As long as I can walk around and control my functions, I’m all for it.
BBC NEWS | Magazine | Live forever
Now, however, there is a growing band of scientists and philosophers who truly believe that biological boundaries can be pushed back, allowing humans to live to 200, 300, 1,000 and maybe even longer.Calling themselves “transhumanists”, they argue that it is time humans broke free of their “biological chains”.
They want to harness medical, genetic and technological developments to improve the human body and mind - literally to make “better humans” - which will allow us to live longer and longer lives.
Charlie’s Angels today
Charlie’s Angels: Nearly 60 and not a wrinkle between them
In March this year, a five-day international conference - Tomorrow’s People: The Challenges of Technologies for Life Extension and Enhancement - was held at the James Martin Institute at Oxford University.
Speakers debated questions including: “How will humans re-engineer the human body?” and “What is natural about us and does it matter?”
One of the speakers, Dr Aubrey de Grey - a geneticist at Cambridge University and described as “perhaps the most optimistic” of the scientists who want to lengthen human life - believes that many of us who are fairly young now will live to 120. He told the conference there’s probably someone alive today who will live to be 1,000.
You have heard all of the experts tell you that the best way to get your vitamins is to eat healthy, and that supplements are a waste of money. But Disease Proof points to some studies that suggest possible cancer-fighting benefits from a pair of supplements.
Disease Proof: Some Supplements Have Some Scientific Support
This kind of research deserves serious consideration because mushrooms have been demonstrated to hold promise in the prevention and possible treatment of cancer. Initial research in humans has yielded conflicting results. Some studies have tested mushrooms and mushroom extracts on humans with cancer and found no benefits, and other studies have claimed substantial benefits.1 Studies on animals and cell lines indicate a likelihood of some protective effects. Mushrooms are high in selenium and contain a wealth of beneficial phytochemicals. Whether concentrated mushroom extracts are beneficial when added to an excellent anti-cancer diet is still somewhat up in the air. But I would probably err on the side of caution and take the concentrated mushroom extracts since they have shown some benefits.
Modified citrus pectin (MCP), also known as fractionated pectin, is a complex polysaccharide obtained from the peel and pulp of citrus fruits. MCP is rich in galactoside residues, giving it an affinity for certain types of cancer cells. Metastasis is one of the most life threatening aspects of cancer, and the lack of effective anti-metastatic therapies has prompted research on MCP’s effectiveness in blocking metastasis of certain types of cancers, including melanomas and prostate and breast cancers. Citrus pectins have been shown to slow the progression of prostate cancer and are thought to have other beneficial effects on slowing the spread of cancer. The question remains if taking additional supplemental pectin is better than simply eating citrus fruits.
Variety isn’t the spice of life - spices are!
AskMen.com - Spices
If you like your food hot and spicy, you may live longer. Today, research shows that people who include hot spices and fiery sauces in their diets lead healthier, longer lives than those who have a more mild palate.So, go ahead — add another splash of Tabasco to your eggs and smear another glob of wasabi on your sushi; you may be extending your life.
When you think about it, everyone eats breakfast - at some point during the day you break your fast with the day’s first meal. However, research suggests that the traditional early breakfast helps you manage calorie intake throughout the day.
Refrigerator Raid: Breakfast Really IS The Most Important Meal Of The Day
Think skipping breakfast will help you shed pounds? Think again! A WebMD.com article explained that most people who belong to The National Weight Control Registry (folks who have lost 30 or more pounds and kept off the weight for a year or longer) report eating breakfast every day.
Although most people believe that cutting those calories will lead to weight loss, research has found that this just isn’t true. In fact, people who skip breakfast actually eat more calories throughout the day–mostly because they’re starved by lunchtime, so they binge on too much unhealthy, high-calorie food.
OK, OK, we prefer the positive news on coffee drinking. But we’re all about being fair and balanced, so here is the other side of the coin:
» Caffeine - It Takes 12 Hours to Detoxify A Cup of Coffee
It can take up to 12 hours to detoxify a single cup of coffee.
Many studies regarding coffee and hypertension were flawed, because the test studies came off coffee for only one or two weeks. It takes many more weeks than this for stress hormone levels of the body to return to normal.
The ‘half-life’ of a drug is the time it takes the body to remove one half of the dose. Caffeine is a drug. The half-life of a single dose of caffeine ranges from three to TWELVE hours.
Caffeine puts your body into stress. A single 250 milligram dose of caffeine (the equivalent of about 2.5 six ounce cups of coffee) has been shown to increase levels of the stress hormone epinephrine (adrenaline) by over 200%.
Caffeine triggers a classic fight-or-flight reaction. The fight-or-flight response was designed for events that happened only occasionally (such as a lion chasing you). Now, we put our body in fight-or-flight every day with caffeine!!! Since we are in society, we don’t respond in a fight-or-flight way. Instead, other things may happen. For example, sugar and fat get dumped unused in the bloodstream. The sugar creates more stress. The fat clogs the arteries. The digestive system slows or shuts down.
From time to time everyone has a bad reaction to food. It could be a symptom of an illness, simply getting some food that has gone bad, or an intolerance to a certain type of food. Then again, it could be an allergy.
6 Ways to Identify Food Allergy
Typically, intolerance results in mild reactions, and require little other than a stomach settling medicine to resolve. However a food allergy can cause a much more severe response within the body.
However, if your body has had a stronger reaction, usually within an hour or so of eating a food item, you maybe seeing the symptoms of a food allergy. So here are six major reactions to look for and identify if you are worried that you, or a family member, may have a food allergy:
* Reaction 1 - Rashes or swelling form on the skin, especially around the mouth area.
* Reaction 2 - Tightening of the throat, thus causing wheezing and shortness of breath
* Reaction 3 - Sever vomiting or diarrhea
* Reaction 4 - Very runny nose
* Reaction 5 - Dizziness
* Reaction 6 - In very rare cases, anaphylactic shock. This is where the entire body goes into shock (similar to an epileptic fit).
The BMI gets far too much attention as an indicator of obesity and health.
Excite - Health
The widely used body-mass index (BMI) is not an accurate indicator of cardiovascular risk for people with heart disease because it does not distinguish between muscle and fat, a major review of the data contends.
BMI is determined by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by height in meters squared. A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered healthy, while over 25 is considered overweight and over 30 is considered obese.
Since muscle weighs more than fat, lean muscular people show up as having a high BMI. Most professional athletes would qualify, including basketball players. Yet I bet you’ve seldom thought “he is fat” when watching a basketball game.
A better test, by far, is body fat percentage. Though some recommend testing body fat with calipers, I found a scale that measures body fat for under $100. It allows me to conduct the test daily and track my progress.
We all have times we don’t want to work out. Admit it and move on - but the more silly excuses you make up the more likely you will be to miss the next one.
Couch potatoes creatively dodge workouts - Roanoke.com
Don’t bother racking your brain for an excuse.If you don’t feel like exercising, just admit it — or get over it. The staff at your gym truly does not want to hear that you can’t work out because your cat stubbed its toe.
That’s only one of many silly excuses that would-be exercisers have given to fitness experts.
“Some people actually come straight out and say, ‘I’m just lazy’ or ‘I hate exercise,’ ” said P.J. Barrett, director of wellness and personal training at the East Branch YMCA.
But others aren’t nearly that direct.
“People will find any excuse that they can if they’re looking for one,” said Colette Gorges, fitness director at Fitness 2000. “They just do. They’ll use anything.”
Whether it’s your car, your energy or your diet, look to avoid crashing.
Why Wait For Weight Loss? - Forbes.com
There’s a reason it’s called a “crash” diet–and not just because it’s fast and dramatic. While you may shed some pounds, the results won’t last. And such diets can be catastrophic for your body.
BluCreek microbrewery in Wisconsin is trying to capitalize on studies that show health benefits from moderate beer drinking by supplementing their brews with green tea, herbs and other healthy extracts.
Healthy Beer: BluCreek Zen IPA » iFitandHealthy.com
How do you take a healthy beer and take it to a place where no beer has ever gone before? Low-carb bear is so yesterday, so it is not going to cut it. Hmm…The same Wisconsin microbrewer has an answer. They took a mix of ingredients that are commonly found in some fat burners or weight loss supplements, and put them in a perfectly fine beer.
When I picked up a bottle of BluCreek (Honey) Herbal Ale, I was not sure if I was looking at a new weight loss supplement, a beer, or perhaps both.
It contains a potent Ginseng root, Ginkgo Biloba and Guarana. Watch out Red Bull and Vodka, this could be your first serious competition.
The only missing component in this beer seems to be “How to Lose Weight on Stimulants and Alcohol” booklet, but I hope the marketing department is working on it.