Air quality alerts issued in Canada and US as wildfires continue to burn
"When air pollution levels are high, everyone should limit time outdoors," Environment Canada said in its special alert for Toronto. "Consider reducing or rescheduling outdoor sports, activities and events." It added that the elderly, pregnant women, infants and young children, people with an existing illness or chronic health condition were more at risk due to the smoke. Alerts have also been issued across the border in Chicago."An Air Quality Alert is in effect through Tuesday evening for the Chicago metro area in Illinois and in northwest Indiana due to unhealthy ozone levels and some lingering effects of Canadian wildfire smoke," the National Weather Service Chicago said in a post on X. The political implications of the wildfire smoke have also reached Washington.Last week, six members of Congress wrote to the Canadian ambassador complaining that smoke from Canada's wildfires was making it difficult for Americans to enjoy their summer. In response, the premier of Canada's Manitoba province accused them of "trying to trivialise" a deadly situation.The wildfires continue to spread across thousands of hectares.May and June were particularly destructive months in western Canada, with roughly 30,000 people forced to evacuate in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where local administrations declared a state of emergency.Out east, a fire that began on Monday on the Bonavista peninsula in Newfoundland doubled in size overnight, destroying several cabins near Chance Harbour, CBC News reported. Scientists have consistently linked the intensifying wildfire seasons to climate change.Canada is believed to be warming at twice the global average rate, and its Arctic regions are heating up nearly three times the global pace, scientists have warned.
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The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Trump's push to change Coke: Is cane sugar better for you than corn syrup?
President Donald Trump — who reportedly drinks up to 12 cans of Diet Coke a day — said Wednesday that beverage giant Coca-Cola had agreed to use real cane sugar in its regular Coke. 'This will be a very good move by them — You'll see. It's just better!' Trump wrote in a Wednesday post on his Truth Social platform. The company said in a statement that it had appreciated the president's enthusiasm for the brand and that more details on 'new innovative offerings within [the] Coca‑Cola product range [would] be shared soon.' Coca-Cola is the best-selling carbonated soft drink in the U.S. Right now, Coke in the U.S. is made with high-fructose corn syrup to give it its sweet, fizzy taste. The sweetener is made from corn starch. Cane sugar is made from sugarcane, the tall, bamboo-like stalks known for their high sucrose content, and is used as the sweetener in Coke in most countries. But, is one healthier than the other? Here's what to know... Experts say cane sugar is not necessarily healthier The experts say it likely won't matter which sweetener is in Coke. Corn syrup has slightly more fructose than table sugar, or glucose. Fructose doesn't prompt the body to produce insulin, which triggers a hormone that helps us to feel full. 'Our bodies aren't going to know if that's cane sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. We just know that it is sugar and we need to break that down,' Caroline Susie, a registered dietitian nutritionist and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, told Health. Consuming an excessive amount of any refined sugar can lead to a higher risk of weight gain and associated chronic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. 'Both high-fructose corn syrup and cane sugar are about 50 percent fructose, 50 percent glucose, and have identical metabolic effects,' Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, told NBC News. Soda is soda America has a sugar habit — and a penchant for ultra-processed foods — that it needs to kick, according to Mozaffarian. Soda has more than the daily recommended limit for added sugars for teens and children. Added sugar refers to sugars and syrups that are added to foods and beverages during processing and production. 'It's always better to cut down on soda, no matter what the form of sugar is,' Dr. Melanie Jay, a professor of medicine and population health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and director of the NYU Langone Comprehensive Program on Obesity Research, told NBC News. There's pushback Coke sold in the U.S. has been made with high fructose corn syrup since the mid-1980s. Corn was a cheaper option than cane sugar: the U.S. has a lot of corn farmers and the government has long supported the industry. Other countries, including Mexico and Australia, still use cane sugar. The company has imported glass bottles of Mexican Coke to the U.S. since 2005. Corn is the nation's number one crop, and the Corn Refiners Association President and CEO John Bode said in a statement that replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar 'doesn't make sense.' 'President Trump stands for American manufacturing jobs, American farmers, and reducing the trade deficit,' he said. 'Replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar would cost thousands of American food manufacturing jobs, depress farm income, and boost imports of foreign sugar, all with no nutritional benefit.' He told The Washington Post that it would be more economical to introduce a product with cane sugar than to abandon the cheap and popular high-fructose corn syrup.
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
I lost nearly a stone on a week-long slimming holiday in the UK WITHOUT fat jabs
IN the run up to a holiday, most of us look forward to the all-inclusive buffets and perhaps expect to gain a few pounds. I used to love the kind of break where I'd fly somewhere sunny and sit by the pool or on the beach, sipping cocktails and enjoying the hotel's barbecue nights. 8 8 8 At 5ft 1in and 12st 9lb, I sometimes felt self-conscious in my bikini, but none of the diets I'd tried, from Slimming World to a high-protein Atkins diet, had worked. When I inevitably quit, I'd find myself gaining even more weight than before. Trendy weight-loss jabs like Ozempic and Mounjaro are all the rage now, but I didn't know anything about them. I'm sure would have given the fat jab a go eventually, as I was frustrated with my inability to lose weight. I was desperate. But I knew when I stopped taking them, I would have gone back to my old habits. I was rushed off my feet and felt constantly exhausted and miserable. Believe it or not, it was a holiday that helped me to change my lifestyle for good. During a trip to Canada, a friend took a photo of me at Niagara Falls. Usually, I'd only take photos of my face so I could hide my lumps and bumps. But this snap was a wake-up call. I hated the way I looked. I was only 28 – what had happened to me? I tried the new Gladiators event at Butlin's with some of the TV stars… and my kids were obsessed 'Fat camp retreat' Back then, my routine was to come home from work and watch TV all evening. One of the shows featured a 'fat camp' retreat where overweight guests can go enlist the help of fitness experts to shed lbs. I knew it was exactly what I needed, so I did some research and came across GI Jane Bootcamp, a retreat that helps women to get fit and lose weight, military style. One week cost £900 for food, accommodation and the boot camp. I was determined to sign up, so I cut back on treats for a while to save up for it. The camp was held at Scuttington Manor in Sittingbourne, Kent. When I arrived, I was petrified. I'd never really exercised before – I didn't even own workout clothes. But the welcome meeting, where I met GI Jane's trainers and the lovely group of women I'd be working with, put me at ease. We were all there for our own reasons: some, like me, wanted to lose weight, some needed head space, while others wanted a bit of a confidence boost. 8 8 One lady said it wasn't her first retreat, and that she keeps returning because 'it's good for the soul,' which I found really inspiring. From the very first day, we were tested to our limits. We'd get up at 7am – which was called 'falling in,' military style – and go on a hike of four or five miles before breakfast, which was usually home-made muesli and fresh fruit. Then, we'd have four exercise sessions across the rest of the day between healthy meals – anything from obstacle courses, boxing and intervals, to HIIT sessions, kettlebells and games. The morning after my first day, my legs were like jelly. But the trainers knew how to build us back up slowly each morning. The motto of GI Jane is 'You're only as fast as your slowest man,' and we were encouraged to support each other every step of the way. We bonded over every session, laughing and joking our way through the pain. I'd never run in my life before, so I struggled at first. I was thrilled when I realised I was gradually running further each day without stopping. On my last day I managed a full mile while carrying weights, which felt like such an achievement. At the end-of-week weigh-in, I discovered I'd lost 9 lbs in seven days, which I was thrilled about. On jabs like Mounjaro, the average weight loss is around 2lbs a week and you are not getting the added benefit of being fitter and healthier. 8 8 8 More importantly, I'd got a new lease of life and learned what it took to take care of my body. Back home, I took everything I learned at the camp on board. I couldn't afford a gym membership, so I bought my own kettlebell, and would run around my local village, Beverley in East Yorkshire, to exercise. As well as using all the tools I'd learned, I received fantastic support from the camp WhatsApp group too. Some of the trainers were in the chat, and were happy to offer advice and share recipes. How the weight stayed off and I ended up signing up to another camp - this time in Thailand. Nine months later, I was given the chance to attend another GI Jane Bootcamp, this time in Thailand. By then, I'd already shrunk down to 8st 11lbs at home, with my own drive and willpower. I signed up to go and by the end of a week in beautiful Koh Samui, I'd reached my target weight of 8st 7lbs. As well as the camp, you get to travel the world with like-minded people too. I'd shed over four stone overall, and was now a trim size 8. It was an incredible moment. Since that first year, I've attended lots more GI Jane Bootcamps, including a week in Greece last year. I've made friends from all over the world, and there's always a friendly face there. My confidence has sky-rocketed, too. Aside from the boot camps, it's fair to say all my holidays look quite different now. I still treat myself, but I'm also very active, which would have sounded like torture before! It's amazing to think how a one-week holiday changed my life so dramatically. I'm sure that if I'd tried so-called 'fat jabs' the weight would have piled back on when I stopped taking them, the same as with every other diet I've tried. But although some might see what I've done as losing weight the 'hard way,' I see it as life-changing. I'd urge anyone thinking about using expensive weight-loss medication to consider trying a boot camp first. You might be surprised.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Scientists share how a cup of coffee can change the brain
Decaf coffee may not be what you want if you want a caffeine boost to get through the end of the day but if you want to wake feeling rested, you should reconsider. New research has found that drinking just two cups of coffee after midday could be enough to shift the brain towards a more excitable and dynamic state during the night, wreaking havoc on your energy levels. Canadian researchers said that caffeine - one of the most widely consumed stimulants in the world - can change the structure and complexity of brain activity during different stages of sleep. Lead author of the study Professor Philipp Tholke said: 'The widespread use of caffeine among the public makes this topic an important health consideration. 'Understanding how caffeine affects sleep architecture and brain dynamics can help clarify its impact on neural health.' The researchers, from the University of Montreal, analysed the sleep health of 40 healthy adults with moderate caffeine consumption aged 20 to 58. Participants spent two nights at a sleep clinic one after ingesting 200mg of caffeine - approximately two cups of coffee - and another after having a placebo. The researchers used a double-blind design so that they also did not know whether participants were coming into the clinic caffeinated or caffeine-free. The participants' sleep quality was monitored using an electroencephalogram (EEG) which records brain activity by picking up electrical signals produced by the brain. Using a sleep EEG, researchers focused on several markers of brain complexity looking at how random a brain signal is, how easily the signal can be compressed and how consistent a signal is over time. They also looked at the distribution of electrical activity across different frequencies. The results showed that caffeine mostly affected brain activity during non-REM sleep - the stage of the cycle which is considered the quiet or restful stage. This stage is split into three distinct phases: a person falls asleep, and then moves from a light sleep into a deep sleep. At this point a person's breathing, brain activity and heart rate typically slow down, body temperature drops and eye movement stops. This is a very restorative phase helping the body repair tissue and muscle and strengthen the immune system. However, researchers found that consuming caffeine after midday had a negative impact on this crucial stage, resulting in less restorative sleep. 'Caffeine delays but does not prevent sleep, so even though we can sleep under the influence of caffeine, the brain, and therefore also sleep, is impacted by the drug,' Prof Thölke told PsyPost. 'It leads to shallower sleep with increased information processing during the sleep stages where the brain normally enters deep restorative rest.' The researchers also noted certain brain signals were flatter, suggesting that the under the influence of caffeine the brain more closely resembled a 'critical state' - where the brain is most responsive and adaptable. They also analysed how age affected caffeine's impact on the brain and sleep health. Generally, younger adults aged 20 to 27-years-old were more susceptible to caffeine's stimulant effects during rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep compared to middle-aged adults. Researchers theorized that this could be because older people have less adenosine receptors in the brain. Adenosine is a chemical that builds up in the brain during waking hours eventually making us feel tired. Caffeine works by blocking adenosine receptors, making us feel more awake. The researchers suggested that because older adults have fewer receptors, the blocking effect of caffeine may not be so effective especially in REM sleep. During non-REM sleep however the effects of caffeine were broadly the same across all age groups. Researchers concluded therefore that caffeine has the ability to restructure the brain and impact how well we sleep. However, they acknowledged that their study only included healthy individuals so concluded that the findings could not be extrapolated to individuals with neurological or psychiatric conditions like restless leg syndrome or Parkinson's.
