Masenka.Be - your guide to a healthy lifestyle Blog of the latest health news and advice for improving your life the healthy way. What to eat, what to avoid and Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 1 0 22 1079

Articles from Masenka.Be - your guide to a healthy lifestyle

Cancer killing combo: fish and broccoli 2008-01-24 04:13:58 Fish is rich in the mineral selenium among others. Selenium heightens the level of thioredoxin reductase (Tr-1), an enzyme that fights cancer. At the same time broccoli is a good source of sulphoraphane, a substance in plants that stimulates Tr-1. When British researchers combined the two foods, they saw that this golden duo was 13 times more effective in slowing down the growth of cancer cells than each of the foods separately. The researchers think that an extra high concentration of selenium in your cells stimulates the sulphoraphane to increase your Tr-1 level. Sulphoraphane is subject to a lot of research recently, especially where its cancer fighting properties are concerned. Already many beneficial effects have been discovered on test animals. But for humans still a lot of extra research is needed. But already many food producers have started to develop sulphoraphane related foods, like a special kind of broccoli that contains 30 more times sulphoraphane than normal. So combin ... Cancer

Try semi skimmed milk for rehydration 2008-01-23 04:43:12 The best sportsdrink comes from the cow according to a recent British research. In this research 11 men drank either semi skimmed milk, the sportsdrink Powerade or water after an intensive workout session. The test subjects who drank the milk excreted less urine than the other test subjects. According to the researchers milk can replenish the shortage of moisture in your body and rehydrate you much faster than either a sportsdrink or water. ...

Tomato special: increased fertility 2008-01-22 04:19:17 Pommes d’amour is the french nickname for the tomato. The French have attributed potency increasing effects to the tomato hence that nickname. And there is something to say for that, because the high levels of lycopene in tomatoes seem to have a special effect on men. This is the result of a study done by the Indian Institute of Medical Science in New Delhi. They had 30 infertile men in the ages of 23 till 45 take 4 milligrams of lycopene per day for a period of 3 months. After these months the sperm count had risen dramatically in 66 percent of the men. In 53 percent of the men the movement of the sperm cells was improved by a quarter. And the best: 6 wifes got pregnant in this period. Researchers at the University of Portsmouth proved that lycopene can increase male fertility as well. ...

Tomato special: vitamin P aka flavonoids 2008-01-21 04:22:17 Besides being full of vitamins, tomatoes are also rich in flavonoids. There are about 7000 kinds of flavanoids and they used to be called vitamin P. Because of their anti-oxidative properties they would lower the chance of cancer in women. Flavonoids also sabotage the development of fat cells. This was discovered in a research by the University of North Carolina. Is there more good news? Yes, because the Ortho Institute in the Netherlands reports that some flavonoids reduce the chance of a heart attack immediately. But be careful, warn researchers, because too many flavonoids are also not healthy. They can impede the functioning of the thyroid gland. ... Vitamin

Tomato special: full of vitamins 2008-01-20 04:09:06 Tomatoes are full of vitamins. They are rich in vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin B1, B2 and B6 and the minerals potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. Furthermore they are full of carotene. The body makes vitamin A from carotene. They transport waste products from the body. And they are beneficial for the mucus membranes that can be found in the stomach, intestines, genitals and the esophagus, which give them a protective layer. Without the membrane the acid in your stomach would start to dissolve it for example. ...

Tomato special: the green poison 2008-01-19 04:54:13 Tomatoes are toxic! The culprit in the vegetables is called tomatine and it is meant to act as a repellent against diseases, but it is also toxic to humans. But tomatine is only found in green, unripe tomatoes. During the riping process the tomato gets its color and then the tomatine and the poison disappear. In America they make a kind of chutney from the green toxic tomatoes. You won’t drop dead from one bite, but eating great quantities can cause problems. An overdose can lead to fever, nausea, belly ache, drowsiness and diarrhea. ...

Tomato special: the red medicine 2008-01-18 04:34:17 Lycopene it is called and it gives the tomato its red color. This natural pigment is also found inside other red fruits. The more red, the more lycopene. Lycopene is also used to color foods. Then the additive is called E160d in Europe. Lycopene is a powerful anti-oxidant. An anti-oxidant is a molecule that quickly neutralizes damage to our DNA caused by faulty cell division. Faulty cell division can in some instances cause cancer, especially prostrate cancer. Researchers at Harvard University investigated the eating habits of 50.000 men for 12 years. Their conclusion was that tomato eaters had 16 percent less chance if prostate cancer than non tomato eaters. But then they shouldn’t eat just raw tomatoes. Because lycopene is better absorbed by the body in boiled form, like in soups, juices and sauces. The colorful anti-oxidant does not disappear from the body easily. Someone who uses a few liters of tomato juice per day over an extended period, can literally color red. ...

Eating with the family makes healthier eaters 2008-01-17 12:34:12 If you eat a lot together with your family when growing up, then probably everything will be okay with your eating habits later in life. At the University of Minnesota researchers followed 1500 adolescents who were attending high school. A few years later, when they were 20 years old, they were questioned again. The researchers showed that the test subjects that had often shared their meals with their family, ate more fruits and vegetables later in life. They also drank less soft drinks. Women who ate often with their family were also more inclined to eat breakfast later in life, which is also considered healthy. They also ingested more nutrients, like calcium, magnesium and vitamins. The latter also applies to men. ...

Loneliness effects the immune system 2008-01-16 04:06:41 Lonely people have a lower life expectancy. Research has revealed the reason for this. The immune system of chronic lonely people changes. The expression of genes that fire up the immune system and cause inflammatory reactions become stronger and the expression of genes which help with the building of anti bodies and the cleaning up of viruses become weaker. So the end results is more inflammations and viruses and less anti bodies. Never before were scientists able to trace the health risks of social factors to such a microscopic level. ...

Smokers have higher risk of erectile dysfunction 2008-01-15 04:58:49 Yet another good reason to quit smoking for real this time: men who smoke more than 20 cigarettes per day have 60% more chance of having erectile dysfunction than non smokers. A study done by the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans among 5000 Chinese men showed that, after excluding other risk factors (like high blood pressure age and diabetes), that the risk of having erectile dysfunction is 31% higher for smokers and ex-smokers than non smokers. The risk is 35% when 11 till 20 cigarettes are smoked per day and till 60% in men who smoke more than 20 cigarettes per day. ...

Liposuction does not reduce hart disease risk 2008-01-14 03:50:06 When you remove fat from the body through liposuction your risk of heart disease does not diminish. According to researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes is not reduced after liposuction. With liposuction only local fat is removed that is located under the skin. Fat around the organs and in the blood vessels stays put. Furthermore after liposuction the body produces less of the hormone leptin that regulates the feeling of hunger, which can cause an increase in appetite. It is not unthinkable that you would eat more than before the liposuction, which can have negative effects on health. Good clinics try to help their liposuction clients by also giving sport and diet advice. ...

Salt crystals good for infectious skin disease 2008-01-13 04:16:47 Skin problems? Take a bath is the Dead Sea is a common heard advice. The salt water is supposed to be beneficial. But is this really true? According to doctor Bing Thio of the Erasmus Medical Center in Holland the salt has no beneficial effects on the skin. It dehydrates the skin and that causes itchiness because it attracts moist. But a salty bath can help with skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis and other infectious diseases. Salt reflects light in all directions, because it is a crystal. Because of that the light gets to the skin more dispersed when there is salt on the skin. With some skin diseases like psoriasis and eczema the immune system is working too hard. And light suppresses the activity of the immune system. So the benefits of salt for the skin lie in the fact that it is a crystal. In theory you could also use sugar, but that would not be so practical, because that gets very sticky. ...

The secret of happiness 2008-01-12 04:55:48 Happiness is not found in luxurious holidays, fast cars or expensive flat screen televisions. We find true happiness in a nice afternoon nap, beautiful music or a good glass of wine. This is concluded by researchers at the University of Nottingham. The British National Lottery asked them to investigate how satisfied lottery winners and a control group were with their lives. And especially how they treated themselves when they thought they deserved it. Among the lottery winners 95% was satisfied and it the control group that percentage was 71. In both groups the most happy people gave themselves simple things as rewards. For example a warm bath, a relaxing walk in the park or playing a game at home. The unhappy people sooner chose things that cost money, like cds, dvds and take out food. According to the British researchers we can learn from the satisfied people in our society was it the secret of a happy live: to relax. ...

Smoking does not make your lose weight 2008-01-11 04:27:43 For many smokers the appetite inhibiting effect of smoking is a good excuse not to quit. Especially many women don’t quit because of this argument. Furthermore, a study done by the University of Michigan shows that staying slim is a reason for many women to start smoking. But this is a myth: smoking does not make you less fat. Researches at the University of New South Wales wanted to know the effects of smoking on the storage of fat in the body. So they gave 2 groups of mice a fatty meal each day. One group of mice they let breath in cigarette smoke, the other group not. Although the smoking mice ate less and weighted a little less, their body fat percentage was as high as the non smoking mice. The weight loss caused my smoking is not because the smokers are less fat, say the researchers. They think the smokers weigh less because the mass of the muscles and the internal organs decrease. ...

The dangers of eating too much salt 2008-01-10 10:27:38 Every adult has about 250 grams of salt is his body. That’s about 3 to 4 salt shakers. Salt is necessary in the body to transfer nerve impulses, among other things. To stay healthy we need to ingest about 1 to 2 grams of salt per day. But research shows we eat a lot more, about 10 to 12 grams per day. And that’s unhealthy, because when the kidneys secrete too much sodium from the salt, they produce the hormone renin. Renin has the effect that the body holds on to moisture. The result is a dramatic rise in blood pressure. Many people die from a high salt intake, because the high blood pressure results in a stroke or heart failure. Ready made meals and snacks contain a lot of salt, but also soups, cheese and canned vegetables. It is advised not to eat more than 6 grams of salt per day. It’s good advice, but very hard to follow, because even if you do not add salt to your food yourself, you are likely to eat more than 6 grams of salt. Salt is cheap and adds flavor, so m ...