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2012-02-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

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What Vitamins to Take to Build Muscle Fast

2011-08-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

Proper nutrition is essential when trying to build muscle fast. Getting enough of the essential vitamins and nutrients required for efficient muscle growth is an important aspect of any resistance training regimen. Aside from consuming an adequate amount of protein per day, weightlifters also need to consume a slightly higher dosage of vitamins and minerals each day. This is due to the high intensity workouts and increases in body mass taking place during a resistance training program. A daily multivitamin is a good place to start.

Vitamin A

This is a fat-soluble vitamin, meaning that it's stored in fatty tissue, and it plays a major role in the protein synthesis process. As protein is processed in the body, vitamin A helps individual amino acids form new muscle tissue, and thus helps your muscles get bigger. Vitamin A can be found in various foods, such as cod liver oil, liver, eggs and beef. Since this vitamin is fat-soluble and is stored in the body, it can become toxic when taken in excess. To avoid this problem, take a daily multivitamin with vitamin A as one of its ingredients. The multivitamin, in addition to your daily food intake, should provide enough vitamin A in your diet for building muscle fast.

B-complex Vitamins

This classification of water-soluble vitamins---meaning that they are not stored within the body---consist of the following: Thiamine (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Niacin (B3), Pyridoxine (B6), Folate, Cobalamin (B12), Biotin and Pantothenic Acid. Thiamine is essential in the protein metabolism process and supports cells which carry oxygen throughout the body. Riboflavin is an important vitamin used in the body's fat burning process. Niacin helps to give your muscles a more "full" look by increasing vasodilation within muscle tissue. Pyridoxine is an essential vitamin used in protein digestion, and since weightlifters consume large amounts of protein, they must consume larger amounts of this vitamin than the average person. Cobalamin supports the link between the brain and the muscle tissue and ensures that muscle tissue is growing properly. Biotin aids in the protein metabolism process and boosts energy levels during a workout. Since B-complex vitamins are water-soluble, they have a far less potential of becoming toxic, as fat-soluble vitamins can be, when taken in larger than normal amounts. Excess water-soluble vitamins are excreted from the body.

Vitamin C

Ascorbic acid, commonly known as vitamin C, is the most important vitamin for those looking to build muscle fast, according to published reports at GetBig.com. First of all, vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps to protect muscles from free radicals, which helps enhance recovery and muscle growth. Vitamin C is also important in the formation of collagen in the body, which is the substance that holds tissue together in the body. Collagen helps to prevent injuries when lifting heavier weights. Vitamin C supports the absorption of iron in the body, which aids in circulation of oxygen throughout the body. Without adequate circulation in the body, your muscles don't get the oxygen they need to work their hardest. Finally, vitamin C assists in the formation and release of testosterone, which is essential for muscle to growth. High concentrations of vitamin C can be found in foods such as papayas, bell peppers, broccoli, strawberries, brussel sprouts and oranges.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/150688-what-vitamins-to-take-to-build-muscle-fast/#ixzz1VGnSY7jb

How to Tell if Someone Is Being Sarcastic

2011-07-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

1. Most of the time, people will change the tone of their voice when they are being sarcastic.

2. Listen for a flat, uncaring tone, or an overly-emotional tone.

3. Try looking for extra emphasis on one or two words, like the word "The" can be said like the, or with the E sound at the end.

4. Watch for these words; like, well, the, and, sure, etc. Someone may say the word longer than they would normally in a normal conversation.

5. Try listening for words like, "yeah, uh-huh, sure," and, "as if."

6. If whatever they're saying sounds outrageous, they may be sarcastic.

7. If none of these steps work, then you are dealing with a master of sarcasm. Take whatever they say with a grain of salt.

8. Look out on the internet as well. People who are being sarcastic on the internet (could be considered trolling) are usually clearly sarcastic. Always look for stupidity in others' posts.

20 Interesting and Useful Water Facts

2011-07-29T08:52:00.001-07:00

1. Roughly 70 percent of an adult’s body is made up of water.
2. At birth, water accounts for approximately 80 percent of an infant’s body weight.
3. A healthy person can drink about three gallons (48 cups) of water per day.
4. Drinking too much water too quickly can lead to water intoxication. Water intoxication occurs when water dilutes the sodium level in the bloodstream and causes an imbalance of water in the brain.
5. Water intoxication is most likely to occur during periods of intense athletic performance.
6. While the daily recommended amount of water is eight cups per day, not all of this water must be consumed in the liquid form. Nearly every food or drink item provides some water to the body.
7. Soft drinks, coffee, and tea, while made up almost entirely of water, also contain caffeine. Caffeine can act as a mild diuretic, preventing water from traveling to necessary locations in the body.
8. Pure water (solely hydrogen and oxygen atoms) has a neutral pH of 7, which is neither acidic nor basic.
9. Water dissolves more substances than any other liquid. Wherever it travels, water carries chemicals, minerals, and nutrients with it.
10. Somewhere between 70 and 75 percent of the earth’s surface is covered with water.
11. Much more fresh water is stored under the ground in aquifers than on the earth’s surface.
12. The earth is a closed system, similar to a terrarium, meaning that it rarely loses or gains extra matter. The same water that existed on the earth millions of years ago is still present today.
13. The total amount of water on the earth is about 326 million cubic miles of water.
14. Of all the water on the earth, humans can used only about three tenths of a percent of this water. Such usable water is found in groundwater aquifers, rivers, and freshwater lakes.
15. The United States uses about 346,000 million gallons of fresh water every day.
16. The United States uses nearly 80 percent of its water for irrigation and thermoelectric power.
17. The average person in the United States uses anywhere from 80-100 gallons of water per day. Flushing the toilet actually takes up the largest amount of this water.
18. Approximately 85 percent of U.S. residents receive their water from public water facilities. The remaining 15 percent supply their own water from private wells or other sources.
19. By the time a person feels thirsty, his or her body has lost over 1 percent of its total water amount.
20. The weight a person loses directly after intense physical activity is weight from water, not fat.

Basic Facts on Tea

2011-07-24T08:44:00.000-07:00

Tea drinking has been claimed to have health benefits for centuries, but only in recent years have doctors conducted studies to see if the claims are justified.

A Cuppa of Tea
One possible reason for tea's health benefits is its high content of flavonoids -- plant-derived antioxidants. Antioxidants counteract free radical molecules in the body, naturally produced chemicals that help cause aging, cancer and a variety of other diseases. Tea, particularly green tea, is the best food source of a group of flavonoids called catechins (pronounced CAT-ih-kins). In research studies, catechins are more powerful than vitamins C and E in stopping free radical damage to cells. They also appear to have other disease-fighting properties. Tea contains more than 4,000 compounds, so many more may affect the body.

All three conventional teas -- green, black and oolong -- come from the same plant (Camellia sinensis), but their chemical content and flavors are different because they're processed differently. Green tea leaves are steamed before they're dried, which prevents the breakdown of catechins and preserves their green color. Black tea is made by allowing the leaves to oxidize and ferment, which darkens them and converts some of the catechins into other compounds. Oolong tea is only partially fermented.

Although studies of tea drinking and health have had somewhat mixed results, many have found an association between consuming green tea and a reduced risk for several cancers, including skin, breast, lung, colon, esopha-geal and bladder cancers.

Tea and Research
Laboratory and animal research offer some clues about tea's cancer-fighting potential. One of the catechins found most abundantly in green tea (epigallocatechin-3-gallate or EGCG) may interfere with cancer cell growth. EGCG has also been shown to kill leukemia cells, inhibit the overgrowth of cervical cells, rescue dying skin cells and promote apoptosis, the built-in program for cell death needed to keep cell growth in check. EGCG may also block the development of tiny new blood vessels that feed cancer cells and thereby keep the cancer growing.

In one study, applying green tea extracts containing EGCG to the skin helped protect it from ultraviolet light damage.

Some studies have found a reduced risk for heart disease in regular consumers of green and black teas. There may be several reasons for this. The antioxidants in green, black and oolong teas can help block the oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol, which can increase the formation of atherosclerosis plaques in artery walls. Drinking tea has also been shown to increase HDL (good) cholesterol in a dose-dependent way -- the more tea consumed, the greater the HDL (good) cholesterol increase. Some studies find that drinking tea helps relax arteries, and prevent them from going into spasm. Research results published this year indicated that green tea and black tea were equally effective in improving cholesterol levels and preventing atherosclerosis in an animal model.

A Chinese study published recently showed that regular consumers of oolong or green tea had a reduced risk of high blood pressure, compared to non-tea-drinkers.

Tea and its benefits
Tea can also impede the absorption of iron from fruits and vegetables. Adding lemon or milk to your tea or drinking it between meals will counteract this problem. Tea also contains caffeine, albeit in smaller amounts than coffee.

Drinking a cup of tea a few times a day may be a pleasant way to consume antioxidants and other healthful plant compounds. In green tea-drinking cultures, the usual amount is three cups per day. Three to five minutes of steeping is enough to bring out the catechins.

Drinking tea is generally safe, with a few caveats. In large amounts, it can interfere with blood clotting and thus may interact with the drug warfarin (Coumadin) and other blood thinners.

The best way of course to get the catechins and other flavonoids in tea is to drink it freshly brewed. Decaffeinated, bottled ready-to-drink (regular and diet) tea preparations, and instant teas have less of these compounds. An ever refreshing way to start your day, choose from either ice tea or warm lemontea for additional health benefits. Its a sure shot method for you to get rid of that unwanted fat you wanted to lose since a long time.

Benefits of Eating Fruits

2011-07-22T06:05:00.000-07:00

Fruit is one of the most healthy and natural foods in existence. There are thousands of different types of fruit available to eat, all of which provide us with strong health benefits. Fruit contains a large number of naturally occurring vitamins, minerals and plant phytochemicals that help benefit health. It has also been shown that eating the whole fruit or juice is best to gain the benefits rather than taking supplements to provide each nutrient separately.

It has been recommended that we should be eating at least 5 pieces of fruit every day in order to gain the full health benefits of eating fruit.

Potential health benefits of eating fruit

* potential for weight control
* more energy for exercising
* reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases
* reduced risk of developing cancers
* lower blood pressure
* potential to lower cholesterol
* reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes
* potential to slow down age process

Fruit can also benefit many people wanting to lose weight. Energy consumption is thought to be mainly influenced by the palatability, fiber content, density of energy and the variety of foods. Eating fruit has the benefit of affecting some these factors. Fruit is also low in sodium so they help reduce the chance of gaining water weight. Providing you are eating about one-third of the diet as fruits & vegetables, you should notice rapid weight loss because the ample fruit consumption helps fill the stomach faster encouraging less high calorie foods to be consumed. The total calorie consumption will automatically reduce even if we are eating plenty of fruit and vegetables. There is such a variety of fruits available that many can be freely eaten without consuming too many calories thereby controlling weight more effectively.

Gaining the benefits by eating more fruit

It can be quite easy to slip 5 pieces of fruit into the diet. Here are some tips:

1. Add dried fruit to breakfast cereal.
2. Prepare fruit salads to last few days.
3. Eat an apple before leaving for work.
4. Eat small pieces of fruits 30 minutes before/ after light workout.
5. Drink more fruit juices.
6. Find recipes that contain fruit.
7. Always have a bowl of fruit in or near TV.

Fruit tip:
Eating a piece of fruit before each meal can help reduce total energy intake!

4 Facts about Coffee You Did Not Know …

2011-07-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

Fact #1 …
The average coffee tree has a “life expectancy” up to 70 years, which is comparable with the length of a human life! The first harvest is picked when the tree is about 5 years old, and after that the coffee plant supplies a steady harvest of raw coffee several times a year.

Fact #2 …
The history of coffee is quite a mystery. Humankind knows at least a few different legends describing the origin of that popular drink. In accordance with one of them, coffee came from Africa and was named after the province of Kaffa in Ethiopia. Another legend states that coffee was first discovered by monks who quickly became passionate coffee enthusiasts as it helped them survive through long periods of monotonous prayers and meditations.
One more legend about the coffee origin declares that the coffee plant is indigenous to Europe and was first used by herdsmen tribes, who ate coarsely ground coffee with fat of their cattle. Maybe, that fascinating coffee dish should be brought back and served in Starbucks? :)

Fact #3 …
When, in the 17th century, “coffee madness” reached Europe, Pope Clement VIII declared the beverage to be a “devil’s tool” and warned the Christians against drinking it. But that only was until he happened to taste that heavenly drink himself… So, the Pope quickly changed his mind and decided to baptize coffee and, by doing that, to defeat the devil… Thus, the Pope’s final approval made coffee a legitimate beverage for every Christian!

Fact #4 …
The custom of tipping servants originated in early English “coffeehouses”, which were quite dirty and noisy places in that time. In order to have a better service and to ensure getting a cup of really good and strong coffee, customers would put coins in a jar

Health Benefits of Cabbage

2011-07-12T06:29:00.000-07:00

1. Cabbage contain phytonutrients, works to protect the body from free radicals that can damage the cell membranes. Phytonutrients also signal our genes to increase its production of enzymes involved in detoxification.

2. Cabbage may lower the incidence of cancer, especially in the lung, stomach and colon prostate.

3. Cabbage is a muscle builder, blood cleanser and eye strengthener.

4. The juice of fresh raw cabbage has been proven to heal stomach ulcer.

5. Cabbage is rich in iron and sulfur.

6. Juice of fresh cabbage is effective in treating fungus infection(due to it sulfur content).

7. Cabbage can lower serum cholesterol.

8. Cabbage contain Sulforaphane, a substance that can increase the production of antioxidant and detoxification enzymes. Sulforaphane works by stimulating the production of glutathione, the body's most important internally produced antioxidant which plays a role in liver detoxification.

9. Red Cabbage has more phytonutrients than the green cabbage. The vitamin C content of red cabbage is 6-8 times higher than that of the green cabbage.

10. Red cabbage contain anthocyanin (red pigment/color) is an antioxidant that can help protect brain cells, thus can help prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Nutritive Values of Cabbage : Per 100 gm.

* Vitamin A : 80 I.U.

* Vitamin c : 50 mg.

* Calcium : 46 mg.

* Phosphorus : 31 mg.

* Potassium : 140 mg.

* Carbohydrates : 5.3 gm.

* Protein : 1.4 gm.

* Calories : 24

Health Benefits of Carrot

2011-07-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

Carrot is a vegetable grown for its edible root. Raw carrots are eaten in salads and are mixed with some viands.

Carrot contain carotene, a chemical that is converted into vitamin A by the body, it helps prevent night blindness.

Health Benefits of Carrot:

Carrot can enhance the quality of breast milk.
Carrot can improve the appearance of the skin, hair and nails.
When taken daily it can lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
Raw contain beta-carotene, a strong antioxidant that can prevent cancer.
Carrot juice when taken everyday prevent bodily infections and is claimed to be valuable for the adrenal glands (the small endocrine glands situated above the kidneys).
Carrot can help improve eyesight.
Carrot can help increase menstrual flow.
Carrots can regulate blood sugar.
Carrot can promote colon health, because carrot is rich in fiber.
Carrot is also helpful in the following cases : Obesity, Poisoning of the blood, Gum disease, Insomnia, Inflamed Kidneys, Liver, Gallbladder, Alzheimer's disease, Colitis, Ulcer Painful urination

Vitamin and Mineral Content :

Vitamin A - 12,000 I.U,
Vitamin B; Thiamine B: .06 mg.
Riboflavin: .06 mg.
Niacin: .5 mg.
Vitamin C: 5 mg.
Vitamin D, E, G, & K
Calcium: 39 mg.
Iron: .8 mg.
Phosphorus: 37 mg.
Fat: 0.3 gm
Carbohydrates: 9.3 gm.
Protein: 1.2gm.
Calories: 42

Benefits Of Cucumber

2011-07-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

Cucumber is a vegetable that belongs to the same family as pumpkins, zucchinis and other squashes. It has a dark green skin, which reveals whitish or very light green flesh, when peeled. There are basically two types of cucumbers - the pickling varieties and the slicing varieties. Of these, the pickling variety is relatively small, around 2 - 4 inches long. Most of us know that cucumbers have cooling properties and are extremely good for bringing relief to the eyes in summers. However, they are associated with a number of other health and nutrition benefits too. To know about them, read on.

Nutritional Value of Cucumber
Given below is the amount of nutrients in 100 gm of raw, unpeeled cucumber

Carbohydrates - 3.63 gm
Sugars - 1.67 gm
Dietary Fiber - 0.5 gm
Fat - 0.11 gm
Protein - 0.65 gm
Thiamin (Vitamin B1) - 0.027 mg
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) - 0.033 mg
Niacin (Vitamin B3) - 0.098 mg
Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5) - 0.259 mg
Vitamin B6 - 0.040 mg
Folate (Vitamin B9) - 7 μg
Vitamin C - 2.8 mg
Calcium - 16 mg
Iron - 0.28 mg
Magnesium - 13 mg
Phosphorus - 24 mg
Potassium - 147 mg
Zinc 0.20 mg

Health & Nutrition Benefits of Eating Cucumbers

Raw cucumber, when applied on the skin, can help reduce heat and inflammation.
The diuretic, cooling and cleansing property of cucumber makes it good for skin.
Fresh cucumber juice can provide relief from heartburn, acid stomach, gastritis and even ulcer.
Placing a cucumber slice over the eyes not only soothes them, but also reduces swelling.
Daily consumption of cucumber juice helps control cases of eczema, arthritis and gout.
Cucumber has been found to be beneficial for those suffering from lung, stomach and chest problems.
The potassium in cucumber makes it useful for the problem of high and low blood pressure.
Cucumber contains Erepsin, the enzyme that helps in protein digestion.
Cucumber juice is said to promote hair growth, especially when it is added to the juice of carrot, lettuce and spinach.
Cucumber juice, when mixed with carrot juice, is said to be good for rheumatic conditions caused by excessive uric acid in the body.
Cucumber can prove to be beneficial for those suffering from diseases of the teeth and gums, especially in cases of pyorrhea.
Being rich in minerals, cucumber helps prevent splitting of nails of the fingers and toes.
Cucumber has been associated with healing properties in relation to diseases of the kidney, urinary bladder, liver and pancreas.
Those suffering from diabetes have been found to benefit from the consumption of cucumber/cucumber juice.

How to Improve Your Memory

2011-07-10T06:07:00.000-07:00

TIPS AND EXERCISES TO SHARPEN YOUR MIND AND BOOST BRAINPOWER

If our brains were computers, we'd simply add a chip to upgrade our memory. The human brain, however, is more complex than even the most advanced machine, so improving our memory isn’t quite so easy. Just as it takes effort to build physical fitness, so too does boosting brain power.
A strong memory depends on the health and vitality of your brain. Whether you’re a student studying for final exams, a working professional interested in doing all you can to stay mentally sharp, or a senior looking to preserve and enhance your grey matter as you age, there are lots of things you can do to improve your memory and mental performance. Read on for some of the most promising ways to keep your mind and memory in top form.

Harnessing the power of your brain

They say that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but when it comes to the brain, scientists have discovered that this old adage simply isn’t true. The human brain has an astonishing ability to adapt and change—even into old age. This ability is known as neuroplasticity. With the right stimulation, your brain can form new neural pathways, alter existing connections, and adapt and react in ever-changing ways.

The brain’s incredible ability to reshape itself holds true when it comes to learning and memory. You can harness the natural power of neuroplasticity to increase your cognitive abilities, enhance your ability to learn new information, and improve your memory.

Improving memory tip 1: Don’t skimp on exercise or sleep

Just as an athlete relies on sleep and a nutrition-packed diet to perform his or her best, your ability to remember increases when you nurture your brain with a good diet and other healthy habits.

When you exercise the body, you exercise the brain
Treating your body well can enhance your ability to process and recall information. Physical exercise increases oxygen to your brain and reduces the risk for disorders that lead to memory loss, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.Exercise may also enhance the effects of helpful brain chemicals and protect brain cells.

Improve your memory by sleeping on it
When you’re sleep deprived, your brain can’t operate at full capacity. Creativity, problem-solving abilities, and critical thinking skills are compromised. Whether you’re studying, working, or trying to juggle life’s many demands, sleep deprivation is a recipe for disaster.

But sleep is critical to learning and memory in an even more fundamental way. Research shows that sleep is necessary for memory consolidation, with the key memory-enhancing activity occurring during the deepest stages of sleep.

Improving memory tip 2: Make time for friends and fun

When you think of ways to improve memory, do you think of “serious” activities such as wrestling with the New York Times crossword puzzle or mastering chess strategy or do more lighthearted pastimes—hanging out with friends or enjoying a funny movie—come to mind? If you’re like most of us, it’s probably the former. But countless studies show that a life that’s full of friends and fun comes with cognitive benefits.

Healthy relationships: the ultimate memory booster?
Humans are highly social animals. We’re not meant to thrive, let alone thrive, in isolation. Relationships stimulate our brains—in fact, interacting with others may be the best kind of brain exercise.

Research shows that having meaningful relationships and a strong support system are vital not only to emotional health, but brain health. In one recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health, for example, researchers found that people with the most active social lives had the slowest rate of memory decline.

There are many ways to start taking advantage of the brain and memory-boosting benefits of socializing. Volunteer, join a club, make it a point to see friends more often, or reach out over the phone. And if a human isn’t handy, don’t overlook the value of a pet—especially the highly-social dog.

Laughter is good for your brain
You’ve heard that laughter is the best medicine, and that holds true for the brain as well as the body. Unlike emotional responses, which are limited to specific areas of the brain, laughter involves multiple regions across the whole brain.

Furthermore, listening to jokes and working out punch lines activates areas of the brain vital to learning and creativity.As psychologist Daniel Goleman notes in his book Emotional Intelligence, “laughter…seems to help people think more broadly and associate more freely.”

Looking for ways to bring more laughter in your life? Start with these basics:

Laugh at yourself. Share your embarrassing moments. The best way to take ourselves less seriously is talk about times when we took ourselves too seriously.

When you hear laughter, move toward it. Most of the time, people are very happy to share something funny because it gives them an opportunity to laugh again and feed off the humor you find in it. When you hear laughter, seek it out and ask, “What’s funny?”

Spend time with fun, playful people. These are people who laugh easily–both at themselves and at life’s absurdities–and who routinely find the humor in everyday events. Their playful point of view and laughter are contagious.

Surround yourself with reminders to lighten up. Keep a toy on your desk or in your car. Put up a funny poster in your office. Choose a computer screensaver that makes you laugh. Frame photos of you and your family or friends having fun.

Pay attention to children and emulate them. They are the experts on playing, taking life lightly, and laughing.

Improving memory tip 3: Keep stress in check

Stress is one of the brain’s worst enemies. Over time, if left unchecked, chronic stress destroys brain cells and damages the hippocampus, the region of the brain involved in the formation of new memories and the retrieval of old ones.

The stress-busting, brain-boosting benefits of meditation

The scientific evidence for the mental health benefits of meditation continues to pile up. Studies show that meditation helps improve many different types of conditions, including depression, anxiety, chronic pain, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Meditation also can improve focus, concentration, creativity, and learning and reasoning skills.

Meditation works its “magic” by changing the actual brain. Brain images show that regular meditators have more activity in the left prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with feelings of joy and equanimity. Meditation also increases the thickness of the cerebral cortex and encourages more connections between brain cells—all of which increases mental sharpness and memory ability.

Improving memory tip 4: Bulk up on brain-boosting foods

Just as the body needs fuel, so does the brain. You probably know already that a diet based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and “healthy” fats will provide lots of health benefits, but such a diet can also improve memory. But for brain health, it’s not just what you eat—it’s also what you don’t eat. The following nutritional tips will help boost your brainpower and reduce your risk of dementia.

Get your omega-3s. More and more evidence indicates that omega-3 fatty acids are particularly beneficial for brain health. Fish is a particularly rich source of omega-3, especially cold water “fatty fish” such as salmon, tuna, halibut, trout, mackerel, sardines, and herring. In addition to boosting brainpower, eating fish may also lower your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. If you’re not a fan of fish, consider turning to fish oil supplements. Other non-fish sources of omega-3s include walnuts, ground flaxseed, flaxseed oil, pumpkin seeds, and soybeans.

Limit saturated fat. Research shows that diets high in saturated fat increase your risk of dementia and impair concentration and memory. The primary sources of saturated far are animal products: red meat, whole milk, butter, cheese, sour cream, and ice cream.

Eat more fruit and vegetables. Produce is packed with antioxidants, substances that protect your brain cells from damage. Colorful fruits and vegetables are particularly good antioxidant superfood sources. Try leafy green vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, romaine lettuce, Swiss chard, and arugula, and fruit such as apricots, mangoes, cantaloupe, and watermelon.

Drink wine (or grape juice) in moderation. Keeping your alcohol consumption in check is key, since alcohol kills brain cells. But in moderation (around 1 glass a day for women; 2 for men), alcohol may actually improve memory and cognition. Red wine appears to be the best option, as it is rich in resveratrol, a flavonoid that boosts blood flow in the brain and reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Other resveratrol-packed options include grape juice, cranberry juice, fresh grapes and berries, and peanuts.

Improving memory tip 5: Give your brain a workout

By the time you’ve reached adulthood, your brain has developed millions of neural pathways that help you process information quickly, solve familiar problems, and execute familiar tasks with a minimum of mental effort. But if you always stick to these well-worn paths, you aren’t giving your brain the stimulation it needs to keep growing and developing. You have to shake things up from time to time!

Memory, like muscular strength, requires you to “use it or lose it.” The more you work out your brain, the better you’ll be able to process and remember information. The best brain exercising activities break your routine and challenge you to use and develop new brain pathways. The activity can be virtually anything, so long as it meets the following three criteria:

It’s new. No matter how intellectually demanding the activity, if it’s something you’re already good at, it’s not a good brain exercise. The activity needs to be something that’s unfamiliar and out of your comfort zone.

It’s challenging. Anything that takes some mental effort and expands your knowledge will work. Examples include learning a new language, instrument, or sport, or tackling a challenging crossword or Sudoku puzzle.

It’s fun. The more interested and engaged you are in the activity, the more likely you’ll be to continue doing it and the greater the benefits you’ll experience. The activity should be challenging, yes, but not so difficult or unpleasant that you dread doing it.

How to Wash Fruits and Vegetables

2011-07-04T08:19:00.000-07:00

How to Wash Fruits and Vegetables
By Brittany Risher, Women's Health
Thu, Jun 23, 2011

This will make you shudder: Studies conducted at Tennessee State University found that the vegetable bin is the dirtiest part of the refrigerator. And no wonder: Fresh from the grocery store, a standard head of romaine lettuce can have as many as 2 million bacteria per gram, plus yeast, mold, and assorted germ carriers.

Swearing off fresh produce is clearly not the answer. What is? Washing it with plain, room-temperature tap water. In some cases, doing so cuts bacteria by as much as 98 percent. So stow the fancy veggie washes and sprays, and after your next trip to the store or farmers' market, ask yourself these four questions, then follow our advice.

Does it have edible skin?

Think: apples, peaches, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers

Scrub under running water for 30 to 60 seconds. "Running water helps remove most bacteria," explains Brendan Niemira, Ph.D., lead scientist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Scrubbing with a vegetable brush or your fingers (to avoid bruising softer fruit like peaches) will help eliminate stubborn hangers-on.

Does it have a peel?

Think: melons, oranges, and yes, even bananas

Use a vegetable brush or an unused toothbrush on the peel under running water for 30 to 60 seconds. The bristles can reach into crevices on textured skins, where dirt hides. Why bother washing it if you're not biting into it? "Microbes from the fruit's skin can spread to the flesh when you touch it with your hands or a knife," says Alfred Bushway, Ph.D., a professor of food science at the University of Maine. And even if you washed your hands, the 20 people who handled that fruit before you may not have.

Does it grow in a bunch?

Think: berries, grapes

Cut off stalks and stems where dirt can hide, dump the fruit into a colander, and hose down with your sink's spray nozzle for at least 60 seconds. (A too-brief rinse will redistribute the dirt, not remove it, according to tests conducted by Alan Johnson at Northeast Laboratories in Connecticut.) Patting the fruit dry with paper towels will further cut down on bacteria, says Sandria Godwin, Ph.D., a professor at Tennessee State University.

Is it leafy?

Think: spinach, lettuce (even prewashed mixes)

Discard the outer leaves and run the rest under cold water for 30 to 60 seconds. Dry with a salad spinner or blot with paper towels. Prewashed mixes are FDA-approved for eating straight from the container, but Godwin discovered "huge differences" in how well various brands of bagged greens were cleaned. So don't wait for a recall—take a few minutes to wash it yourself.

Aiming for healthy lifestyle and body?

2011-06-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

I always dreaming for a nice body five years ago, and wishing having a good lifestyle. I remember, I do a lot of research and consulting my friends of how to achieved this, I gain something from them but it doesn't last, I do exercise, eat right foods, but you know the problem is I cannot continue this stuff because I don't have the exact program to maintain it, sometimes I'm tired to do this things, so I failed. One day I was browsing on the net, and I found this Personal Trainer London I decided to hook this site. It changed me a lot. They teach you how to motivate myself how to gain head turn body. They don't limit their shared knowledge for you have good lifestyle. Now I am very confident to wear fit shirt, it boost my confident. Now I am very thankful that this site really helps me a lot to gain nice body and a good lifestyle, and of course it comprises a strong determination to achieved those goals.

US unveils graphic cigarette warnings

2011-06-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

Tue, Jun 21, 2011

A lifeless body, a scarred mouth and a blackened lung were among the graphic images in a new set of cigarette warnings unveiled Tuesday by the US government to highlight the health risks of smoking.

The warnings will occupy the top 50 percent of the front and rear panels of cigarette packs sold in the United States and the top 20 percent of cigarette advertisements beginning in September 2012, the Food and Drug Administration announced.

The nine color images, which can be seen at fda.gov/cigarettewarnings, mark the first change in cigarette warnings in more than 25 years and are "a significant advancement in communicating the dangers of smoking," the agency added.

One of the images, which shows a man with his chest sewn up, bears the caption "Warning: Smoking can kill you." According to the FDA, smoking kills 1,200 people a day in the United States alone.

Another picture shows a close-up of a mouth filled with scattered, brown teeth and a lip with an open sore, warning: "Cigarettes cause cancer."

"We want kids to understand smoking is gross, not cool, and there is really nothing pretty about having mouth cancer," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said at the White House in a briefing to unveil the warnings.

Smoking causes 90 percent of all lung cancer in men and 80 percent in women, and has been linked to several other cancers, the FDA said.

The new labels also seek to warn pregnant women and new parents of the dangers of smoking, with a drawn image showing a premature baby in a hospital incubator and a picture showing a real baby staring at a plume of smoke.

"This will be a dramatic change in what a cigarette package looks like, no doubt about it. These warning labels are very graphic. They are large," said FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg.

"It will change the consumer response to a packet of cigarettes and frankly that is what we want," she said, adding that a pack-a-day smoker would see the warnings 7,000 times in a single year.

However, the tobacco industry has filed a lawsuit challenging the labels, saying they put undue restrictions on tobacco companies' right to free speech by confiscating too much of the packet space.

"Even on acute poisons (e.g., pesticides and toxic chemicals), the warnings are not of this size and character," said comments submitted to the FDA in January by RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, Lorillard Tobacco Company, and Commonwealth Brands, Inc.

"It is therefore quite clear that the intended function of the proposed 'warnings' is not to warn consumers about the risks from smoking, but to communicate a government message: 'Don't buy or use this product.'"

An RJ Reynolds spokesman told AFP the company had no further comment.

"Regarding our lawsuit challenging certain provisions of the FDA law, including graphic warnings, oral arguments are scheduled for July 27th in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeal (in Cincinnati)," spokesman David Howard said in an email.

The label changes came about following a June 2009 law, signed by President Barack Obama about five months after he took office, that gave the FDA the power to regulate manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco products.

The nine images were picked from a group of 36 proposals issued several months ago, after health authorities analyzed results on their effectiveness from an 18,000-person study and took into account about 1,700 public comments, the FDA said.

Each warning label also contains a phone number to call for help in quitting.

Anti-smoking groups such as the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids hailed the announcement as "the most significant change in US cigarette warnings since they were first required in 1965."

"The large, graphic warnings will be impossible to miss and represent a dramatic advance over existing text warnings," the group said in a statement.

Currently, the standard warning on cigarette packs in the United States is found in small print along the side: "Surgeon General's warning: cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide."

About 20 percent of the US population smokes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Similar graphic warnings can be seen on cigarette packs from Brazil to Britain and beyond, showing vivid pictures of rotting teeth, throat cancer, premature babies and heart surgeons operating on clogged arteries.

Weekend Not Long Enough to Recover From Workweek Sleep Loss

2011-06-22T05:24:00.000-07:00

Men and women who get just six hours of sleep each night during the workweek will need more than the weekend to recover from the cumulative effects of this mild sleep deprivation, a new study revealed.

Researchers also found that women are better able to cope with and recover from this kind of sleep loss than men.

"The usual practice of extending sleep during the weekend after a busy workweek associated with mild sleep loss is not adequate in reversing the cumulative effects on cognitive function resulting from this mild sleep deprivation," said the study's principal investigator Dr. Alexandros N. Vgontzas, professor of psychiatry and endowed chair in sleep disorders medicine at the Penn State College of Medicine, in an American Academy of Sleep Medicine news release.

In the study, researchers installed 34 people, with an average age of 25 years and no sleep problems, in a sleep lab for 13 nights. There, they periodically measured sleepiness and performance. Participants were allowed to sleep eight hours a night for the first four nights to assess their typical functioning. For the next six nights, however, they were allowed to sleep only six hours a night, followed by three "recovery" nights of 10 hours of sleep each night.

The study's findings, slated for presentation on Wednesday at Associated Professional Sleep Societies meeting in Minneapolis, revealed that after a week of sleep restriction, two nights of extra sleep are not enough to fully reverse the adverse effects of the sleep loss.

Men and women showed both significantly decreased performance on psychomotor tests, as well as subjective and objective sleepiness.

Women recovered better than men, however, the study pointed out. The researchers said the gender differences were linked to slow wave, or deep sleep, considered the restorative potion of sleep.

"In women, but not in men, deep sleep appeared to have a protective effect," added Vgontzas, who is also director of the Sleep Research and Treatment Center at Penn State in Hershey, Pa. "Women with a higher amount of deep sleep can handle better the effects of one workweek of mild sleep deprivation, and their recovery is more complete after two nights of extended sleep."

5 Ways to Keep Your Metabolism Up

2011-06-21T00:02:00.000-07:00

Amy Paturel, SELF magazine

You're eating healthier than ever, but your muscles feel flabby, your energy is sapped and your jeans feel increasingly snug, particularly in the belly, hips and rear.

The sad truth: Metabolic rate (the number of calories we burn in a day) plummets as we age, decreasing about 1 percent each year after we hit 30. But research shows there are things you can do to help combat metabolic slowdown.

"When our metabolisms slow down isn't just age-related," explains Christine Gerbstadt, M.D., registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "Body composition, which is determined by genetics, diet and activity, also plays a major role."

1. Build muscle. Since fat is burned in your muscle, you want to activate as many muscle fibers as possible. Weight training increases lean muscle mass, which raises the amount of calories your body uses, even when you're at rest. What's more, since there's less fat in your body (and your muscles), blood moves better so you have more energy -- without eating more food. So if you haven't been incorporating strength training into your fitness routine, now is the time to start!

2. Start eating! "Your body is a 'refuel as it goes machine,' which simply means it needs to be consistently fed to provide energy to live," explains Mark MacDonald, author of the bestselling book Body Confidence. "This type of consistent feeding stabilizes your blood sugar levels and creates internal hormonal balance" -- and that keeps you from packing on the pounds. His advice: Eat within an hour of waking to kick-start your metabolism. Then keep eating every three to four hours ending an hour before bedtime.

3. Nosh on protein at every meal and snack. Protein has a greater metabolic boost than fat or carbohydrates. Biting, chewing, swallowing and digesting food takes energy -- it's known as the thermic effect of food and it can burn up to 30 percent of the calories on your plate. The more complex the food (think steak, legumes and fibrous vegetables), the more calories you burn as it travels through the digestive tract. Protein also contains leucine, an amino acid that prevents muscle loss when you're dieting. A simple strategy: For a quick and easy snack, keep peanuts in your pocketbook, trail mix in your desk drawer and hard-boiled eggs in the fridge.

4. Get moving. Interval training with bursts of high intensity cardio will stoke your metabolic rate and keep it humming for hours. So instead of logging in your regular half-hour on the treadmill at a steady 4.5 mph pace, try the interval option or hit the road and take advantage of changes in the terrain. Run in the sand or up hills and use landmarks to signify a change of pace. And squeeze in extra calorie burning whenever you get the chance, advises Gerbstadt.

5. Drink water. Studies show that people who drink 8-ounce glasses of water eight to 12 times a day have higher metabolic rates than those who drink four. Want to lose an extra 6.6 pounds a year? Drink half a liter of water before breakfast. According to researchers at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., people who downed water before their first meal of the day consumed an average of 75 fewer calories at breakfast than those who didn't drink up first.

Good Sleep Raises Quality of Life, Lowers Depression

2011-06-17T06:06:00.000-07:00

TUESDAY, June 14 (HealthDay News) -- People who get six to nine hours of sleep each night rate their quality of life higher and are less likely to feel depressed than those who sleep less, according to a new study.

But, sleeping more than nine hours each night is ill-advised, the researchers found.

The study examined the records of 10,654 patients, who were about age 52 on average, over a two-year period. After accounting for differences in the participants' age, gender, race and marital status, researchers gathered information on their quality of life, feelings of depression and sleep duration.

Among the findings, slated for presentation Tuesday at a meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Minneapolis, those with a "normal" night's sleep of six to nine hours reported high scores for quality of life and lower scores for depression severity, compared to short sleepers (fewer than six hours of sleep) and long sleepers (more than nine hours of sleep).

"These results are important because they provide more information about the importance of getting enough sleep, which is usually six to nine hours per night," the study's principal investigator, Dr. Charles Bae, neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders Center in Ohio, said in a news release from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

"People may already expect that their quality of life could be decreased when they do not get enough sleep, but they may not realize that sleeping too much can also have a negative impact," Bae said.

Although sleep needs vary from person to person, most people require seven to eight hours of sleep each night to feel alert and well-rested during the day, according to the news release.

Because the study is to be presented in a meeting, the findings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

7 Steps to Rock-Hard 6-Pack

2010-09-28T23:53:00.000-07:00

Forget for a moment that the shape of your midsection largely determines how good you'll look on the beach this summer—and how well you'll play volleyball. We'll get back to that in a minute.

The pursuit of abs goes deeper. You strive for a six-pack as if your life depended on it, and now science proves that it does. At a meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, research was presented declaring that waist circumference is more conclusive than either weight or body-mass index (BMI) as a measure of disease risk.

Miami cardiologist Arthur Agatston, M.D., author of The South Beach Diet, puts it this way: "Abdominal fat is different and more dangerous than fat elsewhere. Unlike fat directly under the skin, belly fat, which adheres to organs, is associated with increases in C-reactive protein (CRP) and other markers of inflammation that can lead to heart disease."

Motivated yet? Good. We trust you'll lay off the fries and onion rings. Remember, if your body fat is too high, it doesn't matter how wisely you work your abs—they won't show. (For most men, anything over 10 percent body fat keeps your abs in hiding.)

For the next month, work your abs according to the following steps and try this eating tip from Nancy Clark, R.D., author of Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook: "I make two peanut-butter-and-honey sandwiches every day; I eat one for lunch at 11 and one for my second lunch at 3," Clark says. Notice that the 3 o'clock feeding is a "second lunch," not an "afternoon snack." Too many men equate snack time with, well, snacks—junk food. You'll eat smarter (whole grains and muscle-building protein) and not need as big a dinner if you allow for a second lunch. Plus, you'll have more energy for a better workout in the afternoon or evening.

This, in turn, will keep your insulin levels steady. When insulin is in excess (from too much sugar and not enough exercise), it can turn on you, depositing fat into your gut. Or worse. "When the pancreas burns out after years of producing excess insulin, that's when buildup begins in arteries; that can cause heart attacks and strokes," Dr. Agatston says.

But enough scary stuff. Time to hit the gym—and then the beach.

Train with 2 Types of Exercise
Some abs exercises are based on movement. Others focus more on balance, so your abs contract harder to keep your body stable. "Most men have difficulty with either stabilization or mobilization," says Carter Hays, C.S.C.S., a Houston-based personal trainer and a performance-enhancement specialist for the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Include both types of moves in a workout to challenge your abs.

For instance, try performing a Swiss-ball rollout (mobilization), followed by a Swiss-ball crunch (stabilization). To do the rollout, kneel in front of the ball with your forearms pressed against it. Keeping your knees and feet in place, roll the ball in front of you so your hips, torso, and arms slide forward. Advance as far as you can without arching your back, then pull back to the starting position.

Get More from Your Cardio
Strip away abdominal fat by switching around your cardio routine so you run hard early. In a study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, eight men ran for 30 minutes on 2 separate days.

In the first session, the men ran at a relatively high intensity—80 percent of their maximum heart rate—for 15 minutes, then slowed to 60 percent for the final 15 minutes. In the other session, they ran the slower part first.

The men burned 5 to 10 percent more fat when they ran faster at the start of the workout. "And this is only a 30-minute workout," says Jie Kang, Ph.D., the study's lead author. "If you extrapolate that to a longer workout three to five times a week, things can add up."

Here's why it works: To burn fat, your body first breaks down fat tissue into fat molecules. "Our study found that this works better when your abs exercise is done at a relatively high intensity," says Kang. Next, molecules go to your cells to be burned, which Kang says can occur at relatively lower intensities.

The best part: You'll feel as if you're burning fat easier than ever. Kang measured the participants' perceived exertion—how hard they felt they were working. Turns out the body feels fatigued late in a workout, regardless of what you do.

Stay Hydrated
This one's almost too easy, but drinking plenty of water not only helps you burn fat, but also builds more muscle. "All creatine does is force fluid into the muscle," says Hays. "Your body will do that itself if there's enough water available."

Skip the Bonus Abs Routine
Edging closer to sharp abs can tempt you to work them every day. Don't. Training more can actually make your abs show less. "You don't need to overwork your abs—they're no different from any other muscle," says Hays. "If you're always in a state of overtraining, you're going to get more laxity in your muscles."

In other words, they'll appear soft. Instead, add resistance to make moves you already do more challenging. For instance, hold a light weight plate during a Russian twist or Swiss-ball crunch. Then give your muscles time to rest.

Do More Total-Body Exercise
Isolation moves like crunches are great for developing your muscles, but they don't burn much fat. You're better off training multiple muscle groups at once, says Hays. Total-body exercise burns more calories and also causes a greater release of muscle-building hormones.

Try combination moves, like the reverse lunge to cable chest fly. Stand between a cable station's weight stacks and grab a pulley handle with each hand. Hold your arms straight in front of you. Then step back with one leg, bend your knees, and let your arms move out to the sides. Pause when your back knee is just off the floor and your upper body looks like a T, then push yourself back up while you pull your arms together. Repeat the move with your other leg in the back position.

Get Off the Floor
Define the lower portion of the rectus abdominis (your six-pack muscle) with a Swiss-ball reverse crunch, but instead of doing the move on the floor, hop on a bench. "It allows for a greater range of motion," says Gregory Joujon-Roche, C.P.T., president of Holistic Fitness, in Los Angeles.

Lie faceup on the edge of a bench with a Swiss ball pinched between your heels and hamstrings. Keeping your abs drawn in, roll your pelvis off the bench and, maintaining the same knee angle, bring your knees toward your chest. Slowly lower the ball. As soon as your back begins to arch on the way down, that's the end of your range of motion. Pause at this point for a few seconds before finishing your set. Try five sets of 15 to 20 repetitions.

Go Deep
Abdominal muscles are multilayered, but most men focus only on the outermost layer with exercises like the crunch. So look for moves that work the abdominal muscles closest to the spine, such as the plank. Strengthening these tiny stabilizers will provide a solid foundation to allow your six-pack muscles to grow stronger and bigger. For more exercises, check out The Abs Diet Online. It also provides you with a nutrition plan designed by our experts to target that pesky midsection. Join today.

Is That Plastic Container Safe?

2010-09-13T02:06:00.000-07:00

By Diane Blahut, Woman's Day
Thu, Sep 02, 2010

Our homes are full of plastic, and the kitchen is no exception. The problem: Chemicals in plastic containers and other kitchenware may leach into the foods or drinks that they're holding. Scientific evidence suggests that some of these chemicals may be harmful to people, especially infants and children.

The two best-studied offenders are bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates. BPA mimics estrogen and has been shown to disrupt hormone and reproductive system function in animals. Research by the National Toxicology Program found a moderate level of concern about its "effects on the brain, behavior and prostate gland in fetuses, infants and children." Phthalates have been shown to disrupt the endocrine system and have led to malformations in the male reproductive system in animals. Studies in humans have found associations between high phthalate exposure and a variety of health concerns including low sperm quality, high waist circumference and insulin resistance.

Researchers are still debating whether phthalates and BPA actually cause these health problems and, if so, how much exposure is necessary to trigger them. While these issues are being figured out, some experts recommend taking a preventive approach: "Minimize contact of food with problematic plastics as a precautionary measure to protect your health," suggests Rolf Halden, PhD, adjunct associate professor of environmental health sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Here are six simple tips for reducing your exposure to the potentially harmful chemicals in plastics.

1. Know the code. Look on the bottom of your plastic to find the recycling symbol (a number between 1 and 7 enclosed in a triangle of arrows). The code indicates the type of plastic you are using and can give you important clues about safety. "We generally say 1, 2, 4 and 5 are considered to be the safest," says Sonya Lunder, senior analyst at the Environmental Working Group. Try to avoid using plastics with 3 or 6, as these leach chemicals that may be harmful. Number 7 is an "other" category that includes BPA-containing plastics called polycarbonates. These plastics, which you should avoid, will have the letters PC printed underneath the 7.

2. Reconsider the microwave. Heat can increase the rate at which chemicals like BPA leach from plastic. Containers labeled "microwave safe" have been tested by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and found to leach extremely small amounts, which the FDA has determined to be safe. However, some experts advise people to keep plastic out of the microwave altogether. "I don't microwave anything in plastic," says Lunder. "It's really easy and fast to put my food into a ceramic or glass container and heat it that way." And never put plastic wrap on top of your food in the microwave, since it can melt. Use wax paper or a paper towel instead.

3. Use it for its intended purpose. Plastics that are designed for single use should only be used once. "Plastic breaks down over time," Lunder explains. "Some aren't designed to withstand heating and cooling." Most plastics with recycling code number 1 are intended for single use, such as disposable water bottles. And that takeout container from six months ago? Toss it. In general they're fine for refrigerating leftovers, but aren't designed for heat exposure or long-term use.

4. Wash by hand. Only put plastics into the dishwasher if they have a dishwasher safe label. If you want to be extra-cautious, wash all plastics by hand or use only glass and ceramic plates and dishes. In the dishwasher, plastics are exposed to detergents and heat, which may accelerate the leaching of BPA from food containers.

5. Do not freeze. Only put plastics in the freezer if they have a freezer-safe label. Freezer temperatures can cause plastics to deteriorate, which increases the leaching of chemicals into the food when you take containers out of the freezer to thaw or reheat.

6. Don't panic. Cutting down on exposure to potentially harmful chemicals in plastics can benefit your health. But as Dr. Halden reminds us, "Many things in your life pose a much higher risk than exposure to plastics, such as smoking, poor diet and even driving a car."

Ryan Phillippe's Full-Body Workout

2010-09-01T01:30:00.000-07:00

Ryan Phillippe has worked with the same trainer for 10 years and is as consistent in the gym as anyone you'll find. The simple key to maintaining that kind of focus: "Variety, so he isn't bored," says his trainer, Happy Hill. Here, Phillippe blends cardio work with heavy weights and adds plyometrics for a comprehensive challenge.

The Plan

Complete this workout three times a week for 4 weeks, and rest at least 1 day after each training session. For each circuit, rest 30 seconds after each exercise, and 2 minutes after you finish all five.

Warmup

2-mile run, followed by Swiss-ball crunches (3 sets of 20 reps)

Swiss-Ball Crunch
Lie with your hips, lower back, and shoulders in contact with a Swiss ball and your feet flat on the floor. Place your fingertips behind your ears, and pull your elbows back so that they’re in line with your body [A]. Raise your head and shoulders and crunch your rib cage towards your pelvis, without straining your neck forward or allowing your hips to drop [B]. Pause, then slowly return to the starting position.

Circuit 1, Exercise 1

Dumbbell Bench Press (15 reps)
Grab a pair of dumbbells and lie on your back on a flat bench, holding the dumbbells over your chest so that they’re nearly touching. Your palms should be facing out, but turned slightly inward, and your feet flat on the floor. Before you begin, pull your shoulder blades down and together, and hold them as tight as you can throughout the entire exercise [B]. Without changing the angle of your hands, lower the dumbbells to the sides of your chest [A]. Pause, then press the weights back up to the starting position as quickly as you can. Straighten your arms completely at the top of each repetition.

Circuit 1, Exercise 2

Plyometric Pushup (15 reps)
Assume a pushup position with your arms straight [A]. Bend your elbows and lower your body until your chest nearly touches the floor [B]. Then explosively push up so that your hands leave the floor [C]. Catch yourself, lower, and repeat.

Circuit 1, Exercise 3

Barbell Squat (15 reps)
Hold the bar across your upper back with an overhand grip. Set your feet shoulder-width apart, brace your core, and pull your shoulders back so that the bar can rest comfortably on the shelf created by your shoulder blades [A]. Keeping your lower back arched, lower your body as deep as you can by first pushing your hips back, then bending your knees [B]. Pause, then reverse the movement back to the starting position, driving your heels into the floor as you push up.

Circuit 1, Exercise 4

Jump Squat (15 reps)
Place your fingers on the back of your head and pull your elbows back so that they’re in line with your body [A]. Push your hips back, bend your knees, and lower until your upper thighs are parallel to the floor [B]. Explosively jump as high as you can [C]. When you land, immediately squat down and jump again.

Circuit 1, Exercise 5

Hanging Leg Raise (20 reps)
Grab a chinup bar with an overhand, shoulder-width grip, and hang from the bar with your knees slightly bent and feet together [A]. (If you have access to elbow supports—sling-like devices that hang from the bar—you may prefer to use those.) Simultaneously bend your knees, raise your hips, and curl your lower back underneath you as you lift your thighs toward your chest in a scooping motion [B]. Pause when the fronts of your thighs reach your chest, then slowly lower your legs back to the starting position.

Circuit 2, Exercise 1

Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown (15 reps)
Sit down in a lat pulldown station and grab the bar with an overhand grip that’s about 1½ times shoulder width. Your arms should be completely straight, and your torso should be nearly upright [A]. Pull your shoulders back and down, and without moving your torso, pull the bar down to your chest as you continue to squeeze your shoulder blades [B]. Pause, then slowly return to the starting position

Circuit 2, Exercise 3

Dumbbell Lunge (10 reps)
Grab a pair of dumbbells and hold them at arm’s length next to your sides, your palms facing each other. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, pull your arms back, and lift your chest up [A]. Step forward with your left leg and slowly lower your body until your front knee is bent at least 90 degrees [B]. Pause, then push yourself to the starting position as quickly as you can. Complete the prescribed number of repetitions with your left leg, then do the same number with your right leg.

Circuit 2, Exercise 4

Split Jump (10 reps each leg)
Stand in a staggered stance, your right foot in front of your left. Lower your body until your back knee almost touches the floor [A]. Then jump off the floor and scissor kick your legs in the air [B] so that you land with your left foot in front of your right [C]. Lower and repeat. Continue to quickly switch legs back and forth.

Circuit 2, Exercise 5

Hanging Leg Raise (20 reps)
Grab a chinup bar with an overhand, shoulder-width grip, and hang from the bar with your knees slightly bent and feet together [A]. (If you have access to elbow supports—sling-like devices that hang from the bar—you may prefer to use those.) Simultaneously bend your knees, raise your hips, and curl your lower back underneath you as you lift your thighs toward your chest in a scooping motion [B]. Pause when the fronts of your thighs reach your chest, then slowly lower your legs back to the starting position.

Repeat circuit once.

4 Types of Hair Loss

2010-09-01T01:18:00.000-07:00

By Wanda Lau September 1, 2010

1. Sudden Hair Loss

The trigger is emotional or physical trauma. The shock can cause telogen effluvium, a condition that makes hair stop growing and fall out. "Imagine going bald overnight," says Jessie Cheung, M.D., an assistant professor of dermatology at New York University school of medicine. As your mind and body recover, so too will your hairline.

2. Steady Hair Loss

Hair follicles demand a steady infusion of nutrients to sustain rapid growth. If you're shedding more than usual for 2 or 3 months straight, look at your diet: Too little iron, biotin, or zinc can send hair into starvation mode. To restore those nutrients, eat more broccoli, spinach, and eggs. Also, pop a daily multivitamin, such as Centrum.

3. A Round, Smooth Patch

A silver-dollar-size bare spot signals alopecia areata. The catalyst is still unknown, but stress and genetics are likely culprits, says Kevin McElwee, Ph.D., an assistant professor of dermatology at the University of British Columbia. See a dermatologist for corticosteroid injections to ease the inflammation causing your hair to hibernate.

4. A Round, Scaly Patch

You probably have tinea capitis, a fungal infection. (Think athlete's foot of the head.) Your body battles back with a wave of white blood cells that harm hair follicles. Try an over-the-counter antifungal shampoo, such as Nizoral. If that doesn't work, ask for a prescription antifungal medication, such as Lamisil.

What Happens to Your Facebook After You Die?

2010-08-30T02:27:00.000-07:00

By Dan Fletcher Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009

In an Oct. 26 blog post, Max Kelly, Facebook's head of security, announced the company's policy of "memorializing" profiles of users who have died, taking them out of the public search results, sealing them from any future log-in attempts and leaving the wall open for family and friends to pay their respects. Though most media reports claimed this was a new Facebook feature, a spokeswoman for the company told TIME that it's an option the site has had since its early days.

The company decided to publicize the policy because of a backlash caused by a new version of the site's homepage that was rolled out on Oct. 23, which includes automatically generated "suggestions" of people to "reconnect" with. Within days of the launch, Twitter users and bloggers from across the Web complained that some of these suggestions were for friends who had died. "Would that I could," complained a user on Twitter before ending her tweet with the hash tag #MassiveFacebookFail.

"We understand how difficult it can be for people to be reminded of those who are no longer with them, which is why it's important when someone passes away that their friends or family contact Facebook to request that a profile be memorialized," Kelly said in the post. To discourage pranksters, Facebook does require proof before sending a profile down the digital river Styx. Family or friends must fill out a form, providing a link to an obituary or other information confirming a user's death, before the profile is officially memorialized. Once that is completed, the user will cease showing up in Facebook's suggestions, and information like status updates won't show up in Facebook's news feed, the stream of real-time user updates that is the site's centerpiece. If relatives prefer not to have the profile stand as an online memorial, Facebook says it will remove the account altogether. (Read: "How to Manage Your Online Life When You're Dead.")

Better publicizing memorialized profiles is an attempt by Facebook to answer lingering privacy concerns. Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart investigated the company in July and issued a report that asked Facebook to explain certain areas of its privacy policy, including policies regarding the profiles of deceased users. In response, the company promised to issue a new privacy policy that better articulates how user information is treated postmortem and offered the commissioner an outline of its memorializing policy, nearly three months before the blog post explained it to users. Spokeswoman Anne-Marie Hayden says the privacy commissioner was "quite pleased" with Facebook's response to the office's concerns and says the commissioner will review the detailed version of the site's new policy, expected in late October.

Facebook's attempt to clearly state its policy is prudent, as other social-networking sites have struggled with the question of users' deaths. MySpace in particular has had a difficult time with digital rubbernecking — during the site's heyday, a handful of well-trafficked blogs specialized in matching MySpace profiles directly to obituaries and posting the pairings online for all to see. By sealing profiles to family and friends and removing profiles from search results, Facebook assuages users' fears that they'll be fodder for online voyeurs in the event of their untimely demise — hopefully putting the issue to rest.

Mexico beginning crackdown on antibiotic sales

2010-08-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

Wed Aug 25, 7:54 pm ET

MEXICO CITY – Mexican authorities have begun enforcing tougher rules designed to ensure that people have a doctor's prescription to buy antibiotics.
It has long been common practice in Mexico for pharmacies to supply antibiotics to anyone who asks for them even though the law requires a prescription.
Officials announced in March that new procedures would be imposed to crack down on the practice as a way to address the growing problem of drug-resistant infections from overuse of antibiotics. The Health Department estimates half of Mexicans self-medicate without checking with a doctor.
Miguel Toscano, director of Mexico's federal commission on product safety, announced the start of the crackdown Wednesday.

One letter on a plane ticket says a lot about you

2010-08-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

By SAMANTHA BOMKAMP, AP Airlines Writer – Wed Aug 25, 5:25 pm ET

NEW YORK – There are a few bits of information to pay close attention to on an airline ticket: the flight number, gate number and boarding time. Fare basis code? Not a common concern.
But the single-letter code can make a big difference in some parts of the travel experience, even though most passengers don't pay any attention. A fare basis code further divides passengers into classes based on how much they paid and how far out they booked. There are about a dozen in coach class alone.
When you're on the plane, there's no difference in service between a passenger who has a "Y" or "Q" — a full-fare and a discounted ticket — if you're both in coach. But the codes are still important: Some indicate your trip isn't eligible for frequent-flier miles or an upgrade; others tell a ticket agent where to rank you on a standby list.
Deciphering the code
The letters airlines assign to certain levels of coach can vary widely, but a couple are universal. "Y" class is a widespread denotation for the highest class in coach among most major airlines, according to Jami Counter, senior director of TripAdvisor Flights and a former pricing strategist at American Airlines. These tickets are usually fully refundable, last-minute coach fares purchased mainly by business travelers. They're the most expensive tickets, but they have the most flexibility.
Some others that are generally used among the airlines: "J" or "C" usually indicate business class. "F" and "P" denote first class or premium.
Why are the codes there?
Airline tickets weren't always so complicated. Codes were developed as the airlines created complex systems that let them make more money per ticket.
[How to avoid airline luggage fees]
The fare basis code is found on most e-tickets by itself, but it can also be shown as the first letter of a longer code with a mix of other letters and numbers.
The rundown
The good news: The better code you have, the better your chance of not getting bumped. You also might receive more frequent flier miles if you're in the top tiers. The bad news: The main way to improve your code is to pay more. Most leisure travelers wouldn't think of forking over double or triple the usual fare for a refundable ticket or more perks. But there are ways to avoid hassles without paying through the roof.
One way to prevent bumping with a discounted ticket? Check in early. In addition to ranking by price, airlines also prioritize passengers by check-in order. Get in the habit of checking in online 24 hours before your flight. You can even check bags online through most airlines, and just drop them off at a counter when you arrive at the airport.

But fare classes aren't just important when it comes to keeping your seat. Fare classes are also key if you want to upgrade your ticket. Generally, "Y," "B" and "M" are the only coach fares that are upgradeable. You can search by fare class directly on most airline websites.
If building up frequent flier miles is important to you, avoid auction tickets on sites like Hotwire and Priceline where you name your own price, or don't see all the flight information before you book. Those tickets, like Hotwire "Hot Rates," are often ineligible for frequent flier miles. The cheapest tickets doled out to certain travel agents also aren't always eligible, either. It's important in these cases to always read the fine print, because whether you're going to the next state or around the world, you may be out of luck.
On the other end of the spectrum, Counter said passengers with the highest-ranked fare basis codes are eligible to get more than the standard miles, sometimes 150 percent, for their flight.

Study uncovers every possible Rubik's Cube solution

2010-08-15T04:53:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (AFP) – An international team of researchers using computer time lent to them by Google has found every way the popular Rubik's Cube puzzle can be solved, and showed it can always be solved in 20 moves or less.

The study is just the latest attempt by Rubik's enthusiasts to figure out the secrets of the cube, which has proven to be altogether far more complicated that its jaunty colors might suggest.

At the crux of the quest has been a bid to determine the lowest number of moves required to get the cube from any given muddled configuration to the color-aligned solution.

"Every solver of the Cube uses an algorithm, which is a sequence of steps for solving the Cube," said the team of mathematicians, who include Morley Davidson of Ohio's Kent State University, Google engineer John Dethridge, German math teacher Herbert Kociemba and Tomas Rokicki, a California programmer.

"There are many different algorithms, varying in complexity and number of moves required, but those that can be memorized by a mortal typically require more than forty moves."

One may suppose God would use a much more efficient algorithm, one that always uses the shortest sequence of moves; this is known as God's Algorithm. The number of moves this algorithm would take in the worst case is called God's Number. At long last, God's Number has been shown to be 20."

The research, published online, ends a 30-year search for the most efficient way to correctly align the 26 colored cubes that make up Erno Rubrik's 1974 invention.

"It took fifteen years after the introduction of the Cube to find the first position that provably requires 20 moves to solve," the team said. "It is appropriate that fifteen years after that, we prove that twenty moves suffice for all position."

Using computers lent to them by Google -- the company won't disclose how many or how powerful they are -- the team crunched through billions of Cube positions, solving each one over a period of "just a few weeks."

The study builds on the work of a veritable pantheon of Rubik's researchers, starting with Morwen Thistlethwaite who in 1981 showed 52 moves were sufficient to reach the solution from any given Cube position.

By May 1992, Michael Reid showed 39 moves was always sufficient, only to be undercut a mere day later by Dik Winter, who showed 37 moves would work.

Rubik's enthusiasm extends not only to God's number, but the speed with which the tricky puzzle can be solved.

The current world record holder is Dutch Erik Akkersdijk who successfully solved the puzzle in just 7.08 seconds.

Simon Cowell's Blacklist: Songs Reportedly Banned From 'X Factor'

2010-08-10T06:25:00.000-07:00

Posted Mon Aug 9, 2010 9:29am PDT by Lyndsey Parker in Reality Rocks

The past nine "American Idol" seasons have been filled with enough versions of Aerosmith's "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" to make even rumored prospective "Idol" judge Steven Tyler blanch. But on Simon Cowell's U.K. talent show "The X Factor," which starts airing in Britain on August 21, there are a few other oversung songs that contestants will be reportedly forbidden to perform.

British paper News Of The World reports that Simon is concerned that viewers will be bored if the songs remain the same on "The X Factor," so he has advised contestants not to perform typical reality standards. A source told the paper: "This is about people's real honesty and personality. It's about them and their stage presence."

The list of Simon's banned songs includes:

Kings Of Leon - "Sex On Fire"
Jason Mraz - "I'm Yours"
Paolo Nutini - "Last Request"
Paolo Nutini - "New Shoes"
Eva Cassidy - "Songbird"
Snow Patrol - "Chasing Cars"

So, will these songs be banned from "The X Factor U.S." when it premieres in fall 2011? That remains to be seen (Paulo and Eva aren't exactly household names Stateside), but regardless, I think Simon left quite a few egregious offenders off the list. Reality Rocks' blacklist is as follows:

Phil Collins - "Against All Odds"
Bill Withers - "Ain't No Sunshine"
Jennifer Holliday - "And I Am Telling You, I'm Not Going"
Elton John - "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me"
Nina Simone - "Feeling Good"
Leonard Cohen - "Hallelujah"
R. Kelly - "I Believe I Can Fly"
Gavin DeGraw - "I Don't Want To Be"
Aerosmith - "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing"
John Lennon - "Imagine"
Seal - "Kiss From A Rose"
The Beatles - "Let It Be"
Janis Joplin - "Piece Of My Heart"
Judy Garland - "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"
The Righteous Brothers - "Unchained Melody"

Which songs would you never want to hear on "American Idol," "The X Factor," or any other talent show ever again?

Why You Should Always Be Yourself

2010-08-09T07:57:00.000-07:00

August 6th, 2010

William Shakespeare had it right: “To thine own self be true.”
Authentic men tend to end up with women who are more accommodating, communicate better, and are more trusting, say researchers from Ohio State University.
They studied 62 undergraduate dating couples and determined that when men were self-aware and acted in a way that matched their beliefs and values, the women they dated were more likely to behave in ways that benefited the relationship.
“When your partner is open and honest about how he feels, it’s easier to communicate your own feelings,” says study author Amy Brunell, Ph.D.

http://blogs.menshealth.com/health-headlines/why-you-should-always-be-yourself/2010/08/06

25 Ways to Build Your Biceps

2010-08-09T07:48:00.000-07:00

By: Adam Campbell www.menshealth.com

For decades, the dumbbell curl has been helping us build bigger biceps—but it also seems to have stripped us of our imagination. After all, how often do you try a new variation of this classic arm exercise? If it's not every 4 weeks, then you need to shake up your workout to achieve faster results. Start today with this simple guide from The Men's Health Big Book of Exercises. By mixing and matching any of the five hand positions and five body positions described here, you can instantly create 25 different versions of the curl. The upshot: You'll never run out of new ways to build your biceps.

The right way to curl: Let the dumbbells hang at arm's length straight down from your shoulders. Then, without moving your upper arms, bend your elbows and curl the dumbbells as close to your shoulders as you can. Pause, and slowly lower the weights back to the starting position. Each time you return to the start, straighten your arms completely

Hand Position: Standard
With your palms facing forward, grip the handles in the middle.

The benefit: This is the hand position for the classic dumbbell curl, which targets your biceps brachii, the largest muscle on the front of your upper arm.

Hand Position: Thumb Offset
With your palms facing forward, touch the outside heads of the dumbbells with your thumbs.

The benefit: As you curl the weight, you're forcing your biceps brachii to work harder to keep your forearm rotated outward (so your palms are up).

Hand Position: Pinky Offset
With your palms facing forward, touch the inside heads of the dumbbells with your pinky fingers.

The benefit: This tweak shifts the way the weight is distributed, providing more variety to keep your muscles growing.

Hand Position: Reverse
Turn your arms so your palms face behind you.

The benefit: You'll really feel it in your forearms: This position targets your brachioradialis, but it decreases the activity of your biceps brachii.

Hand Position: Hammer
Keep your palms facing each other.

The benefit: You're forcing your brachialis muscle to work harder for the entire movement. Building your brachialis can make your arms look thicker.

Body Position: Standing
Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart.

The benefit: More muscle. Anytime you're standing, you engage more core muscles than when you sit.

Body Position: Split Stance
Stand tall and place one foot in front of you on a bench or step that's just higher than knee level.

The benefit: Stronger abs. This stance forces your hip and core muscles to work harder in order to keep your body stable.

Body Position: Seated
Sit tall on a bench or Swiss ball.

The benefit: Better form. Performing the exercise while seated may make you less likely to rock your torso back and forth ("cheat") as you curl the weight.

Body Position: Decline
Lie chest down on a bench set at 45 degrees.

The benefit: Thicker arms. Lying on a decline causes your arms to hang in front of your body, a position that challenges your brachialis more.

Body Position: Incline
Lie on your back on a bench set at 45 degrees.

The benefit: Bigger guns. Lying on an incline causes your arms to hang behind your body, which emphasizes the long head of your biceps brachii to a greater degree.

http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/build-your-biceps/

5 Perfect Protein-Packed Gym Snacks

2010-08-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

The muscle-building ideal is 20 grams of protein, half before and half after your workout. Bring these convenient snacks to the gym to fuel growth.

Chicken, Turkey, or Tuna (3 oz)

14-22 grams protein
66-100 calories

Wrap one of these standbys in a piece of bread. Four slices of chicken or turkey provide 14 grams of protein, while half a can of tuna has nearly 22 grams.

Eggs (three)

19 grams protein
232 calories

They're still incredible after all these years. Hard-boiled eggs are most convenient, but it's also easy to scramble a few in the a.m. and scoop them into a microwavable container. Don't sweat the fat: It's healthy and filling.

Chocolate 2% Milk (16 oz)

About 17 grams protein
333 calories

Refresh and rebuild at the same time. A study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition shows that chocolate milk may be the ideal postworkout beverage for building muscle.

Whey Powder (30 g scoop)

24 grams protein
110 calories

This milk-derived product continues to rule the gym. Mix it with milk instead of water if you want a bit more protein. Try Nitrean; it has whey isolate for quick absorption, and casein, which is digested slowly.

Greek Yogurt (5.3 oz container)

15 grams protein
80 calories

Greek-style yogurt is a lifter's dream: It's easy to carry and packed with protein. Skip yogurts with fruit and sugar; to add flavor, drop in a few berries or nuts.

Vitamin D May Fight Colds

2010-08-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

menshealth.com

Taking a daily vitamin D supplement might stave off sickness, according to a new article in the USA Today.

Researchers from the University of Tampere in Finland instructed 164 male military recruits to take either a placebo or 400 IU of vitamin D for 6 months. At the end of the study, the scientists discovered that the men popping the pill were more likely to not miss work and less likely to report having cold-like symptoms.

The researchers theorize that vitamin D can help mobilize the body’s defense against respiratory pathogens.

5 Generic Products That Are Just as Good

2010-08-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

Amy Bell
Sunday, August 1, 2010

In today's tough economy, consumers are pinching pennies by choosing generic over big name brands in their supermarket aisles. From chips and dips to pain relievers and peanut butter, there's a cheaper generic version of almost every product.

Of course, some of these no-name products are second-rate. For example, if you've ever bought generic diapers, you probably ended up dealing with a messy leak the size of Old Faithful. Generic diapers can certainly save you a bundle, and some even offer the same absorbency as the big name brands - but in my experience, they simply don't fit your baby's bottom as well. And all parents know that an ill-fitting diaper is a recipe for disaster.

Another product you probably don't want to skimp on? Toilet paper. Most generic paper products are less absorbent, so you can end up using more. But unlike diapers and toilet paper (not to mention cheese, ketchup and soy sauce, if you want my opinion), there are a few generic products that take the cake. Here are five generics that are just as good as the real thing.

1. Cereal

Okay, so the generic brand cereal may have a sillier name (Krispy Krunchies) and a lesser known character on the box (Leon the Lion). Still, many consumers find that generic cereals taste just as good as their brand name counterparts. A 14-ounce box of brand name corn flakes will run you about $2.99, while generic corn flakes generally cost a mere 99 cents! Now, that's some serious savings.

If you're still in doubt, conduct a cross check of the brand name and generic cereal ingredients. You'll probably discover the ingredients are exactly the same. In other words, you're paying an extra two bucks for a picture of a corporate mascot.

2. Prescription Drugs

While you may be willing to give up your brand name corn flakes for their generic replica, would you ever consider buying generic prescription drugs? If you want to save huge amounts of money you would. Prescription generics typically cost between 20-80% less than their brand name counterparts. In 2008, the average retail price of a brand name prescription was $137.90 as compared to the average generic prescription price of $35.22. Just think of all the generic cereal you could buy with that extra hundred bucks!

Many consumers worry that the generic prescriptions aren't as safe as the original drugs. However, pharmaceutical companies are required to use the same active ingredients in generic drugs as the brand name version, and generic prescriptions must meet the same quality and safety standards.

3. Over-the-Counter Meds

Just like prescription drugs, you can save some serious coin on over-the-counter meds, too. While you may be tempted to reach for the trusty Tylenol, Nyquil or Zantac, there are usually much cheaper versions of these popular over-the-counter meds on your pharmacy's shelves. The generic versions of these OTC meds contain the same active ingredients, and like their brand-name equivalents, these products must be approved by the FDA. Depending on the item, you could save tons of cash on generic meds.

4. Basic Baking Products

When you're ready to stock up the pantry with some baking basics, reach for the generic version. From all-purpose flour and butter to spices, salt and sugar, these generic baking staples are pretty much the same as the real thing with a much smaller price tag. The companies that produce these generic single-ingredient items are required to follow the same production and storage regulations as the brand name folks.

5. Fresh Fruits and Veggies

You may have the Chiquita banana song stuck in your head, but don't let that catchy melody entice you to overpay in the produce section. Fruits and vegetables from lesser-known growers are just as good - sometimes even better, especially if the produce was grown locally.

When you hand-pick your fruits and vegetables, don't just go for the label you recognize. Your stomach (and your bank account) will be happier if you go for the label-free produce that looks fresh and smells scrumptious.

Go Generic and Save Thousands

The Truth About Fiber

2010-07-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

By: Maria Masters menshealth.com

You hear the advice constantly: You need fiber. It's crucial to your health. Fine, but how much fiber, and how crucial is it? Maybe you're wondering, What is fiber, exactly?

Let's start with the basics. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that makes up the structural material in the leaves, stems, and roots of plants. But unlike sugar and starch—the other two kinds of carbs—fiber stays intact until it nears the end of your digestive system. This, it seems, is what makes fiber beneficial, and why you've probably heard you can't eat enough of it. Now read on to separate the facts from the fiction.

All Fiber is Created Equal

FALSE: There are two basic types of fiber, with different functions. Insoluble fiber is found in wheat bran, nuts, and many vegetables. Its structure is thick and rough, and it won't dissolve in water, so it zips through your digestive tract and increases stool bulk. Soluble fiber is found in oats, beans, barley, and some fruits. It dissolves in water- to form a gel-like material in your digestive tract. This allows it to slow the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream. What's more, soluble fiber, when eaten regularly, has been shown to slightly lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.

Fiber Has No Calories

FALSE: Fiber is essentially composed of a bundle of sugar molecules. These molecules are held together by chemical bonds that your body has trouble breaking. In fact, your small intestine—can't break down soluble or insoluble fiber; both types just go right through you. That's why some experts say fiber doesn't provide any calories. However, this claim isn't entirely accurate. In your large intestine, soluble fiber's molecules are converted to short-chain fatty acids, which do provide a few calories. A gram of regular carbohydrates has about 4 calories, as does a gram of soluble fiber, according to the FDA. (Insoluble fiber has essentially zero calories.)

Fiber Can Help You Lose Weight

TRUE: Fiber's few calories are more than offset by its weight-control benefits. The conclusion of a review published in the journal Nutrition is clear: People who add fiber to their diets lose more weight than those who don't. Fiber requires extra chewing and slows the absorption of nutrients in your gut, so your body is tricked into thinking you've eaten enough, says review author Joanne Slavin, Ph.D., R.D. And some fibers may also stimulate CCK, an appetite-suppressing hormone in the gut.

Fiber is All-Natural Goodness

SORT OF: Fiber is showing up in everything these days—yogurt, grape juice, artificial sweetener. If this seems impossible, remember that these are molecules; you don't have to see or feel fiber for it to be present. Scientists now have a new class of fiber they refer to as "functional" fiber, meaning it's created and added to processed foods. "You can make fiber from bacteria or from yeast," says Slavin. "And as long as you prove that it can lower cholesterol or feed the good bacteria in your gut or increase stool weight, it's fiber."

Supplemental Fiber is Healthy

TRUE: Foods with added fiber don't necessarily provide the benefits you might expect. Inulin, for example, a soluble fiber extracted from chicory root, can be found in products like Fiber One bars. In addition to boosting fiber content, it's also commonly used to replace fat. Inulin is known as a prebiotic, which means it promotes the growth of healthy bacteria in your gut. That's good, of course. "But," says Slavin, "inulin doesn't have the same cholesterol-lowering effect as the fiber found in oat bran."

Food Companies are Jumping on the Fiber Bandwagon

DUH: In 2007, the FDA declared that polydextrose can be called fiber. Polywhat? Polydextrose is made from glucose, sorbitol (a sugar alcohol), and citric acid. It's what puts the fiber in Fruity Pebbles (not actual pebbles). Polydextrose received FDA approval because it mimics some attributes of dietary fiber: It isn't absorbed in the small intestine, and it increases stool weight. Polydextrose mainly bulks up foods so they're not as high in calories. However, there's no research to prove that polydextrose is as beneficial as the fiber found in whole foods.

Fiber Helps Prevent Colon Cancer

MAYBE: This idea arose in the 1960s when it was noted that fiber-scarfing Ugandans rarely developed colon cancer. But nearly five decades later, it still hasn't been proven.

In 1999, Harvard researchers found no link between dietary fiber intake and colon cancer. But a European study that tracked more than a half million people correlated a high-fiber diet with up to a 40 percent reduced risk of colorectal cancer. Then a 2005 review in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people who ate the same amount of fiber as those in the European study didn't experience any benefit. The American Institute for Cancer Research calls protection "probable." This controversy aside, high-fiber diets are associated with preventing many chronic diseases, so it's smart to boost your intake, says Arthur Schatzkin, M.D., Dr.P.H., of the National Cancer Institute.

This is Complicated

FALSE: A simple strategy: Eat sensibly. Favor whole, unprocessed foods. Make sure the carbs you eat are fiber-rich—this means produce, legumes, and whole grains—to help slow the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream. "The more carbohydrates you eat, the more fiber becomes important to help minimize the wide fluctuations in blood-sugar levels," says Jeff Volek, Ph.D., R.D., a nutrition researcher at the University of Connecticut.

Ellen DeGeneres Announces She Is Leaving 'American Idol'

2010-07-29T21:43:00.000-07:00

Thu Jul 29, 5:35 PM PDT

After only one year behind the judges' table on "American Idol," Ellen DeGeneres is leaving the show.

"A couple months ago, I let FOX and the 'American Idol' producers know that this didn't feel like the right fit for me," Ellen said in a statement issued to Access Hollywood on Thursday. "I told them I wouldn't leave them in a bind and that I would hold off on doing anything until they were able to figure out where they wanted to take the panel next."

The talk show host and comedienne revealed that she didn't come to the decision lightly.

"It was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for," her statement continued. "I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings."

Although she is leaving, Ellen said she is thankful for the experience.

"I loved the experience working on 'Idol' and I am very grateful for the year I had. I am a huge fan of the show and will continue to be," her statement concluded.

Ellen's announcement comes just two days after a report in The Hollywood Reporter surfaced suggesting that original "American Idol" executive producer, and current "So You Think You Can Dance" judge and executive producer, Nigel Lythgoe, was being coaxed back to the FOX juggernaut, two years after he left the fold.

While Nigel, FOX and FremantleMedia have had no comment on the report, there were rumors that if the Brit returned to the show which he helped make a ratings blockbuster, the entire "Idol" judging panel, minus perhaps Randy Jackson, could be replaced.

"They feel that they can tweak the format, but unless they do something as dramatic as replacing some of the judges, I don't know if that would really register as a big overhaul of 'Idol' -- a fresh feeling," Kim Masters, a writer at The Hollywood Reporter, told Access earlier this week.

Nigel himself had even suggested a break-up of the judging group, previously telling Access Hollywood's Billy Bush he wasn't a fan of the move -- following his departure -- to add four judges.

"I've never supported four judges," Nigel said. "You know, I think once you've heard [the criticism] 'You suck!' once, you don't need to hear it another three times, to be honest."

Ellen's move is also surprising because she recently told AccessHollywood.com's Laura Saltman that she would be around for some time.

"I signed a long contract that says lots of things and I remember seeing five years on there," she previously said.

Randy still has time on his contract, but Kara DioGuardi has a year-to-year deal, which has yet to be renewed, although she told Access last week that she was ready to take on Season 10.

"I'm not getting butterflies as much as I was, but I'm ready to find new talent," Kara said.

The news will no doubt come as a surprise to Randy, who told Access last week that he expected to see Ellen at the auditions round for Season 10 - something Access had asked about.

"I'm sure she will," he said, referring to Ellen taking part in the audition rounds. "She didn't come on until later on. So, I'm sure she will this time."

Healthy Teeth, Healthy Heart

2010-07-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

Men's Health News

Good oral hygiene might protect you from more than just cavities.

People who brush their teeth less than twice a day are 70 percent more likely to have a heart attack than those who take better care of their smiles, according to a new study in the British Medical Journal.

And the researchers found that this was true regardless of age, smoking history, dentists’ visits, and diabetes, among others.

So how is oral health is linked to heart health? Researchers suspect that inflammation plays a role. The scientists found that the subjects who brushed their teeth less often also had more levels of C-reactive protein in their blood. This protein is associated with inflammation, and is also linked to atherosclerosis, a condition in which plaque builds up in the arteries.

ED Drugs Linked to STDs

2010-07-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

Men's Health News

Older men who take drugs for erectile dysfunction may be at an increased risk of having a sexually transmitted disease, according to a new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers found that men over the age of 40 who take meds like Viagra, Levitra and Cialis may be three times more likely to have an STD than men who don’t request a prescription.

These men may be more likely to practice unsafe sex or have more partners, says the lead study author Anupam Jena, Ph.D., M.D.

Although people in their late teens or early adulthood are more likely to have STDs—including Chlamydia and gonorrhea—the rates of these diseases have been growing in the elderly over the past decade, according to previous research.

“[One theory we had was that] the introduction of erectile dysfunction drugs were leading to higher rates of STDs among older folks,” says Jena. “If a drug comes out that allows men to have sex—when they formerly couldn’t, or had difficulty doing so—there would be a higher rate of STDs, just by virtue of having more sex.”

With this in mind, Jena and his colleagues examined the data from 44 large insurance companies for more than 1.4 million older men and found that nearly 40,000 of them had filled at least one prescription for an ED drug. Then the scientists compared how common STDs were in people who were using the meds and those who weren’t.

Sure enough, men who used ED drugs had an increased risk of STDs. But then the researchers looked at whether or not the men reported having an STD one year before compared to one year after filling their ED prescription.

Surprisingly, Jena found that the men who used these drugs were just as likely to have an STD before they filled their first prescription as they were after they received the medicine.

“That tells us that people who are using erectile dysfunction drugs are not necessarily unable to have sex,” says Jena. “By virtue of having an STD before they even filled their first scrip, we know they are having sex… A lot of people are [using the meds] because they want to increase their sexual pleasure.”

Jena says that while people over the age of 40 are indeed having less sex than younger people, they may be likely to have unsafe sex. That’s because the chances of becoming pregnant aren’t as high, and there’s less of a need to use condoms.

And because there is little risk of pregnancy, many doctors don’t warn their older patients about avoiding STDs, says Jena. But he’s hoping that his study will change this.

13 Qualities Every Leader Should Have

2010-07-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

www.menshealth.com
Leadership is one tough-to-figure art. That's why the Constitution devotes only a few hundred words to describing the president's job, and fewer still—not one—to the kind of person the chief exec ought to be. But take heart. We've figured out what makes a fellow worth following.

Our leader-of-the-free-world specs come without reference to public policy. Great presidents can believe in big government or in small, and they can be born on Park Avenue or among the amber waves. We're fed up with the sneers, with the divisive polemics about who's a slacker because he didn't serve and who's a hero because he did. Mostly, we're impatient with insinuations that liberals don't believe in family and conservatives don't believe in civil rights. Our studies show that millions of people in Massachusetts have values and millions more in Texas have brains.

Here are some qualities of mind and heart that will serve our republic well from either side of the aisle. And if you can't find these virtues in either candidate, don't despair. You can always try them out at home.

A Seeking Mind
The president need not be brilliant. But he needs a seeking mind, a hunger for information, and a skepticism regarding the things about which he's most sure. As much as we need someone strong, we also need someone whose character is, in Plutarch's phrase, softened by study and thought. Ignorance is no crime; pride in ignorance is. A man ought to be interested in what he doesn't know.

A Compass for Common Ground
A taste for confrontation is a beautiful thing—in the House of Representatives. But the presidency is too important to go to a guy who likes an argument, who cherishes a chance to mock the other team.

Ours is a boisterous country, teeming with perfectly good people who feel, for lots of different reasons, aggrieved. Sometimes it's because their new business is getting crushed by taxes and regulations, and sometimes it's because they can't marry the person they love.

But the president should be willing to at least act as though he, to borrow Clinton's phrase, feels their pain. In these argumentative times, a sense that we all can reason together is precious.

A Disinterest in Power
George Washington is often compared with Cincinnatus, the Roman consul/gentleman farmer who was happily tilling his field in 458 B.C. when the call came that his Empire needed his leadership. He put aside his plow for a couple of weeks, thwarted the invaders, and then returned to tend his patch. In other words, he lived to serve.

We want another president like our first one, a guy who takes no pleasure in his clout. "Washington's charisma," wrote historian Garry Wills, "came from a prominently displayed eagerness to transcend itself; he gained power from his readiness to give it up." There is no better way to earn the people's trust than truly to be their servant.

A Taste for Our Story
Sure, plenty of countries believe they have a special destiny. But there's one crucial difference between our version of chauvinism and theirs: Ours makes sense. There's never been a country as extravagant—for better and for worse—as ours.

And so, our president should be enthused about the American story, and savor the unique epic of all those people coming from all those places and building all those lives in all those hollows and surging cities. He should be in-his-bones proud that we've saved the world from the barbarians three times and that we've spent a goodly slice of our fortune helping people who have less. He should know the names of all the small mountain ranges in Utah and Maine. He should be knowledgeable about Lewis and Clark.

An Acceptance of Our Trespasses
Too often, the enthusiasm for our legend described above makes us reluctant to confess our sins. There's a sense that if we admit our faults, our virtues will be lost in recrimination.

Wrong. Our top man should have a clear-eyed sense of what we've done. Yes, our republic was born in genocide. And yes, we have been guilty of racism, institutional and otherwise. And yes, our companies have been rapacious, and yes again, we have often endorsed tyrants as long as they were our guys. But that was then. Now we're working hard to be better.

We need a leader who is both inspired and chastened by what we've done, who can take the verdict of history. We can do better. And we will.

A Way with the Language
Great leaders aren't always silver-tongued. Thomas Jefferson had a speech impediment and was so shy and reluctant to speak in public that he passed on delivering the State of the Union address in person.

But verbal gifts are potent presidential add-ons, especially nowadays. Rightly deployed, language can exalt a people: See Lincoln at Gettysburg, FDR during the Depression, Kennedy in his inaugural, Reagan as the Soviet Union came undone. Our leader can use it to soften sorrow, to rally the troops, to summon—what was that phrase?—the better angels of our nature. Nothing fancy is required, but the bully pulpit is often a pastoral one, and it's a comfort if the president can stir our spirits.

An Admiration of the People
Johnson didn't trust us enough to tell the truth about Vietnam. Nor did Nixon when he invaded Cambodia. Reagan faltered when he secretly funded the Contras. Above all, the president has an obligation to be an honest broker, to rely on our wisdom—even if it's not, well, wise.

Andrew Jackson got it right in his 1829 State of the Union when he hoped that his errors might "find remedy in the harmony and wisdom of your counsels." Hell yeah, the people can be wrong. They endorsed slavery for years. But the president should give us a chance to disagree with him and try to win us over before making a unilateral Daddy's decision in the interest of the family.

An ACLU Membership Card
Easy now, my brothers on the right! Nobody loves it when a criminal walks because a cop mumbled the Miranda. But civil liberties are the muscle and bone of our body politic, and they include not just the right to remain silent, but the right to own a gun, to be master of your house, and, most important, to speak your piece. Conservatives miss that the ACLU is suspicious of government, just as they are. Moreover, it stood up for Rush Limbaugh after his drug bust, even though he built his career bashing the hypervigilance for which it stands.

A Belief in Hardware
For the first time in centuries, there is but one nation-state that can assert its military will with little fear of defeat. That's both a dangerous fact and an opportunity. The president needs the gumption to use that power when its deployment can save lives or lead to a safer world. Hamlet would have been a lousy president, what with all the to-being and not-to-being. On occasion, the president needs the strength to use our power, to force the moment to its crisis. But he also needs an extreme reluctance to do so, derived in part
from . . .

A Belief in Software
Power is one thing; authority is another. Our missiles are an asset, to be sure. But the other great American asset is what we are, all the things we believe, our commitment to freedom, our passion for prosperity, our openness, our ingenuity, our drive, our hope.

To use our fist, the great thump, without maxing out the power of our character and ideas is not just morally wrong, it's also bad strategy. The president should believe in talking and teaching, in diplomacy and partnership, in patient solutions that might obviate the need for sudden ones.

A Love for the Future
People on the left worry too much—as in, "Good God, the ozone's gone and we'll be toast by the weekend!" And people on the right worry too little—as in, "What are a few civil liberties if we catch more terrorists?"

The president should be a careful optimist. He needs to stand tall on behalf of generations to come. This doesn't always mean choosing trees over capitalism; the future can be enhanced by enterprise as well as by clean air. But in the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt, who set aside national parks for our children's children, the top guy ought to fret over our elk and geysers as much as our institutions and credit rating.

A Willingness to Change Course
Somehow, changing your mind has become a sign of weakness. A flip-flopper is the lowest form of sniveling weasel, unqualified to babysit the kids. A real man sticks to his guns, you see. But isn't changing your mind also a sign of . . . what's the word? . . . oh yeah, brains? Doesn't an intelligent person get feedback from the consequences of a decision and assess whether he was right, or maybe, just maybe . . . what's that word? . . . oh yeah, wrong! Steadfast = good. Stubborn = bad.

And Gravitas
Sure, humor's good. Press conferences need not be dull. But behind the wit, we need a deeply serious person, a person who is both humbled by his obligations and flat-out determined to meet them, a person who is at home in a high-stakes arena, who is emboldened, even strengthened, by our faith in him. We seek a person with more courage and love than most of us, a hero with a big, brave heart.

Of course, campaigns are designed to conceal the candidate. But if you can erase the quick-twitch assumptions about each man and look past the snarl, the occasional unscripted moment is revealing. You may catch a glimmer of the leader we seek—in an expression of derision or affection, a telling phrase, a moment of impatience or forbearance.

Resist cynicism, if you've got the stones. Love our country enough to keep working on her. Vote.

Eliminate Germs from Your Life; This will suprise you!

2010-07-24T22:44:00.000-07:00

By: Heather Loeb menshealth.com

Is there a more potent symbol of purity than the fluffy white snowflake, wafting from heaven and landing—ping!—on the tip of your tongue? Well, along comes the journal Science to spoil the fun, noting that bacteria called Pseudomonas syringae are lurking at the dark heart of many an earthbound crystal of frozen water. And if Frosty the Snowman is a target, what chance do the rest of us have?

A pretty good one, actually—if you make note of the places where the bugs lie and swat them before they can do harm. Here's an updated to-disinfect list for all the surprising places (and people) contagion clings to.

Your Vacuum Cleaner

The threat: Researchers at the University of Arizona recently found that 50 percent of the vacuum brushes they tested contained fecal bacteria, including 13 percent with E. coli, and all were packing mold. Vacuuming can transfer the germs from contaminated surfaces to uncontaminated ones (think kitchen to living room).

The solution: Spray the brush with a disinfectant after every use—traces of bacteria can survive as long as 5 days inside the vacuum after you empty the dirt. And disposable-bag vacuums promote more bacterial growth, according to the study, so buy the bagless variety.

Your Weight-Lifting Gloves

The threat: A 2004 Japanese study found that staph bacteria bind strongly to polyester, which is used in many gloves. And yes, that includes MRSA bacteria, which lurk wherever jocks gather. You grab the bar, grunt a weight, wipe your eyes, nose, or mouth, and the bacteria are in.

The solution: Ditch the gloves, and not just to ditch the germs: Hitting the weights with bare hands will strengthen your grip and forearms, says the Men's Health Muscle Guy, Mike Mejia. If your gym doesn't keep disinfectant wipes and alcohol-based hand sanitizer handy, insist that it start doing so.

The Grocery Cart

The threat: The handles of almost two-thirds of shopping carts tested in a 2007 University of Arizona study were contaminated with fecal bacteria. The carts had even more of these bacteria than the average public bathroom has.

The solution: Swab the handle with a disinfectant wipe before grabbing hold—stores are starting to provide them, so look around. And skip the free food samples, which are nothing but communal hand-to-germ-to-mouth zones. Finally, bag unpackaged items, like fruits and vegetables, before placing them in your fecal-matter carrier. Your cart, that is.

Gym Equipment

The threat: A 2006 study in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine found rhinoviruses (instigators of the common cold) on 63 percent of the gym equipment at the fitness centers they tested. Researchers also discovered that weight equipment was contaminated significantly more often than aerobic equipment (73 percent versus 51 percent). Even worse, the study found that disinfecting the equipment twice a day didn't do anything to lower the virus count.

The solution: Avoid touching your face between sets, since most colds are transmitted through hand-to-nose contact. And make sure to pack an alcohol-based hand sanitizer in your gym bag.

The Restaurant Menu

The threat: Ever see anybody wash a menu? We didn't think so. A recent study in the Journal of Medical Virology reports that cold and flu viruses can survive for 18 hours on hard surfaces. If it's a popular joint, hundreds of people could be passing their germs on to you.

The solution: Never let the menu touch your plate or silverware as you ponder the wine list, and wash your hands after you order. But how do you escape the bathroom without touching the door handle? Palm a spare paper towel after you wash up, and then use it to grab the handle. Execute this trick properly and nobody needs to know how much you fear germs.

The Flight Attendant

The threat: Flight attendants are exposed to dozens of sniffling and coughing passengers and the surfaces they touch. When attendants need a pee break, they head into the same latrine you use. Now consider that when Charles Gerba, Ph.D., coauthor of The Germ Freak's Guide to Outwitting Colds and Flu, tested commercial-jet bathrooms, he found that surfaces from faucets to doorknobs were contaminated with E. coli. Given all that germ exposure, it's no surprise that the Journal of Environmental Health Research recently revealed that you're 100 times as likely to catch a cold while flying than on the ground.

The solution: Pack a green-tea pill. In a 2007 University of Florida study, people who took a 450-milligram green-tea supplement twice a day for 3 months had a third fewer days of cold symptoms. Try Immune Guard ($30 for 60 pills, immune-guard.us), the brand used in the study.

Your Bed

The threat: More than 84 percent of beds in U.S. homes host dust mites. These microscopic critters live in your sheets and feed on your dead skin, and their fecal matter and corpses contribute to asthma and allergies.

The solution: Don't make your bed. A study from London's Kingston University found that dust mites need humidity levels above 50 percent to survive. And while they can't live in the arid conditions of an unmade bed, a made bed traps the moisture they need to thrive. Mount an air attack, too. Try bundling a dehumidifier with an oscillating fan for a two-pronged moisture eliminator.

The Lemon Wedge in Your Drink

The threat: In a 2007 study from the Journal of Environmental Health, nearly 70 percent of the lemon wedges smashed onto restaurant glasses contained disease-causing microbes. Researchers ordered drinks at 21 different restaurants, securing 76 lemons. Testing revealed 25 different microorganisms lingering on the lemons, including E. coli and other fecal bacteria.

The solution: Tell the waiter you prefer your drink sans fruit. Why risk it?

Your Contact-Lens Case

The threat: In a 2007 Chinese study, 34 percent of contact-lens cases tested were found to be crawling with germs like Serratia and Staphylococcus aureus. These microorganisms can cause keratitis, an inflammatory eye disease that can damage the cornea and lead to blindness.

The solution: Dump the used solution and thoroughly rinse your case in hot water every day, and replace your lens case at least every 3 months. And buy a new bottle of solution every other month, even if you haven't used it all: A separate Chinese study discovered that multipurpose solutions lose most of their germ-fighting power after 2 months.

Your Shower Curtain

The threat: The soap scum hanging out on your curtain is more than just unsightly. A study in Applied and Environmental Microbiology found that vinyl shower curtains are microbe meccas, breeding potential pathogens, such as infection-causing Sphingomonas and Methylobacterium. Plus, the force of the shower spray will make germs take flight, says the study author, Norman Pace, Ph.D., a professor of molecular biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The solution: Hang a fabric shower curtain from the rod. It will still harbor bacteria, but it's much easier to clean than scrubbing down a vinyl curtain. Just toss it in the washer, and use the hottest water the fabric can handle. Pace washes his shower curtain once a month but advises anyone with a weakened immune system (that's you if you're highly stressed or battling a disease) to do so more frequently.

Energy To Burn

2010-07-24T06:52:00.000-07:00

menshealth.com
What to eat and when to eat it to boost your metabolism and fight fatigue all day long

Energy management should be one of the principal concerns of the working man, and yet the average guy fuels his body the way he gases up his vehicle: when it's running on fumes. It's a red-warning-light response, and it usually triggers a pit stop for a café au lait and a croissant. Why we eat like the French when there's work to be done, we'll never know.

But there's a better way to wake up that doesn't involve overpriced coffee: Eat smart. And eat often. More specifically, snack often. By snacking on the right foods at strategic times, you'll keep your energy levels stoked all day, says sports nutritionist Nancy Clark, R.D. Here's what to eat when, with the prep time you've got.

7 a.m.: Jump-Start Your Body
They call it breakfast for a reason: You haven't eaten for at least 8 hours. Your blood-sugar level is at its lowest ebb, and now it's time to fuel up with protein and some fat, but mostly with complex carbohydrates.

At home: Grab a bowl and mix together a three-to-one ratio of Fiber One cereal plus Cap'n Crunch's Peanut Butter Crunch. Add 1/2 cup of 2 percent milk. That'll give you fat, protein, and long-burning fiber, plus a little sweetness to spike your blood sugar and help wake you up. Researchers at Cardiff University in Wales gave 150 men and women either high-fiber or low-fiber cereal every morning for 2 weeks. At the end of the study, those people who ate the most fiber also reported feeling the most energetic. "Fiber helps slow down the absorption of food in the stomach, so you have more energy over a sustained period of time," says Elizabeth Kunkel, Ph.D., R.D., a professor of food science at Clemson University.

In the car: Munch on a pack of Frito-Lay Trail Mix. These single-serving tubes of nuts, raisins, and chocolate chips cost just a dollar, and you can dump one right into your mouth while you navigate rush-hour traffic. The raisins provide potassium--a mineral your body needs to convert blood sugar into energy. As for the nuts, they're high in magnesium. When magnesium levels are low, your body hikes its production of lactic acid--the same fatigue-inducing substance that causes your muscles to burn when you're pushing yourself to crank out that third superset.

At your desk: Dig into Knudsen Cottage Doubles while checking your e-mail. These to-go bowls of cottage cheese come with a side of fruit. Eat them separately or stir the fruit into the cottage cheese to make it more flavorful. Besides being high in muscle-building protein, cottage cheese is a good source of calcium and phosphorus, two minerals that help build your muscles' energy reserves. Researchers in Denmark found that men who replaced 20 percent of the carbohydrates in their diet with a high-protein food like cottage cheese not only had more energy, but also revved up their metabolisms, increasing the number of calories they burned each day by up to 5 percent.

Your Manhood's Biggest Health Threat

2010-07-24T05:57:00.000-07:00

By: John Miley

Find out why an ingrown hair could be penis enemy number one

"I'm going to try and have you not lose your penis," announced Jason Faulhaber, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at Fenway Health in Boston, Massachusetts.

His patient, "Cadillac" Jack McCartney could hardly manage a response. "Really? What do you mean?" asked McCartney.

"We have to deal with this aggressively. This is no joke," said Dr. Faulhaber, who's also a clinical instructor at Harvard University Medical School.

What had started out as a small pimple on McCartney's left groin was threatening his manhood--and his life. The diagnosis? A deadly strain of staph infection called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as MRSA. The root cause? A pesky ingrown hair.

McCartney lives a stress-filled life traveling between Boston and New York, working as an operations manager and program director for top-rated radio stations, including Boston's KISS 108 and New York's Power 105.1. His normally clean bill of health was derailed one Friday night when he noticed an ingrown hair on his groin. On Saturday, what looked like a pimple was a little more swollen. When he woke up Sunday morning, his penis was growing. "Aw geez, it's getting swollen now," McCartney thought to himself. But things got even worse. By Sunday afternoon, his penis was painfully swollen, about seven times its normal girth. He could only wear loose-fitting sweat pants when he went to the doctor the next morning.

"I have to be seen," McCartney said when he arrived without an appointment.

Luckily, the only available doctor had the experience to save his penis. McCartney saw Dr. Faulhaber, who began treatment right away. "MRSA can be aggressive and can potentially gain access to the bloodstream," explains Dr. Faulhaber. "Once in the bloodstream, it can go to your heart, your brain, really anywhere in the body. It can be quite devastating."

He put McCartney on two different antibiotics, a pain-killer and an anti-inflammatory to help reduce the swelling. But that's not all: The doctor had to make an incision in McCartney's penis to get a culture to test for MRSA.

During his treatment, McCartney suffered through a 103-degree temperature, and had to see Dr. Faulhaber everyday for a week. But once the antibiotics started to work, his fever went down, and his penis began to shrink back to its normal size. "Dr. Faulhaber is a huge reason that I was only out of work two weeks and that it didn't take a worse toll," says McCartney.

Guard Your Groin
Keep an eye on ingrown hairs in your groin area--red bumps that look like pimples, especially ones that start to swell or become painful. "Because of the growth of pubic hair, which tends to be coarse, men are susceptible to ingrown hairs in that region," says Dr. Faulhaber. Staph is a normal bacterium found on the skin and ingrown hairs can trap the bacteria, giving them the opportunity to multiply and cause infection.

Ditch the Razor
If you're looking to manscape, consider an electric trimmer. "A buzzer tends to be better because you?re not causing nicks in the skin," says Dr. Faulhaber. "If you're using an actual razor blade, you can cause small cuts, which actually increases the risk of developing an infection."

Stay Squeaky Clean
"The best thing is to keep as best hygiene as you can," says Dr. Faulhaber. "The bacteria can even be transmitted through solid surfaces, like the weights or workout machines at the gym." Read: Shower after you've played a sport with a lot of skin-to-skin contact, have been to the gym, or are in close quarters with others, like in the military. Don't complicate it: "Soap and water are effective," says Dr. Faulhaber.

Don't Delay
Unfortunately, your penis is particularly vulnerable during a staph infection. "It doesn't take long for the testicles to be at risk for possible death of the tissue," says Dr. Faulhaber. "Time is definitely an issue." If you notice swelling in any part of your groin or privates, go to a doctor immediately. Even if the infection starts on your groin, it can spread through the pelvic tissues to the scrotum and the penis. "The penis is quite vulnerable as it cannot accommodate swelling as much as the scrotum can," says Dr. Faulhaber.

To learn even more about MRSA, check out this Men's Health Special Report, The Killer in the Lockerroom.

Insecurity is Linked to Health Problems

2010-07-23T02:21:00.000-07:00

People who feel insecure in their relationships with others may be more likely to develop heart disease than their more-secure counterparts, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.
The researchers studied more than 5,000 adults and classified them as being either secure, avoidant, or anxious.
Secure people had no problem being close to others and also letting their friends be close to them.Those who were labeled as avoidant had trouble connecting with others and letting others connect to them. And lastly, people who classified as anxious tended to worry about rejection and found that others didn’t want to engage in a close relationship.
After the scientists calculated the data, they found that the anxious people were at a higher risk of chronic pain, stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure and ulcers.
For tips on how to communicate–especially with your wife or girlfriend–check out “Stupid Stuff Guys Say.”

The Perfect Multivitamin

2010-07-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

menshealth.com

Don’t be fooled by the laundry-list labels of modern multivitamins. “Manufacturers will throw in a little something sexy—lutein, lycopene—but rarely enough to be worthwhile,” says Tod Cooperman, M.D., president of ConsumerLab.com, an independent tester of health and nutritional products. You’re better off with a more conservative multivitamin that nails some of the essentials listed below.

Vitamin A
Maintains healthy bones, vision, and skin; regulates immune system to fight infections.
Dietary sources: Liver, milk, eggs, and cheese
RDA: 3,000 IU/day (10,000 IU/day upper limit)

Vitamin B-6
Helps your immune system manufacture disease-fighting antibodies; produces mood hormones serotonin and dopamine and the sleep hormone melatonin.
Dietary sources: Beans, poultry, fish, grains, fortified breads and cereals
RDA: 1.3 mg/day (100 mg/day upper limit)

Vitamin C
Essential for growth and repair of tissue, production of collagen and certain neurotransmitters. It also helps the body absorb iron from plant sources.
Dietary sources: Peppers, citrus fruits, kiwi fruit, broccoli, strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes
RDA: 90 mg/day (2,000 mg/day upper limit)

Vitamin D
Regulates immune and neuromuscular function, fights inflammation, and helps your body absorb calcium.
Dietary sources: Salmon, tuna, mackerel, cheese, egg yolks, fortified cereals
Adequate intake: 5 mcg/day (50 mcg/day upper limit)

Vitamin E
Protects the body from tissue-damaging free radicals and aids in immune function.
Dietary sources: Nuts, seeds, vegetable oils, green leafy vegetables, broccoli, fortified cereals
RDA: 15 mg/day (1,000 mg/day upper limit)

Vitamin K
Essential component for blood clotting.
Dietary sources: Green leafy vegetables (particularly spinach), broccoli, brussels sprouts
Adequate intake: 120 mcg/day (no established upper limit)

Folic Acid
Helps create and sustain new cells and is essential to DNA production. Also helps break down the amino acid homocysteine, which may reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Dietary sources of folate: Leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits, dried beans and peas
RDA: 400 mcg/day (1,000 mcg/day upper limit)

Thiamin
Helps create energy from carbs and branched-chain amino acids.
Dietary sources: Pork, ham, whole-grain or fortified cereals
RDA: 1.2 mg/day (no established upper limit)

Panthothenic Acid
Needed to make coenzyme A, which helps make fatty acids, amino acids, neurotransmitters, and steroid hormones.
Dietary sources: Beef, potatoes, egg yolks, broccoli, whole grains
Adequate intake: 5 mg/day (no established upper limit)

Calcium
Fortifies your bones and teeth, while also maintaining proper heart, nerve, and muscle function.
Dietary sources: Milk, cheese, yogurt, leafy green vegetables
Adequate intake: 1,000 mg/day (2,500 mg/day upper limit)

Magnesium
Needed for more than 300 bodily processes, and helps maintain muscle, nerve and immune function. Also helps regulate blood sugar and blood pressure.
Dietary sources: Spinach, other green vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains
RDA: 400-420 mg/day (350 mg/day when taken in a supplement)

Potassium
An electrolyte, it literally conducts a current through your body, keeping your heart pumping and assisting muscle contraction. Also reduced the effect of salt on blood pressure.
Dietary sources: Bananas, root vegetables, leafy green vegetables, tomatoes
Adequate intake: 4,700 mg/day (no established upper limit)

Zinc
Helps approximately 300 enzymes do their job, and aids in immune function, protein and DNA synthesis, wound healing, and cell division. Essential for your sense of taste and smell.
Dietary sources: Oysters, crab, lobster, nuts, chicken, cheese
RDA: 11 mg/day (40 mg/day upper limit)

Selenium
Combines with protein to form selenoproteins, which act as antioxidants, regulate thyroid function, and aid immune system function.
Dietary sources: Brazil nuts, meats, tuna, eggs, cottage cheese, whole grains
RDA: 55 mcg/day (400 mcg/day upper limit)

Manganese
Helps manufacture bone, and is involved in amino acid, cholesterol, and carbohydrate metabolism.
Dietary sources: Grains, vegetables, tea
Adequate intake: 2.3 mg/day (11 mg/day upper limit)

Chromium
Thought to transport blood glucose into your cells for energy.
Dietary sources: Lean meats, whole grains, spices, mushrooms, red wine, green beans, apples
Adequate intake: 35 mcg/day (no established upper limit)

Phosphorus
Helps build strong bones and teeth, and also helps clean out your kidneys, build and repair tissue, and manufacture DNA.
Dietary sources: Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products
RDA: 700 mg/day (4,000 mg/day upper limit)

Boron
Benefit: Boron has no clear function in humans, but thought to help metabolize

Vitamin D.
Dietary sources: Fruit-based drinks, potatoes, legumes, milk, avocado, peanuts/peanut butter
RDA: No established amount (20 mg/day upper limit)

Vanadium
No clear function in humans, but some research suggests it may increase the action of insulin.
Dietary sources: Mushrooms, shellfish, black pepper, parsley, dill seed
RDA: No established amount (1.8 mg/day upper limit)

Silicon
Benefit: Although there’s no clear function in humans, silicon has been shown to help build bones in animals.
Dietary sources: Beef, coffee, grains, vegetables
RDA: No established amount

Facebook Can Hurt Divorce Cases

2010-07-22T09:44:00.000-07:00

By Carolyn Kylstra, menshealth.com

Going through a separation or divorce? Then you’d better separate from your social media accounts.
Eighty-one percent of the country’s top divorce attorneys say they’ve seen an increase in the number of cases that have used social networking interactions as evidence, according to a recent survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. The most popular online divorce evidence comes from Facebook—66 percent cite it as the primary source, followed by MySpace (15 percent) and Twitter (5 percent).
Alan Plevy, a family law attorney at the firm SmolenPlevy in Vienna, Virginia, says most of his clients have at least one of these three accounts—and he’s seen the impact they have had firsthand.
“For some reason or another, people seem to think that these sites are private,” he says. “And then they do things on those sites that tend to get them in trouble.”
These include: Posting pictures of a recent trip to Cancun, when they’ve claimed poverty to avoid paying child support. Or writing sexual messages on other women’s walls, proving that they’d been unfaithful.
Plevy recounts a recent story of what happened when one such woman received a phone call from her concerned mother-in-law. The mother-in-law noticed that her son had changed his relationship status from “Married” to “Single,” and left updates about how he was ready to party. But this was the first that the woman had heard of her husband’s newfound “singledom”—now she’s Plevy’s client.
“She and her husband were having issues, and had talked about possibly separating, but he took it to the next level without her knowledge,” Plevy says.
He and his colleagues recommend that anyone going through a divorce should deactivate all social media accounts, unless they’re used for strictly professional purposes.
“Remember that anybody can access this information,” he says.
Need more convincing? Here’s the kicker: Even if you personally don’t post anything salacious on your wall, other people in your life might not show the same restraint.
“Say you’re going through a divorce, and you say that you’re in a relationship with a new person,” Plevy says. “We can then access that person’s account, and learn even more about your behavior from him or her.”

15 New Superfoods

2010-07-22T03:46:00.000-07:00

By: Stephen Perrine with Heather Hurlock

Your ultimate weight-loss tool doesn’t require assembly like some Ab-O-Matic, it doesn’t cost an entire paycheck, and it doesn’t even require you to break a sweat. It’s in your refrigerator, and it’s called food. The problem is that our “old American diet” has too many calories and not enough real food. So the answer isn’t eating less food—it’s eating more of the right foods. There are 15 of them in particular, and they couldn’t be easier to remember because the first letter of each food spells out NEW AMERICAN DIET.

As detailed in the latest Men’s Health’s book, The New American Diet, these foods are the cure for our old American diet. In fact, in an initial test run, those who tried the New American Diet lost an average of 15 pounds in just 6 weeks. The secret? High-nutrition foods that fill your body with quality fuel and protect you from obesity-causing chemicals (called “obesogens”) found in many conventional food products. Discover how easy it is to flatten your belly for good with The New American Diet’s superfoods. Eat up—and slim down!

1. Nuts
Nuts are New American Diet smart bombs. They’re packed with monounsaturated fatty acids, those good-for-you fats that lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes and, according to new research, help you control your appetite.

Researchers from Georgia Southern University found that eating a high-protein, high-fat snack, such as almonds, increases your calorie burn for up to 3 and a half hours. And just one ounce of almonds boosts vitamin-E levels, increasing memory and cognitive performance, according to researchers at New York Presbyterian Hospital. In another study, people who ate pistachios for 3 months lost 10 to 12 pounds on average.

2. Eggs
In a new study in the International Journal of Obesity, overweight participants ate a 340-calorie breakfast of either two eggs or a single bagel 5 days a week for 8 weeks. Those who ate eggs (including the yolk, which contains nearly half the protein and all the nutrient choline) reported higher energy levels and lost 65 percent more weight than bagel-eaters—and with no effect on their cholesterol or triglyceride levels!

Plus, a recent review of more than 25 published studies on protein that concluded that egg protein helps boost muscle strength and development more than other proteins do because of its high concentrations of the amino acid leucine. And egg protein is also better at keeping you from getting hungry over a sustained period.

3. Whole Grains
It's not a magic disappearing act, but it's close: When Harvard University researchers analyzed the diets of more than 27,000 people over 8 years, they discovered that those ate whole grains daily weighed 2.5 pounds less than those who ate only refined-grain foods.

Another study from Penn State University found that whole-grain eaters lost 2.4 times more belly fat than those who ate refined grains. Whole grains more favorably affect blood-glucose levels, which means they don’t cause wild swings in blood sugar and ratchet up cravings after you eat them. Plus, the antioxidants in whole grains help control inflammation and insulin (a hormone that tells your body to store belly fat).

4. Avocado and Other Healthy Fats
Just because a food has plenty of fat and calories in it doesn’t mean it’s “fattening.” See, certain foods cause you to gain weight because they provoke hormonal changes that trigger cravings, or “rebound hunger.” One hunger-control hormone, leptin, becomes blunted by starchy, sweet, fatty, and refined-carbohydrate foods. That's why a bagel is fattening: It's a high-caloric load of refined carbohydrates that double-crosses your natural satisfaction response.

Avocados on the other hand aren't fattening, because they’re loaded with healthy fat and fiber and don't cause wild swings in insulin levels. So enjoy the fat in avocados, olive oil, and nuts. Research shows that diets containing upward of 50 percent fat are just as effective for weight loss as those that are low in fat.

5. Meat (Pasture-Raised and Free-Range)
Grass-fed beef, chicken, and pork is leaner and healthier than conventional livestock—and will help trim away pounds. A 3.5-ounce serving of grass-fed beef has only 2.4 grams of fat, compared with 16.3 grams for conventionally raised beef. In fact, grass-fed beef is so much more nutritious than commodity beef that it's almost a different food.

Grass-fed beef contains more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has been shown to reduce abdominal fat while building lean muscle. It also has more omega-3s and less omega-6s than corn-fed beef. It’s the same with chickens. According to a recent study in the journal Poultry Science, free-range chickens have significantly more omega-3s than grain-fed chickens, less harmful fat, and fewer calories than grain-fed varieties. This is important because omega-3s improve your mood, boost your metabolism, sharpen your brain, and help you lose weight.

6. Environmentally Sustainable Fish
Choosing seafood these days isn't easy. Some species (swordfish, farmed salmon) contain obesity-promoting pollutants (dioxins, PCBs). Others are fattened with soy, which lowers their levels of healthy omega-3s. In fact, the American Heart Association recently urged people who are concerned about heart disease to avoid eating tilapia for just that reason. Wow. That goes against conventional wisdom, doesn’t it?

So what kind of fish should you eat, and how can the New American Diet help? Generally, small, oily ocean fish (herring, mackerel, sardines) are low in toxins and score highest in omega-3s. Wild Alaskan salmon, Pacific Halibut, Rainbow Trout, and Yellowfin tuna are generally low in toxins and high in nutrients. And then there are fish that we should avoid at all times: farmed (or “Atlantic”) salmon, farmed tilapia, Atlantic cod, Chilean Sea Bass, and farmed shrimp.

7. Raspberries and Other Berries
A recent study by researchers at Yale University School of Medicine discovered that after eating a high-carb, high-sugar meal, free radicals (rogue molecules produced when your body breaks down food) attack the neurons that tell us when we’re full. The result: It’s hard to judge when hunger is satisfied. Escape the cycle of overindulgence by eating foods that are rich in antioxidants. And berries top the charts.

The berries that give you the most antioxidant bang per bite, in order: cranberries, black currents, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, pomegranates.

8. Instant Oats
Fiber is the secret to losing weight without hunger. One U.S. Department of Agriculture study found that those who increased their daily fiber intake from 12 grams to 24 absorbed 90 fewer calories per day than those who ate the same amount of food but less fiber. Do nothing to your diet other than add more of the rough stuff, and you will lose nine pounds in a year, effortlessly.

Instant oats are one of the easiest ways to get more real fiber into your diet. Plus, new research indicates that oats can also cut your risk of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, and even reduce your risk of weight gain. Oats also have 10 grams of protein per 1/2-cup serving, so they deliver steady muscle-building energy. Choose oatmeal that contains whole oats and low sodium, like Uncle Sam Instant Oatmeal, which also has whole-grain wheat flakes and flaxseed.

9. Cruciferous Vegetables and Other Leafy Greens
Cruciferous vegetables—like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, Swiss chard, and bok choy—are all rich in folate, and the more folate you have in your diet, the lower your risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke, cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s, and depression. A recent study in the British Journal of Nutrition found that those with the highest folate levels lose 8.5 times more weight when dieting. Another stunner: New research shows that folate helps protect against damage from estrogenic chemicals like bisphenol-A (BPA), which have been linked to obesity.

These veggies also rich in potassium. Researchers at the Department of Agriculture's Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, at Tufts University, found that foods rich in potassium help preserve lean muscle mass.

10. Apples and Other Fruit
What makes the apple so potent? In part, it’s because most of us eat the peel: It’s a great way to add more fiber and nutrients into your diet. But there’s a downside: The peel is where fruit tends to absorb and retain most of the pesticides they are exposed to, apples and peaches being the worst offenders. That’s why, for maximum weight-loss potential, we strongly recommend you buy organic versions of apples, pears, peaches, and other eat-the-peel fruits.

You’ll experience a terrific payoff if you do: In a UCLA study, normal-weight people reported eating, on average, two servings of fruit and 12 grams (g) of fiber a day; those who were overweight had just one serving and 9 g. Credit that extra 3 g fiber—the amount in one single apple or orange—as the difference maker.

11. Navy Beans and Other Legumes
Study after study reveals that bean eaters live longer and weigh less. One study showed that people who eat 3/4 cup of beans daily weigh 6.6 pounds less than those who don't eat beans. Another study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that people who eat one and a half servings of beans a day (3/4 cup) have lower blood pressure and smaller waist sizes than those who skip beans in favor of other proteins. Imagine each bean you eat is a perfect little weight-loss pill. Gobble ‘em up!

12. Dark Chocolate
A new study from Denmark found that those who eat dark chocolate consume 15 percent fewer calories at their next meal and are less interested in fatty, salty, and sugary foods. And research shows that dark chocolate can improve heart health, lower blood pressure, reduce LDL ("bad") cholesterol, decrease the risk of blood clots, and increase blood flow to the brain. Dark chocolate boosts serotonin and endorphin levels, which is associated with improved mood and greater concentration; it's rich in B vitamins and magnesium, which are noted cognitive boosters; it contains small amounts of caffeine, which helps with short-term concentration; and it contains theobromine, a stimulant that delivers a different kind of buzz, sans the jitters.

13. Ice Cream and Other Healthy Desserts
Calcium-rich desserts like ice cream bind to fatty acids in the digestive tract, blocking their absorption. In one study, participants who ate 1,735 mg of calcium from low-fat dairy products (about as much as in five 8-ounce glasses of milk) blocked the equivalent of 85 calories a day. Plus, half a cup of vanilla ice cream gives you 19 milligrams of choline, which translates to protection from cancer, heart attack, stroke, and dementia. We’re not suggesting you have a bowlful of ice cream every night. But a scoop (the size of a tennis ball) every few days isn’t the diet-saboteur it’s made out to be.

Caveat: Tricked-out designer ice creams are packed with added sugar and preservatives. Pick a single flavor ice cream—vanilla, chocolate, coffee, whatever.

14. Enzymes and Probiotics (Yogurt)
Probiotics and enzymes, those friendly bacteria found in yogurt, may be the key to losing those last stubborn inches around your waist. They not only help the digestive system work properly, but also have a profound effect on the metabolism, according to a new study in Molecular Systems Biology. The bacteria Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus rhamnosus can change how much fat is available for the body to absorb by influencing stomach acids during digestion.

But not all yogurts are probiotic, so make sure the label says "live and active cultures." Other foods containing probiotics include kefir, acidophilus milk, miso soup, soft cheeses, pickles, and sauerkraut.

15. Tea and Other Healthy Beverages
Nearly 25 percent of our calories—about 450 calories a day—come from sodas, sweetened teas, and the like. According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, if you swap just one of those sodas a day for water or unsweetened tea or coffee, you’ll lose 2.5 pounds each month.

In fact, cutting down on liquid calories has a bigger impact than cutting down on calories from foods, according researchers from Johns Hopkins. Instead of sugary beverages, try green tea, which is high in the plant compound called ECGC, which promotes fat burning. In one study, people who consumed the equivalent of three to five cups a day for 12 weeks decreased their body weight by 4.6 percent.

The 5 Supplements Your Heart Needs

2010-07-22T03:29:00.000-07:00

By: Amanda Junker
Supplement your diet or medicine regimen with these doctor-approved extras for your heart.

Don't want to end up on a stretcher? Then supplement your ticker with these pills and nutrients to prevent any trouble in the first place. "I think of supplements as things that enable the body. A lot prescription medicines block a process, so I prefer to enable instead of block, enhance instead of stop," says Keith Berkowitz, M.D., from the Center for Balanced Health in New York City. From the vitamin that helps boost good cholesterol to the fat that helps lube the arteries, we have five recommendations that will arm your body against cardiac arrest.

Aspirin
Aspirin is an anti-inflammatory medicine that thins your blood, making it more difficult for your body to develop clots that can cause heart attacks. A Canadian study shows aspirin is especially effective in men. The reason why isn't confirmed, but researchers speculate it's because "blood clots tend to form in bigger blood vessels in men, and aspirin could have bigger efficacy in these larger cells more readily," says Don Sin, M.D., of University of British Columbia, one of the study's researchers.

Recommended if: You've had a previous cardiac event, have a family history of heart attack, or are in the midst of a heart attack (uh, in which case, call 911, too)

Dosage: One 80 mg baby aspirin tablet daily

Omega-3
This fatty acid is found in fish, and it can be helpful in balancing blood lipids such as cholesterol and triglycerides. "Fish oil is helpful for people who have high triglycerides or who are at risk of heart disease," says Charles Campbell, M.D., clinical cardiologist and director of inpatient services at the University of Kentucky. Studies show Omega-3 can help prevent heart attack because it slows the build-up of plaque in the arteries. You can get pure fish oil in capsule form, but that can be expensive, and eating more fish will do more to improve your total health. "The best way to treat triglycerides is to treat metabolic syndrome with diet and exercise—prevention starts there," he says.

Recommended if: You have high triglycerides or a family history heart disease

Dosage: A serving of fish twice a week or 1,000 mg daily

Food sources: Oily fish like salmon, tuna, and mackerel

Vitamin D
D can determine your risk of heart attack, according to a recent Framington Heart Study. "Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased cardiovascular risk, above and beyond established cardiovascular risk factors," said Thomas J. Wang, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass. The higher risk was particularly evident among individuals with high blood pressure.

Recommended if: You don't get much sun—85 percent of people in North America are deficient

Dosage: 400 to 800 IU of vitamin D3

Food sources: Dairy products and oily fish like salmon and tuna

Coenzyme Q 10
"CoQ10 has shown to increase heart contractility [the performance of cardiac muscles]," says Dr. Campbell. A bonus: It may improve muscle function throughout your whole body. Preliminary research suggests that CoQ10 causes small decreases in blood pressure (systolic and possibly diastolic), according to the Mayo Clinic. Low blood levels of CoQ10 have been found in people with hypertension, although it is not clear if CoQ10 "deficiency" is a cause of high blood pressure.

Recommended if: You have hypercholesterolemia or take statin drugs

Dosage: 100 to 200 mg daily

Niacin
"More men die from low good cholesterol than high bad cholesterol—and niacin boosts that HDL ‘good cholesterol,'" says Dr. Berkowitz. "HDL is a clearing mechanism to get rid of LDL or bad cholesterol, it's like the garbage truck of the system," says Berkowitz. "Boosting HDL facilitates the transport of cholesterol and triglycerides so they can be extracted out of body." The downside: It must be taken at very high doses to be effective, so side effects like flushing and diarrhea are common. Use this like a drug with a doctor's recommendation.

Recommended if: You have low HDL cholesterol, a family history of heart disease, or take statin drugs

Dosage: 1,000 to 2,000 mg daily

Your desk job still dangerous

2010-07-20T03:07:00.000-07:00

By: Maria Masters

Regardless of how often or how hard you work out, there's still a good chance that you're sitting your life away

Do you lead an active lifestyle or a sedentary one? The question is simple, but the answer may not be as obvious as you think. Let's say, for example, you're a busy guy who works 60 hours a week at a desk job but who still manages to find time for five 45-minute bouts of exercise. Most experts would label you as active. But Marc Hamilton, Ph.D., has another name for you: couch potato.

Perhaps "exercising couch potato" would be more accurate, but Hamilton, a physiologist and professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, would still classify you as sedentary. "People tend to view physical activity on a single continuum," he says. "On the far side, you have a person who exercises a lot; on the other, a person who doesn't exercise at all. However, they're not necessarily polar opposites."

Hamilton's take, which is supported by a growing body of research, is that the amount of time you exercise and the amount of time you spend on your butt are completely separate factors for heart-disease risk. New evidence suggests, in fact, that the more hours a day you sit, the greater your likelihood of dying an earlier death regardless of how much you exercise or how lean you are. That's right: Even a sculpted six-pack can't protect you from your chair.

But it's not just your heart that's at risk from too much sitting; your hips, spine, and shoulders could also suffer. In fact, it's not a leap to say that a chair-potato lifestyle can ruin you from head to toe.

Statistically speaking, we're working out as much as we were 30 years ago. (Another problem: Plenty of people aren't doing the best type of workout for fat loss.) It's just that we're leading more sedentary lives overall. A 2006 University of Minnesota study found that from 1980 to 2000, the percentage of people who reported exercising regularly remained the same--but the amount of time people spent sitting rose by 8 percent.

Now consider how much we sit today compared with, say, 160 years ago. In a clever study, Dutch researchers created a sort of historical theme park and recruited actors to play 1850s Australian settlers for a week. The men did everything from chop wood to forage for food, and the scientists compared their activity levels with those of modern office workers. The result: The actors did the equivalent of walking 3 to 8 miles more a day than the deskbound men. That kind of activity is perhaps even more needed in today's fast-food nation than it was in the 1800s, but not just because it boosts calorie burn.

A 2010 study in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that when healthy men limited their number of footsteps by 85 percent for 2 weeks, they experienced a 17 percent decrease in insulin sensitivity, raising their diabetes risk. "We've done a lot to keep people alive longer, but that doesn't mean we're healthier," says Hamilton.

Today's death rate is about 43 percent lower than it was in 1960, but back then, less than 1 percent of Americans had diabetes and only 13 percent were obese. Compare that with now, when 6 percent are diagnosed with diabetes and 35 percent are obese.

5 Myths About Antioxidants

2010-07-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

Menshealth.com

It's billed as an epic story of good versus evil—biology in comic-book form. The villains: free radicals, those nefarious DNA-attacking poisons of modern life. Our fearless defenders: antioxidants, poised to protect us from—well, everything, right? You've heard the claims:

They cure cancer!

They prevent aging!

They supercharge your immune system!

But while we think we know what antioxidants do, few of us know what antioxidants actually are. And food manufacturers are fine with that; the less you know, the more likely you are to swallow the hype. "Antioxidants have a health aura around them," says Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H., a professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. "They are supposed to fight something bad in your body. Who wouldn't want to consume more of a helper like that?"

There's no doubt that antioxidants can be good for you. But to maximize their benefit, we first have to strip away some assumptions.

Free Radicals Must Be Destroyed
Not so fast.

The basics: Antioxidants fight free radicals, which are unstable molecules in the body that can cause DNA mutation. Even though free radicals have been linked to serious conditions like heart disease, Parkinson's, and cancer, they aren't necessarily villains--they're by-products of a basic metabolic process called oxidation. "They're absolutely essential to life," says Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., director of the antioxidants lab at Tufts University. "For example, immune cells will shoot free radicals onto invading bacteria in order to kill them. They're an important part of the body's defenses."

Too many free radicals, on the other hand, are harmful. Pollutants, cigarette smoke, and sun overexposure can generate so many free radicals that your normal antioxidant defenses become overwhelmed, leaving you vulnerable to cell damage and disease. Some researchers also link free-radical oxidation with aging.

That's where antioxidants come in. "We need to make sure we have adequate antioxidant defenses to combat all the excess free radicals," says Blumberg.

Do this: Assuming you've curbed bad habits such as smoking and excessive tanning, turn to your diet. If you eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, your diet is naturally rich in thousands of antioxidants. Studies suggest eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day to reap the most health benefits.

All Antioxidants Are Created Equal
Not even close.

Any molecule that protects your cells against oxidation is technically an antioxidant, says Joe Vinson, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania. "They're anti-oxidation." This includes familiar nutrients, like vitamins, as well as more unfamiliar types of antioxidants, like flavonoids and polyphenols—about 8,000 varieties in all.

But don't assume that all antioxidants operate the same way, Blumberg warns. "You can't say, 'Well, I'm not going to worry about taking in enough vitamin E, because I take lots of vitamin C.' All the vitamin C in the world won't substitute for vitamin E," says Blumberg. Some antioxidants excel at fighting certain types of free radicals (yep, there are different varieties of those, too) while others are effective only in specific parts of a cell. Still others can battle free radicals only under the right conditions.

"Think of antioxidants as an army," he says. "You need generals, lieutenants, corporals, privates, and others with specific duties. You can't fight an enemy with only generals." So how do you create an effective defense system in the battle for your life? By building a multipronged counteroffensive—er, diet.

Do this: Branch out and try something new in the produce aisle. In a 2006 study, researchers at Colorado State University found that people who ate the widest variety of fruits and vegetables had the most DNA protection.

All Antioxidants Come from Fruits and Vegetables
Nope.

The entire plant kingdom—including beans, nuts, seeds, and grains—is awash in antioxidants, according to a recent study from the University of Scranton. That's because all plants produce antioxidants to fight against predators and UV rays, says Vinson. It's important to steer clear of refined grains, though; they've been stripped of most of their antioxidant benefits.

Even meat, dairy products, and eggs contain some antioxidants, which mainly come from the nutrient-rich plants the animals fed on.

Do this: Eat whole-grain foods, beans, nuts, and seeds regularly. When animals are on the menu, make sure they've been grass-fed; meat and dairy products from these better-fed beasts have been shown to contain higher levels of antioxidants. Eggs from pastured hens also rank higher in antioxidants—look for them at farmers' markets.

Antioxidant-Fortified Foods Are Healthier
Not really.

The ink was barely dry on early antioxidant studies when food companies started slapping the A-word on their packaging. You can even chug an antioxidant-fortified version of Cherry 7UP. The FDA requires food manufacturers to list the variety of antioxidant in a product; that part is often in fine print. Look closely, and the label reveals that you're receiving a tiny helping of vitamin E. Perhaps "Cherry 7UP Vitamin E" didn't sound as impressive.

If you're relying on processed foods to supplement your antioxidant intake, you may be surprised to find that many processed foods have relatively small amounts of just one or two kinds. Since variety is critical, you probably aren't making up for lost ground.

Do this: Ignore the hype—there's no research to prove that packaged products provide the same health benefits that whole foods do. Instead, focus on the ingredient list. If a food product contains mostly plant foods, it's likely to be rich in antioxidants.

If I Exercise and Take Supplements, I'll Be Superfit
Maybe not.

Working out leads to more oxidation and an increase in free radicals. That's not a bad thing. "Since free-radical production is a normal response to exercise, taking a large dose of antioxidants right after a workout could interfere with the natural, beneficial response to exercise," says nutritionist Alan Aragon, M.S., a Men's Health weight-loss expert. The logic is unexpected but clear: Scientists speculate that the oxidative stress triggered by exercise promotes insulin sensitivity and weight loss, and possibly reduces your risk of diabetes.

Case in point: A 2009 German study found that when exercisers took antioxidant supplements (vitamins C and E), they weren't rewarded with the typical postexercise boost in insulin sensitivity. So much for that well-intentioned antioxidant-fortified recovery drink. Michael Ristow, M.D., an author of the study and chairman of the department of human nutrition at the University of Jena, Germany, speculates that other antioxidant supplements might have similar negative effects, though more study is needed.

Supplements can even sap your power: A 2006 British study found that runners who took 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily for a week lost muscle strength.

Do this: If you're exercising to lose weight, your antioxidants should come from whole foods, not from supplements or antioxidant-enhanced food products. When it comes to antioxidants, more isn't always better.

How Antioxidants Work
Normal cellular processes—as well as stressors like cigarette smoke and sunburn—trigger your body to produce excessive amounts of cell-damaging molecules called free radicals. Here's how antioxidants can come to the defense.

1. When a molecule loses an electron, it becomes a reactive free radical with an extra, unpaired electron.

2. The free radical tries to steal an electron from a nearby molecule to regain balance.

3. This can create another free radical, causing a chain reaction that can damage cell components, including DNA. This can lead to possible health problems ranging from a weakened immune system to cancer.

4. An antioxidant molecule can neutralize a free radical by giving up one of its own electrons. Unlike a free radical, it's able to maintain stability by redistributing its electrons.

44 Resume Writing Tips

2010-07-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

By Daniel Scocco

Having a solid and effective resume can greatly improve your chances of landing that dream job. That is beyond discussion. How does one make sure that his resume is top notch and bullet proof, however? There are several websites with tips around the web, but most bring just a handful of them. We wanted to put them all together in a single place, and that is what you will find below: 44 resume writing tips.

1. Know the purpose of your resume
Some people write a resume as if the purpose of the document was to land a job. As a result they end up with a really long and boring piece that makes them look like desperate job hunters. The objective of your resume is to land an interview, and the interview will land you the job (hopefully!).

2. Back up your qualities and strengths
Instead of creating a long (and boring) list with all your qualities (e.g., disciplined, creative, problem solver) try to connect them with real life and work experiences. In other words, you need to back these qualities and strengths up, else it will appear that you are just trying to inflate things.

3. Make sure to use the right keywords
Most companies (even smaller ones) are already using digital databases to search for candidates. This means that the HR department will run search queries based on specific keywords. Guess what, if your resume doesn’t have the keywords related to the job you are applying for, you will be out even before the game starts.
These keywords will usually be nouns. Check the job description and related job ads for a clue on what the employer might be looking for. You can read more about resume keywords on the article Tapping the Power of Keywords to Enhance Your Resume’s Effectiveness.

4. Use effective titles
Like it or not, employers will usually make a judgment about your resume in 5 seconds. Under this time frame the most important aspect will be the titles that you listed on the resume, so make sure they grab the attention. Try to be as descriptive as possible, giving the employer a good idea about the nature of your past work experiences. For example:
Bad title: Accounting
Good title: Management of A/R and A/P and Recordkeeping

5. Proofread it twice
It would be difficult to emphasize the importance of proofreading your resume. One small typo and your chances of getting hired could slip. Proofreading it once is not enough, so do it twice, three times or as many as necessary. If you don’t know how to proofread effectively, here are 8 tips that you can use.

6. Use bullet points
No employer will have the time (or patience) to read long paragraphs of text. Make sure, therefore, to use bullet points and short sentences to describe your experiences, educational background and professional objectives.

7. Where are you going?
Including professional goals can help you by giving employers an idea of where you are going, and how you want to arrive there. You don’t need to have a special section devoted to your professional objectives, but overall the resume must communicate it. The question of whether or not to highlight your career objectives on the resume is a polemic one among HR managers, so go with your feeling. If you decide to list them, make sure they are not generic.

8. Put the most important information first
This point is valid both to the overall order of your resume, as well as to the individual sections. Most of the times your previous work experience will be the most important part of the resume, so put it at the top. When describing your experiences or skills, list the most important ones first.

9. Attention to the typography
First of all make sure that your fonts are big enough. The smaller you should go is 11 points, but 12 is probably safer. Do not use capital letters all over the place, remember that your goal is to communicate a message as fast and as clearly as possible. Arial and Times are good choices.

10. Do not include “no kidding” information
There are many people that like to include statements like “Available for interview” or “References available upon request.” If you are sending a resume to a company, it should be a given that you are available for an interview and that you will provide references if requested. Just avoid items that will make the employer think “no kidding!”

11. Explain the benefits of your skills
Merely stating that you can do something will not catch the attention of the employer. If you manage to explain how it will benefit his company, and to connect it to tangible results, then you will greatly improve your chances.

12. Avoid negativity
Do not include information that might sound negative in the eyes of the employer. This is valid both to your resume and to interviews. You don’t need to include, for instance, things that you hated about your last company.

13. Achievements instead of responsibilities
Resumes that include a long list of “responsibilities included…” are plain boring, and not efficient in selling yourself. Instead of listing responsibilities, therefore, describe your professional achievements.

14. No pictures
Sure, we know that you are good looking, but unless you are applying for a job where the physical traits are very important (e.g., modeling, acting and so on), and unless the employer specifically requested it, you should avoid attaching your picture to the resume.

15. Use numbers
This tip is a complement to the 13th one. If you are going to describe your past professional achievements, it would be a good idea to make them as solid as possible. Numbers are your friends here. Don’t merely mention that you increased the annual revenues of your division, say that you increased them by $100,000, by 78%, and so on.

16. One resume for each employer
One of the most common mistakes that people make is to create a standard resume and send it to all the job openings that they can find. Sure it will save you time, but it will also greatly decrease the chances of landing an interview (so in reality it could even represent a waste of time). Tailor your resume for each employer. The same point applies to your cover letters.

17. Identify the problems of the employer
A good starting point to tailor your resume for a specific employer is to identify what possible problems he might have at hand. Try to understand the market of the company you are applying for a job, and identify what kind of difficulties they might be going through. After that illustrate on your resume how you and your skills would help to solve those problems.

18. Avoid age discrimination
It is illegal to discriminate people because of their age, but some employers do these considerations nonetheless. Why risk the trouble? Unless specifically requested, do not include your age on your resume.
19. You don’t need to list all your work experiences
If you have job experiences that you are not proud of, or that are not relevant to the current opportunity, you should just omit them. Mentioning that you used to sell hamburgers when you were 17 is probably not going to help you land that executive position.

20. Go with what you got
If you never had any real working experience, just include your summer jobs or volunteer work. If you don’t have a degree yet, mention the title and the estimated date for completion. As long as those points are relevant to the job in question, it does not matter if they are official or not.

21. Sell your fish
Remember that you are trying to sell yourself. As long as you don’t go over the edge, all the marketing efforts that you can put in your resume (in its content, design, delivery method and so on) will give you an advantage over the other candidates.

22. Don’t include irrelevant information
Irrelevant information such as political affiliation, religion and sexual preference will not help you. In fact it might even hurt your chances of landing an interview. Just skip it.

23. Use Mr. and Ms. if appropriate
If you have a gender neutral name like Alex or Ryan make sure to include the Mr. or Ms. prefix, so that employers will not get confused about your gender.
24. No lies, please
Seems like a no brainer, but you would be amused to discover the amount of people that lie in their resumes. Even small lies should be avoided. Apart from being wrong, most HR departments do background checks these days, and if you are buster it might ruin your credibility for good.

25. Keep the salary in mind
The image you will create with your resume must match the salary and responsibility level that you are aiming for.

26. Analyze job ads
You will find plenty of useful information on job ads. Analyze no only the ad that you will be applying for, but also those from companies on the same segment or offering related positions. You should be able to identify what profile they are looking for and how the information should be presented.

27. Get someone else to review your resume
Even if you think you resume is looking kinky, it would be a good idea to get a second and third opinion about it. We usually become blind to our own mistakes or way of reasoning, so another people will be in a good position to evaluate the overall quality of your resume and make appropriate suggestions.

28. One or two pages
The ideal length for a resume is a polemic subject. Most employers and recruiting specialists, however, say that it should contain one or two pages at maximum. Just keep in mind that, provided all the necessary information is there, the shorter your resume, the better.

29. Use action verbs
A very common advice to job seekers is to use action verbs. But what are they? Action verbs are basically verbs that will get noticed more easily, and that will clearly communicate what your experience or achievement were. Examples include managed, coached, enforced and planned. Here you can find a complete list of action verbs divided by skill category.

30. Use a good printer
If you are going to use a paper version of your resume, make sure to use a decent printer. Laser printers usually get the job done. Plain white paper is the preferred one as well.

31. No hobbies
Unless you are 100% sure that some of your hobbies will support you candidacy, avoid mentioning them. I know you are proud of your swimming team, but share it with your friends and not with potential employers.

32. Update your resume regularly
It is a good idea to update your resume on a regular basis. Add all the new information that you think is relevant, as well as courses, training programs and other academic qualifications that you might receive along the way. This is the best way to keep track of everything and to make sure that you will not end up sending an obsolete document to the employer.
33. Mention who you worked with
If you have reported or worked with someone that is well known in your industry, it could be a good idea to mention it on the resume. The same thing applies to presidents and CEOs. If you reported to or worked directly with highly ranked executives, add it to the resume.

34. No scattered information
Your resume must have a clear focus. If would cause a negative impression if you mentioned that one year you were studying drama, and the next you were working as an accountant. Make sure that all the information you will include will work towards a unified image. Employers like decided people.

35. Make the design flow with white space
Do not jam your resume with text. Sure we said that you should make your resume as short and concise as possible, but that refers to the overall amount of information and not to how much text you can pack in a single sheet of paper. White space between the words, lines and paragraphs can improve the legibility of your resume.

36. Lists all your positions
If you have worked a long time for the same company (over 10 years) it could be a good idea to list all the different positions and roles that you had during this time separately. You probably had different responsibilities and developed different skills on each role, so the employer will like to know it.

37. No jargon or slang
It should be common sense, but believe me, it is not. Slang should never be present in a resume. As for technical jargon, do not assume that the employer will know what you are talking about. Even if you are sending your resume to a company in the same segment, the person who will read it for the first time might not have any technical expertise.

38. Careful with sample resume templates
There are many websites that offer free resume templates. While they can help you to get an idea of what you are looking for, do not just copy and paste one of the most used ones. You certainly don’t want to look just like any other candidate, do you?

39. Create an email proof formatting
It is very likely that you will end up sending your resume via email to most companies. Apart from having a Word document ready to go as an attachment, you should also have a text version of your resume that does not look disfigured in the body of the email or in online forms. Attachments might get blocked by spam filters, and many people just prefer having the resume on the body of the email itself.
40. Remove your older work experiences
If you have been working for 20 years or more, there is no need to have 2 pages of your resume listing all your work experiences, starting with the job at the local coffee shop at the age of 17! Most experts agree that the last 15 years of your career are enough.

41. No fancy design details
Do not use a colored background, fancy fonts or images on your resume. Sure, you might think that the little flowers will cheer up the document, but other people might just throw it away at the sight.

42. No pronouns
You resume should not contain the pronouns “I” or “me.” That is how we normally structure sentences, but since your resume is a document about your person, using these pronouns is actually redundant.

43. Don’t forget the basics
The first thing on your resume should be your name. It should be bold and with a larger font than the rest of the text. Make sure that your contact details are clearly listed. Secondly, both the name and contact details should be included on all the pages of the resume (if you have more than one).

44. Consider getting professional help
If you are having a hard time to create your resume, or if you are receiving no response whatsoever from companies, you could consider hiring a professional resume writing service. There are both local and online options are available, and usually the investment will be worth the money.

6 Mistakes That Keep You Fat

2010-07-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

By: Lisa Jones

We're not suggesting "The Situation" as a role model. But there is one beach-body lesson you can take from MTV's Jersey Shore loudmouth: The less body fat you carry, the better your abs will show. And it makes sense to start your summer beach-body program long before shirtless weather arrives. Your goal is to strip your winter flab so your core work can show through. Let the Memorial Day countdown begin.

Start by performing triage on your eating habits. "Target one or two behaviors that you can make the most difference by changing," says Jennifer McDaniel, R.D., of St. Louis University. Take a moment to think about your typical day, and pick your worst habit (weekend pig-outs? salty snacks and beer?). Then work for a week on eliminating that habit. The following week, move to your next-weakest link.

We have only so much willpower, a recent study in Psychology and Health shows. That's why trying to break several bad habits at once can be overwhelming: You drain your capacity for willpower—what researchers call "self-regulation," says study author Kathleen Martin Ginis, Ph.D., a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University, in Ontario. This is one time when being too ambitious can backfire.

On the next page we list six bad eating habits. Don't become discouraged—lots of men fall victim to these. See how many of them you recognize in yourself, and try the easy fixes we've gathered from experts. Then add a few good habits and attitude adjustments that just make sense. Soon you'll look tight enough to go creepin' at the shore . . . if that's your thing. Better yet, you'll also feel good with your shirt on.

Skipping Meals or Snacks

Not eating can mess with your body's ability to control your appetite. But it also destroys willpower, which is just as damaging. "Regulating yourself is a brain activity, and your brain runs on glucose," says Martin Ginis. If you skip breakfast or a healthy snack, your brain doesn't have the energy to say no to the inevitable chowfest.

So skipping a feed helps turn us into gluttons at night. Your starving brain "just doesn't have the fuel it needs to keep you on track, monitoring your diet."

Break it: This one's easy. Spread your calories out into three meals of about 500 calories each, and two snacks of 100 to 200 calories each, says Liz Applegate, Ph.D., director of sports nutrition at the University of California at Davis. Most men who are trying to lose weight still need at least 1,800 to 2,200 calories a day, says Applegate. More important, change your mindset, she says. Think I'm going to start a new routine, not I'm going to restrict myself. Restriction leads to overeating.

Speed-Eating

Use the nondiet approach: You're not denying yourself food, you're just eating it more slowly. Savoring it. Allowing your body some time so you don't keep eating when you're full.

In an experiment published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 17 healthy men ate 11/4 cups of ice cream. They either scarfed it in 5 minutes or took half an hour to savor it. According to study author Alexander Kokkinos, M.D., Ph.D., levels of fullness-causing hormones (called PYY and GLP-1), which signal the brain to stop eating, were higher among the 30-minute men. In real life, the scarfers wouldn't feel as full and could be moving on to another course.

Break it: Your body is trying to tell you something, so give it a chance. Slow down and enjoy your food, says Dr. Kokkinos. Put away the newspaper and turn off the TV. Try this breathing trick from The Yoga Body Diet: Inhale while counting slowly to five; exhale and count slowly to five; repeat three to five times before eating. A study in a 2009 issue of Journal of the American Dietetic Association shows that yoga increases mindful eating and results in less weight gain over time.

Pigging Out on Weekends

Weekend feasts can cause trouble beyond Sunday. In a recent study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers used rats to examine the effects of palmitic acid on leptin, a hormone that helps regulate appetite. Palmitic acid is found in saturated fat, an ingredient often featured in your favorite weekend grub.

"We found that within 3 days, the saturated fat blunts or blocks the ability of leptin to regulate food intake and body weight," says study author Deborah Clegg, Ph.D., of the University of Texas Southwestern medical center. So a Friday to Sunday of burgers, fries, and wings may prime your brain to overeat on Monday.

Break it: You don't have to go cold turkey (though turkey on whole wheat is always smart). McDaniel suggests that your reward for a healthy week should be one cheat meal, not an entire weekend of them. After all, having an all-you-can-eat weekend is like eating poorly for nearly 30 percent of your week. That means you'd be eating well just 70 percent of the time. We call that a C minus. Do you really want below-average results?

Gorging on Salty Snacks

Sodium is insidious—it causes us to eat unconsciously. It adds up fast: popcorn at the movies, chips during the game, peanuts at the bar.

Break it: Salt cravings go away after a couple of weeks on a reduced-salt diet, says Thomas Moore, M.D., an associate provost at Boston University medical center. Not many men can replace their favorite snacks with carrots or celery, but give them a try: The crunch may be what you crave. Otherwise, try small amounts of low-sodium chips and pretzels. As you're cooking a dish, skip the salt and, if you want, add just a dash at the table. "Salt added to the surface of a food item is far more noticeable than the same amount of salt cooked into a recipe," says Dr. Moore. A slow reduction of your salt habit pays off in fewer cravings, he says.

Drinking

Alcohol, that is. Here's an exercise to start tonight: Write down how much beer, wine, and other drinks you consume in a week. (Use that cocktail napkin.) You may surprise yourself. Calculate the calories and expect another surprise. A reasonable-sounding two beers a night can mean more than 2,000 calories a week—almost an extra day's worth. It can take more than 2 hours of running to burn that off . You call that a weight-loss plan? Besides the empty calories, booze undermines your willpower, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D., spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. Which leads to impulse orders of, say, Buffalo wings.

Break it: Try quitting—for just a week. Check your weight and how your pants fit. See if you can live on less. When you do drink, switch to lower-carb dry red wine (about 4 grams of carbohydrates compared with almost 13 in a regular beer) or low-carb beer.

Eating in Front of the TV, Then Dozing Off

It's a double whammy with a twist. You ingest calories while burning none, and sabotage your secret weight-loss weapon: sleep. Research confirms that people who eat in front of the tube consume more calories (nearly 300, in one study) than those who don't, and that the more TV they watch, the less active they are. And University of Chicago researchers found that people who lost 3 hours of sleep ate about 200 more calories the next day in snacks than those who slept 81/2 hours.

Break it: Donald Hensrud, M.D., medical editor-in-chief of The Mayo Clinic Diet, says, "If you want to watch TV, be active at the same time or go work out and come back—then you can treat yourself with some TV." And make your DVR earn its keep so you can go to bed on a regular schedule. Sleep is a fine habit when done correctly.

4 diet-busting fast-food lunches to skip (and what to order instead)

2010-07-15T05:45:00.000-07:00

by The Editors of EatingWell Magazine, on Tue Jul 6, 2010 12:15pm PDT

I recently blogged about fast-food breakfasts that sound healthy, but aren’t—ones that duped even me, a registered dietitian—and I received dozens of (passionate!) responses on EatingWell’s Facebook page. Some readers commented on how fast food can’t possibly be healthy.

I’m debunking that myth: sometimes fast food can be healthy. Here are 4 diet-busting fast-food lunches to skip—plus lighter options to order or make at home and bring along. Because sometimes we don’t want to—or don’t have time to—make three meals a day at home, I'm offering healthier takeout options.

Salads
As much as we wish they did, the words “salad” and “healthy” don’t always go hand-in-hand.

* Diet-Busting Salad: Wendy’s Southwest Taco Salad, 680 calories, 39 grams fat, 1,620 mg sodium.
* Lighter Option to Order: Wendy’s Mandarin Chicken Salad, 570 calories, 25 grams fat, 1,370 mg sodium.
Savings: 110 calories, 14 grams fat, 250 mg sodium.
* Better Option to Make at Home and Bring Along: EatingWell's Taco Salad, 361 calories, 16 grams fat, 583 mg sodium. Plus you’ll get 10 grams of fiber and vitamins A and C, folate, iron and potassium.
Total Savings vs. Diet-Busting Salad: 319 calories, 23 grams fat, 1,037 mg sodium.

Soup
Soup can be a great, low-calorie lunch or a filling addition to a meal. In fact, studies show that soup produces greater feelings of satiety than other types of food. But beware—even smaller servings of soups can pack more calories and fat than you bargain for.

* Diet-Busting Soup: D’Angelo’s Lobster Bisque (small, 1 cup), 360 calories, 29 grams of fat, 820 mg sodium.
* Lighter Option to Order: D’Angelo’s Broccoli & Cheddar Soup (small, 1 cup), 250 calories, 19 grams fat, 840 mg sodium.
Savings: For a little extra sodium (20 mg), you’ll save 110 calories and 10 grams fat.
* Better Option to Make at Home and Bring Along: Crab Bisque with Avocado, Tomato & Corn Relish (1 cup soup, ¼ cup relish), 230 calories, 7 grams fat, 441 mg sodium.
Total Savings vs. Diet-Busting Soup: 130 calories, 22 grams fat, 379 mg sodium.

Turkey Sandwich
Who knew a sandwich made with turkey, a lean source of protein, could reach upwards of 1,000 calories and 50 grams of fat?

* Diet-Busting Turkey Sandwich: Panera’s Sierra Turkey Sandwich, 970 calories, 51 grams of fat.
* Lighter Option to Order: Panera’s Smoked Turkey Sandwich, 560 calories, 15 grams fat.
Savings: 410 calories, 36 grams fat.
* Better Option to Make at Home and Bring Along: Turkey & Tomato Panini, 272 calories, 4 grams fat.
Total Savings vs. Diet-Busting Turkey Sandwich: 698 calories, 47 grams fat.

Burritos
Despite being packed with veggies, lean meat and on a whole-wheat tortilla, burritos can offer an exceptionally high number of calories and fat.

* Diet-Busting Burrito: Moe’s Homewrecker, original size with chicken and on a whole-wheat tortilla, 925 calories, 38 grams fat.
* Lighter Option to Order: Moe’s Art Vandalay, original size, 775 calories, 29 grams of fat. Or order the Junior size on a whole-grain tortilla for 283 calories and 7 grams fat.
Savings if you order the Junior: 642 calories, 31 grams fat.
* Better Option to Make at Home and Bring Along: Barbecued Chicken Burritos, 353 calories, 9 grams fat. Plus you’ll get some fiber and iron.
Total Savings vs. Diet-Busting Burrito: 572 calories and 29 grams of fat.

Build a Beach-Ready Body

2010-07-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

by: Michael Mejia

Nobody likes logging hours in the gym when it's beautiful outside. The solution: Replace fat with muscle using this outdoor alternative to traditional cardio. The varying intensities of this circuit-training workout will shake up your metabolism and boost endurance, and the agility and throwing involved also improve athleticism.

Perform one exercise after another for the specified length of time or number of repetitions. Rest for 15 seconds after each exercise and 60 seconds after the circuit. Repeat the circuit twice.

Jumping Rope

Jump rope for 90 seconds. Try hopping on one leg to increase balance, alternating between legs. So you'll jump once on your right foot, once on your left, twice on your right, twice on your left, and so on, until you're alternating every 10 jumps between right-leg hops and left-leg hops.

Shuttle Run

Position five small objects—agility cones, tennis-ball cans—in a row approximately 10 to 15 yards away from you. Sprint toward the objects and retrieve them one by one. The drill is complete once you've brought all five objects back to the starting line as quickly as possible.

Squat Thrust

From a standing position, bend at the hips and knees to lower yourself into a deep squat. Place your hands on the floor in front of you, then kick your legs back so you're in pushup position. Immediately bring your legs forward again so you're back in squat position and stand up. Perform 10 squats.

Football Rundown

On a large field, throw or kick a football as far as you can. Run to retrieve it, then repeat. Do six to eight reps. No ball? Do stairwell sprints: Sprint up five to 10 flights, jog back down to the starting point, then repeat once.

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/gear-up-for-summer/workouts/Build-a-Beach-Ready-Body.php#ixzz0tI78U0U4

Hugh Grant's 'About a Boy' Sidekick Grows Into a Beastly X-Man

2010-07-09T18:01:00.000-07:00

by Joe Lynch · July 9, 2010

If one of the new faces in the upcoming "X-Men" prequel looks strangely familiar, it's because you've probably seen Nicholas Hoult before. Best known for playing the eccentric kid mentored by Hugh Grant in "About a Boy"-the youngster with the eerie, big blue eyes and the terrible bowl cut-Hoult has since grown up to resemble a British Zac Efron. Even better, Hoult is no longer playing the type of character who gets bullied by others-he plays a superhero with raw animal strength in the new "X-Men" movie.

The 20-year-old British actor will play Beast in "X-Men: First Class," an upcoming prequel that focuses on the famed mutant fighting force in their early, rough-and-tumble years. For those who hear "comics" and think "standup" instead of graphic novels, Beast is the big, blue man-animal with a scholarly mind, brought to vivid life in by Kelsey Grammer in "X-Men: The Last Stand."

The "X-Men" prequel-reboot has a slew of other hunky Europeans taking over familiar roles: Scotsman James McAvoy ("Atonement") will play Professor Xavier, while Germany's Michael Fassbender will play Magneto, Prof X's best friend/arch enemy. The titular character from "Kick-Ass" (Aaron Johnson) will don Cyclops' laser-blasting visor, and the babe from "She's Out of My League" (Alice Eve) is set to portray Emma Frost, a dry-witted, telepathic mutant who has just barely appeared in the "X-Men" films thus far.

But surely Nicholas Hoult's leap from the socially inept, lovable loner in "About a Boy" to a furry blue superhero is the weirdest acting transformation we'll see in the upcoming "X-Men" film. Regardless, it should be interesting to see what Hoult brings to the role, considering that Beast is one of comic-dom's most interesting characters: a man whose imposing physical strength is in direct contrast to his learned, quiet intellectualism.

That juxtaposition was perfectly suited for the man known to us for years as Dr. Frasier Crane, but Hoult seems to have the credentials to match the difficult role. He recently appeared as the soft-spoken college student of Colin Firth in the indie flick "A Single Man," but he also excelled as a sword-wielding warrior in this summer's "Clash of the Titans." With that in mind, Hoult just might be the perfect choice to play the scholarly mutant.

Natural Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

2010-07-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

by LIVESTRONG.COM, on Wed July 8, 2010 1:03pm PDT

A fast metabolism is critical to burning fat and managing body weight. While some dieters use diet pills to speed up their metabolisms, the risks and side effects of these drugs make them risky. You can use some safe and natural methods to speed up your metabolism.

Gain Muscle

The American Council on Exercise recommends resistance training for weight management. Think of your muscles as your body's engine. The bigger your engine, the more energy you can burn. Muscle, unlike fat, is active tissue that raises your metabolism just by being there. Adding a resistance training program is a sure method of naturally raising your metabolism. To make the most out of your time in the gym, train three days per week, training your entire body during each session. Use basic, compound exercises such as the leg press and shoulder press.

Keep Hydrated

Inadequate water intake can slow your metabolism. Water is responsible for several metabolic processes, including digestion, waste management and temperature regulation. The Mayo Clinic recommends drinking 2 liters of water daily. You can fight hunger as well as raise your metabolism by drinking a glass before each meal. To provide an extra boost, make sure your water is ice cold. Your body burns extra calories heating it up to room temperature.

Cardiovascular Exercise

Cardiovascular exercises such as walking, jogging and cycling are all effective ways to burn calories and keep your metabolism stoked. If you are just starting out, use a low-impact, low-intensity exercise such as brisk walking or moderate cycling. With more experience, you can graduate to jogging or intense cycling like spinning.

Coffee

Whether you realize it or not, you might already be waking up to an effective natural metabolism booster. The caffeine naturally present in coffee raises metabolism and can improve fat oxidation. Drinking a cup before exercise can also improve alertness and help fight fatigue.

Unbelievable lottery luck

2010-07-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

by Vera H-C Chan www.yahoo.com
July 08, 2010

Maybe the odds of winning the lottery would be a lot better if Joan Ginther would stop buying all the good tickets.

By now you may have heard of the Las Vegas resident, who you probably want sitting next to you when an asteroid, slungshot by aliens, is aimed at your plane. She recently cashed in a winning $10 million scratch-off ticket, making the lucky woman a four-time lottery winner.

That's right, four times. And while she now lives in Sin City thereabouts, the multi-millionaire prefers her to buy her tickets in her home state of Texas. The state, like many others, is on track to having one of its best lottery years ever during tough economic times...and that might be a bad thing. But, more on that later. First, a look at Ginther's lottery loot so far, and the odds:

* 1993: $5.4 million (paid in yearly installments). Odds: 1 in 15.8 million
* 2006: $2 million (lump-sum payoff). Odds: 1 in 1,028,338.
* 2008: $3 million (lump-sum payoff). Odds: 1 in 909,000.
* 2010: $10 million (lump-sum payoff). Odds: 1 in 1,200,000.

What are the odds?
Amazingly, she's not the only winner who has defied long odds: A Canadian man has scored five jackpots in five years, although he had to sue to get the last—and biggest—prize of $17 million in 2009.

What are the total odds for four multi-million-dollar payoffs? Michael Starbird, a University of Texas at Austin math professor who has written a book on coincidence and other mathematical quirks, calculates the odds of a four-time winner to come up with this answer: "It's pretty astronomical...She should quit, incidentally."

However, he did say the odds of a four-time win was less likely than being hit by lightning, but that a would-be lottery player standing in line for tickets next to her shouldn't feel tempted to nudge her out of the way. "Probabilities don't have any memory. She's no more likely to win the lottery (again) than anybody else. She has exactly the same likelihood as you or I have."

Sharing the wealth?
The Las Vegas woman has spread her luck: Two winning tickets, including the latest whopper, came from Times Market in Bishop, Texas — and retailers get a $10,000 bonus for every big win. Store owner Sun Bae sold her two winning scratch-offs, which makes Sun the person you want next to you when you're holding a metal umbrella during a lightning storm while standing atop the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull.

The store's not the only beneficiary of a winning ticket: According to Texas Lottery spokesperson Bobby Heith, the Lone Star State gets a 25% upfront cut, and lottery proceeds overall go towards education. That news might cheer up Texas, which faces an $18 billion deficit—or, it might just add fuel to the controversial proposal to expand gambling as a budget fix.

Lottery: Do states win?
As the fiscal year ends for many states, Texas isn't the only one to announce lottery proceeds rising in tough times. Across the United States, the recession is actually fueling lottery sales. Searches on Yahoo! spike with alarming regularity every week, and especially before a big payoff. Consider:

* Illinois: $2.2 billion in gross sales, about 5 percent higher than last year.
* Kentucky: $213.5 million from 2009-2010 sales, and the Bluegrass State expects a little more for the next fiscal year.
* Missouri: The goal to raise $250 million for education was surpassed by another $5 million. Proceeds were down, but partly because Arkansas started its own scholarship lottery.
* North Carolina: Transferred a total of $419.5 million to the State Education Lottery Fund — during a time of record high unemployment, the North Carolina Family Policy Council reported.
* Texas: According to lottery media relations director Heith, sales are up 2.2% from last year, with an expected $3.7 billion coming in when the state's fiscal year closes in August.

Another tax you can't afford?
So, is a lottery payoff a win win for everyone? Here's the downside: The odds are still way against you.

"The unfortunate increase in hard economic times is indicative of desperation," Starbird observes. "The sad thing about the lottery is that the people who do spend money on the lottery are people who can't afford it well." If a lottery buy's purely for entertainment — for instance, getting a scratcher rather than a full-price movie ticket, that's another story.

But, as for investing in a chance to win? Says Starbird, "The lottery is a tax on the mathematically impaired." Just don't tell the lady from Las Vegas.

Best and Worst U.S. Cities for Salary Growth

2010-07-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

by Carol Tice, PayScale.com
July 07, 2010

The recession has been kinder to many college graduates, as new data from online salary database PayScale.com shows. For people with degrees, some cities have shown median wage growth of up to 15 percent since 2007.

Across the nation, wages for college grads rose an average of 3 percent in the past three years, PayScale found.

The national unemployment rate for college grads has also stayed much lower than the national average--at just 4.7 percent in May (compared with 9.7 for the country as a whole), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, while the rate for people with only a high school diploma was 15 percent.

Where is salary growth the hottest for college grads? PayScale's analysis of the 100 largest market areas in the country revealed the best and worst cities for salary growth for people with a degree. The list includes the current median annual salary for college graduates in each area, as well as the salary growth percentage for those people over the past three years.

Best markets for salary growth

1. Honolulu, Hawaii ($55,800, +15%)
Hawaii's median wage (for college graduates) back in 2007 was lower than the national average of $55,000, so employers here may be playing catch-up, notes Al Lee, director of quantitative analysis at PayScale. The city also hosts major military facilities and is home to two universities, which together employ more than 23,000. "Universities provide stable pay and employment," says Lee.

2. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.-N.J. ($58,700, +15%)
If you've still got that old Billy Joel song in your head about rust-belt hard times in Allentown, forget it. These days, Lee says, this region is a bustling center for health care services, one of the few industries that have kept growing right through the downturn.

3. El Paso, Texas ($49,000, +14%)
Two words: border patrol. "National defense is huge here," says Lee, "and health care is strong." The area's lower-than-average wage may have been ripe for an upward swing, too.

4. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif. ($73,800, +14%)
The Bay Area was a high-paying market to start with, notes Lee McPheters, director of the Economic Outlook Center at Arizona State University. Hiring highly skilled workers away from local competitors, as well as from across the country, requires a salary bump. The region is strong in health care, too, an industry where unemployment rates are low--3.2 percent for hospital workers--and labor shortages tend to drive up wages.

5. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C. ($51,900, +14%)
As in El Paso, military bases are a major employer here, with well-paid jobs for officers, pilots, nuclear engineers, and intelligence analysts.

Worst markets for salary growth

1. Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa. ($49,900, -4%)
Budget cuts in the state capitol of Harrisburg led to 800 layoffs last year, and more are planned. Add dwindling manufacturing output and more layoffs, and wages start to shrink.

2. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.-Wash. ($57,100, -1%)
Slower computer sales are the likely culprit here, depressing wages for tech professionals. Big area employers such as Intel scaled back last year and are just starting to recover.

3. Springfield, Mass. ($49,700, -1%)
Here, Lee says, there's simply no strong driver to bring wage growth. Social workers were the top-paid professionals, PayScale's research shows.

4. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa. ($44,200, -1%)
This region relies heavily on auto-industry related businesses, such as automotive-parts makers. "There's still a ripple effect out there from the auto industry," says Lee.

5. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. ($59,500, -1%)
You probably know the story here--slowed automotive sales have led to layoffs of college-educated workers such as engineers.

Business writer Carol Tice is a regular contributor to Entrepreneur, The Seattle Times and other major publications.

Source: All salary data is from PayScale.com. The salaries listed are median, annual salaries for full-time workers with five to eight years of experience and include any bonuses, commissions, or profit sharing. Growth rankings track three-year median pay trends from 2007 to 2010.

Heart Healthy Fish - Health Benefits of Fish

2010-07-04T05:13:00.000-07:00

July 6, 2010
Do fears about mercury keep you from reeling in the health benefits of fish? If so, you could be missing the love-your-heart boat.

For most people, the healthy fats in fish provide a huge benefit to your heart and overall health -- even with a little mercury. Skeptical? Get this: Eating one to two 6-ounce servings of omega-3-rich fish each week reduces your risk of dying from heart disease by 36 percent! And your all-cause mortality rate drops by 17 percent.

Soon-to-be or currently breastfeeding moms need to be especially careful to avoid excess mercury. Still, most people can do their heart and body right by eating one or two servings a week of omega-3-rich fish that is relatively low in mercury. Unfortunately, most fish contain some mercury, thanks to industrial processing. But the less time fish spend simply living in a mercury-laden environment or eating other fish containing mercury, the lower the contamination levels will be. So for low-mercury fish, we're talking small fish that don't eat many other fish (or fish meal) and don't have a long life span. Here are five good choices:

1. Salmon (wild): 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids per 2 ounces of fish;* 0.014 parts per million mercury concentration

2. Herring: 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids per 1 ounce of fish;* 0.044 parts per million mercury concentration

3. Sardines: 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids per 2-3 ounces of fish;* 0.016 parts per million mercury concentration

4. Trout (freshwater): 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids per 3-4 ounces of fish;* 0.072 parts per million mercury concentration

5. Pollock: 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids per 6.5 ounces of fish;* 0.041 parts per million mercury concentration

*Oil content varies widely, depending on species, season, environment, diet, and packing and cooking methods.

Here's the list of fish to avoid:
King mackerel: 0.73 parts per million mercury concentration
Shark: 0.99 parts per million mercury concentration
Swordfish: 0.98 parts per million mercury concentration
Tilefish (Gulf of Mexico): 1.45 parts per million mercury concentration

So where does the beloved tuna fall? Pretty close to the middle of the road, actually, with mercury concentration ranging from 0.12 to 0.69 parts per million, depending on what kind of tuna you eat. And you'll need to eat anywhere from 3.5-12 ounces to get 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids, depending on how you take your tuna: Fresh tuna has the most and canned chunk light tuna has the least. But chunk light tuna also has the least mercury.

Keep in mind that oil content estimates can be fairly rough, despite the best research efforts. A fish-oil supplement is a surefire way to get the omega-3 fatty acids you want and need. But talk to your doctor first. Fish-oil supplements are dangerous for certain people.

Healthy Skin Tips for Men

2010-07-04T04:57:00.000-07:00

Do you think you have a nice healthy skin? Having a healthy skin is the most important element of being called, great looking man or pretty boy. Although it is not easy to achieve instead it’s a critical thing you can do with yourself. Furthermore to my study on how to maintain great looking face – I’d like to share these basic tips and guidelines to maintain and retain your healthy skin in a simple ways…

1. Cleanliness is the best policy. - Based on the study of some expert, men have larger pores in the skin and have approximately15% oilier than women. Anyway, no matter what type of skin you have it is really important to keep your skin clean. Make your pores clear from dirt by using some certified organic skin care that has no added chemicals that would irritate your skin and clog your pores.

Organic Citrus Cleanser is essential for healthy clean skin. It’s a pure and mild rejuvenating cleanser that protects and nourishes your skin as it removes dead cells and makes the surface of your skin smooth.

2. Make toned of your face. - Men are usually outside more compared to women; therefore they are much prone to environmental debris and pollutions which may harm their healthy skin. Using organic charmomile toner helps to keep your skin clear and firm with the help of subtle aromatherapy oils.

3. Determine the type of your skin. – Knowing the type of your skin is really important on how you will enhance and to know the treatments that needed on your skin. All types of skin need to be exfoliated as essential part of the skin treatment. I would recommend the USDA Certified Organic Sugar Exfoliator by Dr. Mercola – it softly removes the outer layer of dry or flaking skin, leaving your face smooth and radiant.

Lastly, don't forget about your lips and using balm that has an SPF of at least 15 in it. Peppermint oil has a nice feel and keeps the lips looking luscious.

4. Always take care of your skin. – Skin is the mirror of your overall body healthy. These are the recommended prevention techniques that can promote the best skin possible and keep you looking good. Read these 4 techniques for having a healthy skin…

• Avoid over exposure to the sun. – So much exposure in UVA rays are major cause of skin problem disease. Using some natural product lines that has SPF 15 is recommended for your skin.
• Keep in shape. – Regularly exercise promotes capillary functioning which can decrease premature aging. It also increases oxygen to the tissues which keeps skin looking young.
• Eat well - Include in your regimen that rich in such vitamins C and E.
• Have self discipline. – Anything too much is not good for you. Keep away from too much drinking of alcohol, avoid cigarette smoking, stress and fatigue because these are the cause of having premature aging.

5 Foods for Healthier Skin

2010-07-04T04:41:00.001-07:00

By Leslie Baumann, M.D.
Jan 28, 2008

You can invest half your paycheck in serums and creams - even splurge on dermal fillers and pricey facials - but none of it will get you far without a skin-friendly diet.

Of course, your skin (and the rest of you, for that matter) is best served by a well-rounded diet, including healthy fats, sufficient protein, and lots of fruits and vegetables. But there are a few nutritional standouts that make particularly important contributions to strong, glowing skin:

1. Fish: Fatty fish like salmon, tilapia, and cod are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. And that's a good thing, because our bodies cannot produce those essential lipids naturally. By adding omega-3s to your diet, though, you can bolster your skin barrier - that is, the layer of lipids that holds onto moisture and keeps irritants out.

There is even evidence that the skin-strengthening effects of omega-3s can improve chronic skin conditions like rosacea and atopic dermatitis, but more research is necessary to confirm that link.

Furthermore, many types of fish (like, once again, salmon and cod) are rich in vitamin D - as dermatologists increasingly emphasize sun avoidance, we also need to emphasize the importance of finding other sources of this vitamin, which is produced during sun exposure.

Don't eat fish? Many eggs are now fortified with omega-3 fatty acids, and plant sources include flax seed and flax seed oil, walnuts, pecans, and hazelnuts. And a daily vitamin D supplement is a good idea for vegans and meat-eaters alike.

2. Green Tea: It's inexpensive, easy to add to your routine, and one of the best-researched and most powerful antioxidants around. That's why green tea is my go-to antioxidant: I drink at least three cups a day to fight aging and inflammation. Some studies even suggest that the antioxidants in green tea reduce one's risk of skin cancer. So put down that soda and start drinking your way to healthier skin!

3. Broccoli: Rich in vitamins A, C, and K (among many other nutrients), this veggie does more than its fair share of nutritional work. Vitamin A decreases oil production, vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant, and vitamin K can help prevent bruises. So whatever ails you, this green wonderfood might be just what the doctor ordered.

4. Safflower or Sunflower Oil: Omega-3s get a lot more talk, but omega-6 fatty acids - like the linoleic acid in these two oils - are also important for healthy skin. Like omega-3s, they help prevent dry skin and inflammation; they're also essential for the formation of prostaglandins, hormones that keep all the cells of the body functioning well.

While many diets are actually quite high in omega-6s - sometimes even too high - the key is to get the good ones and not unhealthy versions, like hydrogenated oils. So try sautéing your salmon or broccoli in a little safflower or sunflower oil and double those skin-soothing benefits!

5. Almonds: When it comes to boosting skin's defenses against aging, inflammation, and even skin cancer, antioxidants are so important that I'm going to add another to my list: A handful of almonds every day boosts your levels of vitamin E, one of the most important antioxidants for skin health. Studies also suggest that consuming vitamin E orally can increase the levels of this moisturizing vitamin on your skin's surface - great news for anyone prone to dry skin.

Latest Electric Car Will be a BMW, From the Battery Up

2010-07-04T04:02:00.000-07:00

by Jack Ewing
Friday, July 2, 2010
provided by THE NEW YORK TIMES

BMW, the German carmaker, created Project i in late 2007 with the goal of building a car for urban areas where more than half the world's people live. But, as with many corporate green projects, it was sometimes hard to tell whether the effort was sincere or just a way to generate sustainability credentials.

During two days of briefings for journalists at a garagelike BMW plant outside Munich, the company devoted major resources to proving that battery-powered cars were practical. The demonstration was also intended to allay doubts about whether traditional carmakers were innovative enough to make the leap from gasoline.

Battery technology has "reached the point where it really makes sense to drive electric," said Ulrich Kranz, director of the project's team, who previously led the BMW team that revived the Mini brand in 2001.

BMW has crash-tested prototypes of the chassis and frame of the electric car, and this month it will break ground on a factory in Moses Lake, Wash., to produce carbon fiber for a lightweight passenger compartment.

Auto industry specialists said they were encouraged by the developments.

"It's not just a marketing project," said Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, a professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen who studies the auto industry. All the major carmakers have realized that they need electric vehicles to succeed in China, a crucial market where the government is keen to promote emission-free transport, Mr. Dudenhöffer said.

BMW is taking a different path than competitors by designing the so-called megacity vehicle around its electric drive system from the start.

Daimler will beat BMW to showrooms with a mass-produced electric vehicle, due in 2012. But Daimler's e-car is a battery-powered version of its two-seat Smart car.

"I don't know of any other manufacturer that has conceived of a car exclusively as an electric vehicle," Mr. Dudenhöffer said. "The rest are based on conventional cars."

BMW says it also plans to put its own name at risk, creating a subbrand that will probably contain the initials BMW. Daimler has always kept a distance between its Smart line and the Mercedes brand.

BMW engineers, or at least the ones working on the electric car project, seem to believe that shifting to battery power is a matter of long-term company survival. The company says it expects sales of gasoline and diesel-powered cars to begin declining in 2020.

"The departure from fossil fuels is an irreversible trend," said Kai Petrick, a BMW marketing and product strategist.

BMW is not only breaking with the petroleum era but the age of steel as well. By building a substantial amount of the car from carbon fiber hardened with epoxy and molded into components, BMW aims to offset the additional weight that batteries add to the car and increase its range.

At the new vehicle's core is a carbon-fiber passenger compartment that has already passed crash tests. The fiber, which in its raw state resembles horse hair, will come from the Moses Lake plant, where BMW and the SGL Group, the carbon company, are building components specifically for the new vehicle.

"Carbon fiber construction is one of the enablers of electric mobility," said Jochen Töpker, a BMW engineer who manages the company's joint venture with SGL, which is based in Wiesbaden, Germany.

The megacity vehicle takes advantage of the fact that an electric motor is much more compact than a gasoline engine and does not need a transmission, exhaust or muffler. The electric motor will go in the back of the vehicle. The batteries, the heaviest and bulkiest part of the drive train, will go under the floor in the aluminum chassis.

Despite some analyst predictions that all electric motors will be alike, BMW plans to build its own, betting it can imbue the power plants with BMW-like performance and feel. BMW engineers say they have acquired substantial understanding of how to make the motor work best with the battery array, which would be a competitive advantage. BMW is also keeping close control over the manufacture of carbon components, which it says are central to giving the car an upscale image.

BMW is still being quiet about how the car will look. But it showed journalists an impressionistic sketch of a four-passenger vehicle that looked a bit like a streamlined, low-slung Mini. BMW's design chief, Adrian van Hooydonk, said that his team was still tinkering with the look of the car but emphasized that it would be a sporty, stylish vehicle worthy of the BMW name.

Speaking to reporters at BMW's in-house museum in Munich on Tuesday, Mr. van Hooydonk described the design as "premium sustainability," implying that it would not be a boxy-looking Toyota Prius or Nissan Leaf.

BMW engineers insist that the limited range of electric-powered vehicles is not a big issue. The company leased a fleet of Minis converted to electric drive to customers in the New York and Los Angeles areas. Surveys showed that the Mini E's range of 250 kilometers, or 150 miles, between charges was plenty for urban driving, BMW said.

BMW engineers are fond of saying that electric vehicles do not need to represent "a rolling vow of poverty." The company has not named a price for the new car, but it will be aimed at affluent drivers in urban areas who want to appear environmentally conscious. The car probably will cost more than a comparable gasoline-powered vehicle, though owners will recoup some of the extra investment in lower fuel and maintenance costs. Electric cars never need an oil change.

As a test drive of a Mini E in the Bavarian countryside confirmed, electric cars have a number of selling points beyond the environmental argument. Electric motors have inherently fast acceleration. The only running noise is a faint whine. There is no smell of exhaust or fuel. One gear suffices, so shifting is unnecessary.

Even braking is rarely necessary. The car slows when the driver takes pressure off the accelerator, as a recuperation system kicks in and regenerates power from the momentum of the car.

18 Memory Tricks You Need to Know

2010-07-04T02:59:00.000-07:00

by Reader's Digest Magazine, on Thu Jun 17, 2010 7:13am PDT
By Patricia Curtis

Can't remember where you put your glasses? Blanked on your new colleague's name? "Forgetting these types of things is a sign of how busy we are," says Zaldy S. Tan, MD, director of the Memory Disorders Clinic at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. "When we're not paying good attention, the memories we form aren't very robust, and we have a problem retrieving the information later."

The key, says Harry Lorayne, author of Ageless Memory: Simple Secrets for Keeping Your Brain Young, is to get your brain in shape. "We exercise our bodies, but what good is that great body if you don't have the mental capabilities to go with it?" Sure, you could write everything down, keep organized lists and leave electronic notes on your BlackBerry, cell phone or PDA. But when you don't have access to those aids, or if you want to strengthen your brain, try these expert-recommended strategies to help you remember.

1. Pay attention. When you're introduced to someone, really listen to the person's name. Then, to get a better grasp, picture the spelling. Ask, "Is that Kathy with a K or a C?" Make a remark about the name to help lock it in ("Oh, Carpenter -- that was my childhood best friend's last name"), and use the name a few times during the conversation and when you say goodbye.

2. Visualize the name. For hard-to-remember monikers (Bentavegna, Wobbekind), make the name meaningful. For Bentavegna, maybe you think of a bent weather vane. Picture it. Then look at the person, choose an outstanding feature (bushy eyebrows, green eyes) and tie the name to the face. If Mr. Bentavegna has a big nose, picture a bent weather vane instead of his nose. The sillier the image, the better.

3. Create memorable associations. Picture Joe Everett standing atop Mount Everest. If you want to remember that Erin Curtis is the CEO of an architectural firm, imagine her curtsying in front of a large building, suggests Gini Graham Scott, PhD, author of 30 Days to a More Powerful Memory.

4. Cheat a little. Supplement these tips with some more concrete actions. When you get a business card, after the meeting, jot down a few notes on the back of the card ("red glasses, lives in Springfield, went to my alma mater") to help you out when you need a reminder.

5. Give a play-by-play. Pay attention to what you're doing as you place your glasses on the end table. Remind yourself, "I'm putting my keys in my coat pocket," so you have a clear memory of doing it, says Scott.

7. Make it a habit. Put a small basket on a side table. Train yourself to put your keys, glasses, cell phone or any other object you frequently use (or misplace) in the basket -- every time.

8. Start a ritual. To remind yourself of a chore (write a thank-you note, go to the dry cleaner), give yourself an unusual physical reminder. You expect to see your bills on your desk, so leaving them there won't necessarily remind you to pay them. But place a shoe or a piece of fruit on the stack of bills, and later, when you spot the out-of-place object, you'll remember to take care of them, says Carol Vorderman, author of Super Brain: 101 Easy Ways to a More Agile Mind.

9. Sing it. To remember a small group of items (a grocery list, phone number, list of names, to-do list), adapt it to a well-known song, says Vorderman. Try "peanut butter, milk and eggs" to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," "Happy Birthday" or even nursery rhymes.

10. Try mnemonic devices. Many of us learned "ROY G BIV" to remember the colors of the rainbow, or "Every Good Boy Deserves Favors" to learn musical notes. Make up your own device to memorize names (Suzanne's kids are Adam, Patrick and Elizabeth, or "APE"), lists (milk, eggs, tomatoes, soda, or "METS") or computer commands (to shut down your PC, hit Control+Alt+Delete, or "CAD").

11. Use your body. When you have no pen or paper and are making a mental grocery or to-do list, remember it according to major body parts, says Scott. Start at your feet and work your way up. So if you have to buy glue, cat food, broccoli, chicken, grapes and toothpaste, you might picture your foot stuck in glue, a cat on your knee looking for food, a stalk of broccoli sticking out of your pants pocket, a chicken pecking at your belly button, a bunch of grapes hanging from your chest and a toothbrush in your mouth.

12. Go Roman. With the Roman room technique, you associate your grocery, to-do or party-invite list with the rooms of your house or the layout of your office, garden or route to work. Again, the zanier the association, the more likely you'll remember it, says Scott. Imagine apples hanging from the chandelier in your foyer, spilled cereal all over the living room couch, shampoo bubbles overflowing in the kitchen sink and cheese on your bedspread.

13. Shape your numbers. Assign a shape to each number: 0 looks like a ball or ring; 1 is a pen; 2 is a swan; 3 looks like handcuffs; 4 is a sailboat; 5, a pregnant woman; 6, a pipe; 7, a boomerang; 8, a snowman; and 9, a tennis racket. To remember your ATM PIN (4298, say), imagine yourself on a sailboat (4), when a swan (2) tries to attack you. You hit it with a tennis racket (9), and it turns into a snowman (8). Try forgetting that image!

14. Rhyme it. Think of words that rhyme with the numbers 1 through 9 (knee for 3, wine for 9, etc.). Then create a story using the rhyming words: A nun (1) in heaven (7) banged her knee (3), and it became sore (4).

15. Practice your ABCs. Say you just can't remember the name of that movie. Recite the alphabet (aloud or in your head). When you get to the letter R, it should trigger the name that's escaping you: Ratatouille. This trick works when taking tests too.

16. Read it, type it, say it, hear it. To memorize a speech, toast or test material, read your notes, then type them into the computer. Next, read them aloud and tape-record them. Listen to the recording several times. As you work on memorizing, remember to turn off the TV, unplug your iPod and shut down your computer; you'll retain more.

17. Use color. Give your notes some color with bolded headings and bulleted sections (it's easier to remember a red bullet than running text).

18. Make a map. Imagine an intersection and mentally place a word, fact or number on each street corner.

How Long Can You Refrigerate or Freeze Food?

2010-06-29T01:20:00.000-07:00

by Real Simple Magazine, on Thu Jun 17, 2010 1:57pm PDT

By Elisa Huang

If you’re saving food in plastic bags, be sure to follow the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration guidelines for safe storage. Frozen foods can be stored indefinitely, but the flavor can change when food is stored past the time limits below.

Raw Beef Roast and Steaks
Refrigerator: 3 to 5 days
Freezer: 6 to 12 months

Raw Pork Roast and Chops
Refrigerator: 3 to 5 days
Freezer: 4 to 6 months

Raw Lamb Roast and Chops
Refrigerator: 3 to 5 days
Freezer: 6 to 9 months

Raw Veal Roast and Chops
Refrigerator: 3 to 5 days
Freezer: 4 to 6 months

Cooked Meat
Refrigerator: 3 to 4 days
Freezer: 2 to 3 months

Soup
Refrigerator: 3 to 4 days
Freezer: 2 to 3 months

Raw Chicken Pieces
Refrigerator: 1 to 2 days
Freezer: 9 months

Cooked Chicken Pieces
Refrigerator: 3 to 4 days
Freezer: 4 months

Sleep Like A Baby! (And Wake Up Feeling Younger)

2010-06-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

Nighttime is the right time to take years off your face. "Hormonal changes boost blood flow to the skin, brightening it overnight," says Melvin Elson, MD, a clinical professor of dermatology at Vanderbilt School of Nursing. Skin temps are higher, too, so age-fighting potions seep deeper for better results. And even though you're resting, your skin is hard at work. Studies show that cell turnover is 8 times faster at night, softening wrinkles.

On the flip side, as anyone who's pulled an all-nighter can attest, the consequences — pasty-looking skin and dark circles — aren't pretty. "Even worse, not getting the recommended 8 hours increases levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which may slow collagen production, promoting wrinkles," says Jyotsna Sahni, MD, a sleep medicine doctor at Canyon Ranch in Tucson. To maximize your beauty sleep, follow this routine nightly to wake up with the complexion of your dreams.

Wash Your Face

Removing make-up, oil, and other impurities helps keep pores tight and skin blemish free. Anti-aging treatments can also penetrate deeper on a clean surface. For dry skin, look for a creamy cleanser; for acne-prone or oily skin, a gel formula. If your skin is sensitive, wait 10 minutes after cleansing before applying anti-agers.

Rejuvenate with a Retinoid

These Vitamin-A derivatives are key to youthful-looking skin. "But because exposure to sunlight can deactivate their potency, it's best to apply retinoids at night," says Patricia Farris, MD, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Tulane University School of Medicine. Start by using an OTC retinol-containing cream or lotion every other night until skin becomes acclimated to the side effects. Try Neutrogena Tone Correcting Concentrated Serum Night from Ageless Intensives ($22; drugstores) or La Roche-Posay Biomedic Retinol Cream 15 ($52; drugstores). For more improvement, try Rx Renova, atralin, or Refissa, a newly available retinoid in a moisturizing base.

Dot Undereyes with Vitamin K Cream

In a 2003 study by Elson, women who applied an undereye cream containing vitamin K and retinol every night for 12 weeks saw their dark circles improve 33%. Try NeoStrata Bionic Eye Cream ($50; skinstore.com) or Murad Essential-C Eye Cream SPF 15 ($67; sephora.com). Like retinol, vitamin K is sensitive to ultraviolet light and should be used only at night. BONUS: The retinol helps ease crow's feet.

Apply a Mega-Moisturizer

Due to a nighttime increase in temperature and water loss, extra hydration is a must, says Jenny Kim, MD, PhD, an associate professor of medicine and dermatology at the UCLA School of Medicine. For best results, look for a cream with the superhydrators hyaluronic acid or glycerin, which attract water to skin. The extra dose of softening also makes wrinkles less noticeable in the morning. Try Mario Badescu Hydrating Moisturizer with Biocare & Hyaluronic Acid ($20; mariobadescu.com) or MD Skincare Maximum Moisture Treatment ($54; mdskincare.com).

4 Sleep tricks for amazing skin

1. Sleep On Your Back

Lying on your stomach or on the same side every night can etch permanent sleep lines into your skin, says Patricia Farris, MD. If you can't adjust, switch to a satin pillowcase; the silky texture prevents crinkles.

2. Raise Your Head

Stack a few pillows beneath your head to avoid puffy eyes. "If you keep your head above your heart, fluid won't accumulate in your face," says Farris.

Health Rules Your Mother Missed (But You Don't Have To).

3. Invest In A Humidifier

Dry, hot air sucks moisture from skin. A humidifier puts water in the air, for soft and supple skin.

4. Get Deeper Slumber

Use the bedroom for sleep and sex only — doing so trains your mind to associate your bed with getting Zzzs. Avoid caffeine and exercise for 3 to 5 hours before bedtime, and limit alcohol at night; each can keep you from solid slumber. Make sure your room is dark and cool (the ideal temp for sleep is 65°F). To transition into sleep mode, don't watch TV or go online for an hour before turning in.

Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome in Studies

2010-06-22T00:08:00.001-07:00

Sun Jun 20, 11:48 pm ET

SATURDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) -- A pair of new studies has uncovered evidence that low levels of vitamin D could lead to poor blood sugar control among diabetics and increase the risk of developing metabolic syndrome among seniors.
Both findings are slated to be presented Saturday at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in San Diego.
In one study, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore reviewed the medical charts of 124 type 2 diabetes patients who sought specialty care at an endocrine outpatient facility between 2003 and 2008.
More than 90 percent of the patients, who ranged in age from 36 to 89, had either vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency, the authors found, despite the fact that they all had had routine primary care visits before their specialty visit.
Just about 6 percent of the patients were taking a vitamin D supplement at the time of their visit, the research team noted, and those who had lower vitamin D levels were also more likely to have higher average blood sugar levels.
"This finding supports an active role of vitamin D in the development of type 2 diabetes," study co-author Dr. Esther Krug, an assistant professor of medicine, said in a news release from the Endocrine Society.
"Since primary care providers diagnose and treat most patients with type 2 diabetes, screening and vitamin D supplementation as part of routine primary care may improve health outcomes of this highly prevalent condition," Krug added.
A second study involving nearly 1,300 white Dutch men and women over the age of 65 found almost half were vitamin D-deficient, while 37 percent had metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome is a grouping of health risk factors, including high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, abnormal cholesterol levels and high blood sugar.
"Because the metabolic syndrome increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, an adequate vitamin D level in the body might be important in the prevention of these diseases," study co-author Dr. Marelise Eekhoff, of VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, said in the same news release.
Regardless of gender, those with insufficient amounts of vitamin D in their blood were more likely to have the syndrome than those with sufficient amounts of vitamin D, Eekhoff and her colleagues found.
"It is important," added Eekhoff, "to investigate the exact role of vitamin D in diabetes to find new and maybe easy ways to prevent it and cardiovascular disease."

Obese have poorer sex life: Study

2010-06-21T23:53:00.000-07:00

Tue Jun 15, 10:00 pm ET

PARIS (AFP) – Obese women are likelier to neglect contraception, obese men are more prone to impotence and both are far less sexually active than counterparts of normal weight, a study said on Wednesday.
The findings highlight "a major reproductive health challenge," requiring doctors to pierce the twin taboos of obesity and sex, it said.
The research covered 10,170 men and women aged 18-69 whose data was randomly chosen from a French survey of sexual behaviour carried out in 2006.
Around two-thirds were of normal weight, a quarter were overweight and the remainder (411 women and 350 men) were obese.
Overweight was defined by having a body mass index (BMI) of between 25 and 30, and obesity as a BMI of at least 30.
Obese women were 29 percent less likely to have had a sex partner in the previous 12 months, compared with women of normal weight.
Obese men were 69 percent less likely to report having more than one sexual partner in the same period and two and a half times likelier to report erection problems than non-obese counterparts. Obese men under 30 were also far likelier to have a sexually-transmitted disease.
Sexual dysfunction -- lack of desire or arousal or pain in intercourse -- was not a problem for obese women.
However, those under 30 were far likelier not to use contraception or to seek contraceptive advice. Unintended pregnancies among obese women were more than four times higher than among women of normal weight.
That discovery is especially worrying, as obesity is a major factor in mother and infant death and sickness.
The study, published online by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), was headed by Nathalie Bajos of the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) in Paris.
In a commentary published by the BMJ, Sandy Goldbeck-Wood, a British gynaecologist specialising in psychosexual medicine, said the findings should ring alarm bells, given the unfurling global epidemic of obesity.
"In public health terms, the study lends a new slant to a familiar message: that obesity can harm not only health and longevity, but your sex life. And culturally, it reminds us clinicians and researchers to look at the subjects we find difficult."
BMI is derived by dividing one's weight in kilograms by the square of one's height in metres. Using Imperial or US measurements, it is one's weight in pounds multiplied by 703, and then divided by the square of one's height in inches.

Sex education debate heats up in Philippines

2010-06-21T23:46:00.000-07:00

by Jason Gutierrez – Mon Jun 21, 1:09 pm ET

MANILA (AFP) – A new sex education campaign in Philippine schools has sparked widespread debate in Asia's bedrock of Catholicism, where the high birth rate is blamed for desperate poverty.
The United Nations-backed programme, which is being piloted this month in primary and high schools, aims to promote safe sex, limit the spread of HIV-AIDS and prevent unwanted pregnancies.
However, the Catholic Church and powerful conservative crusaders have struck back with a high-profile campaign to shut down the project, saying it breaks the nation's religion-based moral codes.
"Sex education in schools is not the answer to our population problem and poverty," Eric Manalang, head of the conservative political party Ang Kapatiran (The Brotherhood), told AFP on Monday.
"It promotes promiscuity among children... it does not promote the proper values that we want our children to receive in schools and we believe sex education should strictly remain a family affair."
Manalang said his party and church had filed a petition in court on Monday requesting an injunction to stop the programme.
He said the chances of the legal bid succeeding were high with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, as well as various parent groups, supporting the fight.
Their legal bid claims the programme impinges on parents' constitutional right to educate their children based on their religious beliefs.
"Issues that are not for children should not be taught in schools," the bishops' conference said in a statement.
While Ang Kapatiran is only a small political party, conservative religious forces led by the Church hold a lot of sway in the Philippines, where more than 80 percent of the nation's 90-million people are Catholic.
The bishops last year succeeded in blocking a proposed law in parliament that would have made it easier for the public to access state-funded contraceptives.
Nevertheless, the education department has so far held firm.
It says the programme is aimed at curbing a population growth rate of over two percent, among the highest in Asia, and does not promote out-of-marriage sex.
The scheme covers topics such as reproductive systems and cycles, hygiene, pre-marital sex, teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, according to the education department.
Education Secretary Mona Valisno said the teaching modules were designed by professionals, including psychologists, who made sure the discussions would be educational.
"Sex education will be integrated in other subjects such as science and they are designed to be scientific and informative," she said.
"They are not designed to titillate prurient interests."
The United Nations has become embroiled in the controversy because it partly funded the project, and issued a statement last week rejecting the Church's position.
Manalang hit out at the United Nations Population Fund, the body involved in the project, saying it was interfering with internal Philippine issues.
But the fund's Philippine director, Suneeta Mukherjee, said opponents of the programme had nothing to fear.
"We are not encouraging people, or children, to have sexual relationships, we are only helping students handle their sexuality as part of the process of growing up," Mukherjee told AFP.
"Children at this age are very sensitive and must be taught by people in authority."
She pointed out that HIV was on the rise among young Filipinos, and many of the nation's poor -- a third of the population lives on less than a dollar a day -- did not have access to sound education on sexual matters.

7th-Graders Discover Mysterious Cave on Mars

2010-06-21T23:31:00.000-07:00

Clara Moskowitz
Senior Writer
SPACE.com – Mon Jun 21, 5:00 pm ET

A group of seventh-graders in California has discovered a mysterious cave on Mars as part of a research project to study images taken by a NASA spacecraft orbiting the red planet.
The 16 students from teacher Dennis Mitchell's 7th-grade science class at Evergreen Middle School in Cottonwood, Calif., found what looks to be a Martian skylight — a hole in the roof of a cave on Mars.
The intrepid students were participating in the Mars Student Imaging Program at the Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University. The program allows students to frame a research question and then commission a Mars-orbiting camera to take an image to answer their question.
The newfound hole on Mars resembled features seen on other parts of Mars in a 2007 study by Glen Cushing, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist.
Cushing suggested that these anomalous pit craters are like skylights — places where a small part of the roof of a cave or a lava tube had collapsed, opening the area below the surface to the sky.
The caves are thought to result from volcanic activity on the red planet. At some point lava channels likely carved out caverns in the rock, and then left behind tunnel, or "lava tubes," when the eruptions were over. They would have been covered when a solid ceiling of cooled material settled on top, and then sections of the ceiling likely collapsed at some point to form the skylight entrances.
Scientists aren't sure what type of materials or deposits could be stored inside.
"This pit is certainly new to us," Cushing told the students. "And it is only the second one known to be associated with Pavonis Mons."
He estimated the pit to be approximately 620 by 520 feet (190 by 160 meters) wide and 380 feet (115 meters) deep at least.
The young researchers had initially set out to hunt for lava tubes, a common volcanic feature on Earth and Mars.
"The students developed a research project focused on finding the most common locations of lava tubes on Mars," Mitchell said. "Do they occur most often near the summit of a volcano, on its flanks, or the plains surrounding it?"
The class commissioned a main photo and a backup image of Mars' Pavonis Monsvolcano, targeted on a region that hadn't been imaged up close.
The pictures were taken by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter using its Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) instrument. Both images showed lava tubes, as the students had hoped.
But the backup photo provided another surprise: a small, round black spot. It was a hole on Mars leading into the buried cave, researchers said.
The students have submitted their site to be further imaged by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which could reveal enough detail to see inside the hole in the ground.
"The Mars Student Imaging Program is certainly one of the greatest educational programs ever developed," Mitchell said. "It gives the students a good understanding of the way research is conducted and how that research can be important for the scientific community. This has been a wonderful experience."

Why skin cancer is on the rise

2010-06-21T02:28:00.000-07:00

Stuart Fox
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com – Sun Jun 20, 11:21 am ET

For years and years now, millions of sun worshippers across the country would hit the beaches during summer to work on the perfect, golden tan. However, the advent of indoor tanning salons now allows Americans to sport a sun-kissed look year-round. And as more and more people pursue a perpetual summer-style tan, dermatologists have begun noticing a significant rise in skin cancer incidents, especially among young women.
Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, still makes up just 3 percent of all skin cancers, and results in about 8,000 deaths a year, according to the National Cancer Institute. But three factors have doctors alarmed: The rates of this cancer are rising; it has become the most common cancer for young people; and many of the cases result from the preventable, but addictive, behavior of indoor suntanning.
"In the last few decades, it's certainly been on the rise. And some people think that may be a result of behavior, and UV exposure," said Jennifer Stein, an assistant professor of dermatology at New York University's Langone Medical Center. "This is a very serious cancer, and this is a behavior that's preventable."
Tanning and cancer go hand-in-hand
Without tanning beds, soaking up the rays was limited to clear days in the summer. The invention of the tanning bed changed that, and throughout the 1990s, the rapid proliferation of tanning salons provided venues for millions of people to sunbathe regardless of weather, season, or time of day.
Since 1992, the indoor tanning industry has grown five-fold, with 28 million indoor tanners in the United States supporting a billion-dollar-a-year business, said Maria Tsoukas, an assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
During that same period, melanoma rates have increased by 2 percent in the general population, Stein said. Amongst young women, who make up 71 percent of tanning salon customers, incidents of melanoma have increased by 2.2 percent, Stein said. Over that time, skin cancer also became the most common form of cancer for Americans ages 25-29, a group that traditionally shows very low cancer rates, Stein said.
"We see a surprising number of young women coming in with melanoma, and a lot of them say they've used tanning beds," Stein told LiveScience.com. "By far, by far, the majority of users of indoor tanning beds are young women."
While some dermatologists believe that other factors, such as increased UV exposure resulting from the hole in the ozone layer, contribute to the rise in melanoma rates over the last 18 years, the irrefutable link between indoor tanning and melanoma makes tanning beds the prime suspect, Tsoukas said.
In a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, frequent tanning bed users proved three times more likely to develop melanoma than non-users, and subjects that used tanning beds for any amount of time showed a 74-percent higher rate of melanoma than non-users, according to research published online May 27 in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
That study did not investigate the percentage of indoor tanners who developed melanoma, rather showing the difference between users and non-users.
How tanning causes cancer
Indoor and outdoor tanning can be dangerous, because the same ultraviolet radiation that provokes a tan also damages DNA. In fact, exposure to the mid-day sun can produce as many as 40,000 DNA errors an hour, said Regina Santella, a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in New York.
The UV light causes the DNA molecule thymine to bind to adjacent thymine molecules in a manner that renders both molecules unreadable during transcriptions, Santella said. Transcription is a step in which the body reads the DNA instructions the cell will later follow. When those thymine errors occur in areas of DNA that regulate cell growth, skin cancers like melanoma can begin to develop, Santella said.
Most times, skin cells rapidly repair most of those 40,000 errors, but over time repeated errors can cause cancer or other problems.
Tanning is actually the body's response to that damage, with the darker color produced by skin adding an additional layer of protection for the DNA, Stein said. However, when the body produces the hormone that initiates tanning, it also produces a secondary molecule in the endorphin family, said Scott Feldman, a professor of dermatology at the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
Endorphins are chemicals that transmit feelings of pleasure and happiness. In effect, exposure to UV radiation gets tanning bed users high, Feldman said. And like any high, tanning can become addictive.
In 2005, Feldman conducted a study where he gave volunteers endorphin-blocking chemicals before they used a tanning bed. The study aimed to test whether frequent tanning salon customers would enjoy the experience as much if their bodies didn't produce endorphins. They didn't. And even before the frequent tanners used the tanning bed, they showed signs of physical addiction to tanning.
"When we started doing the experiments, the first couple volunteers got sick, and we said 'Hey, that's unexpected,'" Feldman told LiveScience. "We were putting them into withdrawal."
Tan responsibly
With studies proving that tanning bed use causes both addiction and cancer, many dermatologists have begun comparing the practice to other forms of drug abuse like drinking and cigarette smoking, Feldman said. And much like with smoking and drug abuse, doctors have told their tan-loving patients to "just say no."
"There is no point to it. Someone wants to look darker? Gimme a break. For cosmetic reasons, people risk getting a fatal cancer. To me, it's a public health hazard because it has no upside," Santella said. "Don't go to skin tanning salons. Simple as that."
Others advocate that tanning salon patrons take an approach more like drinking alcohol, with moderation and responsibility mitigating the long-term health effects, Feldman said.
"We see the cancer patients, but there are millions of people tanning, and considering the number of people doing it and not getting cancer, it's probably not the first problem we need to solve in America," Feldman said. "If a woman comes in, and I see cigarettes in her bag, I'll tell her to stop smoking before I tell her to stop tanning. Lung cancer is considerably worse."
But those approaches only tackle the physical side of tanning without getting to the root problem that drives millions of Americans, young women in particular, to engage in a behavior they often know raises their risk of a deadly disease, Stein said. To fix the social pressures behind the rise in this largely preventable cancer, America might need to refine its idea of beauty.
"I've met people who said they couldn't stop tanning. They wanted to stop, but couldn't. They liked the way it felt and they felt pressure from their friends," Stein said. "I think we really need to change that notion in this country that looking tan means looking healthy, because we know that tans are not healthy."

Should you pre-rinse your dishes before loading the dishwasher?

2010-06-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

by Yahoo!Green, on Tue Jun 8, 2010 10:57am PDT

Experts unanimously agree that you should NOT pre-rinse your dishes before loading the dishwasher.
Why not? Because your dishes will not get any cleaner if you rinse them before loading your dishwasher. Pre-rinsing is therefore a complete waste of time, water, energy, and money. And, in some cases, it can actually harm your glassware.

Still not convinced? Here are the details.

Dishes will not get any cleaner if you pre-rinse them.

Modern dishwashers and detergents have come a long way in the past couple of decades. "You will not improve your wash performance one bit by pre-rinsing," says John Dries, a mechanical engineer and owner of Dries Engineering, an appliance design consulting company. He points out that heavily soiled dishes are used in pre-market "wash tests," not pre-rinsed dishes.

In most cases, all you need to do is scrape your plates over a trashcan to get rid of bones or chunks of food. One caveat: It's a good idea to pre-soak pans or dishes that have something really burned on them. Pre-rinsing doesn't help in this situation.

Use the dishwasher's rinse cycle if you're not going to run your dishwasher immediately and are worried about the smell of sour food.

How about older dishwashers? "People with any age dishwasher can feel comfortable knowing they don't need to pre-wash dishes before washing them in the dishwasher," says Jill Notini, a spokesperson for the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.

Pre-rinsing is a complete waste of time, water, energy, and money.

With pre-rinsing you're essentially washing your dishes twice. Rinsing your dishes while letting the water run can waste gallons of water. Consider this: An energy-efficient dishwasher uses up to 5 gallons of water to wash an entire load of dishes. Washing dishes by hand while letting the water run can use up to 27 gallons.

The same is true for electricity if you pre-rinse with warm or hot water. "You use more electricity rinsing dishes off in the sink than the dishwasher uses to wash the whole load," says Mike Edwards, a senior design engineer at Bosch Home Appliances.

Instead of pre-rinsing the dishes, spend your time on something that will make a difference: Loading the dishwasher correctly.

Experts say a properly loaded dishwasher can significantly impact how clean your dishes turn out. "The biggest impediment in washing is due to poor loading," says Edwards. Get tips from Consumer Reports and a video from Bosch.

Rinsing dishes before loading the dishwasher can do more harm than good.

Today's advanced detergents are designed to attack food particles left on dishes. "If there isn't food soil, they tend to attack glasses," says Edwards. "Some glasses are more susceptible to this kind of attacking than others."

The detergent etches small pits in glasses that you can't see with the naked eye, but the glass appears cloudy, according to Edwards. The process is called "etching" and causes permanent damage.

This is different than temporary hard water stains, which can also result in the cloudy appearance of glassware. Find out how to tell the difference.

"Your detergent amount needs to be based on the amount of food soil in the dishwasher," says Edwards who also points out that those who have soft water should use less detergent than those who have hard water.

Noynoy to take oath at Quirino Grandstand

2010-06-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

GMANews.TV - Tuesday, June 15

President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III will take his oath as the Philippines' 15th president at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, his camp said Tuesday.

Aquino spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Noynoy's inauguration and oath-taking would be held at the Quirino Grandstand because it could accommodate more people than the original preferred venue, the Quezon City Memorial Circle.

"For security reasons na rin," Lacierda told GMANews.TV over the phone.

In 1998, President Joseph Estrada took his oath at the historic Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan, and later delivered his inaugural speech at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila.

In 2004, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivered her inaugural speech at the Quirino Grandstand but took her oath in Cebu City.

Aquino is expected to take his oath on June 30 before Supreme Court Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales instead of Chief Justice Renato Corona because Aquino is questioning Corona's appointment to the top judicial post.

Street party

A street party will be held at the Quezon City Memorial Circle by nighttime that same day. It was at the QCMC where Aquino held his miting de avance on May 7.

The party, which will include musical performances, will be open to the public, Lacierda said.

The details of the street party are still being finalized by Maria Montelibano, one of the heads of Aquino's media affairs. Montelibano headed the Radio-TV Malacañang during the administration of Aquino's mother, the late former President Corazon Aquino.

Earlier in the day, National Police spokesman Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina said they plan to flesh out security plans at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila and the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City.

"We will secure the Quirino Grandstand as well as Elliptical (Road) and Quezon Memorial Circle come Inauguration Day (We will secure Quirino Grandstand and Elliptical Road and Quezon Memorial Circle come Inauguration Day)," Espina said in an interview on dzXL radio.

He said the PNP plans to meet regularly with representatives of concerned agencies in fleshing out the security plans for the occasion. — RSJ/LBG, GMANews.TV

Stress Less with This Kind of Tea

2010-06-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

By Zap June 16, 2010, 08:05 ET

Next time you're feeling frazzled, cozy up to a nice warm cup of chamomile tea.

In a small study of people with anxiety, stress symptoms dropped by about 50 percent when German chamomile (Matricaria recutita) was taken daily for 8 weeks.

Calming Chamomile
In the study, people took anywhere from 220 to 1,100 milligrams of chamomile extract daily. But chamomile tea is another easy way to get a daily dose of this herbal remedy. Just steep 3 or 4 heaping tablespoons in hot water several times daily. And the nicest news of all? There were few side effects from chamomile in the small study; just one person experienced stomach upset. (Get answers to all your herbal-remedy concerns with this pageful of frequently asked questions.)

How Does It Work?
Researchers suspect that the flavonoids in chamomile could have something to do with the soothing effects. Or it could be that compounds in chamomile bind to the same receptors as antianxiety medications do. Chamomile may even affect the way certain brain chemicals act on nerves. Feeling stressed? Grab a cup of chamomile tea and double it up with one of these other soothers:

Tip: Muscle Foods

2010-06-15T17:03:00.000-07:00

Tip: Muscle Foods

The Truth About Your Food

2010-06-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

By David Zinczenko
Jun 11, 2010

Simpler is always better.

Think about it: Would you rather have your job made simpler, or more complicated? How about your relationship? Your finances? Those instructions to assembling your new IKEA bookshelf?

Simpler, right?

Okay, how about your diet? Wouldn't you prefer to make your diet simpler as well? Especially if you knew that simpler was also healthier? Then why do so many of us insist on choosing the most complicated foods we can find, when the simplest foods are always better?

Case in point: Let's say you had a choice between two seemingly similar products. Both had about the same number of calories, and had similar tastes. Based on these ingredient lists, which would you choose?

Beverage #1: Water; high fructose corn syrup; concentrated juices of orange, tangerine, apple, lime and/or grapefruit; citric acid; ascorbic acid; beta-carotene; thiamin hydrochloride; natural flavors; modified food starch; canola oil; cellulose gum; xanthan gum; sodium hexametaphosphate; sodium benzoate; yellow dyes #5 and 6.

Beverage #2: Fresh-squeezed orange juice.

If you picked beverage #2, you'd be getting three times the vitamin C and about one-eighth the sodium, as well as a nice hit of calcium. But if you picked #1, then you'd be getting a nutritional cocktail made up primarily of water and high fructose corn syrup, with a variety of scary surprises. (Canola oil?!)

Yet many of us pick #1 on a regular basis—those are the ingredients for Sunny Delight original, by the way—because we seem dead-set on complicating our diets. And complicated is always bad. Simpler is always better. (Speaking of nutritionally empty drinks, watch out for these gut-busters with ingredients most of us could never, ever pronounce—this shocking list of the 20 Worst Drinks in America. Take them in even as a weekly treat and you could be adding an extra pound or two of belly fat a month.)

Check out the four popular processed foods below. Each violates the Eat This, Not That! cardinal rule—which is to say, they're just too complicated. Wait till you discover some of the junk we found hiding in each.

What's Really In …
NACHO CHEESE DORITOS (11 chips)
150 calories
8 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
180 mg sodium

The concept is, well, sort of brilliant: Nachos and cheese without the hassle of a microwave. Or even a plate, for that matter. You just tear open the bag and start snarfing. And as a parting gift, Dorito's leave your fingers sticky with something that looks like radioactive bee pollen. Now here's the question: Do you have any clue what's in that stuff? Here you go:

To create each Dorito, the Frito-Lay food scientists draw from a well of 39 different ingredients. How many does it take to make a regular tortilla chip? About three. That means some 36 ingredients wind up in that weird cheese fuzz. Of those 36, only two are ingredients you'd use to make nachos at home: Romano and cheddar cheeses. Alongside those are a cache of empty carbohydrate fillers like dextrin, maltodextrin, dextrose, flour, and corn syrup solids. Then come a rotating cast of oils. Depending on what bag you get, you might find any combination of corn oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, and sunflower oil. Some of those will be partially hydrogenated, meaning they give the chip a longer shelf life and spike your heart with a little shot of trans fat. (The reason you won't see this on the nutrition label is that FDA guidelines allow food manufacturers to "round down" to zero.)

And then, after the fats and nutritionally empty starches, there's a seasoning blend, which includes things like sugar, "artificial flavoring," and a rather worrisome compound called monosodium glutamate. Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is the flavor enhancer largely responsible for the chip's addicting quality. The drawback is that it interferes with the production of an appetite-regulating hormone called leptin. A study of middle-aged Chinese people found a strong correlation between MSG consumption and body fat. What's more, the FDA receives new complaints every year from people who react violently to MSG, suffering symptoms like nausea, headaches, burning sensation, numbness, chest pains, dizziness, and so on. Talk about radioactive bee pollen.

What's Really In …
SUBWAY 9-GRAIN WHEAT (6")
210 calories
2 g fat (0.5 g saturated)
410 mg sodium

Okay, so you're probably not in the habit of ordering a la carte bread loaves at Subway, but there’s a good chance you've eaten at least a few sandwiches built on this bread. The good news is that Subway actually delivers on the nine-grain promise. The bad news: Eight of those nine grains appear in miniscule amounts. If you look at a Subway ingredient statement, you'll find every grain except wheat listed at the bottom of the list, just beneath the qualifier "contains 2% or less." In fact, the primary ingredient in this bread is plain old white flour, and high-fructose corn syrup plays a more prominent role than any single whole grain. Essentially this is a white-wheat hybrid with trace amounts of other whole grains like oats, barley, and rye.

So outside of the nine grains, how many ingredients does Subway use to keep this bread together? Sixteen, including such far-from-simple ingredients as DATEM, sodium steroyl lactylate, calcium sulfate, and azodiacarbonamide. But here's one that's a little unnerving: ammonium sulfate. This compound is loaded with nitrogen, which is why it's most common use is as fertilizer. You might have used it to nourish your plants at home. And Subway does the same thing; the ammonium sulfate nourishes the yeast and helps the bread turn brown. What, did you think that dark hue was the result of whole grains? Hardly. It's a combination of the ammonium sulfate and the caramel coloring. Seems like Jarod might frown on that sort of subterfuge.

Of course, in terms of calories, Subway's still one of your best allies in the sandwich game. But here's an even better idea: Whip up one of these 25 best sandwiches in America at home in minutes. You'll save calories, money, and precious time.

What's Really In …
ORIGINAL SKITTLES (1 pack)
250 calories
2.5 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
47 g sugars

They're sweet, chewy, and brightly colored. Now, what are they? Well, the basic formula for each chewy neon orb is a gross mashup of sugar, corn syrup, and hydrogenated palm kernal oil. That explains why every gram of fat is saturated and each package has more sugar than two twin-wrapped packages of Peanut Butter Twix.

So those three ingredients plus a few extra fillers are basically all it takes to get the general consistency and flavor, but to achieve that color spectrum, Skittles brings in a whole new list of additives. When a Skittles ad tells you to "taste the rainbow," what it's really telling you to do is taste the laboratory-constructed amalgam of nine artificial colors, many of which have been linked to behavioral and attention-deficit problems in children. A few years ago the British journal Lancet published a study linking the artificial additives to hyperactivity and behavioral problems in children, which prompted the Center for Science in the Public Interest to petition the FDA for mandatory labels on artificially colored products. The FDA's response: We need more tests.

In the meantime, there's a very large-scale test going on all across the country, and every Skittles eater is an unwilling participant. And that doesn't even factor in the blood-sugar roller coaster you go on when you ingest a Skittles' bag worth of sugar.

Of course, Skittles look like broccoli, nutritionally speaking, compared to the foods on our new must-know roundup of the 20 Worst Foods in America. Read how there could be more than a day's worth of calories, sugar, and heart-harming trans fats—in a single fast-food or chain-restaurant meal! (More importantly, learn what you should eat instead.)

What's Really In …
TACO BELL MEXICAN PIZZA
540 calories
30 g fat (8 g saturated)
1,020 mg sodium

It's Italian, it's Mexican, it's . . . well, it's got a whopping 64 different ingredients, so it's hard to tell just what exactly it is. On the face of it, this meal doesn't look too bad. There are two pizza shells, ground beef, beans, pizza sauce, tomatoes, and three cheeses. Nothing alarming, right? Even the nutritional vital signs, while high, compare favorably to most fast-food pizzas. It only gets scary when you zoom in on what it takes to stitch those pieces together. That's when you see all of those 64 smaller ingredients, including an astounding 24 in the ground beef alone. Yikes.

Now, some of those ingredients amount to little more than Mexican seasonings and spices, but there are also loads of complex compounds such as autolyzed yeast extract, maltodextrin, xanthan gum, calcium propionate, fumaric acid, and silicon dioxide. Any of those sound familiar? That last one might—if you've spent any time at the beach. But chances are you normally refer to it by its common name: sand.

That's right, sand is made from fragmented granules of rock and mineral, and the most common of them is silicon dioxide, or silica. This is also the stuff that helps strengthen concrete and—when heated to extreme temperatures—that hardens to create glass bottles and windowpanes.

So why exactly does Taco Bell put sand in the Mexican Pizza? To make it taste like spring break in Cancun? Not quite. As it turns out, Taco Bell adds silica to the beef to prevent it from clumping together during shipping and processing. The restaurant uses the same anti-caking strategy with the chicken, shrimp, and rice.

Is it unusual to add silica to food? Yes. Is it dangerous? Probably not. The mineral actually occurs naturally in all sorts of foods like vegetables and milk.

Even so, you can save hundreds of calories if you just make your pizza at home, with this simple recipe from our latest book, Cook This, Not That! Kitchen Survival Guide.

In fact, learn how to cook restaurant meals at home--and save up to 3 pounds a week!--with these 15 simple and delicious meals that can help you lose weight . . . fast! Discover favorite foods that can whittle your middle in just minutes a day.

6-story Jesus statue in Ohio struck by lightning

2010-06-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

MONROE, Ohio – A six-story statue of Jesus Christ was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, leaving only a blackened steel skeleton and pieces of foam that were scooped up by curious onlookers Tuesday.
The "King of Kings" statue, one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.
The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m. Monday, Monroe police dispatchers said.
The sculpture, about 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained Tuesday.
The nickname is the same used for a famous mural of the resurrected Jesus that overlooks the Notre Dame football stadium.
The fire spread from the statue to an adjacent amphitheater but was confined to the attic area, and no one was injured, police Chief Mark Neu said.
Estimated damage from the fire was set at $700,000 — $300,000 for the statue and $400,000 for the amphitheater, Fire Capt. Richard Mascarella said Tuesday.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol was at the scene Tuesday to prevent traffic jams and potential accidents from motorists stopping along the highway to take photographs.
The patrol began issuing citations about 4 p.m. Tuesday to motorists for stopping on the side of the highway, dispatcher Adam Brown said. The number of gawkers coupled with construction had slowed I-75 traffic in the area to a crawl, the state Highway Patrol said.
Some people were scooping up pieces of the statue's foam from the nearby pond to take home with them, said church co-pastor Darlene Bishop.
"This meant a lot to a lot of people," she said.
Keith Lewis, of nearby Middletown, arrived at the church around 7 a.m. Tuesday to photograph the remains for his wife. Lewis said he had viewed the statue as both an oddity and an inspiration.
Cassie Browning, a church member from Dayton, said she was driving home when she saw smoke and noticed the statue was missing.
Travelers on I-75 often were startled to come upon the huge statue by the roadside, but many said America needs more symbols like it. So many people stopped at the church campus that church officials had to build a walkway to accommodate them.
Bishop said the statue will be rebuilt.
"It will be back, but this time we are going to try for something fireproof," she said.
The 4,000-member, nondenominational church was founded by Bishop and her husband, former horse trader Lawrence Bishop.
Lawrence Bishop said in 2004 he was trying to help people, not impress them, with the statue. He said his wife proposed the Jesus figure as a beacon of hope and salvation.

Smoking: Truth and Consequences

2010-06-15T04:22:00.000-07:00

Yahoo Health June 15, 2010 15:23 ET
Thinking about giving up cigarettes? If you’ve tried before without success, you may feel unsure about whether you can quit for good. You may also wonder how to prepare for such a big change. Start by learning everything you can about the health risks of smoking. Then consider how kicking the habit will affect your health and life. Finally, arm yourself with the latest techniques that can help smokers quit. There are now more aids to help smokers become ex-smokers than ever before.

Up in smoke

When you smoke, toxins are carried by your blood to every organ in your body. At the same time, the carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke keeps red blood cells from carrying as much oxygen as normal. As a result, the cells throughout your body are deprived of the oxygen that they need to work properly, the American Lung Association (ALA) says.

Smoking increases the risk for these health problems:

* Weakened bones and hip fractures in older women

* Cancers of the blood, cervix, pancreas, stomach, kidneys, and bladder

* Cataracts

* Gum disease and tooth loss

* Damage to the immune system and increased risk for infection

* Fertility problems in women

* Peptic ulcers

* Pregnancy complications and premature birth

In the long run, cigarettes rob many smokers of life itself. People who smoke lose an average of 13 to 14 years from their life. Half of all lifetime smokers die early from smoking-related causes.

Positive effects

Despite these grim statistics, there’s good news, too. For one thing, it’s never too late to stub out that last cigarette. “Even if you’re a 70-year-old who has smoked for decades, you can reap benefits by quitting,” says Norman Edelman, M.D., chief medical officer of the ALA. These benefits start as soon as you quit. Within 20 minutes of quitting, your heart rate drops. Within 12 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood returns to normal. The longer you stay quit, the more benefits you’ll see. Within one year, your added risk for coronary heart disease will fall to half that of a smoker’s. Within 15 years, your risk is that of a nonsmoker.

If these health benefits don’t motivate you to quit, “then do it for those around you,” Dr. Edelman says. A 2006 Surgeon General’s report shows just how risky secondhand smoke can be. When adult nonsmokers are around cigarette smoke at home or work, their risk for lung cancer and heart disease rises by up to 30 percent. In babies and children, secondhand smoke can cause SIDS, respiratory problems, ear infections, and asthma attacks.

Most smokers want to quit

With all the evidence piling up, it’s little wonder why nearly 75 percent of all smokers say they want to quit. If you’re in that group, don’t be discouraged if you’ve tried to quit in the past and been unsuccessful. Most of today’s ex-smokers needed more than one try, too. Look at your past attempts as learning experiences. “Think about what made you go back to smoking last time and think about what you will do this time instead of smoking,” says Cathy Melvin, Ph.D., M.P.H. She's director of Smoke-Free Families, a national program that studies ways to help women quit smoking before, during and after pregnancy. “You learn something from each quit attempt that helps you do better on the next one.”

To quit for keeps this time, know your enemy. The nicotine in tobacco is very addictive. When you try to quit, the lack of nicotine can cause withdrawal symptoms:

* Dizziness

* Headache

* Fatigue

* Depression

* Increased appetite

* Trouble sleeping

* Irritability, restlessness, and difficulty concentrating

* Strong urges to smoke

Physically, your body is reacting to the lack of nicotine. Psychologically, your mind is struggling to give up the habit of smoking. Quit-smoking programs that work best combine medication with counseling and support. This combination can double your chances of quitting for good.

Prescription for change

Nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT) helps many people quit smoking. NRT gives you nicotine without the other harmful parts of tobacco smoke. NRT allows you to focus on changing your behavior. You can then wean your body off the nicotine. Five types of NRT products are available. Nicotine gums, patches, and lozenges can be bought over the counter. Nicotine sprays and inhalers are available by prescription. If you’re pregnant, or if you have heart disease, be sure to talk with your doctor before using one of these products.

Two non-nicotine medications have also been shown to help smokers quit. Bupropion (Zyban) affects brain chemicals involved in the craving for nicotine. Varenicline (Chantix) acts on parts of the brain that are affected by nicotine. This cuts the pleasurable effects of smoking and reduces withdrawal symptoms. Talk with your doctor about the best option for you.

Also ask about counseling and support programs. These programs can advise you about the best quit method to fit your needs and can provide encouragement to stay quit. Aside from your doctor, other sources for referrals include your local hospital, health department, or the American Cancer Society.

English Muffin-maker guards `nooks and crannies'

2010-06-15T04:18:00.000-07:00

Maryclaire Dale, Associated Press Writer, On Monday June 14, 2010, 6:31 am EDT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Chris Botticella knows the secret to those "nooks and crannies" in Thomas' English Muffins -- the way they cradle butter and jam, and after a good toasting, produce just the right crunch.

It's a secret that the muffins' makers have gone to great lengths to protect over 75 years, allowing it to rack up $500 million in sales annually of the toaster treats.

The company says only seven executives know all three parts of its winning formula for making the muffins -- including how much dough to use, the right amount of moisture and the proper way to bake them.

So it became alarmed and sued in January when Botticella, one of the trusted seven, decided to bolt and join rival Hostess, maker of Wonder Bread and Twinkies.

Hostess Brands Inc. doesn't make English muffins. But that doesn't matter to the lawyers seeking to protect the trademarked "nooks and crannies" in a U.S. baking industry where four major players duke it out on supermarket shelves.

"Botticella could produce an English muffin that might look a bit different, but that would nevertheless possess the distinctive taste, texture and flavor character that distinguish the Thomas' English Muffin and that have been the foundation of the product's success," they argued in a brief submitted to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Thomas' brand is owned by Mexican food conglomerate Grupo Bimbo SAB. Bimbo Bakeries USA, its Horsham, Pa.-based U.S. unit, says it has good reason to believe Botticella may expose the secret to how its muffins toast up crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Bimbo's lawyers say Botticella hid his new employment deal for months while attending high-level Bimbo meetings and debating strategies for competing with Hostess. They also accuse him of copying a dozen files onto a USB thumb drive in his final days, a charge he denies.

U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick issued an injunction in February barring Botticella, of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., from taking the job at Hostess until the court fight is settled, after finding his account of his actions dubious. Botticella appealed to the 3rd Circuit because he said he is unsure how long Hostess will hold the job open for him.

In depositions, the industry veteran has said he accepted the Hostess offer last fall but stayed at Bimbo through January so he could get his 2009 bonus. He said he'd grown frustrated in the $250,000-a-year job as Bimbo's vice president for operations for the western region so agreed to a $200,000 Hostess offer in Houston.

He argued the confidentiality agreement he signed was valid "only during his employment" and does not bar him from working for Irving, Texas-based Hostess, a privately held company.

Bimbo has other reasons to worry about his jump to Hostess. Botticella knows other secrets, as well; he had access to "code books" that spell out production formulas for other Bimbo products, such as its new line of Sandwich Thins.

The bread at stake is considerable.

Bimbo's parent had nearly $900 million in sales in the U.S. in the first quarter and its English Muffins are a big part of that, along with its tortillas, snacks and cookies. (Bimbo is a short version of the Spanish word bambino, or small child.)

Thomas' fans understand why the company is so protective of its "nooks and crannies."

"The butter melts and those craters catch the butter, or anything else, whether it's jam or honey," said Elise Bauer, who operates simplyrecipe.com and has been eating the muffins since she was a child. "The honey can swim in the butter. It doesn't drip through."

"You toast them and the tips of the craters get all toasty and brown," she said.

Robert McCarroll, who runs The Good Steer, a family restaurant on New York's Long Island, said that Thomas' English Muffins have been used to bookend its hamburgers since the eatery opened 53 years ago.

"We've been doing pretty much the same thing since 1957," he told The Associated Press.

"They add a nice consistency," he said. "The way they toast because of those nooks and crannies, it's an English Muffin and not just a round piece of bread."

In the Pennsylvania court case, the issue on the table is whether a leak must be inevitable or merely probable before the judges can stop Botticella from taking his a new job.

"It's a horrible situation he finds himself in," said one of his attorneys, Elizabeth K. Ainslie. "If the assistant coach of the Philadelphia Eagles moves to the Dallas Cowboys, is he supposed to forget all of the plays that he learned while at the Eagles?"

China syphilis infections up 30% each year: report

2010-06-13T23:24:00.000-07:00

Sat Jun 12, 2:31 am ET

BEIJING (AFP) – Rampant prostitution which has accompanied China's rapid economic growth is fuelling a 30 percent increase in syphilis infections each year, state media reported on Saturday.
Syphilis was almost wiped out in China 50 years ago, but has increased 10-fold over the past decade to emerge as one of the country's top five infectious diseases, the China Daily said, quoting the ministry of health.
The rate of mother-to-child transmissions jumped alarmingly to 57 cases per 100,000 newborns between 2003 and 2008, from a previous seven cases per 100,000, it said.
The report follows an article in the New England Journal of Medicine last month that said one child was born with syphilis in China each hour as infected men pass it onto their wives, who in turn pass it to their foetuses.
It added that at least a third of homosexual men were also married due to social pressures, further increasing transmission to spouses.
Syphilis is a bacterial infection which can be easily treated with antibiotics if diagnosed early, but if left untreated can lead to paralysis, blindness and death.
However, the spread of syphilis in China is further fuelled by a social stigma that discourages sufferers from seeking treatment, experts have said.
China had 32,000 new reported infections in May alone, including two deaths, the China Daily said.
China's rapidly growing economy has spurred huge population movements and a massive prostitution industry that have led to the resurgence of syphilis, the newspaper quoted experts saying.
"Massage parlours" and other venues for prostitution are ubiquitous in Chinese cities, despite it being illegal.
The newspaper said six million Chinese women were believed involved in the sex trade, but other independent estimates have put the figure twice as high.
No other country has seen such a rapid rise in syphilis cases since the discovery of penicillin, the New England Journal of Medicine article said.

How To Get Rid Of A Hickey

2010-06-13T22:59:00.000-07:00

Dating Humor:
How To Get Rid Of A Hickey

If someone has given you a hickey and you want to hide it, follow this VideoJug guide on how to get rid of a hickey. Potential embarrassment can be avoided when we reveal to you the simple secret to getting rid of a hickey.

You will need
Standard, AA or C-Size battery
A hickey

Step 1: Know Your Hickies
To remove a hickey, the first thing you need to is to determine whether or not a hickey-like mark on your neck really is a hickey, as opposed to a rash, bruise, or other ailment.

The way to do this is pretty basic: recall whether or not anyone recently kissed, sucked on, or had other lip contact with your neck.

If so, it's safe to say you have a hickey. If not, you probably have a rash, bruise, or other ailment. So you should consult your local heath-care professional to find out what's going on.

Step 2: The removal process
Pick it up, and locate the end with the negative charge – the flat one.

Now, rub the end of the battery against the hickey. Rub it fairly firmly, or it won't work. But not too firmly, or it'll look like you got bruised in a battery fight! If you feel too much pain, there will be no gain.

Keep rubbing firmly-but-not-too-firmly for a minute or two. Then, check your hickey. If it's gone, you're done. If it's better, but not completely gone, keep rubbing until it has disappeared - and your embarrassing love-mark problem has been solved.

New Theory for Life's First Energy Source

2010-06-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

Zoё Macintosh
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com – Sat Jun 12, 7:45 am ET

An obscure compound known as pyrophosphite could have been a source of energy that allowed the first life on Earth to form, scientists now say.
From the tiniest bacteria to the complex human body, all living beings require an energy-transporting molecule called ATP to survive. Often likened to a "rechargeable battery," ATP stores chemical energy in a form that can be used by organic matter.
"You need enzymes to make ATP, and you need ATP to make enzymes," said researcher Terence Kee of the University of Leeds in England. "The question is: Where did energy come from before either of these two things existed? We think that the answer may lie in simple molecules, such as pyrophosphate, which is chemically very similar to ATP, but has the potential to transfer energy without enzymes."
Obscure but important
Prior theories for how life emerged from mere chemistry have considered that a similar but separate compound known as pyrophosphate was the predecessor to the more complex yet more efficient ATP.
Phosphate has 4 oxygen atoms bound to a central phosphorus atom, and is present in all living cells. When two phosphates combine and lose a water molecule, they form pyrophosphate.
Pyrophosphite, on the other hand, is rarely encountered, chemist Robert Shapiro at New York University told Livescience. "Even in my Google search for it, I got the query: 'Don't you mean pyrophosphate?'"
The presence of "one or two thorny little problems" with its rival molecule [pyrophosphate] had left some unanswered questions, Kee said in a telephone interview.
The two main problems were that pyrophosphate didn't seem to be available in significant amounts in the geological mineral record, and it doesn't react well without catalysts (which weren't around then), according to Kee.
On the other hand, Kee's team has found that pyrophosphite would be "relatively straightforward to prepare from minerals that are known to exist in iron meteorites." The routes to the production of this molecule are simpler than those proposed for pyrophosphate, Kee said.
Though similarly produced through dehydration, and similar in composition except that it has some oxygen atoms replaced by hydrogen, pyrophosphite is rare. Only three pyrophosphite minerals exist, compared with "many phosphate minerals," Kee said.
The chemical's obscurity on Earth is not a sign of its irrelevance. It's highly unstable in today's oxygen-rich environment (meaning it breaks down into other molecules rapidly) but is a superior catalyst (jump-starter) for certain chemical reactions, Kee said, citing as-yet-unpublished evidence.
Lateral thinking
Kee called the altered theory "more a lateral thought process" than a "new concept."
"It is as little strange that pyrophosphite and its ability to act as a phosphorus-transfer agent have been known for some time but it has not been proposed previously as being of any pre-biotic significance," he said. "I suspect because noone had considered the need for it or that it may have been accessible pre-biotically."
Interestingly, machines that manufacture artificial DNA for experiments regularly use pyrophophite in their assembly process, Shapiro said.
The researchers detail their theory on pyrophosphate as life's first energy source in a recent issue of the journal Chemical Communications.

BP deploys deepsea sensors to better measure spill

2010-06-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

By RAY HENRY and BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writers – Sun Jun 13, 6:25 pm ET

NEW ORLEANS – BP mounted a more aggressive response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday as it deployed undersea sensors to better measure the ferocious flow of crude while drawing up new plans to meet a government demand that it speed up the containment effort ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to the coast.

The financial ramifications of the disaster are growing by the day as the White House and states put pressure on BP to set aside billions of dollars to pay spill-related claims in a move that could quickly drain the company's cash reserves and hasten its path toward possible bankruptcy.

BP was also trying to meet a Sunday deadline to respond to a letter from the Coast Guard demanding that it intensify the efforts to stop the spill. One of the actions BP took Sunday was to use robotic submarines to position sensors inside the well to gauge how much oil is spilling.

The robots were expected to insert the pressure sensors through a line used to inject methanol — an antifreeze meant to prevent the buildup of icelike slush — into a containment cap seated over the ruptured pipe, BP spokesman David Nicholas said.

BP was installing the sensors at the request of a federal team of scientists tasked with estimating the flow, Nicholas said. He did not know when the request was made.

Scientists haven't been able to pin down just how much oil is leaking into the Gulf, although the high-end estimates indicated the spill could exceed 100 million gallons. The government has stressed that the larger estimates were still preliminary and considered a worse-case scenario.

The Obama administration's point man on the oil spill, Adm. Thad Allen, on Sunday said government officials think the best figures are from a middle-of-the-road estimate, which would put the spill at around 66 million gallons of oil. That is about six times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill.

BP is currently capturing about 630,000 gallons of oil a day, but hundreds thousands more are still escaping into the Gulf. The company has said that it could begin siphoning an additional 400,000 gallons a day starting Tuesday by burning it using a specialized boom being installed on a rig — and any new success would be welcome news for Obama as he returns to the Gulf.

The president was scheduled to arrive in the Gulf on Monday for a two-day visit that will be followed by a nationally televised address to the American people on Tuesday and a sit-down with BP executives Wednesday. The crisis has already become a crucial test for the Obama presidency as it takes a greater toll on his image with each day that more oil gushes into the sea.

"We're at a kind of inflection point in this saga, because we now know that, what essentially what we can do and what we can't do, in terms of collecting oil, and what lies ahead in the next few months," senior adviser David Axelrod said on NBC's "Meet the Press. "And he wants to lay out the steps that we're going to take from here to get through this, through this crisis."

Obama wants an independent, third party to administer an escrow account paid for by BP to compensate those with "legitimate" claims for damages. The amount of money set aside will be discussed during talks this week between the White House and BP, but the request will most definitely be in the billions.

Louisiana's treasurer has told The Associated Press that it wants $5 billion. Florida said it wants $2.5 billion.

"We are aware of the request," said BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams in London. She declined to comment further.

BP could have to tap its cash reserve to pay the fund while also borrow money to comply. That, however, presents a potential problem because the company's borrowing costs are likely to be a lot higher due to investor concerns.

Oil again began washing up in heavy amounts along the shores of Orange Beach, Ala. on Sunday afternoon as the winds shifted, turning the surf into an oily red mixture that left brown stains at the surf line.

A plane flew along the coast pulling a sign that read: "Obama, 55 days. What's it gonna take?"

Earlier in the day, crews wearing rubber globes and boots used shovels to scoop up the oil, sand and tar ball mixture and put it into trash bags.

The disposal of oil-soaked dirt and sand is part of a broad effort playing out across the Gulf Coast to clean up the mess.

Waste Management received a contract from BP to transport waste produced by cleanup crews assigned to work the stretch of the coastline. Ken Haldin, a Waste Management spokesman, said Sunday that the company has designated 65 trucks and 535 containers that are being filled with solid oil waste.

Waste Management has designated three landfills in three different states that are operated by the company to handle the oily refuse. Haldin noted that before the refuse is dumped, it has to be analyzed by both the waste removal company and by local government environmental authorities to make sure it is nonhazardous.

Waste Management also is handling some of the liquid waste skimmed from the ocean by cleanup crews, and has set up special equipment, including vacuum trucks, along the docks that separates oil from the water. Once separated, the oil will be resold to oil services companies.

"This is a major mobilization effort," noted Haldin.

Earn While you are doing online stuff.

2010-06-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

by: Nestor Mamon, June 13, 2010

Most probably all of us want to earn while spending our time on the net. While you're checking emails, waiting on your buddy to be online on Facebook, doing online games or other internet stuff. Why not do something productive, something that makes you excited to be online everyday. Try this every click counts. http://bux.to/?r=board2box

Mouth Cancer Prognosis Improves When Cervical Cancer Virus Involved

2010-06-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

Mon Jun 7, 11:48 pm ET

MONDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) -- For patients battling a type of cancer that affects the back of the mouth, the chances of survival increase if the tumor contains the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, new research shows.
In fact, the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most important predictor of survival in oropharyngeal cancer, researchers from the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James) found.
"Previous studies indicated a relationship existed between the presence or absence of HPV in oropharyngeal tumors and patient survival, but they couldn't determine if other favorable factors present in these patients were responsible for their better outcome," lead author Dr. Maura Gillison, an OSUCCC-James medical oncologist and head and neck cancer specialist, said in a news release.
"These findings close the door on these questions," Gillison added, "and will allow the field to move forward with clinical trials designed to determine how we should use molecular and behavioral factors to personalize therapy for patients."
The report was published online June 7 in the New England Journal of Medicine, to coincide with presentation of the findings Monday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, in Chicago.
The authors noted that a patient's lifetime smoking history was the second leading predictor of survival for this particular form of cancer.
The finding stems from a three-year post-treatment analysis of tumors and survival rates among 323 patients diagnosed with stage 3 or stage 4 oropharyngeal cancer, among whom 206 had HPV-positive tumors while 117 had HPV-negative tumors.
More than 80 percent of those with HPV-positive tumors remained alive three years after treatment, the authors found, while the same was true for just 57 percent of those with HPV-negative tumors.
Other potential factors -- such as being younger, being white, having more energy, lacking anemia, and/or having a smaller tumor size -- accounted for just 10 percent of the survival rate differences, the team concluded.
On the other hand, smoking did register as a serious risk factor for poor survival chances, for both HPV-positive and HPV-negative patients, the study found. In fact, the risk for dying from the disease or experiencing a relapse rose 1 percent for every year that patients had smoked one pack per day.
The study authors said more research is needed before being able to discern exactly how doctors might best make use of such survival factor information when designing a patient's treatment plan. However, knowing a patient's HPV status and smoking history should be considered central --alongside knowing what stage the patient's cancer is at -- to any decision-making process regarding which treatment strategy to utilize and how aggressively it should be administered, the authors noted.

More information

For more on oropharyngeal cancer, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute.