Day: 01/13/2024

Pigs With Human Brain Cells and Biological Chips: How Lab-Grown Hybrid Life Forms Are Bamboozling Scientific Ethics

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two-cell embryo mitosis under a microscope in 3D

In September, scientists at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health announced they had successfully grown “humanized” kidneys inside pig embryos.

The scientists genetically altered the embryos to remove their ability to grow a kidney, then injected them with human stem cells. The embryos were then implanted into a sow and allowed to develop for up to 28 days.

The resulting embryos were made up mostly of pig cells (although some human cells were found throughout their bodies, including in the brain). However, the embryonic kidneys were largely human.

This breakthrough suggests it may soon be possible to generate human organs inside part-human “chimeric” animals. Such animals could be used for medical research or to grow organs for transplant, which could save many human lives.

But the research is ethically fraught. We might want to do things to these creatures we would never do to a human, like kill them for body parts. The problem is, these chimeric pigs aren’t just pigs—they are also partly human.

If a human–pig chimera were brought to term, should we treat it like a pig, like a human, or like something else altogether?

Maybe this question seems too easy. But what about the idea of creating monkeys with humanized brains?

Chimeras Are Only One Challenge Among Many

Other areas of stem cell science raise similarly difficult questions.

In June, scientists created “synthetic embryos”—lab-grown embryo models that closely resemble normal human embryos. Despite the similarities, they fell outside the scope of legal definitions of a human embryo in the United Kingdom (where the study took place).

Like human–pig chimeras, synthetic embryos straddle two distinct categories: in this case, stem cell model and human embryo. It is not obvious how they should be treated.

In the past decade, we have also seen the development of increasingly sophisticated human cerebral organoids (or “lab-grown mini-brains”).

Unlike synthetic embryos, cerebral organoids don’t mimic the development of a whole person. But they do mimic the development of the part that stores our memories, thinks our thoughts, and makes conscious experience possible.

A microscope image shows a grid of squares covered with an irregular growth of strand-like neurons.
A network of neural cells grown on an array of electrodes to produce a ‘biological computer chip’. 

Most scientists think current “mini-brains” are not conscious, but the field is developing rapidly. It is not far-fetched to think a cerebral organoid will one day “wake up.”

Complicating the picture even further are entities that combine human neurons with technology—like DishBrain, a biological computer chip made by Cortical Labs in Melbourne.

How should we treat these in vitro brains? Like any other human tissue culture, or like a human person? Or perhaps something in between, like a research animal?

A New Moral Framework

It might be tempting to think we should settle these questions by slotting these entities into one category or another: human or animal, embryo or model, human person or mere human tissue.

This approach would be a mistake. The confusion sparked by chimeras, embryo models, and in vitro brains shows these underlying categories no longer make sense.

We are creating entities that are neither one thing nor the other. We cannot solve the problem by pretending otherwise.

We would also need good reasons to classify an entity one way or another.

Should we count the proportion of human cells to determine whether a chimera counts as an animal or a human? Or should it matter where the cells are located? What matters more, brain or buttocks? And how can we work this out?

Moral Status

Philosophers would say these are questions about “moral status,” and they have spent decades deliberating on what kinds of creatures we have moral duties to, and how strong these duties are. Their work can help us here.

For example, utilitarian philosophers see moral status as a matter of whether a creature has any interests (in which case it has moral status), and how strong those interests are (stronger interests matter more than weaker ones).

On this view, so long as an embryo model or brain organoid lacks consciousness, it will lack moral status. But if it develops interests, we need to take these into account.

Similarly, if a chimeric animal develops new cognitive abilities, we need to reconsider our treatment of it. If a neurological chimera comes to care about its life as much as a typical human does, then we should hesitate to kill it just as much as we would hesitate to kill a human.

This is just the beginning of a bigger discussion. There are other accounts of moral status, and other ways of applying them to the entities stem cell scientists are creating.

But thinking about moral status sets us down the right path. It fixes our minds on what is ethically significant, and can begin a conversation we badly need to have.

This Graphene-Based Brain Implant Can Peer Deep Into the Brain From Its Surfac

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less invasive brain implants could expand their applications

Finding ways to reduce the invasiveness of brain implants could greatly expand their potential applications. A new device tested in mice that sits on the brain’s surface—but can still read activity deep within—could lead to safer and more effective ways to read neural activity.

There are already a variety of technologies that allow us to peer into the inner workings of the brain, but they all come with limitations. Minimally invasive approaches include functional MRI, where an MRI scanner is used to image changes of blood flow in the brain, and EEG, where electrodes placed on the scalp are used to pick up the brain’s electrical signals.

The former requires the patient to sit in an MRI machine though, and the latter is too imprecise for most applications. The gold standard approach involves inserting electrodes deep into brain tissue to obtain the highest quality readouts. But this requires a risky surgical procedure, and scarring and the inevitable shifting of the electrodes can lead to the signal degrading over time.

Another approach involves laying electrodes on the surface of the brain, which is less risky than deep brain implants but provides greater accuracy than non-invasive approaches. But typically, these devices can only read activity from neurons in the outer layers of the brain.

Now, researchers have developed a thin, transparent surface implant with electrodes made from graphene that can read neural activity deep in the brain. The approach relies on machine learning to uncover relationships between signals in outer layers and those far below the surface.

“We are expanding the spatial reach of neural recordings with this technology,” Duygu Kuzum, a professor at UC San Diego who led the research, said in a press release. “Even though our implant resides on the brain’s surface, its design goes beyond the limits of physical sensing in that it can infer neural activity from deeper layers.”

The device itself is made from a thin polymer strip embedded with a dense array of tiny graphene electrodes just 20 micrometers across and connected by ultra-thin graphene wires to a circuit board. Shrinking graphene electrodes to this size is a considerable challenge, say the authors, as it raises their impedance and makes them less sensitive. They got around this by using a bespoke fabrication technique to deposit platinum particles onto the electrodes to boost electron flow.

Crucially, both the electrodes and the polymer strip are transparent. When the team implanted the device in mice, the researchers were able to shine laser light through the implant to image cells deeper in the animals’ brains. This made it possible to simultaneously record electrically from the surface and optically from deeper brain regions.

In these recordings, the team discovered a correlation between the activity in the outer layers and inner ones. So, they decided to see if they could use machine learning to predict one from the other. They trained an artificial neural network on the two data streams and discovered it could predict the activity of calcium ions—an indicator of neural activity—in populations of neurons and single cells in deeper regions of the brain.

Using optical approaches to measure brain activity is a powerful technique, but it requires the subject’s head to be fixed under a microscope and for the skull to remain open, making it impractical for reading signals in realistic situations. Being able to predict the same information based solely on surface electrical readings would greatly expand the practicality.

“Our technology makes it possible to conduct longer duration experiments in which the subject is free to move around and perform complex behavioral tasks,” said Mehrdad Ramezani, co-first author of a paper in Nature Nanotechnology on the research. “This can provide a more comprehensive understanding of neural activity in dynamic, real-world scenarios.”

The technology is still a long way from use in humans though. At present, the team has only demonstrated the ability to learn correlations between optical and electrical signals recorded in individual mice. It’s unlikely this model could be used to predict deep brain activity from surface signals in a different mouse, let alone a person.

That means all individuals would have to undergo the fairly invasive data collection process before the approach would work. The authors admit more needs to be done to find higher level connections between the optical and electrical data that would allow models to generalize across individuals.

But given rapid improvements in the technology required to carry out both optical and electrical readings from the brain, it might not be long until the approach becomes more feasible. And it could ultimately strike a better balance between fidelity and invasiveness than competing technologies.

Noninvasive Brain Stimulation a Breakthrough for Hypnotherapy?

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Less than 2 minutes of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) targeting specific areas of the brain can boost an individual’s ability to be hypnotized, in new findings that could increase the efficacy of therapeutic hypnosis and expand the pool of patients who can benefit from it.

“We were able to increase hypnotizability, a neuropsychological trait previously shown to be as stable as IQ in adulthood,” Co-senior author David Spiegel, MD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, told Medscape Medical News.

“Our findings would allow us to combine neurostimulation with hypnosis to expand the number of people able to benefit from hypnosis and enhance their responsiveness to treatment,” Spiegel added.

The study was published online on January 4, 2024, in Nature Mental Health.

A Breakthrough for Hypnotherapy?

Hypnosis has long been used to treat and manage a host of psychiatric and neurologic symptoms. However, not all patients respond equally to this therapy type.

About two thirds of the general adult population are estimated to be at least somewhat hypnotizable, and 15% are highly hypnotizable.

Through brain imaging, the Stanford team found that high hypnotizability is associated with greater functional connectivity between the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex.

In the double-blind study, they randomly assigned 80 patients (mean age, 48 years; 94% women) with fibromyalgia syndrome to active, or sham, continuous theta-burst stimulation over a personalized neuroimaging-derived left DLPFC target — a technique known as Stanford Hypnosis Integrated with Functional Connectivity-targeted Transcranial Stimulation (SHIFT). Individuals who were naturally highly hypnotizable were excluded.

“A novel aspect of this trial is that we used the person’s own brain networks, based on brain imaging, to target the right spot,” Co-senior author Nolan Williams, MD, with Stanford University, California, said in a news release.

The team chose patients with chronic pain because hypnosis has been shown to be a “highly effective analgesic that has a far better risk/benefit ratio than widely overutilized opioids that have serious fatal overdose potential,” Spiegel told Medscape Medical News.

The pre-to-post SHIFT change in hypnotic induction profile scores, a standardized measure of hypnotizability, was significantly greater in the active vs sham group after just 92 seconds of stimulation (P = .046).

Only the active SHIFT group showed a significant increase in hypnotizability following stimulation, an effect that lasted for about 1 hour.

“Increasing hypnotizability in people who are low-to-medium hypnotizable individuals could improve both the efficacy and effectiveness of therapeutic hypnosis as a clinical intervention,” the researchers wrote.

They note that because this was a “mechanistic study,” it did not explore the impact of increased hypnotizability on disease symptoms. They also note that further studies are needed to assess the dose-response relationships of SHIFT.

Transformative Research

“This line of research is fascinating,” Shaheen Lakhan, MD, PhD, neurologist, and researcher in Boston, told Medscape Medical News.

“We are nearing an era of personalized, noninvasive brain modulation. The ability to individually modulate the DLPFC opens new possibilities for brain health beyond hypnotizability for fibromyalgia,” said Lakhan, who wasn’t involved in the study.

“The DLPFC is involved in executive functions (and disorders) like attention (ADHD), emotional regulation (depression), motivation (schizophrenia), and impulse control (addiction),” he noted.

“Soon we may no longer need large expensive devices like transcranial magnetic stimulators as in this research study. Smartphones could deliver tailored digital therapeutics by engaging specific brain circuits,” Lakhan predicted.

“Imagine using an app to receive treatment customized to your unique brain and needs — all without anything implanted and delivered anywhere. The potential to precisely modulate the brain’s wiring to enhance cognition and mental health, without surgery or physical constraints, is incredibly promising. The possibilities are intriguing and could truly transform how we address brain diseases,” he added.

What Causes One of Stroke’s Most Common Complications?

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The mechanisms underlying poststroke depression (PSD), a common and debilitating complication of stroke, are unclear. Is it neurobiological, psychosocial, or both?

Two studies offer new insight into this question. In the first, investigators systematically reviewed studies comparing stroke and non-stroke participants with depression and found the groups were similar in most dimensions of depressive symptoms. But surprisingly, anhedonia was less severe in patients with PSD compared with non-stroke controls, and those with PSD also showed greater emotional dysregulation.

“Our findings support previous recommendations that clinicians should adapt the provision of psychological support to the specific needs and difficulties of stroke survivors,” lead author Joshua Blake, DClinPsy, lecturer in clinical psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom, told Medscape Medical News.

The study was published online on September 5, 2023, in Neuropsychology Review.

A second study used a machine learning algorithm to analyze blood samples from adults who had suffered a stroke, determining whether plasma protein data could predict mood and identifying potential proteins associated with mood in these patients.

“We can now look at a stroke survivor’s blood and predict their mood,” senior author Marion Buckwalter, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Stanford Medicine, California, said in a news release. “This means there is a genuine association between what’s happening in the blood and what’s happening with a person’s mood. It also means that, down the road, we may be able to develop new treatments for PSD.”

The study was published in November 2023 in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

‘Surprising’ Findings

“There has long been uncertainty over whether PSD might differ in its causes, phenomenology, and treatability, due to the presence of brain injury, related biological changes, and the psychosocial context unique to this population,” Blake said. “We felt that understanding symptomatologic similarities and differences would constructively contribute to this debate.”

The researchers reviewed 12 papers that sampled both stroke and non-stroke participants. “We compared profiles of depression symptoms, correlation strengths of individual depression symptoms with general depression, and latent item severity,” Blake reported.

They extracted 38 symptoms from five standardized depression tools and then organized the symptoms into nine dimensions.

They found mostly nonsignificant differences between patients with PSD and non-stroke controls in most dimensions, including negative affect, negative cognitions, somatic features, anxiety/worry, and suicidal ideation. Those with PSD more frequently had cognitive impairment, and “work inhibition” was more common in PSD.

But the most striking finding was greater severity/prevalence of emotional dysregulation in PSD vs non-stroke depression and also less anhedonia.

Blake acknowledged being “surprised.”

One possible explanation is that stroke recovery “appears to be a highly emotional journey, with extreme findings of both positive and negative emotions reported by survivors as they psychologically adjust,” which might be protective against anhedonia, he suggested.

Moreover, neurologically driven emotional dysregulation “may similarly reduce experiences of anhedonia.”

However, there was a “considerable risk of bias in many of the included studies, meaning it’s important that these findings are experimentally confirmed before stronger conclusions about phenomenological differences can be drawn,” he cautioned.

Common, Undertreated

Buckwalter said her team was motivated to conduct the research because PSD is among the top problems reported by chronic stroke patients, and for most, it is not adequately treated.

However, “despite the high prevalence of PSD, it is very poorly studied in the chronic time period.” In particular, PSD isn’t “well understood at a molecular level.”

She added that inflammation is a “promising candidate” as a mechanism, since neuroinflammation occurs in the stroke scar for decades, and chronic peripheral inflammation can produce neuroinflammation. Aberrant immune activation has also been implicated in major depression without stroke. But large studies with broad panels of plasma biomarkers are lacking in PSD.

To address this gap, the researchers used a proteomic approach. They recruited 85 chronic stroke patients (mean age, 65 years [interquartile range, 55-71], 41.2% female, 65.9% White, 17.6% Asian, and 0% Black) from the Stanford Stroke Recovery Program. Participants were between 5 months and 9 years after an ischemic stroke.

They analyzed a comprehensive panel of 1196 proteins in plasma samples, applying a machine learning algorithm to see whether the plasma protein levels “could be used to predict mood scores, using either the proteomics data alone or adding age and time since stroke.” The proteomics data were then incorporated into multivariable regression models, along with relevant clinical features, to ascertain the model’s predictive ability.

Mood was assessed using the Stroke Impact Scale mood questionnaire, with participants’ mood dichotomized into better mood (> 63) or worse mood (≤ 63).

‘Beautiful Mechanistic Model’

Machine learning verified a relationship between plasma proteomic data and mood, with the most accurate prediction occurring when the researchers added age and time since the stroke to the analysis.

Independent univariate analyses identified 202 proteins that were most highly correlated with mood in PSD. These were then organized into functional groups, including immune proteins, integrins, growth factors, synaptic function proteins, serotonin activity-related proteins, and cell death and stress-related functional groupings.

Although no single protein could predict depression, significant changes in levels of several proteins were found in PSD patients. A high proportion (45%) were proteins previously implicated in major depression, “likely providing a link to the underlying mechanisms of chronic PSD,” the authors stated.

Moreover, 80% of correlated immune proteins were higher in the plasma of people with worse mood, and several immune proteins known to have anti-inflammatory effects were reduced in those with worse mood.

And several pro-inflammatory cytokines were implicated. For example, interleukin 6, which has been extensively studied as a potential plasma marker of major depression in non-stroke cohorts, was significantly elevated in patients with worse mood after stroke (P = .0325), “implicating a broadly overactive immune system in PSD.”

“We demonstrated for the first time that we can use plasma protein measurements to predict mood in people with chronic stroke,” Buckwalter summarized. “This means there is a biological correlate of mood but [it] doesn’t tell us causality.”

To tease out causality, the researchers used their own data, as well as information from a literature review of previous studies, to assemble a model of how the immune response following a stroke could change both serotonin and brain plasticity.

“We used the most highly correlated proteins to construct a beautiful mechanistic model of how poststroke depression may work and how it may relate to mechanisms in major depression,” Buckwalter said.

The model “posits an increased inflammatory response that leads to decreased tryptophan, serotonin, and less synaptic function, all of which contribute to symptoms of depression.”

Currently, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors represent the “best treatment” for people with PSD, but “unfortunately they don’t work for many patients,” Buckwalter noted. The findings “provide clues as to other molecular targets that are candidates novel therapies for poststroke depression.”

Blake commented that the proteomic study “complements the work by us and others interested in understanding PSD.”

Mood disorders “must be understood in terms of the dynamic relationships between structural neurological alterations, cellular and microbiological changes, psychological processes, and the person’s interactions with their social landscape,” Blake said.

New Treatments on the Horizon?

Gustavo C. Medeiros, MD, assistant professor, Department of Psychiatry, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, said that knowing which individuals are more likely to develop PSD “allows treatment teams to implement earlier and more intensive interventions in those who are at higher risk.”

The findings [of the proteomic study] may also “help clarify the neurobiological correlates of PSD…[which] may help the development of new treatments that target these neurobiological changes,” said Medeiros, who wasn’t involved with either study.

However, he warned, “we should interpret their results with caution due to methodological reasons, including the relatively small sample size.”

Also commenting, Bruce Ovbiagele, MD, MSc, MAS, MBA, MLS, professor of neurology, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, California, said the proteomic study has some “clear limitations,” including the lack of Black or African American patients in the cohort, which limits generalizability, “since we know that Black and African American people are disproportionately affected by stroke and have very high rates of PSD and very severe presentation.”

The study by Blake et al. “was interesting because the phenotype of depressive symptoms after stroke differs from what’s seen in the general population, and the authors figured out a way to better understand the nuances of such differences,” said Ovbiagele, who wasn’t involved with either study.

He said he was also surprised by the finding regarding anhedonia and suggested that the findings be replicated in a study directly comparing patients with PSD and patients with depression from the general population.

Medical AI falters when assessing patients it hasn’t seen

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Coloured Positron Emission Tomography brain scans of a schizophrenic shown at bottom versus normal patient at top
Scans showing brain activity during speech for a person with schizophrenia (bottom) and one without (top).

Computer algorithms that are designed to help doctors treat people with schizophrenia do not adapt well to fresh, unseen data, a study has found.

Such tools — which use artificial intelligence (AI) to spot patterns in large data sets and predict how individuals will respond to a particular treatment — are central to precision medicine, in which health-care professionals try to tailor treatment to each person. In work published on 11 January in Science1, researchers showed that AI models can predict treatment outcomes with high accuracy for people in a sample that they were trained on. But their performance drops to little better than chance when applied to subsets of the initial sample, or to different data sets.

To be effective, prediction models need to be consistently accurate across different cases, with minimal bias or random outcomes.

“It’s a huge problem that people have not woken up to,” says study co-author Adam Chekroud, a psychiatrist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. “This study basically gives the proof that algorithms need to be tested on multiple samples.”

Algorithm accuracy

The researchers assessed an algorithm that is commonly used in psychiatric-prediction models. They used data from five clinical trials of antipsychotic drugs, involving 1,513 participants across North America, Asia, Europe and Africa, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. The trials, which were carried out between 2004 and 2009, measured participants’ symptoms before and four weeks after taking one of three antipsychotic drugs (or compared the effects of different doses of the same drug).

The team trained the algorithm to predict improvements in symptoms over four weeks of antipsychotic treatment. First, the researchers tested the algorithm’s accuracy in the trials in which it had been developed — comparing its predictions with the actual outcomes recorded in the trials — and found that the accuracy was high.

Then they used several approaches to evaluate how well the model generalizes to new data. The researchers trained it on a subset of data from one clinical trial and then applied it to another subset from the same trial. They also trained the algorithm on all the data from one trial — or a group of trials — and then measured its performance on a separate trial.

The model performed poorly in these tests, generating seemingly almost random predictions when applied to a data set that it had not been trained on. The team repeated the experiment using a different prediction algorithm, but got similar results.

Better testing

The study’s authors say that their findings highlight how clinical prediction models should be tested rigorously on large data sets to ensure that they are reliable. A systematic review2 of 308 clinical-prediction models for psychiatric outcomes found that only about 20% of models underwent validation on samples other than the ones on which they were developed.

“We should think about it much more like drug development,” says Chekroud. Many drugs show promise in early clinical trials, but falter in the later stages, he explains. “We do have to be really disciplined about how we build these algorithms and how we test them. We can’t just do it once and think it’s real.”

What Social Media Does to the Teen Brain

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Despite the headlines, the impact of social apps on adolescent mental health isn’t so clear.

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Every generation has its moral panic and for Gen Z — teenagers today — it is, undoubtedly, social media.

Recent public health warnings have stoked fears in parents that a generation of kids is doomed because they are always online. Girls, the headlines warn, are at particular risk: Mental health-related E.R. visits are up, anxiety is skyrocketing and they are being inundated with images of the “thin body ideal.”

This article is part of ‘Being 13,’ a project that examines what life is like for teenage girls in the age of social media.

Still, neuroscientists and psychologists who specialize in the teenage brain put it plainly: Yes, social media is of concern because the rapidly developing adolescent brain may be uniquely vulnerable to what the platforms have to offer. But the science is not nearly as settled as some of the most dire headlines would make it seem.

“This is really the first truly digital generation, and we have yet to see how much effect this has,” said Dr. Frances Jensen, a neurologist at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of “The Teenage Brain.”

“We can get snapshots,” she added.

What we know is that the brain matures from back to front, a process that starts in infancy and continues into adulthood, Dr. Jensen explained. And during adolescence, there is a particular flurry of activity in the middle part of the brain, which is associated with rewards and social feedback.

“Areas that have to do with peers, peer pressure, impulsivity and emotion are very, very, very active,” Dr. Jensen said.

Mitch Prinstein, the chief science officer at the American Psychological Association, said that “other than the first year of life, this is the most significant and important change that happens in our brains in our entire lives.”

In scientific terms, what is happening has to do with synapses (the connections that allow neurons to send and receive signals), which grow stronger, while connections that are no longer needed are pruned. (It’s “use it or lose it,” Dr. Jensen explained.)

At the same time, the long-distance connections between brain cells in various parts of the brain are becoming insulated in a fatty substance known as myelin, which allows for messages to travel through the brain much more efficiently than they did before. That “myelination” process is not complete until the mid- to late 20s, Dr. Jensen said. That means that during adolescence, signals do not always travel through the brain rapidly enough to help kids regulate their emotions and impulses, she explained.

Likewise, the prefrontal cortex — which sits behind the forehead, and which is responsible for tasks like weighing consequences and planning — is still maturing in the teenage years.

“The adolescent brain is kind of like a car that — when it comes to the desire for social feedback — has a hypersensitive gas pedal, with relatively low-functioning brakes,” said Dr. Prinstein, who testified before the Senate on the subject earlier this year. “The brain’s inhibition center that says, ‘Maybe don’t follow every single drive and instinct you have’” isn’t fully developed, he said.

While researchers know much more about adolescent brain development now than they did a decade ago, Dr. Prinstein said, proving any kind of causal connection between social media use and poor mental health outcomes is difficult. Reviews of the existing studies on social media and well-being have found them to be inconclusive or inconsistent.

Some studies have tried to measure the question directly, using brain imaging, including a paper published in January (on which Dr. Prinstein was an author), which found that 12-year-olds who habitually checked their social media accounts experienced changes in the areas of the brain associated with social rewards, though it is unclear what caused those changes, or what they mean.

Experts who are studying teens and social media are observing that girls are being hit harder by the current crisis in teen mental health; they say that female hormones may factor in, but the connection to social media use has not been proven scientifically. “Hormones are modifying this process,” Dr. Jensen said. “But in ways we don’t fully understand.”

She is eagerly awaiting results from the ongoing Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development, or A.B.C.D. study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, which is using brain imaging technology to show how development is affected by a range of experiences, including various types of screen time.

Researchers are still tracking the A.B.C.D. study participants into young adulthood, however, and the ever-changing social media landscape compounds how difficult this all is to study, Dr. Jensen said. The apps and sites adolescents are using today are different from those they used just a few years ago.

Yet both Dr. Jensen and Dr. Prinstein noted that social media is not inherently good or bad — a sentiment even the recent public health warnings have echoed. Instead, they sought to emphasize that the changes happening in adolescents’ brains may make them particularly drawn to these platforms and more susceptible to the potential pitfalls.

When tweens start obsessing about their social lives — talking endlessly about their peers and who sits at the “popular table” — that is a sign that they are maturing normally, Dr. Prinstein said.

“That’s how their brains were meant to develop, based on centuries of the social context in which we have all grown up,” he said. But now, adolescents are experiencing those changes in an online world that is “creating the opportunity for reward and social feedback incessantly,” he added. “And that’s the combination we’re concerned about for teens.”

Our Kids Are Living in a Different Digital World

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Dreyfuss is a co-author of the book “Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America.”

Do you know what a Zynbabwe is? Or an upper-decky lip pillow? OK, here’s an easier one — how about just Zyn?

If you are scratching your head, don’t feel bad: Almost no adult I have spoken to has had any idea either. This is despite the fact that the nicotine pouch Zyn is a jewel in the crown of a multibillion-dollar tobacco company. Haven’t heard of nicotine pouches to begin with? Neither had I. But when I ask my 19-year-old neighbor Ian if he knows what a Zynbabwe is, I get a shocked reply: “You know about Zyns?”

You may have seen the tins that contain 15 little white rectangles that look like the desiccant packs labeled “Do Not Eat.” Zyns are filled with nicotine and are meant to be placed under your lip like tobacco dip. No spitting is required, so nicotine pouches are even less visible than vaping. Zyns come in two strengths in the United States, three and six milligrams. A single six-milligram pouch is a dose so high that first-time users on TikTok have said it caused them to vomit or pass out. And while Zyns are presented as a healthier, smoke-free alternative to cigarettes, they are still addictive, according to Robert Jackler, a professor emeritus at the Stanford University School of Medicine who has studied nicotine industry marketing. And dentists are already reporting seeing gum injuries in patients who use pouches.

So how are kids learning about these little pouches? Greyson Imm, an 18-year-old high school student in Prairie Village, Kan., said he was 17 when Zyn videos started appearing on his TikTok feed. The videos multiplied through the spring, when they were appearing almost daily. “Nobody had heard about Zyn until very early 2023,” he said. Now, a “lot of high schoolers have been using Zyn. It’s really taken off, at least in our community.”

As a longtime tech reporter, I thought I was well acquainted with the dangers of the internet. I co-wrote a book about them. I don’t let my young children even know about YouTube. But I was stunned by the vast forces that are influencing teenagers. These forces operate largely unhampered by a regulatory system that seems to always be a step behind when it comes to how children can and are being harmed on social media.

Parents need to know that when children go online, they are entering a world of influencers, many of whom are hoping to make money by pushing dangerous products. It’s a world that’s invisible to us, because when we log on to our social media, we don’t see what they see. Thanks to algorithms and ad targeting, I see videos about the best lawn fertilizer and wrinkle laser masks, while Ian is being fed reviews of flavored vape pens and beautiful women livestreaming themselves gambling crypto and urging him to gamble, too.

Smartphones are taking our kids to a different world. We know this, to some extent. We worry about bad actors bullying, luring or indoctrinating them online — all risks that have been deeply reported on by the media and that schools and public agencies like the Federal Trade Commission are taking great pains to address. The social-media giant Meta has been sued on allegations that using its platforms is associated with issues including childhood anxiety and depression. Yet all of this is, unfortunately, only part of what makes social media dangerous.

The whole issue of influencer-marketing to youth, even for addictive products regulated by the government, falls into a legal and technical canyon so vast that the next generation is being lost in it.

The Rise of the Zynfluencer

First, a quick note about Zyn: A spokesman for its parent company said that while Zyn does contain nicotine, which is addictive, it’s intended as a smoke-free alternative for those already using tobacco or nicotine products, and its marketing is directed to adults 21 and older. It added that the most recent results from the annual National Youth Tobacco Survey found that underage use of nicotine pouches is very low.

Another thing to know about Zyn? The tobacco conglomerate Philip Morris International acquired the Zyn maker Swedish Match in 2022 as part of a strategic push into smokeless products, a category it projects could help drive an expected $2 billion in U.S. revenue in 2024. P.M.I. is also a company that has long denied it markets tobacco products to minors despite decades of research accusing it of just that. One 2022 study alone found its brands advertising near schools and playgrounds around the globe.

It’s conventional wisdom in the advertising world that the younger you get consumers hooked on a brand, the more likely you’ll have them for life. Yet the internet has changed how minors and young adults learn about those products.

Maybe the best way is to explain just how different things are in the social media era from when today’s parents were teenagers. Take me, for example, an Xennial who came of age with grunge and Nickelodeon. This was the ’90s, when magazines ran full-page Absolut Vodka ads in different colors, which my friends and I collected and taped up on our walls next to pictures of a young Leonardo DiCaprio — until our parents tore them down. This was advertising that appealed to me as a teenager but was also visible to my parents, and — crucially — to regulators, who could point to billboards near schools or flavored vodka ads in fashion magazines and say, this is wrong.

Even the most committed parent today doesn’t have the same visibility into what her children are seeing online, so it is worth explaining how products like Zyn end up in social feeds.

Let’s start with influencers. They aren’t traditional pitch people. Think of them more like the coolest kids on the block. They establish a following thanks to their personality, experience or expertise. They share how they’re feeling, they share what they’re thinking about, they share stuff they like — and sometimes they’re paid by the company behind a product and sometimes they’re not. They’re incentivized to increase their following and, in turn, often their bank accounts. Young people are particularly susceptible to this kind of promotion because their relationship with influencers is akin to the intimacy of a close friend.

With ruthless efficiency, social media can deliver unlimited amounts of the content that influencers create or inspire. That makes the combination of influencers and social-media algorithms perhaps the most powerful form of advertising ever invented.

VideoMoments from a video featuring Tucker Carlson greeting an enormous can of Zyn. The video was uploaded by the Nelk Boys, young male influencers with eight million followers on YouTube alone.

Enter Tucker Carlson. Mr. Carlson, the former Fox News megastar who recently started his own subscription streaming service, has become a big Zyn influencer. He’s mentioned his love of Zyn in enough podcasts and interviews to earn the nickname Tucker CarlZyn.

A few days before Christmas, a short video of Mr. Carlson hit YouTube. Uploaded by the popular Nelk Boys — a group of young male prankster influencers with eight million followers on YouTube alone whose company sold $50 million in merchandise in 2020 — the clip shows Mr. Carlson standing in a field as a helicopter flies overhead. From the helicopter dangles a tin of Zyn roughly the height of a T. Rex. “This is the greatest day!” Mr. Carlson yells before running to the giant canister. “The volume of nicotine in here could save the world.”

Corey Henry, a spokesman at Philip Morris International, said Zyn doesn’t have partnerships or product promotion with any social media influencers or celebrities. He said the company is frequently asked if it is sponsoring Mr. Carlson and that Mr. Carlson’s team has approached the company seeking a partnership to promote Zyn — a request the company has declined. P.M.I. also notes that after Mr. Carlson went on a podcast and joked that Zyns were so good they could even cure erectile dysfunction, the company wrote to inform him that no, in no way does Zyn claim to treat E.D.

When I asked about Philip Morris International’s assertions, Mr. Carlson responded, “Pretty funny.” He did not elaborate.

Another “Zynfluencer” in attendance for the Zyn helicopter stunt was Max VanderAarde. You can glimpse him in a video from the event wearing a Santa hat and toasting Mr. Carlson as they each pop Zyns in their mouths. “You can call me king of Zynbabwe, or Tucker CarlZyn’s cousin,” he says in a recent TikTok. “Probably, what, moved 30 mil cans last year?”

Freezer Tarps, Mr. VanderAarde’s TikTok account, appears to have been removed after I asked the company about it. Left up are the large number of TikToks by the likes of @lifeofaZyn, @Zynfluencer1 and @Zyntakeover; those hashtagged to #Zynbabwe, one of Freezer Tarps’s favorite terms, have amassed more than 67 million views. So it’s worth breaking down Mr. VanderAarde’s videos.

He posted both on TikTok and sometimes also on Instagram and YouTube, with a collected 1.2 million followers. Many of his videos are a loop of skits and challenges, jokes and bravado that would make Joe Camel blush.

There’s a video in which he portrays a sixth grader who needs a jolt of nicotine to perform in a spelling bee. “All I need is one rippoccino,” he says, referring to a “rip” of a vape. There’s a video in which he portrays each of a group of high school students trying to calm themselves after consuming too-strong marijuana. And one where he humorously argues that a young child should be able to have a three-milligram Zyn pouch.

All of these videos would just be jokes (in poor taste) if they were seen by adults only. They aren’t. But we can’t know for sure how many children follow the Nelk Boys or Freezer Tarps — social-media companies generally don’t release granular age-related data to the public. Mr. VanderAarde, who responded to a few of my questions via LinkedIn, said that nearly 95 percent of his followers are over the age of 18. (The minimum age to purchase Zyn is 21, wich is also the minimum age to purchase marijuana in most states where recreational marijuana is legal.)

For more details, I turned to Influencity, a software program that estimates the ages of social media users by analyzing profile photos and selfies in recent posts. Influencity estimated that roughly 10 percent of the Nelk Boys’ followers on YouTube are ages 13 to 17. That’s more than 800,000 children.

The helicopter video has already been viewed more than one million times on YouTube, and iterations of it have circulated widely on TikTok.

YouTube said it eventually determined that four versions of the Carlson Zyn videos were not appropriate for viewers under age 18 under its community guidelines and restricted access to them by age. A spokesman for the company said that the platform prohibits content aimed to directly sell, link to or facilitate access to regulated goods and services, including the sale of nicotine products, and that YouTube regularly reviews content to ensure that it complies with the platform’s policies.

Mr. Carlson declined to comment on the record beyond his two-word statement. The Nelk Boys didn’t respond to requests for comment. Meta declined to comment on the record. TikTok said it does not allow content that promotes tobacco or its alternatives. The company said that it has over 40,000 trust and safety experts who work to keep the platform safe and that it prevented teenagers’ accounts from viewing over two million videos globally that show the consumption of tobacco products by adults. TikTok added that in the third quarter of 2023 it proactively removed 97 percent of videos that violated its alcohol, tobacco and drugs policy.

The Memeing of It All

Greyson Imm, the high school student in Prairie Village, Kan., points to Mr. VanderAarde as having brought Zyn “more into the mainstream.” Mr. Imm believes his interest in independent comedy on TikTok perhaps made him a target for Mr. VanderAarde’s videos. “He would create all these funny phrases or things that would make it funny and joke about it and make it relevant to us.”

It wasn’t long before Mr. Imm noticed Zyn blowing up among his classmates — so much so that the student, now a senior at Shawnee Mission East High School, decided to write a piece in his school newspaper about it. He conducted an Instagram poll from the newspaper’s account and found that 23 percent of the students who responded used oral nicotine pouches during school.

Through his interviews, Mr. Imm found that some students, particularly those first hooked on nicotine from vaping, are attracted to Zyn’s high nicotine content and near-invisible delivery method, which is so surreptitious it can be easily consumed during class. “The first time you rip a Juul, you never feel like that again,” the piece quotes a student as saying under a pseudonym.

Over the past year, two other high school newspapers — affiliated with St. Louis Park High School in Minnesota, which has around 1,500 students, and with Lake Forest High School, a school with over 1,400 students in the suburbs of Chicago — have separately published pieces noting the popularity of Zyn, with one calling out Freezer Tarps’s account specifically.

“Upper-decky lip cushions, ferda!” Mr. VanderAarde coos in what was one of his popular TikTok videos, which had been liked more than 40,000 times. The singsong audio sounds like gibberish to most people, but it’s actually a call to action. “Lip cushion” is a nickname for a nicotine pouch, and “ferda” is slang for “the guys.”

“I have fun posting silly content that makes fun of pop culture,” Mr. VanderAarde said to me in our LinkedIn exchange.

Videos like his operate like a meme: It’s unintelligible to the uninitiated, it’s a hilarious inside joke to those who know, and it encourages the audience to spread the message. I’ve spent the past three years studying media manipulation and memes, and what I see in Freezer Tarps’s silly content is strategy. The use of Zyn slang seems like a way to turn interest in Zyn into a meme that can be monetized through merchandise and other business opportunities.

Such as? Freezer Tarps sells his own pouch product, Upperdeckys, which delivers caffeine instead of nicotine and is available in flavors including cotton candy and orange creamsicle. In addition to jockeying for sponsorship, Mr. Carlson may also be trying to establish himself with a younger, more male, more online audience as his new media company begins building its subscriber base. The Nelk Boys, like all influencers, are looking to build their following and engagement numbers — something the virality of the product and one of its star boosters would surely help with.

This is the kind of viral word-of-mouth marketing that looks like entertainment, functions like culture and can increase sales. Philip Morris International, even if it doesn’t intend to, could be benefiting substantially from the social-media excitement around its product.

The More Things Change

What’s particularly galling about all of this is that we as a society already agreed that peddling nicotine to kids is not OK. It is illegal to sell nicotine products to anyone under the age of 21 in all 50 states. There’s good reason for this, as numerous studies have shown that the younger people are when they try nicotine for the first time, the more likely they will become addicted to it. Nearly 90 percent of adults who smoke daily started smoking before they turned 18.

Joe Camel was retired in 1997 after the Federal Trade Commission accused the R.J. Reynolds company of using the goofy mascot to target young people. Soon after, tobacco companies agreed to a host of advertising and marketing restrictions as part of a $206 billion settlement to resolve lawsuits brought by state attorneys general.

Decades later — even after Juul showed the power of influencers to help addict yet another generation of children — the courts, tech companies and regulators still haven’t adequately grappled with the complexities of the influencer economy.

We are living in the absurdities of that loophole. California forbids any tobacco billboards near the middle school by my house in San Francisco, but that law does not prevent unsponsored #Zynbabwe videos from showing up in those students’ feeds at recess.

Facebook, Instagram and TikTok all have guidelines that prohibit tobacco ads and sponsored, endorsed or partnership-based content that promotes tobacco products. Holding them accountable for maintaining those standards is a bigger question.

Government agencies are clearly overwhelmed; they need the resources to enforce the rules already on the books to protect children from exposure to addictive products. And while regulators these days are all over the problems presented by teenagers and social media, their solutions don’t do enough to address this problem.

The F.T.C. has guidelines for influencer sponsorship disclosures and has issued guidance to its staff noting that influencers who promote products to children shouldn’t blur the line between advertising and entertainment. An agency spokeswoman also noted that sponsorship doesn’t necessarily involve money changing hands: It could include anything from the provision of free products to a personal relationship to winning a prize. Because Philip Morris International is not sponsoring any of this content, however, none of those rules seem to apply. The spokeswoman said the agency cannot comment on the specific situation or company.

A recent F.T.C. effort to propose new online privacy safeguards for children addresses ad targeting, but it doesn’t broaden the definition of advertising to encompass unpaid viral influencer content. A federal judge blocked California’s recent legislation requiring websites to implement protections for users under 18, saying the law most likely violated the First Amendment. The New York Times filed a brief in that case, arguing certain provisions in the law were unconstitutional; the state attorney general has appealed the ruling.

A separate piece of legislation, the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act, is awaiting a Senate vote. The bill has decent prospects of passage, but it doesn’t directly address the issue of unpaid influencers, said John Perrino, a policy analyst at the Stanford Internet Observatory. As the bill now stands, state attorneys general could take the social-media platforms to court for amplifying specific kinds of harmful content to those 16 and under, including the promotion of tobacco, gambling and alcohol. Some progressives worry that it would empower red-state warriors to censor L.G.B.T.Q. content.

We need a new definition of advertising that takes into account how the internet actually works. I’d go so far as to propose that the courts broaden the definition of advertising to include all influencer promotion. For a product as dangerous as nicotine, I’d put the bar to be considered an influencer as low as 1,000 followers on a social-media account, and maybe if a video from someone with less of a following goes viral under certain legal definitions, it would become influencer promotion.

Laws should require tech companies to share data on what young people are seeing on social media and to prevent any content promoting age-gated products from reaching children’s feeds. Of course, it’s easy for children to claim they’re older when they create social media accounts, so those efforts must go hand in hand with social media companies putting real teeth behind their efforts to verify the ages of their users. Government agencies should enforce the rules already on the books to protect children from exposure to addictive products, such as the Food and Drug Administration’s mandate to authorize the sale of nicotine products.

Ideally, Americans could rely on lawmakers to do this work, but more likely, it will be left to the courts.

“I think the Supreme Court is going to have to take up this question of new forms of advertising at some point, because it’s very hard to place within the existing body of First Amendment law,” Genevieve Lakier, a University of Chicago Law School professor, said. “But it seems like this is the direction marketing is going.”

I refuse to believe there aren’t ways to write laws and regulations that can address these difficult questions over tech company liability and free speech, that there aren’t ways to hold platforms more accountable for advertising that might endanger kids. Let’s stop treating the internet like a monster we can’t control. We built it. We foisted it upon our children. We had better try to protect them from its potential harms as best we can.

While I was researching this story, my 8-year-old son picked up a package on the sidewalk outside our house. “Mom, can I have some of this gum?” he yelled, opening the carton. “Don’t eat things you find on the ground!” I responded. When I got closer, I realized it wasn’t gum he was holding; it was a package of Zyn. A few weeks earlier, I would have had no idea what it was.

9 Health Benefits of Oranges Backed By Science

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9 Evidence-Based Medicinal Properties of Oranges

The orange is both a literal and symbolic embodiment of the sun, from whose light it is formed and vibrantly emanates. As a whole food it irradiates us with a spectrum of healing properties, the most prominent of which some call “vitamin C activity,” but which is not reducible to the chemical skeleton known as ‘ascorbic acid.’ Science now confirms the orange has a broad range of medicinal properties, which is why the ancients knew it both as a food and a medicine.

As our increasingly overdiagnosed and overmedicated population leaps lemming-like over the cliff of pharmaceutically-driven conventional medicine, with most drugs carrying a dozen or more adverse side effects for every benefit advertised, we can find great wisdom in Meryl Streep’s quote:

“It’s bizarre that the produce manager is more important to my children’s health than the pediatrician.”

~ Meryl Streep

Indeed, many common fruits and vegetables “crouching” at the local produce stand have “hidden healing powers,” and have been used as both medicines and nourishing foods since time immemorial. We’re only just beginning to understand how these foods contain vitally important information-continaing molecules, such as microRNAs, which profoundly impact the expression of our entire genome.

I firmly believe that access to fresh, organic produce is as vital a health necessity as access to water, and clean air. Over the course of hundreds of millions of years, the bodies of our ancestors (whose genes our still within our own) co-evolved with higher, flowering and fruiting plants, and the tens of thousands of phytocompounds (and informational molecules) they contain, many of which now regulate and maintain the expression and health of our genes. Therefore, without the regular consumption of these foods, the developmentn of suboptimal health, and likely many feared acute and chronic diseases, is inevitable.

Orange is one such food-medicine marvel, containing a broad range of compounds increasingly being recognized to be essential for human health. We consider it a sweet treat, its juice a refreshing beverage, but do we ever really reflect on its medicinal properties?  GreenMedInfo.com has indexed no less than 37 distinct health benefits its use may confer, all of which can be explored on our Orange Medicinal Properties research page.  What follows are some of its most well-established therapeutic applications, divided into three parts: the juice, the peel and the aroma:

The Juice of the Orange

Many of us mistakenly look to orange juice today as a dangerous source of highly concentrated fructose — simple “carbs” – without recognizing its profound medicinal properties. Obviously, it is important to avoid conventionally produced and pasteurized forms, and should make an effort to make our own, fresh-pressed from organic oranges. This will ensure that the bioactivity and informational quality of the orange remains intact, and at its highest potency.

Conventional nutritional science still looks at the vitamin C activity of oranges as equivalent to the molecular weight of the compound known as ascorbic acid, without realizing that an orange embodies (as do all whole foods) a complex orchestra of chemistries, the handiwork of millions of years of evolution, which is to say a process of intelligent biological design.  The ‘monochemical nutrient’ — ascorbic acid — is merely a shadow of the vitamin C activity that is carried and expressed through only living foods. The orange, after all, looks like a miniature sun, is formed as a condensation of energy and information from sunlight, and therefore is capable of storing,  and after being eaten, irradiating us with life-giving packets of information-dense gene-regulating nutrition, by a mechanism that will never be fully reducible to or intelligible by the chemical skeleton we know of as ascorbic acid.

The Medicinal Properties of Oranges

This is also why its important to avoid the reductionistic mode of thinking that likes to reduce the infinite complexity of food, with all its many healing properties, down to single nutrients and their molecular weights. Oranges are a great example of this, as vitamin C alone can not account for the wide range of health benefits they possess, especially considering that their peel and their aroma also constitute therapeutic elements of this incredible whole food.

Given that thought, here are some of the evidence-based benefits of orange juice:

  • Orange Juice Improves “Good” Cholesterol: While it is debatable that lowering so-called “LDL” cholesterol is nearly as good for heart health as statin drug manufacturers would like for us to believe, raising “HDL” cholesterol does seem to have real health benefits. This is, however, quite hard to do with diet and nutrition, and impossible through medication. Other than taking high-dose fish oil, few things have been studied to be effective. Except, that is, orange juice.  A 2000 study found that the consumption of 750 mL of orange juice a day, over a 4 weeks, improved blood lipid profiles by decreasing the LDL-HDL cholesterol ratio by 16% in patients with elevated cholesterol.[1]
  • Orange Juice Boosts Bone Health: A 2006 animal study in male rats found that orange juice positively influenced antioxidant status and bone strength.[2]
  • Orange Juice (mixed with Blackcurrant Juice) Reduces Inflammation: A 2009 study in patients with peripheral artery disease found that orange and blackcurrant juice reduced C-reactive protein (11%)  and fibrinogen levels (3%), two concrete measures of systemic inflammation.[3] A 2010 study found that Orange juice neutralizes the proinflammatory effect of a high-fat, high-carbohydrate meal and prevents endotoxin induced toxicity.[4]
  • Orange Juice Boosts Weight Loss: A 2011 study found that children who regularly drank orange juice consumed an average of 523 calories a day more than children who did not drink orange juice regularly. Yet surprisingly, there was no difference in the weight levels between the orange juice consumers and the non-orange juice consumers.[5]
  • Orange Juice May Dissolve Kidney Stones: A 2006 study found that orange juice consumption was associated with lower calculated calcium oxalate supersaturation and lower calculated undissociated uric acid, two indices of lowered urinary calcium stone formation.[6]
  • Orange Juice Extract Suppresses Prostate Proliferation: Despite the fructose content, a 2006 study found a standardized extract of red orange juice inhibited the proliferation of human prostate cells in vitro.[7]

The Peel of the Orange

The peel of the orange contains a broad range of potent, potentially therapeutic compounds.  These include pectin and flavonoid constituents, such as hersperiden, naringin, polymethoxyflavones, quercetin and rutin, various carotenoids, and a major odor constituent known as d-limonene, which makes up 90% of the citrus peel oil content, and is a compound that gets its name from the rind of the lemon, which contains a significant quantity of it. It is listed in the US Code of Federal Regulations as generally recognized as safe (GRAS), and is commonly used as a flavoring agent.  D-limonene has been studied to have potent anti-cancer properties, including against metastatic melanoma.[8]

The whole peel extract has been studied to have a wide range of benefits:

  • Orange Peel exhibits Anti-Arthritic Properties: A 2010 study found that orange peel extract significant suppressed vaccine adjuvant-induced arthritis in a preclinical model.[9]
  • Orange Peel (Flavonoids) Exhibit Anti-Cancer Properties:  A 2007 study found that orange peel extract inhibited tumorigenesis in a preclinical mouse model of adenomatous polyposis and increases programmed cell death.[i]  Two additional 2007studies found that orange peel extract has anti-breast cancer properties. The first, by exhibiting chemopreventive properties against mammary tumor lesions in an animal model.[10] The second, by inhibiting breast cancer cell lines in vitro.[11] Additionally, a 2000 study found that flavanone intake is inversely associated with esophageal cancer risk and may account, with vitamin C, for the protective effect of fruit, especially citrus fruit, on esophageal cancer. [12] Finally, a 2005 study found that carotenoids from orange may help to reverse multidrug resistance.

The Aroma of the Orange

The physiological mechanisms by which aromas may have therapeutic properties (aroma-therapy) are well-established. The small molecules that comprise the aroma of things, are capable of entering directly through the nostrils and into the olfactory lobe, thus enabling them to have profound affects on deep structures within our brain, and as a result our entire bodily and emotional infrastructure.

  • Orange Scent Reduces Anxiety, Boosts Mood:  A 2000 study found that the aroma of orange essential oil reduces anxiety, generates a more positive mood, and a higher level of calmness in women exposed to it in a dental office waiting room.[13]  This finding was confirmed again in a 2005 study, where ambient odors of reduced anxiety and improved mood in patients waiting for dental treatment.[14]

Clearly oranges have a lot to offer as a medicinal food, beyond the obvious aesthetic pleasures they afford. Science may never plumb the depths of their value to our body and mind, but what has been revealed thus far is compelling enough to put it back on the list of ‘super foods’ which we aspire to consume more of in order to nourish ourselves on a deep level.

The Health Benefits of Quinoa

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This versatile seed is packed with protein and fiber to ward off hunger

jar and spoonful of quinoa

Quinoa (pronounced ”KEEN-wah”) is a small, round seed that people in South America have eaten for thousands of years. Today, this food has become a staple grain in the U.S. and other Western countries.

And there’s a reason why quinoa has caught on: It’s loaded with health benefits. Registered dietitian Beth Czerwony, RD, LD, shares why quinoa deserves a place on your plate.

Is quinoa healthy?

Quinoa is a nutrient-dense food, meaning ounce for ounce, you get high amounts of vitamins and minerals. By contrast, foods that are considered nutrient-poor, like fried foods or processed snacks, tend to be high in calories without a lot of nutritional value.

One cup of cooked quinoa contains:

  • 222 calories.
  • 8 grams of protein.
  • 5.2 grams of fiber, 20% of your recommended daily value.

Quinoa is also a good source of:

Quinoa’s health benefits

The many nutrients in quinoa can boost your health. Including it as part of an overall healthy diet can:

1. Boost your digestive health

Most Americans don’t get the recommended amount of dietary fiber, which keeps your digestion running smoothly. Fortunately, quinoa is a tasty way to boost your fiber intake. More fiber in your diet can help reduce constipation and bloating.

“On average, adults should be getting 25 to 35 grams of fiber each day,” says Czerwony. “Using quinoa in place of lower fiber choices like white rice or processed grains could help you have a healthier gut.”

2. Cut your colon cancer risk

The benefits of fiber go beyond better bathroom habits. A high-fiber diet also reduces your risk of colorectal cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in U.S. adults.

“Research shows that people who eat the highest amounts of fiber have a lower risk of colon cancer,” notes Czerwony. “Fiber moves food waste through your colon more quickly. Then, harmful substances that could lead to cell damage don’t have a chance to take hold.”

3. Help control your hunger

It’s hard to lose weight when you feel hungry all the time. But foods with plenty of protein and fiber take longer to digest so you feel fuller, longer. And quinoa isn’t only loaded with fiber, but it’s a complete protein, too.

A complete protein is a food that contains all nine essential amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and you need them for everything from building muscle to keeping your immune system healthy. Your body makes some amino acids, but you must get the “essential” nine from your diet.

“Quinoa is one of the few plant foods that contain all nine essential amino acids,” shares Czerwony. “Most complete proteins are meat, so eating quinoa helps you get your protein without the possible health risks of meat. It’s a great protein option for vegans and vegetarians — and omnivores, too.”

4. Lower your risk of diabetes

Quinoa is a good source of magnesium — an important mineral that many people don’t get enough of. And people with higher amounts of magnesium in their diets may have a lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

But quinoa could have even more diabetes-fighting power. One study found that eating more quinoa helped lower the risk of diabetes in older people who had prediabetes. “Eating quinoa in combination with fruits, vegetables and other whole grains may help prevent diabetes and other metabolic conditions,” says Czerwony.

How to eat quinoa

Quinoa is gluten-free, making it a safe choice if you have celiac disease or gluten intolerance. It comes in several colors, including white, red and black, which all have a slightly different flavor profile. White quinoa is milder in taste than red or black, so start with white if you’re not used to its nutty flavor.

Like other grains, you cook quinoa before eating it. Boil one part quinoa to two parts water, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes until the quinoa has absorbed all the water. This method will create fluffy, soft quinoa. “The versatile, nutty flavor pairs well with sweet or savory dishes,” says Czerwony. “Most people eat quinoa like it’s a grain. You can use quinoa in place of oats, pasta or rice.”

Ready to try quinoa in your kitchen? Get some inspiration with these tasty recipes:

Quinoa allergy and reactions

Quinoa is packed with nutrients, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe for everyone. In rare cases, people can be allergic to saponin, a natural chemical found on the outer shell of quinoa. Seek immediate medical care if you experience symptoms of quinoa allergy, which may include:

Some people aren’t allergic to saponin, but have trouble digesting it. If you notice mild digestive upset like bloating after eating quinoa, next time, soak it for 30 minutes and rinse it thoroughly before cooking it. This removes most of the saponin, which could make it easier on your belly.

“Most people can safely eat quinoa as part of a balanced diet,” reassures Czerwony. “But listen to your body. Healthy foods should make you feel better, not worse. If you think you could have a food allergy or intolerance, let your healthcare provider know.”

A versatile and healthy ‘grain’

Quinoa is loaded with good-for-you nutrients, and is a great alternative to white rice and white pasta. “Add some quinoa into your diet in place of low-fiber, processed carbs to get more nutritional bang for your buck,” suggests Czerwony.

Don’t love the flavor of plain quinoa? Try it in a favorite recipe or salad. “Quinoa is versatile enough to work in place of most recipes that call for a grain,” she adds. “And it works well in salads because you can sprinkle it in with foods you already know and love, and you won’t taste a big difference.”

And don’t write off quinoa if it’s not love at first bite. “Our palates get used to the taste of processed white grains, so it can take some adjusting,” says Czerwony. “But stick with it, and you may find you eventually start to enjoy — or even crave — its hearty texture.”

What Are the Benefits of Chia Seeds?

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Packed with fiber, antioxidants and vitamins, chia seeds are good for you and your gut

A wooden spoon scooping some chia seeds out of a mound of chia seeds in a burlap wrapper on a wooden table.

You may remember chia seeds from the Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Pets® of the 1980s. While you can still buy these sprouting terracotta pets, chia seeds are even more popular today as a health food.

Chia seeds come from a flowering plant native to Mexico and Guatemala called Salvia hispanica, says registered dietitian Kayla Kopp, RD, LD. For centuries, people in those regions have incorporated chia seeds into their diet. With good reason — chia seeds are loaded with nutrition. Some people even call them a superfood.

Why are chia seeds good for you?

Though chia seeds are small, they’re among the best seeds to eat. “Few foods pack such a nutritional punch,” says Kopp.

Chia seeds are an excellent source of many nutrients. One ounce of chia seeds can help contribute toward your daily value of fiber, protein, minerals and B vitamins.

NutrientsMilligrams (mg) in 1 ounce of chia seedsDaily value (mg)Percent of daily value
Fiber9.82835%
Protein4.7509%
Magnesium9542023%
Phosphorus244125020%
Calcium179130014%
Zinc1.31112%
Iron2.21812%
Thiamine (vitamin B1)0.1761.215%
Riboflavin (vitamin B2)0.0481.34%
Niacin (vitamin B3)2.52013%

Chia seeds are also rich in antioxidants, such as polyphenols. Antioxidants fight free radicals that can damage your cells. Free radicals occur in your body naturally, as well as from exposure to harmful substances like:

  • Alcohol.
  • Cigarette smoke.
  • Pollution and other toxic chemicals.
  • Radiation.

When you eat chia seeds, you also get a sizeable dose of healthy fats, including omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s are essential for brain and eye health, immunity and even heart health.

Benefits of chia seeds

The richness of nutrients in chia seeds may translate to many health benefits. Research on the health effects of chia seeds is still in its early stages, but the results so far are positive.

Of course, chia seeds are just one component of a healthy diet, notes Kopp. To maximize their benefit, they should be part of the healthy foods you eat every day.

Some of the benefits of chia seeds include:

1. Improve digestive function

Studies show that chia seeds boost vitamin and mineral absorption in your gut. They also promote the growth of “good” gut bacteria.

“And based on their fiber content, it’s also likely that chia seeds can help relieve constipation,” adds Kopp.

2. Aid with weight loss

Drinking a glass of chia water (chia seeds mixed with water) may help you eat less. Chia seeds expand when they get wet and take up room in your stomach. You may feel less hungry, which can lead to weight loss.

But be careful. “Too many chia seeds can actually cause digestive problems,” cautions Kopp. “If you’re not drinking enough water, the seeds absorb the water in your gut. This may cause constipation, bloating and gas.”

3. Help prevent chronic diseases

Research suggests that chia seeds may help prevent chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and maybe even cancer. Results of human studies show that chia seeds may:

  • Decrease inflammation.
  • Improve control of blood sugar levels.
  • Lower blood pressure.
  • Raise levels of omega-3 fatty acids in your blood.
  • Reduce triglycerides.

But not all studies agree. For example, one study looked at disease risk factors in 76 people who have overweight or obesity. Participants received chia seeds or a placebo (fake) supplement mixed with water twice a day for 12 weeks. The researchers found no differences between the groups in weight, cholesterol levels, blood pressure or inflammation.

More research is needed to better understand the health benefits of chia seeds and the ideal amount you should consume each day. “But even without this evidence, you can confidently include chia seeds in your diet,” says Kopp. “We know they are excellent sources of nutrition and contribute to your overall health. Just don’t go overboard. Moderation is best with any food.”

How to incorporate chia seeds into your diet

If you’re looking for ways to incorporate chia seeds into your diet, Kopp recommends starting with a basic chia pudding. You can also add them to a smoothie or your morning oatmeal. The texture is similar to tapioca.

If you like the texture, try exploring other recipes, such as:

Not a fan of the texture? These chia turkey meatballs provide all the health benefits without the chia-like consistency. And when you use ground chia seeds in baked goods, you won’t even notice the chia seeds are there. Pumpkin-apple chia muffins and morning glory chia seed muffins are two recipes to try. Your body will thank you for the healthy and tasty treat.