【推荐1】We’ve all been there. It has been a long day, there is nothing in the fridge, cooking seems arduous and the solution is obvious: takeaway. It’s easy for takeaways to become a regular habit. At some point, you have to wonder: even if you don’t look different in the mirror, is it doing you any harm?

There is some evidence that too many takeaways is linked to weight gain, but the relationship isn’t clear. A 2022 study found a connection between eating takeaway-style food in the 24 hours before taking the survey and increased BMI in participants, although the researchers were careful to point out that they didn’t know whether frequently eating takeaways made people overweight, or whether overweight people frequently eat takeaways. There is, however, evidence that simply living near(or walking past)a takeaway outlet or two can have an impact on body weight, with exposure to outlets near the workplace, most likely to tempt people.

But why? Well, takeaway food tends to be high in fat and salt - ingredients that are relatively cheap and taste good, making you more likely to reorder. There is also some evidence that junk food can be addictive, as the combination of salt, fat and sugar makes it hard to stop eating.

There is also the nutritional quality of the ingredients themselves. “Most takeaways contain highly processed ingredients and additives, nutrient-poor carbohydrates and plenty of deep-fried foods cooked in oil repeatedly heated to high temperatures, says Pearson.

So, what is the message? If you must place that order, consider the options:

The worst offenders on any menu are likely to be fried foods, or anything covered in high-sugar sauces. If you order Chinese food, go for steamed dumplings, grilled fish or soup. If you are going for Indian food, go heavy on the side dishes, like bean and potato curries, which are often more flavourful and healthy.

Finally, try to cut your consumption: consider switching your daily routes, hide the menus, and delete the apps on your phone.

【推荐2】Scenes of comic characters swelling (肿) up after eating peanuts in Western TV shows have long been puzzling for many Chinese viewers, as few people in China meet those who have a severe peanut allergy (过滤反应).

Their confusion can be explained by the results of a new Chinese study. It found that Chinese adults and children are more likely to be allergic to seafood and less likely to be allergic to peanuts, compared to people in Europe and the US. The difference means that cultural, dietary (饮食的) and environmental factors can play an important role in food allergy patterns. The study was published in late August in China CDC Weekly, which was established by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

In another recently published study in China CDC Weekly researchers found that the prevalence (流行) of food allergies in the population was 8 percent from 2009 to 2018, up from 5 percent from 1999 to 2008. It thus indicated that the prevalence of food allergies in China is on the rise.

Luo Xiaoqun, a doctor at Fudan University’s Huashan Hospital, said during an interview with media outlet YXJ.org.cn that the increasing rate of food allergies is a phenomenon observed worldwide, driven by changes in lifestyles and eating habits, as well as growing health awareness and diagnostic (诊断) ability.   

For consumers, reading allergen labels (过敏标签) on food packages is an easy way to protect themselves from allergy triggers (诱因).

However, food allergen labeling in China currently is optional and labeling largely follows an international standard that includes eight major food types such as milk, eggs, and fish and shellfish, which may not be suitable for Chinese consumers. “China has made improvements in setting up food labeling standards in recent years, and we hope our findings can accelerate (加速) the process of making such labeling compulsory in the near future,” Chen Hongbing, one of the researchers at Nanchang University, told China Daily.

【推荐3】How to Stop Binge Eating (饮食无度)

When it comes to trying to lose weight, stopping binge eating can be very difficult. Maybe you believe that to lose weight, one must go on a diet. Usually, you eat in a certain way until you reach your weight goals.    1    Here are some ways to overcome this.

    2    Eating healthily doesn’t mean you have to give up food. You can even eat the “bad” foods but you have to consume them in moderation (适中). The good news is that once you start to eat healthily and start cutting sugar out of your diet, you will start losing the craving for sweets.    3    

Get support. Sometimes it's hard to stop if you are doing this all alone. So what you can do is to ask some friends or family members to help remind you.    4    So ask people around you to remind you of your fitness goals when they catch you binging eating.

Limit your access to food.    5    Throw out all of the bad food and replace them with the good stuff. By doing this, you will hopefully be able to stop over eating due to the fact that it will be too much of a problem to actually go to the store and buy junk food.

These tips are just a few things you can do. The important thing to remember is that you need to have the right mindset going into this thing.

【推荐3】When the world responded to the COVID-19 epidemic with broad lockdown orders, home delivery services lacked the manpower to keep up with the explosion in demand. Stores and companies went on doing the hiring; in some areas, it was very hard to get goods delivered.

You know what might have made things a bit easier? Drones. It has taken years for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to allow the use of unmanned aerial devices for commercial delivery. Over the course of a decade, we've gone from a complete ban to slow, heavily regulated, and restricted initial testing.

At the end of August 2020, the FAA finally gave Amazon approval for its Prime Air drone delivery fleet. It did that by classifying Amazon as an "air carrier" and making it obey some relatively recent regulations intended to facilitate drone deliveries.

The FAA's rules initially required that private drones remain in sight of the operator at all times. That simply won't work for delivery services. So in 2019, the agency introduced a special certification process that would allow approved pilots to operate drones across much longer distances.

Amazon will now be able to join Google in drone deliveries. The company revealed that its fleet can carry packages weighing up to 5 pounds and deliver them within a 15-mile range in less than 30 minutes. The FAA also recently granted the company Zipline, a temporary waiver allowing it to deliver medical supplies in North Carolina. Zipline had been operating for some time in Africa. But the United States continues to fall behind both developed and developing nations in giving drone companies the freedom to test their services.

While Amazon still faces several technical problems and strict regulations, it's great that the government is giving it this new room to move. Too bad it took the feds this long to allow it, especially as the pandemic made drone deliveries not just an innovation, but something we could have used yesterday.

【推荐1】Florida wildlife officials say manatees (海牛) facing starvation are benefitting from a program that feeds them on tons of donated lettuce (生菜). The program aims to save as many of the large animals as possible as water pollution has led to shortages of their favorite food, seagrass.

The effort has provided the manatees with more than 25 tons of lettuce. The feedings usually draw about 300 to 350 manatees per day. Sometimes, there are as many as 800 manatees. Normally, wildlife experts advise against people feeding wild animals. This is because it can lead the animals to make an unhealthy connection between humans and food. It is a crime in Florida for a person to feed manatees on their own, even though officials say many people want to do so. Experts believe the best way people can help is to donate money through an official institution (机构).

In 2021, 1101 manatee deaths were reported, largely from starvation. The normal five-year average is about 625 deaths. State wildlife officials say that so far this year, 164 manatee deaths have been recorded. Tom Reinert, the local director of state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said the feeding program has helped to reduce the rising death rates. Officials estimate there are about 8,800 manatees in Florida waters. That is a big improvement from about 2,000 that existed in the 1990s. The increased numbers were responsible for manatees being removed from the endangered species list.

The most important element for supporting the remaining population will be restoring seagrass beds. So far, Florida has set aside $8 million to deal with that problem. “You can’t just go out and plant a bunch of seagrass,” Reinert said. But he added, “Projects are getting started and are in the planning stages.”

【推荐3】Bob and Sue Harvey spent nine years as resident fellows in a dormitory at Sanford and in their book Virtual Reality and The College Freshman, they write “The Freshman often faces an identity problem during the first semester.” College is a more pressured environment than it used to be, in part because the academic gap between high school and college has increased. Many college freshmen have never had to make independent decisions about sex, drugs and alcohol. Most don’t know how to manage their time or money. They often feel lonely and overwhelmed, resulting in anxiety and depression.

Nancy Corbin, director of clinical service for student-counseling (咨询) services at Iowa State University, says her office is seeing a significant increase in requests for counseling from freshmen who are having trouble making the adjustment to college life. She says older teenagers increasingly lack the skills to deal with personal problems that aren’t easily defined or fixed. And they get homesick but have a hard time admitting it.

Parents and high schools can make things easier on freshmen by preparing them differently. For example, by teaching them to budget their hours and dollars. The Harveys think high schools should offer a college-life course. “Parents need to focus more on relationship and personal issues and less on how many sheets and towels to take,” they say. Many homesick freshmen   think they’ll be regarded as failures if they come home before Thanksgiving. So parents can help by letting them know they’re welcome to return if they feel the need. In the meantime, parents have to find new ways to keep in touch with their college kids. One of the best ways is e-mail. It’s less unpleasant and less expensive than constant phone calls and is more likely to be answered than a handwritten letter.