But they did not innovate and they did not invent. They did not imagine. So they sent a delegation to the US, to Apple, to Microsoft, to Google, and they asked the people there who were inventing the future about themselves. And they found that all of them had read science fiction when they were boys or girls. Fiction can show you a different world. Discontent is a good thing: And escapist fiction is just that: Skills and knowledge and tools you can use to escape for real.
And to give them nowhere to read those books. I had an excellent local library growing up.
They were good librarians. They liked books and they liked the books being read. They taught me how to order books from other libraries on inter-library loans. They had no snobbery about anything I read. They just seemed to like that there was this wide-eyed little boy who loved to read, and would talk to me about the books I was reading, they would find me other books in a series, they would help. They treated me as another reader — nothing less or more — which meant they treated me with respect. I was not used to being treated with respect as an eight-year-old.
But libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university , about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information. I worry that here in the 21st century people misunderstand what libraries are and the purpose of them. If you perceive a library as a shelf of books, it may seem antiquated or outdated in a world in which most, but not all, books in print exist digitally. But that is to miss the point fundamentally. I think it has to do with nature of information.
Information has value, and the right information has enormous value. For all of human history, we have lived in a time of information scarcity, and having the needed information was always important, and always worth something: Information was a valuable thing, and those who had it or could obtain it could charge for that service.
- The Key?
- EFECTOS DE LOS IMANES EN EL AGUA (Spanish Edition).
- Mère suivi de La voix du silence (recueil de poèmes): Maurice Carême (French Edition).
- Hayek and the Common Law (Cato Unbound Book 122009).
According to Eric Schmidt of Google, every two days now the human race creates as much information as we did from the dawn of civilisation until The challenge becomes, not finding that scarce plant growing in the desert, but finding a specific plant growing in a jungle. We are going to need help navigating that information to find the thing we actually need.
Libraries are places that people go to for information. Books are only the tip of the information iceberg: More children are borrowing books from libraries than ever before — books of all kinds: But libraries are also, for example, places that people, who may not have computers, who may not have internet connections, can go online without paying anything: Librarians can help these people navigate that world. I do not believe that all books will or should migrate onto screens: And the reason there are still sharks around is that sharks are better at being sharks than anything else is.
Physical books are tough, hard to destroy, bath-resistant, solar-operated, feel good in your hand: They belong in libraries, just as libraries have already become places you can go to get access to ebooks, and audiobooks and DVDs and web content. A library is a place that is a repository of information and gives every citizen equal access to it. That includes health information. And mental health information.
What the libraries of the future will be like is something we should be imagining now. Literacy is more important than ever it was, in this world of text and email, a world of written information. We need to read and write, we need global citizens who can read comfortably, comprehend what they are reading, understand nuance, and make themselves understood.
Libraries really are the gates to the future. So it is unfortunate that, round the world, we observe local authorities seizing the opportunity to close libraries as an easy way to save money, without realising that they are stealing from the future to pay for today. Fruits and vegetables are universally promoted as healthy.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend you make one-half of your plate fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables include a diverse group of plant foods that vary greatly in content of energy and nutrients. Additionally, fruits and vegetables supply dietary fiber, and fiber intake is linked to lower incidence of cardiovascular disease and obesity. Fruits and vegetables also supply vitamins and minerals to the diet and are sources of phytochemicals that function as antioxidants, phytoestrogens, and antiinflammatory agents and through other protective mechanisms.
In this review, we describe the existing dietary guidance on intake of fruits and vegetables. We also review attempts to characterize fruits and vegetables into groups based on similar chemical structures and functions. Differences among fruits and vegetables in nutrient composition are detailed. We summarize the epidemiological and clinical studies on the health benefits of fruits and vegetables. Finally, we discuss the role of fiber in fruits and vegetables in disease prevention. Diets high in fruits and vegetables are widely recommended for their health-promoting properties.
Fruits and vegetables have historically held a place in dietary guidance because of their concentrations of vitamins, especially vitamins C and A; minerals, especially electrolytes; and more recently phytochemicals, especially antioxidants. Additionally, fruits and vegetables are recommended as a source of dietary fiber. Most countries have dietary recommendations that include fruits and vegetables. Table 1 summarizes the recommendations for 3 countries: Canada 1 , the United Kingdom 2 , and the United States 3.
Although dietary recommendations have many similarities, different countries choose different strategies to separate fruits and vegetables into groups. Orange fruits and vegetables are often high in carotenoids and are placed in a separate category. Yet many dark green vegetables i. Dividing fruit and vegetables into color categories makes sense for menu planning but does not correspond with nutrient content.
Certain fruits and vegetables are rich sources of vitamin C, but these rich sources citrus fruits, strawberries, green peppers, white potatoes are spread over many fruit and vegetable categories. Other fruits and vegetables, including avocado, corn, potatoes, and dried beans, are rich in starch, whereas sweet potatoes are mostly sucrose, not starch.
Fruits except bananas and dark green vegetables contain little or no starch. Often, dietary guidance rules place fruit juices and potatoes in separate categories, because of dietary directives to eat whole fruits and minimize consumption of foods high in fat and sodium, i. The vegetable and fruit categories in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 3 are listed in Table 2. These categories are important, because they drive policy for programs such as school lunch and other supplemental feeding programs.
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans , nutrients of concern in the American diet include potassium, dietary fiber, calcium, and vitamin D. Energy density and intake are also important issues in the American diet. Fruits and vegetables are generally low in energy density and often are good sources of fiber and potassium, but the nutritional contribution of standard servings of fruits and vegetables varies widely 4. The content of phytochemicals, such as polyphenolics, also varies greatly 5 and is not listed in nutrient databases.
We have provided a nutritional comparison of the 10 most commonly consumed fruits and vegetables Table 3. It should be noted that fruits and vegetables are often not consumed in the raw form but may be cooked, fried, or combined with other ingredients prior to consumption. Thus, whereas a boiled potato is a nutrient-dense food, a fried potato may contribute a substantial amount of fat and sodium to the diet. Fiber concentrations range from 0. Bananas and potatoes, although technically belonging to different families, have strikingly similar compositions for energy, fiber, and potassium per standard serving.
A standard serving of iceberg lettuce contains 8 kcal, whereas a potato contains kcal and a banana kcal. Of course, iceberg lettuce is seldom eaten alone. Most estimates of fruit and vegetable consumption are limited by disagreement on what constitutes a serving of a fruit or vegetable. Dietary fiber intake was particularly low in their analysis.
Common serving sizes of fruits and vegetables contain 1—5 g of fiber. Most of the fiber in vegetables and fruits is insoluble fiber, except for citrus fruits Table 3. The importance of fiber for the normal function of the digestive system has been long appreciated. As the scientific support for a role for resistant carbohydrates not captured by the crude fiber method such as pectin, glucans, and oligosaccharides was published, additional analytical methods to measure more carbohydrates resistant to digestion and absorption were needed.
Accepted analytical methods to determine dietary fiber were then developed, especially because fiber was included on the Nutrition Facts panel. Nutrition Facts must include total dietary fiber TDF ; insoluble and soluble fiber also may be listed but are not required unless claims are made. Besides food manufacturers, epidemiologists, scientists, and dietitians need data on the fiber content of foods 8. Yet attempts to define and standardize methods to measure dietary fiber remain contentious. Dietary fiber is essentially the undigested carbohydrates in the diet 9.
These carbohydrates may be fermented in the large intestine, although some resistant fibers, such as purified cellulose, escape any fermentation, whereas other fibers, such as inulin or pectin, are completed broken down by bacteria in the colon. Most analytical schemes to measure dietary fiber are chemical and enzymatic extraction procedures.
Because the TDF method does not isolate all undigested carbohydrates, especially short-chain oligosaccharides, other methods have been developed and accepted to quantitate these compounds. Determining the solubility of fiber was an attempt to relate physiological effects to chemical types of fiber 9. Soluble fibers were considered to have beneficial effects on serum lipids and insoluble fibers were linked with laxation benefits. This division of soluble and insoluble fiber is still used in nutrition labeling. However, despite these commonly used generalizations, scientific evidence supporting that soluble fibers lower cholesterol and insoluble fibers increase stool weight is inconsistent.
Many fiber sources are mostly soluble but still enlarge stool weight, such as oat bran and psyllium. Also, soluble fibers such as inulin do not lower blood lipids. Most fruits and vegetables are concentrated in insoluble fiber, not soluble fiber Table 3. Exceptions to this generalization include cooked potatoes, oranges, and grapefruit.
The USDA Nutrient Database includes only total fiber; there are no official databases that include soluble and insoluble fiber. Lists of content of total, insoluble, and soluble fibers are compilations of data from the USDA, the published literature, and estimated values Often, the values for soluble and insoluble fiber do not add to total fiber or the values for soluble fiber were estimated by subtracting a literature value for insoluble fiber from a USDA value for total fiber.
Not surprisingly, there is much discrepancy in the fiber concentrations for fruits and vegetables. Processing can either increase or decrease the fiber content of a fruit or vegetable. Peeling fruits or vegetables will lower the fiber content A serving of grapefruit without any associated membrane contains much less fiber than a grapefruit serving with membranes 0.
Home cooking generally has a negligible effect on fiber content. Cooking, in general, may even increase the fiber content of a product if water is driven out in the cooking process. Baking or other heat treatments e. Fruit juices are not devoid of fiber Table 4. Increasingly, research indicates that additional properties, such as viscosity and fermentability, are important characteristics in terms of the physiological benefits of fiber Table 5.
Viscous fibers are those that have gel-forming properties in the intestinal tract, and fermentable fibers are those that can be metabolized by colonic bacteria. In general, soluble fibers are more completely fermented and have a higher viscosity than insoluble fibers. However, not all soluble fibers are viscous e. Fibers, like starches, are made mostly of many sugar units bonded together. Unlike most starches, however, these bonds cannot be broken down by digestive enzymes and pass relatively intact into the large intestine.
There, fiber can be fermented by the colonic microflora to gases such as hydrogen and carbon dioxide or it can pass through the large intestine and bind water, increasing stool weight. Although fibers are not converted to glucose, some SCFA are produced in the gut as fibers are fermented. SCFA are absorbed and can be used for energy in the body. This value is derived from data on the relationship of fiber consumption and coronary heart disease CHD risk, although the IOM also considered the totality of the evidence for fiber decreasing the risk of chronic disease and other health-related conditions.
Consequently, the IOM fiber recommendations are highest for populations who consume the most energy, namely young males. Fiber recommendations are lower for women and the elderly. Using this method for determining recommended fiber intake for children is problematic e. The past recommendations for children were based on the age plus 5 rule e. Dietary fiber is listed on the Nutrition Facts panel and 25 g of dietary fiber is the recommended amount in a kcal diet. Dietary fiber on food labels includes both dietary fiber and functional fiber.
In the IOM developed the following set of working definitions for fiber To make recommendations for fiber intake, the IOM used prospective cohort studies that linked fiber intakes to lower risk of cardiovascular disease CVD. In establishing the dietary recommended intakes, the IOM 14 recommended an AI level of 14 g of fiber for each kcal of energy consumed for all individuals from 1 y of age throughout the remainder of their lives. Most commonly consumed foods are low in dietary fiber Table 3. Generally, accepted servings of food contain from 1 to 3 grams of fiber per serving.
Higher fiber contents are found in drier foods such as whole-grain cereals, legumes, and dried fruits. Other fiber sources include over-the-counter laxatives containing fiber, fiber supplements, and fiber-fortified foods. The major sources of dietary fiber in the American diets are white flour and potatoes, not because they are concentrated fiber sources but because they are widely consumed 9.
Vegetarian diets have been promoted since the 18th century by men and women in search of physical and spiritual health Vegetarian theorists who professed to follow the tenets of the ancient philosopher Pythagoras believed that diet should be part of an ascetic lifestyle. Vegetarianism was also symbolic of a commitment to health and social reform. Southgate 16 described the nature and variability of human food consumption and the role of plant foods in these relationships.
A wide range of plant foods is consumed, including most parts of the plant, such as fruits, seeds, leaves, roots, and tubers. The compositional features of plant foods are summarized Table 6 Fruits have a high water content and low levels of protein and fat. The protein is concentrated in the seeds and is resistant to digestion in the small intestine and bacterial degradation in the large intestine.
Fruits contain mostly sugars and fibers, such as pectin, that are extensively fermented in the large intestine. Certain fruits, especially apples and pears, are concentrated in fructose Free fructose is poorly absorbed and would function similar to dietary fiber, escaping absorption in the small intestine while being fermented in the large intestine. This results in SCFA production, which is linked to small amounts of energy being absorbed in the colon. Additionally, it explains why apple and pear juices are used to treat constipation in children.
Fruits are also recommended as a source of vitamin C and potassium. Traditionally, fruits, as foodstuffs were available for a limited time and, when ripe, were sometimes difficult to collect and transport. When ripe, they have a short period of acceptability before senescence intervenes. Leaves and stems are widely consumed by humans. The protein contents are higher than fruits and they contain low amounts of sugar. Leaves and stems are bulky to transport and not very stable when stored. Also, some produce secondary metabolites that have bitter or astringent properties and may produce toxic alkaloidal and other compounds such as hemoglutenens.
Others produce intestinal enzyme inhibitors, such as lectins, which bind to mucosal surfaces and inhibit digestion, especially that of proteins Roots and tubers are important sources of energy as starch Table 6. Some roots such as cassava contain toxic secondary metabolites and require soaking in water before they are safe to consume.
As foodstuffs, roots, and especially tubers, can be time-consuming to collect but can be stored for long periods. Legumes are higher in protein that other vegetables but contain toxic plant metabolites, including saponins and lectins The wide use of these products was much later in evolution, once foods were cooked in water. Southgate 16 lists the following as factors determining food choice: It is generally accepted that the preference for sweet tastes is instinctive and the avoidance of bitter tastes would protect against the consumption of plant foods containing toxic alkaloids or other bitter plant constituents.
Higher fat diets may have had advantages for satiety and concentration of energy and supported the consumption of foods such as meat or fish.
French/Vocabulary/Fruit - Wikibooks, open books for an open world
Southgate 16 discussed the selection of dietary mixtures to meet nutrition requirements. The protein content of fruits is inadequate to support growth and development. Thus, dietary guidance over time has supported the principles of moderation and variety. No food group has all the nutrients needed to support life.
By consuming a variety of foods, humans avoided getting toxic doses of any component and also were successful in obtaining the required protein, vitamins, and minerals needed for growth, development, reproduction, and for sustaining life.
Not the Booker: Sweet Fruit, Sour Land by Rebecca Ley review – post-apocalyptic confusion
Historically, the consumption of certain plant foods, fruits, vegetables, and legumes was thought to prevent or curve ailments ranging from headaches to heart disease Early medicine revolved around the prescription of specific foods for certain disorders. Many of these plant foods are also high in dietary fiber and phytoestrogens, so the later hypotheses often were driven by fiber, carotenoids, phytoestrogens, or other plant chemicals.
A parallel narrative told in the present tense by Jaminder — a woman Mathilde encounters at that fateful party — tells us how the two women flee to Scotland. There they bring up a young son on oatmeal and the dwindling supply of food they scavenge from abandoned supermarkets. One evening, bam… No power. Only darkness… There were no warnings. Eventually the energy companies stepped up the renewable stuff but it was only enough for the odd hour here and there. My faith wavered because so many other logistical questions began to trouble me.
Why was everyone so easily able to get hold of candles when everything else was in such short supply?