BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Halloween is more than just costumes and jack-o’-lanterns; it’s also a time to indulge in mountains of candy, ranging from chocolate bars to gummies and beyond. However, while eating sweets is enjoyable, it can have unexpectedly scary consequences for your gut health. Dr. Christopher Damman, a gastroenterologist and microbiome expert at the University of Washington reveals how the sugar and processed substances in Halloween candy can upset the balance of trillions of microorganisms in your gut. The gut microbiome, which is what these microorganisms are generally called, plays an important role in digestion, immunity, and mood. When you eat sugar, “you’re essentially feeding inflammatory bacteria in your gut,” Damman explains. Too much sugar increases the growth of “bad” bacteria, which can cause inflammation and weaken the intestinal barrier—the protective coating that keeps hazardous particles out of circulation. A weakened gut barrier can cause a variety of health problems, including digestive disorders and emotional disturbances. Dr. Damman emphasizes that, while a little sugar is fine, consuming too much candy can disrupt your microbiome’s delicate environment. The best and worst Halloween treats for your microbiome Not all Halloween snacks are equally detrimental to intestinal health. Dr. Damman emphasizes that some candy options have more redeeming attributes than others: 1. Chocolate-based treats (especially dark chocolate): Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is packed with polyphenols, which can actually support your gut microbiome. “Dark chocolate with at least 80 percent cacao is a bit friendlier on the gut,” he explains, noting that the polyphenols in dark chocolate promote healthy microorganisms. Even nut-based chocolate bars, such as Almond Joy or Peanut M&Ms, contain fiber, protein, and healthy fats, which can help minimize the inflammatory effects of sugar. 2. Whole foods in disguise: Treats that combine candy with more wholesome ingredients, like honey-roasted almonds or candied apples, rank higher. “These are at least partly whole foods,” Damman points out, which provide fiber and nutrients that your gut microbes enjoy. Whole nuts provide fiber and omega-3s, while apples include pectin, a prebiotic fiber that can nourish beneficial microorganisms. 3. High-sugar, processed candies: Sugary snacks like Skittles, gummies, and Twizzlers can be rough on the intestines. High fructose corn syrup, saturated fats, and chemicals in these candies cause inflammation and disturb the balance of bacteria in your microbiome. Damman also warns against pure sugar sweets like lollipops and Jolly Ranchers, which have no nutritional value and feed the bacteria you want to control. How to rebalance your gut microbiome after Halloween If you’re suffering the consequences of too much candy, Dr. Damman has some advice to help your gut heal. He advocates eating foods that promote good gut bacteria and minimize inflammation. His go-to method involves the “four F’s” of gut-friendly meals: fiber, fermented foods, healthy fats, and flavonoids or foods high in polyphenols. 1. Fiber: Whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables are high in fiber, which aids digestion and promotes healthy bacteria. “Fiber helps to keep the gut microbiome thriving,” Damman adds, noting that fiber promotes the creation of butyrate, a healthy short-chain fatty acid. 2. Fermented foods: Probiotic-rich foods such as yogurt, kefir, kimchi, and sauerkraut can help restore the balance of bacteria in your gut following a sugar overdose. Damman observes that these meals include living bacteria that promote a healthy gut environment, aiding digestion and immunity. 3. Healthy fats: Walnuts, chia seeds, flaxseed, and fatty fish (such as salmon) contain omega-3 fatty acids, which can help lower gut inflammation. Damman stresses the role of omega-3s in mitigating the effects of sugar on the intestinal barrier. 4. Polyphenols: Foods high in polyphenols include dark chocolate, cherries, red grapes, and green tea, all of which can help restore microbial equilibrium. Polyphenols serve as antioxidants and promote the growth of beneficial microorganisms in the stomach. Bringing it all together: how to enjoy Halloween without overloading your gut It’s acceptable to consume Halloween goodies in moderation. Dr. Damman suggests enjoying a few pieces of candy thoughtfully before refocusing on gut-healthy meals. He recommends utilizing a meal calculator to monitor your intake and ensure you’re balancing sugar with fiber, healthy fats, and other gut-friendly nutrients. “It’s all about moderation,” he adds, adding that with some preparation, you can keep your microbiome happy during the candy season. With these guidelines, you may enjoy Halloween treats while keeping your gut health in check. And in November, your microbiome will thank you.The post Expert tips to keep your microbiome happy this Halloween first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Blood tests are an important diagnostic tool for diagnosing disorders and monitoring health, but the procedure is not enjoyable; It is typically painful and time-consuming. Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder invented a novel handheld gadget that promises to change that by providing speedier findings from a single drop of blood, potentially revolutionizing blood diagnostics. Traditionally, blood tests involve drawing a sample from the arm using a needle and sending it to a laboratory for analysis. Depending on the test’s complexity, this process can take anywhere from several hours to days. In rapidly changing health circumstances, this wait can be devastating. Additionally, many patients feel pain or even dread during blood draws. However, with this new technology, results might be acquired in as little as one hour, thanks to a simple finger prick. The handheld diagnostic gadget uses what the researchers refer to as functional negative acoustic contrast particles (fNACPs). When put into a blood sample, these cell-sized particles interact with sound waves, collecting specific biomarkers such as proteins or viruses. Once mixed with the blood, the fNACPs capture the target biomarkers and then separate them using sound waves within the device. “We’re basically using sound waves to manipulate particles in order to rapidly isolate them from a really small volume of fluid,” said Cooper Thome, the study‘s first author. The procedure is straightforward: combine a drop of blood with fNACPs and insert it into the handheld gadget. Sound waves then force the particles and biomarkers they’ve caught toward the chamber’s walls, leaving the rest of the blood sample behind. The biomarkers are then labeled with fluorescent markers and lit with lasers, allowing for an accurate count of their presence in the sample. In less than 70 minutes, the test can determine the number of certain biomarkers, providing answers with the same accuracy as traditional lab testing. Innovative application of sound waves for medical testing “This pipette and particle system can offer the same sensitivity and specificity as a gold-standard clinical test but within an instrument that radically simplifies workflows,” said Wyatt Shields, the senior author of the study. Shields highlights that this invention not only saves the time required for results but also allows blood diagnostics to be performed right at the patient’s bedside. The possibilities that this technology opens up are tremendous, particularly in emergency or distant circumstances when quick diagnostic information can save lives. The technology is still in its early phases of development, but first testing has shown promise. The device was used by the researchers to detect antibodies to ovalbumin, a protein present in egg whites that is commonly utilized in vaccine manufacture. Even at low quantities, the device correctly recognized the antibodies, proving that it is just as effective as traditional laboratory tests. Toward real-world uses There are numerous possible uses for this technology. According to the researchers, the device has the potential to detect a wide range of biomarkers, including viral disorders and cancer indicators. Furthermore, the researchers are looking into techniques to test for several biomarkers using a single blood sample. “It gives us the potential to perform blood diagnostics right at the patient’s bedside,” Shields said. While the technology is currently in its early stages, there is hope that it will be scaled up for clinical application in the future. The team is also looking at how to adapt the gadget to examine samples from numerous patients at the same time, which would increase its utility in healthcare settings where rapid diagnoses are in high demand. The study, which appeared in the journal Science Advances, could be a huge step forward in tailored and quick healthcare diagnostics. While additional study is needed before the device can be widely adopted, its ability to improve patient care and minimize the stress associated with routine blood testing is evident. Source study: Science Advances—Acoustic pipette and biofunctional elastomeric microparticle system for rapid picomolar-level biomolecule detection in whole bloodThe post Sound wave device provides one-hour blood test results with a single finger prick first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

Despite its alleged concern for the decline of civility in politics, the New York Times is actually all in on political slander and name-calling lately -- when it’s in the service of defeating Donald Trump. For the second time in under two weeks, the paper reveled in the party’s new tactic of throwing the dirty word “fascist” at Trump to see if it would stick (not that they didn’t do so before but now they’ve turned it up to 11). The Times thinks the plan is working for Kamala Harris – or at least, the Times now considers it politically expedient to claim it’s working for Harris, under the headline “Harris Aides Hopeful That Casting Trump as a Fascist Could Shift Election.” Reporters Reid J. Epstein, Lisa Lerer, and Maggie Haberman led with a lead that will sound either prescient or preposterous in a week (or more?): As the presidential contest enters the final sprint, campaign aides and allies close to Vice President Kamala Harris are growing cautiously optimistic about her chances of victory, saying the race is shifting in her favor. Top Democratic strategists are increasingly hopeful that the campaign’s attempts to cast former President Donald J. Trump as a fascist -- paired with an expansive battleground-state operation and strength among female voters still energized by the end of federal abortion rights -- will carry Ms. Harris to a narrow triumph. Even some close to Mr. Trump worry that the push to label him a budding dictator who has praised Hitler could move small but potentially meaningful numbers of persuadable voters. Officials within the Harris campaign and people with whom they have shared candid assessments believe she remains in a solid position in the Northern “blue wall” states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, saying internal polling shows her slightly ahead in all three -- though by as little as half a percentage point. …. Ms. Harris’s aides believe the argument tying Mr. Trump to fascism is helping her sway moderate Republicans, even though the leading super PAC supporting her bid has raised worries that it is not Democrats’ most effective message. Democratic officials emphasize that they have won -- or overperformed -- in a wide range of contests since 2016 by painting the former president as divisive. The Times tried to recapture some of that famous Harris campaign "joy." For all his bravado in public, Mr. Trump is privately cranky and stressed, according to three people in contact with him, with a schedule marked by chronic lateness. Ms. Harris, aides say, is energized by her crowds, particularly the 30,000 supporters who watched her discuss abortion rights at a rally featuring Beyoncé on Friday in Houston. But not Beyonce actually performing, which angered many in attendance. Some of the reasons for Democratic optimism the Times pushed sounded awfully thin. In Michigan, union organizers have found a sunnier outlook for Ms. Harris than they expected when surveying their members. An internal United Auto Workers poll of the union’s members in battleground states found Ms. Harris with a five-point lead among white voters without a college degree, and a 13-point advantage among men without a college degree -- striking results among types of voters she is not expected to win broadly. The Times let Democratic strategists explain away troubling figures, unconvincingly. While some party strategists are worried about the early-voting numbers in Nevada and Georgia, top officials in the Harris campaign say those figures are not as significant as they might seem. Their vote models suggest that Mr. Trump has successfully pushed many of his supporters to vote earlier, effectively cannibalizing the strong turnout he has usually garnered on Election Day. Eventually the reporters got around to briefly note continuing Democratic uneasiness. And Democrats, even at the top levels of the Harris campaign, worry that the party is not correctly modeling the electorate in its polling, repeating a misstep that led Mr. Biden’s campaign aides to overestimate his strength in the final days of the 2020 race.