For many Chinese consumers, a satisfying breakfast is one that includes either hot porridge or steamed buns (馒头). Cold sandwiches, which are popular with Westerners, are probably one of the last options on their minds. But that is not to say that consumers, especially those in an international city like Shanghai, would avoid everything considered Western for breakfast. For instance, coffee, which has steadily grown in popularity in the country, is one drink that many cannot do without today.

To satisfy this growing demand for breakfast sets that combine elements from the East and the West, food companies have been rolling out (推出) a host of new offerings to attract the customer. One example is Shanghai Qiao Coffee, launched by local time-honored food company Qiaojiashan at the end of 2019. Apart from its traditional dim sum (点心), the store also sells various types of coffee.

According to Shen Yan, deputy manager of Qiaojiashan, the most popular breakfast set now is the steamed vegetable bun paired with black coffee. “The calories that one gets from a meal consisting of Chinese dim sum and coffee are less than those of a Western breakfast. Since a steamed bun has nearly 200 calories and a cup of black coffee barely has any calories, this combination can be considered healthy and delicious,” said Shen.

Even the smaller shoppers in the food scene are jumping on the East-West breakfast trend. Western food companies, too, have been rolling out Chinese breakfast options. “Consumers and even cultural heritage will also benefit from the increased competition. If not for the current trend which has revived interest in certain traditional dim sum, these foods could soon be lost to history,” Shen said.

Researchers in Singapore found that eating mushrooms over twice per week could help prevent memory and language problems later in life.

According to the study, published in The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, there is a unique antioxidant (抗氧化物质) present in mushrooms that helps protect certain brain functions.

Researchers observed 663 Chinese adults aged over 60 whose diets and lifestyles were tracked from 2011 to 2017. In the study, the participants were asked how often they ate six different types of mushrooms: oyster, shiitake, white button, dried, golden and tinned. The findings showed that eating more than two shares of mushrooms per week somehow lowered the chances of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by 50% against those who ate fewer than one share.

MCI is a condition that can make people forgetful, affect their memory and cause problems with language, attention and finding the exact position of objects in space. Changes in behavior can be not very noticeable and not serious enough to be known as dementia (痴呆).

Participants who ate more mushrooms were found to perform better in thinking and processing exams and also exhibited a faster processing speed. The advantage was reportedly more apparent in those who ate more than two shares a week or more than 300 grams.

The scientists pointed out, however, that they have yet to put up a direct link between the fungi(蘑菇) and brain function.

The researchers also acknowledged that since this study mainly relied on self-reported information on mushroom intake and other dietary factors, further studies may be required. Still, the lead study author Lei Feng is encouraged by their findings. ''This relevance is surprising and encouraging, '' Lei said.

Mushrooms are one of the richest dietary sources of ergothioneine (麦角硫茵氨基酸) — a substance which we humans can’t make on our own.

Most of us don’t think twice about refilling our plastic water bottles. After all, there’s absolutely nothing harmful about a simple bottle of water, right?

Wrong! 【小题1】 Why? Plastic water bottles have Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used to manufacture plastics. This harmful chemical can go into the water and quickly grow dangerous bacteria in the bottle’s cracks, and the health consequences are pretty serious.

We spoke to Kent Atherton, CEO of PuriBloc technology, about the risks of reusing plastics. “Even BPA free products are not safe because manufacturers are now using other estrogenic (雌激素类的) chemicals. 【小题2】,” said Atherton.

These estrogenic chemicals can have a negative effect on human being’s hormonal balances. 【小题3】. In a study of 259 plastic water bottles at the State University of New York, scientists found that 93% of the surveyed bottles had some form of microplastic contamination (污染). Additionally, single-use plastic bottles are mostly made of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, which is safe to use, but not reuse.

【小题4】. “The thing about water bottles is that they come into contact with our mouth and hands—which are home to a lot of bacteria,” says Professor Stephanie Liberatore in the academic journal The Science Teacher. “Their openings are small, which makes them difficult to clean. This, combined with their wet environment, can make water bottles a bacterial breeding ground.”

To drink water without harm, smart drinkers should avoid re-using disposable (一次性的) bottles. 【小题5】 Not only will doing so benefit your health, but you can help the environment, too.