3/22/24: Plant-based meat, coral reef soundtrack, and a new star creature

Planet Health

🌳 POCKET FOREST: Yesterday was International Day of Forests! Cooling shade and plant biodiversity is coming to New York City next month. Roosevelt Island's first "pocket-forest," a native species collection of fast-growing trees and shrubs, will be planted by volunteers in an unused garden space leased by the city. The 2.7k square-foot tiny forest "will bring both the beauty of increased biodiversity and tangible benefits to residents navigating increasingly extreme weather."

 🐠 THE SOUND OF CORAL: Are our oceans listening? Click to learn how underwater audio playback of the sounds of healthy and thriving coral reefs is helping to restore bleached, unwell, and impacted reefs. “What we’re showing is that you can actively induce coral settlement by playing sounds,” says researcher Nadège Aoki. Coral reefs support more than 25% of marine life on Earth, and a separate study this week revealed that restored coral reefs "can grow at the same speed as healthy coral reefs just four years after coral transplantation."

 🌽 SWEET PLASTIC: A new method for creating polyamides— strong and durable plastics— was published in Nature Sustainability this week. The game-changing process converts agricultural waste or biomass (such as wood or corn cobs) and achieves a high-quality polyamide sugar-core fiber, with an impressive atom efficiency of 97%, "meaning almost all the starting material is used in the final product, which drastically reduces waste."

Human Health

🌱 PLANT-BASED MEAT: The rapidly expanding global presence of plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs) is becoming more popular, but are they healthy? A new study says the "nutrient profile of meat involves extensive processing," and PBMAs should be considered an "ultra-processed" food. PBMAs have less protein, iron, and vitamin B12, are lower in protein quality, and typically contain higher amounts of sodium, according to study highlights. With any dietary preference, it’s best to focus on whole, unprocessed foods. PBMAs do not currently have long-term evidence of health impact.

 😁 HAPPINESS REPORT: The World Happiness Report was released on Wednesday, ranking the happiest countries in the world. Nordic countries rank highest, with Finland at number one. The United States ranks 23rd, the first time it has fallen out of the top 20. The report breaks down happiness by age group, finding young people in the US are the least happy. See the full order of happiest countries HERE. (Great timing for the Hacking Happiness series premiering in 3 days with world experts giving you practical tools for lasting fulfillment. Watch it HERE.)

 🍎 APPLE CIDER VINEGAR: We already know that apple cider vinegar (ACV) has been widely used for probiotic support, skin and hair regimens, and as part of a conscious kitchen, but is it an effective weight management tool? Overweight participants in a recent trial consumed 5, 10, or 15mL of ACV daily for 12 weeks, and their weight, body mass index, waist/hip circumferences, and blood glucose levels were measured with surprisingly great results. Learn more about the benefits of the ACV study here.

Creature Feature

• 🐙 MYSTERY CREATURE: Diving deep into New Zealand's Bounty Trough in February, scientists unveiled 100 potentially new deep-sea species, including a variety of new fish, squid, mollusks, and coral, plus a mysterious starlike entity eluding classification— not quite an anemone or a sea star. Only 240k of the estimated 2.2M marine species on Earth have been described by science, which emphasizes the need for continued exploration and identification.

Nutrition 101

•  🌿 IRON: Foods rich in iron are essential to help the body transport oxygen in the bloodstream, and to create proteins and enzymes. Without enough iron, the body can't produce enough hemoglobin, and symptoms of anemia (fatigue, dizziness, cold hands and feet, difficulty concentrating) can occur especially in pregnant women, menstruating women, and those who follow a vegan or vegetarian diet. Lentils, spinach, beef, and oysters are great sources of iron. Learn more about foods to supplement iron here.

   

Last poll’s results

Do you try to avoid carrageenan?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Yes, I steer clear! (54%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️ No, haven't been aware of a reason to avoid (46%)