Recent Blog Posts

  Warning: Diabetes, Liver, and Heart Disease Linked to Everyday Plastics What's Your Exposure Level?!   Bisphenol-A (BPS), a chemical used in countless plastic food and beverage containers, has made headlines in recent years for its ability to mimic the female hormone estrogen, impacting fertility and potentially promoting cancer. BPA, a chemical widely used in plastic bottles and soda-can linings has been linked to heart disease, diabetes and liver problems. The concern lead to widespread fears that allowing the chemical in baby bottles and baby toys could harm the health of future generations. Now a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has sounded an alarm not just for children, but adults as well. BPA, the data suggests, may also lead to heart disease, diabetes and liver problems in adults. BPA: How are You Exposed? BPA is one of "the world's highest production-volume chemicals, with more than 2 million metric tons produced worldwide per one year and increase in demand of 6% to 10% annually," according to the JAMA report. The chemical is so widely used, [...]

  The Proven Benefits of Thinking Fast   There are nearly always two sides and different benefits to every perspective. Fast thinking is no different. Thinking fast has been proven to make you happy ... even if you're thinking about something sad. If you've ever lain in bed at night with thoughts racing through your mind, you've experienced manic thinking. Likewise if you've been brainstorming or just thought of a great idea, and your thoughts seem to be coming in at lightning speed. Making a fast informed intelligent decision can be very important, such as critical life dependent needed surgery, or when buying or selling a home with regard to an offer. Even though home purchases are for most people their biggest investment decision, waiting can be a lose lose proposition if you wait and ponder while others make or accept offers, leaving you literally out-in-the-cold. Manic thinking (also sometimes called fast thinking or racing thoughts) is also a symptom of the clinical psychiatric disorder bipolar disorder, or manic depression. Manic behavior is typically thought of as a bad thing. [...]

  In What Ways is a Bigger Home "Worth It"? In What Ways Isn't It?   Since 1950, the average house in the United States has more than doubled in size to reach an average of 2,349 square feet. No longer -- if they can help it -- will families share a bathroom as they often did in the '50s, nor will three or four kids share a bedroom. The average U.S. home has doubled in size since 1950. Americans buy big homes for many different reasons. For space, for status, for tax breaks, for the neighborhood (and schools), and for a feeling of security. But is a bigger home really a better investment than a medium size or smaller one? A big home will generally appreciate in value, which means that whenever you decide to sell, you stand to reap a profit, but there are many other things to consider. Most people consider their home the most important purchase they make in their lives for their families health and happiness plus even for their careers in some cases. Making [...]

  Recent Study: Why Green Tea Strengthens Your Teeth … "Got Green Tea?" Adults have 32 permanent teeth (including wisdom teeth), which are designed to help you bite and chew food, and even help form words when you speak, for your entire adult life. There is a slight problem, though, and that is the human lifespan has been expanding while poor diet and other issues are causing teeth to decay. A cup of green tea a day may help keep your teeth strong well into old age. Now, experts say teeth are "evolved" to only last 45-50 years – which worked fine when life expectancy was not much older than that. Fortunately, humans can now expect to live much longer, even above and beyond 90 years … but our teeth have not caught up yet. Adding to the problem is that teeth are not designed to self-repair, so once they become decayed or your gums are damaged, it’s difficult if not impossible to bring a tooth back to life, so to speak. The end result is that many of those [...]

  Women, Sex and Diabetes: Are You Suffering in Silence?   Diabetes impacts over 9 million U.S. women, 3 million of whom have not been diagnosed. Along with increasing the risk of heart attack, miscarriages, yeast infections, eye and nerve damage, and more, diabetes increases the risk of sexual problems -- a largely unspoken problem among women. Diabetes increases the risk of sexual problems in women, but many are too embarrassed to bring the issue up with their doctors. Sexual dysfunction is a topic most often associated with men, and while men with diabetes are more likely to lose interest in sex or experience erectile dysfunction, women with diabetes are also more likely to have sexual side effects. How Does Diabetes Impact a Woman's Sexual Health? When you have type 2 diabetes, your cells become resistant to insulin, a hormone that helps lower the amount of sugar in your bloodstream after you eat. This results in sugar building up in your bloodstream, a potentially dangerous condition. If left untreated or uncontrolled, numerous complications can develop, many of which can impact [...]

  Dreams Really Do Have Meaning, New Study Reveals Dreams unlock a world of imagery revealing your deepest fears, hidden secrets and outrageous fantasies, transferring them from the conscious to the unconscious world. Your dreams may make you view the world in a more positive light. These subjective images usually occur during the REM stage of your sleep cycle, the time of sleep where the most intense dreaming takes place. A new study released now shows that REM sleep has a powerful connection to your ability to process emotions in people’s faces. The results of the study confirm that when you’ve gotten plenty of rest you’re apt to be more in tune to positive emotions, which could add to your longevity. A Good Night’s Sleep Attracts a Positive Read of Emotions Since we deal with people on various social levels on a daily basis, it is beneficial to have the ability to accurately read facial expressions. In a Yahoo News article, Matthew Walker, director of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab at the University of California Berkeley gave the following analogy: [...]