Protect Vision with Leafy Greens

It is found that people who eat at least two servings of leafy greens, such as collard greens and spinach, are 46 percent less likely to develop macular degeneration. Even though carrots have been considered helpful at maintaining vision, leafy vegetables are more important at keeping eyes healthy.

Leafy greens contain lutein and zeaxanthin, which are two carotenoids that are good at helping the eyes to absorb short wavelength light and to protect the retina. They may also help to reduce discomfort from glare, enhance contrast, reduce photostress recovery time, and increase visual range. The American Optometric Association recommends ten milligrams of lutein per day. Leafy greens also contain beta-carotene, which reduces the possibility of developing serious cataracts by 39 percent.

Increase Metabolism with Capsaicin

Capsaicin is a bioactive compound in chile peppers that can increase metabolism and reduce hunger. One tablespoon of chopped red or green chile pepper, which is 30 mg of capsaicin, can cause a temporary 23 percent increase in metabolism.

FDA Lifts Warning on Tomatoes

The FDA has lifted its salmonella warning on tomatoes saying that even though the outbreak isn’t over, it is slowing down. They also say that the tomatoes currently in the stores are safe to eat. Hot peppers, jalapenos, and serranos are still under warning.

The people that are most affected include elderly people and people with weak immune systems. Investigators don’t know what caused the salmonella outbreak that caused 1,220 people in 42 states to get sick. The tomato industry lost more than $100 due to the outbreak.

Get Rid of Dandruff

Hair dandruff is a condition that is caused by fungus that lives on the scalp and eats oil from the scalp. It releases by-products that irritate the skin and causes flaking on the scalp of some people. Most dandruff remedies work by decreasing the number of fungi on the scalp but there are new products available on the market that control the behavior of the fungus to give better and quicker results.

Companies Charging Workers For Bad Habits

An increasing number of companies are charging their employees for having bad habits, such as smoking, eating excessively, and not exercising. Some people say that these types of programs violate a worker’s privacy and make group health plans too similar to individual insurance. At the same time, these programs force some people to take notice and be more aware of their bad habits that may affect their health.

Fiber and Diet

If a person wants to lose weight, it is a good idea to have a diet rich in fiber. Fiber leads to decreased food intake and an increase of excretion of calories from the digestive system to help a person lose weight. The average person should be eating 20 to 30 grams of fiber each day. Foods that are rich in fiber include whole-grain breads, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, unpeeled fruit, and some cereals.

Weight Gain Genes

It is found that overeating is related to the same gene involved in alcoholism and drug addiction. People who carried a certain variant of the gene and who used food to motivate themselves were the highest at risk for eating too many snacks when compared to people who had only one or neither of these traits. People with this gene variant could have a lack in reward-signaling in the brain and have to participate in more of the behavior to get as much pleasure as people with normal signaling. Exercising is something more positive that can release the same reward chemicals in the brain.

Negative Effects of Not Getting Enough Sleep

There are negative effects of not getting enough sleep each night. Not getting enough sleep each night can lead to obesity, heart disease, and illnesses.

Research has proven that people who get less than seven hours of sleep each night are 30 percent more likely to be obese. Not getting enough sleep affects the flow of hormones that regulate hunger and satiety, which can cause a person to eat more. Sleepy people are also more likely to eat high-fat and high-calorie foods to give them energy.

Women that get less than five hours of sleep each night are more likely to develop hypertension, which is a leading cause of heart disease. When a person doesn’t get enough sleep, their body produces more stress hormones and other substances that would increase inflammation, which increases the risks of heart disease and stroke.

People that get less than five hours of sleep each night also have two and a half times the risk of getting diabetes when compared to people that sleep for seven or eight hours each night. Not getting enough of deep sleep decreases the ability to regulate blood-sugar levels.

People that are sleep deprived often feel cranky because that would make the amygdala, the part of the brain that process emotional events, to go into overdrive and the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that regulates reasoning, to become deactivated and this would make a person feel less stable than usual. Sleep deprivation makes the brain unable to put emotional experiences into context and produce rational responses.

Sleep deprivation affects how well the body fights infections and determines how well the body produces antibodies after a vaccination. While a person is sleeping, the body produces cytokines, chemicals that help the immune system fight off infection and disease.

What a Mother Eats Can Determine Sex of Baby

A new British research suggests that what a woman eats before getting pregnant can affect the gender of what the baby will be. Eating potassium-rich foods, including bananas, and eating breakfast each day can raise the chances of having a boy.

The study was based on 700 first-time pregnant women in the United Kingdom who didn’t know the sex of their fetuses and they were asked about their eating habits in the year before they had gotten pregnant. 56 percent of the women with the highest calorie intake before pregnancy had boys and only 45 percent of the women with the lowest calorie intake had boys.

The women who ate at least one bowl of breakfast cereal each day were 87 percent more likely to have a baby boy than the women who ate less than one bowl of cereal each week. The women who gave birth to boys also ate an additional 300 milligrams of potassium each day on average before getting pregnant. The women who had boys also ate about 400 calories more each day on average than the women who had girls.

Amount of Sleep Connected to Childhood Obesity

A Harvard study has found that babies and toddlers that sleep less than 12 hours each day are more at risk for being overweight in preschool. The link between sleep and obesity affects young children too, as well as teenagers and adults. Children that slept the least and watched the most amount of television had the greatest chance of obesity.

Previous studies have found that people that don’t get enough sleep produce more ghrelin, which is a hormone that promotes hunger. They also produce less leptin, which is a hormone that signals to the body that they are full and have had enough to eat. Watching television promotes obesity because it can take time away from doing activities that burn calories. The more active a child is the better they will sleep at night.

It is good advice to create a regular schedule for sleep for children and babies. Infants can be taught to sleep on their own by putting them to bed when they are drowsy but not completely asleep.

Artificial Sweeteners Could Make You Gain Weight

It is found that artificial sweeteners could make a person gain weight. The sweeteners confuse the body and the body is already programmed to associate sweet tastes with calories consumed. When we break that connection by eating or drinking something with little or no calories, our bodies become confused and want more food. Also, sugar substitutes don’t increase metabolism so fewer calories are burned. A larger appetite combined with a slower metabolism can cause a lot of weight gain.

The Good and Bad of Fish

Eating fish can be both good and bad for you. Fish contains omega-3, which is good for your health but it also contains mercury. Mercury in the bloodstream can increase the risk of heart disease and impair memory. It is advised to only eat up to 12 ounces per week of fish and other foods that have mercury in them.

Scientist Explain Reasons for Chocolate Cravings

A study has found there is a type of bacteria in the digestive system that craves chocolate. Everyone has microbes in their stomach but people who have chocolate cravings have different colonies of bacteria.

The study was done by finding 11 men who never ate chocolate and 11 men who ate chocolate everyday. All of the men wee healthy, not obese, and were fed the same foods for five days. The researchers examined the byproducts of their metabolism in their blood and urine and found that a dozen substances were different between the two groups. The amino acid glycine levels were higher in the men that ate chocolate. People who ate chocolate also had lower levels of bad cholesterol.

It is known that bacteria interact with what you eat and studies have shown that intestinal bacteria changes when people lose weight. Someday, some types of obesity will be able to be treated by changing the bacteria in the intestines and stomach.

Burger King Will Have Healthier Kid’s Menu

Burger King has decided to offer healthier items on their menu for children under age 12. They plan to sell flame-broiled Chicken Tenders and apples cut to look like thickly cut french fries. They also have set nutritional guidelines to follow when targeting children under 12 years old in advertising by only advertising Kids Meals that have less than 560 calories with less than 30 percent of the calories from fat and no more than 10 percent of the calories from added sugars.

The company is making a Kids Meal that will have the flame-broiled Tenders, organic unsweetened applesauce, and low-fat milk. The meal would have 305 calories and 8.5 grams of fat. They are also in the process of developing the BK Fresh Apple Fries, which are red apples that are cut to look like french fries and are served in the same containers as fries. They are not fried and are served without the skin and cold. They will only have 35 calories. Burger King will use U.S. grown apples that are cut and packaged in a clean and sterile environment. They will wash the apples with a pre-wash that contains lemon to prevent them from turning brown.

All of the changes and improvements are an effort to offer healthier options and make people more aware and cautious about what they eat and feed their children at fast-food restaurants. It will only be successful if the food tastes good and is filling. It may bring positive and healthy changes.