We begin a new month and IST is here to enlighten and inform.
Local–The Jazz Fest has been a huge hit…we finally got some rain ….not enough to make up much difference in our drought but ever little bit helps.
Personal–Nothing outstanding happened this past week….but all that will change next week….back to the doctor, probing, scanning and chemo….I just realized I have more doctors than living relatives.
Since food costs are paramount on most of our minds I would like to start there for this edition of the News Dump….
We are told the processed food is killing us so when we try to make a change we are hit with higher prices…..
Five years after resolving to dodge ultra-processed foods, one San Diego family has a full spreadsheet—and a much bigger grocery bill—to show for it. Writing in the Guardian, Jen Sherman describes how learning about how ultra-processed foods are engineered and marketed pushed her to overhaul her family’s habits. They swapped boxed staples and frozen nuggets for homemade stock, yogurt, ice cream, sauces, and baked goods, much of it sourced from farmers’ markets and higher-quality producers. The shift, she writes, wasn’t just about nutrition but a growing unease with how modern food is designed and sold. “It all started to feel like a great big con.”
Sherman’s data tell a mixed story. Spending on cereal, yogurt, protein bars, and frozen chicken tenders plunged; outlays on butter, sugar, produce, and higher-welfare meat soared, with her family’s total annual grocery costs climbing from about $6,200 in 2019 to more than $15,500 in 2025. Inflation played a role, but so did a deliberate shift toward better ingredients and more cooking from scratch—along with significantly more time in the kitchen. Experts she consults stress the trade-offs: Ultra-processed foods are linked to poorer health, but they’re also cheap, fast, and often essential for families strapped for cash and time. “We have to remember that UPFs are affordable, accessible and time-saving, which makes them a necessity for many families,” said food policy advocate Bettina Elias Siegel.
Sherman lands on a “less, not none” approach—boxed mac and cheese survives—and frames the issue as much about systems as personal discipline. Reducing ultra-processed foods takes time, access, and money that not every household has, and even experts say perfection isn’t the goal. Instead, the focus is on gradually lowering reliance on heavily processed items while navigating a food system that often pushes families in the opposite direction. As Stanford research dietitian Dalia Perelman puts it, the goal should be “not to avoid all UPFs all the time, but to lower the dose.”herman lands on a “less, not none” approach—boxed mac and cheese survives—and frames the issue as much about systems as personal discipline. Reducing ultra-processed foods takes time, access, and money that not every household has, and even experts say perfection isn’t the goal. Instead, the focus is on gradually lowering reliance on heavily processed items while navigating a food system that often pushes families in the opposite direction. As Stanford research dietitian Dalia Perelman puts it, the goal should be “not to avoid all UPFs all the time, but to lower the dose.”
Cognitive decline seems to all the rage these days….here is fruit that can help with the worries….
Here’s an amazing fact: Your brain can adapt and grow new neural pathways at any age. This ability is called “neuroplasticity,” and everything from practicing daily brain games to staying active with exercise to taking up brain-boosting hobbies is good for brain health. Good nutrition also plays a role in keeping your brain and memory sharp.
“A diet rich in whole, nutrient-dense foods will help support cognitive health and can ultimately protect against decline,” says Amy Kimberlain, M.S., R.D.N., CDCES, of Amy’s Nutrition Kitchen, who recommends the MIND diet—a hybrid of the Mediterranean and DASH eating patterns. “This incorporates anti-inflammatory foods such as leafy greens, berries and olive oil, while limiting foods high in saturated fat, such as red meat, butter, cheese and baked goods. Studies suggest that this plant-forward diet may improve cognitive function and slow brain aging.”
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/a70358911/brain-health-foods-memory/
Take that with whatever grain you think is best.
There seems to be more and more people opting out of the traditional funeral these days….
Nearly two-thirds of Americans now opt for cremation – a figure that has been steadily increasing over five decades.
On the surface, that proportion tells a simple story: The nation has embraced cremation, while its preference for casket burials has fallen off.
But as a scholar of funeral and cemetery law, I decided to dig deeper into this trend.
I wanted to know whether people were embracing cremation because they actually preferred it, or if they were rejecting casket burial for one reason or another. I also explored whether consumers were open to new options in death care, like water cremation and human composting.
With funding from the Cremation Association of North America and the Order of the Good Death, a nonprofit organization that promotes more informed and less fear-driven conversations about death and dying, I launched the first academic survey on consumer preferences in death care in 2024.
The survey presented over 1,500 American adults in a nationally representative sample with the definitions of six legal methods of disposition in a random order. It asked respondents whether they had “heard” of that method and whether they would “consider” that method. The six methods were cremation, casket burial, green burial, donation to science, water cremation and human composting.
OMG! The oil crisis in the Middle East hits hard in the bedroom….
Prepare to pay a little more for safe sex in the coming months as the price of condoms skyrockets in the wake of the Iran war.
The world’s largest condom manufacturer has warned it’s going to be raising prices by up to 30 percent because of supply chain disruptions caused by the chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
Karex, which produces about five billion condoms a year, blamed the war for the rising cost of the raw materials needed to produce condoms, including nitrile and synthetic rubber, packaging materials, silicone oil, and aluminum foil.
“Some raw material prices have increased by 100 percent. We have no choice but to make adjustments now,” Goh Miah Kiat, the Chief Executive of Karex, told The New York Times on Thursday.
Goh said that his company produces about a fifth of the world’s condoms, and being cut off from any one of the materials used in condom production will not only impact prices for customers, but could bring production to a halt and impact jobs.
“There will be jobs that will be at stake,” Goh said.
https://www.out.com/news/condom-prices-iran-war
STOP! Feeding the birds!
Do you have a bird feeder in your garden? According to the BBC, as many as 16 million households in the UK are thought to regularly feed the birds. Well, as wholesome and kind-hearted as that sounds, research has begun to suggest that we might be doing more harm than good to our feathered friends. The new advice has two main mandates: feed safely and feed seasonally.
The RSPB has made these suggestions in new guidance, but what does feeding “safely and seasonally” actually involve? The charity suggests cutting back on feeders during the summer and fall months, especially when it comes to filling them with foods like peanuts and seeds. From May 1 to October 31 (in the Northern Hemisphere) the RSPB recommends not feeding these foods, although those who do enjoy their garden visitors are still advised to offer small amounts of mealworms, fatballs, or suet during those months.
From November 1 to April 30, the advice is to feed the full range of food as you normally would.
I rather enjoy having the birds on my property….they add something soothing to my time out and about.
That does it for me and I want to wish everyone a great weekend and as always….Be Well and Be Careful…..
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”