Comfort food might not be so comforting after all, according to new Geelong research.
The world-first study found that loading diets with nutritious foods at the expense of junk like sweets and processed products could treat “major depression”, announced Professor Felice Jacka (pictured), from Deakin University’s Barwon Health campus.
And the great the difference between gobbling up the good and bad, the greater the benefit, Prof Jacka said.
The link between diet and depression was “known for some time”, she pointed out, but the Geelong results were the first time it had been tested in a proper trial.
Now that’s – literally – food for thought!
The gloves were off late last week in a very public social media brawl between a pair of political figures in one corner and a couple of local journos in the other.
Former mayor Darryn Lyons started the bout, body-slamming an opinion piece accusing him and MP Sarah Henderson of raising false hopes on defence-contract jobs.
“Horrendous reporting … absolute crap,” Lyons attacked on Twitter.
The opinionista hit back, goading Lyons to share his “#alternative facts”.
The two traded smack-downs before a tag-team format emerged, Henderson jumping into the ring with Tweets about the column’s own “badly wrong” facts and limited understanding.
Then the second journo leapt off the ropes onto Hendo with Tweets questioning her role in Falsehopegate.
On it went, back and forth, digital chairs crashing over virtual backs, including an obscurely motivated self-help suggestion from Lyons about the healing power of crying.
An unseemly exchange between local pollies and pundits? Certainly.
But entertaining? Definitely!
Somewhat greater civility was demonstrated on Monday morning in a small, gentle swell at Bells Beach.
There she was, a young backpacker, possibly European, struggling to catch a wave on a beginner’s board as her boyfriend and others of more experience hogged every ripple.
An hour passed, maybe more. Still no ride for our forlorn fraulein, reduced to passive onlooker as the boys had all the fun.
But her plight didn’t go unnoticed by one senior face in the crowd. He paddled over, quietly offered advice, then gently helped the girl into a smooth little peeler that carried her unsteady but upright toward shore.
What a ride. It was probably our novice’s only wave but what a story to tell on her homecoming: how I caught a monster at Bells!
But the real hero remains the grey-headed bloke who came thoughtfully to her aid, setting a fine, if sadly rare, example in the process.
Hat’s off to you, sir.
