Two over easy can lead to smaller
Overweight and obese women who ate a
breakfast of two eggs per day, five days a week or more for eight weeks,
lost more weight than women who consumed a calorically equivalent bagel
breakfast. Researchers at
found women who ate the two-egg breakfast:
Lost 65 percent more weight than those who ate the bagel breakfast.
Had 83 percent greater reductions in waist circumference.
Reported greater improvements in energy levels.
Eggs, it is believed, evoke feelings of
greater satiety and, therefore, reduce short-term food intake. In the study,
the bagel and egg breakfasts were equal in both calories and weight mass.
Food containing melatonin may help
If you’re worried about aging, perhaps
a little corn on the cob, followed by a bowl full of cherries, and topped
off with a glass of red wine might be in order. Why? Because all of these
foods contain melatonin, and recent studies indicate the substance may be
the long sought-after “fountain of youth.” Melatonin, a substance that
neutralize oxidative damage and delays
neurodegenerative processes, might have a hand in putting off old age,
according to a
In the study, five-month-old mice, which
are the human age equivalent of 30-year-olds, were used. This is the age
where mice start to show signs of aging, due to an increase in free radicals
(oxygen and nitrogen), which cause inflammation. This “oxidative stress”
can cause cell membranes to become more fragile, making them easier to break
and damage. The mice then received melatonin in small amounts. The melatonin
not only neutralized the damages, but also delayed the negative effects of
aging in the mice. Researchers believe that daily intake of melatonin by
humans beginning at the age of 30 could
prevent, or at least delay, some of the
negative consequences of aging, such as neurodegenerative disorders (e.g.
Parkinson’s disease) and other illnesses such as diabetes. More research
is being done in the hope of developing a supplement containing enough
melatonin to positively affect the aging process.
In the meantime, melatonin can be found
naturally in small amounts in certain fruits and vegetables like cherries,
bananas and onions; in cereals such as corn, oats and rice; and in aromatic
plants such as mint, lemon verbena, sage or thyme; and last, but not least,
in red wine.
Secondhand smoke is dangerous –
If you’re dining alfresco, you might
want to see if there’s a no-smoking section, even though you’re
Stanford researchers have found that
sitting a few feet downwind from a smoker when you are out-of-doors means
that you are likely to be at least periodically exposed to substantial
levels of contaminated air.
Neil Klepeis, assistant professor of
civil and environmental engineering and the lead author of the study, says,
“Some folks have expressed the opinion that exposure to outdoor tobacco
smoke is insignificant, because it dissipates quickly into the air. But our
findings show that a person sitting or standing next to a smoker outdoors
can breathe in wisps of smoke that are many times more concentrated than
normal background air-pollution levels.”
Researchers say they were surprised at
some of the findings. Wayne Ott, professor of environmental engineering and
co-author of the study says, “If you’re at a sidewalk cafe, and you sit
within 18 inches of a person who smokes two cigarettes over the course of an
hour, your exposure to secondhand smoke could be the same as if you sat one
hour inside a tavern with smokers. Based on our findings, a child in close
proximity to adult smokers at a backyard party also could receive
substantial exposure to secondhand smoke.”
The researchers found that if people
move about six feet away from an outdoor smoker, exposure levels drop
The results of the study were published
in the Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association.