So, what constitutes a good fast at this time of Lent and what does that mean for your body? We’ll get back to our discussion on antibiotics in the diet but we wanted to answer a few questions we got on the expectations from fasting, starting with abstaining from meat.

Abstaining from meat is glorious for your tummy and torture for your tongue. In Trinidad, a meal without meat is a snack. “Mammy, when you finishing the rest” is what you will hear at a Sunday lunch serving up rice, beans and potato salad. But abstaining from meat has several benefits. Let’s look at them in isolation.

Weight Loss Switching from meat protein to plant protein has the first benefit of leading to weight loss – and the good kind – the kind that sheds fat.

A study by the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences notes, “The take-home message is that a plant-based diet can help you lose weight without counting calories and without ramping up your exercise routine,” says Neal Barnard, MD, lead author of the study. This study reviewed 15 separate studies based in Finland, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the United States with 755 participants varying between 4 weeks to 2 years and noted an average weight loss of 10 pounds over a 44-week period.

The best part was that no exercise was required, just the willpower and the benefits are extrapolated, “If you’re overweight, losing just 5 to 10 percent of your body weight can slash the risk of both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” says Susan Levin, MS, RD, CSSD, a study author and director of nutrition education. The better part is that once you see that improvement in mind and body, you probably will actually want to exercise (and enhance the impacts further.)

Healthy Gut and Microbiome A 2014 study between vegans (no meat products at all), vegetarians (may include dairy, eggs, fi sh) and omnivores (meat, plants etc) revealed: “The vegan gut profile appears to be unique in several characteristics, including a reduced abundance of pathobionts (associated with chronic inflammatory conditions) and a greater abundance of protective species. Reduced levels of inflammation may be the key feature linking the vegan gut microbiota with protective health effects.” In some instances, these changes in the gut microbiome begin within a few days to a few weeks, and likely is also linked to the higher intake of dietary fibre and its positive effects on the gut. Dietary _ bre improves the intestinal environment by inhibiting pathogen adhesion, altering bacterial fermentation patterns and modifying microbiota community pro_ les. Sudden dietary changes can however cause bloating and discomfort so proceed with caution and note this: adding tons of breads and vegetarian pastas isn’t the solution – but rather one should add lots of steamed veggies, raw fruits and anything close to source (eg, your mango tree in the backyard!) Healthy Heart A pooled analysis of five studies involving 76,000 subjects found that both vegetarians and those who followed a “prudent” diet allowing small amounts of red meat benefited from a reduced risk of coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Another study by the Lerner Research Institute in the US also showed that carnitine in red meat can also trigger gut microbiome reactions which contribute to the development of heart disease. Further to this, research of 45 vegetarians (longer than 15 years on that diet), found lower levels of stress in the body, as well as lower body fat and cholesterol levels in similar matched omnivores.

Reduced Cancer Risk The World Health Organisation published an alarming report in 2015, noting that 50g of processed meat a day – less than two slices of bacon – may increase the chance of developing bowel cancer by 18 per cent. You read that right. The report lists processed meat right up there with alcohol and cigarettes. This link may also apply to red meat which uses an organic pigment called haem, which may damage the lining of the gut.

Should you go vegan for Lent? Have you? More next week.

This advice is culled from dozens of books, medical studies, discussions with professionals and experience. Always consult your doctor, your nutritionist or preferred health advisor before starting any health changes. Most of all, listen to your body.

Sources: George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health.

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But it would also show the areas that are badly hurting and in urgent need, plus give a sense of priority and point up a direction of the general care of environment .

Well crafted, it would have to locate pollution on it, geographically; and at the same time relate impact on various parts of the ecology and the eco-networking .

The details would include things like present intensity pollution, accumulation exponents, areas of overlapping pollution. I can note here some of commonly known things: * Oil drilling platforms (well hole spill-outs, drilling platform overflows, platform run-off and litter, offshore latrine, kitchen, maintenance and other discharge) .

* Industrial and medical wastes/disposals and spillages and incinerator discharges .

* Pesticides and herbicides (agriculture and garden run-off and wastes) .

* Commercial and household waste, eg paint wash-off, paint tins and other chemicals .

* Municipal projects, eg mosquito spraying (also affects insects’ ecosystem and birds and bees), general extermination, eg poisoning of rats .

* Automobile discharges and waste including tyres and wearing down of tyres on the roadways .

* Landfill (run-off and leachate) .

* Compound fires .

* General litter .

* Flood capture of pollution .

* Denudation/degradation (deforestation, mining, urban expansion, squatting) .

* Ships and boats discharges and litter .

* Cumulative pollution and plastics inorganic particles amassments .

Degrading plastic is everywhere and an immense particle/ molecular bulk is building up in the sea and sea-bottom. There are particular geographic points where this would be happing with more or less greater force than other places; where tide and eco-season vary. The same problem happens on land mostly at the landfills but within the leachate .

A map is a great heuristic .

E GALY via email

The game was Lawrence’s lone international test before the back-to-back FIFA World Cup qualifiers at home to Panama and Mexico, on March 24 and 28 respectively.

But it was the performance of Boatswain that impressed the most, in front of a crowd estimated at 2,500.

Boatswain, replacing fellow debutant Jameel Perry in a move by Lawrence in the 31st minute to give each of his forwards a chance, scored four minutes later with his first attempt at goal.

Sent clear by a deep ball from Darren Mitchell, Boatswain collected the ball on the left, and unleashed a thunderous right-footer to the top left-hand corner of Dario Weir’s goal.

Boatswain then showed his predatory instincts in the 45th as he anticipated a defence-splitting pass from playmaker Hashim Arcia, and with Weir rooted on the near post, the striker banged home a right-footed shot, via the right post.

Players on both teams wore black armbands while there was a moment’s silence before kickoff as a mark of respect for Nikela John, daughter of assistant coach Stern John, who died on Thursday evening.

Marvin Phillip, the seasoned goalkeeper, took over the captain’s armband from Carlos Edwards, who led the team during the four-game reign of Lawrence’s predecessor Tom Saintfiet.

The game sprang to life in the 10th minute when wing-back Alvin Jones unleashed one of his trademark long-range freekicks, which flew wide of Weir’s right post.

Jones was involved in a trio of corners from both ends with the third met by centre-back Daneil Cyrus whose header crashed off the crossbar and went out of play.

Then came a pivotal moment a minute later when Perry got a through ball from the middle and, after being sent wide by the retreating defenders, slotted his left-footed shot wide of the mark, with Weir beaten.

Perry was hooked off by Lawrence eight minutes afterwards and Boatswain, in the space of 10 minutes, put the game beyond the reach of the Barbadians.

The second half saw a total of 13 substitutions (both teams were entitled to a maximum of seven switches) and the rhythm of the game was disrupted as a result.

However, Barbados had a rare attempt on goal, with Romario Harewood getting a ball from his captain Arantees Lawrence but shooting wide.

Eleven minutes later (65th), Sean De Silva, operating on the left, got a return pass from Arcia and raced on goal. But he could only look on in agony as his right-footed shot went out of play via the uprights.

And in stoppage time, left-winger Jomoul Francois – who, like defender Jesus Perez, made his international debut in the second half – ran on to a through ball on the left but his angled left-footer went wide.

Teams –

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Marvin Phillip (capt); Daneil Cyrus (Jesus Perez 51st), Curtis Gonzales, Tristan Hodge, Alvin Jones; Jared London (Leston Paul 46th), Hughtun Hector, Sean De Silva (Carlos Edwards 76th), Darren Mitchell (Jomoul Francois 83rd), Hashim Arcia (Keron Cummings 72nd); Jameel Perry (Jamille Boatswain 32nd, Akeem Roach 62nd).

BARBADOS: Dario Weir (Kishmar Primus 72nd); Teriq Highland, Ranaldo Bailey, Alvin Chapman (Akeene Hill 72nd), Akeene Browne; Mario Williams (Sheran Hoyte 75th), Romario Harewood (Armando Lashley 65th), Arantees Lawrence (capt), Haydan Holligan (Darico King 79th), Omani Leacock (Raheim Sarjeant 46th); Shaquille Boyce (Jomo Harris 46th).

It is his hope that his music restores some semblance of God’s deep love, especially to TT. Positive won in eight categories at the Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards held on February 25 at the Atlantis Theatre on Paradise Island in The Bahamas. This year’s ceremony, according to a release on Positive’s wins, was attended by, “hundreds of industry aficionados and enthusiasts from the Caribbean, Canada, London and other territories … to celebrate the achievements of Positive and other entertainers.” Among them were Gozzy, Romancia Kingston, Marc Isaac, Neesha Woodz and Ke Ke Lewis.

Positive won in the categories of Album of the Year, calypso/ soca vocal performance of the year, contemporary recording of the year, contemporary vocal performance of the year, packaging of the year, praise and worship recording of the year, reggae recording of the year and song of the year. He previously won eight awards in the 2014 Marlin awards for his album, Forever My King.

The winning songs are from his album, Stand and Be Counted, which he described as being “closest to his heart.” The album was done in late 2015.

Positive has evolved since entering the gospel arena in 2007. When asked how he felt about winning the eight awards again he said: “To win eight Marlin awards, I feel specifically proud, because of the project that took me to the Marlin awards this time around. It is my new album Stand and Be Counted.” The album debuted at number nine on the Billboard Reggae Album Chart in 2015.

In a phone interview, Positive said he felt “uniquely proud” of this album and what it had accomplished thus far. His pride coming from having done most of the production work on the album as well as writing the songs.

“I say this one was closest to my heart because for the first album I was under a record label under the name of Lion of Judah sounds. We had a one album deal and that is where it began. The second album I tried to explore doing new styles of music. But with this album I was hands-on, in terms of the production of the music, writing all the songs. In other albums I wrote all the songs, yes, but in this album I wrote not just the lyrics but the music.” Positive said he has seen “tremendous growth” in the local gospel music industry. Since his start in 2007, production levels within the music niche have improved. “Everyone is now intentional with their delivery of the music and it has grown.

It was very immature before. It has come to a place where it is still evolving and growing but it is more of a mature market right now.” Positive is now working on a new album. One which speaks to the central tenet of Christianity, love. Although the release on his wins identified August as the release period for his new album, Murray said he was not certain about August.

He said, however, “It is to talk about the different layers of the word love. Sometimes we are so quick to cast people aside, or we are so quick to separate ourselves, when the true definition of love speaks about being patient, speaks about being kind, holding nor record or wrong, always believes but what we exude in the world now is a far cry from the true definition of love.” For him, award ceremonies like Marlin helped to boost the local gospel music industry and open it up to new audiences and market.

Ultimately, Positive wants to be able to be all things to all men, to have his music reach people that it did not reach before.

“I want to be able to be all things to all men. I want to be able to let my music reach people that hasn’t already reach before. It is one thing to have music coming out every single month or year but it is another thing to have new audiences out every single month or single year. So I think that now my main goal is to reach the lost. To reach the people that have not been found as yet. New markets.

New territories.” He hopes to impact a troubled TT. “Where we are at as a nation right now, we need to get back to the foundation of how we were created.

La Trinidad, La Trinity speaks about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I think we have drifted so far from it. I think if we could let gospel itself, not just the music but the written word, lifestyle and everything that exudes Christianity penetrate the atmosphere a little bit more we would be able to see a greater change for the nation,” he said.

The event takes place tomorrow at the Cascadia Hotel, St Ann’s from 4 pm. Popular rock band Five Miles to Midnight will host the music fusion.

The collaboration is the brainchild of Fabian James, owner of F James Film/TV Co Ltd of St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The company provides a diverse range of services to the entertainment and cultural industries globally.

Its activities range from creative TV concept and production, establishing and promoting cultural and musical festivals and productions, as well as designing and managing both small and large scale events for industry, government and other organisations, said a media release.

The first music-fusion reality show took place between Barbados and Canada in 2015.

Trinidad followed a year later and this year St Lucia and Jamaica were added to the mix. The work between the Canadian and Caribbean groups will be filmed on performance night and will be presented as part of the third season of the upcoming reality show Club One Releases, also produced by F James Film/TV Co Ltd.

Club One Releases, which will be aired on Flow 1, will feature live musical performances and in-depth discussions with groups from Newfoundland and Labrador who will be paired with groups from the four Caribbean islands. Flow became a major sponsor of the project in 2015, when the first successful event was held in Barbados.

Last year, F James Film/TV Co Ltd and Flow presented this exciting concept of multithemed musical arenas to a large audience at Cascadia Hotel, who indulged their musical senses in the genres of rock, blues, country, folk, hip hop and jazz blends.

It is hoped this year will be no different.

In TT the celebration takes place at several venues with cultural programmes.

Villages come together to enjoy chowtal (folk songs) as well as the throwing of abeer on each other.

This ritual which was brought here by the indentured labourers has become popular and attracts a wide cross section of people.

Today, Phagwa celebrations will be held at SWAHA Tulsi Manas Mandir of Coalmine Road, Sangre Grande.

The programme begins at 6 pm and will feature chowtal singing, dances and drama.

There will be a dramatic enactment of the Prahlad story and also a lecture by Swaha’s Pundit Balram Persad.

Tomorrow, celebrations will continue throughout TT and the Maha Sabha will host events at Knowles Street Recreation Ground, Tarouba Recreation Ground, Lower Mc Bean Temple Grounds, Munroe Road Temple Grounds, Parvatie Girls Hindu College, Debe, Solidad Recreation Ground, Claxton Bay, Avidesh Samaroo Park Endeavour Village, Couva Recreation Ground and Monkey Town Temple Grounds, Barrackpore.

The Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Cultural Co-operation (MGICC), which is the cultural wing of the High Commission of India, will also celebrate Phagwa tomorrow from 10 am to 2 pm.

The Shiva Jyoti Hindu Organisation of St Helena will also host its annual event at the temple grounds Ojah Maharaj Avenue, Las Lomas tomorrow from 1 pm to 6 pm, at Skinner Park, San Fernando.

The Phagwa festival is based on the teaching of the ancient character named Bhakta Prahlad.

He was a prince who was subjected to torture by his father, the wicked king Hiranyakasipu.

Prahlad who did devotion to Lord Vishnu was saved from being destroyed by his father.

In the early days of indentureship, this festival was observed very modestly because of the many constraints that the Hindus faced.

Today it is celebrated on a national scale and with grand style

Guy told police Thursday night that her daughter left their Marie Road, Morvant home during the morning period saying she was going out to deal with police business.

When Joseph failed to return home, her mother made several calls to her cellular phone but got no reply. She then went to the police station and filed a report.

Police received information that a 39-year-old labourer from Sea Lots – believed to be Joseph’s boyfriend – had confided to an associate that he had killed the officer and disposed of her body in the area. Detectives from Portof- Spain CID have since detained WPC Joseph’s companion and up to press time, he was being interrogated.

The man insisted he does not know of Joseph’s whereabouts but his neighbours told police she was seen with him at his home on Thursday morning. An unpainted wood and concrete house in Sea Lots was being processed by police yesterday as it is believed Joseph was kept there for some time.

Officers led by ACP (Crime) Irwin Hackshaw and including Snr Supt Radcliff Boxhill, ASP Ajith Persad, Ag ASP Terrence Williams, Sgt Kerr, PC Waldron and PC Lightbourne, along with officers from the Homicide Investigations Bureau, the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Guard and Emergency Branch (GEB) and the Canine Unit swooped down on Sea Lots and under the gaze of residents, began a search for Joseph.

Sources said that WPC Joseph, who is the mother of a four-yearold girl, was last posted at Morvant Police Station and was in a long-standing relationship with the Sea Lots man, who has a penchant for wearing thick gold jewelry.

Joseph joined the Police Service in November and was assigned to the Crime Patrol Unit in the North Eastern Division.

Her colleagues in the Police Service, Newsday was told, were concerned about Joseph’s relationship with the man.

Yesterday, Joseph was supposed to return to duty after a two-day break. Her mother sobbed uncontrollably as she was led to a police vehicle to be taken to the office of the Homicide Investigations Bureau to be interviewed.

ACP Hackshaw yesterday said, “I am very distraught, disheartened and deeply pained about the report that one of our own officers may have been murdered.

The Acting Police Commissioner (Stephen Williams) and others in the Service no doubt share my sentiments.

ACP Surujdeen Persad, who is in charge of North Eastern Division where WPC Joseph is based, said no stone would be left unturned in locating her and counselling would be provided for her worried and distressed colleagues.

The elderly mother and daughter lived in a mansion at the corner of Gonzalez Street and SS Erin Road in De Gannes Village, Siparia. On Carnival Monday (February 28) a neighbour who went to check on them, discovered their bodies in an advanced state of decomposition. Subsequent autopsies revealed that they died because of multiple stab wounds.

On Tuesday at their funeral service held at La Divina Pastora RC, Roman Catholic priest Fr Martin Sirju offered prayers for police investigators to find the killers. Delivering the homily, before hundreds of mourners among them President Anthony Carmona, Fr Sirju said that it was not uncommon for criminals to remain on the run without ever being charged. Residents had described the mother as a tough and astute businesswoman who owned several prime residential and commercial properties in south Trinidad.

Investigators of Homicide Region III are continuing investigations.

Speaking after a visit to his alma mater, Naparima Boys College in San Fernando, Sir Trevor dismissed the phenomenon of “fake news’ which is also perpetuated by social media platforms, saying this makes the job of media professionals increasingly difficult.

Asked about the impact of social media, Sir Trevor said, “it’s everywhere and it’s constantly at you. It’s not always the kind of thing that corresponds with the traditions that we have all been taught about, for example, I was always told what you do should be accurate, it should be well-balanced. Well I’m not too sure we can say that about all social media.” “But the fact is, it is there, its’s not going to change and we have to cope and I think it makes the business of straining off what is actually relevant, what is important and what is factual, I think it makes that very, very difficult,” he said. Regarding the fake news phenomenon, Sir Trevor said: “I don’t go into too much of that nonsense of fake news. I think that’s a distraction, there is a vast, vast acre of information and the job of processing that information gets much, much more difficult. Every day it becomes more difficult.” McDonald also noted that Trinidad and Tobago possesses a “very strong tradition of journalism” and recalled that persons from within the Commonwealth had been brought into Trinidad to assist in developing its news media.

“I go back to the days when a lot of people from the Commonwealth were brought into Trinidad to help train people because I think even then it was realised how important journalists were and in particular information and I think some Prime Ministers took it to a degree, almost too far, and Eric Williams, when he became the Prime Minister thought his press conferences should be kind of lectures to the nation every week which was broadcast again on the radio,” Sir Trevor said.

“Even in that, whatever you talked about, seems to be a recognition of the importance of information, it’s one of my creeds, people must be informed if they are to make proper decisions and so I thought even then the tradition is great, I’m sure it is now,” he said. Asked how journalism had changed over the years, McDonald said, “it’s changed enormously and I think it’s the speed with which one has to gather information, assess it and make the kind of proper judgements as to what’s going on.” He cited an example of him having to stay in the Philippines for about six to seven weeks “before I actually began to understand and appreciate what was happening, and if you just jetted in for a few days, it’s rather difficult to make that proper judgement about the politics of the place.” “One of the great problems of today is that we are all supposed to do it in an instant,” he said, adding, “and of course the multiplicity of media platforms all talk about doing it quickly, up to the minute news, breaking news, happening now, there is a rush to fill acres and acres of space for the news and I’m sure it’s well done but there are some issues that take a little more time to be considered and I think I was lucky to have that path.” “I am not too sure how I would have fared in the more hectic pace of today’s world,” he said.

Earlier, addressing the student body, Sir Trevor, who was welcomed with a standing ovation by both students and teachers, advised them that success was not possible without hard work. “You do not succeed without working, it is absolutely essential,” he said.

Sir Trevor told students to make full use of their educational opportunities as it was the key to continued success. He recalled that Naparima College “taught me that whoever you are, however humble is your background, you can be successful if you are prepared to work hard.” Sir Trevor also posed for photos with several staff members who gushed over him with one staff member showing off a copy of a book which was written by him.

In 1992, Sir Trevor was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s honours list. He received a knighthood in 1999 for his service to journalism and was awarded with a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) fellowship at the 2011 British Academy Television Awards.

Lisa Shandilya, consultant at Revolution Destination, which consults in tourism and hospitality, said an act and policy for the TDC to operate effectively had not been established, so the TDC became dysfunctional, a runaway horse with a lot of money being spent unnecessarily because people in the organisation did not understand the tourism industry.

“The hiring practices were all skewed based on political affiliations,” Shandilya said. She believes the move towards splitting the organisation into two is a good idea but is dependent on the marketing of the tourism product.

“Basically, there is a difference between marketing tourism products for the island versus the brand destination of Trinidad and Tobago. So one has to be clear in terms of the act and the policy and the direction for both authorities before they go diving into another situation where the government agencies will be dysfunctional once more. So they have to be clear on their plans.” “You cannot say you are going to be using the Bahamian model, because in The Bahamas you have Nassau in terms of how they market their islands, but you also have the monopolies of where the Government funding comes from.” She said the Government had to be very careful in terms of how it dissolved the TDC and created the different authorities. Noting Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe’s statement on the need for a regulatory authority to set basic standards for all tourism operators, she said that authority already existed within the TDC, but did not function for Tobago.

She said such a regulatory authority for standards and quality of the tourism products would have to be established in any organisation, because basically, “You are selling your tourism product.” Shandilya said both islands have fantastic tourism products compared to many of the islands in the Caribbean but there had been too many people in management positions both in Trinidad and in Tobago who held their positions as a result of nepotism and were only there based on whoever was in government.

“So you have a strong alliance to whatever the political will is, and if the political will is just to not do anything, the management will have to follow suit.” Lorraine Pouchet, president of the Incoming Tour Operators Association, also said she was not surprised at the decision to close down the TDC, because she suspected that decision had been in the making for some time.

However, she said several organisations including hers, the Hotel Restaurants and Tourism Association, the Hotel Association in Tobago and the Tour Operators Association in Tobago, had been meeting and had been corresponding with the TDC about the direction of its marketing strategy. She said the organisations were not happy with it and felt it was important that Trinidad and Tobago have their own marketing representatives and their own marketing strategies, because the products were essentially different, and the target market that might be attracted to Tobago might not be attracted to Trinidad.

She said the organisations felt the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) was “double dipping” in the marketing by getting funding from Central Government through the THA to do its marketing and also getting funding from the TDC, “Which meant that we had less funding available to us in Trinidad to market.” She said Trinidad has a “tremendous amount of potential” in the tourism sector, so the association has no problem with the dividing of the marketing strategy, although Trinidad and Tobago was still a brand and its concern would be how to tie in the three. This had to be a very scientific approach, she said, because the Trinidad brand included a wide variety of tourism activity and sights and attractions that would not be found in Tobago.