SWITZERLAND Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: (Gdynia Newsroom)

[Financial Analysis and Commentary]

The world's biggest food companies harp on about the need to come up with new products. But their innovation budgets are shrinking. Investors can benefit from the contradiction if they look further up the food chain.

Snack businesses are trying to create fresh brands or reformulate existing ones as consumer tastes change. Companies like Nestle and Kraft Heinz are losing market share to entrepreneur-led food brands that have reacted more quickly to a preference for healthy and convenient products.

Meanwhile, food giants have stalled what they spend on innovation. In 2018, Nestle allocated 1.8% of total sales to its research and development team -- the same level as a decade earlier. Unilever spends less as a percentage of sales today than it did in 2008. Kraft Heinz reinvests just 0.4% of turnover into research and development.

In truth, they are becoming reliant on others to do the heavy lifting. Specialist food-ingredient companies like Tate & Lyle and Kerry Group work with global brands behind the scenes to come up with new ideas. These businesses can spend two to three times as much on innovation as a percentage of turnover than their biggest clients.

One part of their expertise is overhauling recipes. Ingredients companies can do everything from adding trendy probiotics to taking out excess sugar or gluten. Nestle got a hand from Tate & Lyle to remove more sugar from its Nesquik range of flavored drinks, while Denmark's Chr. Hansen helped Kraft Heinz switch from artificial to natural colors in the U.S. giant's Macaroni & Cheese.

Another service food suppliers offer is coming up with successful innovations to help revive sales. The pink chocolate in Nestle's ruby KitKat, which has become very popular in Asia, was actually created by cocoa producer Barry Callebaut, for example.

Ingredients companies also supply the food entrepreneurs that are disrupting big listed companies. Sales to startup brands are increasing at two to three times the rate of those to global clients. That is one reason why sales growth at ingredients companies is projected to outstrip what companies like Nestle, Mondelez and Kraft Heinz will manage in the coming years.

That kind of potential doesn't come cheap. A basket of five food-ingredient shares trades at a 35% premium to global consumer stocks on a projected-earnings basis. Five years ago, the relationship was reversed. As long as global and startup brands keep knocking on their doors, though, appetite to invest in these companies will stay healthy.

License this article from Dow Jones Reprint Service[http://www.djreprints.com/link/DJRFactiva.html?FACTIVA=WJCO20190402000051]

First it was 'superfood', then 'probiotic' and 'fermented' — now the buzzword on supermarket shelves is 'activated'.

From nuts and seeds to crackers and drinks, manufacturers are claiming that their 'activated' ingredients take these diet staples up a notch in the health stakes.

For example, some drinks contain activated charcoal (a form of carbon that's burned and processed to have tiny pores in its surface) and claim to be great for 'resetting' your body, as the charcoal can help remove toxins.

Meanwhile, activated nuts are said to be superior to raw versions, as they are put through a process that apparently means your body can absorb more of the nutrients, which include iron, fibre and healthy fats.

But do activated foods live up to their claims — and higher price tag?

When it comes to activated charcoal, there may be some truth to its 'detoxing' effect.

It is produced by first burning materials that contain carbon, such as coconut shells or wood. The charcoal is then exposed to gases at high temperatures, which creates pores in its surface. This increases the surface area and means the charcoal can bind with compounds it comes into contact with — including toxins.

In fact, doctors in hospitals have long used activated charcoal to treat poisonings and overdoses, as it binds to substances in the gastro- intestinal tract before we absorb them and so helps remove them.

Now you can buy charcoal- based products, such as Marks &?? Spencer Charcoal & Apple Shot (£1.50 for 100ml), made using? activated charcoal; WOW Activated Charcoal drinks (£1.90 for 250ml, Waitrose); and J?L Bragg Charcoal Biscuits (£3.25 for 150g, Holland & Barrett). But its use for healthy living, encouraged by the fact activated charcoal turns food and drink an Instagram-worthy shade of black, has taken this a step too far, say experts.

Priya Tew, a dietitian based in Southampton, says: 'There's no scientific evidence to support the benefits in food and drink.

'Some products claim activated charcoal can "detox" the body, from preventing hangovers to treating food poisoning, and even anti-ageing, but this is not true.'

Alan Mackie, a professor of colloid chemistry at the School of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Leeds, explains: 'This is because activated charcoal works only in the gastrointestinal tract, nowhere else in the body, so it won't "detoxify" all over — it'll just attach to whatever is in your gut.

'In fact, activated charcoal does not distinguish between something harmful and a nutrient. This means it could stop us absorbing vitamins and minerals. For example, if charcoal powder is added to?? a smoothie, it could stop us absorbing vitamin C from fruit.'

It could even interfere with the action of oral medications that are absorbed in the stomach, including aspirin, antidepressants such as fluoxetine (Prozac), and ibuprofen and paracetamol. 'I'd be interested to know what toxins people think they need to remove with charcoal,' says Professor Mackie. 'We use it to remove contaminants from liquids during research — but I don't see any benefit in your diet.'

Elsewhere, you'll find 'activated' nuts, seeds and grains, and they're not cheap. Boundless Activated Nuts & Seeds cost £2.20 for just 30g (ocado.com); Linwoods Active Nuts are £3.99 per 70g (planet organic.com); and Rude Health Sprouted Porridge Oats (activated in a similar way to nuts) are £5 for 500g (Waitrose) — the oats alone are nearly five times the price of a jumbo pack of supermarket oats.

The suggestion is that an 'activated' nut is superior, as it has been put through a process that means we absorb more nutrients. This starts by soaking raw nuts for up to 24 hours in salted water, then drying them in an oven. This begins the germination process and releases enzymes that break down the compound phytic acid in nuts, seeds and grains — this would otherwise bind to minerals such as iron and zinc and reduce their absorption, says Priya Tew.

'Research into nuts such as almonds and walnuts suggests around 30??per cent of nutrients are not released if we chew the nut, as we don't break open all the cells,' says Professor Mackie.

'This is not the case for grains, as? we tend to cook them before we eat them, which releases the nutrients. Activating the nut or seed makes the nutrients more "bio-available", as enzymes break down the cellular structure.'

Priya Tew adds that the principle of activated nuts is plausible, but only some people need bother. 'The activation process means those prone to gastrointestinal issues, such as irritable bowel syndrome or bloating when they eat these foods — as a reaction to the phytic acid — can benefit from them.'

But the increase in nutritional value would be marginal, she adds, as these foods make up only a small proportion of our diet.

'We don't rely on nuts and seeds for many nutrients, so there isn't much of an issue with this reduced absorption, and, given the expense, they're not worth it.'

make your own?.?.?.

Rather than pay over the odds for activated nuts, make your own by filling a bowl with water and stirring in salt (1?tsp per cup).

Place raw nuts in the water and leave them for up to 12 hours, then spread on a baking tray. Put in an oven at the lowest temperature (maximum 65c) for around 12 hours, turning occasionally.

© Daily Mail

On a frigid January night, a Harvard genetics professor with a billowing white beard stood stage left in a theater on Manhattan's Upper East Side, an icon of the environmentalist movement in a fleece vest beside him. Both men were staring down a toothy problem: How could they convince their counterparts on the stage, along with the 300 people who'd filed into Hunter College's Kaye Playhouse for a debate, that the world should bring back velociraptors or, at the very least, an extinct pigeon?

The theme from the 1993 blockbuster "Jurassic Park" was playing in the background, chiseling away at their argument before the debate even began. In the film, based on the 1990 Michael Crichton bestseller, dinosaurs are brought back from extinction to fill a theme park. "That film took sides. The experiment blows up. People get hurt," moderator John Donvan told the crowd during introductions. "But not before actor Jeff Goldblum declares, 'Scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should.' And then, a dinosaur eats Jeff Goldblum."

Actually, a dinosaur does not eat Goldblum's brainy and brawny mathematician character, but chaos certainly reigns in the movie and its myriad sequels because of de-extinction. Those images are what George Church, 64, of the billowing white beard, who helped launch the Human Genome Project, and Stewart Brand, 80, of the fleece vest, who is a founder and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, would need to overcome to win this evening's debate.

The official motion for the night, "Don't Bring Extinct Creatures Back to Life," was chosen by Intelligence Squared, a nonprofit that turns academic-level debates into popular live events and podcasts. The Jeff Goldblums of the evening, arguing for the motion — and against Church and Brand — were Lynn J. Rothschild, 61, an evolutionary biologist and astrobiologist with NASA, and Ross MacPhee, 70, a curator at the American Museum of Natural History across Central Park.

Brand started on the offensive. Controversy around de-extinction, he said, is "made up." He wasn't arguing they should resurrect carnivorous dinosaurs. Instead, he said, de-extinction could be achieved through hybrids, animals created from both living, endangered species and extinct ones, using CRISPR — an acronym for a relatively new tool that has been likened to "playing god" because it allows scientists to remove and replace genes. Eventually, CRISPR could be used to bolster agricultural production or to replenish wildlife that's slowly disappearing.