41% Women Says that Chocolate is Better than Sex

Reuters said that among women, 36 percent considered chocolate as comforting and 41 percent said it brought them more pleasure than sex. Women are a bunch of mystery, aren't they? Men, who were in majority felt that nothing better than sex wouldn't understand it.
Studies show that a vast majority of people see chocolate -- mainly produced by international giants such as Swiss-based Nestle, Britain's Cadbury or U.S. Kraft Foods -- as one of their most regular sources of pleasure.
Research has demonstrated that when a person eats chocolate, the body releases dopamine, a chemical in the brain's reward centers that sends signals of pleasure.
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Benefits of Walking : a Study

Adding my post about walking planning for health, and an idea of walking to work, comparing running to walking, now I want to add some benefits of walking.
As a matter of face, University of Copenhagen researchers asked 10 volunteers to reduce their steps from an average of 10,500 per day to 1,300 (10,000, or roughly 5 miles, is considered ideal. The participants’ belly-fat levels increased by 7 percent after just two weeks of cutting back. Study authors say that skipping the gym doesn’t cause obesity; being sedentary is the real issue. “
It is nice to know that you can get the benefits of exercise by keeping physically busy and just walking. So next time take the stairs instead of the elevator or park your car a little further away and walk-the benefits really do add up.
So, what do you wait for. Start today. Or perhaps you need to read that exercise is one important element for happy life?
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Eat Grapes: It may lower your blood pressure

Reuters released a report about a findings, published in the Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, that grapes might help people with high blood pressure. It was a sponsored research by California grapes producers. tested to some lab rats.

"The inevitable downhill sequence to hypertension and heart failure was changed by the addition of grape powder to a high-salt diet," Dr. Steven Bolling, the head of University of Michigan lab. He thought that flavonoids, beneficial chemicals found in grapes, green tea, cocoa and tomatoes, could be having an effect on blood pressure. Flavonoids have been shown in other studies to have heart-health benefits.

The California Table Grape Commission provided financial support for the study and supplied the grape powder. Other sponsors included the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, can lead to heart attack, heart failure, stroke and kidney failure.
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The Immediate Cause of Death

The NYTIMES Blog published a "funny" story about the death certificate titled The Immediate Cause of Death.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the leading causes of death among those ages 65 and over are, in descending order, heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, influenza, kidney disease, accidents and infection.
Maybe so. But that’s because people are not allowed to die of old age — at least, old age cannot be listed as the cause of death on the official documents, according to both the C.D.C. and the World Health Organization, repositories of the world’s mortality statistics.
Why on earth, a single disease should be judge for a cause of death with others looked as a minor elements. But we never allow a man or woman dies of old age.
Neither should “infirmity” or “senescence” appear as a cause of death, according to the C.D.C. handbook on how properly to fill out a death certificate. Why? These words “have little value for public health or medical research,” the agency says. Plus, “Age is recorded elsewhere on the [death] certificate.”
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Eat Quickly, and Get Overweight Risk Three Times

Reuters wrote a reporrt that those who eat quickly until full are three times more likely to be overweight, a problem exacerbated by the availability of fast food and the decline of orderly dining habits, Japanese researchers said on Wednesday.
The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, highlight how eating styles, and not just what or how much is eaten, can contribute to an obesity epidemic fueled by the spread of Western-style affluence in many parts of the world.
Hiroyasu Iso and colleagues at Osaka University asked more 3,000 Japanese volunteers aged 30 to 69 about their eating. Those who said they ate until full and ate quickly were three times more likely to be fat than people in the "not eating until full and not eating quickly" group, the researchers found.
The conclusion of this result can be that parents should encourage their kids to eat slowly and in calm surroundings. Now you know it, huh ..
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Junk Foods raise heart attack by 35 percents

Reuters reported a research on Monday October, 25 that diets heavy in fried foods, salty snacks and meat account for about 35 percent of heart attacks globally.
Their study of 52 countries showed that people who ate a diet based on meat, eggs and junk food were more likely to have heart attacks, while those who ate more fruits and vegetables had a lower risk.
The study supports previous findings that show junk food and animal fats can cause heart disease, and especially heart attacks.
People who ate more fruits and vegetables had a 30 percent lower risk of heart attack compared to people who ate little or none of these foods, they found. Vice versa, People eating a high loads of fried and salty snack diet had a 35 percent greater risk of heart attack compared to people who consumed little or no fried foods and meat.
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Exercise as an important element for happiness

No, it is not if you have enough exercise you will be healthy. I mean, nothing wrong with that. But there is a direct impact from exercise to your happiness and cheering mood.
Doctors from Nottingham Trent University suggest the chemical phenylethylamine could play a part. Phenylethylamine is a naturally produced chemical that has been linked to the regulation of physical energy, mood and attention. An enzyme changes the chemical into phenylacetic acid. There is evidence that levels of both substances are low in the biological fluids of depressed patients.
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Financial Crisis = Loss Jobs = Heart Attack

It is very sad to imagine worse financial crisis. The crisis leads to an extensive unemployment globally. In this journal, it is known that job losses increase the heart attack prevalence. Be healthy, it is more valuable than your lost job.

Losing your job late in your career doubles the chance of suffering a heart attack or stroke, a study says. Yale University researchers studied 4,301 people aged 51 to 61 who were working in 1992, the research, printed in the Occupational and Environmental Medicinejournal claimed. Of the sample group over 10 years, there were 23 heart attacks and 13 strokes among the group of 582 who were forced out of a job.

Lead researcher Dr William Gallo said: "For many individuals, late career job loss is an exceptionally stressful experience, with the potential for provoking numerous undesirable outcomes. I don't think it is necessarily because of the age, but rather related to the problems people over 50 have finding jobs of equivalent standard because of the ageism in the workplace.
"Based on our results, the true costs of unemployment exceed the obvious economic costs and include substantial health consequences as well."

In total, 202 had heart attacks and 140 had strokes from all the groups studied, which included those who had lost their jobs involuntarily, retired, taken a temporary break from work or were still employed. Once risk factors such as diabetes, smoking, obesity and high blood pressure were taken into account, the risk of the involuntary job loss group having a heart attack after losing their job was 2.5% and a stroke 2.4%.

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The Pains Come from Office Jobs

The New York Times reported pains that came from office job.

• Persistent pain from repetitive strain injury occurs most frequently among workers who do heavy manual handling tasks.
• Neck, shoulder, hand or arm pain can develop in computer users, but the connection between keyboard typing and carpal tunnel syndrome remains controversial.
• Companies often report that ergonomic workplace measures lead to fewer days lost from work, though researchers are still seeking rigorous scientific proof that these interventions are effective.

In America, each year, more than 100,000 new cases of upper-extremity ailments are reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Problems are especially common among those who do heavy or frequent manual handling and lifting tasks, whether in manufacturing, construction, meatpacking or nursing care. Not to mention, the pain come from compute tasking, including eye troubles.

Please be balance between your official work and physical exercise. It lift up your productivity at work.

Suicide crisis

The report from Reuters bothers our humanity feelings. Let's pray to God, if you believe in Him.
"If people start losing their jobs and unemployment rates rise, it would be even more serious," said Paul Yip, director of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Center for Suicide Research and Prevention at the University of Hong Kong.
"People who are unemployed are six to 30 times more likely to kill themselves," he said.
He pointed from Japan and Hongkong example
In Japan, the number of suicides leapt to 32,863 in 1998, compared with 24,391 in 1997 -- a development blamed on a rising tide of bankruptcies after Japan's economic bubble burst.
It has stayed over 30,000 a year since then. Studies have shown suicide in Japan is strongly linked to unemployment.
Suicide figures in Hong Kong rose 50 percent from 12 per every 100,000 people in 1997, when the Asian financial crisis hit, to 18 per 100,000 in 2003, the year of the SARS epidemic.

Bad News for The Overweight

If you feel difficult to obtain less weight, even when you feel to have lost your calories--which means enough to be hungrie all the time, you have a bad news from the researcher.
It is said by New York Times article, that it is not just as easy as we normally calculate. To loose 2 kilograms is not the same as 20 days doing daily 100 grams fat burning exercise.

First, it’s difficult for an individual to hold calorie intake to a precise amount from day to day.

Second, scientists recently have come to understand that the brain exerts astonishing control over body composition and how much individuals eat. “There are physiological mechanisms that keep us from losing weight,” said Dr. Matthew W. Gilman, the director of the obesity prevention program at Harvard Medical School/Pilgrim Health Care.

Scientists now believe that each individual has a genetically determined weight range spanning perhaps 15 kilograms. If you have outreach the range, your body will slow the metabolism. If you go down that level, your brain will tell your stomach to get hungrier and eat more.

The body’s determination to maintain its composition is why a person can skip a meal, or even fast for short periods, without losing weight. It’s also why burning an extra 100 calories a day will not alter the verdict on the bathroom scales. Struggling against the brain’s innate calorie counters, even strong-willed dieters make up for calories lost on one day with a few extra bites on the next. And they never realize it. “The system operates with 99.6 percent precision,” said Dr. Jeffrey Friedman, an obesity researcher at Rockefeller University.

Thinner or Fat Health Condition Stereotype is not Always Correct

In common conversation and stereotypes, fat people (both overweights and obeses) are judged by less healthy people than the thinner, while the research said it was not fully correct. The research find, based on national health data collected from 5,440 adults, that weight often is not a reliable barometer for health. In addition to looking at height and weight, the study, published this week in The Archives of Internal Medicine, tracked blood pressure, “good” cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar and an inflammatory marker called c-reactive protein, all of which are viewed as indicators of cardiovascular health.

The facts are :
- 24% of thin people are in unhealthy levels for at least two of the risk factors
- half (50%) of the overweighteds are fit, also 33% among the obese.

The new data are believed to be the first time researchers have documented the unreliability of body size as an indicator for overall health. This article doesn't want to say, hei, pile and stock the fats on your body, it is still healthy. Or, should I worry about my weight, while the health is regardless my shape. You can see from the facts, 24% thin people are in unhealthy level, and increased to 50% in the overweighted and 67% of the obese.

In my opinion, it is a warning for those who have better (which means less than overweighted or obesed), it doesn't make you healthy automatically. Or it can mean, "good food, routine exercise and live healthy living is a must for everybody, without exception."

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Some facts to avoid softdrink

My friend wrote things you could get from taking soft drink. It is very informative. What I believe, soft drink is as not dangerous as "hard drink" (alcohol). It is the unawareness makes it sometime even more dangerous.
For more detail discussion, I suggest you come to that very good site, in this page I just give you the brief description, so that you have some picture why you'd better take fresh water.
Obesity:
It makes your fats. No nutrition. Soft drinks are mainly composed of filtered H2O, artificial additives and refined sugar. Refined sugar means weight. Tooth Decay:If you think it's sugar, you are wrong. Not only sugar,there's the acid in soda pop. Acid begins to dissolve tooth enamel in only 20 minutes.
Effect of Caffeine:
Caffeine is usual. It is contained in a cup of java. Don't forget that it carbonized in soft drink. It is absorbed instantly to our body. Please imagine bad effects of coffeine, and carbonized drink will give you a maximum effect than all kind of drink.
Bone risks
There are also studies showing that cola drinks may lead to a decrease in bone density in women. Again, it is due to the acid. Malnutrition: Some people who are addicted to soft drinks deprive themselves from food until they become victims of malnutrition. Effect on Gastro-Intestinal System: The pH of soft drink ranges from 2.5-3.4 which generates a highly acidic environment in the stomach. The stomach can do up to pH 2.0, but for sensitive stomach, make sure you have health insurance for some days in hospital (believe me I have one friend who suffer it just because of one cup of cola drink)
Effect on Kidneys:
Soft drinks remove Calcium from the body (the phosporic acid do that), causing an excess amount of Calcium that tend to be deposited in kidney, resulting in nephrolithiasis (kidney stones).
Effect on Skin: Acidic blood affects the action of glutathione, which is an antioxidant enzyme. In addition, these drinks lack vitamins and minerals. By taking these drinks, people cut their intake of fresh juices, milk and even water and deprive themselves from essential vitamins and minerals that are mandatory for skin. Thus, the skin becomes more prone to wrinkles and aging.

My suggestion is, do drink fresh water. If you think the points upthere is intolerable, enemy, please imagine that drinking water effects can be listed in the same manner but work in our side.

Good luck!

Tips for Freezing Food

Following my previous tips at warming chicken, the next reports from REUTERS may be useful.
Basic Food Storage Tips

1. Keep appliances at the proper temperatures.

2. Make sure you are checking your appliances temps regularly and that they fall in the desired range.
Refrigerator temperature should be at or below 40° F (4° C)
Freezer temperature should be 0° F (-18° C).

3. Check storage directions on labels.

4. Most people think that only dairy or meats need to be kept cold, but don’t forget about condiments (i.e. mayo and ketchup) because most of these need to be placed in the fridge after opening. If in doubt that you haven’t stored an item properly, it’s usually best to throw it out. Don’t chance it, you could get really sick!

4. Perishables need to be placed in the fridge or freezer right away. Stick to the “two-hour rule”.

5. Foods should not be left out at room temperature for any longer than two hours, or if the air temperature is above 90° F, it’s recommended to only have the food out for one hour. This rule applies to all food, even take-out!

6. Don’t crowd the refrigerator or freezer. When putting food away, it is important to leave space for air to circulate.

7. Use ready-to-eat foods as soon as possible. Refrigerated ready-to-eat foods (i.e. lunch meats) need to be eaten as soon as possible. This is because the longer they’re stored in the fridge, the more likely bacterium that causes food borne illness can grow.

8. Keep an eye on your food, throw out spoiled food. If it looks or smells different and suspicious don’t take a chance, go ahead and throw it out

I don't edit them, the tips are very important. I don't like to say it, but I just know it too.

Tips for Cooking Chicken

Do you know how hot should be to cook chicken or poultry products? In a public health alert, U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said all poultry products should be cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius) and the best way to do that was with a food thermometer.
Any problem so that the agency put that to public alert? The answer is yes. It is salmonella contamination.
According to Reuters, the U.S. government on OCtober 3rd urged consumers to follow package cooking instructions after 32 people in 12 states got Salmonella poisoning after eating frozen stuffed chicken entrees that were raw but breaded.
Although many of the chicken dishes had instructions identifying the product as uncooked, people who got sick did not follow those instructions and reportedly used microwaves to prepare the entrees.