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Vegetable gardening has become an increasingly popular trend in recent years, with individuals and communities alike embracing the benefits of growing their own fresh produce. Recognizing the significance of this movement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now encouraging people to register their vegetable gardens. This new initiative aims to better understand and support the efforts of home gardeners, while also contributing to a more sustainable local food system. The decision by the USDA to ask people to register their vegetable gardens stems from a deep appreciation for the positive impact that these gardens can have on both individuals...

When it comes to managing high cholesterol, small dietary changes can help. Eating enough vegetables not only helps reduce high cholesterol but can actually prevent the condition. While you may think that fresh veggies are healthiest, think again. Frozen veggies are just as nutritious. Plus, they tend to be budget-friendly and have a much longer shelf life. High cholesterol affects about 10% of U.S. adults. And having it puts you at a higher risk of developing heart disease and stroke.1 We spoke with registered dietitians and dove into the latest research to share the seven best frozen vegetables for lower...

Doctors recommend making fruits and vegetables a foundational part of the treatment of patients with hypertension. Diets high in fruits and vegetables are found to lower blood pressure, reduce cardiovascular risk, and improve kidney health due to their base-producing effects. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables reduces blood pressure and is the recommended first-line treatment for primary hypertension. Nevertheless, this diet is under-prescribed, and when prescribed is under-implemented despite supportive epidemiological data. The DASH diet and others generally high in fruits and vegetables are associated with lower blood pressure, lower risk...

It's a good idea to wash carrots after they're pulled from the ground because they might have some dirt on them. They don't typically come with more than a ton of methamphetamine, but you can never be too careful. A 44-year-old truck driver is in federal custody after he allegedly tried to cross into the U.S. from Mexico at the Otay Mesa border checkpoint in San Diego with roughly 3,000 pounds of meth hidden amid a large shipment of carrots. The driver arrived in a commercial tractor trailer just before noon on March 17 with a valid border crossing card...

A three-year world-first study has found that a common cruciferous vegetable eaten by millions every day could prevent and treat one of the nation's biggest killers. In pre-clinical trials, the study confirmed a natural chemical found in broccoli can reduce the formation of harmful blood clots that can in some instances lead to stroke, as well as improve the performance of clot-busting drugs afterwards. About 85% of strokes are caused by the formation of a harmful blood clot in the brain (also known as acute ischemic stroke). "After a patient has an ischemic stroke, they are treated with tissue plasminogen...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

The summer holidays are nearly here which would normally mean there's never been a better time to fire up the barbeque and line it with beef burgers. But a new study shows you might want to swap them for meat-free alternatives if you want to do your bit to save the planet. University of Oxford experts say eating just 100g of meat per day – less than a single burger – creates four times more greenhouse gases compared with a vegan diet. The researchers now want to see prompt policy action from government and organisations to trigger 'dietary shifts away...

A sweetener used in a swathe of everyday items from diet soft drinks to yoghurt is 'possibly carcinogenic to humans', World Health Organization bosses ruled today. Aspartame – added to Diet Coke, Extra chewing gum and Muller Light yoghurts – is now classed as posing a 2B cancer risk, meaning there is limited but not convincing evidence. But WHO bosses also claimed that aspartame does not pose a cancer risk at current consumption levels. Only people who consume excessive quantities face a heightened risk, researchers concluded. Nearly 100 products have been given the same ranking as aspartame, from common suncream...

A Louisiana woman claimed during a Tuesday hearing that an unusual affinity for “raw green vegetables” was one of the clues that led her to believe her daughter would identify as transgender. The woman appeared before the Louisiana State House’s Health and Welfare Committee to speak ahead of a vote on HB 463, which would ban so-called “gender-affirming” surgical procedures for minors, and she laid out some of the signs that had stood out to her prior to her daughter’s eventual announcement that she identified as male. “We couldn’t figure out what the problem was. We took him to specialists,...

Following a healthy plant-based diet after a diagnosis of prostate cancer may help prevent the disease from progressing or recurring, a study suggests. Men who ate a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains had a 52% lower risk of cancer progressing and a 53% lower risk of recurrence, compared with men who had the lowest amounts of plants in their diet, the researchers found. A plant-based diet may have these benefits because fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants and anti-inflammatory components, as well as dietary fiber that improve glucose control and reduce inflammation, she explained. Also, this diet reduces...

Wondering what, if anything, will grow in your vegetable garden when summer temperatures soar above 100 degrees? Here are the vegetables that will grow, and thrive, in scorching summer heat.

Everything you need to know to start a Survival Garden including the 20 Survival Crops that provide the greatest return of nutritious food for the time, space, and effort required to grow them at home.

A sufficient intake of vegetables is important for maintaining a balanced diet and avoiding a wide range of diseases. But might a diet rich in vegetables also lower the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD)? Unfortunately, researchers found no evidence for this. Now, new results from a powerful, large-scale new study shows that a higher consumption of cooked or uncooked vegetables is unlikely to affect the risk of CVD. They also explain how confounding factors might have explained previous spurious, positive findings. The researchers used the responses at enrollment of 399,586 participants (of whom 4.5% went on to develop CVD) to...

Many people are choosing to make the switch to plant-based diets for many reasons – including as a way of cutting their climate footprint or to be healthier. Yet there’s long been the notion that plant-based diets are inherently more expensive than following a more traditional omnivore diet – which is why some people may be hesitant to make the switch. But it turns out that this isn’t entirely accurate. In fact, the recent research my colleagues and I published in Lancet Planetary Health found that eating a healthier and more sustainable diet (such as vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian or flexitarian)...

Dr. Joseph Ladapo, the new Surgeon General and Secretary of the Department of Health for the state of Florida, denounced coronavirus hysteria on Tuesday, alleging it uses fear to rob people of their personal autonomy. [cut] After stepping up to the podium, Ladopo declared that the Sunshine State is “done with fear.” “We’re done with fear. It’s been something that’s been, unfortunately, a centerpiece of health policy in the United States ever since the beginning of the pandemic, and it’s over here — expiration date is done,” he said. In the same speech, Ladopo touted the importance of vaccines while...

New research has found that fruit and vegetable consumption and exercise can increase levels of happiness. While the link between lifestyle and wellbeing has been previously documented and often used in public health campaigns to encourage healthier diets and exercise, new findings published by the Journal of Happiness Studies show that there is also a positive causation from lifestyle to life satisfaction. This research is the first of its kind to unravel the causation of how happiness, the consumption of fruit and vegetables and exercising are related, rather than generalizing a correlation. The researchers used an instrumental variable approach to...

A recipe for vegetable soup has been shared by Sri Lankan Facebook users alongside a claim it will "cure" Covid-19 infection within three days. The claim is false: medical professionals said there is no evidence the purported remedy can cure Covid-19. SNIP The text in the post reads: "This Soup recipe was taught by Wickramaarachchi indigenous medicine doctor. I gave this soup to all the neighbouring children when they tested positive and they were all cured. "Radish, carrots, cabbages, pumpkins, beets - take them all in equal amounts and add 12 peppercorns. "Its okay to mix in curry leaves. Do...

Yesterday Green Giant revealed the results of a survey taken to determine America’s favorite vegetable. It turns out our nation’s number-one vegetable is broccoli. That seems right to me, because broccoli rules. The two runners up were carrots and corn. All these picks are excellent vessels for butter and cheese. As always, there’s some fun tidbits thrown in with the survey. Tomatoes and cucumbers (which are both fruit, but who’s keeping track, really), were favorites in 2020, but didn’t make the 2021 list. While corn was chosen as the most popular vegetable in seven times more states in 2021 than...

FOR PETER GLAZEBROOK, THERE WAS one bright spot to 2020. A leek he entered into last year’s Mansfield Grow Show, which judges declared to be a monstrous four feet long, won him a new world record. “That makes 16 world records I’ve held over the years,” Glazebrook wrote to me recently, via email. “However, it’s a competitive hobby, so I currently only hold three.” Today, he is the proud grower of the world’s heaviest cauliflower (60 pounds), potato (10 pounds), and, as of 2020, the longest leek. Glazebrook, a lithe, 76-year-old former building surveyor from Nottinghamshire, England, is one of...

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO - From apple packing houses in Washington state to farm workers in Florida and a California county known as “the world’s salad bowl,” outbreaks of the novel coronavirus are emerging at U.S. fruit and vegetable farms and packing plants. A rising number of sick farm and packing house workers comes after thousands of meat plant employees contracted the virus and could lead to more labor shortages and a fresh wave of disruption to U.S. food production. The Trump administration said last month it may extend an executive order to keep meat plants operating to fruit and vegetable...