#endocrine 2020

[evidence-based-activism]

"Research into trans medicine has been manipulated"

The Sources

A recent Economist* article has described how the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) has manipulated research into trans medicine. The article is reproduced here in full by the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM). The SEGM also discusses the topic in their discussion on how "WPATH Influence Undermines WHO’s Transgender Guidelines"

*For those who care: The Economist is rated as "least biased" and "highly factual" by Media Bias/Fact Check. While it has varied over time, they currently tend to be preferred by a left-leaning audience.

The Situation

Essentially, unsealed court documents have shown WPATH first commissioned research into trans medicine from Johns Hopkins University (for the "development" of their guidelines) and then prevented the researchers from publishing this research. (Among other ethical violations including undue influence over manuscript contents and requiring researchers to (illegitimately) claim independence from WPATH.)

Presumably their suppression and manipulation of the research occurred because the conclusions reached by the researchers did not meet advance their desired opinions.

This is extraordinarily unethical from a scientific, medical, and political perspective. Strong objections from the researchers involved were documented, but ultimately failed to prevent the limitation of academic freedom and maintenance of scientific integrity. Aside from this, their actions have deprived their own community (trans individuals) from potentially vital information about their medical treatments.

So, the next time someone asks for "proof" that the current standards of trans medicine are not evidence based and may, in fact, be harmful: reply with these sources documenting the unscientific, unethical suppression of such proof. (And, while you're at it, remind them that the burden of proof is on intervention, not the lack of intervention.)

Choice Quotes from the Sources

From the reproduced Economist article:

From early on in the contract negotiations, WPATH expressed a desire to control the results of the Hopkins team’s work.

Ms Robinson [the research director] saw this as an attempt to exert undue influence over what was supposed to be an independent process.

But an email in October 2020 from WPATH figures, including its incoming president at the time, ... made clear what sort of science WPATH did (and did not) want published. Research must be “thoroughly scrutinised and reviewed to ensure that publication does not negatively affect the provision of transgender health care in the broadest sense,” it stated.

[The WPATH president has] been named to a World Health Organisation advisory board tasked with developing best practices for transgender medicine

Another document recently unsealed shows that Rachel Levine, a trans woman who is assistant secretary for health, succeeded in pressing wpath to remove minimum ages for the treatment of children from its 2022 standards of care.

From the extended discussion by the SEGM:

The court documents reveal that WPATH leadership was "caught on the wrong foot" when two systematic reviews of evidence regarding endocrine interventions, ... did not provide the kind of support that WPATH was hoping to see. Consequently, WPATH leadership, ... took action to prevent the evidence evaluation team from making public the offending systematic reviews.

The court documents also reveal that WPATH subsequently instituted a new approval policy to ensure that only favorable evidence reviews could be published by researchers engaged in evaluating the evidence: (... WPATH had to approve the conclusions. ... WPATH had ongoing content control over the content of the planned publication. ... WPATH had the final document control.)

The authors were also required to insert into the article a statement that asserted its independence from WPATH, effectively denying that WPATH interference had taken place. [Imagine a drug company exerting this much influence over research into their a drug, and then demanding the researchers lie about this influence.]

[The Baker 2012 review] was the only review to survive WPATH’s approval process, despite "dozens" of reviews being completed by the Johns Hopkins team, as the court documents reveal. [Meaning dozens were suppressed, presumably for unfavorable conclusions.]

The Baker review has an alarming number of irregularities, which bear the marks of WPATH interference, and which deserve a separate spotlight. Here, we will only note that the review's conclusions ... are explicitly contradicted by the actual systematic review findings, which found only "low" and "insufficient" evidence.

The suppressed evidence regarding hormones interventions for all age groups raises questions about what basis WHO is using for its presumption that hormones should be widely available to all adults who seek them [This is of particular concern since several influential members of WPATH - including its president - have been appointed to the WHO board developing clinical guidelines]

[she-is-ovarit]

Detransitioner news

I have been thinking about detransitioners lately and wanted to compile articles I have been seeing. This will be a longer post and reblogged for part II as I hope to copy and paste brief portions of the articles under each headline.

Law firm for detransitioners opens in Dallas

In all of the controversy around gender transition, there is one group that is persistently marginalized by both the right and left. They are known as detransitioners — people who decide that they want to return to their birth gender, often after receiving years of interventional care, including surgery, to treat their gender dysphoria. Now, the nation’s first law firm focused solely on representing these patients — many of whom feel abused by a medical system that encouraged their treatment — has opened its doors in Dallas. It could forever change how hospitals and doctors approach what’s known as gender-affirming care.

Archive link

Fenway Community Health Center in Boston, the largest provider of transgender medicine in New England and one of the leading institutions of its kind in the United States, was named a defendant in a lawsuit filed last month. The plaintiff, a gay man who goes by the alias Shape Shifter, argues that by approving him for hormones and surgeries, Fenway Health subjected him to “gay conversion” practices, in violation of his civil rights. Carlan v. Fenway Community Health Center is the first lawsuit in the United States to argue that “gender-affirming care” can be a form of anti-gay discrimination. The case underscores an important clinical reality: gender dysphoria has multiple developmental pathways, and many who experience it will turn out to be gay. Even the Endocrine Society concedes that many of the youth who outgrow their dysphoria by adolescence later identify as gay or bisexual. Decades of research confirm as much. Gender clinicians in the U.K. used to have a “dark joke . . . that there would be no gay people left at the rate [the Gender Identity Development Service] was going,” former BBC journalist Hannah Barnes reported. Rather than help young gay people to accept their bodies and their sexuality, what if “gender-affirming” clinicians are putting them on a pathway to irreversible harm?

Due partly to Shape’s lifelong difficulty in accepting himself as gay, his lawyers are not taking the usual approach to detransition litigation. Rather than state a straightforward claim of medical malpractice or fraud, they allege that Fenway Health has violated Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which bans discrimination “on the basis of sex” in health care. In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County that “discrimination because of . . . sex” includes discrimination based on homosexuality. Citing this and other precedents, Shape’s lawyers argue that federal law affords distinct protections to gay men and lesbians—upon which clinics that operate with a transgender bias are trampling. Shape grew up in a Muslim country in Eastern Europe that he describes in an interview as “very traditional” and “homophobic.” His parents disapproved of his effeminate demeanor and interests as a child. They wouldn’t let him play with dolls, and his mother, he says, made him do stretches so that he would grow taller and appear more masculine. At 11, Shape had his first of several sexual encounters with older men. “I was definitely groomed,” he recounts. Shape proceeded to develop a pattern of risky sexual behavior, according to his legal complaint. He told his medical team at Fenway Health about his childhood sexual experiences, calling them “consensual.” The Fenway providers never challenged him on this interpretation, he alleges. They never suggested that he might have experienced sexual trauma or, say, explored how these events might have shaped his feelings of dissociation. (The irony is that Fenway Health describes its model of care as “trauma-informed.”)

Archive link

Ontario detransitioner who had breasts and womb removed sues doctors

An Ontario detransitioning woman who had her breasts and womb removed to change her gender to male is suing medical and health practitioners for failing to consider other treatments during her mental health crisis before ushering her on an irreversible journey she regrets. Michelle Zacchigna, 34, of Orillia, Ont., north of Toronto, names eight health professionals, including doctors, psychologists, a psychotherapist and a counsellor in a lawsuit filed in Ottawa. None of the defendants, who work or worked at various clinics and institutions in southern Ontario, responded to requests for comment on the lawsuit prior to deadline. Four of the defendants have filed notices of intent to defend against the suit in Ontario Superior Court, but no statements of defense have been filed. None of the claims have been tested in court. Zacchigna said she faces an uphill battle in her lawsuit. “I’ve been under the impression that all medical malpractice suits are challenging. Doctors win the majority of cases in Canada,” she told National Post. “It’s very much a David vs. Goliath undertaking.” In her statement of claim filed in court in November, Zacchigna says she had difficulty forming relationships with classmates in elementary school and was often bullied. By the time she was 11, she engaged in self-harming behaviour, including cutting her arm with a knife. This continued into early adulthood. When she was 20, she tried to kill herself and she was referred by her family doctor for psychotherapy, where she was treated for social anxiety and clinical depression. She remained unhappy and depressed, and her mental health decline led to her dropping out of university, according to her claim. About a year into therapy, she engaged with an online community around gender nonconformity. “Michelle came to believe that her biological sex of female did not match her true gender identity of male,” her claim says. “She further came to believe that this mismatch between her biological sex and gender identity was causing her feelings of depression, self-harming behaviour and unease in her body, a mental health condition commonly known as gender dysphoria,” her claim states. This was the first time Zacchigna felt she was born in the wrong body, and she had not previously identified as male, her claim says. “However, as a result of what she read on the internet, she became convinced that she was a transgender man, and that once she embraced this new identity, her depression would subside.” Zacchigna started attending a support group in Toronto for people considering gender transition. A counsellor there told her of opportunities to proceed through a medical transition, her claim says. Zacchigna was invited to apply for medical intervention in 2010. The counsellor wrote a recommendation letter outlining a medical history that didn’t fully match her real past, the claim says. The counsellor didn’t recommend any alternatives, or seek confirmation of Zacchigna’s own diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Her regular therapist also wrote a recommendation for transition treatment, saying Zacchigna was an “ideal candidate for hormone therapy,” even though the therapist had no previous transgender clients, according to the claim.

Part II incoming.

[demilypyro]

Me in 2020: ah, finally, testosterone blockers. Now I'll never be horny again

Me in 2023 having entirely adapted to an estrogen based endocrine system: oh no

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Azeen Ghorayshi

Published: May 13, 2024

After 30 years as one of England’s top pediatricians, Dr. Hilary Cass was hoping to begin her retirement by learning to play the saxophone.

Instead, she took on a project that would throw her into an international fire: reviewing England’s treatment guidelines for the rapidly rising number of children with gender distress, known as dysphoria.

At the time, in 2020, England’s sole youth gender clinic was in disarray. The waiting list had swelled, leaving many young patients waiting years for an appointment. Staff members who said they felt pressure to approve children for puberty-blocking drugs had filed whistle-blower complaints that had spilled into public view. And a former patient had sued the clinic, claiming that she had transitioned as a teenager “after a series of superficial conversations with social workers.”

The National Health Service asked Dr. Cass, who had never treated children with gender dysphoria but had served as the president of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, to independently evaluate how the agency should proceed.

Over the next four years, Dr. Cass commissioned systematic reviews of scientific studies on youth gender treatments and international guidelines of care. She also met with young patients and their families, transgender adults, people who had detransitioned, advocacy groups and clinicians.

Her final report, published last month, concluded that the evidence supporting the use of puberty-blocking drugs and other hormonal medications in adolescents was “remarkably weak.” On her recommendation, the N.H.S. will no longer prescribe puberty blockers outside of clinical trials. Dr. Cass also recommended that testosterone and estrogen, which allow young people to develop the physical characteristics of the opposite sex, be prescribed with “extreme caution.”

Dr. Cass’s findings are in line with several European countries that have limited the treatments after scientific reviews. But in America, where nearly two dozen states have banned the care outright, medical groups have endorsed the treatments as evidence-based and necessary.

The American Academy of Pediatrics declined to comment on Dr. Cass’s specific findings, and condemned the state bans. “Politicians have inserted themselves into the exam room, which is dangerous for both physicians and for families,” Dr. Ben Hoffman, the organization’s president, said.

The Endocrine Society told The New York Times that Dr. Cass’s review “does not contain any new research” that would contradict its guidelines. The federal health department did not respond to requests for comment.

Dr. Cass spoke to The Times about her report and the response from the United States. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

What are your top takeaways from the report?

The most important concern for me is just how poor the evidence base is in this area. Some people have questioned, “Did we set a higher bar for this group of young people?” We absolutely didn’t. The real problem is that the evidence is very weak compared to many other areas of pediatric practice.

The second big takeaway for me is that we have to stop just seeing these young people through the lens of their gender and see them as whole people, and address the much broader range of challenges that they have, sometimes with their mental health, sometimes with undiagnosed neurodiversity. It’s really about helping them to thrive, not just saying “How do we address the gender?” in isolation.

You found that the quality of evidence in this space is “remarkably weak.” Can you explain what that means?

The assessment of studies looks at things like, do they follow up for long enough? Do they lose a lot of patients during the follow-up period? Do they have good comparison groups? All of those assessments are really objective. The reason the studies are weak is because they failed on one or more of those areas.

The most common criticism directed at your review is that it was in some way rigged because of the lack of randomized controlled trials, which compare two treatments or a treatment and a placebo, in this field. That, from the get-go, you knew you would find that there was low-quality evidence.

People were worried that we threw out anything that wasn’t a randomized controlled trial, which is the gold standard for study design. We didn’t, actually.

There weren’t any randomized controlled trials, but we still included about 58 percent of the studies that were identified, the ones that were high quality or moderate quality. The kinds of studies that aren’t R.C.T.s can give us some really good information, but they have to be well-conducted. The weakness was many were very poorly conducted.

There’s something I would like to say about the perception that this was rigged, as you say. We were really clear that this review was not about defining what trans means, negating anybody’s experiences or rolling back health care.

There are young people who absolutely benefit from a medical pathway, and we need to make sure that those young people have access — under a research protocol, because we need to improve the research — but not assume that that’s the right pathway for everyone.

[ The Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service in London, which until recently was the National Health Service’s sole youth gender clinic in England. ]

Another criticism is that this field is being held to a higher standard than others, or being exceptionalized in some way. There are other areas of medicine, particularly in pediatrics, where doctors practice without high-quality evidence.

The University of York, which is kind of the home of systematic reviews, one of the key organizations that does them in this country, found that evidence in this field was strikingly lower than other areas — even in pediatrics.

I can’t think of any other situation where we give life-altering treatments and don’t have enough understanding about what’s happening to those young people in adulthood. I’ve spoken to young adults who are clearly thriving — a medical pathway has been the right thing for them. I’ve also spoken to young adults where it was the wrong decision, where they have regret, where they’ve detransitioned. The critical issue is trying to work out how we can best predict who’s going to thrive and who’s not going to do well.

In your report, you are also concerned about the rapid increase in numbers of teens who have sought out gender care over the last 10 years, most of whom were female at birth. I often hear two different explanations. On the one hand, there’s a positive story about social acceptance: that there have always been this many trans people, and kids today just feel freer to express who they are. The other story is a more fearful one: that this is a ‘contagion’ driven in large part by social media. How do you think about it?

There’s always two views because it’s never a simple answer. And probably elements of both of those things apply.

It doesn’t really make sense to have such a dramatic increase in numbers that has been exponential. This has happened in a really narrow time frame across the world. Social acceptance just doesn’t happen that way, so dramatically. So that doesn’t make sense as the full answer.

But equally, those who say this is just social contagion are also not taking account of how complex and nuanced this is.

Young people growing up now have a much more flexible view about gender — they’re not locked into gender stereotypes in the way my generation was. And that flexibility and fluidity are potentially beneficial because they break down barriers, combat misogyny, and so on. It only becomes a challenge if we’re medicalizing it, giving an irreversible treatment, for what might be just a normal range of gender expression.

What has the response to your report been like in Britain?

Both of our main parties have been supportive of the report, which has been great.

We have had a longstanding relationship with support and advocacy groups in the U.K. That’s not to say that they necessarily agree with all that we say. There’s much that they are less happy about. But we have had an open dialogue with them and have tried to address their questions throughout.

I think there is an appreciation that we are not about closing down health care for children. But there is fearfulness — about health care being shut down, and also about the report being weaponized to suggest that trans people don’t exist. And that’s really disappointing to me that that happens, because that’s absolutely not what we’re saying.

I’ve reached out to major medical groups in the United States about your findings. The American Academy of Pediatrics declined to comment on your report, citing its own research review that is underway. It said that its guidance, which it reaffirmed last year, was “grounded in evidence and science.”

The Endocrine Society said “we stand firm in our support of gender-affirming care,” which is “needed and often lifesaving.”

I think for a lot of people, this is kind of dizzying. We have medical groups in the United States and Britain looking at the same facts, the same scientific literature, and coming to very different conclusions. What do you make of those responses?

When I was president of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, we did some great work with the A.A.P. They are an organization that I have enormous respect for. But I respectfully disagree with them on holding on to a position that is now demonstrated to be out of date by multiple systematic reviews.

It wouldn’t be too much of a problem if people were saying “This is clinical consensus and we’re not sure.” But what some organizations are doing is doubling down on saying the evidence is good. And I think that’s where you’re misleading the public. You need to be honest about the strength of the evidence and say what you’re going to do to improve it.

I suspect that the A.A.P., which is an organization that does massive good for children worldwide, and I see as a fairly left-leaning organization, is fearful of making any moves that might jeopardize trans health care right now. And I wonder whether, if they weren’t feeling under such political duress, they would be able to be more nuanced, to say that multiple truths exist in this space — that there are children who are going to need medical treatment, and that there are other children who are going to resolve their distress in different ways.

Have you heard from the A.A.P. since your report was published?

They haven’t contacted us directly — no.

Have you heard from any other U.S. health bodies, like the Department of Health and Human Services, for example?

No.

Have you heard from any U.S. lawmakers?

No. Not at all.

Pediatricians in the United States are in an incredibly tough position because of the political situation here. It affects what doctors feel comfortable saying publicly. Your report is now part of that evidence that they may fear will be weaponized. What would you say to American pediatricians about how to move forward?

Do what you’ve been trained to do. So that means that you approach any one of these young people as you would any other adolescent, taking a proper history, doing a proper assessment and maintaining a curiosity about what’s driving their distress. It may be about diagnosing autism, it may be about treating depression, it might be about treating an eating disorder.

What really worries me is that people just think: This is somebody who is trans, and the medical pathway is the right thing for them. They get put on a medical pathway, and then the problems that they think were going to be solved just don’t go away. And it’s because there’s this overshadowing of all the other problems.

So, yes, you can put someone on a medical pathway, but if at the end of it they can’t get out of their bedroom, they don’t have relationships, they’re not in school or ultimately in work, you haven’t done the right thing by them. So it really is about treating them as a whole person, taking a holistic approach, managing all of those things and not assuming they’ve all come about as a result of the gender distress.

I think some people get frustrated about the conclusion being, well, what these kids need is more holistic care and mental health support, when that system doesn’t exist. What do you say to that?

We’re failing these kids and we’re failing other kids in terms of the amount of mental health support we have available. That is a huge problem — not just for gender-questioning young people. And I think that’s partly a reflection of the fact that the system’s been caught out by a growth of demand that is completely outstripping the ability to provide it.

We don’t have a nationalized health care system here in the United States. We have a sprawling and fragmented system. Some people have reached the conclusion that, because of the realities of the American health care system, the only way forward is through political bans. What do you make of that argument?

Medicine should never be politically driven. It should be driven by evidence and ethics and shared decision-making with patients and listening to patients’ voices. Once it becomes politicized, then that’s seriously concerning, as you know well from the abortion situation in the United States.

So, what can I say, except that I’m glad that the U.K. system doesn’t work in the same way.

-

When asked after this interview about Dr. Cass’s comments, Dr. Hoffman, the A.A.P.’s president, said that the group had carefully reviewed her report and “added it to the evidence base undergoing a systematic review.” He also said that “Any suggestion the American Academy of Pediatrics is misleading families is false.”

--

[mariacallous]

Chechnya Governor Ramzan Kadyrov is suffering from pancreatic necrosis, a condition that entails part of the pancreas dying, Novaya Gazeta Europe reported on Monday. The outlet says the Russian authorities have conducted a “PR campaign” to divert attention from Kadyrov’s health problems and that the scandal sparked by a video of Kadyrov’s teenage son beating up a prisoner in September 2023 was part of this effort. Now, according to the report, the Kremlin is preparing for the worst case scenario by searching for a successor for Kadyrov. Meduza summarizes the main points from these revelations.

Ramzan Kadyrov was diagnosed with pancreatic necrosis in 2019, according to new reporting from Novaya Gazeta Europe. Since then, the outlet says, Kadyrov has undergone “regular procedures,” including surgeries, at Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital at least twice a year. In the summer of 2020, after a bout of COVID-19, Kadyrov reportedly developed “serious problems with his endocrine system.” Novaya Gazeta notes that rapid weight loss, which Kadyrov experienced in 2019, is a common early symptom of the condition.

In the spring of 2022, Kadyrov’s health began to “rapidly decline,” Novaya Gazeta writes. He reportedly developed kidney failure and pulmonary edema, or fluid buildup in his lungs, which made it difficult for him to speak and walk.

After his health took an apparent downturn in September 2023, doctors at the Central Clinical Hospital “essentially restored his ability to function,” Novaya Gazeta says. A source in the hospital, however, told the outlet that an MRI conducted on Kadyrov at the time suggested a prognosis that left his relatives “depressed.” A source close to State Duma deputy and Kadyrov ally Adam Delimkhanov paraphrased the family’s reaction as follows: “The leader as we knew him will be gone; [the new] illness will have a serious effect on him. Even if he recovers right now, he’ll no longer be alive or dead.” Novaya Gazeta did not specify what “new illness” the source was referring to.

To divert attention from Kadyrov’s health issues, the Russian authorities reportedly decided to launch a “PR campaign,” which involved Kadyrov meeting publicly with Vladimir Putin and other officials to give the impression that he was active and healthy. According to Novaya Gazeta, the video Kadyrov posted in September 2023 that showed his 15-year-old son Adam assaulting a defenseless prisoner was also part of this distraction effort, as were the numerous awards Adam received in the weeks that followed.

As Kadyrov’s condition has worsened, according to Novaya Gazeta, the Putin administration has begun drafting plans for a possible “forced regime change in Chechnya.” The outlet named former Akhmat Battalion Commander Apti Alaudinov as one possible successor.

Shortly after Novaya Gazeta’s article was published, Kadyrov’s press service released a video showing the governor in a meeting on “issues related to Chechnya’s participation in the special military operation.” In the clip, Kadyrov speaks in a slurred manner and barely moves.

The Russian authorities have not commented on Novaya Gazeta’s reporting. The independent outlet Agentstvo quoted the Chechen opposition figure Ibrahim Yangulbaev as saying that Kadyrov is in a cycle of repeatedly undergoing IV treatment, partially recovering, and then worsening again: “When he looks white, that doesn’t mean that he’s dying.”

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

Tortured Bitch • Black Cloud in the Sky? [NO SPOILERS] • Conduit - (13th Song About *****) - Anything Else. [Unfinished] • Reverie [JH Ligation Experiment 1] • Total Paralysis at the First Notes of Immaterial Crying and Ashamed And Wishing I Could Disappear Into the Lights [JH Ligation Experiment 2] • (Lost Kids) The Juvenile Hormone. I. Endocrine Activity of the Corpora Allata of the Adult Cecropia Silkworm • 2,020 Knives • 2,020 Hands • (From A Different World) The Juvenile Hormone. II. Its Role in the Endocrine Control Of Molting, Pupation, and Adult Development in the Cecropia Silkworm • Glass - Remain[fSl]Rust (,,Fade Away'') • I Don't Want to Hurt You (14) • Wake [Psychography Experiment 24-04-19 I] - World Doesn't Hold Together • Breathe [Psychography Experiment 24-04-19 II] - NONE OF THIS IS ABOUT TR**S SHIT • Someday (Dear ******) - World Doesn't Come Apart • September (***e* **** *a***m* Chambers **** ????) - Distance Holding World Together • Strangers - Silk Thread Growing Through the Glass Tube Bisecting the Abdomen of a Cecropia Moth Hatched in Captivity - DNA - Nothing Here. • broken wires • An Ocean

Spotify ♪ Bandcamp ♪ YouTube

[sulkybbarnes]

Hello ! I have read -per your tags- that you are a fungi biologist !!! First this is very cool, second i have a question about MOLD if its ok :)

Can you eat jam where the mold has been removed ? What is the general rule if there is one behind NO eating bc mold or ok eating if removed ? Im really curious about it +is it true that mold can grow in your body ? (I had a pack of unfortunately moldy tobbaco and a friend insisted on smoking it and i had to use the argument that they would become Moldy From The Lungs to stop them.... but is this true ?)

Anyhow, thank you for your time and keep on fungin' <3

Hey pal! First of all, thank you for the question (and for thinking fungal biology is cool haha), it was absolutely delightful for me to get this. I wish people talked to me about fungi outside of work more often! 🍄

As a disclaimer: my work is mostly molecular biology work on Saccharomyces cerevisiae aka Brewer's Yeast, and occasionally Candida albicans, and neither of these is closely connected to the mold question. I'm by no means a food safety expert either, but with that out of the way:

The short answer is that I would not eat jam with mold on it, even if you remove the mold. I would say that the rule to go by is that if it's a soft food with mold on it, discard the whole thing. If it’s something "hard" like a hard cheese, then it's probably safe to cut away the mold and eat the cheese. I found this little guide that seems quite reasonable and helpful to me, and it’ll tell you more about what types of food grow mold and how to handle them if you scroll to the end!

The long answer: Molds, like a lot of fungi, grow multicellular filaments called hyphae (Brand & Gow, 2009; Brand, 2012) which are only micrometres long. Meaning that you would need a microscope to be able to see them. Think of them as invisible roots or arms that can spread through your food. The fuzzy, green/grey/white manifestation that you see of the mold is a “colony” or in other words a network of cells or hyphae (Miguélez et al., 1999) depending on the organism. If you can see it, it is because it has been growing for a while, and that most likely means that your food is already contaminated with the “roots”. And these aren’t harmless; because depending on the type of mold, they can produce mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are biochemicals the cell makes which can cause serious harm to your health (Gonkowski et al., 2020). They have been known to cause allergic reactions, gastrointestinal issues, and poisoning. This is all dependent on the type of mycotoxin and the concentration of it, and the individual’s health, but I reckon this is the case where you want to be safe not sorry. From Gonkowski et al: “It is known that mycotoxins may act on many internal organs and systems, including, among others, nervous, reproductive and immunological systems, metabolic processes and endocrine glands” (Rykaczewska et al., 2019). In some cases, bacteria can also grow with the mold and cause illness. So, the long answer also boils down to: no, don’t eat it, it’s really not worth the risk.

And, yes, mold can grow in human lungs if the spores are inhaled. Granted that is most likely to happen with immunocompromised individuals as far as I know, but! I would advise against sniffing it at any rate haha.

I'm including the references in the text and at the end for fun, in case you’re interested to read more about this or see the microscopy images in the papers!!

Happy and safe eating 🍄😊

Brand, A. (2012) ‘Hyphal growth in human fungal pathogens and its role in virulence’, International Journal of Microbiology, 2012, pp. 1–11. doi:10.1155/2012/517529.

Brand, A. and Gow, N.A. (2009) ‘Mechanisms of hypha orientation of fungi’, Current Opinion in Microbiology, 12(4), pp. 350–357. doi:10.1016/j.mib.2009.05.007.

Gonkowski, S., Gajęcka, M. and Makowska, K. (2020) ‘Mycotoxins and the enteric nervous system’, Toxins, 12(7), p. 461. doi:10.3390/toxins12070461.

Miguélez, E.M., Hardisson, C. and Manzanal, M.B. (1999) ‘Hyphal death during colony development in streptomyces antibioticus: Morphological evidence for the existence of a process of cell deletion in a multicellular prokaryote’, The Journal of Cell Biology, 145(3), pp. 515–525. doi:10.1083/jcb.145.3.515.

Rykaczewska, A. et al. (2019) ‘Imbalance in the blood concentrations of selected steroids in pre-pubertal gilts depending on the time of exposure to low doses of Zearalenone’, Toxins, 11(10), p. 561. doi:10.3390/toxins11100561.

[anumberofhobbies]

https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/gov-walz-budget-proposal-seeks-6-3m-for-emerging-long-covid-crisis

Hmm, dunno why that won't make a link. Anyway,

Gov. Walz budget proposal seeks $6.3M for emerging long COVID crisis

The funding is proposed to raise awareness for the condition and improve the availability and quality of care.

Christine Schuster

Mar 29, 2023

"It is also critical that providers are up to date on the latest research, treatments and best practices so that Minnesotans have access to the care and services they need to reduce the impact of long COVID on their lives," he stated. ... In a news release, the agency said the team of 20 clinicians will meet monthly to discuss new research, treatment and current practices in hopes of developing strategies to educate medical providers and improve the access and quality of long COVID care. In a statement, State Epidemiologist Dr. Ruth Lynfield said clinicians report there is currently very little communication among care providers when it comes to long COVID. “We still have a lot to learn about long COVID," she said. "But laying the groundwork to expand awareness about the emerging evidence and the available treatments is an important first step toward improving outcomes for those suffering from the impacts of long COVID.” To better understand the lasting effects of COVID on the lives of Minnesotans, MDH has also launched two post-COVID surveys – one statewide and one in McLeod County. Those survey results are expected to be released later this year and could help the state take further action to address long COVID. ... Emerging evidence suggests that COVID can have lasting effects on nearly every organ and organ system of the body weeks, months, and potentially years after infection, the guidance states. Documented serious post-COVID conditions include cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, renal, endocrine, hematological, and gastrointestinal complications, as well as death. A CDC analysis last year found that long COVID contributed to more than 3,500 deaths in the U.S. from the beginning of 2020 through June 2022.

[thescrumblingmidwife]

Are charcoal pads actually safe? They seem like the kind of thing to be revealed to be detrimental in like 40 years. My favorite brand just started using charcoal and I don’t know how to feel about it.

Hi Anon,

Not gonna lie, I had to do some digging for this one. I know putting charcoal in everything is very *in* right now, and it's usually unregulated and sometimes potentially problematic (for instance, don't ingest charcoal if you take any medications! It interferes with the absorption of medications). But I had never heard of charcoal pads, so thanks for bringing it to my attention.

MENSTRUAL PRODUCT SAFETY

Menstrual products are regulated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) as medical devices. The FDA does not require manufacturers to label ingredients, nor do they ban the use of known harmful products, and there is no safety standard that needs to be met. The labels "organic" and "all natural" are advertising and not statement of fact. Testing that has been done to check for harmful products has been done by watchdog agencies and independent researchers.

Here's a good rundown:

What is known is that a lot of menstrual products do contain harsh chemicals that are better avoided. Most fall below the threshold of increasing cancer and non-cancer health risks, but a few chemicals to be on the lookout for are benzene, n-heptane and 1,4-dioxane. (Lin et al., 2020), as these can increase cancer risk. Chlorine and other chemicals can cause irritation of the vuvla. Also problematic is the use of phthalates, which are endocrine disrupters (can mess with your hormones) (Gao et al., 2020). Another problem is polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or "forever chemicals," which show up in a lot of products, and never leave your body. The New York Times recently did a testing of 44 products to check for problematic chemicals, and they found that PFAS are present in most products in at least very small amounts, although the lowest levels were found in period underwear and medical-grade silicone inserts.

So, our starting point is that commercially available disposable pads and tampons are already something to be concerned about, because no one in any position of power is doing much to make sure they're safe. They touch mucous membranes, which means there is potential for significant absorption. We can talk in a minute about how to choose the safest products from what's out there.

But let's get back to charcoal!

The purported purpose of the charcoal is to cut down on "period odor," which is not something people around you can detect. This is a case of advertising convincing you there's a problem so they can sell you a solution. The company that manufactures these pads, Kimberly-Clark, does supply ingredient lists and their stated purpose on their website. (It's not clear if this is the entire ingredient list, but it's something.) Interestingly, the function of charcoal is listed only as "A colorant used to color a material." Nothing about odor absorption. The charcoal doesn't come into contact with the vulvar skin or vaginal mucosa, so I don't think the charcoal itself poses much of a risk. I suspect this is more a case of fad-based misleading advertising. Will they harm you? Probably not. Will they do something magical and new? Probably not.

The one upside may be that the use of charcoal in menstrual products reflects manufacturer's response to the market demanding products with more "natural" ingredients and fewer harsh chemicals. But this is something that should be tested.

Yikes, that was a lot.

SO WHAT'S SAFE?

It's important to note that none of the chemical levels in any of these products are so bad that you're going to get cancer from wearing a single pad. The most common risk is vulvar irritation from harsh chemicals. The scariest (but rarer) risk is cumulative exposure over a long period of time for a marginally increased risk of some health issues.

But here are some tips for picking the safest products for your body:

Use a medical-grade silicone insert/menstrual cup (like a Diva cup).

Use reusable period underwear or pads from a reputable brand, like Thinx, and wash them before you use them.

If using disposable pads or tampons, absolutely avoid any with fragrances.

Use the lowest possible absorbency you need - the higher the absorbency, the more the material has been treated.

Try using disposable incontinence pads instead of menstrual pads, as these had lower rates of PFAS and chemicals.

Although there's no way to guarantee it's truthful, try to stick to brands and products that are generally chlorine-free. cotton-based, etc.

If you experience any irritation, redness, or sensitivity, try a new product!

And for those charcoal pads - they don't strike me as being any worse for you than the rest of the Kotex's fragrance-free lineup. It's not as problematic as swallowing charcoal or rubbing the dentin off your teeth with it. You may be right that in 15 years we'll have realized this was like that time we were putting radium in everything, but I doubt it?

Sources:

Lin, N., Ding, N., Meza-Wilson, E., Manuradha Devasurendra, A., Godwin, C., Kyun Park, S., & Batterman, S. (2020). Volatile organic compounds in feminine hygiene products sold in the US market: A survey of products and health risks. Environment International, 144, 105740. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105740

Gao, C. J., Wang, F., Shen, H. M., Kannan, K., & Guo, Y. (2020). Feminine hygiene products-A neglected source of phthalate exposure in women. Environmental Science & Technology, 54(2), 930–937. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b03927

[kokichis-dead-dove-club]

a whole ass chapter on the endocrine system and not a single mention of trans people

and it's not like this is an old textbook either, this was published in 2020

[laparoscopicsurgeondramitajain]

How to Keep Your Thyroid Healthy? 5 Key Healthy Steps

The thyroid gland, despite its small, butterfly-shaped appearance located at the front of your neck, plays a critical role in controlling your metabolic rate. This means it affects how your body transforms the food you consume into energy, which is vital for every cell in your body.

When your thyroid isn’t working properly, it can have widespread effects on your health. Thyroid disorders are one of the most common endocrine disorders, affecting nearly 42 million Indians.

Undiagnosed thyroid disease can lead to serious health conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, and infertility.

How to keep your thyroid healthy?

Dr Amita Jain, one of the top laparoscopic and thyroid surgeons in Delhi and Gurgaon, shares 5 steps to keep your thyroid healthy.

Read Here: https://www.dramitajain.com/blog/2024/08/07/healthy-thyroid-best-laparoscopic-surgeon-delhi/

Dr Amita Jain

Dr Amita Jain is a surgeon with highest degree of professional competence, precision and surgical craftsmanship. Performed all complicated general surgery procedures with in depth knowledge of invasive and few minimal invasive and onco surgical techniques. Underwent special training in trauma, executed various trauma-related complex life-saving neurosurgical procedures, reconstructed injured mangled limbs and performed vascular and reconstructive procedures with critical care.

Dr Amita Jain holds 28 plus years of rich experience in Trauma and General Laparoscopic Surgeries (including Gallbladder stone removal, appendix removal, hernia repair surgery, piles and fissure surgeries). She was the Professor Surgery of at the Army College of Medical Sciences and Base Hospital Delhi Cantt. In 1994 she was commissioned as Surgeon under the United Nations Mission in Congo. From 2020 to 2022, she worked with Bansals Hospital. Currently, Dr Amita Jain is the Senior Consultant, (Speciality: General and Laparoscopic Surgeon) at Artemis Lite Hospital, New Delhi

[lboogie1906]

Jay Ajayi (born June 15, 1993) is an English-born former football running back who played in the NFL for five seasons with the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at Boise State University and was selected by the Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL draft. He spent three seasons with the Dolphins, earning Pro Bowl honors in 2016, before being traded to Philadelphia during the 2017 season. He was a member of the team that won the franchise’s first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl LII. He struggled with injuries afterward, leading to his 2022 retirement.

He was born in London to Nigerian parents and moved to Maryland in 2000. He moved to Texas, where he attended Frisco Liberty High School. As a senior on the football team, he rushed for 2,240 yards and had 35 touchdowns. He earned one varsity letter in track & field as a member of the 4 × 400-meter (3:21.75), 4 × 200 m (1:29.44), and 4 × 100 m (42.86) district championship teams.

Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was ranked as the 41st best running back prospect of his class.

In 2020, he was signed by Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union as the club’s esports player in eMLS League Series One.

He took part in the NFL’s “My Cause, My Cleats” campaign in the 2016 season. The campaign allowed players to wear custom cleats supporting their favorite charities. His cause was multiple endocrine neoplasia. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Azeem Ibrahim

Published: Aug 23, 2023

We cannot allow activists masquerading as experts to have the final word any longer. An open letter sent to the Wall Street Journal last month came and went without the public attention it sorely deserved.

Signed by 21 leading experts on paediatric gender medicine from nine countries, they wrote to take issue with the US Endocrine Society’s statement that so-called ‘gender-affirming’ care is best for minors presenting with gender dysphoria.

Gender-affirming care is code for the belief that hormones and surgery is the best and primary treatment for gender dysphoria since it purportedly “reduces the risk of suicide”.

The experts minced no words – the belief is “not supported by evidence”. Rather than cherry-pick studies which fit the narrative, the experts used far deeper meta-studies which found evidence of mental health benefits to be of “low or very low certainty”.

The risks for minors of puberty blockers and surgeries, including permanent sterility, regret, and lifelong dependence on repeat surgeries and medication are very real. Furthermore, the experts wrote that the claim that gender transition reduces suicides is contradicted by every systematic review. Even the Endocrine Society’s review found no reliable evidence that hormonal transition prevents suicide, yet they have no qualms promoting it.

This is something that every parent across Scotland, deep in their hearts, knew already to be true. That surgery and hormones are unlikely to resolve the underlying mental unwellness that troubles their children.

We live in a world where gender distress has increased in prevalence by several thousand percent in the last two decades – but to question the longevity of these feelings or to describe them in the context of mental health is denounced as transphobic and as provoking suicide. Parents face ultimatums about the suicide of their children despite their being no good reason to believe that puberty blockers will help them.

As Dr Paul McHugh noted all those years ago, “when children who reported transgender feelings were tracked without medical or surgical treatment at Vanderbilt University and London's Portman Clinic, 70%-80% of them spontaneously lost those feelings.”

In the vast majority of cases, the best approach is to love your children and take no medical intervention. Yet, according to The Telegraph, figures show that 98 per cent of children who were given puberty blockers went on to be given cross-sex hormones.

Blockers are dangerous and irreversible in their own right, but they also 'lock-in' children to even more devastating outcomes when they would likely have recovered from the dysphoria without intervention – if only doctors had let them. It is not reality that is causing most of these young people to commit suicide, is it collaborating with a mental disorder with body and mind-altering drugs.

Doctors are supposed to advise treatment on the basis of evidence and fully inform their patients. The Tavistock Clinic scandal shows that even the most (formerly) prestigious institutions were letting children down.

In court, the Government’s Gender Identity Service (GIDS) couldn’t even provide data on the outcomes and consequences of puberty blockers on the minors who were given them. Even if the children were old enough to consent, the consent wouldn’t have been informed.

In order to skirt around questions of consent, we are told convenient myths. Puberty blockers are described as a “physically reversible treatment if stopped” by GIDS. This is an improvement, as until 2020 the claim had been that “treatment with GnRH analogues are considered to be fully reversible”, but it is still scandalously misleading to my mind.

The new definition tacitly concedes that the puberty blockers are not and have never been psychologically reversible – they had been promoted as harmless despite little research having gone into finding out whether this was the case. It also allows the words “if stopped” to do an inordinate amount of linguistic legwork.

The fact that the GnRH drugs shut down large parts of the hypothalamus – the hormonal structure of the brain that regulates our perception of the world around us – should have given clinicians pause for thought before allowing them into the developing brains of children. Indeed, these same GnRH analogues are used for chemical castration. But ideology comes first and children come second.

In many cases, the children affected are girls – now around 75% of them – and many also suffer from autism and other issues which are known to affect socialisation. There are strong correlations between such mental disorders and gender dysphoria.

Parents who attempt to remove vulnerable children from suggestive environments, offer a counter-message, or even attempt to make children more comfortable in their natural sex in the meantime are condemned as transphobic. So are those who insist that minors are not capable of consenting to use chemicals which impact their future so profoundly.

In Canada, a father has been jailed for opposing his child’s gender transition. He insisted that his child, who was 13 at the time, was still a ‘she’ – an utterance which is (quite literally) considered criminal violence in Canada.

He refused consent for her to be given puberty blockers. Dragged through the courts, fined thousands, and imprisoned, the father was unable to stop his child being given not just puberty blockers, but cross-sex hormones, causing them to go through puberty with testosterone and changing his child’s life forever.

In Scotland, children as young as nine have been prescribed puberty blockers. Despite activists' best efforts, minors who want surgery and cross-sex hormones in the UK must wait until the frail old age of 17. This is still a child, but it could be so much worse.

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s (WPATH) insist that children as young as nine years old can be given cross-sex hormones. Their ‘guidelines’ also permit mastectomies, implants and prosthetic genitals once these children have been on hormones for 12 months, with no mental health assessment.

Tragically, after 12 months, the risk of cancers, infertility and negative psychoactive effects are already high. It is barbaric to do this to children. Doctors who endorse this course of action should not be trusted. In fact, only a third of WPATH’s ethics committee are medical doctors. As with the Endocrine Society, we cannot allow activists masquerading as experts to have the final word any longer. We need our ethics to be based on compassion and understanding rather than politics.

Paul McHugh's seminal 2014 essay should still serve as a critical point of reference on the use of puberty blockers. McHugh, a distinguished former psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital (an institution which was an early pioneer of such surgeries), wrote candidly at a time before the transgender issue became the cultural powder keg it is today.

McHugh identified three subgroups of transgender people who might be given surgery or medication. The first is the opportunist, such as Isla Bryson, who have obvious motives to change sex. The second group are internally and externally suggestible, similarly to anorexia nervosa patients, who are convinced that a physical surgery will fix their psycho-social problems. The third group are often prepubescent children who, in the process of naturally exploring how they fit into the world, begin to imitate behaviours of the opposite sex.

Puberty blockers are obviously not the solution for any of the groups above. It’s too late for the first, inappropriate for the second and unethical and premature for the third. Puberty blockers must be banned.

[usfclimatechangeadaptation]

Module 2 Relational Summary

This week in the course discussed glacial ice and how important it is when discussing climate change. Culhane mentioned how Greenland and Antarctica have raised the global sea level by about 18 millimeters from 1992-2017. Northern and Southern hemispheres are demonstrating contrasting conditions in terms of surface melt. For example, a recent study mentioned how Greenland ice sheets were melting to winds by more than 10 percent versus Antarctic ice sheets which decreased by 32 percent (UCI News, 2023). As the temperatures have increased, the downslope wind can be combined to increase the surface ice melt at a higher percentage. Antarctic surface ice sheets are still melting faster than normal. In 2023, there was an above-average melt in Dronning Maud and Amery land ice shelf regions including the Antarctic Peninsula (NSIDC, 2023). These annual melting records were found to be higher than the 1991 to 2020 references which demonstrates the problem continues to escalate. Flooding is becoming a popular issue in Florida especially as sea levels rise. As sea levels continue to rise, the future of Florida is in danger, especially with projections of 10 to 12 inches of rise around coastlines in the next 30 years. Policies are going to need to be put in place to help tackle climate change and provide adaptation solutions for protecting the coast.

Another interesting topic that I was intrigued by was microplastics being in our oceans and causing many problems that are leading to climate change. For example, microplastics are leading to structural damage in marine life by affecting the metabolic balance, behavior, and even fertility of different fish (Kosyreva, 2022). Not only do microplastics affect aquatic organisms but it has been recently studied to find harmful effects in humans. As different chemicals leach onto different items like plastic water bottles these items can enter our bodies. A variety of health issues can be caused by microplastics like endocrine disruption, insulin resistance, and cancer (Shabani, 2023). More research is continuing to assess microplastics and health impacts. This is very frightening when we start to think about how much plastic is involved in our day-to-day use. Once more research starts to discuss impacts this will hopefully create stricter policies that companies have to abide by to eliminate the use of them or consider different options like bioplastics as mentioned by Culhane.

Lastly, module two discussed biofuels and how algae could be a key biomass to help with pollution. In my Renewable Transportation Fuels course, we discussed a variety of biomasses that could be potential replacements for fossil fuels. Algae can be a great biofuel because of its high growth rate, year-round production, and no requirement for agricultural land (Philippidis, 2023, 2). I think algae is a great idea for biofuels but the main issue is the cost of technology and production. The best way to promote algae as a biofuel is by developing cost reduction strategies like incentives to stakeholders who become involved in the process. Another idea is giving grants and helping research in efficient cost-effective methodologies of producing algae biofuel. 

References

Kosyreva, A. (2022, June 14). Harmful effects of the microplastic pollution on animal health: a literature review. NCBI. Retrieved January 22, 2024, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9205308/

NSIDC. (2023, December 21). Antarctic melt season off to fast start; Greenland 2023 melt season review. National Snow and Ice Data Center. Retrieved January 22, 2024, from https://nsidc.org/ice-sheets-today/analyses/antarctic-melt-season-fast-start-greenland-2023-melt-season-review#anchor-3

Philippidis, G. P. (2023). Algae Technologies.

Shabani, Z. (2023, June 5). Microplastics on Human Health: How much do they harm us? United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved January 22, 2024, from https://www.undp.org/kosovo/blog/microplastics-human-health-how-much-do-they-harm-us

UCI News. (2023, October 16). Ice sheet surface melt is accelerating in Greenland and slowing in Antarctica. UCI News. Retrieved January 22, 2024, from https://news.uci.edu/2023/10/16/ice-sheet-surface-melt-is-accelerating-in-greenland-and-slowing-in-antarctica/

[wellbeing-in-your-office]

Nutrition Workshops: Revolutionise Your Workplace

The role of nutrition in boosting mental health is more crucial than ever. At Wellbeing In Your Office, we are committed to making wellness an integral part of your work environment. This article reveals how nutrition workshops can be a game-changing strategy to enhance employee wellbeing and energise your workforce. Read on to discover the transformative power of nutrition workshops and how to effectively implement different wellbeing strategies in your office.

The Rising Priority of Employee Wellbeing

The COVID-19 pandemic has put employee mental health in the spotlight. Studies show that over half of employees reported declines in mental health since 2020. Burnout is widespread, with majority of workers reporting exhaustion, cynicism about work, and reduced productivity. This burnout epidemic costs billions in lost productivity and absenteeism. Forward-thinking companies recognise they have a responsibility to safeguard employee wellbeing. The costs of ignoring mental health are too high, from high rates of abseenteism to talent retention challenges. Employees now expect their employers to take an active role in supporting mental and emotional health. Wellbeing programs that incorporate nutrition can make a powerful difference. So, let's explore the overlooked role of nutrition in fostering employee mental health and fulfillment. https://wellbeinginyouroffice.com/wellbeing-workshops/

The Role of Nutrition in Mental Health

The connection between nutrition and mental health is significant. What we put into our bodies directly impacts how we feel, mentally as well as physically. An increasing body of research has uncovered convincing links between gut health and mental illness. The gut microbiome, which contains trillions of microorganisms in our digestive tracts, is sometimes called our "second brain." This is because the gut communicates with the brain via the vagus nerve and the endocrine system. An imbalance of gut flora can lead to inflammation, which may play a role in conditions like depression and anxiety. Specific nutritional compounds also influence mental wellbeing and mood. For example, omega-3 fatty acids help build and repair brain cells. A deficiency in this key nutrient may contribute to an increased risk of depression and ADHD. So, eliminating inflammatory foods like sugar, refined carbs, and processed foods can provide relief from brain fog and instability. Eating more whole, unprocessed foods with anti-inflammatory properties is beneficial. This is because a diet filled with nutrient-dense fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, antioxidants, and probiotics lays the foundation for a healthy microbiome and a happy mind.

Introducing Nutrition Workshops

A nutrition workshop is an interactive educational program that teaches employees about the fundamentals of healthy eating and nutrition. Led by a qualified nutritionist or dietitian, these workshops aim to provide practical knowledge that employees can apply to their everyday diet and lifestyle. The workshops generally last 1-2 hours and cover a range of topics related to nutrition, such as: - The components of a balanced, nutritious diet - nutrition workshops emphasise the importance of nutrients like protein, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Participants learn how to build balanced meals and snacks. - Portion control and mindful eating habits - The workshops teach participants how to manage portion sizes and practice mindful eating by listening to hunger cues, eating slowly, and savoring food. This is because it can help prevent overeating. - Reading and understanding food labels - Employees learn how to read nutrition labels on food packaging to identify ingredients, calories, sodium content, added sugars, etc. This can enable healthier choices. - Meal planning and preparation - The workshops provide tips, ideas and simple recipes for putting together nutritious breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks. Meal prepping is also discussed. - Nutrition for common health conditions - Guidance is offered on eating patterns that can help manage conditions like diabetes, heart health, gastrointestinal issues, etc. - Hydration and healthy beverage choices - Participants learn the importance of staying hydrated, and how to choose healthy drinks like water, tea, coffee, plant-based milks over sugary soft drinks and juices. The interactive format of nutrition workshops, which includes activities, demonstrations, and discussions, empowers employees to improve their eating habits for better health and wellbeing. https://wellbeinginyouroffice.com/wellbeing-day/ Wellbeing Day: Why your workplace needs one

The Benefits of Nutrition Workshops

Nutrition workshops provide employees with valuable knowledge and skills to make healthier food choices. And this can lead to various benefits that positively impact workplace wellbeing. - Improved energy and focus - A nutritious diet provides the body with essential nutrients to function optimally. Employees who eat a balanced diet with whole foods will have steadier energy levels throughout the day. They will be able to focus better on tasks and avoid the post-lunch slump. - Better stress management - Stress takes a toll both mentally and physically. Choosing foods that stabilise blood sugar, promote gut health, and provide key micronutrients can help manage cortisol levels. This can help build resilience against the stresses of a busy work life. - Increased productivity - The combination of sustained energy, mental clarity and lower stress leads to higher productivity. Employees waste less time dealing with fatigue, distraction or burnout. Nutrition gives them the fuel to productively take on challenging projects and meet deadlines. The individual and collective benefits of employees eating healthier ripples through the workplace. Nutrition workshops equip them with the knowledge to make changes that positively impact their wellbeing and this can drive higher engagement, performance, and job satisfaction.

Nutrition Tips for the Workplace

A healthy diet can be difficult to maintain in a workplace setting because the constant availability of unhealthy snacks, tendency towards stress eating, and need for energy to push through long days can all negatively impact eating habits. But with some simple tips, employees can make smarter choices that support mental clarity, sustained energy, and overall wellbeing. Healthy Snack Ideas - Fruit - Keep a stash of fresh fruit like apples, oranges, bananas, grapes or dried fruit for a sweet treat. - Nuts and seeds - Almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds etc are nutritious, filling snacks. Go for unsalted varieties. - Veggies with hummus - Baby carrots, sliced bell peppers, cucumber and hummus provide protein and fiber. - Yogurt - Opt for plain, unsweetened yogurt and add fresh fruit or nuts. Avoid flavored yogurts high in added sugar. - Oats - Make overnight oats with milk/yogurt, oats, chia seeds and fruit for a grab-and-go morning snack. - Popcorn - Air-popped or stove-top popcorn is a whole grain, low calorie snack. Avoid microwave popcorn with unhealthy fat and salt. Managing Stress Eating - Identify triggers - Keep a food journal to identify situations or emotions causing stress eating. - Drink water - Dehydration can mimic hunger. Drink water first before grabbing a snack. - Take a break - Go for a quick walk, listen to music or do breathing exercises to reduce stress. - Eat mindfully - Don't eat while working. Sit, chew slowly and savor your food. - Stock up on healthy snacks - Keep nutritious snacks on hand to avoid vending machine temptations. Eating for Energy - Eat regular meals - Don't skip breakfast or lunch to "save up" for calories. This can lead to overeating later. - Choose complex carbs - Whole grains, beans, lentils and starchy veggies can provide steady energy. - Include protein - Protein foods like eggs, yogurt and nuts can help sustain energy. - Avoid sugar crashes - Limit sugary foods/drinks because these can spike then crash energy levels. - Stay hydrated - Dehydration causes fatigue, so sip water and unsweetened teas throughout the day. - Manage portions - Overeating can cause sluggishness. Eat reasonable portions to feel energised, not overly full. https://wellbeinginyouroffice.com/wellbeing-services/nutrition/ Nutrition

Implementing Nutrition Workshops

Implementing a workplace nutrition workshops in the workplace takes thoughtful planning but can yield tremendous benefits. Here are some logistical considerations when rolling out nutrition workshops: Scheduling - Decide on workshop frequency. Monthly or quarterly workshops are common. Avoid scheduling conflicts with major meetings or deadlines. - Determine workshop duration based on content. Lunch-and-learns may be 60-90 minutes. Half-day workshops allow more in-depth education. - Allow extra time and build in buffers before and after for setup/cleanup. - Be mindful of employees' availability and competing priorities. Seek input on optimal scheduling. Format of Nutrition Workshops - In-person workshops allow for hands-on cooking demos, food tastings, personalised assessments, and group collaboration. - Virtual workshops can expand reach. Record for those who can't attend live. Use polls, chat, breakout rooms to engage. - Consider a hybrid approach with virtual content supplemented by in-person events, newsletters, posters, etc. https://wellbeinginyouroffice.com/why-is-health-and-wellbeing-important-in-the-workplace/ Content - Nutrition basics like reading labels, meal planning, healthy snacking, nutrition myths. - Disease prevention through diet and lifestyle like heart health, gut health, diabetes, etc. - Speciality workshops on keto, paleo, plant-based, immune-boosting foods, intermittent fasting. - Cooking demos and food tastings for easy, healthy recipes. Provide take-home recipe cards. - Assessments to help employees understand current eating habits and areas for improvement. - Make sure that you take into consideration health requirements/allergies of workshops attendess e.g. nut alltergies. Costs of Nutrition Workshops - For in-person workshops, factor in food, supplies, equipment, printed materials required. - Virtual workshops may require web conferencing platform and may need downloadable materials. - Consider bringing in a registered dietitian or qualified nutritionist to develop curriculum and instruct. Promotion - Market the workshop's benefits - improved health, reduced sick days, increased focus. - Leverage workplace posters, email, internal communication channels, word of mouth. Feature instructor bios and workshop details. - Offer incentives for participation like gift cards, or raffle prizes. With deliberate planning, companies can provide hugely valuable nutrition education to enhance employees' health, wellbeing, and workplace satisfaction. And thus the investment pays dividends in better performance and retention. So, what steps will you take towards better nutrition at your workplace?

Overcoming Challenges

Implementing workplace nutrition workshops does come with some potential challenges that need to be addressed upfront. Common concerns from employers may include: - Time - Employees and managers both express concerns about taking time away from work for wellness activities. This can be mitigated by keeping workshops brief (30-60 mins), scheduling them right before or after lunch hours, and framing them as an investment rather than lost time. - Costs - Wellness programs do require some financial investment, but the return through increased productivity and reduced insurance costs typically outweighs the costs. Many activities like inviting guest speakers or demonstrations can be low-cost and it's ideal to start small and grow the program over time. - Participation - Not every employee may be interested in attending nutrition workshops. So why not consider incentives like providing healthy snacks or gift cards to encourage participation. Promote workshops as opportunities for employees to support each other in healthy habits. Present different topics to appeal to diverse interests. Ultimately, the program should aim to create a culture that makes healthy choices easier while respecting individual discretion. While implementing nutrition workshops requires overcoming some hurdles, the benefits for employee wellbeing make it an extremely worthwhile investment for any organisation. With creative problem solving, companies can find ways to make workshops work within their constraints and build an engaging wellness program. https://wellbeinginyouroffice.com/happy-and-healthy-workplace/ A happy (and healthy) workplace?

Success Stories

Company A was struggling with low employee engagement and productivity. After implementing a 6-week nutrition workshop series focused on mental health and digestive health, they saw a significant increase in employee engagement. Employees reported having more energy, better focus, and feeling less stressed. The CEO of Company B noticed poor eating habits were negatively impacting workplace culture. She asked us to bring in a nutrition coach to lead workshops about food and mood. Office morale improved significantly and the events were a big success! There are remarkable benefits when organisations prioritise employee nutrition. Workshops build knowledge, offer support, and foster a culture of health. With better eating habits, people feel more energised, happier, and able to thrive. The case studies above demonstrate how successful nutrition programs can be. Now is the time to take action. https://wellbeinginyouroffice.com/wellbeing-services/ Wellbeing Services & Mental Health at Work

Nutrition Workshops: The Takeaway

Implementing nutrition workshops can provide immense benefits for both employees and the company as a whole. And for employees, these workshops offer education about the link between nutrition and mental health, equip them with actionable strategies to improve their diets, and provide motivation through group accountability. Therefore, with better nutrition, employees will likely experience reduced stress, anxiety, and depression, higher energy levels, improved sleep quality, and enhanced focus and productivity. For an organisation, nutrition workshops can lead to a healthier, happier workforce that feels cared for and this is linked to higher employee retention and stronger engagement. A culture that prioritises wellbeing can also attract top talent. So, supporting employees through nutrition transforms them into their best selves, allowing them to do their best work. The research shows wellness initiatives like this provide a major competitive advantage.

Call to Action: Free Consultation for Your Company

The time to take action is now. Don't wait - empower your employees and transform your workplace culture today. We invite you to schedule a free 30-minute consultation with one of our team members to learn more about bringing our interactive nutrition workshops to your office. During the consultation, we'll discuss: - Your workplace wellbeing goals and top priorities - How nutrition can support mental health in your workplace - The details of our workshops and how they can be customised for your employees - Pricing and scheduling options that fit your budget You'll come away with a clear understanding of what we offer and how it can make a measurable impact on morale, productivity, and happiness in your organisation. We look forward to working together to positively transform your workplace culture through the power of nutrition! Get in touch with us here.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is intended for general knowledge and educational purposes only. It should not be construed as professional health, legal, or business advice. Readers should always consult with appropriate health professionals, human resource experts, or legal advisors for specific concerns related to mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information at the time of publication, Wellbeing In Your Office cannot be held responsible for any subsequent changes, updates, or revisions of the aforementioned content. Read the full article