Women on a diet or women who are conscious of their weight and figure always display a certain fear of chocolate. They avoid it like plague, thinking that the sugar and the calories that chocolate contains will make their diet and weight-loss plans go haywire. And yet, when things go wrong and they are feeling down, they go and raid the fridge and gobble on as much chocolate as they can. When these women come to their senses later on, they feel horribly guilty and try to burn the sugar and calories gained from the binge.
Chocolate is a feel-good food; it is always associated with feelings of comfort and love. It is sweet and melts deliciously in the mouth. It induces the production of endorphins in the body, endorphins being hormones that reduce the feelings of pain in the body and makes the body feel pleasure in its stead. Chocolates are often given to children as rewards for good behavior. A lover (or a potential lover) gives a woman a box of chocolates to show his affection.
Given that chocolates do contain sugar and calories that dieting women find highly undesirable, should we women fear chocolate? The answer to this is that they should not. Eating chocolate is not something to be feared or avoided as if one�s life depends on not seeing a piece of that brown, melt-in-the-mouth sweet. Chocolate is not known to be physiologically addictive. Whatever cravings chocolate induces in a woman is all in her mind. In fact, chocolate can be beneficial, if eaten in the correct manner.
So, how should we women eat and enjoy chocolate without feeling even an iota of fear or guilt? Simply put, chocolate should be eaten in small amounts, and the experience of eating chocolate should be savored.
Chocolate should be eaten as a treat rather than a snack. If one is feeling hungry, she should eat a proper meal or a snack that is not loaded on calories. Eating chocolate when one is hungry only leads to bingeing. Besides, research has proven that consuming chocolate when one is not hungry lessens the craving for it.
Another thing about eating chocolate is that it should be eaten slowly. Chocolate should be eaten for the pure pleasure of it, so it should be savored. Feeling guilty about eating chocolate will only make the person eat it faster and consume more. One cannot taste chocolate, or anything for that matter, if it is eaten far too quickly, and one will only end up wanting more.
A third thing to remember about eating chocolate is that less is more. One will get more pleasure out of eating a small piece of dark chocolate than from a cookie laden with chocolate chips, simply because there is more chocolate in a small bar than in a cookie. If you are going to take in calories from chocolate, there is no point to adding more to your calorie count by eating something else with the chocolate.
Lastly, chocolates should be kept in a place that is not easily accessible so one would not give in to a sudden binge if the cravings hit her. It should be stored where it is not always in one�s line of sight.
Chocolates are not to be feared. They are comfort foods and should be considered as a treat and a reward to one�s self. Chocolates are good.
Walking saves you money
This is clear and apparent. If you use your car, at the very least, it will cost you petrol. And then there’s the wear and tear that it puts on your car, especially short hops in traffic. There’s also the increased possibility that you will do some expensive damage to your car if you are involved in a collision. If you walk to the shops to run your errands, you are also less likely to buy excess stuff, since you only have two hands to carry it with. If you cut down on a few trips in your car, it will save money that can be put towards the more important things in your life.
Walking saves your health
If you are walking somewhere, I can pretty much guarantee that you will be using some calories. You will also be using your heart and lungs to work a bit harder, keeping them maintained in better condition. If you cut down on a few trips in your car, it will improve your fitness and will probably make your happier.
Walking saves the planet
Transport is a major contributor to the excessive levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Burning petrol in an internal combustion engine emits xx, yy and zz chemicals that befoul the very air that you breathe. If you cut down on a few trips in your car it will make a difference to the planet that we live on - and the difference will be increased if you start encouraging others to do the same.
Get out of your cars and walk. Pass it on.
by
http://plonkee.com
Stories on the health benefits of consuming cocoa products have increasingly made the news following the discovery that they are an excellent source of catechins, which are polyphenols of the flavanol group, and which are believed to protect against heart disease, cancer, and various other medical conditions.
Chocolate manufacturers and retailers have been taking advantage of these findings by not only trying to make chocolate lovers feel less guilty about their addiction, but also by trying to target the more health-conscious consumer with regular doses of "research studies" praising the supposed benefits of
consuming chocolate, among them that:
• eating chocolate releases endorphins in the brain, which act as pain-relievers,
• eating chocolate boosts one's appetite, but does not cause weight gain,
• the sugar in chocolate may reduce stress and have a calming and pain relieving effect,
• eating chocolate does not give someone acne or other skin eruptions,
• eating chocolate does not trigger migraine headaches,
• eating moderate amounts of chocolate makes one live almost a year longer,
• eating chocolate reduces the risk of heart disease and cancer.
How reliable are all this?
Taking a closer look, one discovers that once the studies funded by chocolate interest groups were
discarded, the ones left offered conflicting results. As expected however, some isolated compounds in cocoa did show certain health benefits. Because it is a common practice in nutritional research to do studies on food fractions, outcomes may sometimes appear negative because they are done without any co-factors or complexed nutrients, however in the case of cocoa, some of the research was positive because the "co-factors" (all the other detrimental ingredients in chocolate) were not part of the study.
If people were to consume pure cocoa, then they might indeed be able to enjoy a few health benefits, including a positive effect on blood pressure and glucose metabolism, however the majority of people eat processed chocolate with all the other less desirable ingredients (i.e. added sugar, corn syrup, milk fats / dairy cream, hydrogenated oils, etc...), and where the actual cocoa content may be less than 20%, so all the bets regarding chocolate being a healthy food are off.
With claims made of sugar having a "pain-relieving" effect (babies fed a sucrose solution felt less pain from needles), it is doubtful that we will see chocolate bars replacing conventional analgesics any time soon, nor are these same "researchers" making these sugar-promoting claims likely going to reach for a chocolate bar next time they suffer from a throbbing toothache, a pounding headache, or a kidney stone attack. While cocoa and sugar do not "cause" acne, the sugar present in chocolate will most certainly make acne, or any other acne-like skin eruptions worse, as anyone suffering from these skin conditions can attest to.
Placebo-controlled trials showed that some of the chemicals in chocolate (caffeine, phenylethylamine, or theobromine) can indeed trigger migraine headaches by altering cerebral blood flow and releasing norepinephrine in some of those prone to suffer from migraines. Of all the foods isolated that triggered the most attacks, chocolate was an offender about 30% of the time. Claiming that "eating moderate amounts of chocolate increases one's life span" is a most interesting example of how some "researchers" will manipulate statistics to prove anything!
"Chocolate-Is-Good-For-You" campaigns through the media or the prominent placement of leaflets
at confectionery counters keep feeding the consumer "made-to-order" research results whose outcome is predetermined to satisfy an agenda (i.e. selling chocolate), with little relevance to science or facts. Considering that nicotine has also shown some health benefits, particularly with ulcerative colitis and Parkinson's disease --- would this be a reason to urge people to start smoking tobacco?
From a nutritional perspective - chocolate is no less a junk food than ice cream or donuts, and it is equally unhealthy and fattening when larger amounts are consumed on a regular basis. While no one is trying to discourage people from enjoying an occasional chocolate treat - urging consumers to increase their chocolate intake for "Health Reasons" leaves nutritional research less than credible, particularly when diabetes and obesity have become an out-of-control global problem.
Premium grade dark chocolate contains only cocoa butter, a fat that naturally occurs in cocoa beans and is made up of stearic acid (34%), oleic acid (34%), palmitic acid (25%), and the rest of other fatty
acids, whereby the combined effect of all the fats found in cocoa butter is fairly neutral in regard to an individual's lipid profile. However, when milk chocolate or lower grade chocolate is consumed, part of the total fat content of chocolate comes from milk fat or various other types of fat, which do adversely affect cholesterol levels.
Despite all the good news on cocoa not raising LDL cholesterol, even dark chocolate is a very calorie- dense food, so while the fat content may not invite cardiovascular disease from an atherogenic (arterial clogging) perspective, its regular consumption will add a lot of extra calories to someone's daily total, and as a result still affect those who have to watch their caloric intake. Nevertheless, being listed as the
No.1 ingredient in many chocolate products, sugar is unquestionably a worse culprit compared to the fat content when addressing the effects of chocolate on someone's overall health.
Sugar is a well-known cause, contributing, or aggravating factor with a host of medical conditions that includes heart disease, insulin and blood sugar disorders, mood disorders, immune system disorders, impaired phagocytosis, leukemia, inflammatory conditions, dental caries, yeast infections, depletion of essential nutrients, osteoporosis, obesity, and others. (see also Acu-Cell "Sugar & Glycemic Index").
Cocoa products also contain stimulants such as phenylethylamine, which have an anti-depressant and
amphetamine-like effect; they contain pharmacological substances such as n-acetylethanolamines that are related to cannabis (marijuana), and they have compounds that stimulate the brain to release an opiate-like substance called anandamide. When drugs are used to block the brain's opiate receptors, the desire for chocolate (and other sweet and fatty foods) disappears - confirming the addictive nature of these types of foods.
But despite cocoa being such an opiate and endorphin-releasing pharmacological powerhouse, who
would have guessed that when chocoholics were given cocoa in capsules - without the added fat and
sugar, and without the feel of chocolate melting in their mouths - it had no satisfying effect at all! However, while eating the actual chocolate bar satisfied the cravings for it, studies showed that there was no improvement with mood, relaxation, feeling content, depression, or guilt, after eating chocolate.
Copyright © 2001-2008 Ronald Roth
http://www.acu-cell.com
Vitamin A is a family of compounds that play an important role in vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division, and cell differentiation. We get vitamin A from a variety of sources. Two of the most common are retinol and beta-carotene.
Retinol is sometimes called "true" vitamin A because it is nearly ready for the body to use. Retinol is found in such animal foods as liver, eggs, and fatty fish. It can also be found in many fortified foods, such as breakfast cereals, and in dietary supplements.
Beta-carotene is a precursor for vitamin A. The body needs to convert it to retinol or vitamin A for use. Beta-carotene is found naturally in plant foods, mostly orange and dark green ones such as carrots, sweet potatoes, mangos, and kale.
The body stores both retinol and beta-carotene in the liver, drawing on this store whenever more vitamin A is needed.
Vitamin A is essential for good health. It promotes growth, the immune system, reproduction, and vision. However, recent research suggests that too much vitamin A, particularly in the form of retinol, may be bad for your bones. This fact sheet explains where we get vitamin A, how much of this important vitamin we need, how it can build up in the body to excessive levels, and how you can assess your own vitamin A intake.
How Much Vitamin A Do I Need?
The Institute of Medicine developed the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin A (retinol). The recommended intakes are listed in International Units (IU) in the table.
The body can convert beta-carotene into vitamin A to help meet these requirements. While there is no RDA for beta-carotene, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements recommends eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day, including dark green and leafy vegetables and deep yellow/orange fruits to get appropriate amounts of beta-carotene.
How Does Vitamin A Affect My Bones?
Vitamin A is a family of fat-soluble compounds that play an important role in vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division, and cell differentiation. Vitamin A is important for healthy bones. However, too much vitamin A has been linked to bone loss and an increase in the risk of hip fracture. Scientists believe that excessive amounts of vitamin A trigger an increase in osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone. They also believe that too much vitamin A may interfere with vitamin D, which plays an important role in preserving bone.
Retinol is the form of vitamin A that causes concern. In addition to getting retinol from their diets, some people may be using synthetic retinoid preparations that are chemically similar to vitamin A to treat acne, psoriasis, and other skin conditions. These preparations have been shown to have the same negative impact on bone health as dietary retinol. Use of these medications in children and teens has also been linked to delays in growth.
Beta-carotene, on the other hand, is largely considered to be safe and has not been linked to adverse effects in bone or elsewhere in the body.
Are Some People At Special Risk of Getting Too Much Vitamin A?
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) found high levels of retinol in 5 to 10 percent of the survey participants. These increased levels were more common in men over the age of 30 and women over the age of 50.
Older people who regularly take dietary supplements containing vitamin A may be at higher risk of getting too much vitamin A.
Studies suggest that taking dietary supplements is a common practice among many seniors. However, the routine use of vitamin A supplements, as well as fortified foods, in older men and women is increasingly being questioned. Older adults are at significant risk for osteoporosis and related fractures, and their serum (blood) levels of retinol increase with age. As a result, fortified foods and supplements containing vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene may be a better choice for bone health in this population.
The supplement label provides information about how much vitamin A is provided, in both International Units and as a percentage of the RDA. The list of ingredients will contain information about which forms of vitamin A are included. Other names for retinol include retinyl, palmitate, and retinyl acetate.
Mental health is about how we think, feel and behave. One in four people in the UK have a mental health problem at some point in their lives that affects their daily life, relationships or physical health.
Mental health problems can affect anyone, regardless of age, race, gender or social background. Without care and treatment, mental health problems can have a serious affect on the individual and those around them. Every year more than 250,000 people are admitted to psychiatric hospitals and over 4,000 people commit suicide.
Mental health disorders take many different forms and affect people in different ways. Schizophrenia, depression and personality disorders are all types of mental health problem. Diseases such as Alzheimers and dementia generally develop in old age, whereas eating disorders are more common in young people.
There is no single cause of mental health problems; the reasons they develop are as complex as the individual. Mental health problems are more common in certain groups, for example, people with poor living conditions, those from ethnic minority groups, disabled people, homeless people and offenders. Sometimes people with mental health problems are discriminated against. This can lead to social problems such as homelessness, and may make the mental health problem worse.
Particular mental health problems are also more common in certain people. For example, women are more likely than men to have anxiety disorders and depression. Drug and alcohol addictions are more common in men, and men are also more likely to commit suicide.
Mental health problems can also develop from difficult life events, such as moving house, losing your job or the death of someone special. Drinking too much alcohol over a long period of time, and using illegal drugs can contribute to mental health problems, particularly in people who are already vulnerable.
People with mental health problems need help and support to enable them to cope with their illness. There are many treatment options, including medication, counselling, psychotherapy, complementary therapies and self help strategies. It is important that people with mental illnesses are told about the options available so they can make a decision about what treatment suits them best.
Another important step in the recovery process is for the person to accept that they are ill, and to want to get better. This can take time and it is important for family and friends to be supportive. There are also many support groups and charities that offer advice, confidential counselling and information about the types of treatment available and where to get help.
http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk
Microcephaly is a rare neurological disorder in which the circumference of an infant's head is significantly smaller than average for children of the same age and sex. Microcephaly may be present at birth (congenital) or develop later in infancy.
Microcephaly usually occurs when the brain fails to grow at a normal rate. As a result, the child's skull doesn't enlarge to its normal size. This disorder is often associated with mental retardation.
Causes of microcephaly may include:
* Fetal alcohol syndrome
* Decreased oxygen to the fetal brain (cerebral anoxia) due to pregnancy complications or complications during delivery
* Craniosynostosis — the premature fusing of the joints (sutures) between the bony plates that form an infant's skull
* Chromosomal abnormalities
* Infections of the fetus during pregnancy, such as toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, German measles (rubella) or chickenpox (varicella)
In most cases, there's no specific treatment for microcephaly. Treatment is usually directed at managing the signs and symptoms associated with the disorder. If microcephaly due to craniosynostosis is detected early, treatment may include surgical opening of the sutures to let the brain grow normally.
If you're concerned about the size of your child's head, talk to your doctor. Doctors use growth rate charts — similar to those for height and weight — to compare your child's head circumference with that of other children of the same age and sex.
It's important to note that heads with circumferences in the 3rd, 2nd and even 1st percentiles are just small heads. Microcephaly is a head circumference that is significantly below the 1st percentile.
from
http://www.mayoclinic.com
