Vitamin C Gives Staying Power To Green Tea Antioxidants

Adding citrus juices enable to green tea enables more of its antioxidants to remain after digestion.

A study found that citrus juices enable more of green tea's unique antioxidants to remain after simulated digestion, making the pairing even healthier than previously thought.

The study compared the effect of various beverage additives on catechins, naturally occurring antioxidants found in tea. Results suggest that complementing green tea with either citrus juices or vitamin C likely increases the amount of catechins available for the body to absorb.

"Although these results are preliminary, I think it's encouraging that a big part of the puzzle comes down to simple chemistry," said Mario Ferruzzi, assistant professor of food science at Purdue University and the study's lead author. Read more

Remember, though, that adding milk to tea reduces its health benefits.

The Breast-Enlarging Subliminal Ring Tone

A Japanese man has developed a breast-enlarging subliminal ring tone, which was downloaded 10,000 times in the first week alone.

Hideto Tomabechi... claims that his deliciously-titled "Rockmelon" ditty uses "sounds that make the brain and body move unconsciously". Tomabechio calls the subliminal mambooster a kind of positive brainwashing and further reckons that it's "a part of cognitive science". Read more

I'm not sure that the subliminal messages would get through in the environment in which most phone calls are received, but it certainly couldn't hurt to try. Unluckily for English-speakers, I'm sure the subliminals are in Japanese.

Slow Aging with Vitamin D

Vitamin D has been recognized as protective against heart disease and cancer, but it may also slow down aging.

Vitamin D could help slow down the ageing of cells and tissues, according to British researchers.

A study of 2,160 women aged between 18 and 79 by researchers of King's College London published Thursday found those with higher vitamin D levels showed fewer ageing-related changes in their DNA.

The shortening of these strands of DNA called telomeres is one way of examining the ageing process at a cellular level.

[...]

"These results are exciting because they demonstrate for the first time that people who have higher levels of vitamin D may age more slowly than people with lower levels of vitamin D. This could help to explain how vitamin D has a protective effect on many ageing-related diseases, such as heart disease and cancer," Brent Richards, who led the study, was quoted as saying. Read more

Stop Staph Infections with Good Hygiene

The drug-resistant staph infection MRSA has made headlines recently, but it should not trigger panic or irrational fear.

"This isn't something just floating around in the air," Dr. Julie Gerberding, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told members of Congress on Wednesday.

It takes close contact - things like sharing towels and razors, or rolling on the wrestling mat or football field with open scrapes, or not bandaging cuts - to become infected with the staph germ called MRSA outside of a hospital, she said. But MRSA is preventable largely by common-sense hygiene, Gerberding stressed.

"Soap and water is the cheapest intervention we have, and it's one of the most effective," she told a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Read more

If you stay out of hospitals, wash your hands, and cover your cuts, you can probably cross MRSA off your list of things to worry about.

Amazing New Uses for an Old-Fashioned Remedy : Vicks VapoRub

People are ingenious about using items they have on hand for new uses. One of these is Vicks VapoRub. I didn't realize it was still even sold, but, not only is it still available, but people have found amazing new uses for this old-fashioned remedy.

Suffering is the mother of creativity. People will do almost anything to relieve their discomfort. Perhaps that is why some folks have tried rinsing their scalps with Listerine for flaky Dandruff. Others have dabbed vodka on their itchy poison ivy.

People reach for what they have on hand, which might account for why common household products show up so frequently in strange home remedies. Who knew you could use Phillip’s Milk of Magnesia as an underarm deodorant instead of a Laxative?

Perhaps the most versatile of all is Vicks VapoRub. This old-fashioned salve has been used for more than a century to ease chest congestion. But there is an astonishing assortment of other uses that people have invented. Read more

Lavender: 10 Natural Health Benefits and Healing Uses

The use of herbs is a time-honored approach to strengthening the body and treating disease. Lavender is considered a natural remedy for a range of ailments from insomnia and anxiety to depression and mood disturbances. Research has confirmed that lavender produces calming, soothing, and sedative effects. Mark's Daily Apple highlights the 10 natural health benefits and healing uses of lavender. Read more