Almost everything in terms of food nowadays comes in the processed form. We see them in supermarkets, packaged in microwavable containers. Well, I guess that is still better because they come from naturally-grown plants and animals. But if you were presented with meat that did not come from a naturally-grown animal would you eat it? How about a “test-tube grown” type of meat? Maybe it won’t be long now before you get to taste it. PETA or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is dangling prize money amounting to $1 million for the first person to develop a process to manufacture large amount of “in vitro meat” by 2012.

Here’s another warning given to those who do not watch their weight. A study now says that having a bulging belly makes a person more at risk in having dementia at a later age. In the study made on 6, 583 adults, it was found out that those with huge abdominal fat are three times more prone to dementia as well as Alzheimer’s disease, later in their life. Just to be clear, dementia is a condition of the brain wherein the person is no longer able to remember or communicate properly. The amount of fat on the waist is found by means of the measurement called sagittal abdominal diameter or SAD. This is measured while the person is lying down. Now, if your SAD is more than 9.8 inches, then yours is already a huge tummy.

I was always one for the antibiotics until I discovered what a mess you can get yourself into when you overuse them. As a result I found myself on the internet searching ‘Natural Home Remedies’ and what I found was astounding. It turns out that there is a whole other field of medicines that lies in our kitchen cupboards and so many of us are oblivious as to its existence. These natural remedies can be extremely effective, cheap and have no side effect because there are no chemicals involved.

Back pain is one of the most common problems encountered by almost all people around the world. Those who want relief from this back pain have another option other than conventional therapy. Acupuncture can be the key in order to obtain relief from recurring back pain. But if you find the idea of sticking real needles down your back quite daunting there’s also sham acupuncture! Even though it is called sham acupuncture it does not mean that there’s no real insertion of needles. The difference of this from the real acupuncture lies in the fact that the needles are not pushed in that deeply and they are not placed right where it will produce therapeutic effect; once inserted they are not manipulated or moved.

Most of you have heard about Yoga and may have seen people on TV doing some Yoga stretching movements. Some people may find it funny, while others think it is interesting and others believe it is essential to our lives.

Yoga is a big science and includes a lot of steps, kinds and demands. There are a lot of kinds of Yoga and only one of them demands physical action and some (not much) flexibility which is the Hatha Yoga.

There’s a new way of burning fat…try the Power Plate Fitness machine that makes use of vibrations not only to burn fats but also to tone your muscles at a much faster rate! Users will have that overall body shaking that will leave you tingling all over as the machine can generate up to 30 to 50 shakes every second. And to top that fact that you get an overall body workout with the shakes you don’t have to spend much time on exercise since it only requires 15 minutes a day and 3 days in a week. It’s also said that this new exercise machine enhances strength and flexibility, lessen pain and stress and prevents muscle atrophy.

Hiccups are annoying! You can't deny that ... so how do you get rid of them?
Some people say the best hiccup cure is drinking a glass of water, other say that you have to hold your breath for 7 seconds ... why 7 I'm not sure!
The latest cure I've read about is holding your breath & picturing a neon blinking sign! That's bizarre!
What do you do to get rid of your hiccup?

There's a funny proverb speaking about cats says that: "Cats are a way of showing us that not everything in nature has a function"
But apparently they do. A recent study shows that pet owners have a higher ability to resist allergies as the immune system becomes less reactive to potential allergy triggers.

Chocolates … hmmm who could resist them? Well, certainly not me. I admit that I am a chocoholic and I’m sure a lot of you are too, right?

When talking about chocolates the things that usually come to mind are the bad effects that come out of eating too much of it. But did you know that chocolate is also good for the health? That’s right! It is good for you, especially in the state of your heart. However, it’s not just any kind of chocolate . . . it has to be DARK CHOCOLATE. See to it that that it only contains teeny bit of sugar and butter.

Have you seen Supersize Me? I have and it put me off fast foods for at least a month! I’m reminding you of it because of the recent attempt to ban trans fat in all of New York’s 20 thousand food outlets. It’s interesting to see how our modern-day society is “attempting” new things all the time to reduce obesity. In 2005, a young English chef called Jamie Oliver, better known as the naked chef, was able to convince the Tony Blair to change the food offered in school canteens all over the United Kingdom as a measure to prevent unhealthy foods I the country’s schools… and it seems to be working. But still, the US has the highest number of obsess people in the world. About 65% of the population is overweight. So as societies try their best to warn the public of the dangers of fast food and unhealthy deists, why isn’t anything working?

Is microwaved food really bad for you?
In today’s modern society, we’re using the microwave for almost every little thing…and why shouldn’t we?
It’s energy efficient…
It’s fast…
It’s really convenient…
It’s really easy…
And some studies say it’s cancerous!!!

The myth of the microwave is still a debatable issue. We have strong scientific proof to show the dangers of microwaved food , such as high cholesterol and rare diseases but on the other hand, there are also many studies to show there are not…
Who shall we believe?

In my personal opinion, some things should stay the same color!
For example, Green Tea!
What is this Green Tea craze that the world is so happy about? People are asking for and buying more Green Tea than ever before since rumors about the magic medicine is quickly circulating around the globe…and with good reason!
Recent studies have shown that even though black tea is very healthy, Green Tea contains more antitoxins that fight disease.

It is a fact that during the industrial revolution, European cities grew like crazy. This caused many problems for health and sanitation. Many people died as a result of unclean sewers and crowded living areas. A study on the impact of the industrial revolution showed that English and Japanese cities grew faster and deaths were fewer…any clue why?

A recent survey has shown that over 60% of Americans are over weight and another 23.9 are obese! And if that isn’t enough, then an additional 3% are extremely obese! Wow! It looks like the richest country in the world sure knows how to show off its wealth! But hang on a second! Isn’t America also the best country in the world at sports? The Olympics are the best proof of that. So I can conclude that healthy non-obese Americans are athletes only!!!
You would think that in today’s information-hungry modern societies people would be more aware of the dangers of obesity. Health magazines, health shops, diet sections are all over the place yet, still, people are overweight.
How ironic are the supermodels on the covers of fashion magazines. No wonder people are depressed all the time!

That would be my prescription to anyone who’s not feeling well.
According to scientists, laughter may actually build healthy blood vassals!
Researchers found that watching a funny movie had a healthy effect on blood vessel function, allowing them to expand and contract more effectively in response to changes in blood flow.

In the study, researchers had a group of 20 healthy men and women watch two movies at opposite ends of the emotional spectrum and then measured the movies’ effects on their blood vessels via ultrasound.
On separate days the participants watched a 30-minutes of Saving Private Ryan and King Pin, a comedy that would cause laughter. Blood vessel reactivity was measured before and after watching the movies.
The results showed that each movie showed different effects on blood vessel function.