Portrait on the Mantel

Research has found that swishing your carb drink in your mouth triggers a boost in performance and energy. This boost occurs even if the person does not swallow the drink. Researchers began to study how fast  the absorption rate occurs after consuming a carb beverage during exercise. studies have shown over time that the body is unable to process carb drinks fast enough to provide the quick boost of energy from consumption.

These researchers believe the brain cue the body that carbs are on the imminent, which prompts the body that it is ok to begin working harder. It does not seem to matter if the drink is sweet or not just the presence of carbs seem to be enough to provide an extra boost. Although swishing does provide an energy pick up, exercisers perform better when they consume calories during exercise.

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Antioxidants help arteries stay healthy. Antioxidants are substances that protect cells against the effects of free radicals molecules produced when the body breaks down food or is exposed to environmental toxins and radiation. Free radicals are believed to play a role in heart disease, cancer and other disorders.

Antioxidants supplementation significantly increase large and small artery elasticity in patients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors. This beneficial vascular effect was associated with an improvement in glucose and lipid metabolism as well as significant decrease in blood pressure.

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There are several reasons why you should switch from regular tale salt to unrefined sea salt. Sea salt is contains less sodium, table salt is highly refined and the refining process leaves basically pure sodium chloride. Also the refining process strips beneficial naturally occurring minerals.

Some have expressed concern over the lack of iodine which is an additive to table salt. Table salt began adding this necessary nutrient several decades ago when a significant part of the population began developing goiters due to an iodine deficiency.

Iodine is a naturally occurring nutrient in sea salt as in most seafood. If you eat any where near a balance diet you consume enough iodine in your diet. Sea salt also contains minerals such as magnesium, calcium, potassium and bromide.

We should still be concerned with eating too much salt, although sea salt is preferrential to table salt, sodium is still sodium. Excess sodium consumption can lead to high blood pressure, water retention and irregular heart beat.

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Drinking cold fluids lowers core body temperature by some 70%. Liquid calories that you consume are converted to energy and lost as heat. So if your exercise is intense you produce more heat, the heat you produce actually slows your performance because your heart has to work harder to pump extra blood from your hot muscles to the skin to dissipate the heat. Several studies have shown that consuming cold fluids while you exercise lowers your body temperature and improve your performance on average by 10% (International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, April 2010).

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Researchers at Rutgers and Columbia Universities released their study prior to publication, poor kids are more likely to be given antipsychotic drugs than middle class kids and for less serious conditions.

Previous research showed rates of illness was 2 times higher in families with poor kids, but it doesn’t explain why these kids are prescribed drugs 4 times higher than kids from middle class families. However 1 explanation may be due to doctors prescribe more drugs to Medicaid patients because the public insurer pays less for non drug treatments like counseling than private insurance companies.

The doctors believe this method is easier for patients and doctors, but what’s not clear is what they’re prescribing and for what. The study found that kids on Medicaid were significantly more likely to be prescribed antipsychotic drugs for conduct disorders, hyperactivity, aggression or defiance than middle class kids, who were more likely to be prescribed the drugs for severe mental conditions.

Medicare spends more on antipsychotics than any other drug class, $7.9 billion per year

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According to a study conducted by researchers from the Medical University of Graz, Austria and published in the journal Clinical Endocrinology, sunbathing and vitamin D may help increase men’s testosterone level. They found that vitamin D and testosterone levels peak during the summer and dropped in the winter. They also found that men who had at least 30 nanograms of vitamin D in every mililiter of blood had the highest levels of circulating testosterone.

Vitamin D is known to not only help the body develop and maintain a healthy skeleton. It also regulate the immune system and prevent against chronic health conditions such as heart disease, dementia and cancer.

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Researcher from University of California Berkeley found that people who take naps during the day are improving their overall brain function. Scientist have long been trying to figure out whether or not mid day naps are beneficial. This study seems to suggest that naps help a person to process short term memories into long term ones, clearing the temp storage portion of the brain so that new information can take its place.

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Boosting your metabolism is within your reach but 1st understanding how the metabolism works might be helpful. The basic process of metabolism is the breakdown and delivery of nutrients from the food that we eat into every cell in our bodies. There are many methods for increasing and improving your metabolism. A few changes can boost your metabolism;

• Drinking water helps every cell in the digestive system metabolize food properly. Drink 1/2 oz of water for every pound of body weight (so that a 170 lbs individual should consume 85 oz or roughly 5 bottles of water)
• Consistently burn calories through activity to balance the use of carbs and fats consumed in the diet. This will help the metabolism work more efficiently.
• Eating smaller portions as meals and eating more meals throughout the day helps the metabolism work efficient. Eating large meals tend to cause large portions of those meals to be stored as fat.
• Consuming more soluble fiber will burn carbs for a longer time period. This also increase metabolic efficiency because the body doesn’t have to work as hard to digest food.

When you try these don’t expect an over night miracle, rather be consistent and watch the changes occur.

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Teen girls eat substantially worse than teen boys and older women, according to preliminary results of a UK Nutrition survey. Girls consumed about 13% of their daily calories from saturated fat which is higher than the recommended daily max on 11%.

Teen girls unhealthy habits do not stop at junk food; 29% reported smoking cigarettes oppose to 16% of boys, 11% of girls between 13 – 15 drank alcohol weekly compared with 1% of boys.  The girls calorie consumption as a whole was lacking in fruits and veggies with 2.8% reporting they ate any per day, the girls also didn’t eat enough iron rich foods placing them at risk of becoming anemic.

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Researchers from Columbia University has found that people who consume nuts, poultry, fish, veggies, fruits and olive oil lower their risk of developing Alzheimer disease by 40%.  Researchers commented that Diet is probably the easiest way to modify disease risk.

Other studies focused on food groups that are commonly associated with lowering Alzheimer disease risk. These foods have omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, B vitamins, folate and vitamin E.  In this study people who ate less red meat and dairy products, consumed more fruits, veggies, nuts and fish.

A heart healthy diet protects the brain from strokes, which in turn protect people from developing Alzheimer disease. The researchers did make clear that diet only works preventatively and that there is no cure for Alzheimer however other studies do seem to indicate that high doses of certain nutrients and foods may actually reverse the serious form of dementia that afflicts more than 26 million people around world.

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