Are all processed foods bad?

Processed foods get a bad rap, which many of them deserve. They can be unnecessarily high in sodium and
sugar, and laden with unrecognisable ingredients. Reducing your reliance on prepared and packaged foods is a
positive step for your health.
However, if you are selective, you can find processed foods that are nutritionally sound, and the convenience
makes it easier to eat well. Canned fruit retains many of the nutrients found in fresh fruit and its a low-cost
alternative, especially varieties canned in fruit juice. And frozen berries are an easy and healthy dessert.
Canned lentils and beans are quicker to use than dried beans, while frozen vegetables are a no-chop alternative
to fresh vegies. As theyre snap-frozen soon after harvest, they can retain more nutrients than fresh
vegetables that have been left for a week in the bottom of the fridge.
You can also find breakfast cereals that dont contain too much sodium and sugar. There are also a number of
good, prepared soups available from the fridge section at local supermarkets. Eat fresh foods and cook from
scratch as often as you can, but dont worry about having a few of these time-saving processed foods in the
pantry and freezer.

4 foods that harm

1. Smoked and cured meats
From fancy charcuterie to complex canapes, pass on cured meats in any form theyve been linked to cancer,
cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and migraines. Plus, theyre packed with artery-clogging grease: as
an example, most shop-bought sausages contain 20% fat!
2. Energy drinks
Stick to a cup of coffee for your afternoon boost. Seemingly harmless caffeinated beverages are often loaded
with sugar and the US FDA has received numerous reports linking certain energy drinks to possible heart
attacks, convulsion and even death.
3. White rice
Skip the refined grains and go for whole: a 17% higher risk of diabetes is associated with eating five or more
servings of white rice per week, compared with eating white rice less than once a month.
4. Low-fat peanut butter
When companies take out the fat, they have to add something back in to make peanut butter taste delicious. In
this case, its extra sugar and who wants that? Instead, spread regular, natural peanut butter on your
sandwich for more of the good fats and protein without fake sweetness.

6 ways to teach yourself empathy

All of a sudden, the word empathy is on the lips of scientists and business leaders, education experts and
political activists. Empathy is not just a way to extend the boundaries of your moral universe. According to new
research, its a habit we can cultivate to improve the quality of our own lives.
But what is empathy? Its the ability to step into the shoes of another, aiming to understand their feelings and
perspectives, and to use that understanding to guide our own actions. That makes it different from kindness or
pity. And dont confuse it with the Golden Rule, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. As
George Bernard Shaw pointed out, Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their
tastes may not be the same. Empathy is about discovering those tastes.
The good news is that empathy can be learned. In my new book, Empathy: A Handbook for Revolution (Random
House), Ive honed six key habits that highly empathic people (HEPs) bring into their daily lives. So what does it
take to teach yourself empathy?
Habit 1: Switch on your empathic brain
The recent big buzz about empathy stems from a revolutionary shift in how scientists understand human
nature. The old view that we are essentially self-interested creatures is being nudged firmly to one side by
evidence that we are also Homo empathicus, wired for empathy, social cooperation, and mutual aid.
Over the last decade, neuroscientists have discovered that 98% of us have the ability to empathise. They have
also identified a ten-section empathy circuit in our brains which, if damaged, can curtail our ability to
understand what other people are feeling. Evolutionary biologists like Frans de Waal have shown that we are
social animals who have naturally evolved to care for each other, just like our primate cousins. And
psychologists have revealed that we are primed for empathy by strong attachment relationships in the first two
years of life.

A good way to start switching on your empathic brain is simply to make a mental note every time you notice an
instance of empathic thinking or action in yourself or others. Maybe you will spot your boss managing to see
someone elses point of view, or observe empathic cooperation between your children. Think of it as becoming
an empathy detective.

Habit 2: Make the imaginative leap

Highly empathic people make a concerted effort to imagine themselves in other peoples situations, like an
actor who occupies the personality of their stage character. Making this imaginative leap can be boosted by
empathic listening. What is essential, says Marshall Rosenberg, psychologist and founder of Non-Violent
Communication (NVC), is our ability to be present to whats really going on within to the unique feelings and
needs a person is experiencing in that very moment. HEPs listen hard to others and do all they can to grasp
their emotional state and needs, whether it is a friend who has just been diagnosed with cancer or a spouse
who is upset at them for working late yet again.
We all know, instinctively, that empathy is a great tool for maintaining healthy relationships. Just think of all
those times youve been arguing with your partner and thought, Why cant she understand what Im feeling?
What are you asking for? Empathy of course. You want them to step into your shoes, if only for a moment.
Thats why its worth practising empathic listening in your relationships. Next time things are getting tense with
your partner, focus intently on listening to their feelings and needs without interrupting (and this might just
induce them to return the favour). You might even ask them to tell you about their feelings and needs. Its
amazing how doing this can prevent a niggling annoyance from turning into resentment or a full-scale
argument. Ultimately, most of us just want to be listened to and understood.
Habit 3: Seek experiential adventures
So you think ice climbing and hang-gliding are extreme sports? Then you need to try experiential empathy, the
most challenging and potentially rewarding of them all. HEPs expand their empathy by gaining direct
experience of other peoples lives, putting into practice the Native American proverb, Walk a mile in another
mans moccasins before you criticise him.
The writer George Orwell is an inspiring model. After several years as a colonial police officer in British Burma in
the 1920s, Orwell returned to Britain determined to discover what life was like for those living on the social
margins. So he dressed up as a tramp with shabby shoes and coat, and lived on the streets of East London with
beggars and vagabonds. The result, recorded in his book Down and Out in Paris and London, was a radical
change in his beliefs, priorities, and relationships. He not only realised that homeless people are not drunken
scoundrels Orwell developed new friendships, shifted his views on inequality, and gathered some superb
literary material. It was the greatest travel experience of his life. He realised that empathy doesnt just make
you good its good for you, too.
We can each conduct our own experiments. If you are religiously observant, try a God Swap, attending the
services of faiths different from your own, including a meeting of Humanists. Or if youre an atheist, try
attending different churches! Spend your next holiday volunteering in a village in a developing country.
Next time you are planning a trip, dont ask yourself, Where can I go next? but instead Whose shoes can I
stand in next?
Habit 4: Practise the craft of conversation
Highly empathic people have an insatiable curiosity about strangers. They will talk to the person sitting next to
them on the bus, having retained that natural inquisitiveness we all had as children, but which society is so
good at beating out of us. They find other people more interesting than themselves but are not out to
interrogate them, respecting the advice of the oral historian Studs Terkel: Dont be the examiner, be the
interested enquirer.
Curiosity expands our empathy when we talk to people outside our usual social circle, encountering lives and
world views very different from our own. Conversations with strangers can really help challenge our
assumptions about people, so we get beyond our snap judgments about them based on their appearance or
accent. Its also a great cure for the chronic loneliness that affects one in four Westerners. No wonder happiness
guru Martin Seligman identifies it as a key character strength that can enhance life satisfaction.
Cultivating curiosity requires more than having a brief chat about the weather. It involves talking about the stuff
that really matters in life, like love, death or politics. Set yourself the challenge of having a conversation with
one stranger every week. All it requires is courage.
Habit 5: Travel in your armchair
If all of this is sounding a bit strenuous, you can always throw a little armchair empathy into the mix. This is
about reading books and watching films that catapult our imaginations into other peoples lives that are vastly

different from our own. Think of a movie like City of God, which reveals the violent world of two boys growing up
in the shantytowns of Rio. Or the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, with its classic line, You never really understand a
person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.
In fact, there has been an avalanche of recent neuroscience and psychology research showing that entering
other peoples lives through books and films is one of the best ways of learning to empathise.
It isnt always easy to find the most inspiring and powerful empathy books and films, which is why alongside
my new book Ive just founded the worlds first online Empathy Library at www.empathylibrary.com. Youll find
the very best novels, non-fiction, kids books, feature films and video shorts all about empathy.
Habit 6: Inspire a revolution
Empathy isnt just something that happens between individuals. It can also flower on a mass scale and start
shifting the contours of society itself. Many of those who took part in the Occupy Movement and Arab Spring
were motivated by empathy empathy for those whose lives had been ravaged by the financial crisis, or who
had suffered police brutality. An important way to boost your empathy levels is to join with others to take action
on empathy-related issues that matter to you whether its child poverty or the fate of future generations
whose lives will be affected by our addiction to high-carbon lifestyles. Even taking part in your local choir or
playing five-a-side football are ways to engage in communal activities that break down the barriers between
people and promote a more empathic world.
Empathy will most likely flower on a collective scale if its seeds are planted in our children. Thats why HEPs
support efforts such as Canadas pioneering Roots of Empathy, which has benefited over half a million school
kids. Its unique curriculum centres on an infant, whose development children observe over time in order to
learn emotional intelligence and its results include significant declines in playground bullying and higher
levels of academic achievement.
So now youve got some ideas for growing your empathy, let me leave you with a question. Who in your life do
you need to develop more empathy with and how might you go about doing it?

Philippines: Through the Fire

Nine-year-old Antonio \'\'Dan Boy\'\' Fernandez Jr was playing with his younger brother Ken in their yard last
June when he noticed smoke billowing from the roof of their house in Cebu\'s Carcar city. Realising that his fiveyear-old brother Nathaniel was napping inside, Dan Boy shielded his head from the falling embers with his
hands and rushed inside the wooden house. <P>\'\'I was so scared to see the flames on the roof but when I
heard my brother cry, I just closed my eyes and rushed in,\'\' says Dan Boy, who stopped schooling two years
ago to look after his younger brothers.</P><P>He found his brother sitting in the corner of the room,
frightened and crying. Nathaniel was disoriented from the smoke, so Dan Boy grabbed him with his right
hand. \'\'Don\'t worry, kuya (big brother) is here,\'\' Dan Boy said as he shielded Nathaniel from the flames with
his own body. </P><P>Just as they reached the front door, Nathaniel stopped. A protruding nail had
caught his shorts. Flames licked the upper portion of the door as Dan Boy struggled to get his brother free. With
one last, desperate tug they ran into the yard as the fire devoured the property.</P><P>For his heroic
act, Dan Boy received financial assistance from the government and concerned individuals, as well as a
scholarship from a university in Cebu City.

100 Word Story 2014 WINNERS

The standard of entries in our 100-word story contest was extremely high. This is the second time
weve run this contest, and the stories had the same twists, turns, tearful moments, killer endings
and laughter that we enjoyed last year. RD readers from around the country obviously are a
talented bunch, with powerful imaginations to match. So, here, after much debate, are our 2014
winners, from South Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
THE JUDGES:
Sue Carney, Editor-in-Chief, RD Magazine
Lynn Lewis, Editor-in-Chief, RD General Books
Beverley Cousins, Fiction Publisher, Random House Australia & New Zealand

Winner, Australia: Rebecca Lehman

My arrow is steady, my breathing slow, my target oblivious. He is standing in line at a grocery
store, absentmindedly reading his milk carton. The line shuffles forward and as my target shifts,
my arrow shifts with him. Im almost ready. She steps in line behind, dropping her purse. He
notices, bending down to pick it up. I loose my arrow and it hits him at the base of his back. He

pauses for a moment before looking at her face for the first time. He smiles, she smiles, and my
job is done. The rest is up to them.
The Judges said:
Surprising, endearing and very simply told. This stood out as a clever idea smartly executed. It is
charming and made us all smile.

Winner, South Africa: Lizelle Bright

The year is 1965 and she desperately wants that stunning pair of bell bottoms, but the price-tag at
the trendy boutique is too high. With a heavy heart she takes the bus back home. Late that night
she gets a brainwave, tiptoes into the sewing room and finds her treasure, Moms leftover
psychedelic upholstery fabric! Her inventive creation turns into the funkiest bell bottoms! After a
night out with friends where she is the belle of the ball, she invites them in for a nightcap.
However, as she enters the lounge and spots the reconditioned divan, she realises her folly.
The Judges said:
You can just see the colours and the psychedelic feel of the 60s. It made us all laugh out loud.

Winner, New Zealand: Sofia Crosley

She went for the summer. She met him there. She liked his laugh. They became friends. He kissed
her first. They danced one night. The weather cooled. She had to leave. He promised her things.
The army called. The bombings began. She prayed every day. She cried every night. The answering
machine blinked. The message played. She crumbled in the shower. She screamed at the walls. The
time passed again. The weather grew warm. She took four flights to get back. She bought a rose at
the market. She traced his name with her fingertips. She went for the summer.
The Judges said:
Beautiful and haunting. Sofia tells a long story in a concise and clever way.

Winner, Asia: Mohammad Fardeen

I am wearing my make-up for the 11th time this month. Clad in my aunts most expensive sari, I
wait with my tray of teacups. I must enter the room full of guests, with short, silent steps. Not as
easy as it sounds. I am summoned. As I offer everyone a cup, I can hear the women whispering;
about me? At night the phone rings. My mother cries and blames God for my complexion; and me
for not following all her remedies to become fair. No place for a dark girl says the advertisement
billboards, magazines, television commercials and mother.
The Judges said:
This story has a depth of writing that makes it stand out from the others. The final sentence really
provides an insight into the cultural pressures she is up against.

HIGHLY COMMENDED, AUSTRALIA: Martin Lindsay

Lucy noticed the man seemed more directed in his movement through the busy Open Home.
Straight upstairs. The other patrons of the twilight viewing had all been chatted to, details taken,
and pamphlets distributed. She followed. He was at the studio window, looking out. Across the
street, lighted windows allowed clear view into bathroom and bedroom. Lucy cleared her throat,
suspecting ill motives. He turned, angry. Im sure the neighbours wouldnt appreciate
voyeurism, she said. No, I dont, the man replied sharply. But it seems my wife does. It now
struck Lucy, the owner had been awfully reticent about selling.
The Judges said:
This story tells so much in such a short amount of time. Its cleverly written with an unexpected
twist.

HIGHLY COMMENDED, AUSTRALIA: Suzanne Shimmin

When she was born he envisioned she would become a glamorous movie star. He named her Grace
after Grace Kelly. His little princess. He could not foresee his laughing, intelligent child, bewildered
and frightened by unseen demons when she reached her teens. Cruel words uttered in her head.
Countless psychiatric ward visits. Where was his child? Gone but still present. A smile lights up his
hopes but it was only a flicker. Too brief, but something to hold on to. On the street, she sits
huddled with an outstretched cup to a passer by who walks by without looking twice.
The Judges said:
This story carries the reader from promise to despair, from joy to grief, and challenges us all to
show more compassion to those around us. Masterful.

HIGHLY COMMENDED, South Africa: Deepa Chibba

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Seven steps back he stands, hands nervously on his waist.
The applause and jeers continue as his heart leaps through his ribs. The whistle goes; he takes a
second to shake the jelly from his legs. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, his foot makes
contact with the object. The stadium is hushed as all eyes trace the direction of the ball. The goal
post trembles and the crowd erupts. He drops to his knees as he witnesses the ball graze the
outside of the post, out of the field. Theyve lost.
The Judges said:
It carries the reader through a broad sweep of emotions. Clever and satisfying.

HIGHLY COMMENDED, South Africa: Elizabeth Robbertze

2007: The harsh overhead lights blurred her vision. The procedure complete. She was desperate.
Scared. Alone. Tragically the victim: an unplanned baby. 2013: The blonde haired little boy sits
comfortably on the back seat between his two younger brothers. His heart filled with love for the
woman driving. He giggles as he listens adoringly to his family singing The wheels on the bus.
He joins in. At the park his mum unbuckles his brothers. He watches them, their voices fading as
they run excitedly towards the roundabout. Once again they have left him behind. Why dont
they ever see me?
The Judges said:
This story sticks with you. It has a truly haunting tone.

HIGHLY COMMENDED, NEW ZEALAND: Veronica Duque

The shrieking sounds of call bells herald the beginning of my shift. The first call was from upstairs,
room number nineteen. She is oftentimes confused and would ask if I was Father Christmas. I
helped her to the toilet and resettled her but she rang again. And then she rang some more
again and again. Finally, I asked her, What is it this time? Tucked in her bed, she replied with a
smile, I like you. Now her room is quiet and empty for she was no longer there. Then I suddenly
realised I do like her again and again.
The Judges said:
This story is gentle and poignant. We like the way the author plays with the past and the present
to convey the shifting reality that is dementia.

HIGHLY COMMENDED, NEW ZEALAND: Jean Obeyesekere

I see him again, watching and waiting, for whom? I wonder. Jeff at the pub should know, he knows
everything that goes on in this town. We meet, and Jeff blurts out that a fatal accident occurred at
that spot a few days ago, the girls name was Sarah. He still waits, for footsteps that will never
come. I tread cautiously, Hey, buddy. He looks up. Sarah is gone for good. Her very name
ignites a response. Can I take you home, mate?

A wag of a tail gives me a Yes as he follows me. Dogs need closure, too.
The Judges said:
Cleverly constructed, with a touching last line.

HIGHLY COMMENDED, ASIA: Sheena Liam

It was a big house, cheap too. We bought it immediately, no questions asked. After a hard day of
restoration work, we dozed off in each others arms, exhausted. Sometime in the middle of the
night, I was awoken by the creaking sounds of her leaving the room for the bathroom down the
hall. I wrapped my arms around her the moment she sank back into bed, kissing the back of her
head lightly, when a knock came at the door. John? Are you sleeping? Im locked out. I froze as
she crossed fingers with me and held on tighter.
The Judges said:
This is a great cliffhanger story that had us all wanting to know what happened next. The twist was
a real shock and we couldnt help but re-read it a couple of times.

HIGHLY COMMENDED, ASIA: Rosario Crisostomo

He has told her several times that he doesnt love her anymore. Hes too good for her, he said.
Why couldnt she accept it? Twenty-three years, she thought. She gave up her career and parents
for him. She just wanted him to love her again. Instead he hated her, and told her so every day.
She looked at the winning P35M lottery ticket again, and at her husband who was drunk and
asleep. She knew hed leave her if he found out he has won. A fate worse than death! She placed
the ticket in her mouth, and chewed heartily.
The Judges said:
This writer has managed to take the reader on a journey in just a few short, but beautifully
executed sentences.