Masks compulsory in Kerala; Rs 10,000 fine for violation
Scientists urge WHO to acknowledge virus can spread in air; In a statement on Monday, the U.N. health agency said it was aware of the article and was reviewing it with technical experts.
Scientists urge WHO to acknowledge virus can spread in air; In a statement on Monday, the U.N. health agency said it was aware of the article and was reviewing it with technical experts.
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The Fourth of July Weekend Threw America’s Coronavirus Failures Into Stark Relief
If you’re American, you can be forgiven if you didn’t particularly feel like celebrating your country during this year’s Fourth of July holiday. If you’re not, your feelings toward the U.S., whether pity or schadenfreude, are understandable.
The majority of the other early epicenters of the pandemic have largely figured this out, their curves crashing downwards and a sense of optimism returning and civic pride growing. But the U.S., despite being perhaps the nation best prepared to handle a pandemic of this scale and scope, has epically foundered. On July 2, the U.S. tallied over 50,000 new daily cases for the first time. That number was shortly passed the following day, when 54,461 cases were recorded. Whatever gains had been made in May and June have been wiped out, and then some.
The canonical telling of this tale of defeat won’t be told until all is said and done, but there’s no doubt that some of the blame can be placed on the politicization of the pandemic. Just consider the events of this Fourth of July holiday. Overall, it was a subdued Independence Day celebration; the New York Times estimated that some 80% of holiday fireworks displays were canceled this year, as officials deemed the public gatherings extraneous and potentially dangerous in the midst of a pandemic.
President Donald Trump, however, organized not one but three public events over the weekend: the first a fireworks display and Air Force One flyover at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota on July 3, the second at the White House South Lawn on July 4, and the third a fireworks and air show at the National Mall later that evening. Reports in Voice of America and the Times, respectively, note that most of the crowds at the Mt. Rushmore and South Lawn events were maskless and made little to no effort to socially distance. Trump himself continues not to wear a mask in public, despite calls coming from even inside his own political party to do so.
At the South Dakota event—on the same day the U.S. had its worst day yet in terms of new cases—Trump mentioned the worsening pandemic just a single time, to thank “our wonderful veterans, law enforcement, first responders, and the doctors, nurses, and scientists working tirelessly to kill the virus.” Instead, he spent most of the speech stoking divisiveness, denigrating and falsely characterizing the many Americans who have been calling for a reconsideration of how slaveholding politicians, businessmen, and, especially, the leaders of Confederacy are portrayed in public monuments, school curricula and more. “Make no mistake: this left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution,” he said.
At the South Lawn event Trump spent more time on the pandemic, but continued to present misleading claims about the virus and the U.S. response. The most egregious and most confounding was when he stated without evidence that 99% of cases in the U.S. are “totally harmless.” While it is true that many who are infected do not show symptoms, based on current numbers, 4.57% of American COVID-19 patients have died, and that doesn’t take into account the many more who have had symptoms ranging from flu-like to extremely serious and requiring hospitalization.
These false minimalizations of the impact of the virus have been the lingua franca of the Trump Administration since day one. That’s because his primary concern is and has always been the economy, as gauged by traditional metrics like the stock market and gross national product; COVID-19 was from the start a clear threat to the health of the U.S. economy, and has proven to be even worse than most expected on that front. By pushing the false narratives that the virus isn’t dangerous, that masks don’t help, and that cases are only going up because testing is going up, Trump emboldened local Republican leaders to reopen their economies too soon, and now the chickens have come home to roost.
And yet, Trump still does not seem to understand—or is willfully ignoring—the seriousness of those grisly outcomes. However, it may be that Americans are fed up with the ongoing—and embarrassing—failures to contain COVID-19. A Pew Research Center poll published June 30 found that 71% of Americans surveyed are angry about the state of the country these days, and a full 87% said they are now dissatisfied with “the way things are going in the country.” The most shocking part of this is that the share of Republicans who feel this way has surged from 45% in April to 81% in June, when the survey was taken.
Of course, this doesn’t translate into 87% of Americans agreeing to abide by the guidelines public health experts suggest are needed to get the U.S. back on track in containing the pandemic, but perhaps it suggests more are willing to listen than before, even if it means overcoming the treacherous political division that brought us here in the first place.
Trivitron Healthcare appoints Rajesh Patel as CEO of India IVD biz
Is Avocado Oil Good for You? Benefits for Hair, Skin, Cooking, and More
Avocados and avocado oil had a slow road to popularity, starting with a rebranding of sorts. There’s a bit of an internet debate around the origin of the word avocado. Some reports say that it came from the word ahuacatl, which is Aztec slang for testicle. As the fruit became more popular, that association wasn’t great for marketing, so farmers changed the name to “avocado” and even petitioned dictionary publishers to update the entry. 1 Good move on their part, because “avocado toast” sounds much more appetizing than … the other thing.
Is Avocado Oil Good For You?
Back in the ‘80s when low-fat diets were lauded as the sure path to losing weight, people shunned avocados because of their fat content. About a decade and a half later when word got out that different fats do different things in the body, avocados were regarded as a welcome addition again because of their monounsaturated fat content. With the growth of the Primal and keto movements, people now embrace these fats, and avocados are regarded as a beneficial food that fits into a healthy lifestyle.
Stay on track no matter where you are! Instantly download your Primal and Keto Guide to Eating Out
Avocado Oil Benefits for Skin
With naturally-occurring nutrients and a range of fatty acids, it’s no wonder that the skin loves avocado oil. As demand for natural products rises, avocado oil becomes a more and more common ingredient in skincare products from moisturizing creams to facial oils and treatments.
There’s not a tremendous amount of research on avocado oil benefits for skin, but a few studies show its potential as a worthy skin ingredient:
- Rats that were fed avocado oil for a period of time showed increased collagen in skin. 2
- A skin cream containing avocado oil combined with a few other oils showed antimicrobial effects, specifically against Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Malassezia pachydermatis 3
- Avocado oil seemed to increase increased collagen production and reduced inflammation during wound healing 4
- Avocado oil is being explored as a treatment for psoriasis 5
If you would like to experiment, try it as a base in a DIY facial. Fill a small bottle with three tablespoons of avocado oil and one tablespoon of a lightweight oil, like MCT oil. Add one drop of essential oil like frankincense or rose. Shake to combine, and apply one drop at a time to your skin. (Always patch test new products before using them all over.)
Avocado Oil Nutrition
One tablespoon of Primal Kitchen® Avocado Oil contains 120 calories and 14g fat. It is not a significant source of sodium, carbohydrates, or protein.
Fatty Acid Composition of Avocado Oil
One of the main avocado oil benefits is its fatty acid composition. Most brands of pure avocado oil has approximately:
- 11% saturated fat
- 13% polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)
- Over 70% monounsaturated fat (MUFA)
Saturated and monounsaturated fats are stable fats that your body can use; polyunsaturated fats tend to oxidize easily.6
Avocado Oil vs Olive Oil
Monounsaturated fat
Avocado oil and olive oil are both high in oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat, which is the compound that research has shown may help reduce blood pressure, 7 8 may benefit the immune system,9 and is potentially blood-lipid friendly. 10
Antioxidant Content
Both avocado oil and olive oil contain a range of antioxidants. High-quality, extra-virgin avocado oil contains lutein,11 a carotenoid that may benefit eye and skin health.12 Olive oil contains vitamin E, beta carotene, lutein, and others that have a range of benefits. 13 The benefits of lutein depend on how much lutein is actually in the avocado oil, which varies depending on lots of factors – the quality of the avocado, processing methods, etc.
Smoke Point
Both olive oil and avocado oil make incredible salad and finishing oils when used straight from the bottle. The difference comes in once you heat the oils. Avocado oil begins to burn just over 500 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas extra virgin olive oil can only withstand temperatures just over 400 degrees Fahrenheit. As long as you use both oils appropriately, you can reap the benefits of either.
Avocado Oil: Regular or Extra Virgin?
There are a few key differences between avocado and extra virgin avocado oil.
Taste
Avocado oil has a neutral taste. Extra virgin avocado oil tastes rich, buttery, and can have earthy or mushroom-like undertones.
Smoke Point
Avocado and extra virgin avocado oil both have similarly high smoke points, though avocado oil’s smoke point is slightly higher than its extra virgin counterpart. Both work well for cooking, baking, frying, grilling, and more.
Uses
Since avocado oil has a neutral taste, it works well in most recipes as a cooking oil. Extra virgin avocado oil works for cooking, but its rich flavor is best showcased as a finishing oil or alongside a few simple ingredients for a quick-toss salad dressing.
Avocado oil uses
Cooking
You can use avocado oil in place of any neutral-tasting culinary oil. Cooking applications include:
- Sautéeing
- Pan-frying
- Stir-frying
- Baking
- Roasting
- Searing
- Greasing pans before baking and grill grates before grilling
You can also use avocado oil uncooked, for example in homemade salad dressings or drizzled as a finishing oil. The rich, buttery flavor of extra virgin avocado oil suits these applications well.
Avocado Oil Smoke Point
As research emerged about the dangers of oxidized oils, people started to pay attention to which oils could be heated, and how hot they could get without degrading. A lot of healthy fats are delicate and oxidize quickly. Some oils should not be heated at all.
Avocado oil is unique in that it contains predominantly monounsaturated fats that can be heated over 500 degrees Fahrenheit. That makes it an ideal oil for the stovetop, as frying and sautéeing can exceed the smoke points of a lot of other oils.
Frying
Because avocado oil can be heated to such a high temperature without damage, it makes a fantastic frying oil. As long as the temperature doesn’t exceed 520 degrees, you’re good to go.
Avocado Oil for Hair
Some people use avocado oil as they would any other hair oil or pomade, to combat frizz and tame flyaways, creating smoother, more manageable hair. Everyone’s hair is different, so it’s best to give it a try when you have time to wash it out and restyle if it doesn’t work with your hair type.
Avocados naturally contain biotin. Since biotin deficiency is associated with hair thinning, people have done avocado oil-based scalp treatments to help stimulate hair growth. This hasn’t been researched, but try it if you want to, and monitor your hair for changes. Others combine it with other ingredients, such as coconut oil or shea butter, and use it as a moisturizing hair mask or hot oil treatment. There’s no measurable amount of biotin in avocado oil, so if people are seeing an effect with these hair masks, it’s probably more due to the skin-happy effects of the fatty acids.
How to Choose the Right Avocado Oil
A lot of avocado oil on the shelves may be either rancid (heavily oxidized), or adulterated (cut with cheaper, less desirable oils like soybean). It’s up to the consumer to do their homework and find a trustworthy brand so that you know the oil inside the bottle matches what it says on the outside of the bottle.
From tree to bottle: the Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil process
What to Look For
To ensure your avocado oil is high quality, look for these attributes:
- Minimally heated. Excessive heat destroys the beneficial compounds in avocado oil, which opens up the opportunity for oxidation. That could turn a healthy oil into one that may potentially cause harm.
- Non-GMO. Depending on how it’s done, genetically modified avocados could shift the balance of fatty acids and nutrients in the final product.
- Mechanically extracted. Centrifuge is the best way to extract avocado oil as temperatures can be kept low and there is no need for solvents.
- Extraction without solvents. You want to avoid solvents like hexane, which are removed at the end of extraction, but many solvent-extracted oils have traces of hexane left behind. You probably don’t want to eat chemical solvents.
- Extra virgin, if you want to add richness. Extra virgin avocado oil is extra rich with a subtle earthy flavor that adds something special to salads or steamed vegetables.
Shop Primal Kitchen® Avocado Oil
Signs Your Avocado Oil Might Be Off
- Aroma. Rancid oil takes on a faint smell of plastic or paint thinner. Virgin avocado oil can smell grassy or earthy, which is a good thing.
- Smoking. If avocado oil smokes in a pan under 520 degrees Fahrenheit, it may not be pure. Avocado oil can withstand pan frying on medium-high heat.
- Color. Avocado oil should range from pale yellow to green, depending on region and processing.
- Date. Buy avocado oil that you can use up before the expiration date printed on the bottle.
Don’t hesitate to contact avocado oil producers and inquire about their processes.
How to Buy and Store Avocado Oil
Again, check the expiration date before you buy, and make sure you’ll use it well within that time frame. Look for avocado oil in dark glass containers, as light will degrade the oil more quickly. You can store avocado oil in a dark cabinet or pantry, away from direct sunlight and heat.
References
- https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5563805#:~:text=The%20farmers%20came%20up%20with,group%20the%20California%20Avocado%20Association.&text=Today%2C%20California%20accounts%20for%20nearly,grown%20in%20the%20United%20States.
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/03008209109152159
- https://www.agriculturejournals.cz/publicFiles/150092.pdf
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3614059/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11586013/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0891584989901020
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18772370/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15814269/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23278117/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21041432/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3664913/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0738081X08000126
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128114421000043
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