So, you want to get your kids moving, and you’re looking for someone to inspire them. Would you consider an aquatic animal?
The New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center in Boston, Massachusetts has a new program aptly titled “Move It!” to help kids get some exercise, and a little fun with seals while they’re at it.
Five northern fur seals will be featured in a new exhibit at the New England Aquarium. The seals can run on their flippers and dart around the water at great speeds. But how exactly does this entice kids to get active?
You can breathe a little easier now… that is, if you start eating soy. Researchers have found that if you consume soy products, such as tofu and soy milk, on a regular basis you can improve your lung function and lower the chances of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Ninety percent of the time, COPD is caused by long-term smoking. The condition is characterized by a progressive decline in lung function which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
Once in a while there emerges health news that makes everyone scratch their heads. Here comes one of those moments…
If you are overweight - but only a little bit - congratulations, you are probably going to live the longest of any of us. That’s right, according to a new study people who were overweight, but not obese, were in prime position to outlive everyone else.
In the study, published in the journal Obesity, experts followed people 25 and older for 12 years. What they found was that people in the body mass index range of 25-29.9 were 17 percent less likely to die than those who were normal weight (a BMI of 18.5-24.9). Those who were underweight, a BMI less than 18.5, were 73 percent more likely to die than those who were normal weight.
We’re all aware of the massive problem of childhood obesity. However, kids aren’t quite aware of its magnitude, or at least how much they actually weigh.
In a study of mostly African American adolescents, nearly 40 percent were overweight or obese, and 27 percent of them underestimated their weight.
Of the 448 5th to 8th graders, more than 62 percent of the overweight boys and about 31 percent of the overweight girls listed their weight as normal or even underweight, reports Dr. Youfa Wang and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. That’s an interesting comparison. Since women are generally more conscious of their weight, it goes to show that girls aren’t as misguided about the number on the scale as their male counterparts.
I credit my German heritage for my love of lip-puckering sour foods. I like anything pickled, mustards, horseradish, and I love vinegar on salads.
Apple cider vinegar has long been a folk remedy for many ailments, many of which are unproven or have been disproved. But some studies have shown that it may help with diabetes and obesity.
Even your standard table vinegar that’s used on salads is showing signs of being a fat fighter. It appears to turn on genes that produce proteins that help the body break down fats, according to Japanese researchers. The research has also suggested that acetic acid, the main chemical in vinegar, can help control blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
The evidence has long supported the notion that men are at a greater risk for fatal heart disease than women. Not so, at least in Canada. While deaths and hospital visits related to heart disease have dropped 30 percent, more women are dying from the ailment than men.
The Canadian study came to its conclusion by analyzing the country’s national death registry. It started in 1994, and ended in 2004. While the overall number of deaths and hospitalization have decreased significantly, women have slightly edged out men at the end of the study at 50.7 percent of total heart-related deaths, whereas they accounted for 49.3 percent in 1994. Even with that number, the difference between men and women is much closer than one might think.
Everyone should have a steady diet of fruits, vegetables, and music. That’s right, music is good for the soul, and the rest of your body. Authors of the latest study on music’s health benefits claim that the best type is opera, which may help particularly with stroke rehabilitation.
Researchers tested various combinations of music with silence on volunteers and found that songs that emphasized alternating between fast and slow tempos were most effective in improving circulation and heart health.
“We have seen enormous benefits in people who have had strokes or heart attacks. The power of music is just incredible,” says Diana Greenman, chief executive of Music in Hospitals, a UK-based charity that provides live music to hospital patients.
Jay Leno is famous for his Tonight Show bit where he roves the streets and interviews people, exposing their ignorance on world affairs and random trivia. We get a big kick out of how stupid people are, right? Well, be prepared for a whole new low.
According to a new survey, more than half of people couldn’t locate the exact location of the human heart on a diagram. And as if that isn’t bad enough, nearly 70 percent can’t correctly identify the shape of the lungs. But wait, there’s more: even patients who were being treated for a specific condition involving an organ often didn’t identify that organ correctly.
Here are the results of the survey:
Sometimes it’s the little things that make the difference. In the case of your diet, don’t just look at the food you eat, but what you put on it.
Condiments are often a second thought in our meal preparations, that may be putting on extra pounds. Yes, but not necessarily in the way you would think.
New research is suggesting that if you just say no to the extras on your food, like ketchup, relish, etc., you can shed some weight. But not so much because of the extra calories, even though that would help too, it’s more about evidence that shows condiments make people consume more food.
Of the five senses, the one that you’d think directly affects how much you weigh is taste, with smell in a close second. But according to the makers of Sensa, smell is even more important than you think. Sensa is a seasoning weight-loss product that not only makes your food tastier, but gives it a scent that is appealing and makes you less hungry.
Sensa’s makers say that their product stimulates the olfactory bulb, which is the organ that transmits smell from the nose to the brain to signal that you are full.
“Eighty percent of what you perceive as taste is actually smell,” said Christopher Adams, a molecular biologist and the founder of Compellis Pharmaceuticals.
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