If you get stung by a jelly fish, don’t ask your friend to pee on you. Similarly, reading in the dark won’t make you go blind. For explanations and more interesting body myths, head over to Life Hacker.

Link

The results have been equally massive: 3.4 million lives saved from hepatitis B, which causes liver cancer, 1.2 million lives from measles, 560,000 from the Hib bacteria, 474,000 from whooping cough, 140,000 from yellow fever and 30,000 from polio. In the past year the new initiatives have prevented another 8,000 deaths from pneumonia and 1,000 from diarrhea.

“I’ve met mothers who walked eight hours to get their child a vaccine and hoped that it’s there on that day,” Melinda says. On a trip in January to a rural clinic in Kenya she saw four children with pneumonia sharing a single oxygen tube. “They were just sucking breath,” she recalls. But across the clinic the Gates Foundation work showcased a different future: Children lined up to get the new vaccine that would dramatically reduce the risk they would ever get pneumonia.

Read about how they did it at Forbes. Link -via Not Exactly Rocket Science

Link Via Geekosystem

He added, “The first symptoms appeared around 2005. I found if I raised my voice, I’d get a vibration in my head. If I was eating a bag of crisps, the crunching noise drowned out people speaking. Then I found I would be hearing my heartbeat.”

But this year, a CT scan showed a tiny hole in the temporal bone in Mr Mabbutt’s skull, which meant that fluid from the semicircular canals of the inner ear was leaking into his brain and conducting internal sounds.

Link

A 2007 story in Scientific American explains that California neurophysiology researcher Richard Kunin made the connection between Chinese water snakes and omega-3 fatty acids in the 1980s.

“Kunin visited San Francisco’s Chinatown to buy such snake oil and analyze it. According to his 1989 analysis published in the Western Journal of Medicine, Chinese water-snake oil contains 20 percent eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), one of the two types of omega-3 fatty acids most readily used by our bodies. Salmon, one of the most popular food sources of omega-3s, contains a maximum of 18 percent EPA, lower than that of snake oil.”

However, it wasn’t until several years after Kunin’s research that American scientists discovered that omega-3s are vital for human metabolism. Not only do they sooth inflammation in muscles and joints, but also, they can help “cognitive function and reduce blood pressure, cholesterol, and even depression.”

So how did “snake oil” come to mean a scam? The rest of the story is at Collectors Weekly. Link -Thanks, Ben!

At 91 years of age most people are relegated to the retirement home, shuffling around in a walker or a motorized scooter. However Charles Eugster started body building at 85 and now feels fit and energized. Great, this makes me feel even better about my beer belly. Link

(Image credit: Gian Paul Lozza for the Guardian)

Unfortunately, you can’t reach a ripe old age by changing your walking speed. According to researcher Dr. Stephanie Studenski, a professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh:

“Your body chooses the walking speed that is best for you, and that is your speed, your health indicator,” Studenski said. “And that’s what it really is: an indicator. Going out and walking faster does not necessarily mean you will suddenly live longer. You still need to address the underlying health issues.”

Link | Photo by Flickr user auntjojo used under Creative Commons license

Of all the trolls, the worst is the Choles-troll. He is the central character of this illustrated “bedtime story for adults” at The Museum Of Modern Fiction. Link -Thanks, josef lee!

Basics About Blood

Image via cbmd [Flickr]

Human blood is made of four main components, plasma, platelets, red blood cells and white blood cells. The 55% of blood is just plasma, which is mostly water, but also contains proteins, immunoglobulins, vitamins and other substances. Blood makes up 7% of your body weight.

All animals have varying numbers of blood types. Cows have a whopping 800 types of blood. Humans have four blood types, A, B, AB, and O and these can be further identified by their RH positive or negative status. Over 70% of Americans are either type O+ or A+.

While you probably already know that type O is the universal donor for red blood cells, most people are unaware that plasma transfusions are the exact opposite and people with type AB blood are universal plasma donors.

Types of Donations

Image via Spike55151 [Flickr]

When you donate blood, you generally give around one pint of whole blood per donation, which makes up anywhere from a tenth to a twelfth of your body’s total blood. This is why some people (myself included) feel weak after donation, but most people are fine after blood withdrawal. Most people feel fine within a few hours, but it still takes your body up to three days to replace the donated plasma and up to 59 days for you to recover your red blood cells. That’s why you can only donate every few months.

While most people donate whole blood, there is another option called Apheresis. When you donate just plasma and platelets, this method is used for withdrawal. Basically, your blood is removed from your arm and then passed through a machine that separates out the contents of your blood. The parts of your blood that are being donated are kept separate and the rest of your blood is returned into your body. In most cases, the red blood cells are returned since these take the longest to regenerate. That’s why platelet and plasma donors can donate every three days. While it takes up to ten units of whole blood to make up one whole dose of platelets for a patient, this method can collect at least one whole dose of platelets with each donation.

While blood can be directly transfused from the donor into the patient, this method was largely phased out after WWII and blood donations are usually stored these days. Red blood cells can be stored for up to 42 days and plasma can be stored for a full year. Unfortunately, platelets can only be kept for about a week.

Why Are Blood Banks Always Working?

Image via Nemo’s Great Uncle [Flickr]

Blood banks are always looking to get more supply, and there are a number of reasons for this. First, a lot of people need blood. In fact, it is estimated that someone in the U.S. needs a transfusion every two seconds and that one in four Americans will need a transfusion at some point in their life. Secondly, because the majority of blood components have short shelf lives, even if there are enough donations to cover immediate needs, banks ideally want to have enough around in case of a national or local emergency. Lastly, restrictions on blood donors mean that only 38% of all Americans can donate blood at any given time, but only 10% of the population donates blood every year.

What Makes Someone Ineligible to Donate?

Image via ec-jpr [Flickr]

There are a lot of factors to determine someone’s eligibility to donate blood, including age, health, weight, visits to foreign countries, drug use, sexual history and recent body modifications. Donors may pass the pr-escreening tests and still be found ineligible when their blood is tested prior to transfusion. Some people who are deferred are only asked to wait a while before they attempt to donate, while others are told they can never donate. Most people who are deferred can return after a while and the number one reason for deferments is anemia.

The fact that men who have ever had sex with another man are banned from donating for life is a touchy subject in the blood donation world and there are valid arguments on each side of the discussion. Critics of the ban say the decision is based on outdated science and homophobia. They say that because each sample is tested for HIV, the risk is minimal. In 2006, the AABB, the Red Cross and America’s Blood Centers all pushed for a change in the policy, citing a study that suggested that allowing men who have had sex with another man to donate would only result in an additional case of HIV transmission once ever 33 years. They argue that because blood banks are in such desperate need of donations, this risk is worth it. The FDA rejected their proposal, saying the risk was not justified.

Those in favor of the ban point out that a study performed in the UK showed that allowing these men to donate would increase the risk of HIV entering the blood stockpiles by 500% and they argue that even if the ban is modeled to only prevent men who have engaged in homosexual activities in the last twelve months, the number would still increase 60%.

Critics argue that a gay man in a monogamous relationship carries a much lower risk of HIV than an intravenous drug user who has been clean for a year or a promiscuous straight man, both of who would be eligible to donate. The debate seems likely to continue for years, even if the ban is changed.

Donations and Transfusions in Other Countries

Image via acroamatic [Flickr]

If you’ve ever donated blood, you’ll notice that one of the inquiries involves lengthy stays in certain third world countries and the UK. If you ever wondered why the UK would be included in the list, it has to do with an untreatable degenerative brain disease known as Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. It can be passed by blood and the UK has had such a problem with it that they ban recipients of their own country’s blood donations from donating blood.

Unfortunately, while verbal tests are performed prior to blood donations in all countries, many third-world countries can’t afford to actually test the blood for diseases such as HIV, syphilis and other dangerous illnesses after it is donated. That is why anyone who has received transplants in these countries cannot donate in the U.S. and many other countries.

Benefits to blood Donors

Image via Christiana Care [Flickr]

If you’re one of those people that always wants to know how something will benefit them, there are a few reasons you should donate blood other than the fact that each donation can save up to three lives. First off, some businesses, including all companies in Italy, give you a paid day off for blood donation. Next, the blood centers will often guarantee you transfusion priorities if you are ever in need of blood. If you need something physical to motivate you though, keep in mind that many blood drives include prize drawings for really cool stuff (the Comic Con blood draw contest is awesome) and blood centers often give away free goodies and food.

If you know you can pass the screening test and that you have clean blood, please donate blood and help save lives.

Sources: Wikipedia #1, #2, WHO, New York Times, Web MD, Rue the Day

Drink Tons of Water

Image via gfrphoto [Flickr]

You probably already know that you’re supposed to drink a lot of water if you’re trying to lose weight, but you might not know just how important water intake is to the cause. Simply drinking two glasses of water (around half a liter) prior to meals can make you think you are fuller and reduce your meal portions. Water can also help you digest. In fact, the average woman eats around 2,000 calories a day, but when she consumes water first, that number drops to around 1,200 calories. Similar decreased calorie consumption was seen in men as well.

Drink More Tea

Image via Arun Katiyar [Flickr]

Water’s not the only thing you should be drinking. A Tufts University study has shown that drinking three cups of green tea a day can help you lose twice as much weight as you would otherwise. White tea is also beneficial and a German study found that it can help decrease the number of new fat cells you develop while helping you burn off the existing fat cells in your body.

Cut Out The Corn Syrup

Image via Gezellig-girl.com [Flickr]

Speaking of beverages, if you just have to drink soda, put down your regular Pepsi products and grab some Throwback, which is made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. While both add on calories, a Princeton University study has shown that corn syrup prompts far more weight gain than sugar does.

Of course, soda isn’t the only source of high fructose corn syrup. It seems to be in everything these days and it can even be hard to avoid. On a personal note, I can tell you that I cut almost all sources of corn syrup out of my diet and I’ve felt a lot healthier afterwards. Most noticeably, the shaking I get between meals if I wait to long to eat is mostly gone when I don’t have corn syrup for a whole week.

Enjoy a Fattening Breakfast

Image via alternakive [Flickr]

While eating a high-calorie, high-cholesterol breakfast can seem counter intuitive to the goal of weight loss, it can actually be incredibly good for you. According to an article in the International Journal of Obesity, eating a fattening breakfast, a lighter lunch and a very light dinner can lead to more weight loss than eating light meals all day. Researchers believe that eating a hearty meal early in the morning revs up your metabolism, helping you to burn off everything you eat throughout the day. If you only eat cereal, your body will only be able to metabolize carbs throughout the day, but if you eat eggs and bacon, you will be able to digest fat and carbs much more efficiently.

Eat Slower

Eating slower helps you feel fuller after eating less food, your body also has more time to digest each bite individually, leading to better metabolization of the meal.

Put Leftovers Away Before Eating

Image via Brenderous

[Flickr]

By now, you’re probably familiar with the importance of portion control, but sometimes it’s so hard when you have good food sitting right in front of you. A simple solution to reduce your number of second helpings is to put away leftovers before you start to eat your meal. If you do go back for seconds, you’ll also have to take the time to remove the food from the fridge and the Tupperware, which will often reduce the serving size of your second trip.

Overload On Veggies

Image via Craft*ology [Flickr]

If you can’t handle portion control and love copious amounts of food, then just fill your plate with steamed veggies or salad with light dressing. These yummy foods have limited calories and massive nutrient values, maximizing the healthy side your indulgences.

Don’t Eat and Multi-Task

One of my biggest problems is the fact that I will snack while working at my computer and before I know it, I’ll have gone through a whole box of crackers. While you can always try snack packs so you can limit the amount you intake, it’s generally better to just avoid eating while doing other things. This also allows you to take a break and relax for a while, making your food more of a treat and less of a habit.

Instead of Snacking, Brush Your Teeth

Image via justonlysteve [Flickr]

If you’re craving a snack, try brushing your teeth or using mouthwash. This will not only placate your mouth from wanting to nibble, it will also make you wait a while because most foods taste icky right after you brush. Your dentist will also like this plan.

Buy Food With Cash

Sometimes you’re going to end up having to eat fast food. It’s part of our modern world, but you can easily reduce the amount you order at the restaurant by paying with cash instead of a credit card. A study by Visa showed that customers spent 30% more at fast food restaurants when paying with plastic instead of cash.

Make A “Veggie Section” In Your Shopping Cart

A recent University of New Mexico study showed that shopping carts that have been modified with a “vegetable section” caused shoppers to buy over 100% more veggies than they normally would, while they did not spend any additional money. Although your local grocery carts may not have a veggies section, you can improvise by putting a basket in your cart and telling yourself to only put vegetables in the basket.

Listen to Music While You Work Out

Image via Earl What I Saw [Flickr]

Of course, dieting goes hand in hand with exercise when it comes to weight loss, and if you want to make the most of your gym time, rock out while you work out. This not only makes exercise less tedious and boring, but this decreased boredom can help you work out longer and harder, increasing your performance by up to 20%.

Watch Less TV

When you watch tv, your heart rate slows and you burn 20 to 30 fewer calories per hour than you would doing just about anything else. Instead, read a book, take a walk, play with your dog. Just do something that requires more energy.

Wear Comfy Clothes

If your work doesn’t require you to dress up, then don’t. People who wear comfortable clothes walk an average of 8% more every day than those in business attire. Besides, why be uncomfortable when you don’t have to be?

Weigh Yourself

Image by foshydog [Flickr]

You are 82% less likely to regain weight you’ve shed if you weigh yourself on a daily basis. It can also help motivate you to keep working out and stick with the diet.

Before you start on any weight loss regimen, I seriously recommend learning your body fat percentage so you know what you’re working with. While many people think that your body mass index (BMI) is a good indicator of your health, this measurement doesn’t take body shapes and muscle mass into account. You may be overweight according to the BMI and healthily muscular according to a body fat test. For a simple test you can use at home, try this one at Health Central.

Do any of you have any tips to add that help you keep your weight down?

Sources: Lifehacker #1, #2, #3, Health Assist #1, #2, BBC, KOB, About.com, Reader’s Digest, InventorSpot, MSN and Medical News Today

Toto’s engineers developed a receptacle inside the basin to collect the urine for sugar content and temperature checks, and an armband to monitor blood pressure. The readout is displayed on a wall-mounted computer screen.

"With the current model, your data is sent automatically to your personal computer, and then you can email it to your doctor," said Suzuki.
"In the next generation model, the data will be sent automatically to family members or doctors via the Internet," she told AFP.

The electronic marvel, called the "Intelligence Toilet", is capable of storing the data of up to five different people and retails for 350,000 to 500,000 yen (about 4,100 to 5,850 dollars) in Japan, she said.

Link | Nerve has a few more pics: Link – Thanks Ben!

Designers Rui Pereira and Hafsteinn Juliusson, have created a collection of dining plates for HAF, that reminds us of the fundamental values of healthy eating.

You already have parents and/or kids telling you how to eat healthy. Now there are dishes that will nag you too?

Link – Via Coudal Partners

Why Strain When You Can Relax Under the Sun?

The Cycle Sol prototype may look a little strange, but its solar-charged battery makes it an inspiring piece of machinery. Soaking up the sun help to charge the battery, which can help push the bike to speeds up to 15 MPH. Its greatest attribute though may be the convenient push you’ll feel when tackling tedious hills. Also a plus, if it is left in the garage or used on a cloudy day, you can still plug it into an outlet to get the full battery charge you need to get moving.

Link

The Bike That Is Actually A Computer

Talk about a bike of the future. This stream-lined prototype incorporates an on-board computer that can help count the calories you burn, play music and serve as an unbreakable lock. It was designed by Gold Medalist Chris Boardman, who believes his creation could be an everyday product within the next twenty years. Similar to the Cycle Sol, this bike will also have a solar-powered battery to help you out when you’re tired of pedaling.

If you’re wondering how a bike computer could incorporate an unbreakable lock, it’s all through the magic of fingerprint identification. Of course, if the bikes are considered valuable enough, then you may run the risk of losing your digit all together when some really motivated thieves approach you –a fate that has already befallen one iPad user.

Link

Is the Shweeb the Next Schwinn?

One of the biggest drawbacks to cycling is the danger inherent with sharing the road with vehicles. The Shweeb individual monorail system eliminates this problem and gives you the safety and serenity only possible in your own personal bubble. The company working to make these mini-monorail systems a part of your daily commute claims they are “a personal, efficient, and cost-effective transport solution with applications for urban commuting, recreational and fitness markets.”

Link

Dissecting the Attraction of the Di-Cycle

If the classic bicycle design of two wheels in line with your body is just too outdated for you, then perhaps the Di-Cycle’s two side wheels are more your style. Perhaps the coolest advantage of the Di-Cycle though is its ability to operate on both land and water.

Link

Speed And Safety: Together At Last

The Hyperbike may not ride on water like the Dicycle does, but its massive side wheels are instead designed to help protect you in the event of an accident. Also nice, its design, which includes both feet and hand pedals allows you to travel at speeds up to 50 MPH.

Link

Why Snowboard When You Can Bike Sideways?

On the other hand, if you’d prefer to sit on your bike sideways while it moves to the front, then perhaps the Sideways Bike is more to your liking. Inspired by snowboarding, this one allows you to sit and pedal while facing sideways and then to look to your left or right while steering. I’d be terrified to ride this next to the road, but maybe that’s just me.

Link

The World’s Cheapest Bike

If money is your main concern, then this handy $30 bicycle might be more in your price range. It’s cool, it’s collapsible, it’s recyclable, and not to worry, it is water proof. The inventor claims that one of the biggest advantages though is the fact that it will probably not get stolen. On the downside, it doesn’t go very fast and if you bike regularly, you’ll need to replace it every six months or so.

Link

The Nothing Bike

When you’re looking for something a little more flashy, but just as bare-boned as a cardboard bike, the Nulla minimalist bike is a great choice. It’s spokeless, stylish and light, as it is stripped of all non-essential components. The name Nulla even translates to “nothing” in Italian, which means it’s also a perfect ride for any existentialists out there.

Link

The Relaxed Minimalist Design

Minimalists who prefer recumbent cycles are likely to find this spokeless cycle, created by designer Mathew Zurlinden, to offer many of the same advantages as the Nulla, only with the critical difference in the rider’s body position.

Link

Row Row Row Your Bike

If you were on your college rowing team or if you are simply much more muscular on the top half of your body, then why not row your bike home? Unlike a regular bicycle, even a standard hand-operated bike, this one is not powered by rotating pedals, but instead through pushing and pulling the handle bars. Using it can burn up to 850 calories per hour and it’s supposedly easier on your joints than a standard bike.

Link

Now it’s your turn readers. I’m sure many of you have seen some cool and crazy bikes in your time. Feel free to share them in the comments. Also, which of these designs would you prefer?

Travel writer Ed Perkins of Chicago Tribune wasn’t amused:

The rationale for this one is to cover the employers’ mandatory contribution to the City’s "Healthy San Francisco" health-coverage system. The charge actually is levied on employers, but at least some restaurants are adding a few dollars or percentage points to each customer’s bill to cover this charge.

The restaurants’ excuse for assessing this charge separately is to let customers know how much they’re paying for employees’ health coverage. That’s the same excuse hotels use when they add "resort" or "housekeeping" fees to unsuspecting guests’ room bills. It’s the same excuse airlines would use to exclude fuel surcharges from their advertised fares if the Department of Transportation would allow them. And it’s sheer nonsense. Employees’ health insurance is no less of a cost of doing business than rent, property taxes, food costs, security services and all the other inputs businesses require to operate. To single out health care for a separate surcharge is unwarranted.

Link

Ever wondered how the body defends against diseases and other attacks?  In the following article from the Geeks are Sexy blog, learn the basic philosophy behind the immune system.

We live in a world governed not by the biggest creatures, but by the smallest. Our bodies act as vessels for all that we call “ourselves,” forming a barrier between “out there” and “in here.” While that barrier is not as simple as a wall or a single membrane, the philosophy is made real by a complex defense network called the immune system.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Geeksaresexy.

Legends of Tea’s Beginnings:

While there really is no consensus on exactly where the earliest tea plants were grown in Asia and how people got the idea to drink it, there are a number of myths concerning how tea originated and why people started drinking it. One story says that a Buddhist monk named Bodhidharma, the founder of Chan Buddhism, was meditating for nine years, at which point, he fell asleep. The story says he was so upset that he cut off his own eyelids, which took root and grew into the first tea plants. Other versions of the story say that Buddha himself was the one who cut his eye lids off and started the first tea plants.

The story of how tea was first consumed says that Emperor Shennong was drinking a bowl of water when leaves from the plant blew into his water. He tried the concoction and was quite happy with the drink’s flavor. Another story says that Shennong was testing the medicinal properties of different herbs and when he discovered an herb was poisonous, he used tea for an antidote.

The Real History of the Brew:

While the history of the plants and how they started to be consumed as beverages are the stuff of legends, there are certainly a few well documented facts about the brew’s history. The oldest known still cultivated tea plant grows in the Yunnan Province in China, it is estimated to be over 3,200 years old. Records of China’s tea consumption go back all the way to 10^th century BC. At one point, bricks of tea were actually used as currency in the realm, particularly in areas that were very rural and devoid of coin currency.

Chinese Buddhist monks introduced the drink to Japan, where it quickly became a favored drink of royalty. Within no time, seeds were imported into the country and cultivation began. Centuries later, tea ceremonies were introduced by Buddhist monks as well, where they slowly evolved into the highly formal tea ceremonies that Japan is known for today. In the sixteenth century, the tea ceremonies played a big role in feudal diplomacy.

Tea wasn’t introduced into Europe until the 17^th century, when it was first brought to Amsterdam. Around this period it was introduced to France and Russia where it was quickly made popular in both countries. It’s introduction into English society was perhaps the place that it had the biggest impact though.

By 1750, tea became the national drink of Britain. Unfortunately, Britain developed a need for Chinese goods, but China largely had no use for English goods. For a while, England sent out silver bullion, but it wasn’t long before they began trading opium (grown in India and still illegal in China) for tea. Thus, tea played a major role in the Opium Wars and the treaty for the war actually required the Chinese ship tea to England in exchange for the drug.

At the same time, the Brits decided that they needed to stop being dependant on the Chinese for their supply of tea, so they hired Scottish botanist Robert Fortune to steal a tea plant from China and then cultivate it in India. The plants fared well in this new environment and now India is one of the biggest producers of the plant.

Image via Okinawa Soba [Flickr]

The Problems With Tea Bagging…No, Not That Kind, Sicko:

Most people prefer to make tea from tea bags, but tea purists consider the tea from the bags to be far inferior to loose-leaf tea. Part of the reason is that the small bits of leaves used are often just the waste products left behind from loose-leaf tea. Another problem is that more of the leaf’s surface is in contact with the air, allowing it to lose flavor faster. Some people also claim they can taste the flavor of the bag when they drink it this way. Others claim that tea bags are too small to allow the tea to properly diffuse in the water, which is why Lipton released their line of Pyramid Teas to counteract these problems, but many tea aficionados still don’t like them for the other reasons listed above.

Image by Wikipedia user Andre Karwath.

A Rainbow of Tea Types:

As I said before, real tea is only made from the Camellia sinensis, which means that red tea and other herbal teas don’t make the cut. Even then though, there are still six different varieties of tea, each created by a different processing method. The tea plant’s leaves wilt and oxidize very quickly after it is picked, and each type of tea is made through drying the leaves at a different point of the leaf’s cycle. White tea is wilted and unoxidized. Green tea is unwilted and unoxidized. Yellow tea is unwilted and unoxidized, but allowed to yellow. Oolong tea is wilted, bruised and then partially oxidized. Black tea is wilted and fully oxidized. Post-fermented tea is created by allowing green tea to ferment, it is largely reserved for medicinal purposes and not casual drinking. There’s a cool visualization of the process here.

Taste My Tasty Tea Blend:

While each type of tea naturally has its own distinct flavor, most teas you buy at the store have their own flavoring made by mixing different blends together or by adding other flavors to the mix. Some of the more popular tea flavors include:

• Earl Grey: made by mixing bergamot oils with black tea.
• Jasmine Green: made by blending jasmine oil or flowers with green tea.
• Chai: made with a variety of Indian spices, often including cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, anise, nutmeg and cloves.
• Formosa: tea made with Taiwanese oolong and green teas.
• Irish Breakfast: made with a blend of different black teas.
• Lotus: green tea wrapped in lotus flowers until it absorbs the flavor

Source Image by Wikipedia user lateasquirrel.

Toasting to Your Health:

Tea contains a number of different antioxidants, one of which, catechins, actually makes up 30% of its weight. This antioxidant can help fight tumors. White and green teas contain the most antioxidants. On the other end of the spectrum, black tea has the most caffeine. Caffeine makes up about 3% of black tea’s dry weight, more than even coffee. The reason coffee gives you more of a buzz when you drink it though is that it’s less diluted than tea. Tea also has fluorine, which prevents dental decay.

Studies have shown that tea can help normalize your blood pressure, lower your stress levels, prevent heart disease, reduce depression and prevent diabetes. It also has germicidal properties that help you prevent sickness(which shows just how terrible my immune system is, given that I drink tea daily and still get sick all the time). A study released last year showed that white tea can boost your metabolism, reduce fat cells and help you lose weight. Another study that came out last year showed that drinking tea daily can reduce your chances of having a stroke by as much as 21%.

Source

About The Tea Plant:

The tea plant grows year-round and though it prefers tropical and sub-tropical climates, it has survived as far north as England. Only the top one to two inches of a mature plant are used for tea. These parts of the plant are called flushes and the plant grows a new flush every week or so during growing season. The Chinese believe that a higher elevation makes for better tea plants because the plants grow slower, allowing the buds to become more flavorful.

The evergreen plants are sort of like poinsettias, in that those that aren’t properly cultivated will naturally grow into a tree.

Image by Wikipedia user Dave Oceano.

Source #1, #2

As they say, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” With this calendar, you get an apple every day of the month and it helps you keep up with the days as well. The Serviceplan advertising agency of Munich, Germany created the apple calendar for AOK health insurance. Every month, fill it with 28, 30, or 31 apples and adjust the numbered calendar behind the transparent tube. Then eat one apple each day and see the calendar advance. Too bad the calendars aren’t for sale, but you may see them in AOK branch offices. Link -via bookofjoe

Your mother probably told you time and time again, “Bundle up or you’ll catch a cold!” But how accurate is this statement? After all, our bodies stay close to the same temperature no matter how cold it is outside. What is the real reason people get sick more in the wintertime?

Well to answer that question let’s look at the conventional wisdom. If you ask just about anybody off the street, they’ll tell you that the cold somehow weakens your body (maybe your immune system) and makes you more susceptible to disease. How do they know this? Well their mothers told them, of course!

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Geeksaresexy.

92yr old Ladislav Nicek has been competing in the annual Winter Swimming Championships in the Vlatva River for over half a century, and has until this point only missed a few events. Up to 70 ‘otuzilci’ (hardy fellows) brave the icy waters in an event which attracts a huge amount of media coverage, a large percentage due to the efforts of Mr. Nicek. He even organises the event every year before jumping in himself.

Nicek is one of five elderly athletes profiled at Vitabits. Link -Thanks, David!

Dr Robert Clarke (University of Oxford, UK) and colleagues report their findings online September 17, 2009 in BMJ. And when they used more extreme categorization of risk factors, including body-mass index (BMI), diabetes mellitus/glucose intolerance, and employment grade, life expectancy differed by up to 15 years.

Clarke says there has been uncertainty about the limits of life expectancy and the relevance of cardiovascular risk factors for its prediction. “What is unique about this study is the prolonged follow-up; it enables us to put a figure on the life-limiting effects of these risk factors,” he told heartwire.

Link

(image credit: Flickr user Thomas Hawk)

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by mrmunchies.

“By lumping 11 studies together, we have increased the certainty that smoking bans really do reduce the risk of heart attack,” lead author Dr David G Meyers (University of Kansas School of Public Medicine, Kansas City) told heartwire. Meyers and colleagues report their findings online September 21, 2009 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Meyers says there are some additional messages from this review. Although they found, on average, a 17% reduction in AMI, this figure is “deceptive,” he says, because they also showed—in longer-term studies—a 26% decrease in heart attacks per year that the ban had existed. So this proves “the longer a community bans smoking, the greater the effect.” It also appears the people who seem to derive the greatest benefit from the bans are younger and often predominantly female—likely those working in the hospitality and entertainment industry, he says.

Link

(image credit: Flickr user bennylin0724)

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Nightcrawlerx.

“The brains of obese people looked 16 years older than their healthy counterparts while [those of] overweight people looked 8 years older,” said UCLA neuroscientist Paul Thompson, senior author of a study published online in Human Brain Mapping.

Much of the lost tissue was in the frontal and temporal lobe regions of the brain, the seat of decision-making and memory, among other things.

It is not clear whether weight gain caused a reduction in brain tissue, or if a smaller brain contributes to weight gain, or there are other factors contributing to both. Link -via Lifehacker

(image credit: Flickr user erat)

Drinking lager does not yield the same benefits, experts from University of Wisconsin told a conference in the US.

Guinness were told to stop using the slogan decades ago – and the firm still makes no health claims for the drink.

The Wisconsin team tested the health-giving properties of stout against lager by giving it to dogs who had narrowed arteries similar to those in heart disease.

They found that those given the Guinness had reduced clotting activity in their blood, but not those given lager.

Link (Image: spleeney [Flickr])

Previously on Neatorama: Stories Behind 7 Famous Beer Logos

In 1995, two-year-old Hannah Clark of Mountain Ash, Wales suffered from cardiomyopathy and received a donor heart, which was "piggybacked" onto her original heart and took over its function. For ten years, the donor heart beat in Hannah’s chest, but she was developing tumors and could not continue the immunosuppressive drugs transplant patients must take to counter organ rejection. Since Hannah still had her original heart, doctors decided to disconnect the donor heart. After ten years of not working, her original heart took over pumping blood and functions without medication. Three years later, Hannah is completely recovered.

Professor Peter Weissberg, of the British Heart Foundation, said cardiologists have long wondered whether a heart which is failing because of cardiomyopathy might be able to recover if rested.

“This seems to be exactly what has happened in Hannah’s case in which the donor heart allowed her own heart to take a rest and recover.

“This is an exciting discovery since it proves that, in some instances, a weakened heart has the capacity to recover – if it can be helped.”

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by healthylivinggal83.

Results from a 20 year study on monkeys and their diets show that eating fewer calories can help you live longer. Animals with a restricted diet of 30% were shown to outlive those that were given the freedom to eat what when and how much they wanted. The monkeys also had improved chances of avoiding age related diseases, cancer, diabetes and brain atrophy.

In terms of overall animal health, Weindruch notes, the restricted diet leads to longer lifespan and improved quality of life in old age. “There is a major effect of caloric restriction in increasing survival if you look at deaths due to the diseases of aging,” he says.

The incidence of cancerous tumors and cardiovascular disease in animals on a restricted diet was less than half that seen in animals permitted to eat freely. Remarkably, while diabetes or impaired glucose regulation is common in monkeys that can eat all they want, it has yet to be observed in any animal on a restricted diet. “So far, we’ve seen the complete prevention of diabetes,” says Weindruch.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by coconutnut.

Many people who meditate regularly have better focus and control over their emotions, reduced levels of stress, and
bolstered immune systems, but does meditation do anything to the brain structure itself?

Eileen Luders and colleagues at UCLA used MRI to scan the brains of people who meditate to find out. They examined 44 people (22 control subjects and 22 who had practiced
various forms of meditation) who had practiced an average of 24 years. Meditators showed significantly larger volumes in regions known for regulating emotions.

The researchers found significantly larger cerebral measurements in meditators compared with controls, including larger volumes of the right hippocampus and increased gray matter in the right orbito-frontal cortex, the right thalamus and the left inferior temporal lobe. There were no regions where controls had significantly larger volumes or more gray matter than meditators.

Because these areas of the brain are closely linked to emotion, Luders said, “these might be the neuronal underpinnings that give meditators’ the outstanding ability to regulate their emotions and allow for well-adjusted responses to whatever life throws their way.”

Link – via holeinthedonut

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by baweibel.

As if you need that many reasons to take a snooze.

Studies show that not only will you feel better almost immediately, says Sara Mednick, PhD, a sleep medicine researcher at the University of California at San Diego and author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life, but a daily nap of between 20 and 90 minutes before 4:00 pm will also increase your mental performance, reduce your chances of gaining weight, and make you feel a whole lot more like having sex after dinner than you probably do now. What’s more, it won’t affect your nighttime sleep.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by smellslikepurple.

Yawns? Hiccups? Goosebumps? Shivers? They all happen for a reason.  Kimberly Fusaro of Woman’s Day spoke with Eric Plasker, author of The 100 Year Lifestyle to find out why our bodies do peculiar things. Take, for example, hiccups:

If you’ve frequently got a case of the hiccups, try slowing down when you eat and drink, suggests Dr. Plasker. Doing either too quickly causes your stomach to swell; this irritates your diaphragm, which contracts and causes hiccups. You may also get hiccups in emotional situations or if your body experiences a sudden temperature change. In both of these cases, the hiccups are a result of a glitch in your nerve pathways, which is why a sudden scare—which might shake up and reset your nerves—can sometimes end an episode.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by ahammel.

While everyone was talking about the swine flu, researchers at the University of North Carolina have found the reason why its far-scarier cousins, the avian flu strains, didn’t become a full-blown pandemic. Turns out, we have our cold noses to thank:

All and all, 248 humans have died from the H5N1 according to WHO data as of January 2009. H5N1, as a strain, infects more species than any previously known flu virus, is deadlier than previous strains, and continues to evolve becoming both more widespread and more deadly. But even still, fears of a pandemic have yet to be realized. Now, researchers might have found the reason: our noses are too cold for the Avian flu. [...]

The difference in temperature, internally, between a human and a bird isn’t all that different – people maintain an internal temperature of about 37 degrees celcius, whereas birds stay a little warmer, around 40 degrees celcius. Researchers from the University of North Carolina wanted to know how these temperature differences might affect avian influenza viruses. They took a avian virus strain, H4N6, and human flu H3N2, and tried to infect human airway epithelial cells – the cells that line our noses and lungs. Both, they found, could infect and replicate quite quickly human airway epthelial cells at 37 degrees celcius, though the avian ones were a little slower in general than the human ones. But when the temperature was dropped to that of our noses – a bit cooler 32 degrees celcius – the avian virus replication slowed to a snail’s pace, 3-5 log units below the human virus’ speed. They tried a different avian strain – H5N3 – and found the same results. So they tried the deadly virus itself, H5N1 isolated from a dead person, and even it fared poorly. It seems that something about avian flu viruses simply can’t function right in cooler temperatures.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by mattphunkadellic.

Not according to this study by economic and psychology researchers at the University of Warwick in England. They found that job promotions can be downright dangerous to your health:

Economics and psychology researchers at the University of Warwick in England found that promotion produces 10% more mental strain and leaves up to 20% less time to visit the doctor in the event of illness.

The team tested the widely held assumption that an improvement in job status leads to better health due to an increased sense of self-worth.

Using data collected in Britain on about 1,000 individual promotions from 1991 to 2005, they found no evidence of improved physical health after promotion. But they did find that people thrust into more senior jobs suffered significantly greater mental strain.

Link

So, would it be an act of compassion for your boss to deny you that promotion?

Foreign accent syndrome, exploding head syndrome, werewolf syndrome, alien hand syndrome … walking corpse syndrome? Have you heard of any of these baffling (but completely real) medical conditions?

Werewolf Syndrome: Hypertrichosis, or werewolf syndrome, is a medical condition that causes the excessive growth of body hair — typically on the upper body, including the face. There are only 50 or so documented cases, and sufferers generally acquire it through genetic inheritance.

Link Link redirected for some people to a spammy page, which ain’t cool. Too bad, because it was an interesting article.

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by yugosakimi.

Wow … we all knew fast food was bad for us, but really? For starters, their burgers can apparently last for 20 years … longer than the average vehicle. Next up: you would have to walk for seven hours to burn off a Super Sized Coke. Seriously.

Heck, even pet food can be healthier than McDonalds according to a recent study – and the list goes on. So, before you head out for your next set of burger and fries read this and be amazed (or utterly disgusted). Of course you could also watch Supersize Me but this list arguably tops even some of his encounters.

In 2007, the employees of an Orlando-area McDonald’s were caught on camera pouring milk into the milkshake machine out of a bucket labeled “Soiled Towels Only.” That particular restaurant had already been cited for 12 different sanitary violations. Though McDonald’s proudly stands by its safety standards, and not every restaurant has such notorious incidents, the setting of a fast food restaurant staffed with low-paid employees at a high turnover rate arguably encourages bending the rules. (McDonald’s isn’t alone in this, of course – Burger King is actually ranked as the dirtiest of all the fast food chains.)

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Urbanist.

While putting on weight in general can have negative effects on your health, abdominal weight gain (visceral fat) is particularly unhealthy. Since visceral fat is buried deep in your abdomen, it may seem like a difficult target for spot reduction. But this fat is actually quite sensitive to exercise and calorie reduction.

In addition to diet and exercise for reducing overall fat, eMedExpert Blog has five tips for reducing belly fat in particular. Link -Thanks, Karen!

A new study from Yale University claims that weight discrimination is more widespread than previously imagined. Some of its findings:

– Men are not at serious risk of discrimination until their BMI reaches 35, while women begin experiencing an increase in discrimination at BMI 27.

- Moderately obese women with a BMI of 30 to 35 are three times more likely than men in the same weight group to experience weight discrimination.

- Compared to other forms of discrimination in the United States, weight discrimination is the third most prevalent cause of perceived discrimination among women (after gender and age) and the fourth most prevalent form of discrimination among all adults (after gender, age and race.)

As for how much control people can exert over their own weight, according to Rebecca Puhl (the study’s author):

We place a lot of emphasis on personal responsibility for body weight. Our billion-dollar diet industry is founded on that premise. Your weight is modifiable. But that does not reflect the current state of science. We know from hundreds of randomized clinically controlled trials that it’s very difficult to sustain weight loss over time with our existing treatment methods. That has compelled a number of expert panels, like the National Institutes of Health, to conclude that we really can’t expect you to lose more than 10 percent of your body weight and be able to keep that off.

Link

(Image by Fanboy30)