Scientists have detected a simple sugar found in raspberries within the gas and dust at the center of the Milky Way. It’s the first time a sugar molecule has been identified in interstellar media, having previously been found in our solar system on asteroids. Called erythrulose, it’s found in raspberries and suntan lotion, but the […] The post Would You Like Sugar With Your Stars? Sugar Detected in Interstellar Space for the First Time appeared first on Good News Network.

A beloved local fish staple that was illegal to harvest as recently as 2012 has seen an incredible recovery in Maine’s rivers following the removal of several large dams. Particularly on the Penobscot River, the removal of 2 dams has resulted in the “premier success story of our time,” for Maine’s alewife fish, which had […] The post Maine Counts Over 20 Million River Herring During Annual Run, the Highest in Decades appeared first on Good News Network.

This article was originally published by Stateline. About a dozen states offer “medically tailored meals” to people with conditions such as diabetes and heart disease who get their insurance through Medicaid. Such programs significantly improve the health of the people in them, according to a new study. Medically tailored meals are fully prepared, home-delivered meals that are customized by a registered dietitian nutritionist for people with diet-linked conditions like diabetes, heart failure or chronic kidney disease. They’re part of a broader category of “food is medicine” interventions that use free, healthy food to improve people’s health. The “food as medicine” movement has picked up steam in recent years, propelled by some in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement who share the philosophy of using nutrition to help prevent and manage chronic diseases. Weighed down by negative news? Our smart, bright newsletters deliver the uplift you’ve been looking for. Or click here to choose exactly which ones you want [contact-form-7] Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has championed “food as medicine” and praised the potential of such programs to improve health and lower health care costs. However, Kennedy attracted criticism last year after praising one company that makes such meals for Medicaid and Medicare enrollees. The Associated Press reviewed the company’s offerings, finding the menu included the type of ultra processed foods high in sodium and sugar that Kennedy has often criticized. Massachusetts was the first state to broadly offer medically tailored meals to Medicaid recipients with diet-related diseases, so researchers with Tufts University, the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School and other groups focused their research on that state. They found that enrollees in Massachusetts Medicaid who received medically tailored meals had 31 percent fewer hospitalizations and 20 percent fewer emergency department visits. Per-person health costs declined by an average of $3,433 while participants were in the program, which offset nearly all of the program’s cost to taxpayers. “Our results show that food really is medicine, with major clinical and policy implications for health insurance coverage of medically tailored meals to impact diet-related diseases and health care costs,” said the report’s senior author Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and director of Tufts University’s Food is Medicine Institute, in a June statement announcing the findings. Medicaid, the federal-state public health insurance for people with low incomes, has increasingly given states flexibility to launch medical meal programs. Poor diet is a leading cause of death, disability and the use of emergency health services, researchers noted. States offering medically tailored meals include California, Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington. Wait, you're not a member yet? Join the Reasons to be Cheerful community by supporting our nonprofit publication and giving what you can. Join Cancel anytime Researchers in the Massachusetts study found that the program not only improved health outcomes, but also yielded significant cost savings for the state’s Medicaid program, even when accounting for the cost of the meals, for people with certain conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and depression. While the research was limited to one state with meals delivered by one established nonprofit provider, the study’s authors were hopeful the findings could help guide other states considering similar programs. “It’s rare to find anything in medicine that both improves health and saves money,” Mozaffarian said in June. “It should be a no-brainer to extend similar programs to patients in other states and covered by other health insurance programs, such as Medicare and employer-based insurance.” Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. The post ‘Food Really Is Medicine’ appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Think about the last time you ate lunch without also doing something else. Not at your desk, not in the car, not scrolling. Just sitting with food and letting it be the thing. For a lot of Americans, it’s hard to remember. For the French, it’s just lunch. Jane Leverich, a registered dietitian, first visited France in her early twenties and felt something she couldn’t name yet. The way people ate there felt different: unhurried, free of the low-level guilt that shadows so many American meals. When she returned years later as a dietitian, it clicked. “The ease, the balance, the unapologetic joy around meals, it all made sense. What I once thought was simply French charm was a way of eating that proves good nutrition and good food don’t have to live in separate universes.” She breaks that approach into five principles. The 5 principles of French food culture Plaisir: pleasure is the point Plaisir, pleasure, is where French food culture starts. Food is a source of joy, not something to monitor or earn. “In France, food isn’t just fuel, it’s a source of joy. When we give ourselves permission to enjoy food, we end up feeling more satisfied and less likely to overdo it later,” Leverich says. If you’ve eaten an entire sleeve of crackers because you told yourself you weren’t having dessert, you already understand why this matters. Food that feels forbidden becomes food you can’t stop thinking about. The French don’t moralize a baguette or negotiate with a piece of cheese. They eat it and move on. Équilibre: balance over restriction Équilibre is less a strategy than a mindset shift. “Health isn’t found in eliminating foods or chasing perfection,” Leverich says. “It’s found in enjoying meals that nourish your body, satisfy your cravings and fit seamlessly into your life.” The French approach isn’t about eating perfectly. It’s about not eating frantically. No counting, no swinging between whatever is trending. Just meals that work. Qualité: quality over quantity The French tend to eat less but pay more attention to what’s in front of them: fresh, seasonal, thoughtfully prepared. “Fresh, seasonal, thoughtfully prepared ingredients, paired with intention and enjoyment, create a sustainable approach to nutrition,” Leverich says. She calls this qualité. When food is genuinely good, you don’t need as much of it. Paying attention to what you’re tasting turns out to be its own kind of portion control. Rituel: meals as ritual Rituel is the idea that eating deserves your full attention. That runs directly against most American eating habits: the sad desk lunch, the car snack, the dinner you eat while watching something else. The French would consider all of those a missed opportunity. “By slowing down, savoring each bite and creating small intentional habits around meals, you nourish both your body and your well-being,” Leverich says. You don’t need a two-hour lunch for this. Twenty minutes at a table with your phone face down is somewhere to start. Joie de Vivre: joy as nourishment Joie de vivre is the last principle and maybe the most French of all: delight is part of eating, not a bonus. “Nourishment isn’t just about health,” Leverich says. “It’s about enjoyment, celebration and the small pleasures that make life feel full.” That might mean sharing a favorite dish with someone, or finishing a cup of coffee before it goes cold because you sat with it long enough. The French don’t separate food pleasure from food health. For them, they’ve always been the same thing. Leverich’s summary of the whole philosophy is one sentence: “They trust good ingredients, eat them in sensible portions and move on with their day. Not perfect, but refreshingly sane.”     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post 5 French principles for eating that Americans would do well to borrow first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Nearly one billion people across Africa cook over charcoal or firewood every day. $3.1 billion in commitments is what it’s going to take to change that, and the number keeps climbing. African countries secured $900 million in new financial commitments to expand access to clean cooking technologies, the International Energy Agency announced last Thursday. The funding builds on the $2.2 billion mobilized at the inaugural Africa Clean Cooking Summit in Paris in 2024, bringing total pledges to more than $3.1 billion. 850,000 deaths a year Charcoal and firewood still fuel most African kitchens. In many cases, it’s the only option available. Indoor air pollution from those fuels contributes to an estimated 850,000 premature deaths each year, according to the IEA. Women and children take the worst of it, spending the most hours near the fire. “Access to clean cooking is one of the most impactful yet overlooked challenges of our time,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “It directly affects the lives of billions of people, particularly women and children.” Clean cooking technologies, including ethanol, biogas, and electric stoves, cut that pollution at the source. Not downstream. In the kitchen. The money moving The commitments were announced during a virtual meeting convened by the IEA and Kenya. Kenyan President William Ruto, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, African Union Infrastructure and Energy Commissioner Lerato Mataboge, and IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol all participated. Birol reported that $740 million, roughly one-third of what was pledged in Paris, has already been deployed across 22 countries. Pledges that sit on paper don’t keep kitchens clean. This money is moving. Ruto was direct about what’s still missing. “Ambition alone is not enough,” he said. “It must be backed by investment.” What are the next steps? The next Africa Clean Cooking Summit is expected later this year. Reaching everyone who needs access will cost far more than $3.1 billion. But money is moving faster than it was two years ago, and the number of countries with something concrete to point to keeps growing.     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post Africa secures $900 million in new clean cooking commitments first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.