Latest news with #Fargo-based
CBS News
25-03-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Do sleep trackers help you get better sleep?
More than one-third of Americans have turned to apps or devices to track the quality of their sleep. But do sleep trackers help you get better sleep? Now, more people than ever before have their eyes on their nocturnal goals. Whether it's an Apple Watch, Fitbit, Oura Ring or apps, 35% of Americans are tracking sleep, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. When asked how often people take sleep trackers up, Fargo-based Dr. Seema Khosla said, "every single day, for years and years and years, every day, we'll toggle through, you know, they'll hand over their phone, and I'll toggle through, and we'll kind of compare." Khosla says even she doesn't know exactly how the apps track sleep, as it's proprietary information. But they are getting more specialized, like Apple's new sleep apnea sensor. Still, she says gauging accuracy is tricky. "So it's a very, very competitive industry, right? So, is Apple the same as Fitbit the same as Garmin? No, but can we really know what all the algorithms and signals are?" Khosla said. Khosla added that she consistently sees correlations between the device data and her sleep lab data. As for the device users, a survey shows 77% of them found sleep trackers helpful, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. WCCO asked Khosla if she thinks devices lead to better sleep. "I think a lot of it depends on why you used it," she said. "So if you used it because you're worried about snoring, and then you do a test and you find out you have sleep apnea, and then you get on treatment, then, yeah, I think that improves your sleep." The problem, Khosla says, is when users start fixating on daily sleep numbers. "It can make you obsessive, which is counterproductive to sleep," she said. "I think if you're worried about your sleep, like, for example, if you're snoring and your sleep is not restorative, don't wait for the tracker. We always want to bring it back to what you are experiencing." Khosla says whether devices flag a problem or just keep someone accountable, they can bring a sense of peace, and that technology does appear to be getting more accurate. There is also ongoing research into how new sleep-tracking mattresses will perform.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Using local grain, Dakota Don's Artisan Waffle Mix finds niche in the marketplace
Mar. 17—GRAND FORKS — Don Miller and Deb Glennen have spent the better part of the past four years tempting and tantalizing people with the aroma, taste and texture of a waffle they developed in their home kitchen. Frequent vendors at Pride of Dakota events, the married couple have introduced thousands to the Dakota Don's Artisan Waffle Mix and generated a fan club of loyal aficionados. "People sometimes ask if you can use it for pancakes," Miller said. "You can. But pancakes are just food. Waffles are a party." Miller and Glennen have been convincing customers that Dakota Don's waffle mix produces waffles that are superior to the "cardboard waffles" they've tried in the past, he said. Their business's website distinguishes the product as "truly a unique spin on the classic waffle" and a "gourmet breakfast treat you'll want to shout about!" On Instagram, a loyal customer is seen urging visitors to a past Pride of Dakota Showcase to "Come and get it. Dakota Don's waffles are the best. You'll never find anything this light and fluffy." The original mix is made with flour produced by the North Dakota Mill and Elevator in Grand Forks. It is sent to a co-packer in Red Wing, Minnesota, where it is made into the mix and returned to Grand Forks for shipping. The Grand Forks-based Home of Economy was the first to distribute the product across the state, Miller said. Thanks to the help of a Fargo-based distributing company, the product can be purchased in 45 locations throughout North Dakota — including all of the major communities in the state — and a few places in South Dakota and Minnesota. Miller recalled that, after sampling the waffles at a Pride of Dakota Showcase, a representative of the distributor walked away from the booth and phoned his company, saying, "I think I found a product we should be distributing." Teaming up with Bischof Distributing has led to access to grocery stores the couple may not have attained on their own. "It's not easy getting six inches of shelf space in a grocery store," Miller said. The product has also been sold, in 30-pound packages, to restaurants, including a Waffle House in Sioux Falls and Makers Exchange, which offers artisan coffee and waffles in Tea, S.D. As the business grows slowly and "organically," Miller said, he and Glennen are embarking on the first variation, a gluten-free version. They have taken to heart input from people they meet at events, such as the Pride of Dakota Showcases that are held around the state. The couple have met "a reasonable number of people who say, 'my wife is gluten-free' or 'my son is gluten-free,'" Miller said. So, for the past three or four years, they have been searching for a gluten-free flour that would yield a "premium product," Glennen said. Searching nationwide, they found a "very good flour" that is produced, surprisingly, not far from home, Miller said. Ardent Mills in Harvey, North Dakota, is one of the company's "six to 10 locations." "They sent me five pounds of flour and I tried it," he said. The next step was to find a gluten-free — not gluten-friendly — co-packer to package the mix, he said. And they found one in New York. The new business venture, which has been supported with a $12,000 grant from the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, opens another market for Dakota Don's Artisan Waffle Mix. For 25 to 30 years, Miller has been making waffles for family, friends and students. It wasn't unusual for them to host a sizable number of people in their home for a brunch with waffles as the star. They even host regular Waffle Wednesdays and make waffles for the daycare at their church, Zion United Methodist. The success of their business is founded on the detailed records that Miller kept as he tweaked recipes. He compiled "dozens of notebooks" and conducted an untold number of tests, he said, with input and advice from friends who are scientists. (A retired UND art professor, Miller is a founder of Muddy Waters Clay Center in Grand Forks. Food science was a new post-retirement adventure.) Friends and family members would request — or clamor for — his waffles, Glennen said. That enthusiasm spurred his decision to produce the mix as a business. "He's puttered around for 10 years," she said. In developing the product, "the magic was 'easy gourmet,'" she said. "You don't have to have Don (there) to do it." What Miller enjoys most about the business is the opportunity it presents to "feed people," he said. "It makes people happy. It's fun." For Glennen, there's satisfaction in "giving the money away," she said. "We've been purpose-driven from the start." She and Miller commit a portion of the profits from product sales to support independent-living programs, with a focus on young adults with autism and the housing insecure. The winning elements for the business are based on the fact that the waffles "taste good," Glennen said. "It has honest ingredients — good clean ingredients. No preservatives. No sugar. "When people taste it, they'll buy it."
