Category: Food

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A Vegan Woman Demanded Her Neighbor Stop Using Meat on the Barbecue Because of the Smell

Many vegans aren’t exactly subtle about their beliefs. But one vegan in Australia really took things several steps too far when she sued her neighbor for barbecuing in their own backyard.

Cilla Carden is a vegan massage therapist from Girrawheen, Australia. She claims that her neighbors intentionally barbecued fish in their backyard to bother her.

“They’ve put [the barbecue] there so I smell fish, all I can smell is fish. I can’t enjoy my back yard, I can’t go out there,” Cilla told Nine News Perth.

“It’s deliberate, that’s what I told the courts, it’s deliberate.”

Photo Credit: iStock

To repeat: the argument is that they are deliberately cooking in their own backyard in order to waft the scent of fish, which Cilla does not eat as she is vegan, into Cilla’s yard. To…punish her? Or something?

This seems to be a case of a long-running neighborly feud. Cilla is not only bothered by the barbecuing, but also by her neighbors’ cigarette smoke and the sounds of their children playing, both of which drift into her own yard.

So, she filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the state of Western Australia, accusing her neighbors of breaching residential laws. The legal battle has dragged on since 2017. Her case was thrown out by a tribunal and a Supreme Court judge. Cilla filed an appeal, but that was thrown out too.

“What they are doing is living in their backyard and their home as a family,” said the State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia.

Photo Credit: iStock

Cilla’s neighbors have reportedly conceded to some of Cilla’s demands. They removed the barbecue and banned their kids from playing basketball in the yard.

But Cilla plans to continue fighting them in court.

The post A Vegan Woman Demanded Her Neighbor Stop Using Meat on the Barbecue Because of the Smell appeared first on UberFacts.

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A Vegan Woman Demanded Her Neighbor Stop Using Meat on the Barbecue Because of the Smell

Many vegans aren’t exactly subtle about their beliefs. But one vegan in Australia really took things several steps too far when she sued her neighbor for barbecuing in their own backyard.

Cilla Carden is a vegan massage therapist from Girrawheen, Australia. She claims that her neighbors intentionally barbecued fish in their backyard to bother her.

“They’ve put [the barbecue] there so I smell fish, all I can smell is fish. I can’t enjoy my back yard, I can’t go out there,” Cilla told Nine News Perth.

“It’s deliberate, that’s what I told the courts, it’s deliberate.”

Photo Credit: iStock

To repeat: the argument is that they are deliberately cooking in their own backyard in order to waft the scent of fish, which Cilla does not eat as she is vegan, into Cilla’s yard. To…punish her? Or something?

This seems to be a case of a long-running neighborly feud. Cilla is not only bothered by the barbecuing, but also by her neighbors’ cigarette smoke and the sounds of their children playing, both of which drift into her own yard.

So, she filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the state of Western Australia, accusing her neighbors of breaching residential laws. The legal battle has dragged on since 2017. Her case was thrown out by a tribunal and a Supreme Court judge. Cilla filed an appeal, but that was thrown out too.

“What they are doing is living in their backyard and their home as a family,” said the State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia.

Photo Credit: iStock

Cilla’s neighbors have reportedly conceded to some of Cilla’s demands. They removed the barbecue and banned their kids from playing basketball in the yard.

But Cilla plans to continue fighting them in court.

The post A Vegan Woman Demanded Her Neighbor Stop Using Meat on the Barbecue Because of the Smell appeared first on UberFacts.

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Here’s How Intermittent Fasting May Enhance Your Immune System

For years, it’s been argued whether intermittent fasting is good for us. Is it worth the hunger? Are there any actual health benefits from doing it?

Over the years, some people have claimed that this method has helped with rheumatoid arthritis and other ailments. Studies have also shown that intermittent fasting has improved multiple sclerosis in mice.

Well, there is more evidence that fasting may be beneficial to our health.

Photo Credit: Needpix

Three new studies explore how fasting might temporarily offer certain health benefits to humans. All three studies saw researchers give mice less food or go on a water-only diet for about a day. Each study researched a different type of immune cell and discovered that each type of cell had a unique response to the fasting.

Two of the three studies looked at the T and B cells. These cells help create immunity against past infections and identify and destroy pathogens. When the mice fasted, the T and B cells disappeared from the bloodstream and the organ tissues. The immune cells took shelter in the bone marrow to protect themselves. In other words, the cells migrated to the bone marrow, which is food rich, to survive during fasting.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The studies further showed that when the T cells did retreat to the bone marrow, they became supercharged. T cells produce molecules to kill pathogens and cancers, so this is potentially a very important find. When mice were injected with a pathogen they’d had in their bodies before, the fasting mice fought it off in only two days, as opposed to the week it took the regularly-fed mice.

Study author Dr. Yasmine Belkaid said, “It’s a striking enhancement. The goal is to [eventually] understand this magic soup in the bone marrow and extract what’s making that response. If we can train our cells to do these things, we can have an extraordinary impact on human health.”

The third study revolved around the white blood cells that attack pathogens. These are called monocytes. When you’re sick, this type of cell induces inflammation. This study showed that monocytes went down in the bloodstreams of both mice and humans when they fasted; the mice’s bone marrow was still producing monocytes, just not as many were being released into the bloodstream.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Fasting somehow creates a “roadblock” between bone marrow and blood for the monocyte cells. If fewer monocytes are moving throughout the body, overall inflammation goes down.

These studies suggest that intermittent fasting can be a good thing, and we can manipulate our immune systems based on changing how much we eat.

Something to think about…that’s for sure.

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This Is How 5 Famous Fast-Food Restaurants Got Their Names

We all know fast food isn’t great for us, but that doesn’t mean you (and I) still don’t love it! Just in moderation, right? Or something like that…

Anyway, we all have our favorite fast food joints, but do you know where their names come from?

Let’s take a look and find out!

1. Whataburger

#TBT to the 9th Whataburger location in Corpus Christi, TX which must have been spectacular at night with its neon sign.

Posted by Whataburger on Thursday, March 7, 2019

What a taste, what a place! The regional burger chain started at a time when there were no patties bigger than 4 inches. What to do? Founder Harmon Dobson wanted a 5-inch burger that would make people exclaim “What a burger!” And the name stuck…

2. Wendy’s

Posted by Wendy's on Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy’s restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969, and he named his burger joint after his daughter Melinda, who was nicknamed Wendy.

3. Subway

Posted by Subway on Thursday, October 4, 2018

In 1965, Pete’s Super Submarines was opened in Bridgeport, Connecticut, by Frank DeLuca and Peter Buck. They renamed it “Pete’s Subway” a few years later. In 1974, DeLuca and Buck wanted to franchise their shop, so they simply renamed it Subway.

4. Starbucks

Where it all started. #coffeepassion

Posted by Starbucks on Saturday, January 12, 2013

Starbucks co-founder Gordon Bowker heard from a friend who worked at an ad agency that words that started with “st” were considered powerful. While brainstorming, they came across a map with a town on it called “Starbo.” Bowker was reminded of the character Starbuck from Moby Dick and a coffee giant was born. They also considered calling the place “Pequod,” after the ship in Moby Dick.

Side note: Pequod’s is the name of my favorite deep-dish pizza place in Chicago. Booyah!

5. Domino’s

Eenie, meenie, miny, moe…LOL, JK. We'll take a slice of each!

Posted by Domino's Pizza on Tuesday, March 27, 2018

The pizza favorite owes its name to a deadline. Brothers Jim and Tom Monaghan bought a pizza place called DomiNick’s in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in 1960. When the original owner decided he wanted to retain his rights to the name, the brothers had to make a decision so they could put their name in the phone book before a deadline.

Domino’s was reportedly dreamed up by a delivery driver named Jim Kennedy. Good choice.

The post This Is How 5 Famous Fast-Food Restaurants Got Their Names appeared first on UberFacts.

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A Teen Went Blind After Eating a Diet of French Fries and White Bread for Years

No one really warns you that eating only crappy food could cost you one of your five precious senses.

The teen – who, sadly, was living with parents and not on the street – had subsisted on fries, Pringles, white bread, and the occasional slice of processed ham for years. Not surprisingly, he started experiencing medical issues at the age of 14.

His parents brought him to the doctor, who found that his hearing problems were due to poor vitamin intake.

“His diet was essentially a portion of chips from the local fish and chip shop every day. He also used to snack on crisps – Pringles – and sometimes slices of white bread and occasional slices of ham, and not really any fruit and vegetables.”

He was diagnosed with a vitamin B12 deficiency. B12 is found in fish, meat, dairy, and eggs, and it is essential for proper brain function, forming red blood cells and new DNA, proteins, hormones, and fat. Doctors provided him with supplements, but recommended a diet change.

Eventually, they conceded that he was more than just a “fussy eater” and diagnosed an eating disorder called Arfid – avoidant restrictive food intake disorder. The disorder causes people to limit their food based on appearance, texture, presentation, taste, or past negative experience. People who suffer from Arfid often also have anxiety and will limit their food to the point that it affects their health, without intervention.

At 17, he returned to the doctor complaining of vision loss, and admitted he had quit taking his supplements. His original doctor said, “He had blind spots right in the middle of his vision. That means he can’t drive and would find it really difficult to read, watch TV, or discern faces.”

His eyesight had deteriorated quickly and was past the point of recovering through treatment. According to his mother, he showed no other obvious signs of poor health along the way. “He has always been skinny so we had no weight concerns. You hear about junk food and obesity all the time – but he was as thin as a rake.”

The boy was severely malnourished, suffering a catastrophic loss of minerals from his bones and has been referred to mental health services to treat his eating disorder.

For her part, his mother blames the doctors.

“They said it was all in his head. By the time they realised what was wrong it was too late to save his sight. The whole ordeal has been very traumatic. I want to scream about what we have gone through.”

I mean, now I want to scream about parents who don’t realize that diet could cause problems for a child in their care, so I guess we’re all traumatized here.

I guess I can still see, at least.

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This Is How Much Red Meat, Eggs, and Dairy You Should Eat to Be Healthy

There are a ton of arguments about the dangers of eating too much meat these days – health, the environment, animal cruelty – and no shortage of people ready to shout at you why you should be reducing your consumption.

But if you’re less concerned about macro issues and more worried about how much you consume for reasons to do with your own personal body, you might be wondering what science and health experts recommend.

Which, in that case, I’ve got you covered.

Or at least, the Heart Foundation of Australia does.

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Thin patties cooked medium rare?? I need to check this out for myself. . Repost • @mybizzykitchen Dear @atwoodchi – I work just blocks from your location and am kicking myself for not trying you sooner ??‍♀️ Located in the heart of the loop near the theater district, it’s a perfect location on State Street. Being the burger snob that I am, I had to try the “Atwood Burger.” @slagelfamilyfarm beef, American cheese, special sauce, pickles and romaine I love a medium rare, rare burger and the fact that they nailed mid rare on two thin patties is amazeballs. The beef was flavorful, juicy, and the bun to burger ratio was perfect ?? @joshuanmeyer – let me know the next time you are in the city – you’d love this burger! @ww peeps might be thinking ? “Biz, that’s so many points!” But I ate half my plate, counted it as 17 points, loved every bite and I’m moving on. That’s the best part about @ww is that you never have to give up the foods you love – you can always make it work. I am now adding this burger into my Top 5 that I’ve tried in Chicago! My sister @jenncooks got the Nashville hot chicken sandwich and it was delicious too ✅ Raise your hand ? if you want a bite ??

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They’ve published updated recommendations for red meat, eggs, and dairy, and, honestly, people have been caught a bit off guard by what they say.

For red meat, it’s recommended that we eat a maximum of 350g per week – that’s just two servings of beef, lamb, pork, or veal every seven days.

The average burger patty is around 200g, and a small steak is around 100g (a dinner steak would be more like 150-200g).

Australians, like Americans, eat a lot of red meat – an average of around 250g a DAY, which works out to 1750g every week.

Clearly, that is far above the recommended levels.

Health officials would like to see people substitute Omega-3 rich fish, lentils, beans, chickpeas, and kidney beans for at least some portions of their usual red meat intake.

Moving on…

Eggs are considered great sources of both proteins and vitamins and minerals, but they should be enjoyed in moderation due to high levels of cholesterol (though you can safely have 1 or 2 a day, unless you have risk factors like high cholesterol, heart disease, or diabetes).

And the HFA actually recommends that people look into including more full fat dairy into their diets (whole milk, full fat greek yogurt) because it increases blood glucose and make you feel fuller throughout the day, which can actually help reduce total calorie intake (except, again for people with heart issues and high cholesterol). They also say it’s not a bad idea to consider adding some non-milk ‘dairy’ into your diet, like almond milk or cashew cheese.

Basically, we all need to take a hard look at increasing our fruit and vegetable intake. The two food groups contain loads of fiber, vitamins, and minerals that can help reduce our risk of heart disease and diabetes, unlike processed foods rich in sugar, fat, and salt, which contribute heavily to weight gain and poor cardiovascular health.

To sum up: you can enjoy your burger or steak, but just say yes to a big side of broccoli, too.

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In Case You Didn’t Know, Chuck E. Cheese Has a Pretty Dark Origin Story

Did you even know the character Chuck E. Cheese had an origin story? Also, did you ever learn what the “E”, as in his middle initial, stands for?

“Entertainment.” Charles Entertainment Cheese. Who knew? Mind = BLOWN.

Chuck E. Cheese’s has over 600 locations, so I’m willing to bet that you spent at least a little bit of time there as a kid at a pizza party for someone’s birthday. I’m sorry, but this article might make you feel a little bit differently about your time frolicking throughout the arcade and getting your photo taken with Chuck E.

Celebrate Family Day with some friendly All You Can Play competition! Who would win in your fam?

Posted by Chuck E. Cheese on Monday, September 24, 2018

Because his background is kinda depressing. Hang on for the mouse’s tale…

Chuck E. Cheese is an orphan, and he grew up in St. Mariana’s Orphanage. He loved to play games and sing the “Happy Birthday” song. The online book detailing his childhood reads, “Because Chuck E. was an orphan, no one knew when his birthday was, so he never had a birthday party of his own. This made Chuck E. sad.”

Chuck E. liked celebrating other kids’ birthdays since he didn’t know his own. At these parties, he developed a love for pizza and video games. After a while, Chuck E. won $50 in a Pong video game tournament, bought a bus ticket to New York and left the orphanage.

But New York City was hard. “Chuck E. would sleep above the kitchen in a pizzeria run by a friendly Italian chef named Pasqually. Chuck E. loved the smell of pizza plus he had plenty of music: Pasqually would listen to, and sing along to, the radio. It was a great place to live.”

Pasqually the chef eventually discovered Chuck E. was living there and he freaked out. Chuck E. didn’t know what else to do so he sang. Pasqually was shocked that a mouse could sing and he decided he was going to make Chuck E. a star.

Chuck E.’s first singing performance was a major bomb and people started walking out of the restaurant. He eventually sang “Happy Birthday” and that went over much better with the crowd. Chuck E. created a franchise for pizza, games, and, most importantly, birthdays, and it turned into the Chuck E. Cheese’s that we all know and love.

As you can imagine, people on Twitter were blown away.

Wow, that was an emotional rollercoaster. I’m spent.

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10 Facts so Good You Might Just Jump Around

Let’s cut the chit chat and the small talk RIGHT NOW. I’m here with 10 facts that you absolutely NEED in your life right now.

They’re so good, in fact, that I have a feeling you’re going to jump for joy. So go ahead and do it! …After you enjoy these facts.

1. Been there, done that

Photo Credit: did you know?

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2. Ouch…

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3. Freaky!

Photo Credit: did you know?

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4. That’s interesting

Photo Credit: did you know?

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5. It works!

Photo Credit: did you know?

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6. Give it a shot

Photo Credit: did you know?

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7. Here come the waterworks

Photo Credit: did you know?

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8. I’ll take two!

Photo Credit: did you know?

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9. Harry Potter critters

Photo Credit: did you know?

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10. Hey, Gramps!

Photo Credit: did you know?

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Might as well JUMP!

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Bananas Are Being Decimated by a Deadly Fungus, and There Are No Good Solutions to Fix It

For roughly 15 years, scientists have been warning the interested banana-eating public about a future without their favorite fruit.

That future is almost now.

The inside of a banana plant with Panama disease
Photo Credit: Public Domain

The fish and wildlife conservation office of Colombia, known as ICA, recently confirmed the banana-killing fungus was detected in the northeastern area of the country. Called Tropical Race 4, or TR4, the deadly blight causes bananas to contract Panama disease, which causes wilting and splitting in banana plants before finally resulting in a total collapse of the plant. Since the fungus has finally hit South America (it has been in Asia for years), it won’t be long before it spreads throughout the rest of the continent.

The only way to counteract the devastation is to just come up with a new banana. Major banana players, Chiquita and Dole, have been working with scientists on a new TR4 resistant strain of bananas.

But is it too late?

Normal, healthy Cavendish bananas
Photo Credit: Augustus Binu

One of the collaborators of the new banana project is Massimo Iorizzo, an assistant professor at the Plants for Human Health Institute and Department of Horticultural Sciences at North Carolina State University. He has been working with Dole on genetic editing with the goal of understanding how genes play a part in disease resistance and then creating a plan to transfer that resistance. An Australian group has already had significant success in this area.

But Iorizzo believes the research got off to a late start. Since the time the pathogen was discovered, no one was interested in finding a disease resistant banana because so many healthy plants existed.

Also, replicating pathogens and conditions and finally getting plants mature enough to study takes years. So while Iorizzo and other researchers are slowly getting closer to their goals, the final genotype of disease resistant banana plant is still a long way off.

Photo Credit: Pixnio

If you’re a banana aficionado, you might know that this has all happened before. Back in the 1960s, Panama disease utterly destroyed the beloved Gros Michel banana, so growers replaced them with the less flavorful Cavendish banana (the one we have in grocery stores now). Now, the Cavendish banana is on the TR4 chopping block. It is likely that the fungus will soon take out other types of bananas, too.

In 2005, botanist Juan Fernando Aguilar with the Honduran Foundation for Agricultural Investigation (FHIA) said they were developing alternative bananas as they waited for Panama Disease to take root.

Yet, neither they, nor any other group of researchers, have presented us with their top banana.

And so the public waits, and the bananas keep dying.

The post Bananas Are Being Decimated by a Deadly Fungus, and There Are No Good Solutions to Fix It appeared first on UberFacts.