Count your lucky stars

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today: Inflation hits 3.8%, while GDP growth for Q1 revised down; New guidance for colorectal cancer screening; Cabbage is indeed having a year; and Sir Paul muses about his next muse…💜

But first, our weekly poll!

Back in December Stake reported on the underdog vegetable making a play for MVP over the next year, and it turns out the cruciferous crusader is indeed having a moment.

The main reason likely has to do with how loaded with health benefits cabbage is. People are increasingly looking for ways to boost the health profile of everything they eat, and what most people are saying about cabbage is that it’s a “super food,” simply packed with nutrients.

“Cabbage is low in calories, high in fibre, and packed with vitamin C, vitamin K, and antioxidants called anthocyanins, which are especially plentiful in red cabbage (also called purple cabbage),” said Bonnie Taub-Dix, author of Read Before You Eat It.

Belonging to the cruciferous family is what also makes the vegetable a brassica plant, which is another benefit in and of itself.

“This makes it a close relative of broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts,” Taub-Dix explains. “All of these vegetables contain compounds called glucosinolates that have been studied for their potential role in reducing inflammation and even lowering cancer risk.”

According to a U.K. study, eating cabbage regularly for just two weeks can measurably lower blood pressure, and cardiovascular risks along with it.

The American Cancer Society has added blood screening as a one of several recommended measures adults over 45 should take to proactively assess themselves for colorectal cancer.

The measure was added after a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found colorectal cancer to be one of four types accounting for a staggering 47% of new cancer cases in Canada.

“From a patient perspective, having a single blood test is often easier than having a colonoscopy,” said Dr. Yoo-Joung Ko, a medical oncologist at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital. “The prep for a colonoscopy takes a better part of a day, and then the colonoscopy takes probably half a day in terms of patient commitment.”

On the other hand, drawing blood takes considerably less time and is, of course, less invasive.

“A simple blood draw is very appealing to Canadians who are at average risk of developing colorectal cancer” and “may increase participation in screening programs because there are no fasting or diet changes required,” said Filomena Servidio-Italiano, president and CEO of Colorectal Cancer Resource & Action Network.

Recommendations for screening as young as 45 are also growing, given the number of people under 50 being diagnosed with the disease has more than doubled compared to previous generations.

The Camino de Santiago is one of the most well-known—if not the most—pilgrimage trails on earth, but it’s in Spain. The Antique Trails of Italy are much less known, but perhaps equally breathtaking in their beauty.

As tourism in Europe continues to overflow from the continent’s biggest cities, Italy is looking to manage the crowds by incentivizing them to slow down and take in the countryside on those trails, known in Italian as Antichi Cammini d’Italia.

These trails include the Via Francigena, the Via St. Francis, the Cammino St. Benedict, the Via Romea Germanica, and the Romea Strata, and are all now interconnected thanks to a unification project funded by the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe.

The project included adding 60 small devices throughout the five separate paths that provide travellers with free Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, allowing them to stay informed about where they are and what cultural treasures lie within their reach. It’s an upgrade from the simple signage (which the paths also include) that are typical of most long-distance trails.

While they may not feature the hottest tourism destinations Italy has to offer, sometimes it’s better to stumble upon hidden gems than widely known landmarks.

Andiamo!

Paul McCartney recently appeared on BBC 2’s Tracks of My Years, and expressed great admiration for the artist formerly known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince, specifically citing 1986’s Kiss as his favorite song by the late great guitarist.

“He took a lot from Hendrix, but he was a great player,” McCartney said of Prince’s guitar playing on the song. “It’s just so simple, again to pull that kind of thing off, you can do a kind of simple thing, and it can just sound simple but not great, but his sounds simply great. He’s a wizard.”

He then said he would indeed love to work some sort of collaboration with Prince, even posthumously, after hearing the Purple One’s rendition of a song McCartney knows all too well.

“I was with some guy, a couple of years ago so it was after Prince had died, and he said, ‘Have you heard Prince do Long and Winding Road?’ I said, ‘Well no, that’s one of my songs, I don’t think he ever did it.’”

Indeed, he covered it 12 times, mostly around the year 2007, to which McCartney said, “It’s really great, so I’m going to ask them [for permission to use it]. Because I could make it into something really good.”

Quizmaster’s choice

It’s Friday, so you know what’s going down here! It’s a little bit of this, and a little bit of that—it’s another round of à la carte with today’s trivia 😎