The holidays are stuffed with delicious and enjoyable foods and drinks. It's hard to withstand dreaming about cookies, specialty cakes, wealthy meats, and super flavorful sides.

Many of the healthy ingredients utilized in holiday foods can find yourself being overshadowed by sugar and starches. Adding extra sugar could also be tasty, however it's not necessarily good in your metabolism. If you understand the food and cooking science behind what you're cooking, you possibly can make a couple of changes to a recipe and still enjoy a delicious dish that isn't loaded with sugar.

Especially if you’ve got type 1 diabetes, the vacations can bring added stress and wild blood sugar levels. However, there isn’t any time to despair – it’s the vacations in spite of everything.

Cranberries are a seasonal, tasty fruit that could be modified in recipes to be more suitable for Type 1 diabetics – or anyone on the lookout for a sweet dish without added sugar.

I’m a food scientist and a sort 1 diabetic. Understanding food composition, ingredient interactions, and metabolism was literally life-saving for me.

Type 1 diabetes defined

Type 1 diabetes is all day day-after-day, with no sleep breaks, no holidays or weekends off, no remission and no cure. Type 1 diabetics I don't do insulin, a hormone which is vital for all times and promotes the absorption of glucose or sugar into the cells. The glucose in your cells then supplies your body with energy on a molecular level.

Consequently, type 1 diabetics take insulin by injection or injection via an insulin pump tied to their body and hoping it really works well enough to stabilize blood sugar and metabolism, minimize health complications over time, and keep us alive.

Type 1 diabetics primarily consider the Type and amount of carbohydrates in food when determining how much insulin to take, in addition they need to know the protein and fat interactions within the food they’re dosing, or boluscorrect.

Apart from insulin, type 1 diabetics don’t produce some other hormone, namely amylin. which slows down gastric motility. This signifies that food moves through our digestive tract more quickly and we frequently feel very hungry. Foods high in fat, protein, and fiber may help stave off hunger for some time.

Cranberries, a seasonal treat

Cranberries are native to North America and grow well within the northeastern and midwestern states, where they’re in season between late September and December. They're a staple on holiday tables across the country.

One cup of whole, raw cranberries accommodates 190 calories. They are 87% water, contain traces of protein and fat, 12 grams of carbohydrates and just over 4 grams of soluble fiber. Soluble fiber combines well with water, which has positive effects on digestive health and may slow the rise in blood sugar.

Cranberries are high In potassiumwhich supports electrolyte balance and cell signaling, in addition to other necessary nutrients similar to antioxidants, Beta carotene And Vitamin C. They also contain Vitamin Kwhich contributes to healthy blood clotting.

The flavor and aroma of cranberries come from compounds within the fruit, similar to: Cinnamon substances that add cinnamon notes, Vanillin for a touch of vanilla, Benzoates And Benzaldehydethat tastes like almonds.

Cranberries are wealthy in pectin, a soluble starch that forms a gel and is used as a setting agent in making jams and jellies, which is why they thicken barely with minimal cooking. Her beautiful red jewel toned color belongs to a category of compounds called anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins, that are related to Treating some sorts of infections.

They also contain phenols, that are protective compounds produced by the plant. These compounds, which appear like rings on the molecular level, interact with proteins in your saliva to create a dry, astringent feeling that makes your mouth pucker. Also a connection called Benzoic acid Naturally present in cranberries, it contributes to the acidity of the fruit.

These chemical ingredients make them extremely sour and bitter and difficult to eat raw. To mitigate these flavors and effects, most cranberry recipes use plenty of sugar.

All this extra sugar could make cranberry dishes difficult to eat for type 1 diabetics since the sugar causes a rapid rise in blood sugar.

Cranberries without sugar?

Type 1 diabetics—or anyone looking to cut back their sugar consumption—can try a couple of culinary tricks to lower their sugar intake and still enjoy this holiday treat.

Don't cook your cranberries for long after they pop. You'll still get a viscous cranberry liquid while not having as much sugar, as cooking makes among the bitter compounds more concentrated and these might be more outstanding in your dish.

The addition of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg and other warming spices gives the dish an intense flavor. Add heat with a hot chili pepper can add complexity to your cranberry dish while reducing acidity and astringency. Adding salt can reduce the bitterness of cranberries, So you don't need plenty of sugar.

For a more intense flavor and glossy quality, add butter. Butter also lubricates your mouth, complementing the dish's natural astringency. Other fats like cream or coconut oil also work.

Adding chopped walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts can slow glucose absorption, so your blood sugar may not rise as quickly. Some latest sorts of sweeteners, like allulosetaste sweet but don’t increase blood sugar and require minimal to no insulin. has allulose GRASS – generally considered protected – status within the USA, but in Europe it shouldn’t be approved as an additive.

This holiday season, you possibly can easily reduce the quantity of sugar you add to your cranberry dishes and reap the health advantages without spiking your blood sugar levels.

Both the Bay Area and California added jobs in April, however the gains were meager and paint an image of a threateningly weak labor market, a brand new report shows.

The nine-county Bay Area added just 300 jobs in April, the state Department of Employment Development reported Friday.

The modest recovery, which didn’t surprise some economists, was almost single-handedly led by the East Bay, which led to strong job gains. The South Bay was flat, while jobs were lost within the San Francisco-San Mateo region.

“The first part of 2024 has been as expected for the Bay Area economy,” said Jeff Bellisario, executive director of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. “Our traditionally high-growth sectors are experiencing subdued growth, and our slow population growth has made hiring in locally operating sectors challenging.”

According to some experts, the weakness of the technology sector and the resulting layoffs have led to a weakening of the Bay Area economy.

“Our economy is in the midst of a transition away from the product lines that drove our growth during the pandemic and toward the new and untested area of ​​artificial intelligence,” said Russell Hancock, president of Silicon Valley Joint Venture, a San Jose-based based think tank. “Considering that, we’re doing reasonably well.”

Here's how the Bay Area's seven metropolitan areas fared in April, as reported by the state EDD. All numbers have been adjusted for seasonal volatility:

— The East Bay added 2,600 jobs.

– The variety of employees within the South Bay remained unchanged.

— 1,700 jobs were lost within the San Francisco-San Mateo region.

– In the North Bay, Marin County gained 200 jobs, Napa County added 100 jobs, Sonoma County lost 600 jobs and Solano County lost 300 jobs.

“Weak job growth will likely continue to prevail in the Bay Area as long as the Fed keeps interest rates at these high levels,” said Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist at BMO Capital Markets. “Interest rate-sensitive sectors such as construction, manufacturing and financial services are slowing hiring.”

In recent weeks, Tesla has notified state labor regulators of its decision to chop well over 3,300 jobs within the Bay Area. In April, the corporate announced plans to chop 2,753 jobs in Fremont and Palo Alto. Separately, for the primary time, Apple joins the ranks of tech corporations cutting jobs within the Bay Area in the present downsizing cycle – revealing plans last month to chop 614 jobs in Santa Clara.

The Bay Area lost a complete of two,300 tech jobs last month, this news organization's compilation of Beacon estimates shows. The company tracks the statewide and regional economy.

The San Francisco-San Mateo region suffered a net lack of 1,800 tech jobs, while the East Bay lost 400 tech jobs, in line with Beacon estimates. The South Bay saw no change within the variety of tech jobs in April.

“The ongoing layoffs in the tech industry over the last year and a half are now also putting a strain on professional and service sector jobs in the region,” Anderson said.

But there have been vivid spots in the roles report. Health care has been a key source of strength for the Bay Area, which added 3,400 health care jobs in April. Beacon estimates the sector has created 2,100 jobs within the East Bay, 800 within the San Francisco-San Mateo region and 500 within the South Bay.

So far this yr, the Bay Area has seen a net lack of 1,100 jobs, in line with this news organization's review of official 2024 employment reports.

But while the job losses are troubling, there are hopeful signs within the region's bleak economic landscape.

All of the Bay Area's employment declines to date in 2024 occurred in February, when the region lost 3,500 jobs. The Bay Area added 1,900 jobs in January, recovering from February's losses with a 200-job gain in March and the just-reported 300-job gain in April.

It has also been shown that the first reason behind the Bay Area's labor market weakness is the greater San Francisco area. The San Francisco-San Mateo region lost a complete of seven,000 jobs in each of the 4 months of 2024. But the South Bay has added 3,300 recent jobs during that period, while the East Bay has added 1,900 recent jobs to date.

According to EDD, California added an almost invisible 5,200 jobs statewide in April. The national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.3%.

The slight increase in jobs in California and the unemployment rate are nothing to have a good time, in line with Beacon Economics.

“California’s unemployment rate is the highest in the country and remains high compared to 3.9% in the United States overall,” Beacon said in an announcement.

Michael Bernick, an employment lawyer on the law firm Duane Morris and former director of the state EDD, also believes the brand new statewide labor market data suggests that California's employment sector has stalled.

“Job growth has stalled,” Bernick said. “California would have seen no employment gains except in the health care sector.”

And conditions within the Bay Area have gotten increasingly brutal, Bernick warned.

“Employment in the Bay Area will face challenges from state budget spending cuts as well as city and county budget cuts,” Bernick said, citing attempts to curb budget deficits on the local and state levels.

The economic stimulus programs that the federal and state governments launched to support the nationwide economy within the wake of the corona pandemic appear to have had their day.

“The Bay Area economy, like the economy of the rest of California, has been propped up by excessive public spending,” Bernick said.

Still, the Bay Area's job market — including the struggling tech industry — stays poised for solid long-term growth despite current uncertainties, experts say.

“In the long term, the outlook for the Bay Area job market is much brighter as more artificial intelligence companies launch and expand and related jobs are created online,” Anderson said.

Sunnyvale public safety officials are relieved town has recent and much-needed paramedics, but need a long-term solution to handle a neighborhood and statewide shortage.

The city's firefighters and law enforcement officials are trained paramedics, but for years the department had no paramedics higher qualified to perform advanced procedures and supply advanced life support in emergencies.

The Sunnyvale Public Safety Officers Association, which represents greater than 200 of town's public safety officers, made its concerns clear to city leaders and native media earlier this yr. In February, ambulance company AMR approached the association and agreed to fund two full-time paramedics for town, a present that was well received, said association president Lt. Devon Klein.

“Officials appreciate the assistance of paramedics on scene during these intense, rapidly evolving medical emergencies,” he said. “It helps us provide better service to the community.”

The paramedics operate in citywide rapid response vehicles, which usually allow first responders to get to the scene quicker than ambulances. They are dispatched and managed by the district in an emergency.

According to AMR Regional Director Darryl McClanahan, AMR's Santa Clara division will proceed to fund the paramedics for the foreseeable future.

“Should any unforeseen challenges or changes arise, we are in constant communication with Sunnyvale and will contact them prior to any changes to the program,” he said.

The department is liable for 400 emergency responders and paramedics who reply to 140,000 calls annually. Years ago, there have been two paramedics in Sunnyvale who were dedicated solely to serving town, but they were assigned to EMS.

The agreement turned out to be problematic since the district's ambulances are only dispatched when the emergency services arrive on site and specifically request one. There were times when ambulances took 20 minutes to reach in Sunnyvale, as a substitute of the eight-minute response time required by the department. Sometimes they didn't even arrive, says Klein.

Santa Clara County Communications didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment about Sunnyvale's response times.

According to a 2023 county report, AMR needs to rent 30 more full-time paramedics before county staffing can reach an “optimal” level. The variety of emergency calls to emergency services has also increased by 24% within the last three years, putting a strain on local safety officers.

This problem isn't unique to Sunnyvale. In more distant South Bay communities like Morgan Hill and Gilroy, the shortage of paramedics has left patients and emergency responders sometimes waiting a half hour or longer for an ambulance. Recently, officials in Livermore and Pleasanton in Alameda County alleged that Falck, the private ambulance company that can also be affected by a shortage of paramedics, had poor performance and delayed response times.

McClanahan said the shortage is nationwide and has worsened during COVID-19. Many paramedic certification programs, which take roughly 18 months to finish, are closed to applicants attributable to shelter-in-place and social distancing orders.

“It is a statewide paramedic shortage that is not unique to Santa Clara County,” he said. “What we've experienced is a backlog of this type. (Paramedics) haven't gone through programs.”

AMR was in a position to provide immediate emergency services to Sunnyvale, but a long-term solution remains to be needed, Klein said. He hopes Sunnyvale leaders can investigate the issue and locate the ambulance models.

“A system-wide solution is still needed,” he said. “It will require everyone involved to really roll up their sleeves, get dirty and find real solutions.”

WASHINGTON — A bill that might ban TikTok within the U.S. if its China-based owner doesn't sell its stake got a serious boost late Wednesday when House Republican leaders included it in a legislative package that features aid to Ukraine and Israel provided. The bill could take effect as early as next week if Congress acts quickly.

The TikTok bill, which passed the House of Representatives in March and has broad support in each chambers, was included within the House package as leaders worked to win votes for the foreign aid laws and after with the Senate Negotiations were held about how long the Chinese technology company ByteDance would stay Ltd. would should sell its share of the app to proceed operating within the United States. President Joe Biden has said he would sign the TikTok bill if it reached his desk.

The new edition of the law received a key endorsement from Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, who said in an announcement that she successfully pushed to increase the period from six months to a yr to provide the corporate enough time to search out a buyer. While the unique bill set a six-month deadline for selling TikTok, the revised laws would allow for nine months and a possible three-month extension if a sale were underway.

“Extending the divestiture period is necessary to ensure a new buyer has enough time to complete a deal,” said Cantwell, who has previously expressed doubts concerning the bill. “I support this updated legislation.”

If Congress passes the TikTok bill, it might be a unprecedented and weird moment by which each parties unite against an organization – something lawmakers are typically reluctant to do. But the favored social media app has sparked widespread outrage on Capitol Hill, where there may be bipartisan concern about Chinese threats to the United States and where few members use the platform itself.

Opponents imagine the ban can be unconstitutional and that it might likely face legal challenges if passed. There has been aggressive pushback from the corporate, the content creators who generate income on the app and a number of the platform's 170 million U.S. users, lots of whom are young. In some cases, lawmakers received calls containing profanities from users who were urged by the app to call their representatives in Congress.

So far, the U.S. government has provided no evidence that TikTok shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government or that Chinese authorities tinkered with the corporate's popular algorithm that influences what Americans see.

TikTok has spent $5 million on television promoting against the law since mid-March, in accordance with AdImpact, an promoting tracking company. The ads featured a variety of content creators, including a nun, praising the platform's positive impact on their lives and arguing that a ban would trample on the First Amendment.

TikTok has also spent money on Facebook and Instagram ads that discuss investing in data security, amongst other things. The company also launched a lobbying campaign in Washington that included enlisting content creators who depend on the platform to generate revenue.

Alex Haurek, a spokesman for the corporate, said in an announcement Thursday: “It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian aid to once again push through a ban bill that would trample on the right to free speech.” Destroying 170 million Americans, destroying 7 million businesses, and shutting down a platform that contributes $24 billion annually to the U.S. economy.”

Nadya Okamoto, a content creator who has around 4 million followers on TikTok, said she has had conversations with other YouTubers who’ve “so much anger and fear” over the bill and the impact it can have on their lives. feel. The 26-year-old, whose company August sells menstrual products and is thought for her commitment to destigmatizing menstruation, earns most of her income from TikTok.

“This will have a real impact,” she said.

Dan Ives, a technology analyst at financial advisory firm Wedbush Securities, said executing such a sale can be very complex, even on an extended timeframe.

The platform would include a high price tag that only the biggest tech firms could afford, likely raising antitrust concerns. Then there's the issue with TikTok's algorithm, the app's secret sauce that recommends videos to users. The bill bans ByteDance from control of the TikTok algorithm, and a possible sale is more likely to face resistance from China, which suppresses the export of advice algorithms by Chinese tech firms.

“Buying TikTok without the algorithm would be like buying a Ferrari without the engine,” Ives said.

Some investors, including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O'Leary, have already expressed interest in buying TikTok's U.S. operations. If a sale isn't approved and the platform is definitely banned, Ives said that might be a “dream scenario” for Snapchat, Meta and YouTube, which have faced stiff competition from TikTok in recent times.

If the bill actually passes, it might be probably the most significant step Congress has taken to manage the tech industry in a long time. Congress has failed for years to pass laws that might, amongst other things, protect user privacy, protect children online, hold firms more accountable for his or her content and set looser guardrails for artificial intelligence.

Still, it's a detailed call at a time when many lawmakers want broader changes.

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been pushing for technology industry regulation for years. If the TikTok law passes, he said, “it will be the first guardrail we put in place on social media.”

Warner said there are lots of other things Congress must do, “but you have to start somewhere.”

While most lawmakers support the TikTok bill, some say it might set a dangerous precedent.

Others defend the app's loyal users.

“I’m a NO to the TikTok bill we’re about to vote on,” Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost posted on X ahead of the House vote. At 27, Frost is significantly younger than most of his colleagues.

“I believe the bill will end up banning TikTok,” Frost said. “I see First Amendment issues in eliminating a platform used by over 170 million Americans, and that will not solve the serious privacy issues we have.”

Jenna Leventoff, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, previewed possible First Amendment challenges to the bill.

“Congress cannot take away the rights of over 170 million Americans who use TikTok to express themselves, engage politically and access information from around the world,” she said.