~cepatnye ari isnin~
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Sunday, May 9, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
THE TRUTH ABOUT BOTTLED WATER
1. It may actually just be tap water. Dasani, for example, is just tap water that's been purified and had extra minerals added in.
2. It's not always pure. One study found that many bottled water brands contained chemical contaminants above safe levels.
3. That bottle may not be worth the convenience. It's possible that toxic chemicals in the plastic bottles can leech into the water-maybe not at overtly harmful levels, but why would you want to take a chance?
4. Bottled water may be driving up oil prices and harming the environment. 17 million barrels of oil per year are used in the production of water bottles. And most of those bottles (nearly 90 percent) are simply tossed in the trash, not recycled.
The bottom line? Water from your tap, though it may need a trip through an extra filter to get the taste you like, is clean, healthy and better for the environment (and possibly your health) than bottled water.
- THE TRUTH ABOUT BOTTLED WATER
2. It's not always pure. One study found that many bottled water brands contained chemical contaminants above safe levels.
3. That bottle may not be worth the convenience. It's possible that toxic chemicals in the plastic bottles can leech into the water-maybe not at overtly harmful levels, but why would you want to take a chance?
4. Bottled water may be driving up oil prices and harming the environment. 17 million barrels of oil per year are used in the production of water bottles. And most of those bottles (nearly 90 percent) are simply tossed in the trash, not recycled.
The bottom line? Water from your tap, though it may need a trip through an extra filter to get the taste you like, is clean, healthy and better for the environment (and possibly your health) than bottled water.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Best and Worst Brain Foods
If you want to make the right decisions in confusing times—Time to refinance? Explore a different career? Root for the singing spinster or the 12-year-old?—you need to pay special attention to what you eat. That’s right: Your grocery list can help with your to-do list. That’s because the right foods are a kind of clean-burning fuel for your body’s biggest energy hog: Your brain. A study in the Journal of Physiology makes the point that, though your brain represents only 2 percent of your body weight, it makes 20 percent of the energy demands on your resting metabolism.
On this article, I rounded up the best foods to munch on when you need a mental boost—and found studies that show, in fact, that you can be up to 200 percent more productive if you make the right eating choices. Stock up on these items to halt mental decline, jog your memory, sharpen your senses, improve your performance, activate your feel-good hormones, and protect your quick-witted sharpness, whether you’re 15, 40—or not admitting to any age whatsoever!
FOR SHORT-TERM MEMORY
Drink This!: COFFEE
Fresh-brewed joe is the ultimate brain fuel. Caffeine has been shown to retard the aging process and enhance short-term memory performance. In one study, British researchers found that just one cup of coffee helps improve attention and problem-solving skills.
Not
That!: ENERGY DRINKS/TOO MUCH COFFEE
Ever heard of the concept “too much of a good thing”? If you OD on caffeine—too
many cups, a jolt of caf from the late afternoon onward, a Red Bull cocktail—it
can mess with your shuteye schedule. Sleep is reboot time for your mental
computer, and you don’t want to mess with it.
FOR
LONG-TERM MEMORY
Eat This!: BLUEBERRIES
Antioxidants
in blueberries help protect the brain from free-radical damage and cut your
risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. They can also improve cognitive
processing (translation: thinking). Wild blueberries, if you can find them,
have even more brain-boosting antioxidants than the cultivated variety, so book
that vacation in Maine now. The berries will ripen in July.
Not
That!: THE UNRIPE AND UNREADY
Here’s a cool tip: if your favorite berries are out of season, buy them frozen.
The freezer locks in peak flavor and nutrients, so the berries’ antioxidant
capacity is maxed out. Those pale, tough, and expensive off-season berries
usually ripen on a truck, rather than on the bush, so they’re nutritional
imposters compared to the real thing.
TO
THINK FASTER
Eat This!: SALMON OR MACKEREL
If
the Internal Revenue Service picks you for some up-close-and-personal auditing,
you’ll want to be on your toes when they vet your deductions list. So put
salmon or mackerel on the grocery list. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty
fishes are a primary building block of brain tissue, so they’ll amp up your
thinking power. Salmon is also rich in niacin, which can help ward off
Alzheimer’s disease and slow the rate of cognitive decline.
Not
That!: FULL-FAT ICE CREAM
Not all fats are created equal: Beware foods high in saturated fats, which can
clog blood vessels and prevent the flow of nutrients and blood to the brain.
Ice cream is not a brain-health food.
TO
ENERGIZE:
Eat This!: HIGH-PROTEIN SALAD WITH VINAIGRETTE(is a mixture of salad oil and vinegar)
The
oil in the dressing will help slow down digestion of protein and carbs in the
salad, stabilizing blood-sugar levels and keeping energy levels high. Build
your salad on a bed of romaine and spinach for an added boost in riboflavin,
and add chicken and a hard-boiled egg for more energizing protein.
Not
That!: PANCAKES OR BAGELS
MIT
researchers analyzed blood samples from a group of people who had eaten either
a high-protein or a high-carbohydrate breakfast. Two hours after eating, the
carb eaters had tryptophan levels four times higher than those of the people
who had eaten protein. The tryptophan in turkey is one of the reasons you crawl
off for an afternoon nap after Thanksgiving dinner. So watch what you gobble.
TO
CALM DOWN
Eat This!: LOW-FAT YOGURT OR MIXED NUTS
Scientists
in Slovakia gave people 3 grams each of two amino acids—lysine and arginine—or
a placebo, and asked them to deliver a speech. Blood measurements of stress
hormones revealed that the amino acid-fortified guys were half as anxious
during and after the speech as those who took the placebo. Yogurt is one of the
best food sources of lysine; nuts pack loads of arginine.
Not
That!: SODA
TO
CONCENTRATE
Eat This!: PEPPERMINT TEA
Not
That!: CANDY
Sugary
foods incite sudden surges of glucose that, in the long term, cause sugar highs
and lows, leading to a fuzzy state of mind. So you’ll need to avoid all the
attention-busting sugar bombs on this list of the 20 most sugar-packed foods in
America.
FOR
GOOD MOODS AND GRINS
Eat This! ARUGULA OR SPINACH SALAD
Leafy
greens—arugula, chard, spinach—are rich sources of B vitamins, which are key
components on the assembly line that manufactures feel-good hormones such as
serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.
Not
That!: WHITE CHOCOLATE
White
chocolate isn’t chocolate at all, since it contains no cocoa solids. So it
won’t stimulate the euphoria-inducing mood boosters like serotonin, as real
chocolate does. Grab the real thing, the darker the better. More cacao means
more happy chemicals and less sugar, which will eventually pull you down.
FOR
SHARPER SENSES
Eat This!: 1 TBSP OF GROUND FLAXSEED DAILY
Flax is the best source of alphalinoleic, or ALA—a healthy fat that improves
the workings of the cerebral cortex, the area of the brain that processes
sensory information, including that of pleasure. To meet your quota, sprinkle
it on salads or mix it into a smoothie or shake.
Not
That!: ALCOHOL
This
one’s obvious, but worth mentioning anyway. A drink or two can increase arousal
signals, but more than that will actually depress your nervous system. This
makes you sloppy, not sharp.
- Best and Worst Brain Foods
On this article, I rounded up the best foods to munch on when you need a mental boost—and found studies that show, in fact, that you can be up to 200 percent more productive if you make the right eating choices. Stock up on these items to halt mental decline, jog your memory, sharpen your senses, improve your performance, activate your feel-good hormones, and protect your quick-witted sharpness, whether you’re 15, 40—or not admitting to any age whatsoever!
FOR SHORT-TERM MEMORY
Drink This!: COFFEE
A
study from the American Journal of Public Health found that people who drink 2½
cans of soda daily are three times more likely to be depressed and anxious,
compared with those who drink fewer. So Mountain Dew is a Mental Don’t.
The scent of peppermint helps you focus and boosts performance, according to
researchers. Need to reach Chicago before nightfall, and you’re stuck in
traffic around Cleveland? One study found that peppermint makes drivers more
alert and less anxious.
According to a study published in the
Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, a lack of B6 can cause nervousness,
irritability, and even depression.
- articles-men's health
- wikipedia.
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