See you next time!
Thanks again for joining us to chat about the week’s news and views below the line, it’s been an enjoyable conversation around some lifestyle (and indeed life-extending) issues today – and when polled, you here do appear a healthy bunch!
We’ll be back next week with another chance for you to give us feedback on some of the stories you’ve enjoyed reading and conversations you’ve taken part in. In the meantime, feel free to continue the conversation in the comments or indeed get in touch via email on matthew.holmes@theguardian.com or sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
Have a great weekend!
We’re a little sad about this one ...
Talking byelections: our video of the week
On to politics now and some words from our multimedia team.
This week, ahead of Thursday’s byelection (which we now know the result to) John Harris went in search of what the people of Stoke think about their choices.
A lot of the people he spoke with said they were so disillusioned by the lack of investment in the area, they didn’t see the point in voting for anyone. They said they didn’t think Labour is offering anything that looks like change, and they didn’t buy Paul Nuttall’s “man of the people” line.
It’s interesting looking at this now, after the results are in. Labour held Stoke-on-Trent Central after Ukip leader Paul Nuttall failed in his bid to win the seat.
What did you think of the video and the byelection results in general? Were you surprised? Share your views. Here are some of our readers’ reactions so far:
Some readers below the line talking about giving things up in pursuit a healthy life – and indeed being able to eat more veg per our earlier discussion. Lent begins next week (I know this because it is also pancake day, of course).
Is it just another excuse for people to make resolutions they won’t keep, or do you take the period more seriously for religious reasons? Are you giving anything up?
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Here’s a design for life from one reader below the line ... assuming it’s all totally true, it seems to be working so far?
When I was 20 I admired Dylan Thomas so I drank a lot in pursuit of an early death.
When I was 30 I admired Jean- Paul Sartre so I smoked about 80 Gitanes a day in pursuit of an early death.
When I was 40 I admired William Burroughs so I took up heroin
When I was 50 Aids was prevalent so I enjoyed a lot of unprotected sex.
When I was 60 I discovered the pleasures of deep fried Mars bars
When I was 70 I took up drinking at lunchtime.
I'll be 80 in May.
An easy A? The essay mills causing controversy
It’s no secret that “essay mills” are a bit dodgy. Deception forms a big part of their business model after all. Tens of thousands of students are thought to be using these websites to cheat their way through university modules, purchasing bespoke, ghostwritten papers and submitting them to their tutors for an easy A.
That’s the idea, anyway – customer dissatisfaction is all too common. And then there are ethical concerns: these sites pose a threat to academic integrity that has been causing headaches at universities for years. In the UK, it’s always been left to individual institutions to make their own anti-cheating rules – but it hasn’t been enough to stem plagiarism so far.
On Tuesday, the government announced a plan to crack down on the problem. Their solutions could include new laws to make it illegal to “commit acts of academic dishonesty for financial gain”, punishable by fine. But will this really work? What else could be done? And how far is this cheating symptomatic, as Poppy Noor argues, of deeper flaws in UK education?
Photos of the week
Getty photographer David Ramos has been out with a Spanish rescue crew picking up refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean. While there are fewer people risking their lives than in previous years, the journey is no less treacherous.
We’ve moved from the street style of London Fashion week to the glamour of Milan and this dog is definitely up for the best dressed.
On that last point, though – a response
Not so. Public Health England and the NHS are referring to shop-bought smoothies, which are strained to remove fibre and improve consistency.
Official advice from PHE is as follows:
“The government’s 5 A DAY guidance states that an individual smoothie product can only count as 2 portions maximum toward your 5 A DAY. This is because the process results in an end product with very little fibre, compared with the raw ingredient. Part of the reason why fruit and vegetables form such an important part of a person’s diet is their fibre content. Therefore, without receiving enough fibre, you are unable to achieve your 5 A DAY.
However, this advice generally covers bought smoothies rather than homemade ones – many commercial smoothies are filtered or sieved which means it is common that some of the fibre is removed. Provided you are using as much of the edible fruit as possible, without sieving, and blending it only as much as is required to make the correct consistency, and consume all the juice and bits, your own home made smoothies may count as more (depending on how many fruits or vegetables you use and the quantities).
We have some pretty healthy readers below the line
I have a breakfast smoothie with kale, spinach or celery, beetroot, ginger, carrot, raspberries, mixed frozen berries and a little mango. That's at least 6. Then Greek salad and mackerel or chicken drumstick for lunch and breaded fish with salad for dinner. If I have fruit for snacks during the day, that can come to 12 or 13.
And some lessons in nutrition management
I've got news for the guy in the linked article who gets his ten a day by cramming it into a smoothie. That only counts as one no matter how much he puts in.
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/5ADAY/Pages/FAQs.aspx
Have you taken our poll?
Avoid stress, be useful: 90-year-olds on how to have a long, happy life
I had the great pleasure of speaking to some 90-year-olds this week, for an article looking at the key to living a long life. It comes after news that average life expectancy will soon exceed 90 for the first time. So what did I learn? The key to living well is moderation, not getting too stressed about internet dating, taking things slowly and also not being afraid to have a wee G&T every now and then. Now that’s some advice that I can raise a glass to.
Do you have any relatives in their 90s? What have you learned from them? Tell us your thoughts on this.
Here’s a Guardian piece from the archives that may be of interest to anyone struggling to get down those fruits and veg.
Readers have been sending us pictures of their cats ...
And here are some of their prize winning entries!
Updated
Take our fruity poll!
So, the debate is raging in the comments ... are you listening to the scientists? Here we have a poll that might just gauge how incredibly tricky their latest advice seems to be to follow – or indeed how ever-so-healthy our readership is feeling today.
An early point on fruit and veg – are we tackling the wrong issue?
If people take this too seriously there is a danger they may overeat altogether. It's one thing to include plenty of fruit and veg in one's daily diet (and don't forget potatoes have ceased to be classed as veg contributing to the figure of ten, but if people eat a normal healthy diet then decide they haven't reached the target figure and must cram in some extra fruit and veg, even though they feel full, that only means unnecessary extra calories.
Is it possible to eat 10 portions of fruit and vegetables a day?
This is a question that many were asking themselves this week, after scientists recommended 800g (or 10 portions) of fruit and vegetables was vital to prevent early death.
I asked our readers whether it was possible, and loads of people wrote in saying it was a piece of cake (or carrot). You made the point that actually a portion (which works out as a small banana) isn’t a great deal. You also suggested making smoothies and adding vegetables to bulk out dishes, which can also be a good way to save money. But still, I think that 10 portions is rather a lot, even if you do all this. What do you think?
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Welcome
It’s that time of the week you’ve all been waiting for, our weekly social – where we dissect the week’s news and comment with our readers. This week we will talk about a range of topics, but if there is anything in particular you want us to look at then post it below the line, or, if you’re feeling shy, share your suggestions by email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com.
I think the real question is, why would people want to live longer? Don't they read the news? Have they never looked at the YouTube comments under any female comedian's video? Have they actually watched all through an ad break on TV?
I don't know if it's just the second law of thermodynamics, but things do seem to just get worse.