Female cancer survivors have a higher chance of experiencing infertility than females without a history of cancer diagnosis. This risk remains high despite advances in fertility treatments. There is a need to augment fertility treatments with cost-effective methods such as nutritional guidance to improve fertility chances. The aim of this review article is to connect the current literature on cancer survivorship nutrition and fertility nutrition, focusing on the importance of integrating nutritional guidance into fertility counseling, assessment, and treatment for female cancer survivors. Consuming a healthful diet comprising whole grains, soy, fruits, vegetables, seafood, and unsaturated fats has improved both female fertility and cancer survivorship. Similarly, maintaining a healthy body weight also improves female fertility and cancer survivorship. Therefore, dietary interventions to support female cancer survivors with fertility challenges are of immense importance. The period of follow-up fertility counseling and assessment after cancer treatment may provide a unique opportunity for implementing nutritional guidance for female cancer survivors. Dietary interventions are a promising strategy to improve pregnancy chances and overall quality of life among female cancer survivors; thus, researchers should investigate perceptions regarding fertility, barriers, and challenges to changing nutrition-related behaviors, and preferences for nutritional guidance to support fertility treatments in this population.
Interacting with nature may promote mental and physical health. There are multiple ways to interact with nature: indirectly, incidentally, and intentionally. How these types of interactions with nature may be associated with mental and physical health status and health behaviors is unclear. The purpose of this narrative review is to (1) describe the relationship between interactions with nature (indirect, incidental, and intentional) and mental and physical health outcomes and behaviors, (2) identify gaps in the literature, and (3) provide recommendations for future research. Considerable evidence suggests that interacting with nature, indirectly and intentionally, is associated with improvements in mental health and physical exhibitions of mental status. Furthermore, intentionally interacting with nature is associated with engagement in physical activity and gardening is associated with fruit and vegetable consumption. Research suggests that incidentally interacting with nature may be associated with positive mental health status. More research is needed to understand the relationships between incidental interactions with nature and physical health status and behaviors; as well as among all types of interactions with nature and physical health disorders, sleep, and dietary behaviors.
Exercise , Health Behavior , Vegetables , Fruit , Mental Health
Wasted food is the single biggest contributor to greenhouse gases. Globally, attempts are being made to both reduce surplus food and divert it into food-to-food operations. This opinion piece covers upcycling and biotechnology-mediated solutions on a technology continuum as a part of the bigger whole to solve this problem. Upcycling is an approach to divert foods that would otherwise be wasted into higher uses that would also have tangible benefits to the environment and society. Likewise, biotechnology can help farmers produce crops with longer shelf life and that satisfy cosmetic standards. Uncertainty, either in the form of food safety, technology, or neophobia in the case of upcycled foods or genes (cisgenic or transgenic) in the case of biotechnology, is a hurdle. Communication and consumer perception should be researched. Both upcycling and biotechnology can provide practical solutions, but their acceptance depends on communication strategies and consumer perception.
Biotechnology , Crops, Agricultural , Plants, Genetically Modified , Crops, Agricultural/genetics , Food Safety , Perception
