Is binge-watching bad for your health?

Have you ever set aside an entire day and dedicated it to watching multiple episodes of your favorite TV show?

With the availability of DVD packages that contain entire seasons of shows and online streaming services, it's becoming more common.

Is binge-watching harmless?

A recent study conducted by the University of Texas at Austin found that the lonelier, more depressed you are, the more likely you are to binge-watch. 

They also found that people who suffer from a self-regulation deficiency are more likely to binge-watch more often -- viewers who, even though they had tasks to accomplish, were unable to stop clicking "next" when the time came to decide whether to watch another episode.

One of the co-authors of the study Yoon Hi Sung had this to say about binge-watching...

"Even though some people argue that binge-watching is a harmless addiction, findings from our study suggest that binge-watching should no longer be viewed this way.  Physical fatigue and problems such as obesity and other health problems are related to binge-watching and they are a cause for concern. When binge-watching becomes rampant, viewers may start to neglect their work and their relationships with others. Even though people know they should not, they have difficulty resisting the desire to watch episodes continuously. Our research is a step toward exploring binge-watching as an important media and social phenomenon."

Is the sunscreen you use putting your health at risk?

In their 2014 guide to safe sunscreens. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) reviewed over 2000 sunscreens and over 257 brands and found that more than 75% of the sunscreens contained toxic chemicals.  Chemicals that increase your risk of cancer and potentially lead to other health issues such as skin irritation and allergic reactions.

The following is a list of some of the unsafe, toxic chemicals found in sunscreen that you’ll want to watch out for:  para amino benzoic acid; octyl salicyclate; oxybenzone; cinoxate; dioxybenzone; phenylbenzimidazole; homosalate; menthyl anthranilate; octocrylene; methoxycinnamate; retinyl palmitate and parabens.

Oxybenzone is the most common ingredient found in sunscreens.  Oxybenzone has been linked to hormone disruptions and cell damage that may incite cancer.  Many sunscreens also contain retinyl palmitate (a form of Vitamin A) which scientists suspect may speed the development of skin tumors and lesions when applied to the skin in the presence of sunlight.

There are two types of sunscreens: mineral and non-mineral.  Non-mineral are the kind that penetrate the skin, and may potentially cause hormone disruption and result in an allergic reaction.  Mineral sunscreens contain zinc and titanium and are usually not absorbed - so they don't disrupt your body's hormones.  Plus they are not allergenic.

Another way to go is to make your own.  Simply take 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, 4 ounces of organic all natural hand lotion and two table spoons of zinc oxide; mix them all up together in a bowl and you've got a non-toxic sunscreen solution.

The surprising and welcome health benefits of dark chocolate.

Red wine has a much deserved reputation of containing antioxidants that protect your heart against heart disease.

According to researchers at the University of Southwestern Texas Medical Center in Dallas, the same heart-protecting antioxidants properties are also found in dark chocolate.

Which is great news if you are a chocolate lover.

Here are the specifics.  As nutrition expert John Robbins points out in his book No Happy Cows, the oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol is considered to be a major factor in the promotion of coronary disease.  When it oxidizes it tends to stick to your artery walls, which increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.  However, the polypenols in chocolate inhibit the oxidation which also reduces the risk of atherosclerosis, a disease where plaque builds up in your arteries.

And there's more good news...

Robbins writes that consuming a small bar of dark chocolate each day can reduce the blood pressure of people who suffer from mild hypertension.

Plus, research done at the Department of Nutrition at the University of California found that dark chocolate thins the blood.  It essentially performs the same function that taking a baby aspirin each day does for people with the risk factors for heart disease.

How much do you need to eat to enjoy these benefits?  According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition only a half an ounce a day.

Two other selling features of dark chocolate?

It contains substances (such as phenethylamine) proven to put you in a better mood.  Plus it contains less sugar than milk chocolate.

How many calories do you burn by doing nothing?

What's your RMR?

RMR stands for Resting Metabolic Rate (sometimes referred to as the Basal Metabolic Rate).

Your RMR is the energy that is required for you (or any animal) to stay alive with no activity.

When determining your RMR there are many variables that come into play such as your age, your sex, your weight, your height and your fat-free body mass.

The amount you exercise, living in a cold environment, some supplements, eating small regular meals each day are all things that will increase your RMR rate.

Things that decrease your RMR are growing older and crash-dieting.  The first is recommended.  The second, not so much.

So how do you determine your RMR?

If you put "Resting Metabolic Rate" in a search engine, you'll easily find websites that host RMR calculators.

Any easy way to approximate it is to times your weight by 11.  If you weigh 120 lbs. your RMR is 1,310 (your body burns 1,310 calories each day by just being idle.)  If you weigh 200 lbs your RMR is 2,200.

Quote: "To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent." - Buddha. 

Longevity advice from a 113 year old man.

Brazilian-born Bernando LaPallo turned 113 years old on August 17th, 2014.

And while a Guinness World Records consultant says verified records show him to be born in 1910 and not 1901 (his granddaughter says in the 1930's the Florida social insurance office incorrectly wrote down his date of birth as 1910 and not 1901) whether he is 113 years old or 103 years old, it's still pretty good.

So what does LaPallo attribute his longevity too?

"I eat plenty of fresh fruit and green vegetables, and I drink plenty of water. Water is very important. Exercise and sleep. Sleep is very important. Unless I am making a speech someplace, I’m generally in bed by 9:30.  I get up at 3:30 or 4 in the morning, go for my walk, take my shower, rub my body down with olive oil, make my breakfast," says LaPallo.

His five favorite foods are garlic, cinnamon, honey, chocolate and olive oil (although it appears he uses the olive oil more as a skin moisturizer than a food.)

Most of the advice LaPallo offers up comes straight from his father who lived to be 98 years old...

"He told me not to eat ordinary meat.  Lamb is ok.  But red meat, stay away from.  Hot dogs, French fries...all those things, don't eat," he says.

Another thing his father warned him about was stress telling him that it's "a killer."  LaPallo says "It’s important to take time to relax and exercise your brain, such as by doing crossword puzzles."

Quote:                 

"It's paradoxical, that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone."- Andy Rooney

"By 2025 One in Two Children will be Autistic."

The above quote -- and shocking prediction -- was said recently by Dr. Stephanie Seneff a senior researcher at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Her "one in two" prophecy is based upon the following pattern...

In 1975, 1 in every 5000 would develop autism. In 1985, it was 1 in every 2,500. In 1995, it was 1 in every 500, in 2005 in was 1 in every 166 and today it is approximately 1 in every 68 children.

In her June 5th 2014 report called Is Roundup the Toxic Chemical That's Making Us All Sick? she presents a chart that shows the correlation between the use of Monsanto's Roundup (which contains the active ingredient glyphosate) on crops and the rising rates of autism.

If that were her only proof it would be easy for critics to dismiss as one could overlap a chart of anything that has gone up over the years on the autism chart and make a similar case, but her case against Roundup (specifically the glyphosate found in Roundup) is well founded.

She notes that the well-known bio-markers of autism --low serum sulfate, disrupted gut bacteria, inflammatory bowel, serotonin and melatonin deficiency, mitochondrial disorder, zinc and iron deficiency (and more) "can all be explained as potential effects of glyphosate on biological systems."

From 1995 to 2005 the use of glyphosate in pesticides rose 1,500 percent.  Every year a 100 million pounds of glyphosate is used on more than a billion acres in the United States alone according to an article published in Science in Society in 2010.

In the summary of her Is Roundup the Toxic Chemical That's Making Us All Sick? report she says that we should be very worried about glyphosate contamination of our food supply and recommends that it be banned from agriculture.  She also suggests that, in addition to autism, its use can be linked to the risk of Alzheimer's disease, celiac disease and other intestinal disorders.

So how do you protect yourself against the effects of glyphosate?  Avoid consuming GMOs (At 13 parts per million, GMO corn contains more than 18 times the safe level of glyphosate set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) and support GMO labeling efforts.

Quote:

"It is commonly believed that Roundup is among the safest pesticides… Despite its reputation, Roundup was by far the most toxic among the herbicides and insecticides tested. This inconsistency between scientific fact and industrial claim may be attributed to huge economic interests, which have been found to falsify health risk assessments and delay health policy decisions.” – R. Mesnage et al., Biomed Research International, Volume 2014 (2014) article ID 179691

Does the time of day you eat determine if you will gain weight?

It's simple math right? 

If two people consume the same exact food, but one consumes a portion of their food late at night, the food will have the same impact on their bodies weight-wise... right?

Not according to a study done by the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California.

The study involved two groups of mice.

One group was allowed only to eat within an eight hour period.  The second group were free to eat any time they wanted day or night.

The mice that ate at set times during the day did not become obese.  The second group of mice however was found to have 70 percent more fatty deposits.

The study's lead author Dr. Satchidananda Panda explains this by pointing out that at certain times of the day the liver, intestines and muscles are at peak efficiency.  Other times they are sleeping.  Panda says that every organ has a clock and their metabolic cycles are critical.

"When mice or people eat throughout the day and night, it can throw off those normal metabolic cycles," he adds.

In the journal Cell Metabolism, Panda's research team suggests that restricting meal time could help lower obesity rates.

Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum agrees...

"There's a pattern, which you should build up from childhood.  Three set meals a day.  Anything you do to upset that opens you up to problem with hormones that control your appetite."

Quote:

" My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people." 
- Orson Welles