Whole Life Magazine

June / July 2018

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healthy living By Laura Owens 3-D printing has already successfully replicated a long list of items — cars, clothing, even body parts for medical use. Get ready for 3-D printing to enter the kitchen. At fi rst, the thought of eating "printed" food is just unappealing. And yet, the science behind pushing a button on a kitchen appliance to create customized fl avorful "fast" food the body absorbs effi - ciently, is already here. Moreover, printing food at home or on an industrial scale of- fers the advantage of reducing waste and lowering the cost of storage and transportation in areas of the world that suffer from chronic food shortages. SO HOW DO YOU PRINT SAY, A POTATO? "A: Food materials are pulverized under ultra-low temperature close to -100 degrees Celsius. B: Micro-sized food materials are reconstructed into a porous fi lm-shaped material by jetting a bonding agent under optimized water content and heat condi- tions. The process to build fi lm-type materials is repeated layer by layer to form to a three-dimensional food block. C: The exteri- or of foods and internal microstructure of a food block with spe- cifi c porosity is designed to give texture with controlled human body absorption while eating and ingesting," explains Jin-Kyu Rhee with Ewha Woman's University in South Korea. "We built a platform that uses 3-D printing to create food mi- crostructures that allow food texture and body absorption to be customized on a personal level," said Jin-Kyu Rhee. "We think that one day, people could have cartridges that contain pow- dered versions of various ingredients that would be put togeth- er using 3-D printing and cooked according to the user's needs or preferences." I n response to the worldwide opioid epidemic more healthcare practitioners will follow revised international guidelines to man- age patients' low back pain (LBP). As such, pain medications or invasive surgery will no longer be the initial go-to recommenda- tion. Overwhelming research has shown that pain medication has little or no effect compared to placebo for LBP. "If you have an uncomplicated case of recent-onset LBP, your doctor may now simply provide advice on how to remain active and non-drug methods for pain relief such as heat and massage, and arrange to see you in two weeks to make sure the pain has settled," said Dr. Adrian Traeger, researcher from the Musculo- skeletal Health Group at the University of Sydney's School of Public Health. "If your pain started a long time ago, they might suggest treatments such as yoga, exercise, or mindfulness as treatment. Other effective options could include spinal manipula- tion, acupuncture, or multi-disciplinary rehabilitation programs." N eed an excuse to indulge in dark choc- olate? Science will back you up. Find- ings recently presented at the Experimental Biology 2018 annual meeting reveal that dark chocolate with a high concentration of cacao (70%), has a positive effect on infl ammation, mood, memory, immunity, and stress levels. It's long been known that cacao is a good source of fl avonoids (potent anti-oxidants and anti-infl am- matory agents) but research also reveals benefi - cial cognitive effects. "This is the fi rst time that we have looked at the impact of large amounts of cacao in doses as small as a regular-sized chocolate bar in hu- mans over short or long periods of time and are encouraged by the fi ndings," said Lee S. Berk, DrPH, associate dean of research affairs, School of Allied Health Professions and a researcher in psychoneuroimmunology and food sci- ence from Loma Linda University. "These studies show us that the higher the concentration of cacao, the more positive the impact on cognition, memory, mood, immunity, and other benefi cial effects." 3-D FOOD? THE FUTURE IS ALREADY HERE. DARK CHOCOLATE'S POSITIVE COGNITIVE EFFECTS LOW BACK PAIN? HEALTHCARE PRACTI- TIONERS NOW LESS LIKELY TO PRESCRIBE OPIOID OR INVASIVE TREATMENTS. 14 wholelifetimes.com Rock Body YOUR

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