【推荐1】“You are what you eat” is one of the most common cliches in dieting and health, entering wide use with the publication of Victor Lindlahr’ s book in 1942. The phrase narrowly assumes that our health is only determined by dieting, something that advocates of popular diets also want us to believe. The reality, however, is that our health and longevity are determined by much more than just diet. Exercising, avoiding risky behaviors, and staying productive can offset a less-than-perfect diet.

“What it suggests is that our health is rigidly determined by the specific foods and nutrients we put in our bodies. It says that if two people put the same foods in their bodies, they will have the same level of health,” sports nutritionist Matt Fitzgerald wrote in his 2014 book Diet Cults, in which he criticized many popular diet trends for being unscientific and ultimately ineffective.

Science has revealed a more detailed truth, Fitzgerald says.“We are what our bodies do with what we eat,” he clarified. The two great pillars of a healthy body are diet and exercise, and both affect physical functioning. “You are what you eat” ignores the fact that what we do with our bodies may be just as important as what we put in them. Fitzgerald cautions that one cannot simply eat whatever one wants. Candy for every meal will not provide the nutrients that the body needs. But one also doesn’t have to eat a perfect diet all the time to maximize health and longevity.

As the century-long Longevity Project, a study which followed long-lived individuals, has shown, there are numerous aspects of a person’s life equally or more important than diet that determine health and lifespan. Simply being ambitious, productive, and engaged while avoiding destructive behaviors like smoking, drinking to excess,abusing drugs, or driving too fast prolongs life and keeps us in good shape.

So yes, we are much, much more than what we eat.

【推荐3】There are hundreds of bacterial(细菌的)species in our stomach. Bacterial diversity is a good thing, a general contributor to and marker of good health. But what does a healthy stomach look like? Studies indicate that the composition varies by many factors.

One of the most important, it turns out, is who you currently live with. Researchers have come to the conclusion: Diet and heritability(遗传力) are known to affect the microbiome(微生物组), but social relationships shape it most—especially when it comes to marriage. The Dutch Project, which studied microbes in 8, 208 individuals belonging to three generations, finds that the heritability of microbes is only 1. 9 percent. They noticed much greater similarity among the unrelated individuals sharing a household than among relatives who do not share households, including twins whose living situations differ in adulthood.

The researchers found that nearly 50 percent of microbial types were significantly affected by cohabitation. In general, the microbiomes of all types of cohabitors (including parents and children) were more similar than those of participants living separately no matter their relatedness. Married couples who report having a close, loving relationship have the most similarity. Evidence of microbial sharing, especially of rare species, shows exchanges through interactions. And that puts highlight on acts of close relationship—including kissing. Scientists have known for decades that social relationships, especially marriage, powerfully affect health. Not only are the microbiomes of cohabiting couples more similar to each other; they also are more similarly diverse. There is a greater richness of species than in unmarried, noncohabiting individuals.

Despite the dominating influence of a close, cohabiting relationship, the microbiome can be different in diet, especially one rich in plant fiber. It can also be influenced by behavior, such as farming and gardening and exercise. Moreover, it’s adaptable to environment—green space and pollutants around you. Living in a rural environment brings increases in bacteria linked to health, and decreases in bacteria that are harmful. Living with pets also has a positive effect on the microbiome, while exposure to air pollution, especially car exhaust, and passive exposure to cigarette smoke have negative effects.

It can also be affected by direct addition of specific species of bacteria, delivered in consumable probiotics(口服益生菌). There are probiotics now marketed for digestive health, others aimed at immune health, and still others for boosting mood. Now that it’s clear that social relations play the largest role in the makeup of the microbiome, can probiotics for singles be far behind?

【推荐1】Most of the world’s crops depend on honeybees and wild bees for pollination (授粉), so decline in both managed and wild bee populations raises concerns about food security, the study notes in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological sciences.

“We found that many crops are pollination-limited, meaning crop production would be higher if crop flowers received more pollination. We also found that honeybees and wild bees provided similar amounts of pollination in general,” said senior author Rachael Winfree, a professor at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. “Managing habitat for native bee species and stocking more honeybees would raise pollination levels and could increase crop production.

Pollination by wild and managed insects is important for most crops, including those providing basic micronutrients, and is important for food security, the study notes. In the US, the production of crops that depend on pollinators generates more than $50 billion a year. According to recent evidence, European honeybees and some native wild bee spices are in decline.

At 131 farms across the United States and in British Columbia, Canada, scientists collected data on insect pollination of crop of flowers and yields (产量) for apples, highbush blueberries, sweet cherries, tart cherries, almonds, watermelon and pumpkin. Of those, apples, sweet cherries, tart cherries and blueberries showed evidence of being limited by pollination, showing that yields are currently lower than they would be with full pollination. Wild bees and honeybees provided similar amounts of pollination for most crops.

The annual production value of wild pollinations for all seven crops was an estimated $1.5 billion — plus in the US. The value of wild bee pollination for all pollinator-dependent crops would be much greater.

“Our findings showed that the decline of pollinators could translate directly into decreased yields for most of the crops studied,” the study says. The findings suggest that adopting practices that protect wild bees, such as increasing wildflowers and using managed pollinators other than honeybees, is likely to raise yields. Increasing investment in honeybee colonies (群落) is another possible choice.

【推荐3】Has your mom or dad ever posted a photo of you on social media that you don’t want anyone outside your family to see? In an age when people regularly share personal information on websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, many parents post photos of their children on a regular basis. On average, a parent will post almost 1,000 photos of a child online before the children turns 5, according to a survey.

Parents often post photos on social media because they want to share their children’s milestones and special moments with friends and family. Some moms and dads do it as a way to connect with other parents. They may be seeking health tips or other parenting advice. Most parents don’t ask their children for permission before posting photos of them. They feel it is not necessary to consult the children first because the benefits outweigh (比……更重要) any possible risks.

Other parents and child experts believe that children older than age 6 should be consulted. They say that the photos can stay online for many years and that children should have some control over their online presence. Devorah Heitner is an author who runs workshops about children and digital world. She believes that parents should get their children’s consent before posting their photos. “It teaches your child that his or her image is his or her own.” she said. “It helps their child recognize that sharing is a choice and that some things are private.”

What do you think? Should parents get their children’s permission before posting photos?

【推荐1】The lives of sea turtles begin on a beach when hatchlings crawl up out of their sandy nests and try to get to the sea as fast as they can. Those that aren’t eaten by killers on their way to the water swim out into the ocean until they find somewhere they can hide, eat and grow.

Ten to fifty years later, depending on the species, the sea turtles mate in shallow waters. Then the females return to the same beach where they were born to lay their eggs, and the cycle begins again.

Turtles that successfully avoid the numerous threats to their existence can live up to 100 years. But predators, fishing nets and garbage are major problems, and only one out of every 1,000 hatchlings will reach adulthood. There are seven sea turtle species, and six of them are either threatened, endangered or critically endangered. Many organizations around the world are working hard to ensure that sea turtles will not disappear from our oceans.

【推荐3】For an industry that thrives (蓬勃发展) on creativity, fashion has been slow to introduce new ideas to reduce its distinctly uncool environmental footprint.

On all three fronts in the planetary crisis — climate change, nature loss and waste — manufacturers and retailers (零售商) of clothing could, and must, do better. Their carbon emissions are huge, thirst for raw materials is unsustainable (不可持续的) and waste management systems are rubbish. As just one example, every year we send 350,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill in the UK.

There are growing pockets of green creativity in the industry, but for the most part high-street brands seem to double down on the “fast fashion” business model.

We as consumers must also shoulder a large part of the blame, gladly stuffing our cupboards with cheap, bad and unsustainably produced clothes to be worn a few times and then thrown away. Most people on Earth participate in this wasteful cycle, helping to make clothing one of the most environmentally destructive industries.

Unlike some other damaging consumer choices, such as buying animal products, it isn’t really possible to simply choose out of clothes shopping. But of course there are ways of consuming that are less harmful. If patterns of demand change, such as changing to brands that run buy-back schemes for unwanted clothing, the industry will respond. More powerfully, we can simply choose to wear our clothes for longer. Keeping an article of clothing for an extra year can cut its environmental footprint by 30 per cent.

That, of course, requires a change in our mindsets. But such things can and do happen. A few years ago, plant-based diets were the choice of the unconventional few. Now they are commonplace.

We need the same revolution to happen when it comes to clothing choices. Here’s a make-do-and-mend mindset becoming mainstream — and even fashionable.