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Why Learning Leads To Happiness

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By Philip Moeller for U.S. News

Your mind may be the closest thing to the Holy Grail of longevity and happiness. Education has been widely documented by researchers as the single variable tied most directly to improved health and longevity. And when people are intensely engaged in doing and learning new things, their well-being and happiness can blossom.

This effect becomes even more valuable as we get older. Even in old age, it turns out, our brains have more plasticity to adapt and help us than was once thought. Old dogs, in short, can learn a lot of new tricks.


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"I think most social scientists would put their money on education as the most important factor in ensuring longer lives," says psychologist Laura Carstensen, director of the Stanford Center on Longevity. People with more education get better jobs that pay more money, are less physically demanding, and provide more enjoyment. They live in safer neighborhoods, practice healthier lifestyles, and have less stress.

In a paper published earlier this year by the National Bureau of Economic Research, authors David Cutler and Adriana Lleras-Muney reviewed education-longevity research around the world. "Education not only predicts mortality in the U.S., it is also a large predictor of health in most countries, regardless of their level of development." They cited research that 25-year-olds with some college education in 1980 could expect to live another 54.4 years, on average, whereas 25-year-olds with high school degrees had life expectancies of another 51.6 years, or nearly three years less. A similar study in 2000—only 20 years later—found that the life-expectancy gap between those with some college and high school graduates had increased to seven years.

Some studies attribute all or most of the education benefit to simply making more money, but not all researchers agree. "While income level best predicts how quickly people decline after they get sick," Carstensen says, "education predicts whether or not people get sick in the first place." People with more education tend to have better problem-solving skills and the tools to help themselves, she explains. They enhance their health and survival odds by making well-informed lifestyle decisions.

The income effect is important, "but I think it goes beyond that," says Lisa Berkman, professor of public policy and epidemiology at Harvard University. One of Berkman's students did an in-depth study of different school attendance requirements set by state laws 70 and 80 years ago. "If you lived in a state where the schooling laws made you go to school for a longer period of time, you had better cognitive functioning later in life," Berkman says. In other words, irrespective of income or other variables, just being in a classroom for more hours boosted mental health in later life.

In terms of happiness, a close companion of learning is the degree of engagement people have with tasks that provide them knowledge and fulfillment. People who are intensely absorbed in a task can lose track of time and place. Hours pass like minutes. They may be tired by the task but emerge energized and happy. This condition is known as "flow," a name coined 30 years ago by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

Now at the Claremont Graduate University, Csikszentmihalyi recalls encountering people as a child in war-ravaged Europe who could happily lose themselves in an activity, like chess or even a risky thing like rock climbing, despite being in constant physical danger and surrounded by gruesome scenes of death. The activity was absorbing and meaningful in itself, a condition described as being autotelic. "People just liked to do" such activities, he says. "They didn't need to be told to do it. They didn't need money to do it."

"I later constructed this kind of model or theory" for such behavior, Csikszentmihalyi says. "Since nobody knew what autotelic meant, I called it flow." Research over the years has shown that people totally engaged in pursuits can trigger healthful changes in their brain chemistry and respiratory patterns.

Flow is easily associated with creativity and the image of a musician or artist "lost" in near-rapturous pursuit of their craft. And Csikszentmihalyi says in some respects, society has come to value and support the arts and sporting pursuits precisely because of their flow benefits. It's why we like to do them in the first place. "The real challenge," he says, "is to take something that you have to do that has purpose and meaning" and figure out how to induce a state of flow while doing it. "It's possible to experience your job and your family life as flow, and that to me is more important than that we provide opportunities for flow in art and sports."

Flow may appear a lofty goal of achieving total absorption in a task or activity. If so, think of various stages of engagement as forming a path toward flow that also provide satisfaction and happiness. To derive these benefits, researchers have found, the tasks involved must be sufficiently hard to really challenge us. It's that challenge that draws us in and it's overcoming that challenge that produces health and happiness. These conditions have been given a name as well: "just manageable difficulty." Like Goldilocks' porridge preference, our challenges have to be "just right" for us to thrive.

The benefits of learning and engagement are particularly important in promoting healthy aging. "Your mind is really like a muscle, and using it is a key" to lifelong mental health, Berkman says. There has been a surge in attention to mental exercise as a way of preventing Alzheimer's disease, for example. While the link between such efforts and disease prevention has not been definitively established, most scientists believe there is a beneficial relationship between lifelong learning and staying socially active with mental well-being and happiness later in life. Older people who become isolated can lose the activities that trigger their minds to engage in enjoyable and stimulating activities.

Jacquelyn James is the director of research at the Sloan Center on Aging & Work and has been overseeing an ongoing study of the benefits that older people derive from continued work. Across a span of activities—paid work, caregiving, volunteering, and education—the levels of engagement people experienced were strongly related to their enjoyment and benefits from the activity. Just being involved in an activity does not produce the benefits of engagement. And engagement needs to be connected with a sense of purpose and achievement to produce happiness.

"As we get older, it is more important to find things to do that light up our lives," James says. Our minds are central to this effort, and thrive when we are finding new things for them to do. Whether it's acquiring a new skill or language (very high on the list of mental acuity benefits), joining a new group and meeting new people, or finding ways to continue using existing skills, successful aging and longevity are built upon patterns of lifelong learning.


Can Your Eyes Predict A Heart Attack?

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A new eye scan could shed light on future cases of heart disease.

More than 1,000 at-risk patients will join a study by the University of Edinburgh’s Clinical Research Imaging Centre (CRIC) that aims to determine whether a scan of blood vessels in the eye can identify signs of heart disease.

The volunteers will have high-definition images taken of their retinas and these will be analysed for changes to blood vessel width or unusually branched blood vessels, which could indicate heart problems.

Dr Tom MacGillivray, a research fellow at the University of Edinburgh and manager of the Image Analysis laboratory in CRIC, said: “We know that problems in the eye are linked to conditions such as diabetes and that abnormalities in the eyes’ blood vessels can also indicate vascular problems in the brain."

If the study is a success, then invasive procedures such as biopsies or angiograms, where catheters are used to identify vessel and organ damage, could become a thing of the past.

“If we can identify early problems in the blood vessels in the eyes we might potentially pinpoint signs of heart disease. This could help identify people who would benefit from early lifestyle changes and preventative therapies,” said Dr MacGillivray.

The Latest In The Battle Over Graphic Cigarette Warning Labels

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WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court Tuesday weighed the constitutionality of requiring large graphic photos on cigarette packs to show that smoking can disfigure and even kill people, with two of the three judges questioning how far the government could go.

Some of the nation's largest tobacco companies, including R.J. Reynolds, sued to block the mandate. They argued that the government's proposed warnings go beyond factual information into anti-smoking advocacy. The Obama administration responded that the photos of dead and diseased smokers are factual.

In February, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that the requirement ran afoul of the First Amendment's free speech protections and blocked the requirement. The government appealed.

The nine graphic warnings proposed by the Food and Drug Administration include color images of a man exhaling cigarette smoke through a tracheotomy hole in his throat, and a plume of cigarette smoke enveloping an infant receiving a mother's kiss. Some other images are accompanied by language that says smoking causes cancer and can harm fetuses. The warnings were to cover the entire top half of cigarette packs, front and back, and include the phone number for a stop-smoking hotline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

At Tuesday's hearing, Judge A. Raymond Randolph, an appointee of Republican President George H.W. Bush, asked if the government could go so far as to require cars to carry a warning that "speed kills," with a graphic illustration. Justice Department attorney Mark B. Stern replied that he didn't think there would be any problem with that.

Another Republican appointee, Judge Janice Rogers Brown, asked if the government could mandate a cigarette warning that said, "Stop! If you buy this product, you are a moron," or "Smokers are idiots."

"No, I don't think saying smokers are idiots is accurate," Stern replied. He said such a warning would be "problematic."

Brown also questioned if the government was on a path to put warnings on other legal products.

"Where does this stop?" asked Brown, who like District Judge Leon was appointed by Republican George W. Bush.

Lawyers for the tobacco companies made a similar argument in their brief. They superimposed the FDA tobacco image of a cadaver onto a McDonald's bag with the warning that fatty foods may cause heart disease, and the FDA's image of a premature baby in an incubator on a bottle of alcohol with a warning that drinking during pregnancy can cause birth defects. They also showed a Hershey's chocolate bar with half the wrapper covered by a picture of a mouth of rotting teeth and a warning that candy causes tooth decay.

Stern said those comparisons trivialized an important issue. "Addiction really means addiction," he said, and it was not like eating candy.

The third judge on the panel, Judith W. Rogers, an appointee of Democrat Bill Clinton, didn't ask any questions of the Obama administration, but she grilled Noel J. Francisco, a lawyer for tobacco companies. Rogers asked Francisco if he was challenging the accuracy of the FDA's text warnings, such as smoking causing cancer and heart disease. The lawyer said he was not, but that the government was going beyond mere facts by including a phone number to quit.

"The government is trying to send a powerful message: Quit smoking now," he said. When the message tells people to live a certain way, it crosses the line from facts to advocacy, he argued.

But Randolph said he had a hard time finding that line, adding that the judges were in "new territory."

In his ruling, Leon wrote that the graphic images "were neither designed to protect the consumer from confusion or deception, nor to increase consumer awareness of smoking risks; rather, they were crafted to evoke a strong emotional response calculated to provoke the viewer to quit or never start smoking."

"While the line between the constitutionally permissible dissemination of factual information and the impermissible expropriation of a company's advertising space for government advocacy can be frustratingly blurry, here the line seems quite clear," Leon wrote.

The case is separate from a lawsuit by several of the same tobacco companies over the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which cleared the way for the more graphic warning labels and other marketing restrictions. The law also allowed the FDA to limit nicotine and banned tobacco companies from sponsoring athletic or social events or giving away free samples or branded merchandise.

Last month, a federal appeals court in Cincinnati ruled that the law was constitutional.

Tobacco companies increasingly rely on their packaging to build brand loyalty and grab consumers – one of the few advertising levers left to them after the government curbed their presence in magazines, billboards and TV.

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Follow Fred Frommer on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ffrommer

‘SushiBots’ Roll Out Tasty Sushi Rolls

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Japanese food company Suzumo has unveiled its latest gadget in the sushi-making process – the ‘SushiBot’.

These robotic sushi roll creators are designed to whip up and roll out 3,600 mounds of nigiri (sticky rice) per hour (that’s 300 sushi rolls an hour, 10 rolls in two minutes), steering more towards the fast food market and further away from its gourmet cuisine appeal.

Sushi’s popularity has soared in recent years and while sushi-making machines aren’t completely new (the first one was unveiled in 1981), the new crop of hi-tech ‘SushiBots’ is faster and more efficient than ever to meet the market’s hungry demands.

The new gadget was presented at the World Food and Beverage Great Expo in Tokyo and while its fast-paced sushi roll making is impressive, it still needs the hand of a human to help feed the ingredients manually before it grabs the sticky, vinegared rice and shapes it into a roll.

So gone is the fine culinary art of sushi rolling and now it’s in with the robots. Take a look at the video to see how the Suzumo-Bot works… and try not to get too peckish.

The Student's Bucket List: Things You Need To Do Before Graduation

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Get those resumes ready -- graduation is fast approaching. Though still a couple of months away, June marks that time for students to trade in attending lectures in sweatpants and pajamas for graduation gowns. It's a period of transition for the hundreds of thousands of Canadian students graduating this summer, but it's also a scary time to be joining the workforce.

According to Statistics Canada, the youth unemployment rate amongst 15-to-24-year-olds is at 17.4 per cent, nearly double the newest national rate of 7.2 per cent. And although a university degree decreases your chances of unemployment, as shown by national unemployment rate dropping to 6.3 per cent for people in that age bracket, some analysts attribute that to students returning for graduate studies because they were unable to find work with only an undergraduate degree.

Then there's the mounting crisis of student loans across the country. According to the Globe and Mail, the average amount of debt taken on by students when graduating is $27,000, and the interest built on that can fall between five per cent to nine per cent, depending on your residing province.

With so much doom and gloom, taking a few more courses or applying for a graduate program doesn't seem like such a bad option, does it? Fortunately for students, universities and companies have taken notice that being a student can be synonymous with being strapped for cash. The result is a series of perks that students -- particularly soon-to-be-graduates -- should take advantage of while they still can.

Do you take advantage of any university-specific perks? Let us know what they are below in the comment section or share your thoughts with us on Twitter @HuffPostCaLiv.

Cashing In On Extended Healthcare Coverage
Thinking of making that last trip to the dentist? Better do it soon. That's because once you've graduated from university or hit a certain age (anywhere from 18-25), you can no longer claim any benefits under your parents' healthcare insurance. Other procedures that students lose out when they graduate include prescription drugs and eye care, but for the basic healthcare needs, there's always provincial health insurance.

Student Savings: Public Transit
While driving offers a sense of freedom, it can be a financial death trap. Between monthly payments if you're leasing, the cost of insurance and the price of gas, your wallet is more likely to run empty before the gas tank does.
Instead, make use of the discounts offered on public transit -- universities like Carleton and University of Toronto, for example, give their students unlimited use of the city's public transportation as part of their enrolment.

Student Savings: Food
Next to transportation, the most valuable discount students can take advantage of is in the food department. From restaurants to grocery stores, students generally save at least 10 per cent off their total purchase. Just think of all the Kraft Dinner you can buy with the savings.

Student Savings: Finances
Finally, in addition to saving money for transportation and food, students can take advantage of savings when it actually comes to their finances. Most of Canada's major banks offer student bank accounts that include perks such as no-fee banking or accounts with no minimum transactions.

Gather All Your References
While you could start networking after landing your first job, the smarter thing to do would be to start networking while in university. Professors, teaching assistants, even older students with connections in your industry can all make excellent references. All you have to do is get them to notice you amongst the other hundreds of students they see on a weekly basis.

Eat A Combination Of Kraft Dinner And Ramen Noodles
Did you know that if you combine Kraft Dinner and instant noodles together, it still tastes like student poverty? Still, that shouldn't deter you from trying such bold concoctions while you still have the "starving student" stereotype to justify it.

Organize Your Email's Inbox
If you''re about to graduate, chances are that you've been working out of a university assigned email the last few years. But once you've graduated, schools close off these accounts, locking you out of whatever contacts or emails you may need. Instead, take the time to start importing all your precious info into an email account that's less temporary.

Visit A Career Counsellor
For many students, university is a time for self-discovery and one of those discoveries could be what your ideal career to pursue once you graduate. That's not to say you can't consult career counsellors once you're out of school, only that it'll cost you to do so.

Take Advantage Of Your Student Athletic Centre
If you thought paying a few dollars for a semester's worth of access to your school's gym was ridiculous, you haven't seen the membership fees to join gyms outside of campus. Centres like L.A. Fitness, Goodlife or Extreme Fitness tend to require year-long memberships, which can easily put costs in the hundreds.

Enjoy That Last Tax Return
It's not often you get to expense your moving costs, nor is it often you get to add in the expenses you've incurred if you've received research grants, but both are deductibles students can file on their tax returns. Some other deductibles students can take advantage of include child care services and the cost of your tuition.

Men Risk Diabetes By Skipping Breakfast

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Men who skip breakfast are more likely to develop diabetes, say researchers at Harvard School of Public Medicine in the United States.

A new study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has exposed a link between missing meals and an increased chance of contracting diet-related disease type 2 diabetes.

According to the study, men who walk out the door on an empty stomach are 20% more likely to develop diabetes, than those who eat a meal first thing.

However, men need to consider not only ‘when’ but ‘what’ they eat, say healthy living experts.

Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK, tells Diabetes.co.uk: "While it is intuitive that eating three healthy balanced meals a day is good for your health, in this study it is not clear what is meant by breakfast or what it consists of."

The charity recommend individuals eat a healthy balanced diet, rich in fruit and vegetables and low in sugar, salt and fat, which applies to breakfast and all other main meals.

Recent research from the same institution also suggested that men who consumed fizzy drinks had an increased risk of heart disease.

How To Keep Yourself From Blushing

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Wouldn't it be great if we could control the reactions of our bodies? But for so many people, just when we want to appear cool and collected, our face betrays us by turning bright red and hot, showing our mortification for all the world to see.

There is a larger scientific explanation for why we blush, but what it comes down to is this: when you're embarrassed, you release adrenaline, the hormone that makes your heart beat faster. Adrenaline also makes your blood vessels dilate in order to allow for more blood and oxygen to get through. That goes for the veins in your face as well, so as more blood starts rushing through them, voila, your cheeks get red.

The video above offers up five steps to blush less, though not all of them have to do with physical effects. After all, a large reason for blushing is psychological, including worrying about what other people think of you as your face turns red.

But if making an impression is your biggest concern, it's time to get over it -- studies have shown that getting embarrassed can in fact make people like you more, so turn those rosy cheeks to your advantage.

For practical instructions, remember to keep breathing deeply and slowly -- it's your best bet to keep your heartbeat steady and blood flowing at a normal rate.

Can Argan Oil Be Good For Your Hair? We Put One To The Test

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At some point, we've all purchased something whose results were, er, questionable, and didn't live up to our expectations or deliver the results we were so boldly promised. But no more! For the sake of you and your hard-earned money, The Huffington Post Canada Style team is putting the latest products to the test every week.

Testing: Redken All Soft Argan-6 Oil

Tested By: Arti Patel, Associate Editor

Price: $35, 90ml

What It Is: Softening hair oil for brittle hair.

How To: Apply the oil with your hands on damp or dry hair, massaging it into your roots and ends. I often did this before blow drying my hair.

What We Thought: With the changing season, my hair tends to dry out. After using the oil about seven to eight times every other day (and washing my hair) I did notice my hair felt more hydrated and, generally, softer. My roots and ends were in better shape, too -- even after using a heated iron. The oil is very lightweight, which won't make your locks look or feel heavy.

The Downfalls: Applying the product can get messy, especially with the spray-like applicator. I would recommend applying it in your bathroom and washing your hands with soap and water as soon as you massage the oil into your hair.

Final Remarks: If you're looking for a way to fix your dry, dead hair, using a hair oil is definitely the way to go.

Do you have something you want us to test out? Let us know on Twitter.

Check out these other products we've put to the test:


Dental Therapists Worldwide Offer Safe Care, Study Finds

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A new report by a group that funds training and promotion of dental therapists says the midlevel practitioners worldwide offer safe, competent care in locations with rare access to dentists.

The report released Tuesday by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation details a review of more than 1,100 reports on dental therapists in 54 countries, including the United States.

In the U.S., only Alaska and Minnesota allow dental therapists to perform such work as extracting teeth and filling cavities. Foundation officials say more than a dozen other states are exploring the idea.

Opponents of dental therapists include the American Dental Association, which says irreversible procedures should be done only by licensed dentists.

The ADA says the new report appears to be an "advocacy document intended to support a predetermined conclusion."

Go Nuts! Heart Superfoods That Keep You Slim

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A handful of nuts a day really does keep the heart doctor away - as ‘tree nuts’ help prevent heart disease, obesity and diabetes, a recent study has discovered.

Almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, pistachios and walnuts are among the ‘tree nut’ family that contain high levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (good cholesterol) and low levels of C-reactive proteins (the main cause of inflammation in the body and heart).

Scientists from the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center are dubbing these health-boosting nuts the latest ‘superfoods’ for healthy hearts after testing their benefits on over 13,000 participants.

Another additional health bonus of snacking on nuts is they can maintain a trim waistline too, as researchers discovered that regular ‘tree nut’ consumption led to lower risk of abdominal obesity.

Researchers also discovered that nut eaters have a 5% lower chance of developing metabolic syndrome (a clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure and chosterol).

“One of the more interesting findings was the fact that tree nut consumers had lower body weight, as well as lower body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference compared to non-consumers,” study author Carol O’Neil said in a statement, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

Maureen Ternus from the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation said in a statement: “In light of these new data and the fact that the FDA has issued a qualified health claim for nuts and heart disease with a recommended intake of 1.5 ounces of nuts per day, we need to educate people about the importance of including tree nuts in the diet.

However, this isn’t the first time nuts have been credited for their weight-loss abilities. Last year, the University of Barcelona discovered that eating a small portion of mixed buts a day helps aid weight-loss.

Scientists have found a link between eating nuts and higher levels of serotonin, a hormone that is most commonly known for boosting happiness but also decreases appetite and improves heart health.

Walnuts hit the headlines recently after scientists hailed them as the latest superfood for reducing the risk of prostate cancer.

According to researchers from the University of California Davis, men who eat walnuts see their prostate cancer risks drop.

They also benefit from the nut's vitamin-packed health boosts, such as omega-3 fatty acids, inflammation-fighting vitamin E and a plentiful of antioxidants.

Health benefits aside, nuts are most notorious for their high calorie-count. Take a look at how many calories your favourite nut contains, according to the WeightLossResource (based on 100g and unsalted):

  • Almonds: 611kcal
  • Brazil nuts: 687kcal
  • Cashew nuts: 584kcal
  • Chestnuts: 170kcal
  • Hazelnuts: 655kcal
  • Walnuts: 691kcal

Take a look at how you can reap the health benefits of nuts.


Could Your Make-Up Cause Diabetes?

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Chemicals found in everyday cosmetics and make-up products could be increasing your risk of diabetes, researchers have warned.

The dangers of phthalates (the chemical compounds found in plasticisers - the substance added to plastic to make it flexible and transparent), have been highlighted in a study by Uppsala University.

Swedish researchers claim its presence in cosmetics such as self-tan, face creams and perfumes, significantly increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.

The study analysed blood level data of 1,000 people aged 65 and researchers measured their ‘fasting’ blood sugar levels (when a person has not eaten for at least eight hours).

The blood test results revealed that those with higher levels of phthalates in their blood were twice as likely to develop diabetes than those with lower levels of the plastic chemical in their blood.

Other diabetes catalysts, such as smoking, cholesterol levels and blood pressure, were taken into account by the study.

“Although our results need to be confirmed in more studies, they do support the hypothesis that certain environmental chemicals can contribute to the development of diabetes,” said study author Monica Lind in a statement.

"Anyone is exposed to them in many different ways. People can inhale them if they are used in hairspray or air fresheners and food can also be contaminated because of phthalates in the packaging,” explains Lind.

"Many are used in body products, like face creams, fake tan, make up and perfumes. Not only does the packaging contain them, but they are absorbed into the body and bloodstream through the skin. In perfume, we inhale the phthalates that are used to delay the scent and increase the lifetime of the perfume."

Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK, said in a statement: “This paper attempts to link the presence of phthalates in the bloodstream and the presence of Type 2 diabetes in an elderly population.

"It is a difficult area to research and this study was based on a relatively small number of white adults over 70 years old. It shows an association between some metabolites, which are breakdown products, and the presence of Type 2 diabetes, but does not show that their presence causes Type 2 diabetes.

“We would be concerned if the reporting of this study diluted the very simple and evidence-based message that limiting the amount of calories in your diet and being regularly physically active is the best way of maintaining a healthy weight and so reduce your risk of Type 2 diabetes.”

Another recent study, by the University of Surrey, discovered a link between an everyday beauty product and diabetes.

Researchers found that selenium supplements commonly used for their ability to prevent skin calls from sun damage and ageing, could cause more harm than good if the person has enough selenium in their diet.

A side effect of too much selenium increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, poor immune function and cognitive decline.

Diabetes hit the headlines earlier this month, as researchers warned that men who skip breakfast are more likely to develop diabetes. In a separate study, scientists warned against eating rice as recent research linked white rice with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

Antiperspirant parabens (the chemicals found in many toiletries such as face wash, shampoos and make-up) was recently linked to increasing the risk of breast cancer, as scientists claimed the chemicals sink through the armpit skin.

'Losing Weight Doesn't Have To Be A Chore'

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Got a success story of your own? Send it to us at success.stories@huffingtonpost.com and you could be featured on the site!

Name: Natasha Johnson
Age: 33
Height: 5'5"
Before Weight: 225 pounds

How I Gained It: I've been heavy all my life. As a child, I was an eater, and there was hardly a filter. My younger sister often left food on her plate after we completed our meals, and I was always happy to help her finish. I was an active child; nevertheless, I never lost weight. I do believe it was a direct result of my poor eating habits.

By the time I made it to junior high school, I was wearing my mother's clothes. Mind you, my mom's clothes were a size 10/12. I should not have been able to fit into her clothes! By high school, I was a solid size 14/16, and as I mentioned before, I've always been heavy, so I simply believed that it was "just the way the cookie crumbles".

I remained at around 185 to 190 pounds throughout college and into my early 20s.

Breaking Point: I was pregnant (and eventually miscarried) at the age of 21. I miscarried at five months, during my second trimester. I was 185 pounds when I first learned I was pregnant, and I gained a total of 40 pounds during that five-month period of time. Granted, I was never a small person to begin with, but I was tipping the scale at 225, and I knew something would have to give. There was never an explanation as to why I miscarried, but in my heart, I always knew that my weight gain was a factor. I also knew that if I ever had plans to carry a child to full term in the future, my health would have to be a priority. I continued to carry that weight on my frame for an additional three years before I finally decided I was going to take action and do something about the situation.

How I Lost It: In the summer of 2003, an acquaintance of mine at church was on the Atkins' Diet, and he was losing weight rather rapidly. I inquired about his quick weight loss, and he referred me to the Atkins' Diet. I researched it, saw that the bulk of the diet meant cutting all the carbs I was eating, and I decided I would give it a try.

I began the Atkins' Diet in August of 2003, and by the end of my first month, I'd already lost 20 pounds. I continued on, and by February of the following year, I was down to 160 pounds. I also signed up for a gym membership, and that helped me maintain my new-found weight loss for quite some time.

I went back to school in January of 2005 to begin working on my Master's degree, and by the summer of 2006, I had regained 20 pounds. This time, I knew that I couldn't go back to cutting carbs. I was going to have to learn how to eat correctly if I wanted to maintain long-lasting, lifetime weight loss. I joined Jenny Craig in October of 2007. The pitch at that time was, "Lose 20 pounds for $20, plus the cost of food." Well, I was 175 when I entered the program, and by January of 2008, I rang in the new year at my lowest weight to date: 155 pounds.

I continued maintaining that weight, and in February of 2011, my husband and I went to Jamaica with my grandparents. We spent seven weeks there, mainly in the countryside, and the lifestyle was conducive to healthy eating and constant daily activity. Without even trying, I lost 15 pounds. I returned to the U.S. that April, at my new lowest weight to date: 140 pounds.

My husband and I continue living an active, healthy lifestyle. My favorite activities are dancing, racquetball, cycling and swimming. I currently weigh 130 pounds, and I want nothing more than for my story to be an inspiration to others. Stay committed, stay focused, stay centered, stay consistent and most importantly, have fun! Losing weight doesn't have to be a chore! If I can do it, so can you!

After Weight: 130 pounds
2012-04-09-Natasha2.jpg

Check out more of our inspiring weight loss stories below:

For more on weight loss, click here.

Why It Can Be Healthy To Be A Sports Fan

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Researchers have long been interested in studying the characteristics, habits and overall health of sports fans. They've studied alcohol consumption, testosterone levels, even cardiac arrest rates after a Super Bowl game. It's actually not all bad. Indeed, the stereotype that sports fans are overweight, beer-drinking couch potatoes is inaccurate, said Daniel L. Wann, a psychology professor at Murray State University in Kentucky.

Attention Getter: Safe Sex For Seniors (VIDEO)

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WARNING: The video above shows people in sexual positions, albeit fully clothed.

When you envision your golden years, do you picture yourself lying on a beach sipping at cocktails, or are you comfortably at home, getting through your extensive library? Or in an entirely different scenario, perhaps you're seducing every eligible partner that comes your way and having the best sex of your life.

We're pretty happy to report the last option appears to be the reality for more and more retirees, who are enjoying healthy sex lives -- but less happy to note they're dealing with all of the less-than-fun stuff that goes along with it. The somewhat tongue-in-cheek video above was produced by Safer Sex for Seniors, a collective of educators, counsellors, researchers and others involved in sexual health, who have noted the rising older population having fun in the bedroom -- and are hoping to help with any questions they may have.

Beyond the good times is the real message: "In Florida alone, STDs in seniors have risen 71%." Sexually transmitted infections and diseases (STIs and STDs) are on the increase for older people, which, depending on the study, is defined as anyone from post-45 to older than 60.

As researcher Elizabeth Boskey wrote on About.com, 60 per cent of those over 60 have sex at least once a week, but aren't considered to be at risk for an STD. This is in direct contrast to research finding that STIs are more than doubling in the 50 to 90-year-old population.

Whether it's because the education about these infections wasn't around when this age group was young enough to be the target demographic or thanks to biases about condoms and other forms of protection, it's a message that needs to get out (and there are particular tests to focus on). So while it might be hilarious and slightly squirm-inducing to see seniors in Kama Sutra positions, it's a message meant to be shared. And be honest -- aren't you happy to know sex doesn't stop at 40?

The Great Green Cook Off: Environmentally Friendly Ways To Dine

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Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin once said, "tell me what you eat and I'll tell you who you are." However, unless you're into 18th-century French history, you're probably more familiar with the old adage, "you are what you eat." Both stress the importance of what people are putting on their plates, but in terms of environmental consciouness, where you eat can have as much of an impact as what you eat.

Case in point, the decisive moment of what to eat for dinner: do you cook, order take-out, or dine out? For those looking to minimize their impact on the environment, there are options to go green across all three fronts.

Restaurants tend to be pretty terrible offenders in terms of environmental friendliness with 10 percent and 25 percent of commercially prepared food that gets wasted annually. There's also the inefficient energy usage that's costing the commercial food service sector 80 per cent of the $10 billion dollars in annual spending, according to a report by Pacific Gas & Electric's Food Service Technology Center.

And it's this hemorrhaging of cash that explains the rash of reforms the sector's taken on in the last few years. While some are more apparent to patrons, like straws made from biodegradable paper, others can be found behind the scenes, like low-flow valves in the sprayers that pre-rinse dishes.

SEE: The best and worst take-out containers for the environment. Story continues below:

And by going green, it looks like restaurants can earn more green.

In 2011, the National Restaurant Association reported that 65 percent of restaurant operators had recycling programs in place -- and for good reason. Sixty per cent of consumers prefer restaurants that recycle and 51 per cent of diners will even pay more to eat at an eco-friendly restaurant.

Restaurants may take the cake for waste, but ordering take-out doesn't fall far behind. While more eco-friendly containers are becoming available, the volume of take-out containers that end up in the trash is causing trouble for many North American cities. It's also paved the way for some states to ban Styrofoam take-out containers altogether, because of the time-consuming and expensive recycling process.

While cooking at home may be the most environmentally friendly option for eating, it also produces a fair amount of waste, though significantly less compared to dining out and take-out. For energy usage, it's the best of the three, thanks to its smaller scale. And for the time-pressed at-home chefs, there's more good news. According to a Swedish study, there's little to no difference in buying pre-packaged food compared with cooking a meal from scratch.


Elevator Gets Lickable Wallpaper

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The concept of lickable wallpaper is nothing new, thanks to Willy Wonka. But it hasn't exactly spread like wildfire. After all, what about all those germs?

Individuals at a communications building in London are in fact the first to experience lickable wallpaper on an elevator (or lift, if you're British). Exactly 1,325 lickable McVities Jaffa Cakes were recently installed on on the elevator's walls. It took food technicians and artists four weeks to develop.

“We are all about bringing a bit more fun to life and this was the perfect way to get a little joy straight to stressed out office workers,” Philippa Tilley, Senior Brand Manager from McVitie¹s Jaffa Cakes, told The Drum.

And, if you are worried about those germs, don't fear -- once a Jaffa Cake is licked, it is removed from the wall.

Check out some eager elevator lickers below, from the Jaffa Cakes Facebook page:

WELLBEING: Tragic Films Make Us Feel Better, Say Experts

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Tragic movies provoke feelings of happiness in viewers, according to researchers at Ohio State University.

Having agreed to sit through First World War weepie Atonement (starring Keira Knightley) 361 college students were then quizzed on their reactions, before, during and after the movie.

Watching the tragic movie encouraged viewers to think about the positive aspect of their own close relationships, which boosted happiness levels, explained the report’s summary.

“People seem to use tragedies as a way to reflect on the important relationships in their own life, to count their blessings,”said Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, lead author of the study and associate professor of communication at Ohio State University.

“That can help explain why tragedies are so popular with audiences, despite the sadness they induce.”

However, researchers found that feelings of ‘schadenfreude’ did not play into the results.

“Tragedies don’t boost life happiness by making viewers think more about themselves. They appeal to people because they help them to appreciate their own relationships more,” said Knobloch-Westerwick.

The full results of the study will be published in the journal Communication Research in an upcoming print edition.

Which Is Easier, A Puppy Or A Baby?

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I had always assumed that following the birth of our third child, and my subsequent session with a man with a scalpel and some sterile scissors, that our family was ''complete''.

It turns out I was wrong. Apparently, there was still an almighty void that simply had to be filled. Apparently, what we really, really needed to make our house a home and to hermetically seal our little family unit was a puppy.

Scientists Link Excessive Worrying To Intelligence

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A new study by researchers at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in the US suggests that excess worrying could be a sign of intelligence.

Scientists found that high intelligence and worry both correlate with brain activity measured by the depletion of the nutrient choline in the subcortical white matter of the brain. According to the researchers, this suggests that intelligence may have co-evolved with worry in humans.

"While excessive worry is generally seen as a negative trait and high intelligence as a positive one, worry may cause our species to avoid dangerous situations, regardless of how remote a possibility they may be," said Jeremy Coplan, MD, professor of psychiatry at SUNY Downstate.

"In essence, worry may make people 'take no chances' and such people may have higher survival rates. Thus, like intelligence, worry may confer a benefit upon the species."

In a control group of normal volunteers, high IQ was associated with a lower degree of worry, but in those diagnosed with 'generalized anxiety disorder', high IQ was associated with a greater degree of worry.

In the report's summary, researchers state: "Previous studies have indicated that excessive worry tends to exist both in people with higher intelligence and lower intelligence, and less so in people of moderate intelligence. It has been hypothesized that people with lower intelligence suffer more anxiety because they achieve less success in life."

The results of their study, “The Relationship between Intelligence and Anxiety: An Association with Subcortical White Matter Metabolism,” was published in a recent edition of Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience.

Origins Of Nodding Disease Remain Unexplained

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By Katherine Harmon
(Click here for the original article)

A strange illness has been killing thousands of young people each year, and recently it has started claiming even more victims in Africa.

Called nodding disease, it usually strikes children at the age of 4 or 5 years and starts with occasional bouts of uncontrolled nodding. As the disease progresses through adolescence, the nodding often buds into full-blown epileptic seizures, and victims loose developmental ground, often becoming unable to care for themselves, communicate or even avoid simple accidental death by drowning or burning.

Since it was first described in 1962 in Tanzania, the frequently fatal disease has been blamed, variously, on viruses, pesticides, fungi, vitamin deficiency, monkey meat and parasites. A new special report, published online April 12 in Science, details the more recent outbreaks of the condition in South Sudan and northern Uganda and helps to refine the list of possible causes.

“We have a long list of things that are not causing nodding disease,” Scott Dowell, director of the division of global disease detection and emergency response at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Reuters earlier this year.

Dowell and his team have made many trips to Uganda to further investigate this strange syndrome. They used EEGs and MRIs to study the brains of patients while they were going through a head-nodding bout. “Something is badly wrong with the brains of these kids, and it’s physiological,” he told Science. But these tools did not lead them to a definite answer, although most viruses, prion disease (from eating monkey meat), fungi and pesticides seem to be losing steam as likely explanations.

The researchers haven’t yet ruled out a vitamin B-6 deficiency. Some people with a particular genetic mutation that reduces B-6 uptake have severe epilepsy. Although kids with nodding syndrome didn’t have the lowest levels of B-6, the CDC team is planning to include supplements as part of a forthcoming clinical trial that is also slated to test out anti-seizure medications.

Another possible cause is the parasite Onchocerca volvulus, a worm that also causes river blindness disease (also known as onchocerciasis). “The puzzling thing is that [the worm] is widespread, but nodding is not,” Dowell told Science. The disease also seems to occasionally be present where the parasite is not. A 2008 study found, for example, that out of 51 patients with head nodding (some with just nodding, others with more advanced seizures), 43 had traces of O. volvulvus in their bodies, but none of them had evidence of it in their spinal or brain fluid. And a 2010 study found that of 300 people in Tanzania, more severe O. volvulvus infections did not mean a higher risk for epilepsy.

Nevertheless, some researchers are still intrigued by this parasitic worm as a possible cause of the condition. “I am convinced that somehow it is connected,” Andrea Winkler, a neurologist at the Technical University of Munich and who worked on both the 2008 and 2010 studies, told Science.

The ultimate answer might lie multiple factors. “Epilepsy is very often multi-factorial,” Michel Boussinesq, of the University of Montpellier, told Science. “Onchocerciasis could be a related factor but not sufficient to provoke the condition.” Kids who are already vitamin deficient or suffering from other conditions could be rendered more vulnerable to the parasite’s attacks.

Dowell’s team is still obtaining samples from patients and healthy kids to test for vitamin levels as well as other potential environmental exposures. And they are currently in the process of getting approval to begin the first, 80-child round of clinical trials.

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