Introducing…The Veggieducken [NPR] We really should have seen this one coming. Thanksgiving diners with a hankering for meat might be indulging in a turducken this week (for the uninitiated, that’s a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey). Now, vegetarians can enjoy a thing-inside-a-thing-inside-another-thing centerpiece of their own: The turducken, created by Dan Pashman, a food podcast host, starts with a banana squash, and then squishes leeks, yams and stuffing inside. Yum? (For more veg-friendly Thanksgiving recipes, peruse these 6 Stellar Holiday Sides.) Post-Sandy, Mental Health Gets A Boost [The Atlantic] Hurricane Sandy wrought shocking devastation when it swept across the East Coast of the US in October. And while crews are busy repairing power lines, roads, and homes destroyed by Sandy, others are looking to assuage the storm’s toll on mental health: FEMA has approved $8.2 million to provide health outreach, crisis counseling, and mental health education for those expected to experience lasting trauma from the storm (an estimated 200,000 people in New York state alone). Survivors of natural disasters can suffer significant mental anguish, so find out what kinds of symptoms to look for with our guide to post-Sandy PTSD. Fitness: Is Achieving Health All In The Message? [The New York Times] By now, most Americans are well aware that exercise is accompanied by a myriad of health benefits. Still, the majority of us don’t achieve the minimum standard for physical activity—150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week—recommended by medical experts. But would that figure change if the message behind physical fitness did, too? After conducting a series of experiments, researchers at Iowa State University concluded that people might be more likely to exercise if, instead of being told to workout for a certain period of time, they were instructed to find an exercise, and an intensity level, that felt good. (For feel-good workouts, try our Ultimate Zero-to-5K training plan that’ll have you sprinting to the finish line in no time.) Follow her on Twitter: @katiedrumm Send news tips and positive vibes to: Katie.Drummond@rodale.com
