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Whole grain products are often touted as a healthier alternative to white flour products. But does that apply to everyone? We have summarized the most important facts for you below.

How healthy are whole grains really?

Whole grain describes grains, such as wheat or oats, that are harvested as whole grains and therefore still contain all the healthy minerals, vitamins and fiber.

Whether wholemeal bread, wholemeal flour or wholemeal noodles – the product range is getting bigger and more popular. Whole wheat flour is ground grain with only the tough outer layer removed. This leaves the grain hull and the germ, which together form the so-called “bran”. This is the healthy main carrier of the whole grain product. Whether vitamin B, iron, zinc or magnesium – whole grain contains all of these ingredients.

White flour is the opposite of whole grain flour. During the processing of the grain, the bran with all its healthy active ingredients is removed. What remains is a product that consists almost entirely of starch and therefore sugar.

White flour: Starch and sugar are what remains

Incidentally, the term “whole grain” is protected by law, because as soon as this information can be seen on the packaging, the grain used must have been ground to 90 percent from the bran and endosperm.
Whole grain products contain a lot of fiber, which has decisive advantages for the body:

Thumbs up: benefits of whole grains

They fill you up quickly.
They bind water and continue to swell in the stomach.
They dampen the blood sugar level by squeezing in between the sugar and the intestinal wall, thus helping the small intestine to do its job.
Dietary fibers also have a large volume and thus get the intestines moving.

However, some people should exercise caution when consuming whole grain products: In the case of intestinal diseases or irritable bowel syndrome, for example, there is a risk that whole grain products will not be well tolerated. But as a rule, these products are gratefully accepted by our body. But it should be noted that you should not change your eating habits from pure white flour to pure wholemeal flour consumption within a day. If you try this, you may experience abdominal pain, bloating, or constipation.

In the first few days of switching to whole grain products, for example, whole grain oatmeal or rolls can be helpful to slowly get used to the body. Flour, pasta and rice can first be mixed with a small amount of the corresponding whole grain product and then an increasing amount of whole grain can be used.

Tip: When consuming whole grain products, you should always drink enough, because the water-binding fiber makes whole grain products thirsty.

Many people take Lent as an opportunity to let bad habits rest – also in terms of nutrition. One possibility is, for example, not eating meat. But how healthy is it to give up meat? A detailed study provides surprising insights into the question.

Long-term study on meat abstinence: data analysis of more than 48,000 people

The medical journal reviewed vegetarian and vegan diets in a July 2019 in-depth study by the University of Oxford. In the course of their surveys, the researchers evaluated the data of around 48,000 subjects who had neither heart disease nor stroke in the past.

About half of all participants reported eating meat. The other half was divided into vegetarians, vegans and pescetarians, i.e. people who do not eat meat but eat fish.

Over a research period of 18 years, 2,820 cases of heart disease and 1,072 strokes were recorded among the subjects.

Meatless diet: Lower risk of heart disease

It was striking that meat eaters showed a significantly higher susceptibility to heart disease. Compared with the pescetarians, the risk of heart disease was increased by 13 percent. Compared to vegans and vegetarians, it was even 22 percent. According to the researchers, this could be due to the significantly higher body mass index (BMI) and elevated blood cholesterol levels.

In contrast to the heart diseases, the subjects with a meatless diet performed significantly worse when it came to the risk of a stroke. According to the study, a plant-based diet increases the risk of stroke by more than 20 percent.

The scientists at the University of Oxford attribute this to the low levels of vitamin B12 in vegetarians and vegans. The vitamin is mainly found in animal products such as fish, meat and cheese. Despite the lengthy study, the researchers said more research is needed to definitively confirm the results.

Lick the lid of the yoghurt – sure, most of us have done that before. After opening a yoghurt pot, you lick off the remains sticking to the lid with your tongue. But how harmful is it to the body if you lick the aluminum lid?

Licking the lid of the yoghurt: Aluminum as a danger to the body?

If you take in too much aluminum in your body, it can have serious consequences. According to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), a long-term overdose has a negative effect on the nervous system, kidneys and bones. It can also affect your child’s fertility and development. However, whether the light metal also causes dementia or breast cancer has not yet been scientifically proven.

One thing is certain: once the light metal settles on the skeleton, it is difficult to break it down again. Particular caution applies here, especially in people with kidney failure or other diseases of the organ. Normally, absorbed aluminum is excreted from the body through the kidneys – but this route usually only works to a limited extent in kidney patients. It is all the more important for them to avoid taking too much aluminum.

You should not exceed this aluminum limit

But how much aluminum is too much for your body? When is it really a health hazard? A limit value set by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) provides orientation here. This states that you should consume a maximum of 1 milligram of aluminum per kilogram of your body weight every week

It is important to note that aluminum can get into our bodies in a variety of ways. On the one hand, it occurs in foods such as chocolate, raw vegetable salad or tea. On the other hand, many medicines and cosmetics also contain the light metal. However, it is much more obvious as a component of packaging containing aluminium

Lick the lid of the yoghurt or scrape it off with a spoon?

The good news first: If you lick aluminum-containing yoghurt lids with your tongue, there is no acute health risk. Because the aluminum values ​​here are so low that they do not exceed the limit values. In addition, the lids are covered with a thin layer of plastic so that the light metal should not get into the product unnoticed. This makes licking harmless at first.

However, if you scratch the special protective layer of the yoghurt lid with a spoon, it can break. This will do that

If you want to keep leftovers of your yoghurt for a few days, licking the yoghurt lid is not recommended. Because your saliva can make it easier to get a

Caution aluminum: You have to be careful here

Even if the pure aluminum values ​​​​are initially harmless – there is a completely different danger when licking the yoghurt lid. The sharp edges of the lid can seriously injure your tongue if you cut yourself on them. You should always be careful here.

Aluminum yoghurt lids and other packaging protect very well against the escape of the light metal thanks to their special plastic coating. However, critical situations can arise with conventional aluminum foil if food containing salt or acid is stored in it for a long period of time. Because salt and acids can leach the aluminum out of the packaging film, so that it gets into the food stored inside unnoticed.

Many people know this nutritional advice from grandma: cherries and water don’t go together. The myth that the combination of fruit and liquid causes stomach pains is even said to go so far that the stomach can burst. But is that really true? We got to the bottom of this legend and we have the answer for you.

Controversial Myth: Stomach Pain from Eating Cherries and Drinking Water?

There are no medical studies that the Federal Center for Nutrition refers to as to whether cherries actually cause stomach pains when combined with water. However, there are various theories as to how the severe abdominal pain can occur after eating the cherries along with drinking water. The nutritionist Claus Leitzmann speculates that the origin of the grandparent myth probably comes from the war and post-war period.

Clean water was scarce at that time. The abdominal pain was probably caused by contaminated water that was drunk along with the cherries that were eaten. Other causes of abdominal pain can be yeast or bacteria on the cherries. In the stomach, they can start to ferment together with the drunk water and the fructose of the cherries and cause severe stomach pains. The water you drink also dilutes the stomach acid, which loses its protective effect.

The harmful bacteria can therefore continue to work unhindered on the fermentation process in the stomach. People who suffer from fructose intolerance should therefore be particularly careful when consuming foods containing fructose. A doctor’s recommendation is not to overdo it with the consumption of cherries and to drink liters of water afterwards. If you stick to a halfway normal consumption amount, there will probably be no stomach ache. By the way: Apricots (apricots), damsons (plums) and other stone fruit, as well as gooseberries, can cause stomach ache for the reasons mentioned above if you eat too much of them and drink too much water afterwards.

“Negative calories” sound almost too good to be true: foods that are said to use up more calories when digested than they provide to the body. Eat and lose weight at the same time – is that an insider tip for losing weight or just a myth? We investigated the question.

What does “negative calories” mean?

The term originally comes from advertising and has spread rapidly: negative calories as a slimming product. When the body uses more calories to digest a food than it takes in, it is called “negative calories”. The calorie account then results in a quasi-negative balance. If you eat a lot of these foods and do without hidden calorie bombs, you should lose weight quickly. But is that even true?

Negative calories: what foods are included?

Above all, foods that have hardly any calories but a high proportion of fiber are among the foods with supposedly “negative calories”. Fiber boosts metabolism and digestion. Fruits and vegetables are generally low in calories. You can therefore definitely integrate the following foods into your diet to make it easier to lose weight:
Celery (20 calories per 100 grams)
Carrots (29 calories per 100 grams)
Watermelon (25 to 30 calories per 100 grams)
Cucumbers (12 calories per 100 grams)
Grapefruit (36 calories per 100 grams)
Apple (60 calories per 100 grams)
Orange (45 calories per 100 grams)
Cauliflower (30 calories per 100 grams)
Lettuce (14 calories per 100 grams)
Green beans (30 calories per 100 grams)
Lemon (29 calories per 100 grams)
Tomatoes (18 calories per 100 grams)
Zucchini (15 calories per 100 grams)
Tangerine (50 calories per 100 grams)
Red peppers (20 calories per 100 grams)
Spinach (16 calories per 100 grams)
Radishes (14 calories per 100 grams)
Strawberries (32 calories per 100 grams)
Asparagus (18 calories per 100 grams)
Mushrooms (16 calories per 100 grams)
The effect is said to be even greater when drinking ice water. It has no calories at all, and to bring the water up to body temperature, the body burns a lot of energy

Too Good To Be True: Are Negative Calories True?

Unfortunately, however, negative calories remain a pipe dream. The nutritionist Antje Gahl from the German Society for Nutrition (DGE) says to gofeminin.de that the body needs energy to digest every food, but that with a normal mixed diet one only assumes 10 percent of the energy brought in.

It has not been scientifically proven that 100 percent – or even more – of the calories of a food are burned. There are no negative calories. Gahl doesn’t think much of the ice water myth either: If energy is actually burned, this proportion is so small that you don’t notice it on the scales. Sad but true! Unfortunately, negative calories are just a myth.

A concrete example: A stalk of celery has about 10 calories. The energy required for digestion is about two calories. The number of calories is therefore given as 8 calories per stick. So 8 calories are left over after digestion. On average, about 10 to 20 percent of a food’s calories are used for digestion. Using 100 percent of calories in digestion is impossible!

10 tips on how to really lose weight

Unfortunately, the fact that you can save calories by eating could not come true. However, the German Society for Nutrition (DGE) has established the following 10 nutritional rules that should keep you healthy and promote performance and well-being if you follow them.

Enjoy a variety of foods: Choose mostly plant-based foods
Vegetables and fruits: Eat three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit daily. This includes legumes such as lentils, chickpeas and beans.
Whole grain instead of wheat: When it comes to grain products such as bread, pasta, rice or flour, the whole grain variant is the best for your health.
Animal products daily, fish once a week. Meat no more so 300 to 600 grams per week.
Health-promoting fats: Prefer vegetable oils like canola or olive oil.
Save sugar and salt: Sweetened foods are not recommended. Use sugar sparingly and reduce salty foods.
Drink water: Drink 1.5 liters of water daily or other non-caloric beverages such as unhealthy tea. Sugar-sweetened and alcoholic beverages are not recommended.
Prepare food gently: cook food for as long as necessary and for as little time as possible. Avoid burning food when roasting, grilling, or deep-frying.
Eat mindfully and enjoy: Just focus on your meal and don’t let yourself be distracted.
Watch your weight and keep moving: wholesome nutrition and physical activity go hand in hand.
In order to lose weight or avoid weight gain, you should not do without anything, but eat healthy and wholesome food and stick to the rules of nutrition as far as possible. A vegetarian diet is also recommended. And if you don’t want to give up meat completely, you can at least try to reduce your meat consumption.

Calorie saving during a diet apparently significantly changes the gut microbiome, as a recent study shows. A “hungry microbiome” develops, which has a lasting effect on the absorption of food in the intestine and thus on the human energy balance.

Charité study: This is what saves calories with the intestines

For more than 16 weeks, the working group examined the effects of a diet on a total of 80 women who were slightly to severely overweight. In addition, all of them were already in the menopause. During these four months, the women either lost weight through a formula diet under medical supervision or kept their weight constant. The formula diet was implemented using ready-made drinks with less than 800 kilocalories per day. The subjects’ stool was analyzed regularly. These analyzes showed that the diet reduced the number of microorganisms in the intestine and changed the composition of the intestinal flora. dr Reiner Jumpertz von Schwartzenberg explains in a Charité press release: “We were able to observe how the bacteria change their metabolism in order to absorb more sugar compounds, which are then no longer available to humans. One can say that a “hungry microbiome develops. “

The scientists then transferred the stool samples before and after the diet to mice without their own intestinal flora. Within two days, the mice that received the post-diet stool lost more than 10 percent of their body mass. The mice that received the pre-diet stool, on the other hand, had no effect.

According to the Charité press release, these results could lead to possible therapy options for metabolic diseases such as diabetes. The team is now investigating how intestinal bacteria can be influenced in order to have beneficial effects on metabolism and body weight in humans.

Bananas are considered to be a source of energy and are a popular food among children and adults. Let’s take a look at the popular fruit.

Exotic fruit: banana

The exotic fruit, which has meanwhile become a matter of course, contains a lot of fructose; the exact amount depends on how ripe it is. The riper a banana is, the more fructose and less starch it contains. You can usually recognize a ripe state by a bright yellow color and possibly also the first brown spots. It is then considered to be easier to digest than green bananas, the consumption of which is controversial. In the green state, the starch content outweighs the fructose. Beyond the green degree of ripeness, the banana is considered to be easily digestible. The fructose makes the banana a good supplier of energy.

Regardless, all bananas are high in carbohydrates. These can be burned off quickly, especially during sports. But even if you don’t exercise, you can eat bananas because they are very filling. In addition, the banana contains many vitamins. For example, the content of vitamin B6 is very high; you also take in vitamin C, potassium and magnesium, among other things. When the banana turns brown, it loses its vitamins. Bananas are also said to contain antioxidants.

Tip: Bananas are recommended for both diarrhea and constipation. But watch out for any intolerances. Especially people with a fructose intolerance should be careful with bananas due to their fructose content. The fructose-glucose ratio in particular determines intolerances. However, intolerances express themselves individually.

Bananas as a calorie bomb?

Bananas are often considered fattening foods. A banana has about 114 calories; depending on your weight, that’s about 88 to 124 kilocalories. In general, you can count on 88 to 95 kilocalories per 100 grams. Bananas don’t usually make you fat; however, you should pay attention to the total number of calories and a healthy lifestyle. It also depends on how you eat the banana; Dried bananas contain a lot of fructose, so you can count on around 290 kilocalories for 100 grams.

It’s recommended not to eat more than three raw bananas a day, but opinions differ on this as well. The German Society for Nutrition (DGE) recommends 250 g of fruit a day – preferably a healthy mix.

Good to know: Ripe bananas can have an alcohol content of up to 0.6 percent. In general, ripe fruit contains a certain amount of alcohol. Tip: It is best to store your bananas at a temperature of 12 to 14 degrees Celsius; the refrigerator is not suitable for storing them, as they can then turn black.

High nutritional value and sweet taste: Fruit, freshly squeezed juices, dried fruit and smoothies are considered healthy and not fattening. But the fructose in it can be treacherous.

How healthy is fruit and how important is it for nutrition?

The German Society for Nutrition (DGE) advises eating two portions of fruit a day (1 portion = 125 grams of fruit). On the one hand, fruit contains less fructose than industrially sweetened products such as lemonades. Fresh or frozen fruit in particular is particularly rich in nutrients.

On the other hand, fruit is very rich in vitamins (B vitamins, vitamin C, carotenes), trace elements, secondary plant substances and minerals such as potassium or magnesium, which are essential for a healthy body. The dietary fibers contained in the fruit support digestion and can reduce the risk of dyslipidemia. Fruit therefore provides a lot of nutrients and, with a few exceptions, has comparatively few calories. Fruit is part of a healthy diet.

Unfortunately, the well-known smoothies that can be bought in almost every supermarket cannot replace fruit. They are composed quite differently – it is worth taking a look at the list of ingredients. They usually contain large amounts of juice or fruit juice concentrates, pulp or pureed fruit. Since smoothies almost exclusively use peeled fruit, they contain less fiber, vitamins or phytochemicals than fresh, whole fruit. Because many important nutrients are in and directly under the shell.

When can fruit make you fat?

Research into the effect fruit has on weight when a person eats a lot of fruit has shown that people who eat more fresh fruit are more likely to maintain their weight or even lose it. Eating fruit can also help people who are overweight to lose weight. So if you eat more fruit, you’re probably consuming fewer calories a day, especially if you replace a high-calorie meal with fresh fruit.

In summary, the study shows that eating fruit every day contributes to maintaining a healthy weight, but at most to a mild extent. The study results also confirm the recommendation of the DGE – two portions of fruit a day are recommended.

On the other hand, certain fruits can still make you fat in larger quantities. Different types of fruit contain very different amounts of calories and fructose. For example, there are 160 calories in 100 grams each of avocados. Bananas contain 89 calories and the frontrunner here are dates, which contain 282 calories per 100 grams. would you have guessed that? Low-calorie fruits, on the other hand, are:
Gooseberries (24 calories in 100 grams)
Strawberries (32 calories in 100 grams)
Grapefruit (32 calories in 100 grams)
Honeydew melon (36 calories in 100 grams)
Lime (30 calories in 100 grams)
Peach (39 calories in 100 grams)

How harmful is fructose?

Fructose occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables and is used as a sweetener in processed foods. Fruit sugar (fructose) affects our health insofar as regular consumption of a lot of fructose increases the amount of cholesterol particles in the blood significantly. In addition, as a result of high fructose consumption, the body’s cells react less sensitively to insulin, which means that the cells absorb less glucose, which in turn leads to an increase in blood sugar levels. In the long term, this can lead to diabetes.

But that’s not all: If large amounts of fructose have to be broken down, this indirectly increases blood pressure and can cause a slight inflammation in the vascular system – risk factors for heart attacks and strokes.

Researchers at Yale University in the United States found out using magnetic resonance imaging of the brain that fructose does not fill us up and the desire to eat remains. Equally unpleasant: fructose stimulates fat storage and is converted directly into fat. It is therefore quite possible to gain weight from fruit.

How do you identify processed fructose in products?

Many companies cheat when it comes to the sugar information on their products. Fructose is also not clearly recognizable on many food packaging. On the list of ingredients for foods, you can find fructose under the following names, for example:
fruit sugar/fructose
fructose syrup
Fructose-Glucose Syrup
glucose-fructose syrup
You will find a significant amount of fructose, especially in dried fruit and fruit juices. Honey and fruit sweeteners are also rich in fructose. Unfortunately, you will not find out exactly how much of it is contained in the food, because fructose does not have to be shown separately in the nutritional labeling. It falls under the indication “sugar”.

By the way: Even the label “sugar-free” or “sugar-free” can be misleading – the alternative sweeteners are often unhealthier than real (fruit) sugar.

Healthy sweetening alternatives

Sugar in any form can therefore be quite unhealthy. Especially the foods in which you don’t expect any sugar at all. If the consumption accumulates here, abdominal fat or certain symptoms of illness are the result. If you want to protect yourself from this, you should cook for yourself more often and use fewer ready-made products. On the other hand, sweetening alternatives in reasonable quantities are a good way to enjoy sweetness and stay healthy at the same time:
honey
agave syrup
maple syrup
erythritol
Stevia
sugar beet syrup
Conclusion: Pay attention to the right amount of your (fruit) sugar consumption. Anyone who eats a healthy diet and regularly eats different types of fruit will suffer less damage and instead benefit from the numerous nutrients and thus positive effects of fruit.

How do you recognize good bread? You can now buy it at discounters and supermarkets. What should you pay attention to?

Bakery and discounter: What are the differences?

Almost every discounter now has its own baking station. Fresh baked goods are baked and sold directly in the shop every day. In addition, many supermarkets have a wide range of packaged bread and rolls. But what about the quality of these products? Are they as good as the traditional bakery products?

The biggest difference is probably in the list of ingredients and the rising times of the dough. The discounters are supplied with finished, deep-frozen dough pieces. Many artificial additives and enzymes are needed to ensure that these have a longer shelf life and are particularly crispy when baked. In addition, the baked goods in bakeries and co are not prepared in peace, but quickly and as cheaply as possible. Therefore, the dough cannot rise slowly and is made to work faster by artificial leavening agents.

Traditional bakeries and some bakery chains, on the other hand, use local ingredients and prepare the dough without long transport routes. Small bakeries use good local flour and value high quality. However, this is also noticeable in the price, which is significantly higher than that of the finished products.

Quality: This is how you buy good bread

Bread from the baking station is therefore not necessarily unhealthy. It all depends on the type of bread and the list of ingredients. If you pay attention to a few things, you buy high-quality bread:
With whole grain bread, make sure that it really is whole grain bread. Many manufacturers use malt extract and caramel syrup to give the bread a healthy, dark color.
Grain bread does not equal healthy bread. Linseed, pumpkin seeds or chia seeds give the bread a healthy look. However, the bread can still be a nutrient-poor white flour product without enough fiber.
The shorter the list of ingredients, the better. Additives and sugar have no place in bread.
You can find out more about the ingredients at the bakery. Take advantage of the expert advice here so that you can find the right product for you.
Our conclusion: You can definitely buy good bread in the supermarket, but pay close attention to the list of ingredients. You decide which quality you buy and which companies or bakeries you support with it. In any case, you should consciously consume and enjoy bread and rolls.

For many, cola is a cult drink that is not only drunk as a cool refreshment, but also as a mixed drink at parties. But what effect does cola actually have on you? This is what happens after just one glass in your body.

Shocking news for all cola fans: this really happens in your body after just one glass

After all, cola is one of the most popular soft drinks, especially among children and young people. It’s no wonder, because the manufacturers’ advertising strategies seem to be working. On average, everyone drinks over 33 liters of cola a year (as of 2020). If you add the light versions, it is even more than 45 liters. Around 1.5 billion bottles are sold every day.

But what exactly is in the drink? What is it made of? The exact composition is closely guarded by the manufacturers.

But the main components are well known. These are water, carbon dioxide, flavors, colors, phosphoric acid, caffeine and sugar. And there is more than enough of the latter. A 0.2 liter glass of the dark fizz contains over 21 grams of it. And that’s more than 90% of the WHO recommended daily dose. And the light or zero version? There are artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, and a relatively large amount of phosphoric acid. Incidentally, the caffeine content is between 10 and 25 milligrams per 100 milliliters, depending on the manufacturer.

How unhealthy is cola really?

A nice ice cold cola. The taste on the tongue, the tingling of the carbonic acid. Who thinks at that moment what is happening in the body now? But maybe you should think about it a bit.

Let’s say you drink a 0.33 liter can. You’re immediately ingesting the equivalent of seven teaspoons of sugar. That’s already more than the World Health Organization recommends, which recommends six teaspoons. After 20 minutes, the blood sugar level reaches its peak. This causes insulin to be released, which prompts the liver to convert the sugar into fat. After 40 minutes, the caffeine intake is complete and the liver releases even more sugar. Blood pressure rises, the pupils dilate. In the brain, the adenosine receptors are blocked, which prevents sleepiness. After 45 minutes, the messenger substance dopamine is increasingly released. This ensures that we feel happiness and well-being. After an hour, the phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in the lower digestive tract, which boosts metabolism. This effect is amplified by the high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners, which drives the excretion of calcium in the urine.

After more than 60 minutes, caffeine’s diuretic properties kick in – you need to pee. And with it, calcium, magnesium and zinc, which, among other things, were intended for the bones, are excreted. Other electrolytes and of course water also leave the body. Now comes the sugar crash. You become nervous, irritable, sluggish, or all of them together. After a few hours, the caffeine crash follows. All the liquid you took in with the cola is gone. And with that, important nutrients that the body needs have literally ended up in the toilet.

Cola as a thirst quencher? These alternatives exist

If you now consider the effects that cola has on the body, what happens if you consume a lot of it over a longer period of time? Due to the yo-yo effect when it comes to sugar, the body demands more and more of it. You want to feel good, savor the happiness that dopamine brings about. And this is where the danger lurks. Too much sugar consumption can lead to obesity, diabetes and the associated damage.

The amount of 3 milligrams per day and kilogram of body weight should not be exceeded in children and adolescents. Together with the sugar consumed in large quantities, cola is therefore more than just questionable for young people.

Conclusion: Cola is not suitable as a thirst quencher. Along with fruit juices, cola is one of the luxury drinks and should therefore be enjoyed in moderation. Alternatives are spritzers or water, which you can enjoy with fruits or other ingredients as “infused water”. Homemade unsweetened iced tea can also be considered as an alternative. This turns thirst quenching into indulgence with no regrets.