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HEalth&Science

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23 , 2021. SECTION E EZ EE

CHASE CASTOR FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

CLIMATE SOLUTIONS

Can this wheatgrass

save the world?

Kernza — a domesticated form of the grain — could reduce

need for fertilizer, provide food, improve wildlife habitats

BY ANDREW REINER

For many months during the pandem-

ic, Jason Henderson felt lower than

perhaps at any other period of his life.

The 37-year-old was living in a basement

apartment, newly divorced, recovering

from back surgery and struggling with

depression so crippling he had suicidal

thoughts.

A friend from an online men’s support

group told the Vancouver, B.C., resident

about a new peer support app for men’s

mental health called Tethr. Henderson

joined and began posting about his

struggles.

“I was met with commiseration, empa-

thy and compassion,” he told me. “That

emotional support immediately helped

me feel so much better.”

On the heels of a well-documented

upsurge in anxiety, loneliness and de-

pression sparked by the pandemic, men-

tal health apps have become an impor-

tant resource for men such as Hender-

son.

Many men, traditionally more reticent

to seek out therapy, say these “cyber-

SEE MENTAL HEALTH ON E4

For men, apps

are vital gateways

t o mental health

BY SOFIE KODNER

In the middle of a rainy Michigan
night, 88-year-old Dian Wurdock walked
out the front door of her son’s home in
Grand Rapids, barefoot and coatless. Her
destination was unknown even to herself.
Wurdock was several years into a
dementia diagnosis that turned out to be
Alzheimer’s disease. By luck, her son
woke up and found her before she
stepped too far down the street. As the
Alzheimer’s progressed, so did her wan-
dering and, with it, her children’s anxiety.
“I was losing it,” said her daughter, Deb
Weathers-Jablonski. “I needed to keep
her safe, especially at night.”
Weathers-Jablonski installed a moni-
toring system with nine motion sensors
around the house — in her mother’s
bedroom, the hallway, kitchen, living
room, dining room and bathroom and
near three doors that led outside. They
connected to an app on her phone, which
sent activity alerts and provided a log of
SEE CAREGIVERS ON E4

New monitoring

tech keeps close

watch on elderly

BY ROBERT J. DAVIS

Breakfast has long been hailed as the
most important meal of the day, and over
time, its purported benefits have expand-
ed to include weight control. But it turns
out eating breakfast to stave off hunger
and avoid overeating later may be ques-
tionable advice.
Whether we eat or skip breakfast “has
minimal discernible effect on body
weight,” says David Allison, dean of the
Indiana University School of Public
Health at Bloomington, who has con-
ducted research on the subject. “The
results at this point seem quite clear.”
So how did it become conventional
wisdom that eating breakfast is good for
our waistlines, and why does this notion
continue to hold such sway? Much of the
credit goes to makers of the quintessen-
tial breakfast food — cereal.
Beginning in the early 20th century,
SEE BREAKFAST ON E4

Breakfast doesn’t

have much to do

with weight loss

BY SARAH KAPLAN

‘I

t’s so different from anything I’ve baked with,” says my baking

partner, Jenny Starrs. ¶ We’re standing in the tiny kitchen of my

D.C. apartment, examining palmfuls of a dark, coarse, rich-scented

flour. It’s unfamiliar because it was milled from Kernza, a grain that

is fundamentally unlike all other wheat humans grow. ¶ Most commercial

crops are annual. They provide only one harvest and must be replanted

every year. Growing these foods on an industrial scale usually takes huge

amounts of water, fertilizer and energy, making agriculture a major source

of carbon and other pollutants. Scientists say this style of farming has

imperiled Earth’s soils, destroyed vital habitats and contributed to the

dangerous warming of our world. ¶ But Kernza — a domesticated form of

wheatgrass developed by scientists at the nonprofit Land Institute — is

perennial. A single seed will grow into a plant that provides grain year

after year after year. It forms deep roots that store carbon in the soil and

prevent erosion. It can be planted alongside other crops to reduce the

need for fertilizer and provide habitat for wildlife.In short, proponents

say, it can mimic the way a natural ecosystem works — potentially

transforming farming from a cause of environmental degradation into a

solution to the planet’s biggest crises. SEE GRAIN ON E5

CAROLYN VAN HOUTEN/THE WASHINGTON POST

VIRUSES

Children are coming down with

different bugs as many of them

return to schools. E3

ENVIRONMENT

Cleanup efforts have revived

London’s River Thames, which is

now home to hundreds of

wildlife species. E2

WATER

Researchers have created a

form of superionic ice that may

explain how icy planets form. E2

MEASLES

Risk for transmission and

outbreak of this contagious

disease has increased during

the pandemic. E3

TOP: A ladybug on a Kernza seed head in a farm field. These bugs and birds

feed on crop pests, reducing the need for pesticides. ABOVE: Jenny Starrs, a

baker, compares Kernza grains with other common grains at Sarah Kaplan’s

apartment. Proponents say the grain can mimic the way a natural ecosystem

works — potentially transforming farming from a cause of environmental

degradation into a solution to the planet’s biggest crises.