Is the saying “Calories in, calories out“ true? The short answer is yes, but the entire story is more nuanced.

From the moment food touches your tongue to the moment it leaves your body, Digestive system And Gut microbiome work to extract the nutrients. Enzymes in your mouth, stomach and small intestine break down food for absorption, while microbes in your large intestine digest the leftovers.

“Calorie intake, calorie consumption“” refers back to the concept that weight change is decided by the balance between calories taken in and calories burned. This includes not only the variety of calories you eat through appetite and absorb through digestion, but additionally how well those calories you’re taking in are burned through metabolism.

Recent research shows that a key factor affecting the variable appetite, digestion and metabolism are biologically lively residues of food called bioactives. These bioactives play a key role in regulating the body's metabolic control centers: your brain's appetite center, the hypothalamus; your gut's digestive bioreactor, the microbiome; and your cells' metabolic powerhouses, the mitochondria.

I’m a gastroenterologist who has spent the last 20 years studying the role of the gut microbiome in metabolic disease. I’ll explain how dietary bioactives help explain why some people can eat more but gain less weight, and I’ll share some dietary tools to enhance metabolism.

Worrying about appetite and digestion

Studies have shown that eating whole foods which can be still of their Original fibers and polyphenols – the cell membranes and colourful compounds in plants that provide lots of their health advantages – result in more calories lost through bowel movementsin comparison with processed foods, which were “pre-digested“ converted by factories into easy carbohydrates, refined fats and additives.

This is a technique non-calorie aspects affect the “calories in, calories out” equation, which could be useful in a society where calorie intake often exceeds needs. Eating more whole foods and fewer processed foods simply means that you can eat more because more of those unprocessed calories from the opposite end unused.

Fiber and Polyphenols also help regulate your appetite and calorie intake via the brain. Your microbiome converts these leftover bioactives into metabolites – molecular byproducts of digestion – that naturally reduce your appetite. These metabolites regulate the identical gut hormones that first inspired the favored weight reduction drugs Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro, controlling appetite via your Saturation center of the brain, the hypothalamus.

Processed foods These bioactive substances are missing and are moreover formulated with Salt, sugar, fat And Additives to be extremely tastywhich makes you long for it and eat more.

Mitochondrial masters in the center

A whole calorie count also relies on how effectively your body burns them to power your movement, thoughts, immunity, and other functions – a process that is essentially orchestrated by Your mitochondria.

Healthy people often have High capability mitochondria easily process calories to fuel cell functions. People with metabolic diseases have Mitochondria that don’t function so welland contributes to greater appetite, less muscles And increased fat storage.

They even have less of a mitochondria-rich kind of fat called brown fat. Instead of storing calories, this fat burns them to generate heat. Less brown fat may explain why some individuals with obesity lower body temperatures than those that should not obese, and why there’s a Decrease in average body temperature within the USA since the economic revolution.

Healthy mitochondria that burn more calories could also explain why some people can eat more without gaining weight. However, this raises the query: Why do some people have healthier mitochondria than others?

Your Mitochondrial health is ultimately influenced by many aspects, including those normally related to general well-being: regular exercise, adequate sleep, stress management, and a healthy eating regimen.

Who turned off the Metabo lights?

The latest dietary research reveals the role that previously underestimated dietary aspects play in Mitochondrial healthIn addition to the essential macronutrients – fat, protein and carbohydrates – and micronutrients equivalent to vitamins and minerals, other residual aspects in food, including Fibers, Polyphenols, bioactive fats And Fermentation productsare also crucial for metabolism.

In contrast to a Western eating regimenwhich regularly lack these bioactive substances, traditional diets equivalent to Mediterranean And Okinawa (Indonesia) The eating regimen is wealthy in foods – nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fermented foods – which can be wealthy in these aspects. Many bioactives pass undigested through the small intestine into the big intestine, where the Microbiome transforms them into activated metabolites. These metabolites are then absorbed and affect the variety of mitochondria in cells and their function.

At probably the most basic level of cell biology, metabolites are turned on and off molecular switches in your genes through a process called epigenetics which each you and Your offspringWhen the metabolic lights are turned on, they stimulate the mitochondria, that are accountable for a faster metabolism, effectively increasing your calorie burn.

Please note the microbiome gap

A healthy microbiome produces a spread of useful metabolites that support calorie burning. brown fat, Muscle endurance and metabolic health. But not everyone has a microbiome that’s in a position to convert bioactive substances into their lively metabolites.

Long-term consumption of processed foodslow in Bioactive substances and wealthy in salt and Additivescan impair the power of the microbiome to provide the metabolites needed for optimal mitochondrial health. Excessive use of antibiotics, high stress And Lack of exercise also can negatively impact the health of the microbiome and mitochondria.

This creates a double dietary gap: an absence of healthy food and an absence of Microbes for the conversion of bioactive substancesAs a result, well-studied dietary approaches equivalent to the Mediterranean eating regimen could also be less effective in some individuals with an impaired microbiome, potentially resulting in Gastrointestinal symptoms equivalent to diarrhea and negative effects on metabolic health.

In these cases, dietary research examines the potential health advantages of varied Low-carb diets This can avoid the necessity for a healthy microbiome. While the upper protein in these diets Reduce microbiome production of useful metabolites, the less carbohydrates stimulate the body's production of ketones. One ketone, beta-hydroxybutyrate, may function similarly to the microbiome Metabolite butyrate In Regulation of mitochondria.

New approaches to targeting the microbiome can also prove helpful in improving your metabolic health: Butyrate and other postbiotics Providing ready-made microbiome metabolites, personalized nutrition Adapt your eating regimen to your microbiome, intermittent fasting to repair your microbiome and the long run possibility of Live bacterial therapies to revive microbiome health.

Tools for converting fat into fuel

For most individuals, restoring the microbiome through traditional diets just like the Mediterranean eating regimen is biologically feasible, but on account of challenges equivalent to time, cost, and taste preferences, it will not be all the time practical. Ultimately, maintaining metabolic health comes right down to the deceptively easy Pillars of a healthy lifestyle of exercise, sleep, stress management and nutritious eating regimen.

However, some easy suggestions and tools may help make selecting a nutritious eating regimen easier. Mnemonics equivalent to the The 4 F's of nutrition – fiber, polyphenols, unsaturated fats and ferments – can make it easier to focus your “leftovers” on the foods that best support your microbiome and mitochondria. Bioactive calculators and apps will also be helpful in selecting foods to regulate your appetite, digestion and metabolism, thereby bringing your calorie intake back into balance.

Nineteen-year-old US Army Pvt. David Lewis set out along with his unit from Fort Dix on a 50-mile hike on February 5, 1976. On that bitterly cold day, he collapsed and died. Autopsy samples unexpectedly returned a positive result for a H1N1 swine flu virus.

Viral disease surveillance at Fort Dix identified an extra 13 cases amongst recruits hospitalized for respiratory illnesses. Additional serum antibody testing revealed that over 200 recruits were infected but not hospitalized with the virus. latest swine strain H1N1.

Alarm bells immediately rang within the epidemiological community: Could Pvt. Lewis' death from H1N1 swine flu be a harbinger of one other global pandemic, just like the terrible H1N1 swine flu pandemic of 1918, by which a an estimated 50 million people worldwide?

The US government reacted quickly. On March 24, 1976, President Gerald Ford announced a plan to “vaccinate every man, woman and child in the United States.” On October 1, 1976 Mass vaccination campaign began.

Meanwhile, the initial small outbreak at Fort Dix had quickly subsided, and there had been no latest cases on the bottom since February. Army Col. Frank Top, who led the investigation into the virus at Fort Dix, later told me, “We had shown pretty conclusively that (the virus) had not crossed over anywhere else but Fort Dix… it disappeared.”

Nevertheless, biomedical scientists world wide are concerned about this outbreak and the huge crash vaccination program within the United States. began research and development programs for H1N1 swine flu vaccines in their very own countries. At the start of the 1976/77 winter season, the world was waiting for – and preparing for – an H1N1 swine flu pandemic that never got here.

But that wasn't the tip of the story. an experienced infectious disease epidemiologistI claim that it unintended consequences of this seemingly prudent but ultimately unnecessary preparations.

What was strange concerning the Russian H1N1 flu pandemic?

In an epidemiological twist, a brand new pandemic influenza virus emerged, nevertheless it was not the expected H1N1 swine virus.

In November 1977, Russian health officials reported that a human, not a swine, strain of H1N1 flu had been discovered in Moscow. By the tip of the month, the disease had been reported throughout the USSR and soon all around the world.

Compared to other varieties of flu this pandemic was strangeFirst, the fatality rate was low, about one-third that of most flu viruses. Second, it repeatedly infected only people under the age of 26. Finally, unlike other newly emerged pandemic flu viruses prior to now, the virus didn’t displace the already dominant H3N2 subtype that caused the seasonal flu this yr. Instead, the 2 flu viruses – the brand new H1N1 and the long-standing H3N2 – circulated alongside one another.

Here the story takes one other turn. Microbiologist Peter Palese applied, which at the moment was a latest technique called RNA oligonucleotide mapping to check the genetic makeup of the brand new Russian flu virus, H1N1. He and his colleagues grew the virus within the lab after which used RNA-cutting enzymes to cut the viral genome into a whole lot of pieces. By distributing the chopped RNA in two dimensions based on size and electrical charge, the RNA fragments created a singular, fingerprint-like patch map.

To Palese's great surprise, it turned out that this “new” virus was essentially similar to older human influenza H1N1 strains which became extinct within the early Nineteen Fifties.

So the 1977 Russian flu virus was actually a strain that had disappeared from the planet 1 / 4 century earlier after which someway got here back into circulation. This explained why it only affected younger people—older people had already been infected and turn out to be immune when the virus was circulating in its earlier form a long time ago.

But how could the older variety turn out to be extinct again?

Refining the timeline of a resurrected virus

Despite its name, the Russian flu probably didn’t begin in Russia. The first published reports of the virus got here from Russia, but later reports from China provided evidence that it had first been detected months earlier, in May and June 1977. within the Chinese port city of Tientsin.

In 2010, scientists used detailed genetic studies on several samples of the 1977 virus to determine the date of their earliest common ancestorThese “molecular clock” data suggest that the virus first infected humans a full yr earlier, in April or May 1976.

So the most effective evidence is that the Russian flu of 1977 actually occurred – or slightly “reoccurred” – in or near Tientsin, China, within the spring of 1976.

A frozen laboratory virus

Was it only a coincidence that inside a couple of months of Private Lewis' death from swine flu H1N1, a previously extinct strain of influenza H1N1 suddenly reappeared within the population?

For years, influenza virologists world wide used freezers to store flu viruses, including people who had turn out to be extinct within the wild. Fear of a brand new H1N1 swine flu pandemic within the United States in 1976 had sparked a world Increase in research into H1N1 viruses and vaccinesThe accidental release of certainly one of these stockpiled viruses would have been entirely possible in any country conducting H1N1 research, including China, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and doubtless other countries.

Years after the disease re-emerged, microbiologist Palese recalled personal conversations he had had with Chi-Ming Chu, the leading Chinese flu expert. Palese wrote in 2004 that “the introduction of the H1N1 virus in 1977 is now considered Result of vaccine trials in the Far East “Several thousand military recruits will be infected with the live H1N1 virus.”

Although it is just not known exactly how such an accidental release could have occurred during a vaccine trial, there are two possibilities. First, scientists could have used the resurrected H1N1 virus as a starting material for the event of a live, subdued H1N1 vaccine. If the virus had not been sufficiently weakened within the vaccine, it might have been transmissible from individual to individual. Another possibility is that researchers used the live, resurrected virus to check the immunity provided by conventional H1N1 vaccines and it unintentionally escaped from the research setting.

Whatever the precise mechanism of release, the mix of the precise location and timing of the pandemic's origin and the status of Chu and Palese as highly credible sources strongly suggests that the Russian flu virus originated from an accidental release in China.

A sobering history lesson

The resurgence of an extinct but dangerous human-adapted H1N1 virus occurred because the world scrambled to stop what was regarded as an imminent outbreak of a swine flu pandemic. People were so anxious about the opportunity of a brand new pandemic that they inadvertently triggered one. It was a pandemic that could be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I’m not attempting to assign blame here. Rather, my most important argument is that within the epidemiological fog of 1976, when fear of an impending pandemic was growing worldwide, a research unit in any country could have unintentionally released the resurrected virus that may later be called the Russian flu. In the worldwide rush to stop a possible latest pandemic of H1N1 swine flu from Fort Dix through research and vaccination, accidents could have happened anywhere.

Of course, biosecurity facilities and policies have improved dramatically during the last half century. But at the identical time, there was an equally dramatic Proliferation of high-security laboratories world wide.

Overreaction. Unintended consequences. Worsening of the situation. Self-fulfilling prophecy. There are a wide range of terms to explain how the most effective intentions can go awry. The world remains to be reeling from COVID-19 and now faces latest threats from the cross-species spread of avian influenza viruses, mpoxviruses and other viruses. It is critical that we respond quickly to those latest threats to stop one other global disease outbreak. Quickly, but not too quickly, as history shows.

By Phil Galewitz, KFF Health News

When Trisha Byers moved to North Carolina last yr to be closer to family after a brain injury, she left behind one necessary item: medical insurance.

In Massachusetts, Byers, 39, was enrolled in Medicaid, the state's medical insurance program for low-income people. But she was ineligible in North Carolina because Medicaid coverage had not yet been expanded there under the Affordable Care Act. She said that after moving, she racked up 1000’s of dollars in unpaid emergency room bills for several months without insurance.

In December, North Carolina joined 39 other states and Washington, DC, in expanding Medicaid eligibility to adults with incomes as much as 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or $20,783 per individual.

“I was finally able to get all the doctor’s appointments I needed,” said Byers, considered one of greater than 500,000 North Carolina residents who were covered.

North Carolina's expansion got here amid the largest upheaval in Medicaid's nearly six a long time of history. Since April 2023 – when protections that had prevented states from cutting Medicaid beneficiaries off medical insurance in the course of the pandemic expired – states have cut greater than 24 million people off medical insurance because they deemed they now not qualified or had not renewed their insurance.

This Medicaid “repeal” raised fears that the number of individuals without medical insurance would skyrocket, however it also coincided with efforts in greater than a dozen states to expand medical insurance to low-income people, including children, pregnant women, and prisoners.

These expansions will mitigate the impact of rollbacks to some extent, even though it's still unclear to what extent. Five states haven’t yet finished thinning their insurance rolls, and the impact on the variety of uninsured won't be clear until the U.S. Census Bureau releases official numbers in September of next yr.

“The pandemic has been devastating and concerning, and it has clearly demonstrated how important Medicaid is to our national safety net,” said Jennifer Babcock, senior vice chairman for Medicaid policy on the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, a trade group that represents nonprofit health insurers that cover individuals with Medicaid. “These expansions are incredibly significant.”

Unwinding era enhancements include:

• South DakotaHow North Carolinaexpanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act last yr. About 22,000 people signed up in the primary eight months.
• In July Oregon has launched a Medicaid-like insurance option for individuals who earn an excessive amount of to qualify for Medicaid under federal limits. The plan is obtainable to all adults with incomes between 138% and 200% — as much as $30,120 for a person — of the federal poverty level. So far, greater than 50,000 people have signed up, Oregon officials say.
• In January, a brand new federal law required states to maintain their children covered by Medicaid for not less than one yr after enrollment. Some states go even further: Oregon, New MexicoAnd WashingtonFor example, they permit children to stay insured as much as the age of 6. California has passed a law to increase continuous eligibility to children as much as the age of 4, but has not yet implemented this idea.
• Three states have expanded income requirements for Medicaid eligibility for kids: Arizona, MaineAnd North Dakota.
• This yr, Utah began offering a Medicaid-like insurance option for kids no matter their immigration status, although this system is proscribed to about 2,000 children.
• Several states have expanded insurance coverage for pregnant women. Nevada, North Dakota, And Tennessee expanded income eligibility to make it easier for pregnant women to change into eligible for Medicaid. Alabama And Maryland expanded eligibility for pregnant women, no matter their immigration status. And Oregon, And Vermont Postpartum coverage was prolonged from two months to 12 months. With these changes, 47 states now offer postpartum coverage for one yr.
• In June, five states – Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, Utah, And Vermont – received approval from the Biden administration to expand Medicaid coverage to incarcerated individuals as much as 90 days before their release. These states will join several states, including California, Massachusetts, Montana, And Washingtonin providing this insurance cover.

States that share Medicaid funding with the federal government typically expand Medicaid eligibility during times of economic growth, once they have more revenue. But several other aspects have contributed to the expansion trend. They include heightened awareness of rising maternal mortality rates and recent restrictions on abortion which have reinforced the necessity for expansion for pregnant women, said Allison Orris, a senior fellow on the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The pandemic, particularly, has shown how necessary medical insurance is to keeping people healthy and protecting the community from infectious diseases, Orris said. “It's not surprising that states are reviewing their Medicaid programs and looking for ways to strengthen them in the midst of the winddown,” she said.

For example, while federal Medicaid funds can’t be used to assist people who find themselves within the country illegally, a small but growing variety of states have used their money to expand insurance coverage to undocumented residents.

During the pandemic, states were prohibited from cutting Medicaid coverage to get additional federal funding, even for individuals who were now not eligible. The experience showed states the advantages of keeping people insured fairly than moving them out and in based on income fluctuations, Orris said. It also brought the nation's uninsured rate all the way down to a record low of seven.7%.

Some advocates fear that rolling back this pandemic-era policy will undo necessary gains. A KFF poll released in April found that 23% of adults said they’d be uninsured after opting out of Medicaid in 2023. An Aug. 6 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the variety of uninsured people has increased to eight.2% in the primary quarter of 2024, in comparison with 7.7% in the identical quarter of 2023.

Enrollment increased by about 23 million people in the course of the pandemic. As of August 1, with approx. 85% of the processing When the work is complete, about 14.8 million people can have been faraway from the Medicaid rolls, so the variety of uninsured is unlikely to rise as much as some advocates feared a yr ago, said Jennifer Tolbert, deputy director of the Medicaid and Uninsured Program at KFF, a nonprofit health information organization that features KFF Health News.

“We've seen amazing expansion of health coverage in places like Oregon and California,” said Ben Anderson, deputy senior director for health policy at Families USA, a consumer advocacy group. “But if you live in Texas, Florida and Georgia, your health coverage has been disrupted since the pandemic in ways that state leaders were able to prevent.” Those three states are amongst 10 that selected to not expand Medicaid under the ACA.

Still, Anderson said, the impact of the expansions – even in a limited variety of states – would make it easier for some people to afford health care and avoid medical debt.

The settlement process was stuffed with fiddling, especially in states that didn’t provide enough resources to offer individuals with medical insurance. A study by the federal government Government Accountability Office The study, released in July, revealed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' finding that just about all states made mistakes that caused eligible people to lose their Medicaid coverage.

Recent expansions of the Medicaid program are examples of how some states are prioritizing medical insurance, particularly for certain vulnerable groups.

Tricia Brooks, a Medicaid expert at Georgetown University, noted that some states “target small areas of health insurance and do so for different reasons.”

When children are insured and stay insured, they usually tend to have a daily doctor and be ready for college, she said. “There's no doubt that the investment pays off,” she said.

Medicaid advocates, nevertheless, wonder if a second Trump administration would limit medical insurance expansion. Republicans have signaled they don’t want to increase federal subsidies that reduce low-income people's premiums for ACA marketplace plans and are set to run out in 2025.

“We are preparing for these potential impacts,” said Erin Delaney, director of health policy on the Progressive Policy Institute.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism on health issues and is considered one of the core programs of KFF – the independent source for health policy research, surveys and journalism.

©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

INDIANAPOLIS — Athletes often use platitudes as a defense mechanism. Rather than delving right into a potentially controversial topic and even addressing it in any respect, they offer non-answers and use cliches and pre-programmed talking points to remain at a protected distance.

Part of me would really like to imagine that Caitlin Clark did just that Thursday morning after I asked her if it bothered her that fans were using her name as a weapon within the culture war that’s dividing the country. The Indiana Fever star guard was unperturbed on the topic; she refused to open a single door.

“No,” she explained. “I don't see it. I don't see it. That's not my focus. My focus is here and on basketball. That's where it has to be, that's where it's been, and I'm just trying to get better every day.”

I asked #IndianaFeverCaitlin Clark speaks directly about her name getting used as a weapon for racism/misogyny (as Dijonai Carrington suggested):

“It's disappointing. … Everyone in our world deserves equal respect. The women in our league deserve equal respect.” pic.twitter.com/gyAWBqGG8c

— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) June 13, 2024

It's not surprising that Clark initially desired to avoid the topic. She's a freshman trying to search out her way on a brand new team in a brand new league, at a time when the shots that were so consistent in college at the moment are more prone to miss. Instead of being the go-to guy that helped fuel her enormous popularity at Iowa, she sometimes finds herself on the bench in crucial moments due to her trouble with turnovers.

But you possibly can't hide behind basketball if you've been anointed because the towering rising tide that may propel the WNBA to even greater prosperity. And you actually can't hide behind basketball when individuals are using your name as a vehicle to advertise racism, misogyny, homophobia and other societal ills. To whom much is given, much is indeed required.

It's a convention in skilled sports that high-profile rookies are put through the wringer. Veterans go at them hard to see what they're fabricated from, regardless of the game or gender. But when Carrington fouled Clark and mocked the rookie for overdoing the contact, most of the comments on social media were predictable. “Caitlin Clark was again attacked by black players on Monday, this time in Connecticut,” one person wrote. “Suns guard DiJonai Carrington checked Clark hard and then mocked her after the obvious foul. The crowd booed. If the races had been reversed, Carrington would have been ejected.”

Clark hasn't made those comments, but I used to be curious what she thinks about people using her name as a divisive tool. Her first response Thursday morning: “That's not something I can control, so I don't spend too much thought and time thinking about that stuff. And, to be honest, I don't see a lot of it. Like I said, basketball is my job. Everything else I can't control, so I'm not going to spend time thinking about it. People can talk about whatever they want to talk about, have conversations about whatever, but I think I'm just here to play basketball. I'm just here to have fun. I'm trying to help our team win. … Honestly, I don't pay a lot of attention to any of that.”

But is she being honest? It should be said that Clark is 22 and faces enormous demands and expectations. That should definitely give her a certain level of composure. Still, her comments were troubling because they lacked awareness and empathy toward fellow black individuals who don't have the privilege of distancing themselves from the isms they face regularly.

Carrington compared their silence to luxury. I see it as complicity.

Maybe she didn't want to handle it fully due to the sensitivity? Or perhaps she was following the recommendation of her inner circle, including advisers who may imagine it's more profitable to say nothing? It worked well for Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, even though it sent the message that cash was more necessary than morals. But the initial unwillingness to rise up to hate and harassment was problematic from the beginning in a league that’s predominantly black and has a large LGBTQ+ population.

Coincidentally, her comments got here on the identical day that the Women's National Basketball Players Association published a column within the Players' Tribune emphasizing how proud its members are of their history of fighting social injustice. “Our work has always been bigger than basketball,” it once said.

That's why it was necessary for Clark to reconsider her comments late Thursday, about an hour before the sport against the Atlanta Dream was to start. She risked losing the respect of a few of her peers, especially at a time when more distinguished white players are speaking out as allies within the fight against racism and homophobia.

It would have been conspicuous and problematic for a league that prides itself on inclusion and acceptance if its most famous player had stood silently on the sidelines as legendary WNBA player Sue Bird spoke. in a 2020 CNN articleor UConn guard Paige Bueckers addressed it during her acceptance speech on the ESPYs 2021or former LSU guard Hailey Van Lith last March described the criticism of her black teammates as racistor with the rookie of the Los Angeles Sparks Cameron Brink said last week“I admit that the younger white players in the league are a privilege.”

No one is asking Clark to be socially energetic or to play a distinguished role within the fight for respect, but it will be important to her to no less than denounce those that might misuse her name to foment hatred and division.

“It's disappointing, it's not acceptable…” she said before it was revealed that individuals were using her name to further their interests. “I admired this league and wanted to be a part of it. Some of the women in this league were my biggest idols and role models growing up. … Treating every single woman in this league with the same level of respect is just a basic human trait that everyone should do. Just be a kind human being and treat them the way you want to be treated.”

It can have taken her some time to specific those feelings, but that shouldn't take away from the proven fact that she ended up in the appropriate place. It was a positive step for her and the league.