Body of Wealth

Popular for being the Hollywood diet, or the so-called ‘fad diet,’ the grapefruit though is known to reduce insulin levels, affecting blood sugar regulation, excessive of it may risk breast cancer!

Yes, the US researchers warn that eating the diabetes-controlling citrus fruit every day may increase the risk of breast cancer by almost a third. And, women who eat just a quarter of a grapefruit daily the risk is raised by up to 30 percent.

According to the British Journal of Cancer, too much intake of the fruit eventually increases the levels of oestrogen. It is the hormone linked to a higher risk of the disease.

They researchers said,

It is well established that oestrogen is associated with breast cancer risk.

Therefore, if grapefruit intake affects oestrogen metabolism leading to higher circulating levels, then it is biologically plausible that regular intake of grapefruit would increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer.

With the American Cancer Society already estimating 178,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer in 2007 alone, the World Health Organization fears that more than 1.2 million people will be diagnosed with breast cancer each year across the world.

And, people who unknowingly consume the ‘fad diet’ excessively, may soon add on to the above list!

So, the diet conscious women! - if you are banking excessively onto the grapefruit for reducing either your weight or diabetes, it is high time you replace your this ‘cancer-causing favorite fruit’ with some other alternative.

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Ever wonder what gives your juicy burgers and sausages that redness? It’s nothing other than the Red 2G. This additive added to the burgers and hot dogs is harmful to health and the European food safety association(EFSA) is working towards banning this element to cut down cancer.

What is this Red 2G?

Red 2G is basically a red dye added to all the burger and sausage meats. According to the EFSA, upon entering the human body, the Red 2G converts to a particular element called aniline. This aniline is supposed to be a carcinogen and is known to cause cancer.

Till today, the dye was only allowed in a small proportion in meat related products. The sausages would be allowed to have about 6% of this chemical, and in burger meat with a minimum amount of 4%. The number was not to exceed 20 milligrams per Kg. of product.

EFSA’s take and other perspectives:

In a recent statement, EFSA said it will ban the red chemical once the paper on Red 2G is published. As of now Britain and Ireland are the major uses of the element and things are not looking that great. I wonder if the burgers will still have the good old red and juicy look once the additive removed.

This means from now on Kosher and Halal meats will have a little less red in them. However, with this step, it’s use in the UK is ‘likely to be minimal’. I think this is a great move since, none of these additives have a nutritional value and are simply a threat to the human body.

Image Credits: Posieplace, Stlouisblogs

How can you make cigarettes safer? Try the FDA way. A new bill or legislation about to pass the senate Wednesday, will regulate the amount of nicotine, tar and other injurious components present in the cigarettes. This should render the cigarettes relatively safer to smoke.

As of now, FDA does not have a whole lot of authority over the cigarette manufacturing companies in US. However, with this legal step, FDA will have more say. They will also have a say in what kind of stuff companies can put in the package.

Harmful chemicals in cigarettes:

Currently cigarettes have some 4000 harmful chemicals that cause lung cancer and other health problems. According to stats, about 40 of these chemicals cause cancer. The burley tobacco used in American cigarettes, is especially high in nitrosamines.

Acetaldehyde is what makes cigarettes more addictive. This kind of stuff is produced when sugar added to tobacco gets burned .

Couple of very toxic chemicals Cadmium and lead are present in Cigarettes. These levels vary from place to place due to the environmental conditions.

The New Tobacco bill details

* The new law will make FDA the final authority.FDA will finalize the amounts of nicotine, tar, etc. present in the cigarettes from now on.

* The new bill about to be passed gives FDA scientists a lot of power regarding altering the materials that compose cigarettes. The bill states:

You have the power to require changes in tobacco products in whatever ways you believe

* The legislation will prevent cigarette manufacturing companies from messing around with the levels of harmful products. Previously the companies would mess with the levels of toxic products so that it becomes easier to start and harder to quit. I think the scientists should work towards putting in some kind of chemical that would make smokers quit smoking altogether.

With this bill, hopefully companies will now reduce the amount of harmful materials in the cigarettes. If they don’t, I am sure FDA will. This will hopefully cut the American cancer rate by half. At least that’s what the experts predict.

Image Credits: ABC Go, Sallyscopshop

There seems to be an increase in violence in the US these days. Why? Well, lot of angry people all around. Most of the angry people are so angry that they are actually sick. The illness is known as IED or intermittent explosive disorder. Harvard study proves a lot more Americans are affected by IED than anticipated percentage.

The condition has been around since the year 1980 but, what we didn’t know is the fact that it has influenced and affected a lot of people and very common disease indeed. IED is a behavioral disease that is characterized by expressions of uncontrollable rage.

(Statistics) Number game:

This kind of disorder was initially thought to affect only less that 0.5 percent of the population. However, a recent study conducted by the Harvard university researchers shows that 1 in 10 men are so angry/ pissed off that they are ready to damage property. However, fewer women are affected by this illness. This kind of stats is pretty scary. Just imagine: You might get yelled at or even beaten up for the slightest thing.


What to watch out for?

If a person has IED, he or she will loose control over his or her behavior very fast. The person might go as far as abusing the people who are present in the vicinity. If this seems unachievable, the IED patient will then think about destroying the immediately available property.

People affected with IED also have head trauma or psychotic disorder. This kind of illness mostly occurs due to substance abuse i.e. using drugs or alcohol for prolonged period of time and then stopping all of a sudden.

Perspectives

How do you know you have IED? Simple, ask yourself one question: Is your anger problem getting you into frequent fights and making you break stuff? That means you have an anger problem or in short IED.

A good way to take control of this situation is to hit the pillow or catharsis therapy. At least that what we can gather from Billy Crystal:

You know what I do when I’m angry? I hit a pillow. Just hit the pillow. See how you feel.

People with this kind of illness feel that they have a circle of viciousness around them. The elements that take over are hate, loneliness, and even suicide. Hopefully, I will never get this illness. When I get mad I try to concentrate on something I like.

The people who are affected with IED also are sensitive to hostility. Ph.D. researcher Kurt Noblett mentions:

Someone with a pronounced startle-blink is more aroused and more likely to have an emotional response. He feels the stimulus as more magnified, so the reaction is greater.

Thus, it is evident that if you are down with IED, please take appropriate measures. This will not only harm you but it will also harm people and property around you. The Harvard researchers have opened our eyes and we now know that there’s more people out on the streets with IED than we thought.

Image credits: Glennie, Urbantrophy

Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said that the anti-tobacco law would be broadened to curb smoking at workplaces.

Cultures which are meant to protect women can land up endangering them - especially their health, keeping aside the ever-controversial question of suppression or liberation.

To provide privacy to women belonging to the Muslim societies, or to screen shelter her, they are made to wear a veil called ‘hijab’ throughout their lives, especially when going out of their homes or moving in public places.

It may help protect their privacy and meet the conservative cultural traditional-needs, but not their ‘health’. Yes, staying under veils through life can risk them with serious illness - due to insufficient exposure to the sun.

Doctors warn that women who cover their skin are suffering with bone deficiencies over a lack of vitamin D by an alarming number.

Do the Muslim law-makers know that ‘rickets’ - the disease of the bones - develop from the lack of vitamin-D, which is produced by the body from the sunlight?

Very little of the body’s rickets-preventing vitamin-D comes from food or diet. This bone disorder disease has now broken out in young Muslim children, as their mothers’ breast milk cannot provide them with enough calcium.

If the cultural reasons can’t be compromised for the mothers’ and hence their children’s health, it is necessary for Muslim women, especially the Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Somalis to increase their vitamin D intake.

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The chronic inflammatory disease of the intestines — Crohn’s disease ‘ is not contagious and thus affects 1 in 1000 people.

Affecting approximately 500,000 to two million people in the United States, the disease primarily causing ulcerations of both the small and large intestines, can also affect the digestive system anywhere from the mouth to the anus.

But, what causes the disease?

The cause of the Crohn’s disease though remained unknown to date; some scientists suspect certain bacteria as the cause of the infection.

Not convinced by the prevailing evidence leading to the disease, it is recently thought to be some unusual bacteria ‘ from gut — that have borrowed a few nasty genes from ‘plague!’

Though the gut bacteria were to be blamed for the disease, researchers could not be sure which. What led to the confusion is the study of people’s gut bacteria, in which they found no evidence of MAP — a bacterium blamed for Crohn’s by some.

However, the scientists still bank on the ‘common gut bacteria’ — E. coli — due to its higher find than normal levels in more inflamed areas.

So, the salmonella, cholera and bubonic plague-carrying bacteria seem to be the culprit also behind causing diseases inside the gut.

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The plaques in Alzheimer’s disease are formed due to weakening immune system against amyloid beta - the plaques-triggering peptide.

To reduce the deterioration process of a person suffering from Alzheimer’s, these plaques need to be cleared, which means clearing of the amyloid beta.

Researchers up with arms for decades to battle the debilitating disease have come up with a new achievement. They have successfully isolated bisdemethoxycurcumin - an active ingredient of curcuminoids (a natural substance found in turmeric root), which is capable of boosting the immune system helping it clear the amyloid beta.

Reasons for their applause do not end here - they have also identified the immune genes — MGAT III and Toll-like receptors — as well that are linked with this activity.

Thus, providing more insight into the immune system’s role in Alzheimer’s disease, the study bolsters approaches in to a new treatment for the disease.

The new study also provides hope for our dear ones affected by the disease, who may have now to suffer less towards the debilitation process.

Via: dvorak
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It is well known that stress and a change in routine as well as worry can affect a woman’s menstrual cycle. But, at times, correcting all these may not restore the cycle back and this in turn, leads to further worries and tension - only to worsen the cycle.

In that case, just check in once if your diet is in order. Yes, ‘eating disorder’ is another factor that leads to a woman’s tendency to develop irregular menstrual periods.

The three factors that are most strongly associated with menstrual dysfunction are:
• a person’s body mass index (BMI),
• her calorie intake,
• her level of exercise.

Menstrual irregularities, till date, were linked only to ‘anorexia nervosa,’ the only eating disorder subtype. And it is only after the absence of menstrual periods for at least three months, a woman is diagnosed with anorexia nervosa.

But, this is injurious, as missing such periods risk a woman of both osteoporosis as well as fertility impairment.

But, the new study provides you with the opportunity to correct your diet and check out once with the irregularity in your cycles yourself.

Thus, in turn, it reduces the risk of developing the other two diseases - osteoporosis and fertility impairment.

Via: womenshealth

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It is a well known fact that alcohol and aggressiveness go shoulder to shoulder. Under the control of the liquid, especially in poor countries, many people practice revelry and violence, who otherwise is a different person - making it a taboo for many.

But, a present study has surprisingly come up with the evidence of just the “opposite impact” of alcohol on a man! I mean, it has been found possible to calm an aggressive person under the influence of alcohol.

Given a rewarding task testing their powers of concentration, he can win over his own normal self.

The study found the highest level of aggression was seen in people who drank and zapped but didn’t take part in the memory task. But, the lowest aggression level was found in those who drank with the added distraction.

University of Kentucky psychologist Peter Giancola said,

Drinking restricts our ability to pay attention, so we misbehave once our attention is narrowed to the most salient, attention-grabbing thing.

Though now, you have all reason to take that extra peg, — yet, having the tendency to develop that aggressive nature under alcohol’s influence — make it a point that you stay in a salient, non-hostile environment, so that you can well justify your sips and sobriety.

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