| Beber um copo de água morna com limão logo ao acordar, pode trazer-lhe imensos benefícios para a sua saúde e tem sido uma prática ayurvédica desde há muito tempo. Como preparar ?Amorne um copo de água e junte-lhe o sumo de meio limão. Utilize limões frescos… não vale usar “limão engarrafado”! Beba essa mistura em jejum na primeira hora da manhã. Os benefíciosAjuda na digestão: A água morna ajuda a estimular o trato gastrointestinal e acredita-se que o limão ajude a estimular e purificar o fígado. Estimula o sistema imunológico: As frutas cítricas como o limão são ricas em vitamina C e ácido ascórbico. A vitamina C pode ajudar a prevenir constipações e o ácido ascórbico ajuda na absorção do ferro. Equilibra o pH do organismo: Quando o corpo está com o pH desequilibrado, torna-se mais susceptível a adoecer. Apesar dos limões serem ácidos, eles são bastante alcalinizantes e muito eficazes a equilibrar os níveis de pH. É diurético: Água com limão é um diurético natural, o que significa que ajuda o seu corpo a eliminar líquidos e toxinas. É energizante: Há quem desista de tomar café de manhã depois de alguns dias a beber água morna com limão. Aparentemente, essa bebida ajuda a oxigenar o sangue, fazendo com que se sinta esplêndido e preparado para enfrentar o dia. Mantém a pele bonita: A vitamina C desempenha um papel crítico na manutenção de uma pele saudável e os antioxidantes podem combater os factores de envelhecimento. Mantém o hálito fresco: E também ajuda a aliviar dores de dentes e gengivite. Mas atenção, como o ácido cítrico pode corroer o esmalte, não escove os dentes logo após beber a água com limão. Prefira aguardar ou então escove os dentes antes de beber. Fonte – www.poupaeganha.pt |
quinta-feira, 19 de fevereiro de 2015
Porque devemos beber água morna com limão todas as manhãs
Individuals with type 2 diabetes should exercise after dinner
February 18, 2015University of Missouri-Columbia Individuals with Type 2 diabetes have heightened amounts of sugars and fats in their blood, which increases their risks for cardiovascular diseases such as strokes and heart attacks. Exercise is a popular prescription for individuals suffering from the symptoms of Type 2 diabetes, but little research has explored whether these individuals receive more benefits from working out before or after dinner. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that individuals with Type 2 diabetes can lower their risks of cardiovascular diseases more effectively by exercising after a meal. "This study shows that it is not just the intensity or duration of exercising that is important but also the timing of when it occurs," said Jill Kanaley, professor in the MU Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology. "Results from this study show that resistance exercise has its most powerful effect on reducing glucose and fat levels in one's blood when performed after dinner." Kanaley and her colleagues studied a group of obese individuals with Type 2 diabetes. On one occasion, participants performed resistance exercises before eating dinner. During another visit, participants exercised 45 minutes after eating dinner. Participants performed resistance exercises such as leg curls, seated calf raises and abdominal crunches. Compared to levels on a non-exercise day, Kanaley found that the participants who exercised before dinner were able to only reduce the sugar levels in their blood; however, participants who exercised after dinner were able to reduce both sugar and fat levels. Participants consumed a moderate carbohydrate dinner on the evenings of the study. Kanaley said her research is particularly helpful for health care providers who have patients who exercise every day but are not seeing benefits. "Knowing that the best time to exercise is after a meal could provide health care professionals with a better understanding of how to personalize exercise prescriptions to optimize health benefits," Kanaley said. Kanaley also found that improvements in participants' blood sugar and fat levels were short-lived and did not extend to the next day. She suggests individuals practice daily resistance exercise after dinner to maintain improvements. "Individuals who exercise in the morning have usually fasted for 10 hours beforehand," Kanaley said. "Also, it is natural for individuals' hormone levels to be different at different times of day, which is another factor to consider when determining the best time to exercise." In the future, Kanaley said she plans to research how exercising in the morning differs from exercising after dinner and how individuals' hormone levels also affect exercise results. The study, "Post-dinner resistance exercise improves postprandial risk factors more effectively than pre-dinner resistance exercise in patients with type 2 diabetes," was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by University of Missouri-Columbia. The original article was written by Diamond Dixon. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference:
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Epigenomics of Alzheimer's disease progression
| Our susceptibility to disease depends both on the genes that we inherit from our parents and on our lifetime experiences. These two components -- nature and nurture -- seem to affect very different processes in the context of Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study published today in the journal Nature. The study was carried out by an interdisciplinary team at MIT and the Broad Institute, and was co-led by Li-Huei Tsai, the Picower Professor at MIT and director of the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, and Manolis Kellis, a professor in MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). The researchers analyzed changes that occur in genes and in regions that regulate genes as Alzheimer's disease progresses, using a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease that Tsai's lab originally developed several years ago. The mice were engineered so that the gene for a protein called p25 can be overstimulated in the brain, which prompts the mice to develop symptoms very similar to Alzheimer's disease in humans. "These programmable mice allowed us to study, for the first time, the changes occurring during early stages of the disease, before symptoms even begin to appear," Tsai says. "We could then compare them to changes in later stages of the disease, when neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment are evident." Opposing changes The researchers profiled multiple chemical modifications, known as epigenetic marks, in the hippocampus of mice expressing too much p25 and compared them with control mice. These epigenetic marks reveal the activity of diverse genomic regions -- in particular, the regulatory control regions that control the expression of nearby genes. The researchers also directly profiled the levels of all genes. "We found two opposing signatures associated with disease progression that are consistent with the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease," says Elizabeta Gjoneska, joint first author of the paper and a postdoc at the Picower Institute. "Neuronal plasticity processes that are involved in learning and memory were dampened, and immune and inflammatory pathways were activated." The active regions specifically matched regions active in a type of immune cells known as microglia, which are responsible for clearing away infected or damaged cells. They also secrete chemicals that produce inflammation. "Our data suggest that microglia are heavily activated during Alzheimer's disease progression, although it is unknown exactly how they contribute to the disease," Tsai says. "These cells are important for normal brain function and share their key cell-surface markers, CD14, with macrophages that infiltrate the brain from elsewhere in the body during disease progression." Conserved epigenomic signatures The researchers then compared the results in mice with what is known about Alzheimer's disease in humans. They found that differences in gene levels in the Alzheimer's-like mouse brain matched differences previously seen in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, which prompted them to ask if the epigenetic signatures might also be conserved. The researchers found that this was the case -- specifically, the same regulatory regions that were active or repressed in mice showed the same patterns in humans. They also found that the regions with increased activity in the mouse model of Alzheimer's disease had immune functions in humans, and the regions that showed decreased activity had neural functions in humans. "Our results show that functional conservation between human and mouse is not restricted to protein-coding genes," says Andreas Pfenning, joint first author of the study and a postdoc at MIT. "This opens up the use of epigenomics methods in model organisms to study an inaccessible organ like the brain, and how it changes in response to activity or disease." Genetic variants cluster in immune pathways Previous studies of the genomes of Alzheimer's patients had identified common genetic variants associated with the disease, but scientists did not know how these DNA variants could contribute to the disease, since the majority of them are found outside of protein-coding regions. "Our conserved epigenomic maps allowed us to now place these noncoding genetic variants in the context of disease-relevant regulatory regions and interpret their contribution to the disease predisposition," Kellis says. "As inherited common genetic variants always precede disease onset, they are always indicative of causal roles, and thus can shed additional light on the epigenomic alterations." The researchers found that genetic variants associated with Alzheimer's disease were only associated with immune processes, and not with neural processes, indicating that genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's disease primarily affects the circuitry of immune processes, rather than neuronal processes. "Our results suggest that repression of neural pathways does not represent genetic predisposition, even though it is a hallmark of Alzheimer's," Tsai says. "Instead, it may occur as a consequence of environmental factors and aging, and result from interactions with the altered immune pathways." The researchers identified a small number of master regulators that target many of the regulatory regions that overlap Alzheimer's-associated genetic variants in humans. Among these, PU.1 targets a large number of altered regulatory regions, and the genetic region encoding PU.1 is associated with Alzheimer's disease, suggesting PU.1 as a potential therapeutic target. "The new focus on immune-cell types, and the specific regulators uncovered, provide new therapeutic avenues," Kellis says. "Moreover, the conservation of epigenomic signatures between mouse and human provides a platform upon which we can test such therapeutics and their effect on cognition, pathology, and the epigenomic signatures of Alzheimer's." |
Keeping atherosclerosis in-check with novel targeted inflammation-resolving nanomedicines
Nanometer-sized "drones" that deliver a special type of healing molecule to fat deposits in arteries could become a new way to prevent heart attacks caused by atherosclerosis, according to a study in pre-clinical models by scientists at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Columbia University Medical Center. These findings are published in the February 18th online issue of Science Translational Medicine.Although current treatments have reduced the number of deaths from atherosclerosis-related disease, atherosclerosis remains a dangerous health problem: Atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries is the #1 killer of women and men in the U.S., resulting in one out of every four deaths. In the study, targeted biodegradable nano 'drones' that delivered a special type of drug that promotes healing ('resolution') successfully restructured atherosclerotic plaques in mice to make them more stable. This remodeling of the plaque environment would be predicted in humans to block plaque rupture and thrombosis and thereby prevent heart attacks and strokes. "This is the first example of a targeted nanoparticle technology that reduces atherosclerosis in an animal model," said co-senior author Omid Farokhzad, MD, associate professor and director of the Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Biomaterials at BWH and Harvard Medical School (HMS). "Years of research and collaboration have culminated in our ability to use nanotechnology to resolve inflammation, remodel and stabilize plaques in a model of advanced atherosclerosis." In this study, targeted nanomedicines made from polymeric building blocks that are utilized in numerous FDA approved products to date, were nanoengineered to carry an anti-inflammatory drug payload in the form of a biomimetic peptide. Furthermore, this peptide was derived from one of the body's own natural inflammatory-resolving proteins called Annexin A1. The way the nanomedicines were designed enabled this biological therapeutic to be released at the target site, the atherosclerotic plaque, in a controlled manner. In mouse models with advanced atherosclerosis, researchers administered nanomedicines and relevant controls. Following five weeks of treatment with the nanomedicines, damage to the arteries was significantly repaired and plaque was stabilized. Specifically, researchers observed a reduction of reactive oxygen species; increase in collagen, which strengthens the fibrous cap; and reduction of the plaque necrotic core, and these changes were not observed in comparison with the free peptide or empty nanoparticles. "Many researchers are trying to develop drugs that prevent heart attacks by tamping down inflammation, but that approach has some downsides," said co-senior author Ira Tabas, MD, Richard J. Stock professor of Medicine (Immunology) and professor of Pathology & Cell Biology at Columbia. "One is that atherosclerosis is a chronic disease, so drugs are taken for years, even decades. An anti-inflammatory drug that is distributed throughout the entire body will also impair the immune system's ability to fight infection." That might be acceptable for conditions that severely affect quality of life, like rheumatoid arthritis, but "using this approach to prevent a heart attack that may never happen may not be worth the risk." In addition, it's not enough to deliver an anti-inflammatory drug to the plaques, said Columbia associate research scientist Gabrielle Fredman, PhD, one of the study's lead co-authors. "Atherosclerosis is not only inflammation; there's also damage to the arterial wall. If the damage isn't repaired, you may not prevent heart attacks." The targeted nanomedicines used in this current study were engineered by researchers at BWH. Following preliminary proof-of-principle studies at Columbia University in models of inflammation, they were further tested in a clinically relevant disease model in mice and were shown to be capable of maneuvering through the blood circulation, and traversing leaky regions through to the inside of the plaques, as was demonstrated by fluorescence microscopy imaging of the plaque lesions. Researchers note that in addition to their specific 'sticky' surfaces, their small sub-100 nanometer size is also a key property that facilitates the retention and accumulation of these nanoparticles within the plaques. These nanoparticles are 1000 times smaller than the tip of a single human-hair strand. "These nanomedicines are developed using biodegradable polymers that can break-up over time in the body using the bodies natural mechanisms, and can be nanoengineered using scale-able chemistries and nanotechnologies, which ultimately can facilitate their rapid translation to the clinic," said co-lead author Nazila Kamaly, PhD, instructor in the Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Biomaterials at BWH and HMS. Researchers caution that although plaques in mice look a lot like human plaques, mice do not have heart attacks, so the real test of the nanoparticles will not come until they are tested in humans. "In this study, we've shown, for the first time, that a drug that promotes resolution of inflammation and repair is a viable option, when the drug is delivered directly to plaques via nanoparticles," said Tabas. To be ready for testing in humans, the team plans to fine-tune the nanoparticles to optimize drug delivery and to package them with more potent resolution-inducing drugs. "We think that we can obtain even better delivery to plaques and improve healing more than with the current peptides," , he said. Farokhzad and colleagues have considerable expertise with bench-to-bedside translation of nanotechnologies for medical applications, and foundational work done in part by his team has led to the development and first in human testing of a targeted nanoparticle capable of controlling drug release for treatment of cancers, and the first in human testing of a targeted nanoparticle vaccine capable of orchestrating an immune response to facilitate smoking cessation and relapse prevention. "The inflammation resolving targeted nanoparticles have shown exciting potential not only for the potential treatment of atherosclerosis as described here, but also other therapeutic areas including wound repair, for example, as described in the Feb. 9 online issue of Journal of Clinical Investigation, in addition to other applications currently underway with our collaborators," Farokhzad said. "I'm optimistic that with additional animal validation we will also consider the human testing of the inflammation resolving targeted nanoparticles for a myriad of unmet medical needs--these are exciting times in medicine and the future of nanomedicine is incredibly bright." |
New weapon in the fight against cancer could be in your body already
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Lithocholic acid, a bile acid produced in the liver, is particularly effective in killing cancer cells. Where can you find the next important weapon in the fight against cancer? Just do a little navel-gazing. New research from Concordia confirms that a tool for keeping the most common forms of cancer at bay could be in your gut. In a report published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vladimir Titorenko, a professor of biology at Concordia, and his colleagues show that lithocholic acid, a bile acid produced in the liver, is particularly effective in killing cancer cells. For the study, the research team tested thousands of chemicals found in the body with the help of a robot and discovered more than 20 that could delay the aging process, something inevitably linked to cancer. Most effective was lithocholic acid. When entering a cancer cell, the acid goes to "energy factories" called mitochondria and then sends molecular signals that lead to the cells' demise. It not only helped slow the aging process but also had an anti-tumour effect, killing cells of breast, prostate and neuroblastoma cancer -- in a petri dish, that is. Indeed, these results aren't applicable to humans -- yet. Titorenko performed the first round of studies using yeast because the ways aging progresses, and the ways it can be delayed by some diets, are similar in both yeast and humans. "Various cancers are associated with aging -- the older you get, the more instances we see of diseases like breast and prostate cancer -- so studying how diet can slow that aging process is important," says Titorenko, who holds a Concordia Research Chair in genomics, cell biology and aging. In collaboration with Thomas Sanderson from the INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier in Laval, Titorenko is now testing whether the same bile acid can delay the development of prostate cancer in laboratory mice. If those trials confirm the anti-tumour effect of lithocholic acid, the hope is that it will have a similar effect in human patients, along with the possibility of slowing the human aging process in general. The study progresses the fundamental knowledge of how to naturally slow down aging of non-cancerous cells as well as how to kill cancer cells. "We are attempting to understand what kind of molecular processes within our cells are responsible for cell aging and aging-associated death," Titorenko says. "Satisfying our curiosity as scientists pursuing new fundamental knowledge fits with our other objective: to find ways that natural chemical products can delay aging and the diseases associated with it." Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by Concordia University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference:
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Unhealthy eating habits outpacing healthy eating patterns in most world regions
Worldwide, consumption of healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables has improved during the past two decades, but has been outpaced by the increased intake of unhealthy foods including processed meat and sweetened drinks in most world regions, according to the first study to assess diet quality in 187 countries covering almost 4.5 billion adults, published in The Lancet Global Health journal.Improvements in diet quality between 1990 and 2010 have been greatest in high-income nations, with modest reductions in the consumption of unhealthy foods and increased intake of healthy products. However, people living in many of the wealthiest regions (eg, the USA and Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand) still have among the poorest quality diets in the world, because they have some of the highest consumption of unhealthy food worldwide. In contrast, some countries in sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in Asia (eg, China and India) have seen no improvement in their diet quality over the past 20 years. The authors warn that the study presents a worrying picture of increases in unhealthy eating habits outpacing increases in healthy eating patterns across most world regions, and say that concerted action is needed to reverse this trend. Led by Dr Fumiaki Imamura from the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge in the UK, a team of international researchers analysed data on the consumption of 17 key food items and nutrients related to obesity and major non-communicable diseases (eg, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and diet-related cancers) in countries around the world, and changes in diets between 1990 and 2010. This analysis was performed by the Global Burden of Diseases Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group (NutriCoDE), chaired by Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, senior author on the paper and dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. NutriCoDE is an ongoing project assessing dietary information from more than 300 dietary surveys across the world and UN Food and Agriculture food-balance sheets, covering almost 90% of the global adult population. The international team examined three different diet patterns: a favourable one based on 10 healthy food items (fruit, vegetables, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, whole grains, milk, total polyunsaturated fatty acids, fish, omega-3s, and dietary fibre); an unfavourable one defined by seven unhealthy items (unprocessed meats, processed meats, sugar-sweetened drinks, saturated fat, trans fat, dietary cholesterol, and sodium); and an overall diet pattern based on all 17 food groups. The researchers calculated a diet score for each pattern and assessed differences by country, age, sex, and national income, with a higher score indicating a healthier diet (range 0-100). The findings reveal that diet patterns vary widely by national income, with high-income countries generally having better diets based on healthy foods (average score difference +2.5 points), but substantially poorer diets due to a higher intake of unhealthy foods compared with low-income countries (average score difference -33.0 points). On average, older people and women seem to consume better diets. The highest scores for healthy foods were noted in several low-income countries (eg, Chad and Mali) and Mediterranean nations (eg, Turkey and Greece), possibly reflecting favourable aspects of the Mediterranean diet. In contrast, low scores for healthy foods were shown for some central European countries and republics of the former Soviet Union (eg, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan). Of particular interest was that the large national differences in diet quality were not seen, or were far less apparent, when overall diet quality (including both healthy and unhealthy foods) was examined as previous studies have done. "By 2020, projections indicate that non-communicable diseases will account for 75% of all deaths. Improving diet has a crucial role to play in reducing this burden," says Dr Imamura. "Our findings have implications for governments and international bodies worldwide. The distinct dietary trends based on healthy and unhealthy foods, we highlight, indicate the need to understand different, multiple causes of these trends, such as agricultural, food industry, and health policy. Policy actions in multiple domains are essential to help people achieve optimal diets to control the obesity epidemic and reduce non-communicable diseases in all regions of the world." According to Dr Mozaffarian, "There is a particularly urgent need to focus on improving diet quality among poorer populations. If we do nothing, undernutrition will be rapidly eclipsed by obesity and non-communicable diseases, as is already being seen in India, China, and other middle-income countries." Writing in a linked Comment, Carlo La Vecchia from the University of Milan in Italy and Lluis Serra-Majem from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Spain say, "The key focus of the paper remains the need to understand the agricultural, trade, and food industry, and health policy determinants to improve dietary patterns and nutrition in various areas, taking into account the traditional characteristics of diets worldwide… Information about the environmental effect of dietary patterns will be needed in the future [particularly from low and middle income countries], because food not only drives human health, but also the health of the planet." Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by The Lancet. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference:
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quarta-feira, 18 de fevereiro de 2015
Obesity series exposes 'unacceptably slow' progress in tackling soaring global obesity rates over last decade
February 18, 2015The Lancet Global failure to tackle obesity epidemic demands new ways of thinking, say leading experts. In less than a generation, experts say, rates of child obesity have risen dramatically worldwide. For example, in the USA children weigh on average 5kg more than they did 30 years ago, and one in three children is now overweight or obese. Although child obesity rates have started to level off in some cities and countries, no country to date has experienced declining rates of obesity across its population. Global progress towards tackling obesity has been "unacceptably slow," with only one in four countries implementing a policy on healthy eating up to 2010, according to a major new six-part Series on obesity, published in The Lancet. In less than a generation, rates of child obesity have risen dramatically worldwide. For example, in the USA children weigh on average 5kg more than they did 30 years ago, and one in three children is now overweight or obese. Although child obesity rates have started to level off in some cities and countries, no country to date has experienced declining rates of obesity across its population. New estimates produced for the Series suggest that US children are consuming an average of 200kcal per day more than they were in the 1970s, and that this is $400-worth of food per child per year, or $20bn a year for the US food industry. "Fat children are an investment in future sales," says Series co-author Dr Tim Lobstein, from the World Obesity Federation. In low- and middle-income countries, stunting still affects over a fifth of children under 5 years of age, but obesity is rapidly rising, creating a double nutritional burden that can affect the same population and the same individual -- for example poorly-nourished infants who do not develop their full height but do gain more than their full weight. This highlights the importance of ensuring a supply of food that encourages healthy growth, and that is not jeopardised by the aggressive marketing of cheap, less nutritious products by multinational food companies, say the Series authors. "Undernutrition and overnutrition actually have many common drivers and solutions, so we now need to see an integrated nutrition policy that tackles both these issues together," adds Dr Lobstein. The food industry has a special interest in targeting children. Repeated exposure to highly processed foods and sweetened drinks during infancy builds taste preferences, brand loyalty, and high profits. This year the global market for processed infant foods is expected to be worth a staggering $19 billion, up from $13.7 billion in 2007. Yet, few countries have taken regulatory steps to protect children from the negative health effects of obesity or implemented widely-recommended healthy food policies. Most have relied solely on voluntary moves by the food industry, with no evidence of their effectiveness. "Our understanding of obesity must be completely reframed if we are to halt and reverse the global obesity epidemic. On one hand, we need to acknowledge that individuals bear some responsibility for their health, and on the other hand recognise that today's food environments exploit people's biological (eg, innate preference for sweetened foods), psychological (eg, marketing techniques), and social and economic (eg, convenience and cost) vulnerabilities, making it easier for them to eat unhealthy foods," explains Dr Christina Roberto, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA. "It's time to realise that this vicious cycle of supply and demand for unhealthy foods can be broken with 'smart food policies' by governments alongside joint efforts from industry and civil society to create healthier food systems." The Series authors call for food policies that change the nature of the food and consumer environment including the availability, price, and nutrition standards of food products, and the marketing practices that influence food choices and preferences. Examples include: tighter supervision and international regulation of the food supply; an international code of food marketing to protect children's health; regulating food nutritional quality in schools along with programmes to encourage healthy food preferences; taxes on unhealthy products such as sweetened drinks and subsidies on healthier foods for low-income families such as vouchers for fruit and vegetable boxes; and mandatory food labelling as an incentive for industry to produce more nutritional products. However, the responsibility for reducing the prevalence of obesity goes far beyond governments, say the Series authors. They make a number of hard-hitting recommendations for public health professionals and society, including the proposal that civil action is key to combating obesity. The authors point out that it was pressure from the public that saw smoking banned in public indoor places in the UK, and access to health care granted to all people living with HIV/AIDs in South Africa. Finally, say the authors, health professionals are poorly prepared to treat obesity. More must be done to improve health-care training, particularly to address biases about patients with obesity, and to improve care-delivery strategies, specifically for children with obesity for whom there are currently few treatment options. According to Series lead Professor Boyd Swinburn from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, "The key to meeting WHO's target to achieve no further increase in obesity rates by 2025 will be strengthening accountability systems to support government leadership, constraining the role of the food industry in the formation of public policy, and encouraging civil society to create a demand for healthy food environments." The Series is published ahead of presentation at the Healthy Eating Research 9th Annual Grantee Meeting in Baltimore, USA, on Thursday 19 February. The Series can be found online at: http://www.thelancet.com/series/obesity-2015 Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by The Lancet. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
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Willpower: The Key to Success?
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If only you could control yourself. If you had more willpower, you could finally lose those last 10 pounds. If you had more self-control, you could finally stop procrastinating, save for retirement, stick to an exercise routine, and avoid various vices such as alcohol and cigarettes. That's a lot riding on mere force of will. As the American Psychological Association notes, people allover the world tend to place a lot of stock in the power of willpower. According to their annual Stress in America Survey, people identified a lack of willpower as the number one factor holding them back from achieving their goals. Change can be difficult and a large portion of people believe that one of the biggest obstacles preventing them from making a change is this seemingly elusive power of will. However, some of the most popular theories of behavior change suggest that willpower alone is not always enough to make a real and lasting change. According to the Stages of Change model, it is important to first recognize that there is a need to change, identify possible barriers to change, come up with a plan of action, monitor progress, maintain and manage the change, and cope with any possible relapses. Willpower plays a role, certainly, but it is not the only factor that impacts success. While many of us struggle with willpower and self-control, most people also seem to believe that this is a skill that can be learned and strengthened. Fortunately, researchers have also come to similar conclusions and suggest that there are a number of things that you can do to improve your self-control. Continue reading to learn more about what will power is, why it's so important, and what you can do to develop this ability. Photo Credit: Cultura/Edwin Jimenez / Riser / Getty Images source : www.about.com |
This Man Taught A Lion To Hunt And Their Friendship Will Inspire You
As children, we go to the zoo and imagine what it would be like to have the various wild animals as pets. One animal in particular that always amazed me was the lion. What would it be like to cuddle with a lion?Valentin Gruener has become famous for just that. Hes known for his loving relationship with a young lioness. While their friendship has become a media spectacle, their bond has remained strong over the years. The relationship is unlike any weve seen before, truly transcending all the boundaries that weve known between humans and animals. Because Sirga was abandoned by her pride in Botswana, she never got the chance to learn to hunt from fellow lions. Gruener has spent countless hours lying low in wild brush and leaping into water to demonstrate how its done.Here, they patiently wait for the perfect time to pounce.
“The day she brought down her first antelope was the most amazing day of my life, because I realized that she would one day be able to look after herself in the wild,” noted Gruener. She did it! The young lioness caught a toad and boastfully carried it around in her mouth.
With all that hunting out of the way, theres plenty of time for some horsing around, too!
The story of the incredible relationship is being captured on film in a documentary.
Gruener watches on protectively as a veterinarian administers care to Sirga.
The pair is truly a sight to see together. They share an incredibly special bond that most people wouldnt believe was possible.
When they play together its like Sirga is just an oversized house cat.
But Gruener has done much more than have fun with her. Because of him, Sirga will someday be able to fend for herself in the wild – hunting her own food. Hopefully, shell eventually start a family of her own.
(via Daily Mail) Gruener is living his childhood dream to roam in the wild with lions. At the same time, hes freeing one from a life of captivity. Sirga, without a doubt, wont forget her human teacher and friend. Keep an eye out for the documentary series titled “Lionheart,” which is scheduled to be released later this year. Its sure to be an incredible story. |
High-end sustainable W.I.N.D. House can be controlled by smartphone
| W.I.N.D. House, by Dutch firm UNStudio (Photo: Fedde de Weert) Image Gallery (17 images) We've reported on a number of homes that can be controlled from inside or afar by smartphone, including the El Refugio Inteligente and Schoolmasters houses. The recently-completed W.I.N.D. House, by Dutch firm UNStudio, is another such example, and the high-end residence also sports sustainable technology that reduces its dependence on the grid. Initial work on the W.I.N.D. House began back in 2008, and the project was completed in 2014. The home features a usable floorspace of 406 sq m (4370 sq ft), and takes the basic shape of a flower petal, with fully glazed front and rear facades. The interior follows features a mostly open-plan layout. Private areas like bedrooms face the woods at the rear, while more public living areas offer views of the expansive landscape in front of the home. These rooms are designed to be flexible though, and a bedroom can be turned into an office or whatever else is required with relative ease. W.I.N.D. House sports a solar panel array on its roof. A UNStudio representative told Gizmag that the size of the roof prevented the firm from installing an array large enough to allow the home to operate fully off-grid, but that it helps reduce grid-based electricity requirements. Further energy-saving technology installed in the home includes a heat recovery ventilation system, an air source heat pump, and tinted glass which mitigates the effects of solar heat gain. The home's automation system is an open-source system that uses the KNX Protocol to manage the lighting, heating, cooling, ventilation, solar panels, and security. Using this, the owners can fine-control their home from afar with an internet-connected smartphone or other device, thus enabling them to switch the lights on or ensure the heating's on high enough before they get home, for example, in addition to monitoring energy usage. Source: UNStudio
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