The best easy listening music in South Western Ontario

It's cold and flu season, thought i'd share this article i found....a-choo!!!

 

Ever notice that some people just don’t get sick? Or maybe you’re one of the lucky few, able to brag about not recalling the last stuffy nose or upset stomach you've had.

 Author Gene Stone recently highlighted the sometimes-surprising secrets of 25 such super-healthy people in his book “The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick.”

 Among his most surprising stay-healthy discoveries? Cold showers.

The author has adopted the habit of chewing raw garlic since researching his book. (The ancient Egyptians ate raw garlic enough to warrant garlic-ration complaints on the pyramids.)

 Other secrets in his book include drinking brewer’s yeast dissolved in hot water — it’s a great source of vitamins and minerals — eating a calorie-restricted diet, napping, balancing the body’s pH levels, and weight lifting.

 

Do you have any secrets that keep you from getting sick?  Share them with me by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and make reference to my blog.

This article i came across makes the claim that it does...anybody got a stick of gum???

 

While chewing gum may not make you look more intelligent, it actually boosts brainpower, new research shows.

People have been chewing gum for about 9,000 years, with ancient Greeks, Mayans and Native Americans popping wads of tree sap or resin in their mouths to freshen their breath.

This enduring habit also sharpens our wits in several surprising ways. Here’s a look at the mental benefits:

Better Mental Performance

A 2011 study published in the journal Appetite tested the effects of chewing gum—either sugar-free or sugar-added—on 159 undergraduate students. Half chomped gum before or throughout taking a battery of difficult mental tests, such as reciting lists of random numbers backwards or solving logic puzzles, and the other half (the control group) didn’t.

Those who chewed gum five minutes before the tests significantly outperformed non-chewers on five out of six of the tests, researchers from St. Lawrence University found. However, the benefits only lasted for the first 15 to 20 minutes of the test and chewing during the tests was not helpful, probably because it distracted the students. The sugar content of the gum had no impact on the test performance.

Gum + Math = Higher Grades 

Teachers who ban gum in class may want to rethink their rules after checking out the intriguing results of a study at Baylor College of Medicine, involving 8th graders at a charter school.

The researchers found that students who chewed gum during math tests—and while doing their math homework—had a 3 percent rise in standardized math scores and higher final grades, compared to non-chompers. “Chewing gum is an easy tool students can use for an academic edge,” said Craig Johnson, PhD, the lead study researcher.

Revving Up Recall  

Munching gum also improves memory, a British review of earlier studies found. However, the reasons for this aren’t entirely clear.

One theory is that the physical act of chewing increases blood flow to the brain, a phenomenon the St. Lawrence researchers call “mastication-induced arousal.” They speculate that munching perks up attention but, since the effect is temporary, chewing gum may be most helpful before tackling the toughest questions on a test.

Is mint gum the new coffee?

In a 2012 study, researchers at Coventry University found that chewing mint gum dramatically reduced daytime sleepiness, without the jitters brought on by coffee. 

Study participants were randomly divided into three groups—with one-third of participants chewing gum, one-third “sham chewing” (making chewing motions with no actual gum in their mouth) and the rest not chewing—as they underwent a pupillographic sleepiness test (measuring the diameter of the eye’s pupils for 11 minutes while the person sits in a darkened room). 

The researchers theorize that the higher alertness of the gum chewers may be due to the arousing effects of the mint flavor or increased brain activity during chewing. 

Smarter, Less Stressed, and Happier 

In a quirky study at Cardiff University in the UK, 133 volunteers were given demanding mental tests with and without chewing gum of randomly assigned fruit or mint flavors. To make the mental tests even more challenging, half the volunteers were forced to listen to a stress-inducing, 75-decibel noise (equivalent to standing next to a lawn mover) while trying to concentrate on the tests. The rest were tested in a quiet room.

Volunteers rated their mood before and after the testing sessions and had their heart rate monitored. Their levels of cortisol (a stress hormone that’s also a good measure of alertness) were also checked using saliva samples.

The researchers found that chewing gum was linked to greater alertness, faster reaction times on the tests, with performance actually improving as the task became harder, and enhanced attention. And here’s something else to chew on: those who munched gum were also in a better mood.   

We're almost two weeks into 2012 but my brain still thinks it's 2011.  Here at work i need to date things that go into the computer and that includes having the year.  I'm still entering last year's date.  It always seems to happen doesn't it at the start of a new year.  What is really strange to me though, is that i need to also sign and date things here, and when it comes to dating those with pen in hand, i get it right.  Perhaps it's because of the ease of typing two ones together that i haven't moved into this year.  Whatver the reason, i'm sure by May or June i'll get it sorted out.  Of course by then maybe i should start dating things 2013...just to even it all out.

Happy new year!

With the new year, here are some pearls of wisdom to keep in mind!

1. The nicest thing about the future is . . . it always starts tomorrow.

2. Money will buy a fine dog, but only kindness will make him wag his
tail.

3. If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense
at all.

4. Seat belts are not as confining as wheelchairs.

5. A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you're in deep water.

6. How come it takes so little time for a child who is afraid of the dark to
become a teenager who wants to stay out all night?

7. Business conventions are important because they demonstrate how many people
a company can operate without.

8. Why is it at class reunions you feel younger than everyone else looks.

9. Scratch a cat . . . and you will have a permanent job.

10. No one has more driving ambition than the teenage boy who wants to buy a
car.

11. There are no new sins; the old ones just get more publicity.

12. There are worse things than getting a call for a wrong number at 4a.m. -
like, it could be the right number.

13. No one ever says "It's only a game" when their team is winning.

14. I've reached the age where 'happy hour' is a nap.

15. Be careful about reading the fine print. . . .. there's no way you're going
to like it.

16. The trouble with bucket seats is not everybody has the same size bucket.

17. Do you realize in about 40 years, we'll have thousands of old ladies
running around with tattoos? (And rap music will be the Golden Oldies!)

18. Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a
Cadillac than in a Beetle.

19. After 60, if you don't wake up aching in every joint, you're probably dead.

20. Always be yourself because the people that matter don't mind . . . . and
the ones that mind don't matter.

21. Life isn't tied with a bow . . . . . . . . but it's still a gift.