Green Options

Yet another reason for protecting the seas and the biodiversity that exists (including nuisance species): scientists at Ben Gurion University in Israel have developed a biogel that helps fight heart disease. The source of this gel? Seaweed.

A new study has revealed that “freshly crushed garlic is a superior cardioprotective agent than processed garlic“.  This is truly a logical conclusion considering fresh food is always better for your health than processed food, but the article published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry provides scientific proof.  The results show that both freshly crushed garlic and its processed counterpart provide heart protection, but there is increased protection from the fresh allium sativum.

Garlic has long been known for its health benefits. The study’s authors write:

Garlic has been used for centuries for culinary purposes, and its health benefits have been known since at least 1500 B.C. when ancient Chinese and Indians used it as a blood-thinning agent. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, used garlic to treat cervical cancer. In China, garlic was shown to reduce the risk of esophageal and stomach cancers by 70%. Garlic is also effective against breast and prostate cancers due to the presence of S-allyl mercaptocysteine. Documented scientific investigations on garlic were initiated by Louis Pasteur who first reported its antibacterial and antifungal properties. Albert Schweitzer used this concept and treated dysentery in Africa with garlic.  Subsequent studies found efficacy of garlic as a cardioprotectant.

I’m a hugger.  I hug my children; I hug my friends.  Some cultures greet people with kisses on the cheek; some with handshakes.

Teenage culture across America is embracing the hug!

Hugging is not just for romantic relationships.  According to the New York Times, teenagers have broken down hugs by type:

There is the basic friend hug, probably the most popular, and the bear hug, of course. But now there is also the bear claw, when a boy embraces a girl awkwardly with his elbows poking out.

There is the hug that starts with a high-five, then moves into a fist bump, followed by a slap on the back and an embrace.

There’s the shake and lean; the hug from behind; and, the newest addition, the triple — any combination of three girls and boys hugging at once.

Or newspaper. Or sheet music. Or parchment paper. Or wrapping paper. Or napkins. Or old scrapbook paper. Or crinkled aluminum foil. Or pre-colored coloring book pages.

Anything that you can cut a heart out of or paint a heart on, you can make into a Valentine.

Make your Valentine out of yarn. Or twine. Or twigs. Or hair. Or selvage. Or dried beans. Or dirt. Or ribbon. Or chain.

Enough with the attacks on the Mediterranean diet: return to healthy food ‘made in Italy “. It’s the appeal that Roberto Ferrari, the first Italian head of the European Society of Cardiology, launched by Monaco of Bavaria at the opening of Congress annually.

This diet, known worldwide for its positive effects on health and its preventive effect, is increasingly left alone right in our country: six out of ten families have changed over the years their habits. In declining consumption [...]