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World

Hong Kong is criminalizing CBD as a ‘dangerous drug’ alongside heroin

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Hong Kong
CNN
 — 

Two years ago, cannabidiol was booming in Hong Kong. The compound, known as CBD, was popping up in cafes, restaurants and stores, with businesses eager to join an exciting new market already well-established in countries around the world.

That all came to an end on Wednesday, when CBD was criminalized in the city and declared a “dangerous drug” on the same level as heroin and fentanyl.

CBD is a chemical found in hemp and marijuana plants. It’s non-psychoactive, meaning it won’t get you high; instead, CBD is often marketed for everything from helping to relieve pain and inflammation to reducing stress and anxiety.

It has surged in global popularity in recent years, with brands adding it to shampoos, drinks, body oils, gummy bears and dog treats. In the United States and Europe, you might find it sold in coffee shops and farmers’ markets, mom-and-pop and high-end department stores, and even drugstore chain CVS.

But last June, draft legislation banning CBD was introduced to Hong Kong lawmakers, and went into effect February 1.

Under the new legislation, possession and consumption of any amount of CBD is punishable by seven years in prison and a fine of 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($127,607). Manufacturing, importing or exporting CBD is punishable by life imprisonment.

Even travelers could face penalties, with the government warning people not to risk “buying these products or bringing them back to Hong Kong.”

The same penalties and conditions apply for cannabis, also known as marijuana.

The ban has forced CBD-focused businesses to close, while other brands have had to roll back or get rid of CBD products.

“It’s a shame because there’s a missed opportunity for sure,” said Luke Yardley, founder of Yardley Brothers Craft Brewery, which had previously sold four products containing CBD – a lager and three nonalcoholic drinks. “I think that anything that you can’t get intoxicated from, and helps you to relax, is probably a good thing.”

The health benefits and risks of CBD have long been debated. In the US, most CBD products are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which means that people can purchase items off the shelf.

Some research has found that the compound can ease pain and may be useful for those who have trouble sleeping. The FDA has approved one drug with CBD to treat rare, severe forms of epilepsy.

But concerns have also been raised, with some experts saying there isn’t enough scientific research into how CBD works or its potential effects.

In January, the FDA announced CBD products will require a new regulatory pathway in the US, saying: “We have not found adequate evidence to determine how much CBD can be consumed, and for how long, before causing harm.”

In Hong Kong, which has strict cannabis laws, the government’s concern revolves around the possible presence of its sister compound THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) in CBD products. THC is also found in cannabis plants and is responsible for the “high.”

In the US and Europe, CBD products can carry up to 0.3% – a trace amount – of THC, but even that is not acceptable in Hong Kong. And while CBD products could avoid this trace amount by using a pure form of CBD, most manufacturers mix other compounds for higher potency.

From 2019 to early 2022, Hong Kong authorities launched nearly 120 “operations” seizing and testing CBD products from restaurants and shops to warehouses, Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung said last year. He added that more than 3,800 products were found to contain THC, though did not give further detail on the proportion or percentage of THC in those products.

In a written response to questions raised in the Legislative Council, Tang suggested the government’s traditionally tough stance on THC should be applied to CBD “to protect public heath.”

“We have adopted ‘zero tolerance’ towards drugs and we understand that it is a matter of public concern,” he said. “Therefore, the government plans to control CBD.”

The Action Committee Against Narcotics, a group of representatives from “the fields of social work, education, medical and community service” that advises the government on anti-drug policy, said in a statement last November that it supported the CBD ban and the government’s goal of “a drug-free Hong Kong.”

Many businesses began bracing themselves for regulatory changes in 2022, ahead of the government’s official announcement this January.

Yardley Brothers Craft Brewery stopped making its CBD beverages late last year in anticipation of the ban, and all its leftover products had sold out by December, said Yardley.

He said the CBD drinks had been “very popular,” amounting to roughly 8% of the business, as they offered adults a nonalcoholic option to enjoy when out with friends. At some bars, regulars “come in every weekend for a glass of CBD lemonade,” he said.

Now “there’s less choice for consumers in Hong Kong. That’s not necessarily a step in the right direction,” he said.

Some companies have been forced to shut down completely.

Med Chef, a restaurant that opened in 2021, once boasted of offering Hong Kong’s “first full menu of CBD-infused cocktails, appetizers and entrees.” In a news release during its launch, the restaurant founder emphasized the health and wellness benefits of CBD.

But by early November 2022, it had closed its doors. “We have worked hard in the past to present CBD in its most acceptable form and integrate our food and beverage concepts,” the restaurant wrote in a farewell post on Instagram. “It’s a pity that things didn’t go the way we hoped. Under the latest policies of those in power, we ultimately aren’t able to continue forward with everyone.”

Hong Kong’s first CBD cafe, Found, had also made headlines when it opened in 2020. It sold a variety of CBD products including infused coffee and beers, oils to help sleep, powder to sprinkle into food and pet products to help ease stiff joints.

It closed at the end of September 2022, telling patrons on Instagram that their positive feedback had shown that “CBD could help to cope with the stresses of daily life.”

“Sadly, in spite of the demonstrable positive impact, it has now become apparent that the Hong Kong government intends to adopt new legislation to prohibit the sale and possession of CBD,” it wrote.

Yardley said the government’s concerns about THC were valid – but argued they could have implemented better regulations, such as requiring certifications or standards of safety around CBD samples.

“It’s quite an extreme response to just fully ban it,” he said.

And while the brewery will continue operating, with plans for alternative nonalcoholic beverages to fill the gap, Yardley hopes CBD will be back on the menu. “I hope for the future that it might become legal again,” he said.

This story has been updated to include details of the draft legislation and its introduction.



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Business

3M to Cut Jobs as Demand for Its Products Weakens

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3M Co.

said it is cutting 2,500 manufacturing jobs globally as the company confronts turbulence in overseas markets and weakening consumer demand.

The maker of Scotch tape, Post-it Notes and thousands of other industrial and consumer products said Tuesday that it expects lower sales and profit in 2023 after demand weakened significantly in late 2022, pulling down quarterly performance.

The St. Paul, Minn., company forecast sales this year to slip from last year’s level with weak demand for consumer products and electronic items, particularly smartphones, tablets and televisions, for which 3M provides components. Fourth-quarter sales for 3M’s consumer business dropped nearly 6% from the same period a year earlier.

“Consumers sharply cut discretionary spending and retailers adjusted their inventory levels,” 3M Chief Executive

Mike Roman

said during a conference call. “We expect the demand trends we saw in December to extend through the first half of 2023.”

3M shares were down 5.2% at $116.25 Tuesday afternoon, while major U.S. stock indexes were little changed.

The company said demand for its disposable face masks is receding, as healthcare providers spend less on Covid-19 measures, and mask demand returns to prepandemic levels. 3M said it expects mask sales to decline between $450 million and $550 million this year from 2022.

3M executives said the spread of Covid infections in China is weighing on sales there, and sporadic plant closings are interrupting industrial production. China also is reducing production of consumer electronics because of weakening consumer demand, they said, and 3M’s exit from its business in Russia last year will also contribute to lower sales this year.

The 2,500 layoffs represent roughly 2.6% of the company’s workforce, which a regulatory filing said was about 95,000 at the end of 2021. Mr. Roman declined to specify where the job cuts will take place, or whether the company might make further reductions as it reviews its supply chains and prepares to spin off its healthcare unit.

“We’re looking at everything that we do as we manage through the challenges that we’re facing in the end markets and we focus on driving improvements,” he said.

The company said it would take a pretax restructuring charge in the first quarter of $75 million to $100 million.

Mr. Roman said the job cuts were unrelated to litigation facing the company. 3M is defending against allegations that the so-called forever chemicals it has produced for decades have contaminated soil and drinking water. It is also involved in litigation over foam earplugs its subsidiary Aearo Technologies LLC sold to the military. About 230,000 veterans have filed complaints in federal court alleging the earplugs failed to protect them from service-related hearing loss.

3M has said the earplugs were effective when military personnel were given sufficient training on how to use them. In litigation over firefighting foam that incorporated forms of forever chemicals, 3M is expected to argue that the products were produced to U.S. military specifications, granting the company legal protection as a government contractor.

In both cases, Mr. Roman said the company is focused on finding a way forward.

3M said the strong value of the U.S. dollar continues to erode sales from other countries when foreign currencies are converted to dollars.

The company forecast that sales for the quarter ending March 31 will be down 10% to 15% from the same period last year. For the full year, the company projects sales to fall between 6% and 2%, and expects adjusted earnings of $8.50 a share to $9 a share. The company earned $10.10 a share in 2022, excluding special charges, and analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting the company to earn $10.22 in 2023.

For the fourth quarter, the company posted a profit of $541 million, or 98 cents a share, compared with $1.34 billion, or $2.31 a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out one-time items, including costs tied to exiting the company’s operations making forever chemicals, adjusted earnings came to $2.28 a share. Analysts were looking for adjusted earnings of $2.36 a share, according to FactSet.

Sales fell 6% to $8.08 billion for the quarter, slightly topping expectations of analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Mr. Roman said there were promising signs for some of 3M’s businesses, including in biopharma processing, home improvement and automotive electrification, the last of which he said grew 30% in 2022 to become a roughly $500 million business.

“There’s more to it than consumer electronics, but certainly the consumer-electronics dynamics are the story of the day,” he said.

Write to John Keilman at john.keilman@wsj.com and Bob Tita at robert.tita@wsj.com

Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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Health

These healthy diets were associated with lower risk of death, according to a study of 119,000 people across four decades

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Eat healthy, live longer.

That’s the takeaway from a major study published this month in JAMA Internal Medicine. Scientists led by a team from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that people who most closely adhered to at least one of four healthy eating patterns were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, cancer or respiratory disease compared with people who did not adhere as closely to these diets. They were also less likely to die of any cause.

“These findings support the recommendations of Dietary Guidelines for Americans that multiple healthy eating patterns can be adapted to individual food traditions and preferences,” the researchers concluded, adding that the results were consistent across different racial and ethnic groups. The eating habits and mortality rates of more than 75,000 women from 1984 to 2020 over 44,000 men from 1986 to 2020 were included in the study.

The four diets studied were the Healthy Eating Index, the Alternate Mediterranean Diet, the Healthful Plant-Based Diet Index and the Alternate Healthy Eating Index. All four share some components, including whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes. But there are also differences: For instance, the Alternate Mediterranean Diet encourages fish consumption, and the Healthful Plant-Based Diet Index discourages eating meat.

The Alternate Mediterranean Diet is adapted from the original Mediterranean Diet, which includes olive oil (which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids), fruits, nuts, cereals, vegetables, legumes and fish. It allows for moderate consumption of alcohol and dairy products but low consumption of sweets and only the occasional serving of red meat. The alternate version, meanwhile, cuts out dairy entirely, only includes whole grains and uses the same alcohol-intake guideline for men and women, JAMA says.

The world’s ‘best diets’ overlap with study results

The Mediterranean Diet consistently ranks No. 1 in the U.S. News and World Report’s Best Diets ranking, which looks at seven criteria: short-term weight loss, long-term weight loss, effectiveness in preventing cardiovascular disease, effectiveness in preventing diabetes, ease of compliance, nutritional completeness and health risks. The 2023 list ranks the top three diets as the Mediterranean Diet, the DASH Diet and the Flexitarian Diet. 

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) Diet recommends fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, poultry, fish and low-fat dairy products and restricts salt, red meat, sweets and sugar-sweetened beverages. The Flexitarian Diet is similar to the other diets in that it’s mainly vegetarian, but it allows the occasional serving of meat or fish. All three diets are associated with improved metabolic health, lower blood pressure and reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health and co-author of the latest study, said it’s critical to examine the associations between the U.S. government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans and long-term health. “Our findings will be valuable for the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which is being formed to evaluate current evidence surrounding different eating patterns and health outcomes,” he said.

Reducing salt intake is a good place to start. In 2021, the Food and Drug Administration issued new guidance for restaurants and food manufacturers to, over a two-and-a-half-year period, voluntarily reduce the amount of sodium in their food to help consumers stay under a limit of 3,000 milligrams per day — still higher than the recommended daily allowance. Americans consume around 3,400 milligrams of sodium per day, on average, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people consume less than 2,300 milligrams each day.

Related: Eating 400 calories a day from these foods could raise your dementia risk by over 20%

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US

Brittney Griner: After meager rations in a Russian penal colony, the basketball star is welcomed back to the US with a Christmas tree and barbecue

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CNN
 — 

Freed from a Russian penal colony and back on American soil, WNBA star Brittney Griner got her first taste of a return to normal life over the weekend at a Texas military facility.

The Olympic gold medalist arrived Friday at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and is now staying with her wife, Cherelle Griner, in a residential environment on the base – one her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, decorated with a Christmas tree.

Griner, 32, is “upbeat, thankful and hopeful,” Colas told CNN, after returning to the states from what US officials deemed wrongful detention in Russia.

For Griner – who spent nearly 10 months in Russian custody – “normal” has meant indulging in her favorites, including a Dr Pepper soda, the first drink she had in the airplane hangar after landing.

Griner’s relatives also have visited her off and on for hours, bringing San Antonio barbecue for her to enjoy.

The athlete has been eating far more nutritious food and supplements compared with her time in detention, Colas said. “Her energy level was really high,” she added.

Griner also got a haircut to clean up her “Russian fade,” as her friends and family jokingly call it, Colas said. Griner’s long, signature dreadlocks were cut while in captivity as she continuously battled the flu because her wet hair kept freezing, Colas said.

At the Texas military base, Griner hit the basketball court for the first time since she was imprisoned: Her first move was a dunk. Months ago, in pre-trial detention in Russia, Griner was offered a basketball and a hoop, but she declined to play, Colas said.

“I think it’s fair to say that her picking up a ball voluntarily and the first thing being a dunk … it was really encouraging,” Colas said. “She was really excited.”

Griner seems to be in good physical health, but whether she returns to the WNBA in the spring season will be up to her, according to Colas.

“Is she going to be ready? We’ll see,” Colas said.

Griner arrived at the San Antonio medical facility for a routine evaluation after her release Thursday as part of a prisoner exchange between the US and Russia for notorious convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Concerns had grown that Griner was being used as a political pawn amid Russia’s war on Ukraine after she was arrested on drug charges in February at an airport in Russia, where she plays basketball in the WNBA off-season, then later sentenced to nine years in prison.

Now, Griner’s focus will be on recuperating, including getting physical and psychological support from the government to help with her reintegration.

“She’s had a lot of psychological support,” Colas said. “The resources are very robust. It’s very supportive and very BG-centered. It’s about her developing agency.”

That care is heavily focused on helping formerly captive people regain a sense of control over their lives after lengthy detentions. Griner opted into the Department of Defense’s post-isolation program, which other wrongfully detained Americans, including Trevor Reed, have participated in, Colas said; Reed is former Marine released in April after three years of wrongful detention in Russia.

It’s not clear how long Griner and her wife will stay in San Antonio, but the decision is hers, Colas said.

But what’s become clear is that “normal” will always look different after the ordeal Griner went through. For security reasons, for instance, the Griners have already begun the process of finding a new home, Colas said.

Though it remains unknown if fans will see Griner back on the basketball court in May, one thing is certain, Colas said: Griner is eager to use her power and influence to help others – especially Paul Whelan, another American still imprisoned in Russia.

“It was one of the first things she asked me about,” Colas said. “She’s very, very concerned about that. And will be sending a message to Paul.”

Whelan already sent a message through US representatives who spoke with him in recent days: “Please tell Brittney that Paul said he’s happy she’s home,” he told her, according to Colas.

“She is absolutely thinking about the future,” Colas said. “She’s already talking about the position that she’s now in to help other people come home.”

Whelan – a US, Irish, British and Canadian citizen – is imprisoned in a Russian penal colony after he was arrested in December 2018 on espionage charges, which he has denied. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He, like Griner, has been declared wrongfully detained by US officials.

The US tried to persuade Russia to swap both Griner and Whelan for arms dealer Bout, but Russian officials would not budge on the matter, with Russia saying both of the Americans’ cases were handled differently based on the charges each of them faced.

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US

Brittney Griner is back in the US and dunking again after almost 10 months detained in Russia

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CNN
 — 

Fresh off her elated return to the US after months in Russian custody, two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is back on a basketball court.

But her reintegration into American life is far from over, as is the fight by WNBA players for equity as US professional athletes. The issue was highlighted by the 10-month detention of Griner, who’d gone to Russia to play basketball in the WNBA offseason.

Griner’s first move on a Texas basketball court Sunday was a dunk, her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, told CNN on Monday.

Confirming news first reported by ESPN, Colas said Griner wore a pair of black Chuck Taylor shoes, Phoenix Suns shorts and a T-shirt touting Title IX as she played. Months ago, in pre-trial detention in Russia, Griner was offered a basketball and a hoop, but she declined to play, Colas said.

“I think it’s fair to say that her picking up a ball voluntarily and the first thing being a dunk … it was really encouraging,” Colas said. “She was really excited.”

The 32-year-old had arrived two days earlier at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for routine evaluation after her release Thursday from what US officials deemed wrongful detention. She was freed amid Russia’s war in Ukraine in a prisoner swap for notorious convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

It’s not clear how long Griner will stay at the medical center, Colas said.

“She’s had a lot of psychological support,” Colas said. “The resources are very robust. It’s very supportive and very BG centered. It’s about her developing agency.”

Griner’s agent believes she will try to “utilize her fame for good” but did not detail what that would look like. Colas said Griner opted into the Department of Defense’s Post Isolation Support Activities, or PISA, program that has served other wrongfully detained Americans.

It’s also unclear whether the Phoenix Mercury center will return to the WNBA. The 2023 regular season begins May 19, with training camps typically opening a month before.

“If she wants to play, it will be for her to share,” Colas told ESPN’s T.J. Quinn. “She has the holidays to rest and decide what’s next without any pressure. She’s doing really, really well. She seems to have endured this in pretty incredible ways.”

But the fact that Griner typically plays basketball in Russia during her WNBA offseasons highlights the inequities faced by professional female athletes in the US, fellow WNBA players said.

For many years, WNBA players have spent their offseasons playing in international leagues, where they often can earn more money.

“We’ve been talking about the pay disparity for a long time, and players have been going overseas for a long time,” Elizabeth Williams, a Washington Mystics player and secretary for the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, told CNN on Monday.

“I think this is when people are realizing … the dangers and perils of people going overseas and the impact of what those pay equity issues are.”

Griner was arrested on drug charges at a Russian airport in February and sentenced to nine years in prison. As concerns grew that Griner was being used as a political pawn, efforts to negotiate her release took months.

Now back on US soil, it’s not clear how long Griner will stay in Texas for medical evaluation.

“I’m understanding that it’s going to be a few more days before she gets out,” former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson told CNN on Sunday.

Richardson and his center privately work on behalf of families of hostages and detainees. He previously traveled to Russia to discuss Griner’s release, as well as Paul Whelan, a US Marine veteran who was wrongfully detained and remains in custody.

Richardson said it’s important to give former detainees like Griner ample time to get settled.

“We’ve got to give them a little space, a little time to readjust because they’ve had a horrendous experience in these Russian prisons,” said Richardson, who served as US ambassador to the United Nations in the Clinton administration.

While held in a Russian penal colony, Griner was unable to perform the work done by many female prisoners due to her size, Griner’s Russian lawyer Maria Blagovolina told ESPN and confirmed to CNN.

Most of the women in the penal colony worked sewing uniforms, but the 6-foot-9 Griner was too tall to sit at a work table, and her hands were too big to manage the sewing. So instead, she carried fabric all day, her attorney said.

On the day of her release, Griner had a feeling she would be going home, said Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, who led the prisoner exchange mission in the United Arab Emirates.

But it didn’t feel real until he boarded the plane and told her: “On behalf of the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and Secretary of State Tony Blinken, I’m here to take you home,” Carstens recalled to CNN.

He described Griner as an intelligent, compassionate, humble and patriotic person who immediately wanted to thank all the crew members who helped her.

“When she finally got onto the US plane, I said, ‘Brittney, you must have been through a lot over the last 10 months. Here’s your seat. Please feel free to decompress. We’ll give you your space,’” Carstens recalled.

“And she said, ‘Oh no. I’ve been in prison for 10 months now listening to Russian, I want to talk. But first of all, who are these guys?’ And she moved right past me and went to every member on that crew, looked them in the eyes, shook their hands and asked about them and got their names, making a personal connection with them. It was really amazing,” Carstens said.

Griner spent 12 hours of an 18-hour flight talking with Carstens “about everything under the sun,” he said.

When the government plane landed at Kelly Field, the person who emerged from the plane looked very different. Her long, signature deadlocks had been cut while in captivity. Griner continuously battled the flu while detained because her hair kept freezing and she was unable to dry them, Colas said.

The new do was not a surprise to her family, though, as she sent word home weeks earlier about her decision to cut her hair, Colas said.

In San Antonio this weekend, she received a real hair cut to clean up her “Russian fade” as her friends and family jokingly call it. After that, she hit the basketball court.

Griner’s life has been forever altered, and adjusting to everyday life could be difficult.

Jorge Toledo – one of the “Citgo 6” – was released in October as part of a prisoner swap after being detained during a 2017 business trip to Venezuela with other oil and gas executives from the Citgo Petroleum Corporation.

After returning home, Toledo told CNN, he’s had trouble sleeping and felt anxiety during normally mundane tasks such as driving.

But Toledo said he was part of a program in San Antonio that involved six days with a group of psychologists. He said the program was “extremely important” for his reintegration and hopes Griner can take advantage of similar resources.

While many celebrate Griner’s return, the fate of another American held in Russia remains uncertain.

Whelan – a US, Irish, British and Canadian citizen – is imprisoned in a Russian penal colony after he was arrested in December 2018 on espionage charges, which he has denied. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

With Griner back in the US, Richardson said he’s optimistic about Whelan’s release – noting Russia previously offer a trade for Whelan.

The US tried to persuade Russia to swap both Griner and Whelan for Bout, but Russian officials would not budge on the matter. Russia said the Americans’ cases were handled differently based on the charges each of them faced.

“This was not a choice of which American to bring home,” Biden said last week. “Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s. And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul’s release, we are not giving up. We will never give up.”

Whelan said he was happy Griner was released, but told CNN, “I am greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release, especially as the four-year anniversary of my arrest is coming up.”

Griner is eager to use power and influence to help others, her agent said, especially Whelan.

“It was one of the first things she asked me about,” Colas said. “She’s very, very concerned about that. And will be sending a message to Paul.”

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Business

20 dividend stocks with high yields that have become more attractive right now

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Income-seeking investors are looking at an opportunity to scoop up shares of real estate investment trusts. Stocks in that asset class have become more attractive as prices have fallen and cash flow is improving.

Below is a broad screen of REITs that have high dividend yields and are also expected to generate enough excess cash in 2023 to enable increases in dividend payouts.

REIT prices may turn a corner in 2023

REITs distribute most of their income to shareholders to maintain their tax-advantaged status. But the group is cyclical, with pressure on share prices when interest rates rise, as they have this year at an unprecedented scale. A slowing growth rate for the group may have also placed a drag on the stocks.

And now, with talk that the Federal Reserve may begin to temper its cycle of interest-rate increases, we may be nearing the time when REIT prices rise in anticipation of an eventual decline in interest rates. The market always looks ahead, which means long-term investors who have been waiting on the sidelines to buy higher-yielding income-oriented investments may have to make a move soon.

During an interview on Nov 28, James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and a member of the Federal Open Market Committee, discussed the central bank’s cycle of interest-rate increases meant to reduce inflation.

When asked about the potential timing of the Fed’s “terminal rate” (the peak federal funds rate for this cycle), Bullard said: “Generally speaking, I have advocated that sooner is better, that you do want to get to the right level of the policy rate for the current data and the current situation.”

Fed’s Bullard says in MarketWatch interview that markets are underpricing the chance of still-higher rates

In August we published this guide to investing in REITs for income. Since the data for that article was pulled on Aug. 24, the S&P 500
SPX,
-0.50%
has declined 4% (despite a 10% rally from its 2022 closing low on Oct. 12), but the benchmark index’s real estate sector has declined 13%.

REITs can be placed broadly into two categories. Mortgage REITs lend money to commercial or residential borrowers and/or invest in mortgage-backed securities, while equity REITs own property and lease it out.

The pressure on share prices can be greater for mortgage REITs, because the mortgage-lending business slows as interest rates rise. In this article we are focusing on equity REITs.

Industry numbers

The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit) reported that third-quarter funds from operations (FFO) for U.S.-listed equity REITs were up 14% from a year earlier. To put that number in context, the year-over-year growth rate of quarterly FFO has been slowing — it was 35% a year ago. And the third-quarter FFO increase compares to a 23% increase in earnings per share for the S&P 500 from a year earlier, according to FactSet.

The NAREIT report breaks out numbers for 12 categories of equity REITs, and there is great variance in the growth numbers, as you can see here.

FFO is a non-GAAP measure that is commonly used to gauge REITs’ capacity for paying dividends. It adds amortization and depreciation (noncash items) back to earnings, while excluding gains on the sale of property. Adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) goes further, netting out expected capital expenditures to maintain the quality of property investments.

The slowing FFO growth numbers point to the importance of looking at REITs individually, to see if expected cash flow is sufficient to cover dividend payments.

Screen of high-yielding equity REITs

For 2022 through Nov. 28, the S&P 500 has declined 17%, while the real estate sector has fallen 27%, excluding dividends.

Over the very long term, through interest-rate cycles and the liquidity-driven bull market that ended this year, equity REITs have fared well, with an average annual return of 9.3% for 20 years, compared to an average return of 9.6% for the S&P 500, both with dividends reinvested, according to FactSet.

This performance might surprise some investors, when considering the REITs’ income focus and the S&P 500’s heavy weighting for rapidly growing technology companies.

For a broad screen of equity REITs, we began with the Russell 3000 Index
RUA,
-0.18%,
which represents 98% of U.S. companies by market capitalization.

We then narrowed the list to 119 equity REITs that are followed by at least five analysts covered by FactSet for which AFFO estimates are available.

If we divide the expected 2023 AFFO by the current share price, we have an estimated AFFO yield, which can be compared with the current dividend yield to see if there is expected “headroom” for dividend increases.

For example, if we look at Vornado Realty Trust
VNO,
+1.01%,
the current dividend yield is 8.56%. Based on the consensus 2023 AFFO estimate among analysts polled by FactSet, the expected AFFO yield is only 7.25%. This doesn’t mean that Vornado will cut its dividend and it doesn’t even mean the company won’t raise its payout next year. But it might make it less likely to do so.

Among the 119 equity REITs, 104 have expected 2023 AFFO headroom of at least 1.00%.

Here are the 20 equity REITs from our screen with the highest current dividend yields that have at least 1% expected AFFO headroom:

Company Ticker Dividend yield Estimated 2023 AFFO yield Estimated “headroom” Market cap. ($mil) Main concentration
Brandywine Realty Trust BDN,
+1.82% 		11.52% 12.82% 1.30% $1,132 Offices
Sabra Health Care REIT Inc. SBRA,
+2.02% 		9.70% 12.04% 2.34% $2,857 Health care
Medical Properties Trust Inc. MPW,
+1.90% 		9.18% 11.46% 2.29% $7,559 Health care
SL Green Realty Corp. SLG,
+2.18% 		9.16% 10.43% 1.28% $2,619 Offices
Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. HPP,
+1.55% 		9.12% 12.69% 3.57% $1,546 Offices
Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. OHI,
+1.30% 		9.05% 10.13% 1.08% $6,936 Health care
Global Medical REIT Inc. GMRE,
+2.03% 		8.75% 10.59% 1.84% $629 Health care
Uniti Group Inc. UNIT,
+0.28% 		8.30% 25.00% 16.70% $1,715 Communications infrastructure
EPR Properties EPR,
+0.62% 		8.19% 12.24% 4.05% $3,023 Leisure properties
CTO Realty Growth Inc. CTO,
+1.58% 		7.51% 9.34% 1.83% $381 Retail
Highwoods Properties Inc. HIW,
+0.76% 		6.95% 8.82% 1.86% $3,025 Offices
National Health Investors Inc. NHI,
+1.90% 		6.75% 8.32% 1.57% $2,313 Senior housing
Douglas Emmett Inc. DEI,
+0.33% 		6.74% 10.30% 3.55% $2,920 Offices
Outfront Media Inc. OUT,
+0.70% 		6.68% 11.74% 5.06% $2,950 Billboards
Spirit Realty Capital Inc. SRC,
+0.72% 		6.62% 9.07% 2.45% $5,595 Retail
Broadstone Net Lease Inc. BNL,
-0.93% 		6.61% 8.70% 2.08% $2,879 Industial
Armada Hoffler Properties Inc. AHH,
-0.08% 		6.38% 7.78% 1.41% $807 Offices
Innovative Industrial Properties Inc. IIPR,
+1.09% 		6.24% 7.53% 1.29% $3,226 Health care
Simon Property Group Inc. SPG,
+0.95% 		6.22% 9.55% 3.33% $37,847 Retail
LTC Properties Inc. LTC,
+1.09% 		5.99% 7.60% 1.60% $1,541 Senior housing
Source: FactSet

Click on the tickers for more about each company. You should read Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information for free on the MarketWatch quote page.

The list includes each REIT’s main property investment type. However, many REITs are highly diversified. The simplified categories on the table may not cover all of their investment properties.

Knowing what a REIT invests in is part of the research you should do on your own before buying any individual stock. For arbitrary examples, some investors may wish to steer clear of exposure to certain areas of retail or hotels, or they may favor health-care properties.

Largest REITs

Several of the REITs that passed the screen have relatively small market capitalizations. You might be curious to see how the most widely held REITs fared in the screen. So here’s another list of the 20 largest U.S. REITs among the 119 that passed the first cut, sorted by market cap as of Nov. 28:

Company Ticker Dividend yield Estimated 2023 AFFO yield Estimated “headroom” Market cap. ($mil) Main concentration
Prologis Inc. PLD,
+1.29% 		2.84% 4.36% 1.52% $102,886 Warehouses and logistics
American Tower Corp. AMT,
+0.68% 		2.66% 4.82% 2.16% $99,593 Communications infrastructure
Equinix Inc. EQIX,
+0.62% 		1.87% 4.79% 2.91% $61,317 Data centers
Crown Castle Inc. CCI,
+1.03% 		4.55% 5.42% 0.86% $59,553 Wireless Infrastructure
Public Storage PSA,
+0.11% 		2.77% 5.35% 2.57% $50,680 Self-storage
Realty Income Corp. O,
+0.26% 		4.82% 6.46% 1.64% $38,720 Retail
Simon Property Group Inc. SPG,
+0.95% 		6.22% 9.55% 3.33% $37,847 Retail
VICI Properties Inc. VICI,
+0.41% 		4.69% 6.21% 1.52% $32,013 Leisure properties
SBA Communications Corp. Class A SBAC,
+0.59% 		0.97% 4.33% 3.36% $31,662 Communications infrastructure
Welltower Inc. WELL,
+2.37% 		3.66% 4.76% 1.10% $31,489 Health care
Digital Realty Trust Inc. DLR,
+0.69% 		4.54% 6.18% 1.64% $30,903 Data centers
Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. ARE,
+1.38% 		3.17% 4.87% 1.70% $24,451 Offices
AvalonBay Communities Inc. AVB,
+0.89% 		3.78% 5.69% 1.90% $23,513 Multifamily residential
Equity Residential EQR,
+1.10% 		4.02% 5.36% 1.34% $23,503 Multifamily residential
Extra Space Storage Inc. EXR,
+0.29% 		3.93% 5.83% 1.90% $20,430 Self-storage
Invitation Homes Inc. INVH,
+1.58% 		2.84% 5.12% 2.28% $18,948 Single-family residental
Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. MAA,
+1.46% 		3.16% 5.18% 2.02% $18,260 Multifamily residential
Ventas Inc. VTR,
+1.63% 		4.07% 5.95% 1.88% $17,660 Senior housing
Sun Communities Inc. SUI,
+2.09% 		2.51% 4.81% 2.30% $17,346 Multifamily residential
Source: FactSet

Simon Property Group Inc.
SPG,
+0.95%
is the only REIT to make both lists.

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Sports

‘Profoundly unjust:’ Gianni Infantino launches explosive tirade against Western critics on eve of World Cup

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Doha, Qatar
CNN
 — 

On the eve of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA President Gianni Infantino launched a tirade against Western critics of the controversial tournament in an explosive hour-long monologue.

Infantino, the boss of world soccer’s governing body, looked on glumly as he addressed hundreds of journalists in Doha, Qatar, Saturday.

“We are taught many lessons from Europeans, from the Western world,” he said, referring to criticisms of Qatar’s human rights record.

“What we Europeans have been doing for the last 3000 years, we should be apologizing for the next 3000 years before starting to give moral lessons.”

Despite the opening match kicking off on November 20, Infantino barely spoke about soccer and focused his attention on what he called the “hypocrisy” of Western criticism.

In a remarkable press conference, Infantino seemed exhausted. He has spent a lot of time defending FIFA’s decision in 2010 to award the World Cup to Qatar. A controversial decision made when he wasn’t the governing body’s president.

This tournament will be a historic event, the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East, but is also mired in controversy, with much of the build-up focusing on human rights, from the death of migrant workers and the conditions many have endured in Qatar, to LGBTQ and women’s rights.

Infantino, despite admitting things weren’t perfect, said some criticism was “profoundly unjust” and accused the West of double standards.

The Italian opened the news conference by speaking for an hour, telling journalists that he knew what it felt like to be discriminated against, saying he was bullied as a child for having red hair and freckles.

“Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel a migrant worker,” he said, in front of a stunned audience.

“I feel this, all this, because what I’ve been seeing and what I’ve been told, since I don’t read, otherwise I would be depressed I think.

“What I’ve seen brings me back to my personal story. I am a son of migrant workers. My parents were working very very hard in difficult situations.”

Infantino said progress had been made in Qatar on a range of issues, but insisted real change took time, adding that FIFA would not leave the country after the tournament finished. He suggested that he thought some Western journalists would forget about the issues.

“We need to invest in education, to give them a better future, to give them hope. We should all educate ourselves,” he said.

“Reform and change takes time. It took hundreds of years in our countries in Europe. It takes time everywhere, the only way to get results is by engaging […] not by shouting.”

Infantino also addressed questions around the last-minute decision to ban alcohol from being sold at the eight stadiums which will host the tournament’s 64 matches. In a FIFA statement issued on Friday, the governing body said alcohol would be sold at fan zones and licensed venues.

The Muslim country is considered to be very conservative and tightly regulates alcohol sales and usage.

In September, Qatar had said it would permit ticketed fans to buy alcoholic beer at World Cup stadiums three hours before kickoff and for one hour after the final whistle, but not during the match.

“Let me first assure you that every decision that is taken in this World Cup is a joint decision between Qatar and FIFA,” he said. “Every decision is discussed, debated and taken jointly.”

“There will be […] over 200 places where you can buy alcohol in Qatar and over 10 fan zones, where over 100,000 people can simultaneously drink alcohol.

“I think personally, if for three hours a day you cannot drink a beer, you will survive.”

“Especially because actually the same rules apply in France or in Spain or in Portugal or in Scotland, where no beer is allowed in stadiums now,” he added.

“It seems to become a big thing because it’s a Muslim country, or I don’t know why.”

Infantino finished the press conference by insisting that everyone would be safe in Qatar, amid concerns from the LGBTQ community.

Homosexuality in Qatar is illegal and punishable by up to three years in prison, but the FIFA president promised that this was a tournament for everyone.

“Let me mention as well, the LGBT situation. I have been speaking about this topic with the highest leadership of the country several times, not just once. They have confirmed, and I can confirm, that everyone is welcome,” Infantino said.

“This is a clear FIFA requirement. Everyone has to be welcomed, everyone that comes to Qatar is welcome whatever religion, race, sexual orientation, belief she or he has. Everyone is welcome. This was our requirement and the Qatari state sticks to that requirement,” Infantino said.

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Health

3 Beverages No One Should Be Drinking Anymore Because They Lead To Weight Gain And Inflammation

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This post has been updated since its original publish date to include more expert insight. 

If you frequently suffer from inflammation, it’s vital to reevaluate the beverages that you consume daily, health experts tell us, to determine what triggers this for you. Many of us sip on inflammatory drinks without even realizing their power to also cause bloating, cramps, weight gain, indigestion, etc. With that said, we checked in with health and nutrition experts to learn more about 3 drinks anyone who commonly experiences inflammation (and who wants to prevent weight gain) should avoid, and why. Read on for tips, suggestions and insight from Nataly Komova, RD, registered dietitian and fitness expert, Sara Chatfield, MPH, RDN, registered dietitian and nutritionist and Dana Ellis Hunnes, PhD, MPH, RD, registered dietitian and nutrition expert.

Tip #1— Skip Sodas, Replace With Kombucha

While replacing any of your favorite high-sugar or high-calorie beverages with water is the optimal solution for inflammation and the best way to go, that may be difficult to do at first. If you often sip on sodas, colas or other similarly fizzy and sugary drinks, Hunnes suggests opting for kombucha instead, as it is a probiotic-rich, anti-inflammatory option. “The probiotics and the antioxidants [in kombucha] are anti-inflammatory and can aid in promoting GI health by helping to colonize the GI tract with healthy bacteria,” she explains. Komova adds that soda in particular is one of the most inflammatory drinks out there, as it “can also cause insulin resistance and raise cholesterol levels, slowing weight reduction.” Overall, preventing inflammation will only help your overall health (and/or) weight loss goals, as Komova says, since “inflammation can impact weight loss negatively as it alters leptin responses in the body.”

 

Changing these hormones impairs the brain’s function in signaling the body that you have eaten to your maximum. “Leptin resistance triggers weight gain as individuals tend to consume more calories unknowingly.” The antioxidants in kombucha can not only help prevent this and aid your digestion, but also help prevent inflammation, Hunnes notes, promoting the health of the probiotics as well. “It is also thought that kombucha can slow down the digestion of carbohydrates by, likely in-part, because of the healthy anti-inflammation effects it has on the GI tract,” Hunnes says.

#2— Swap Energy Drinks For Lightly Sweetened Coffee

If you like to wake up with the help of an energy drink, this will only exacerbate your inflammatory symptoms, Komova says. With so much sugar, fruit-like flavors and an instant serving of caffeine, energy drinks are popular for their taste, but as Komova explains, their potential to cause inflammation is a notable concern. “I strongly advise you to keep these drinks from your weight loss diet routines,” Komova says, referring to energy drinks, the common beverages containing stimulant compounds.“Most energy and sports drinks contain added sweeteners, colors, and sugars that are harmful to your health,” she continues. These artificial compounds, she adds, can cause chronic inflammation.

 

“The drinks contain processed sugars and artificial sweeteners that increase your risk of body inflammation, delaying your weight loss process.” If you need a boost of energy to help you wake up in the morning, Hunnes recommends drinking either plain black coffee (that contains zero calories, btw) or “lightly-sweetened” drinks with plant-based or monk fruit sweeteners that don’t contain sugar.

#3— Avoid Sugary Sweet Tea, Try Unsweetened

Lastly, super-sweet tea is a delicious treat once in a while, but should ultimately be avoided if you’re prone to inflammation, Chatfield stresses. Drinking this often leads to excess sugar consumption that can cause weight gain, she says. Sugar-sweetened beverages like sweet teas are a big culprit because “we may not think of them as being high in calories, and our bodies also don’t recognize the calories in the same way as they do those from food,” Chatfield notes. This can lead to more calorie intake later on. This, she continues, may lead to changes in fat metabolism. “There is a heightened risk of fatty liver disease, where fat builds up in the liver. Too much insulin from high sugar intake can also be detrimental to artery and heart health,” she says, noting that the drawbacks of sweet tea concern more than just inflammation.

 

To promote your ideal health and prevent inflammation, she recommends instead sipping on unsweetened iced tea, as this does have health benefits from its flavonoid content. Ultimately, the high sugar content of sugary sweet teas (popular teas varied from about 28-44 grams of sugar per 12 oz. serving) can quickly put you over the maximum recommended sugar intake of 24 grams per day for most women and 36 grams per day for most men. Chatfield concludes that “unsweetened iced tea is a better choice” for this reason and to prioritize and care for your digestive health. 

 

 

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Health

3 Beverages No One Should Be Drinking Anymore Because They Lead To Weight Gain And Inflammation

Leave a comment

This post has been updated since its original publish date to include more expert insight. 

If you frequently suffer from inflammation, it’s vital to reevaluate the beverages that you consume daily, health experts tell us, to determine what triggers this for you. Many of us sip on inflammatory drinks without even realizing their power to also cause bloating, cramps, weight gain, indigestion, etc. With that said, we checked in with health and nutrition experts to learn more about 3 drinks anyone who commonly experiences inflammation (and who wants to prevent weight gain) should avoid, and why. Read on for tips, suggestions and insight from Nataly Komova, RD, registered dietitian and fitness expert, Sara Chatfield, MPH, RDN, registered dietitian and nutritionist and Dana Ellis Hunnes, PhD, MPH, RD, registered dietitian and nutrition expert.

75+ Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your Holiday List

Shutterstock

Tip #1— Skip Sodas, Replace With Kombucha 

While replacing any of your favorite high-sugar or high-calorie beverages with water is the optimal solution for inflammation and the best way to go, that may be difficult to do at first. If you often sip on sodas, colas or other similarly fizzy and sugary drinks, Hunnes suggests opting for kombucha instead, as it is a probiotic-rich, anti-inflammatory option. “The probiotics and the antioxidants [in kombucha] are anti-inflammatory and can aid in promoting GI health by helping to colonize the GI tract with healthy bacteria,” she explains. Komova adds that soda in particular is one of the most inflammatory drinks out there, as it “can also cause insulin resistance and raise cholesterol levels, slowing weight reduction.” Overall, preventing inflammation will only help your overall health (and/or) weight loss goals, as Komova says, since “inflammation can impact weight loss negatively as it alters leptin responses in the body.”

 

Changing these hormones impairs the brain’s function in signaling the body that you have eaten to your maximum. “Leptin resistance triggers weight gain as individuals tend to consume more calories unknowingly.” The antioxidants in kombucha can not only help prevent this and aid your digestion, but also help prevent inflammation, Hunnes notes, promoting the health of the probiotics as well. “It is also thought that kombucha can slow down the digestion of carbohydrates by, likely in-part, because of the healthy anti-inflammation effects it has on the GI tract,” Hunnes says.  

Shutterstock

#2— Swap Energy Drinks For Lightly Sweetened Coffee

If you like to wake up with the help of an energy drink, this will only exacerbate your inflammatory symptoms, Komova says. With so much sugar, fruit-like flavors and an instant serving of caffeine, energy drinks are popular for their taste, but as Komova explains, their potential to cause inflammation is a notable concern. “I strongly advise you to keep these drinks from your weight loss diet routines,” Komova says, referring to energy drinks, the common beverages containing stimulant compounds.“Most energy and sports drinks contain added sweeteners, colors, and sugars that are harmful to your health,” she continues. These artificial compounds, she adds, can cause chronic inflammation.

 

“The drinks contain processed sugars and artificial sweeteners that increase your risk of body inflammation, delaying your weight loss process.” If you need a boost of energy to help you wake up in the morning, Hunnes recommends drinking either plain black coffee (that contains zero calories, btw) or “lightly-sweetened” drinks with plant-based or monk fruit sweeteners that don’t contain sugar. 

Shutterstock

#3— Avoid Sugary Sweet Tea, Try Unsweetened

Lastly, super-sweet tea is a delicious treat once in a while, but should ultimately be avoided if you’re prone to inflammation, Chatfield stresses. Drinking this often leads to excess sugar consumption that can cause weight gain, she says. Sugar-sweetened beverages like sweet teas are a big culprit because “we may not think of them as being high in calories, and our bodies also don’t recognize the calories in the same way as they do those from food,” Chatfield notes. This can lead to more calorie intake later on. This, she continues, may lead to changes in fat metabolism. “There is a heightened risk of fatty liver disease, where fat builds up in the liver. Too much insulin from high sugar intake can also be detrimental to artery and heart health,” she says, noting that the drawbacks of sweet tea concern more than just inflammation.

 

To promote your ideal health and prevent inflammation, she recommends instead sipping on unsweetened iced tea, as this does have health benefits from its flavonoid content. Ultimately, the high sugar content of sugary sweet teas (popular teas varied from about 28-44 grams of sugar per 12 oz. serving) can quickly put you over the maximum recommended sugar intake of 24 grams per day for most women and 36 grams per day for most men. Chatfield concludes that “unsweetened iced tea is a better choice” for this reason and to prioritize and care for your digestive health. 
 

 
 

 

 

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Health

These simple food choices could reduce your risk of dementia

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A study published in July 2022 in Neurology, a journal from the American Academy of Neurology, suggests that eating whole foods might decrease dementia risk. The research was done on 72,083 adults over age 55 with no dementia at baseline in the UK Biobank. 

The authors investigated the association between ultra-processed foods (UPF) and dementia, where participants’ diets were evaluated based on how much UPF was consumed. The highest group had a diet of 28% UPF compared to the group with the lowest consumption of UPF at 9%.

The results implied that for every increase of 10% in the daily dietary intake of UPF, the risk of dementia increased by 25%. Conversely, replacing 10% of UPF foods with whole (unprocessed or minimally processed) foods was associated with a 19% lower risk of dementia.

“Ultra-processed foods are meant to be convenient and tasty, but they diminish the quality of a person’s diet,” said study author Huiping Li, Ph.D. of Tianjin Medical University in China. 

“These foods may also contain food additives or molecules from packaging or produced during heating, all of which have been shown in other studies to affect thinking and memory skills negatively.”

“Our research not only found that ultra-processed foods are associated with an increased risk of dementia, but it also found replacing them with healthy options may decrease dementia risk.”

More: 4 things you can do to fight dementia and improve your memory

UPF vs. whole foods

UPF is made for convenience. Think ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat. These foods are high in sugar, fat, and salt and low in protein and fiber. A few examples of UPF include fatty, sweet, savory, or salty packaged snacks. 

Also, baked products made with ingredients such as hydrogenated vegetable fat, sugar, yeast, whey, emulsifiers, and other additives, ice creams and frozen desserts, chocolates, candies, pre-prepared meals like pizza and pasta dishes, and distilled alcoholic beverages such as whisky, gin, rum and vodka. 

On the other hand, whole foods are unprocessed or minimally processed, such as fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, seafood, legumes, milk, eggs, grains, spices, meat, and fermented alcoholic beverages (think alcoholic cider and wine). 

Minimally processed foods leave the nutrients intact. This contains methods like canning, vacuum packing, and refrigeration – which extend the food item’s life, including adding vitamins and pasteurization (as in milk).

How to tell the difference?

Lena Beal, media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, says that labeling is the answer.

“Ultra-processed foods involve baked goods, snack cakes, chips, and candy at the grocery store’s check-out counter. They also include soft drinks, sweet breakfast cereals, ice cream, mass-produced bread, and flavored yogurts.”

Beal advises, “Look at two labels: Cheetos and tortilla chips. Then, look at the long list of ingredients on the Cheetos bag compared to tortilla chips. Tortilla chips have corn, salt, and some plant seed oil, right? So, it could be safflower, sunflower, or canola. Three ingredients.” 

Related: Want to slow, delay or reverse dementia? Try this classic game.

Why are UPFs so popular in the U.S.?

“Two words: convenience and cost,” says Beal. In the U.S., UPF consumption increased from 53.5% of calories (2001-2002) to 57% (2017-2018). During the same period, whole food consumption decreased from 32.7% to 27.4% of calories.

According to Beal, “Americans eat 31% more packaged food than fresh foods than nearly any other country. Ultra-processed food comes from substances extracted from food through processes like milling or extrusion with added ingredients. They are highly manipulated and take on more of a chemical presence than food.”

The perceived convenience and the cost of UPF play a factor in their popularity. Not to mention advertising. Marketing UPF makes them seem delicious and harmless, but learning to read nutritional labels is essential.

In addition, choosing to eat healthier might entail prepping your meals at home. Why? Because it can be a special time shared with family or a partner as well as a nutritious path to adding more fruits and vegetables (fresh, pre-cut, or flash-frozen) to one’s diet. 

When it comes to wholesome go-to’s, “use nuts (full of Omega-3s for heart and brain health), raisins, and dark chocolate to make a trail mix,” suggests Beal. “Seeds, nuts, cut-up fruits, and vegetables are nature’s fast food. Make a smoothie out of fresh fruit and dairy. Use peanut butter on celery sticks.”

Traveling and eating out

Beal suggests asking for condiments and dressings on the side when dining out. For instance, choose a sauce you can see through instead of cream sauce. Also, order baked meat or fish instead of fried, skip the pre-meal bread or eat less of it (whole wheat is also a better alternative to white bread).

Lastly, when traveling, locating a grocery store near where you are staying will make finding whole foods easier than getting all your food from restaurants.

Related: This is now the No. 1 preventable cause of Alzheimer’s in America

The bottom line

Good news! You are in charge of your diet. So each time you choose what to eat or drink, ask yourself: what is the best, minimally processed, healthy choice for nutrition?

Learning to evaluate food labels and ingredients is critical. Begin to prepare food at home and opt for small healthy lifestyle changes to improve how you age and feel your best.

Rebecca Myers, MSN, RN is a freelance health journalist with over 15 years of nursing experience (including critical care, vascular access, and education). Through her writing, Rebecca has a passion for uplifting others and helping them live their healthiest lives. She lives with her husband outside Houston, and they enjoy spending time at the beach together.

This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org, © 2022 Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. All rights reserved.

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