A recent study done by the University of Surrey has linked staying up late to higher anxiety, substance use, and impulsivity.

Photo: Basak Gurbuz Derman/Getty Images

Researchers gathered 191 participants between 18-25 years old. They were then surveyed on sleeping preference, sleep quality, levels of anxiety and impulsivity, and substance use (cigarettes, coffee and other caffeinated drinks, and alcohol).

Impulsivity levels were tested using a lab-based computer test where participants were asked to indicate how long they would wait to receive a hypothetical cash reward. Data showed that those who prefer to stay up later were often more impulsive. Those who stayed up later also reported higher anxiety, and substance use, compared to those who went to bed early.

These young adult evening types were also more anxious and reported higher alcohol, caffeine and cigarette use compared to their peers who preferred going to bed earlier. Lower sleep quality did not explain these effects; to see what could, researchers used a statistical method known as mediation analysis, which found that higher levels of impulsivity were the link between being an evening type and greater alcohol, caffeine, and cigarette use.

Young people who go to bed later drink and smoke more due to their impulsivity

Many people underestimate the importance of a good night’s sleep. In my experience, I’ve found that even when I’m doing everything right (salads every day, a gallon of cranberry lemonade, and working out regularly) I still experience problems if I’m not getting enough sleep, and good sleep.

Sourdough baking is a method of baking that has been around for centuries. We’ve been baking bread, in some form, for thousands of years (at least). The first record we have of the sourdough baking method dates back to around 1500 B.C. in Egypt.

With the use of modern store-bought yeast, sourdough is not as common as it used to be, but it has made quite the comeback in recent years. People have discovered the benefits of sourdough as they discover the problems with regular bread.

I use sourdough starter in much of my baking; I’ve used it to make pie crusts, bread doughs, hamburger buns, and pizza doughs. 

What is Sourdough?

The key ingredient in sourdough bread, what it gives it its texture and sour taste, is the sourdough starter. Sourdough starter is a mixture of flour and water (usually 50/50) that has been fed enough to develop its own collection of yeast, bacteria, and lactic acid. Sourdough starter has its own microbiome made up of bacteria and wild yeast collected from its environment. No two sourdough starters are exactly the same. Each one develops its own unique microbiome that gives it a unique smell and taste. 

Sourdough is also unique from other yeasts in the way it develops the gluten in bread. The wild yeast and bacteria in the sourdough starter begin to digest the gluten in the bread during the fermentation process. The longer the dough ferments and the more it rises, the more gluten is broken down. Many people who have previously had problems with gluten have found that, after fixing the gut, they can occasionally enjoy sourdough bread.

Storebought sourdough bread is not the same as homemade sourdough. When you buy sourdough from the store, you have no idea how long the bread fermented or if it’s even real sourdough. If you do want to buy your bread, I recommend looking at a small local bakery or a farmers market where you can ask questions about the baking process.

I’ve linked my favorite sourdough recipes below and given a brief description of our favorite way to use them.

Artisan Sourdough Bread 

This is the classic sourdough loaf of bread.

I get all of my sourdough recipes from Baking Sense, but generally, I don’t follow an exact recipe. I prefer to experiment. I follow this recipe’s measurements, but usually, I mix up the type of flour I’m using. I like the majority of the flour I use to be all-purpose flour, and then I add a little bit of rye flour, bread flour, or einkorn flour (or a mix of all three). Adding a variety of different flours can add nuttiness to your bread that would be lacking if you just used all-purpose flour.

The most important thing, in my experience, is making sure that your sourdough starter is very active, (the recipe I linked goes over this) before baking. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a loaf that doesn’t properly rise. 

We like to make sandwiches with sourdough bread. Generally, we’ll use whatever we’ve got on hand, but whatever we do, we always throw on lots of different vegetables. I’m a fan of caramelized onions with bacon, greens, tomatoes, mustard, and a fried egg. Homemade pesto is also great on sandwiches or plain on toast. This bread is so good, it doesn’t need much else, though.

Hamburger Buns 

I have not eaten storebought hamburger buns since I made my own for the first time. I can’t imagine going back (not to mention regular storebought buns are terrible for you.) I use this recipe from Baking Sense for my hamburger buns. I just skip the sugar and use goat’s milk instead of cow’s milk.

We don’t eat burgers often, but when we do, we eat organic grass-fed ground beef from a local farm and our sourdough buns. Personally, I like to add caramelized mushrooms and onions on top, with tomatoes, greens, cheese, homemade mustard, and an egg. Eggs are a staple. I’ll put eggs on pretty much anything. 

Sourdough Pizza Dough

I use this pizza dough recipe. I don’t even remember what regular pizza tastes like, but I’m almost positive that it’s terrible compared to our pizza. When we do pizza night, we like to do one pizza with pesto sauce and one with tomato sauce. We’ll top the pizzas with cheese, tomatoes, Italian sausage, fresh basil, purple onions, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, and olives. To each their own when it comes to pizza, but we recommend more vegetables, more variety, and less meat and cheese. 

Sourdough Pie Crust 

Sourdough pie crust is, in my experience, the best pie crust ever. The crust is flakey and buttery, but because it uses sourdough starter instead of water, you end up with a much more flavorful pie crust. I’ve also found that throughout my experimentation with different flours, including gluten-free flours, all-purpose flour still makes the best pie crust. 

Add 2.5 cups of your flour and a pinch of salt (I recommend Bob’s Red Mill organic all-purpose flour) to a bowl, and then add 1 cup of ice-cold butter. Begin to break up the butter and combine the flour and butter with your fingers into smaller pieces, until you have a mixture resembling kraft parmesan cheese (This is a tip from my Sister Pie cookbook. After lots of experimentation, I can confirm that this is the way to achieve the best pie crust.) Then add half a cup of active sourdough starter and mix until combined. Use your hands to bring the mixture together into a dough. You’ll want to refrigerate this dough for at least two hours or up to two days. If you’re not planning on making pie anytime soon, you can freeze the pie dough.

Conclusion

I generally only eat sourdough once or twice a month. It’s a nice treat, but I wouldn’t recommend it every day. If you’re still sick, you should avoid gluten completely until the gut is healed, and then eat it only in moderation.

Learning how to make sourdough bread can be a great way to incorporate more “normal” foods into your diet, while still knowing exactly what’s going into your body. 

I’ve really enjoyed the process of learning how to make sourdough bread and I love sharing it with other people! It’s not only a treat for me, but for others as well. When I cook sourdough for people who don’t eat as healthy as I do, they’re always impressed!

A new study, reported in JAMA Psychiatry, found Psilocybin to be four times more effective at treating depression, compared to antidepressants. Psilocybin is the psychedelic substance in magic mushrooms. This research comes after research suggesting that psilocybin could ease depression and anxiety in cancer patients.

The study involved 27 people. Patients received two doses of psilocybin on two different days, in addition to 11 hours of psychotherapy. Patients were administered the drug in what Alan Davis, lead author on the study, describes as a homey but safe environment. After being administered the drug, patients were blindfolded and given headphones, and told experience whatever was happening within the trip. Half of the patients were put on a waitlist to serve as a comparison group for the other half of the group, who began treatment immediately.

The group who began treatment immediately saw a significant reduction in depression and responded much quicker compared to antidepressants.

“The effect happened within one day after the first session and sustained at that reduced level through the second psilocybin session all the way up to the one-month follow-up,”

Rigorous Study Backs A Psychedelic Treatment For Major Depression

America’s health care system is highly flawed. So much so that many refer to it as a “sick” care system. Covid-19 has only amplified the problems in our American health care system, and the problem with American health. Having chronic health conditions makes one much more susceptible to Covid-19. Reports from the CDC show that 94% of Covid deaths occurred in patients who had an average of 2.6 additional conditions.

There are complex factors behind the U.S.’s high premature death rate. But it is a mistake to believe that the country’s abominable health outcomes are highly dependent on, say, preserving or repealing the Affordable Care Act. That’s because the U.S. health care system is really a “sick” care system that treats people after their health has declined.

Make America healthy again by paying more attention to nutrition

America has the highest per capita death rate of Covid-19 among other wealthy countries. America is, in many ways, the unhealthiest of any wealthy country in the world, while simultaneously spending more money on health care than any other country. More than 42% of adults in America are obese, in addition to nearly 20% of American children. America has the 12th highest obesity rate in the world.

It’s estimated that half of the deaths in the U.S from heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes are associated with diet. In reality, nearly all deaths like these can be prevented with healthy a diet, and I would imagine that at this rate, mainstream science with figure this out soon. Research has shown that excess weight avoidance is the most important factor for preventing cancer, among those who don’t smoke. With information like this becoming mainstream, it feels as though it’s only a matter of time before everyone knows how important gut health is in preventing disease.

Less than 1% of lecture time in medical schools is devoted to nutrition. A survey of 12,000 doctors showed that only 15% of doctors feel “totally prepared” to give nutritional guidance to patients when needed.

Even in the time of a pandemic, we can’t get health officials to prioritize the importance of a healthy diet over social distancing. It’s just another indicator that America’s health care system is highly flawed. The average American doesn’t even consume one serving of fruit per day, but twice as many servings of sugary beverages. American health officials should prioritize proper health education, and making sure that all Americans have access to healthy affordable produce.

On September 16th, scuba divers found more than 3,000 pounds of trash at Rushikonda beach in India. Divers were on their first underwater clean-up since quarantine began when they found 3,300 pounds of N-95 masks, gloves, and other bio-medical waste floating in the seabed. The trash was removed over three rounds of ocean clean up ending on September 27th.

According to the World Health Organization, the world needs 89 million medical masks a month. Disposable masks take hundreds of years to break down and are now being used more than ever.

 Before COVID-19, a government hospital bed would generate around half a kg of biomedical waste per day which has now gone up to 3-5 kg (per day).

Discarded single-use plastic masks and gloves are choking ocean beds

The pandemic has done extensive damage to the environment in recent months. Disposable masks frequently get wrapped up in wildlife. The amount of PPE that we dispose of is adding to an ever-growing pile of plastic in our oceans and landfills. The world has made a quick shift away from reusable products back to disposable products, for the sake of human health. That being said, the health of the planet and its animals cannot be forgotten, as it is likely what got us into this pandemic in the first place.

If you have to wear a mask, please use a reusable one. If you ever find yourself with a disposable one, when it comes time to throw it away, cut the strings off the mask to prevent it from getting wrapped up in the legs and fins of wildlife. More people are ordering things online than ever before. Keep in mind how much waste your package from amazon is generating. In an attempt to return to normal, many people have begun eating out again or ordering take-out from restaurants. Remember that you, the environment, and your wallet, are better off with a meal cooked at home. Be conscious of what you consume, and how, in a time where staying safe from COVID-19 has become more of a priority than taking care of the environment.

PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals” are chemicals that have been linked to cancer and numerous other health problems including thyroid issues, reproductive and developmental issues, and high cholesterol. Forever chemicals are called such because they never break down in the environment.

So why are DuPont and other similar companies still discharging these chemicals from their facilities?

In 2001, it came became well known that a type of PFAS called PFOA, which is used to make Teflon, contaminated the drinking water of 70,000 people near a DuPont factory in West Virginia. Several lawsuits and lots of pressure from the EPA later, DuPont and other companies pledged to phase out PFOA and stop usage after 2015.

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

Earlier this month, California representative Harley Rouda, sent a letter to DuPont and Chemours questioning why PFAS were still being discharged at their factories. Despite the known toxicity, there are no federal enforcements on PFAS in drinking water, groundwater, or soils, and only five states have regulations on PFAS. There are also no requirements to clean up PFAS under the Federal Superfund Law.

The continued releases could be an indication that the two companies are still using PFOA, despite their assurances otherwise. If so, that would be a serious breach of public trust. But there are other possible explanations for these discharges. There could be PFOA in products or mixtures used at the facilities. Or “legacy” PFOA remaining in water used at the facilities could be showing up – an alarming reminder of the chemical’s persistence in the environment.

Both companies have publicly said they no longer use PFOA, yet, the EPA’s history shows ongoing discharge from two different facilities. One site in Parkersburg reported 323.5 pounds of PFOA released in 2019.

Forever chemicals produced by companies like DuPont and 3M have been contaminating our earth for decades. Information released has shown that these companies knew the dangers of these chemicals as early as the 1950s. If you have any interest in learning more about forever chemicals, I highly recommend the Mark Ruffalo film “Dark Waters”. Dark Waters follows the true story of a corporate defense attorney who took on an environmental lawsuit against DuPont, exposing the decades of pollution.

The health of our environment and the health of the human population are immensely intertwined. We haven’t seen the loss of life at this rapid rate since the dinosaurs went extinct. The Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 recently revealed that none of our 2010 Aichi Biodiversity Targets were reached by 2020. The Aichi Biodiversity Targets were intended to provide nations with the targets for species and habitat protection necessary to protect our planet, over the last 10 years.

Our Earth is not an issue we can afford to wait on. Our livelihoods depend on it. A healthy Earth is vital to creating a healthy environment where all creatures have access to a safe habitat, clean water, healthy food, clean air, and more.

Without functioning ecosystems, which depend on healthy biodiversity, there would be no clean air to breathe, safe water to drink or nutritious food to eat. Healthy ecosystems also regulate the Earth’s climate, filter air and water, recycle nutrients and mitigate the impact of natural disasters.

Why all human rights depend on a healthy environment

Portugal and Spain became the first countries to put the right to a healthy and sustainable environment in their constitution in 1976, and 1978 respectively. In 1981 the right to a healthy environment appeared in regional human rights treaties with the African Charter on Human and People’s rights, and again in 1988 with the San Salvador Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in 1988. Today more than 80% of the UN’s members recognize the right to a healthy environment as a human right. While the U.S does not, there are some states that recognize it in their constitution.

It’s become quite clear in recent months with the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, that the Earth is prepared to protect its self at the cost of human life. Evidence has shown that pandemics such as the current one are often caused by the effects of human activities that cause damage to the planet.

Many have chosen to take action in light of recent events. Greta Thunberg, and other young people have filed cases with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, stating that our approach to climate change as it stands, violates their rights. Similar cases have been filed against Australia and the Netherlands.

As a young person myself, I do believe that climate change is the most pressing issue that threatens our world today, on a global scale. Composting is one of, if not the most important thing an individual can do for the environment, along with continuing to read and learn about the threats that climate change imposes on our Earth.