Sunrise

It was a very frosty morning to start out my first day camping up at Canaan Heights. It's been significantly colder there this year a few days compared to Albany, which is why most of the leaves are gone in the high country.

Taken on Monday October 23, 2023 at Monongahela National Forest.

Shots – Health News : NPR

More fiber in the diet may help boost levels of GLP-1, an Ozempic-like hormone : Shots – Health News : NPR

For several months now, I've been studying how the new medications, Ozempic and Wegovy, cause dramatic weight loss.

Both medications contain a compound, semaglutide, that squelches hunger like a fly swatter smashes a mosquito. People who take the medication say they no longer have constant cravings for food, so they eat less frequently. The drug seems to quiet what some people call "food noise," the constant internal chatter telling them to eat.

While reading study after study about Wevgovy and Ozempic, I learned that the drug mimics a hormone that our bodies naturally make when we're eating food. It's called GLP-1. This made me wonder: Could we increase levels of this hormone by changing our diet? Sponsor Message

Turns out, the answer is yes – you can increase your body's production of GLP-1 with your diet, says Frank Duca, who studies metabolic diseases at the University of Arizona. One of the key foods that triggers its release is a food most Americans struggle to eat enough of, even though it comes with a cornucopia of health benefits. Yup, I'm talking about fiber.

Blackwater Canyon

Looking out across the Blackwater Canyon from Lindy Point. Wind turbines in the distance on Backbone Mountain. Like in most parts of the country, wind is one of fastest growing sources of electricity in West Virginia. Every time you go there, more and more ridges have wind turbines. Not only do they have high, narrow windy ridges, the state has good electrical connections to metropolitan areas in other states due to the overbuilt grid, a legacy of coal generation.

 

Taken on Tuesday October 24, 2023 at Blackwater Falls State Park.