Sometimes my 13 year old son will look at me in disbelief at a question I’ll ask him — not because I’m being overprotective or old fashioned, but because I just asked the same question 5 minutes before. Sound familiar? How about forgetting the name of that thing –oh yeah, the glove compartment!
Our society has found humor in these increasingly common bouts of forgetfulness with the term ‘Senior Moments’. But when you are relatively young and you are cognizant of the very real change in your brain’s capacity to remember things, it’s worth a little investigation.
There seems to be quite a bit of research on memory boosting exercises and supplements but it seems that these things would be treating the symptoms and not the cause. What could possibly be the cause of so many 40 -50 year olds having Senior Moments?
One possible explanation that fascinates me is what I heard Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn (currently treating Pres. Clinton) say regarding mini strokes happening to even young and otherwise healthy people. You can be driving, sleeping, working, and not realize that anything has happened. Moreover, you will not see any real symptoms because you still have the capacity to redirect function to other parts of your largely healthy brain. Watch this clip of Dr. Esselstyn from minute 27 to hear it explained by this renown physician.
With low blood pressure and no cholesterol or weight issues, I thought I was safe from cardio-vascular illness. This is definitely not the case. With the brain and heart inextricably connected in function and wellness, improving circulation in the veins and arteries through diet makes a whole lot of sense to me now. Pass the broccoli and hold the fried chicken!
Hippocrates believed that the human body has the innate ability to heal itself of disease. This is also the basis of Eastern medicine but the exact opposite of the modern pharmaceutical industry’s claims that there is a pill for every ill.
2 Must watch documentaries that will immediately motivate you to eat better and thus feel better are Food Matters and The Future of Food.
Dr. Linus Pauling, winner of 2 Nobel Peace Prizes, said that “Optimum nutrition is the medicine of tomorrow.” Not pills, not advanced surgery, but food. Bon appetit!
Food Matters and The Future of Food available on Netflix.
Do you leave your computer on all night, maybe turning your screen off as you head off to bed? Many rumors abound as to why it makes sense to do so including the famous, “It takes more energy to boot it back up in the morning”. Well it simply isn’t true.
Here are the facts:
A typical computer uses 300 Watts of energy, the equivalent of 3 very bright lamps!
Turning off your computer when not using could save you up to $219 a year. Even if you are using energy saving down mode, you would still save over $100 if you actually turned it off.
Read more about how energy computers and other electronic devices use at How Stuff Works.
Plastic bags are the largest source of ocean litter. Second is cigarettes. We’ve come so far in this country to reduce smoking –it’s time to do the same with plastic bags.
A medium sized wrapping scarf in your bag will take care of all your small everyday purchases. Bring your own bags to the grocery store and make a quiet but strong statement every time you check out. Go Earth!
Although scientists are still debating the negative effects of cell phone radiation, there’s nothing wrong with minimizing your exposure as much as possible. Here are some tips:
1. Most Fun: Use a retro handset from Moshi Moshi or Yubz.
2. Most Practical: Use a wired headset
3. Easiest: Use the speakerphone
4. Smartest: Wait until after making connection to put phone to your ear. The most radiation occurs when phone is making contact with cell tower.
5. Cleverest: Teeter totter the phone: phones emit much less radiation when receiving than when transmitting. Every millimeter counts so teeter phone away from your ear as you talk.
6. Safest: Don’t put phone to your ear when in a moving vehicle. Not only does the phone emit more radiation when in motion, but talking while driving is as dangerous as driving drunk.
7. Most Fashion Forward: Don’t put the phone in your chest pocket or pants pocket. Not only do you have an unattractive bump, you are also exposing your body to more radiation than if you put it in your purse or briefcase.
New gift items have arrived and we are so excited to give you a first look.
1. Ladies Who Lunch, Insulated Lunch Tote with Bamboo Handles
A lunch tote elegant enough to use as a purse!
2. Almond Delight, Chocolate and Almond Dipped Cookie Sticks
A favorite snack in Korea, these crispy delights from Lotte Confectionery are simply heavenly.
3. My Own Lunch Bag, Cotton Reusable Lunch Bag that You Decorate Yourself
Colorful Fabric Markers are included to make lunchtime an eco-fun activity.
4.Sushi Snacker, Sheets of Roasted Savory Seaweed
Everyone who loves sushi knows that seaweed is an amazingly delicious and nutritious food. Now enjoy the crispy savory goodness anytime with these roasted seaweed sheets. Just cut with scissors and enjoy alone or with steaming hot rice. Yum!
Raking leaves in the fall is such a huge part of our American suburban culture that most of us don’t think twice about getting rid of all those fallen leaves littering our lawns each year. Last week when I saw a Scott’s commercial advocating mowing the leaves versus raking and chucking, I was intrigued. Could this be a viable alternative or is this just another big corporate attempt at greenwashing?
Here’s the commercial:
Public service or Greenwashing?
Can this be true?
Apparently, research conducted at Cornell, Purdue, Rutgers, Michigan State and other universities since the early 1990’s supports this opinion. Here’s an example of the research:
“Between 1995 and 1998 researchers at Michigan State set mower decks to cut at three inches, then mowed up to 450 pounds of leaves per 1,000 square feet of lawn each autumn (that’s equivalent to about eighteen inches of leaves).
At such a high rate, very little grass could be seen at the end of the mowing season. However, once growth resumed the following spring the remaining leaf litter quickly decomposed. In this study not only was the excessive volume of leaves not harmful, the shredded leaves actually improved lawn quality over time as organic matter and nutrients in the decomposing leaves was returned to the soil.”
Yard waste is the second worst polluter in America’s landfills today (#1 is paper). If leaves can truly be mowed and left on lawns instead of raked, collected and thrown away, this could have a significantly positive impact on our environment.
Great job Scotts! I’m impressed and look forward to experimenting on my own lawn this year.
The Question: If one of the finest classical musicians in the world, played some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made, during rush hour at the Metro, what would 1,000 passersby do?
The Answer: A fascinating look at what we might be missing while we go about our busy lives.
Joshua Bell plays the Metro
In an article called “Pearls Before Breakfast”, the Washington Post sets up a dumbfounding experiment of modern humanity.
The pearl reference hearkens back to the famous words of Jesus who said, ‘Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.’
I shiver to think what I might have done walking through the Metro that day. Would I have stopped to marvel at the beauty or would I have trampled it with my busy feet.
Among the many amazing revelations that came out of this experiment was the fact that every single child noticed Joshua Bell and tried to stay and listen as every parent pulled the child along and whisked them out the door.
As we head into the weekend, let’s all make an effort to open our ears and eyes and take in the pearls that surround us every day!
“It’s hard to overeat without noticing it. By contrast, soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages can sneak up on you, adding hundreds of calories to your diet each day without ever filling you up.” -NYHealth Dept.
Diet soda may seem like a good way to get your soda fix if you’re already addicted, but it can actually be even worse as I recently experienced when I had Splenda for the first time ever. Let’s just say that my stomach did not agree with this additive. At all. Twice.
After some quick research on the internet, I found that many people shared my reaction to Splenda and who knows how many countless others have less obvious more long term effects. If you really need a fizzy fix, try sparkling water or club soda instead.
I feel very lucky that my kids tried soda at an early enough age that they found the experience painful and unpleasant. They still love other sugary drinks like ice tea and such so we keep a big 5 gallon water cooler in the kitchen so that ice cold water is easily accessible at all times. The most effective policy for us is not to buy it at the store. Even with all the information out there on the negative effects of soda, if it’s in the fridge, I find it very hard to resist!
Amazing! The modern city of Utrecht, Holland, is full of bikes instead of dirty and dangerous cars. So interesting also how none of the people are wearing helmets which is probably a testament to how safe it is to bike the streets without cars whizzing by.
Regardless of its level of green however, no city can escape the occasional cheat. Check out the guy cutting the line at 1:02. Guess he had an emergency! ^^
We are so proud to have been a supporter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Promise Ball last week. For this year’s “Cirque du Cure” theme, the Ball chairs were looking for a super fabulous way to wrap special gift boxes that were being auctioned off to raise money for the charity and fell in love with our Earth friendly BOBO Wraps. Look at this amazing presentation!
There currently is no cure for Type 1 diabetes, although there is a lot of promising research. The JDRF is constantly striving to find new, less intrusive treatments and ways to monitor blood sugar levels. They offer assistance, training and funding to hospitals, clinics and other organizations that are working hard to find a cure, or better treatments for this disorder. This, as with most medical research, involves a great deal of time and money and events like the Promise Ball are essential to this effort.
Bravo to all the volunteers, staff members, patrons, and guests for making the JDRF Promise Ball a huge success. If you would like to make a donation, you can do so directly to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. No amount is too small, or too large, to help in the race to find a cure.
Part of every healthy lifestyle is staying fit mentally but if you’re anything like me, you have a lot going on in your life and your short term memory is becoming a bit like Dory from Finding Nemo. I’ll often ask my son something only to have him look at me with disbelief, “Mom, you just asked me that 5 minutes ago!”.
Scary.
2 things really caught my interest lately in terms of brain research in adults. The first is an article from the NYT called “The Talents of a Middle Aged Brain”. This interview with author Barbara Strauch confirms that many “older” people have issues with short term memory but surprisingly declares that on the whole, our brains are better than ever between the ages of 40-65.
Strauch says that our ability to logically solve problems and find solutions are at their peak which reminded me of another interesting book I read recently by Malcolm Gladwell called “Blink”. In it, Gladwell touts the merits of thin slicing, which is a term that psychologists use to describe our ability to make quick assessments and snap decisions that are usually right. Gladwell says that we are smarter than we think and based on our subconscious knowledge and years of experience, we should often go with our gut instinct and first impressions.
Obviously, there are plenty of exceptions to this rule of thin slicing and my favorite from the Blink is Gladwell’s illustration of how the American people were duped into electing a tall, regal looking William Harding into the White House only to soon realize that he was terribly unsuited for the job.
I’ve never been a speedy decision maker and often mull things over for way too long. In business however, this is a huge liability where time is money and things have to be decided quickly. I’ve been trying a little thin slicing myself lately and feel like I have a new Turbo button for making good yet quick decisions. It’s still depressing when I can’t remember someone’s name but at least there is an upside to this ever changing brain of ours!
Here’s a great Saturday Night Live skit about a product that is perfect for all of us confused Moms this Mother’s Day. The best medicine for all our ailments is a good laugh after all.
By the way, Strauch says that exercise is the best thing we can do for our aging brains so let’s all get outside, do a little walking and celebrate the power of our wonderfully ripened brains!
Making a proper cup of tea from loose tea leaves is an affordable luxury that can add so much pleasure to your day. However, with all the extra equipment and hassle, you might often find yourself reaching for that lower quality tea bag instead. Take a look at this!
I first discovered the ingenious 3 piece tea mug years ago in Korea and marveled at the beautiful marriage of form and function. A matching ceramic strainer actually plops right into the tea mug and the lid goes right on top of that for proper steeping of the tea leaves.
Loose green tea leaves are hand picked and unoxidized. They contain life-giving nutrients such as cancer fighting anti-oxidants called catechins, theanine, chlorophyll and Vitamin C.
When making tea bags, lower quality leaves are crushed and chopped into small particles called Fanning and Dusts. No wonder tea connoisseurs are only interested in loose-leaf. Loose leaf has so much greater aroma, body and nutrients.
This tea mug set makes it so easy to brew loose tea. When your are finished steeping, you just flip the lid upside down and convert it into a holder for the strainer that will now sit and drain mess free. After enjoying your tea, you can plop the strainer back in the tea mug and steep the leaves for a second cup. Many tea lovers actually like the second brew better! So peaceful. So wise.
Don’t you love discovering great design that functions as beautifully as it looks? The beautiful crackling of the celadon porcelain is a topic for another day but you can read a bit about it here.
These celadon tea mugs are our Spring Special and are available now pre-wrapped and ready to delight you or any tea lover in your life. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!
Sadly, one of my most memorable moments in college has nothing to do academics but everything to do with the toilet. A few of my best friends were international students from Korea and weren’t too keen on the finer points of American etiquette.
Having missed a few days of class, my friend HJ went to the instructor and started to explain that she had had a VERY serious case of diarrhea.
Just to make sure the instructor understood her correctly, she earnestly went on and on to describe everything from the severe stomach cramps to the constant running to the bathroom.
The instructor was stunned speechless. Obviously embarrassed by this lengthy explanation, he told HJ that everything she missed could be made up and hopefully she was feeling much better now.
When I saw this video of Korean pitcher Chan Ho Park explaining that “a lot of diarrhea” was the cause of his poor performance on the mound, I died laughing remembering my old friend HJ. Oh how I love Korea. Park is bewildered by the laughing reporters as would be many a Korean!
Koreans are very upfront about the functions of the body and talking about BMs has always been a common topic of conversation. The consistency, how much, how often, color–the whole nine yards.
The funny thing is that Americans are now starting to follow suit with Dr. Oz and Oprah trailblazing the road to talking more openly about what’s going on in the toilet. BMs are most certainly a very good indicator of a multitude of health conditions and apparently the perfect “S” shaped BM is what we should be striving for (his words not mine!). Dr. Oz says that this topic is actually so important that we should actually be talking a whole lot more about it.
Back in college, when my friend Younny and I witnessed HJ’s now legendary teacher meeting, we howled about it for days. We joked about trying out this fool proof method the next time we got in a tight spot but never dared.
We may be laughing now, but Korean culture is very old and wise and Chan Ho and HJ may have the last laugh yet!
The tools we have at our fingertips to stay connected and to instantly find information are truly incredible. Yet I know from personal experience how easy it is to abuse these tools and waste a heck of a lot of time. This fascinating video by Frontline really explores how technology is changing not only our behaviors but also our brains. At one point, a professor at MIT talks about her personal experience of a typical technology filled day. Going through emails, organizing her calendar, and doing various other internet related things makes her feel great. Really on top of things. Then she realizes that the day is gone and she hasn’t done anything significant, hasn’t thought about anything hard. (The entire video is a long but riveting 90 minutes.)
When humans adapted to the written word, we soon lost the ability to memorize and repeat vast amounts of knowledge passed down orally from person to person. But it appears that we managed just fine and now use books to replace our diminished capacity to memorize. With technology and mulittasking becoming the norm, we may be losing the ability to focus on one thing at a time and think deeply about things without distraction. Fast Company also recently had a great article about how some kinds of multitasking costs you more time than you save.
We are immigrants to the digital world, but our kids are natives. Are we doing them a huge disservice by allowing them to use available technology at a very young age? Are we unwittingly creating the dumbest generation? Or is this just a natural progression of the human race with changes that are inevitable like those that took place after discovery of the written word?
As a mom of 2 tweenage boys, I constantly worry about the internet and too much “screen time”. When I say no more tv, they move to the computer. Chased away from computers, they move to their ipods or confiscate my Blackberry to play games. Even doing homework on a computer is not safe unless the internet is somehow turned off and they are not constantly interrupted by friends wanting to “chat”.
A big part of the problem was that the kids would take laptop computers to their rooms to do homework and ended up doing who knows what else for who knows how long! Yesterday, we finally took action and officially made a permanent home for our two laptop computers right in the study. Now all computer use is in a public space and the place where I spend the most time is also the place they do their homework. I guess we are all pioneers in this new world of technology and will have to adapt to the digital wilderness as we go!
Food is a very powerful thing. Not only is it essential for life, it deeply affects how we look and feel. I’ve learned to keep my pantry pretty bare cause in the wee hours of the night, I will eat unlimited amounts of any available junk food. I’ve even been caught by my kids stuffing myself with a late night snack of plain rice. Straight out of our jumbo sized rice cooker. I have since been nicknamed “the rice monster”. Nice.
With all the recent information we have available regarding the direct relationship between the food we eat and disease, I’ve slowly started taking baby steps toward a smarter diet and one of the things that have really piqued my interest is the field of antiangiogenic food. Apparently turmeric, which is the key ingredient in curry, is an antiangiogenic superfood and a way I can get my rice fix guilt free. ^^
What are Antiangiogenic foods??
Antiangiogenic refers to inhibiting the growth of new blood vessels without which cancer cells cannot grow. When Dr. David Servan-Schreiber was diagnosed with brain cancer in his thirties, doctors told him that his diet will not make a difference in his fight with cancer. After grueling treatment he was bitterly disappointed when the cancer came back years later. This time he decided to do his own research and wrote a fascinating book calledAnti Cancer. In it, he methodically explains how we can use the war strategy of cutting supply lines to inhibit the growth of cancer cells in our body. Antiangiogenic foods help our bodies detect and cut off the rapidly developing blood vessels that are feeding new cancer cells. These same good foods, especially when eaten together, can also force the cancer cells to “commit suicide”.
We may wonder why his and so many others’ research isn’t more widely known but Dr. Servan-Schreiber explains that when nutritional treatments like this cannot be patented, they do not receive the grant money necessary for expensive double blind research that is the industry standard trusted by mainstream doctors. Dr. David Servan-Schreiber is far from the only one promoting this breakthrough research however, and the above slide is from a TED presentation by Dr. William Li. He says that we can eat to starve cancer and what we eat is our chemotherapy three times a day.
I love the fact that this is so simple and just makes so much sense. Most of these foods are so yummy that I will gladly partake in this new treatment. We will soon be offering a wider selection of tea on our website including an amazing Japanese green tea that I can’t wait to share with you. What are your favorite antiangiogenic foods?
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