What is pathological demand avoidance – and how is it different to ‘acting out’?
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“Charlie” is an eight-year-old child with autism. Her parents are worried because she often responds to requests with insults, aggression and refusal. Simple demands, such as being asked to get dressed, can trigger an intense need to control the situation, fights and meltdowns.
Charlie’s parents find themselves in a constant cycle of conflict, trying to manage her and their own reactions, often unsuccessfully. Their attempts to provide structure and consequences are met with more resistance.
What’s going on? What makes Charlie’s behaviour – that some are calling “pathological demand avoidance” – different to the defiance most children show their parents or carers from time-to-time?
What is pathological demand avoidance?
British developmental psychologist Elizabeth Newson coined the term “pathological demand avoidance” (commonly shortened to PDA) in the 1980s after studying groups of children in her practice.
A 2021 systematic review noted features of PDA include resistance to everyday requests and strong emotional and behavioural reactions.
Children with PDA might show obsessive behaviour, struggle with persistence, and seek to control situations. They may struggle with attention and impulsivity, alongside motor and coordination difficulties, language delay and a tendency to retreat into role play or fantasy worlds.
PDA is also known as “extreme demand avoidance” and is often described as a subtype of autism. Some people prefer the term persistent drive for autonomy or pervasive drive for autonomy.
What does the evidence say?
Every clinician working with children and families recognises the behavioural profile described by PDA. The challenging question is why these behaviours emerge.
PDA is not currently listed in the two diagnostic manuals used in psychiatry and psychology to diagnose mental health and developmental conditions, the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).
Researchers have reported concerns about the science behind PDA. There are no clear theories or explanations of why or how the profile of symptoms develop, and little inclusion of children or adults with lived experience of PDA symptoms in the studies. Environmental, family or other contextual factors that may contribute to behaviour have not been systematically studied.
A major limitation of existing PDA research and case studies is a lack of consideration of overlapping symptoms with other conditions, such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder, anxiety disorder, selective mutism and other developmental disorders. Diagnostic labels can have positive and negative consequences and so need to be thoroughly investigated before they are used in practice.
Classifying a “new” condition requires consistency across seven clinical and research aspects: epidemiological data, long-term patient follow-up, family inheritance, laboratory findings, exclusion from other conditions, response to treatment, and distinct predictors of outcome. At this stage, these domains have not been established for PDA. It is not clear whether PDA is different from other formal diagnoses or developmental differences.
Finding the why
Debates over classification don’t relieve distress for a child or those close to them. If a child is “intentionally” engaged in antisocial behaviour, the question is then “why?”
Beneath the behaviour is almost always developmental difference, genuine distress and difficulty coping. A broad and deep understanding of developmental processes is required.
Interestingly, while girls are “under-represented” in autism research, they are equally represented in studies characterising PDA. But if a child’s behaviour is only understood through a “pathologising” or diagnostic lens, there is a risk their agency may be reduced. Underlying experiences of distress, sensory overload, social confusion and feelings of isolation may be missed.
So, what can be done to help?
There are no empirical studies to date regarding PDA treatment strategies or their effectiveness. Clinical advice and case studies suggest strategies that may help include:
- reducing demands
- giving multiple options
- minimising expectations to avoid triggering avoidance
- engaging with interests to support regulation.
Early intervention in the preschool and primary years benefits children with complex developmental differences. Clinical care that involves a range of medical and allied health clinicians and considers the whole person is needed to ensure children and families get the support they need.
It is important to recognise these children often feel as frustrated and helpless as their caregivers. Both find themselves stuck in a repetitive cycle of distress, frustration and lack of progress. A personalised approach can take into account the child’s unique social, sensory and cognitive sensitivities.
In the preschool and early primary years, children have limited ability to manage their impulses or learn techniques for managing their emotions, relationships or environments. Careful watching for potential triggers and then working on timetables and routines, sleep, environments, tasks, and relationships can help.
As children move into later primary school and adolescence, they are more likely to want to influence others and be able to have more self control. As their autonomy and ability to collaborate increases, the problematic behaviours tend to reduce.
Strategies that build self-determination are crucial. They include opportunities for developing confidence, communication and more options to choose from when facing challenges. This therapeutic work with children and families takes time and needs to be revisited at different developmental stages. Support to engage in school and community activities is also needed. Each small step brings more capacity and more effective ways for a child to understand and manage themselves and their worlds.
What about Charlie?
The current scope to explain and manage PDA is limited. Future research must include the voices and views of children and adults with PDA symptoms.
Such emotional and behavioural difficulties are distressing and difficult for children and families. They need compassion and practical help.
For a child like Charlie, this could look like a series of sessions where she and her parents meet with clinicians to explore Charlie’s perspective, experiences and triggers. The family might come to understand that, in addition to autism, Charlie has complex developmental strengths and challenges, anxiety, and some difficulties with adjustment related to stress at home and school. This means Charlie experiences a fight, flight, freeze response that looks like aggression, avoidance or shutting down.
With carefully planned supports at home and school, Charlie’s options can broaden and her distress and avoidance can soften. Outside the clinic room, Charlie and her family can be supported to join an inclusive local community sporting or creative activity. Gradually she can spend more time engaged at home, school and in the community.
Nicole Rinehart, Professor, Child and Adolescent Psychology, Director, Krongold Clinic (Research), Monash University; David Moseley, Senior Research Fellow, Deputy Director (Clinical), Monash Krongold Clinic, Monash University, and Michael Gordon, Associate Professor, Psychiatry, Monash University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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LGBTQ+ People Relive Old Traumas as They Age on Their Own
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Bill Hall, 71, has been fighting for his life for 38 years. These days, he’s feeling worn out.
Hall contracted HIV, the virus that can cause AIDS, in 1986. Since then, he’s battled depression, heart disease, diabetes, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, kidney cancer, and prostate cancer. This past year, Hall has been hospitalized five times with dangerous infections and life-threatening internal bleeding.
But that’s only part of what Hall, a gay man, has dealt with. Hall was born into the Tlingit tribe in a small fishing village in Alaska. He was separated from his family at age 9 and sent to a government boarding school. There, he told me, he endured years of bullying and sexual abuse that “killed my spirit.”
Because of the trauma, Hall said, he’s never been able to form an intimate relationship. He contracted HIV from anonymous sex at bath houses he used to visit. He lives alone in Seattle and has been on his own throughout his adult life.
“It’s really difficult to maintain a positive attitude when you’re going through so much,” said Hall, who works with Native American community organizations. “You become mentally exhausted.”
It’s a sentiment shared by many older LGBTQ+ adults — most of whom, like Hall, are trying to manage on their own.
Of the 3 million Americans over age 50 who identify as gay, bisexual, or transgender, about twice as many are single and living alone when compared with their heterosexual counterparts, according to the National Resource Center on LGBTQ+ Aging.
This slice of the older population is expanding rapidly. By 2030, the number of LGBTQ+ seniors is expected to double. Many won’t have partners and most won’t have children or grandchildren to help care for them, AARP research indicates.
They face a daunting array of problems, including higher-than-usual rates of anxiety and depression, chronic stress, disability, and chronic illnesses such as heart disease, according to numerous research studies. High rates of smoking, alcohol use, and drug use — all ways people try to cope with stress — contribute to poor health.
Keep in mind, this generation grew up at a time when every state outlawed same-sex relations and when the American Psychiatric Association identified homosexuality as a psychiatric disorder. Many were rejected by their families and their churches when they came out. Then, they endured the horrifying impact of the AIDS crisis.
“Dozens of people were dying every day,” Hall said. “Your life becomes going to support groups, going to visit friends in the hospital, going to funerals.”
It’s no wonder that LGBTQ+ seniors often withdraw socially and experience isolation more commonly than other older adults. “There was too much grief, too much anger, too much trauma — too many people were dying,” said Vincent Crisostomo, director of aging services for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. “It was just too much to bear.”
In an AARP survey of 2,200 LGBTQ+ adults 45 or older this year, 48% said they felt isolated from others and 45% reported lacking companionship. Almost 80% reported being concerned about having adequate social support as they grow older.
Embracing aging isn’t easy for anyone, but it can be especially difficult for LGBTQ+ seniors who are long-term HIV survivors like Hall.
Related Links
- Americans With HIV Are Living Longer. Federal Spending Isn’t Keeping Up. Jun 17, 2024
- ‘Stonewall Generation’ Confronts Old Age, Sickness — And Discrimination May 22, 2019
- Staying Out Of The Closet In Old Age Oct 17, 2016
Of 1.2 million people living with HIV in the United States, about half are over age 50. By 2030, that’s estimated to rise to 70%.
Christopher Christensen, 72, of Palm Springs, California, has been HIV-positive since May 1981 and is deeply involved with local organizations serving HIV survivors. “A lot of people living with HIV never thought they’d grow old — or planned for it — because they thought they would die quickly,” Christensen said.
Jeff Berry is executive director of the Reunion Project, an alliance of long-term HIV survivors. “Here people are who survived the AIDS epidemic, and all these years later their health issues are getting worse and they’re losing their peers again,” Berry said. “And it’s triggering this post-traumatic stress that’s been underlying for many, many years. Yes, it’s part of getting older. But it’s very, very hard.”
Being on their own, without people who understand how the past is informing current challenges, can magnify those difficulties.
“Not having access to supports and services that are both LGBTQ-friendly and age-friendly is a real hardship for many,” said Christina DaCosta, chief experience officer at SAGE, the nation’s largest and oldest organization for older LGBTQ+ adults.
Diedra Nottingham, a 74-year-old gay woman, lives alone in a one-bedroom apartment in Stonewall House, an LGBTQ+-friendly elder housing complex in New York City. “I just don’t trust people,“ she said. “And I don’t want to get hurt, either, by the way people attack gay people.”
When I first spoke to Nottingham in 2022, she described a post-traumatic-stress-type reaction to so many people dying of covid-19 and the fear of becoming infected. This was a common reaction among older people who are gay, bisexual, or transgender and who bear psychological scars from the AIDS epidemic.
Nottingham was kicked out of her house by her mother at age 14 and spent the next four years on the streets. The only sibling she talks with regularly lives across the country in Seattle. Four partners whom she’d remained close with died in short order in 1999 and 2000, and her last partner passed away in 2003.
When I talked to her in September, Nottingham said she was benefiting from weekly therapy sessions and time spent with a volunteer “friendly visitor” arranged by SAGE. Yet she acknowledged: “I don’t like being by myself all the time the way I am. I’m lonely.”
Donald Bell, a 74-year-old gay Black man who is co-chair of the Illinois Commission on LGBTQ Aging, lives alone in a studio apartment in subsidized LGBTQ+-friendly senior housing in Chicago. He spent 30 years caring for two elderly parents who had serious health issues, while he was also a single father, raising two sons he adopted from a niece.
Bell has very little money, he said, because he left work as a higher-education administrator to care for his parents. “The cost of health care bankrupted us,” he said. (According to SAGE, one-third of older LGBTQ+ adults live at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.) He has hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and nerve damage in his feet. These days, he walks with a cane.
To his great regret, Bell told me, he’s never had a long-term relationship. But he has several good friends in his building and in the city.
“Of course I experience loneliness,” Bell said when we spoke in June. “But the fact that I am a Black man who has lived to 74, that I have not been destroyed, that I have the sanctity of my own life and my own person is a victory and something for which I am grateful.”
Now he wants to be a model to younger gay men and accept aging rather than feeling stuck in the past. “My past is over,” Bell said, “and I must move on.”
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
Subscribe to KFF Health News’ free Morning Briefing.
This article first appeared on KFF Health News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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What is a blood cholesterol ratio? And what should yours be?
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Have you had a blood test to check your cholesterol level? These check the different blood fat components:
- total cholesterol
- LDL (low-density lipoprotein), which is sometimes called “bad cholesterol”
- HDL (high-density lipoprotein), which is sometimes called “good cholesterol”
- triglycerides.
Your clinician then compares your test results to normal ranges – and may use ratios to compare different types of cholesterol.
High blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. This is a broad term that includes disease of blood vessels throughout the body, arteries in the heart (known as coronary heart disease), heart failure, heart valve conditions, arrhythmia and stroke.
So what does cholesterol do? And what does it mean to have a healthy cholesterol ratio?
Shutterstock What are blood fats?
Cholesterol is a waxy type of fat made in the liver and gut, with a small amount of pre-formed cholesterol coming from food.
Cholesterol is found in all cell membranes, contributing to their structure and function. Your body uses cholesterol to make vitamin D, bile acid, and hormones, including oestrogen, testosterone, cortisol and aldosterone.
When there is too much cholesterol in your blood, it gets deposited into artery walls, making them hard and narrow. This process is called atherosclerosis.
High blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Halfpoint/Shutterstock Cholesterol is packaged with triglycerides (the most common type of fat in the body) and specific “apo” proteins into “lipo-proteins” as a package called “very-low-density” lipoproteins (VLDLs).
These are transported via the blood to body tissue in a form called low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.
Excess cholesterol can be transported back to the liver by high-density lipoprotein, the HDL, for removal from circulation.
Another less talked about blood fat is Lipoprotein-a, or Lp(a). This is determined by your genetics and not influenced by lifestyle factors. About one in five (20%) of Australians are carriers.
Having a high Lp(a) level is an independent cardiovascular disease risk factor.
Knowing your numbers
Your blood fat levels are affected by both modifiable factors:
- dietary intake
- physical activity
- alcohol
- smoking
- weight status.
And non-modifiable factors:
- age
- sex
- family history.
What are cholesterol ratios?
Cholesterol ratios are sometimes used to provide more detail on the balance between different types of blood fats and to evaluate risk of developing heart disease.
Commonly used ratios include:
1. Total cholesterol to HDL ratio
This ratio is used in Australia to assess risk of heart disease. It’s calculated by dividing your total cholesterol number by your HDL (good) cholesterol number.
A higher ratio (greater than 5) is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, whereas a lower ratio is associated with a lower risk of heart disease.
A study of 32,000 Americans over eight years found adults who had either very high, or very low, total cholesterol/HDL ratios were at 26% and 18% greater risk of death from any cause during the study period.
Those with a ratio of greater than 4.2 had a 13% higher risk of death from heart disease than those with a ratio lower than 4.2.
2. Non-HDL cholesterol to HDL cholesterol ratio (NHHR)
Non-HDL cholesterol is the total cholesterol minus HDL. Non-HDL cholesterol includes all blood fats such as LDL, triglycerides, Lp(a) and others. This ratio is abbreviated as NHHR.
This ratio has been used more recently because it compares the ratio of “bad” blood fats that can contribute to atherosclerosis (hardening and narrowing of the arteries) to “good” or anti-atherogenic blood fats (HDL).
Non-HDL cholesterol is a stronger predictor of cardiovascular disease risk than LDL alone, while HDL is associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk.
Because this ratio removes the “good” cholesterol from the non-HDL part of the ratio, it is not penalising those people who have really high amounts of “good” HDL that make up their total cholesterol, which the first ratio does.
Research has suggested this ratio may be a stronger predictor of atherosclerosis in women than men, however more research is needed.
Another study followed more than 10,000 adults with type 2 diabetes from the United States and Canada for about five years. The researchers found that for each unit increase in the ratio, there was around a 12% increased risk of having a heart attack, stroke or death.
They identified a risk threshold of 6.28 or above, after adjusting for other risk factors. Anyone with a ratio greater than this is at very high risk and would require management to lower their risk of heart disease.
The greater this ratio, the greater the chance of having a heart attack or stroke. Alex Yeung/Shutterstock 3. LDL-to-HDL cholesterol ratio
LDL/HDL is calculated by dividing your LDL cholesterol number by the HDL number. This gives a ratio of “bad” to “good” cholesterol.
A lower ratio (ideal is less than 2.0) is associated with a lower risk of heart disease.
While there is lesser focus on LDL/HDL, these ratios have been shown to be predictors of occurrence and severity of heart attacks in patients presenting with chest pain.
If you’re worried about your cholesterol levels or cardiovascular disease risk factors and are aged 45 and over (or over 30 for First Nations people), consider seeing your GP for a Medicare-rebated Heart Health Check.
Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle and Erin Clarke, Postdoctoral Researcher, Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Easily Digestible Vegetarian Protein Sources
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It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!
Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!
In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!
As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!
So, no question/request too big or small
❝What could be easily digestible plant sources of protein for a vegetarian. My son is a gym holic and always looking for ways to get his protein from lentils other than eggs. He says to reach his protein requirement for the day, the amount of lentils he has to eat is sometimes heavy on the gut. Would really appreciate if you throw some light on this ❞
Unless one has IBS or similar (or is otherwise unaccustomed to consuming healthy amounts of fiber), lentils shouldn’t be at all problematic for the digestion.
However, the digestive process can still be eased by (speaking specifically for lentils here) blending them (in the water they were cooked in). This thick tasty liquid can then be used as the base of a soup, for example.
Soy is an excellent source of complete protein too. Your son probably knows this because it’s in a lot of body-building supplements as soy protein isolate, but can also be enjoyed as textured soy protein (as in many plant-based meats), or even just soy beans (edamame). Tofu (also made from soy) is very versatile, and again can be blended to form the basis of a creamy sauce.
Mycoproteins (as found in “Quorn” brand products and other meat substitutes) also perform comparably to meat from animals:
Meatless Muscle Growth: Building Muscle Size and Strength on a Mycoprotein-Rich Vegan Diet
See also, for interest:
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12 Signs & Symptoms Of Heart Disease You Can Check Yourself
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Dr. Siobhan Deshauer shows us what to watch out for:
Signs & Symptoms
A heart attack doesn’t have to be the first you know about it!
She says 13 signs, but we only counted 12, unless we count each named presentation of aortic regurgitation and/or infective endocarditis separately, in which case, we’re now looking at 14–18, and in no reckoning were we able to make it add up to 13.
However, the information is more important than the numbers, so…
- Frank’s sign: a diagonal crease running across the earlobe that could be a sign of vascular aging
- Xanthelasma: flat yellowish patches near the corners near the corners of the eyelids
- Corneal arcus: a grayish-white circle around the iris (almost everyone will develop this as we get older, but if it shows up before the age of 45, that’s a red flag to make sure you get your lipid levels checked)
- Amyloidosis: waxy, translucent, firm bumps that you’ll likely see around the eyes, ears, neck and/or tongue
- Livido reticularis: a net-like pattern on the skin which is a sign of poor circulation
- Aortic regurgitation: this shows up as visible pulsations, with a number of named variations shown in the video
- Pitting edema: a visually distinct kind of swelling, usually found in the feet and ankles (test by pressing your fingertip firmly into a bony area of your lower leg, either your shin or your ankle, for about 5 to 15 seconds; if this leaves a visible indent on your skin, that’s pitting edema)
- Shortness of breath: this one’s self-explanatory, but it can be a matter of pulmonary edema, and should be checked out, especially if it gets worse when lying down
- Clubbing: not the nightclub kind, but rather, if you put the backs of your nails together, you should be able to see a triangle of light between them; if you can’t, that’s called digital clubbing, and is most often a sign of chronically low blood oxygen levels
- Infective endocarditis: while this itself is a matter of bacteria or fungi in your bloodstream getting stock on your heart valves, you can see signs of it when chunks break off and ride your bloodstream until they get lodged in the pads of your fingers and toes, forming painful raised pumps or painless flat red or purple lesions, of which a couple of variations are shown in the video
- Splinter hemorrhages: visible reddish brown streaks that look like wood splinters are actually tiny blood clots in the nail bed capillaries
- Irregular pulse (AFib): if you check your pulse and it has a noticeable lack in regularity, that’s a very common form of cardiac arrhythmia (alternatively, you might rely on your smartwatch to check this for you, as most are programmed to do these days)
For more on these plus visual illustrations where applicable, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
How To Survive A Heart Attack When You’re Alone
Take care!
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What Loneliness Does To Your Brain And Body
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Spoiler: it’s nothing good (but it can be addressed!)
Not something to be ignored
Loneliness raises the risk of heart disease by 29% and the risk of stroke by 32%. It also brings about higher susceptibility to illness (flu, COVID, chronic pain, etc), as well as poor sleep quality and cognitive decline, possibly leading to dementia. Not only that, but it also promotes inflammation, and premature death (comparable to smoking).
This is because the lack of meaningful social connections activates the body’s stress response, which in turn increases paranoia, suspicion, and social withdrawal—which makes it harder to seek the social interaction needed to alleviate it.
On a neurological level, cortisol levels become imbalanced, and a faltering dopamine response leads to impulsive behaviors (e.g., drinking, gambling) to try to make up for it. Decreased serotonin, oxytocin, and natural opioids reduce feelings of happiness and negate pain relief.
As for combatting it, the first-line remedy is the obvious one: connecting with others improves emotional and physical wellbeing. However, it is recommended to aim for deep, meaningful connections that make you happy rather than just socializing for its own sake. It’s perfectly possible to be lonely in a crowd, after all.
A second-line remedy is to simply mitigate the harm by means of such things as art therapy and time in nature—they can’t completely replace human connection, but they can at least improve the neurophysiological situation (which in turn, might be enough of a stop-gap solution to enable a return to human connection).
For more on all of this, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
How To Beat Loneliness & Isolation
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Why Your Air Is Probably Worse Quality Than You Think
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…and other items from this week’s health news:
Half of the US has dangerously polluted air
The American Lung Association has published its annual report, and well, it’s not good. In fact, it’s the worst it’s been in over 50 years (since the Clean Air Act became law in 1970).
The worst places of all were listed as follows:
- Bakersfield-Delano, Calif.
- Visalia, Calif.
- Fresno-Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.
- Eugene-Springfield, Ore.
- Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.
- Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, Mich.
- San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, Calif.
- Houston-Pasadena, Texas
- Cleveland-Akron-Canton, Ohio
- Fairbanks-College, Ark.
…but the air pollution is far from being isolated to those places, with 156,000,000 people, nearly half of the US’s population, living in places with dangerously polluted air. While in principle, living in rural areas will mean less immediate pollution from traffic and industry, the far-reaching effects of wildfire smokes (spreading upwards from California or down from Canada) have affected a large area of the US.
To make matters worse, the new government’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced it will remove 31 important environmental regulations:
❝The EPA is at risk—the agency that is protecting our health—through staff cuts, funding cuts. The regulations that have cleaned up our air over time are at risk of being cut. If we see all those cuts become reality, it’s gonna have a real impact on people’s health by making the air they breathe dirtier.❞
Read in full: Nearly half of Americans breathe unhealthy air, new report finds
Related: You May Have More Air Pollution In Your Home Than In The Street
Don’t let your life go to waist
Why do we have a metabolic slump in middle age? Research shows how it has to do with aging stem cells doing their best to try to keep up with the demands placed upon them, and ends up triggering a new type of adult stem cell, which enhances the body’s production of new fat cells, especially around the belly.
❝While it’s well-known that fat cells grow larger with age, the scientists suspected that white adipose tissue also expanded by producing new fat cells, meaning it may have an unlimited potential to grow.❞
Understanding this may be key to new therapies to prevent or reverse that:
Read in full: Why our waistlines expand in middle age—aging stem cells shift into overdrive
Related: Visceral Belly Fat & How To Lose It
Kelpieburger, anyone?
It’s well-established that most people would do well to eat more plants and less meat. While it’s certainly not necessary for good health to go all-vegan or even all-vegetarian, as a general rule of thumb: we must eat more plants, and ideally limit animal products to avoid red and/or processed meat, and unfermented dairy, while keeping any remaining animal products to a moderate intake.
So, there’s been a rise in recent years of meat substitutes, and to say that some of them are more/less healthy than others is an understatement; some are high-quality nutrient-dense superfoods, and others are highly-processed often-allergenic frankenfoods that contain a day’s recommended amount of sodium in a bite or two.
We’ve written before about seaweed (link below), and how certain seaweeds have nutrients that are usually only found in animal products—including vitamin B12, and including EPA, the most readily-usable form of omega-3 (most plants have only ALA, which is versatile and can be converted by our body, but it’s nice to have the EPA ready-made).
So, with this in mind, it’s great to see that kelp (one such seaweed) is now being used to make lab-grown meat!
PS: about that kelpieburger, that’s just this writer being silly; whereas kelp is a kind of seaweed, a kelpie is a creature from Scottish mythology, and is traditionally more likely to eat humans than be eaten by us, and is unrelated to the seaweed, the creature’s name being instead derived from the Scottish Gaelic “cailpeach“.
Read in full: Turning to kelp for sustainable lab-grown meat
Related: A Deeper Dive Into Seaweed
Take care!
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