Meat of the issue on lab-grown chicken
Cultivated chicken isn’t poultry with a college degree. It’s another name for lab-grown animal protein made from chicken cells (tissue, tendons, even feathers). These “essence of chicken” cells are put into what is called a bioreactor and made to multiply millions and billions of times using amino acids and other nutrients.
Then, additional substances, such as protein growth factors, are added to get the cells to assume characteristics of muscle, fat or connective tissue cells. The final product can then be shaped into pieces of chicken for use in many dishes.
The Food and Drug Administration has OK’D the production and sale of two of these chicken products in the U.S., letting folks eat animal protein without having to kill an animal.
Once the manufacturing process gets ramped up to scale, it will be much less harmful to the environment than farm-raising animals.
But, is it healthier for you?
Maybe not yet. While skinless chicken is basically a healthy source of proteins, it also contains saturated fats — and so does lab-grown chicken.
One day, the bioengineered chicken might be ultra-processed to alter its fat content and boost the content of positive nutrients, but that doesn’t seem to have happened yet.
The power of prehab
Pre-surgical rehabilitation — or prehab — is a highly effective tool for anyone who is heading into major surgery, whether it’s for an orthopedic condition or for a procedure that involves the liver, lung, colorectal system or urologic system.
A review in JAMA Network that analyzed 12 studies, including 832 patients, to assess the impact of high-intensity interval training on patients’ pre-operative cardiovascular fitness and post-surgery outcomes, found that they benefited enormously from getting into good shape before surgery.
You can create an even more protective prehab plan if you combine HIIT with strength training, high-protein nutrition and supplements, smoking cessation, and psychological support, according to a study in the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. Researchers followed 20 colorectal cancer patients who went through the multilevel prehab before surgery and 30 of their peers who did not.
Fully 86 percent of the prehab group recovered to their baseline functional capacity four weeks postoperatively. Only 40 percent of the control group did.