19 Weight Loss Secrets From Around the World - Eat at home more often than you eat out

Poland

Poles typically spend only 5 percent of their family budget on eating out. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics, the average American family spends 37 percent of its food dollars at restaurants and fast-food joints. To save money and pounds, start tracking how often you eat out and how much you spend each month, and gradually cut back. "People who don't cook at home tend to eat less healthy food and be heavier than people who do," says journalist and activist Michael Pollan. "In fact, the collapse of cooking in a society tracks very closely its rise in obesity." By Joe Kita

19 Weight Loss Secrets From Around the World - A bowl of muesli

Muesli is a porridge or cereal made from oats, fruit, and nuts, each of which has been linked to better health and weight control. It was developed by a Swiss physician more than a hundred years ago to nourish hospital patients, but the Swiss eat it for breakfast or as a light evening dish. Muesli's fiber makes it slow to digest, keeping you feeling full longer. Read the label carefully, though: Sugar content can vary from 2 to 14 grams per serving. By Joe Kita

19 Weight Loss Secrets From Around the World - Perfect the power nap

Japan


In this on-the-go country, many people take time for a daily 20- to 30-minute nap, says James Maas, PhD, a sleep researcher at Cornell University and the author of Power Sleep. There's increasing evidence that chronic sleep deprivation raises the risk of weight gain. Maas blames two hormones: leptin, which helps the brain sense when you're full, and ghrelin, which triggers hunger. The less sleep you get, the lower your leptin levels—and the higher your ghrelin. "Many people think they're hungry when they're actually sleepy," Maas says. "Instead of a snack, they need some shut-eye." By Joe Kita

19 Weight Loss Secrets From Around the World- Spice it up

Thailand


Thai food is among the spiciest in the world. Hot peppers raise your metabolism, but the real benefit of food with a little zing is that it slows your eating, says James Hill, PhD, past president of the American Society for Nutrition. "Americans eat too fast," he says. "By the time your body signals that it's full, you've overeaten. Eating slower is a good weight-loss strategy, and making food spicier is an easy way to do it." By Joe Kita

Importance of Family Dinners

Finding time to eat dinner as a family has a host of benefits that go far beyond nutrition. Kids who eat with their family do better in school and are less likely to smoke, drink, do drugs or get into fights than those who are left to their own devices. But with two-career households and demanding schedules, who has the time? You do, if you remember some key rules.

Allow a little leeway In addition to all its other benefits, ''having dinner together is probably the single most important way to promote good health and nutrition,'' says Dr David Ludwig, an associate professor of paediatrics at Harvard Medical School and author of Ending the Food Fight. But experts agree that the family meal doesn't have to mean Mum, Dad and all the kids sitting in the dining room at six o'clock five nights a week, eating a made-from-scratch meal. Surprising new research from the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health shows that even if the meal is served in front of the tele­vision, kids eat healthier than those who don't dine with loved ones. When a family dines together, they eat better.

''Eating together, no matter what you eat, slows down the process, extending family time,''says Dr Ludwig.

Commit to it If a family dinner just won't work, try breakfast or weekend brunches. The point is to create a routine and stick to it. If you miss a day, pick up where you left off. Talk it Out Share a meal with your children and they'll share information about their lives.

~Reader's Digest

Why do we sometimes cry when we laugh?

Weeping with laughter, sobbing in sorrow: Our bodies react similarly when emotions run high. A few scientists have explored the phys­ical pathways of emotional tears, but none have categorically stated why these tears exist. Tom Lutz, author of Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears, notes Darwin published snapshots of laughing and crying people to demonstrate that the same expression accompanies both behaviours. ''Some tears are squeezed out of the ducts simply because the face is scrunched up,'' explains Lutz. ''But tears also accompany the body's return to homeostasis after extreme excitation. So after a big laughing jag, tears are a sign that the body is returning to normal.''

What tears are made of, however, may offer further clues about why we cry. Unlike tears that well up when you chop onions, emotional tears are unusually rich in protein-based hormones that spike when you're stressed. This fact led one US biochemist to theorise that releasing tears – and thus the hormones in them – may be the body's attempt to reduce stress. Regardless of its cause – be it pleas­ure or pain – people do tend to feel better after a good cry.

~Reader's Digest

維他命的迷思

上网用Google搜寻英文vitamin (维他命，或译维生素)，可以找到五千万条资料，还有天马行空的说明。数量之多，几乎是Brad Pitt (美国影星布莱德．彼特) 的六倍，而夸张程度也令人咋舌。点入这些多如繁星的网站，可以发现维他命补充剂有「增强精力」、「刺激脑功能」和「改善性欲」的功效，宣称可以「逆转癌症」，或把动脉中的「血凝块排除」。由此不难明白美国维他命的营业额为何每年高达七十五亿美元，只因为大家都想延年、去百病。

但最新的研究不但否决了许多此类说法，也发现部分维他命或许有害：

· 《美国医学协会期刊》二○○七年二月号刊出报告，发现服用抗氧化维他命反而令个人死亡风险提高百分之十六。

· 华盛顿大学研究人员二○○六年五月做了一项研究，发现抽烟者服用高剂量维他命E十年以上，罹患肺癌风险略有提高。

· 美国国家癌症研究所研究人员发现，男性每天服用多于一颗的综合维他命，得摄护腺(前列腺)癌的风险较高。

抗氧化剂的矛盾

这些研究结果，不但出人意表，也激发热烈的争辩。抗氧化剂如维他命A、胡萝卜素(另一种形式的维他命A)、维他命E、维他命C等，向来以抗病闻名；在大众心目中，这些抗氧化剂可以保护人体，对抗杀害细胞并加速老化的自由基。但在涵盖十八万一千名成年人的四十七项随机试验中，研究人员发现服用维他命A、胡萝卜素、维他命E者，无论单一服用或混合服用，个人死亡机率会增加百分之十六。

这些新发现虽然轰动一时，但无法令所有人信服。若干顶尖健康专家，例如美国农业部人类营养研究中心「老化抗氧化剂研究实验室」（设于塔夫脱大学）主持人布兰波格博士，就对《美国医学协会期刊》的报告大加挞伐。他认为这项研究偏倚不当，因为所引用的研究案例类别庞杂，难以比较，而且其中引用的死因无所不包，非仅心脏健康问题而已。

美国国家卫生局前局长希利医生（亦曾任美国红十字会会长）基于这些缺陷，认为该项研究危言耸听，不合常理。话说回来，还是有人要问︰既然可以从超市卖的蔬果或农夫直销市场获得所需营养，为什么还要冒险服用补充剂？

该篇报告资深撰稿人，丹麦哥本哈根大学医院格鲁德医生说︰「除非医生诊断特别指示你需要补充剂，否则没有必要服用。」

综合维他命的问题

美国国家癌症研究所对摄护腺癌的发现更为惊人，因为祸源正是无害的综合维他命。研究人员发现，每天服用综合维他命多于一次的男性，和不服用综合维他命的男性相比，罹患晚期摄护腺癌的风险多百分之三十二，而且致命风险加倍；其中又以有家庭病史，同时服用硒、胡萝卜素或锌补充剂的人风险最高。

话虽如此，许多专家仍一致认为每天服用一颗综合维他命是明智之举，特别是不常吃全谷和新鲜蔬果的人。不过，若打算大量服用某些补充剂，最好三思而后行。

服维他命Ｃ治感冒？

有的维他命就算无害，也可能无效。譬如一般人认为吞服维他命C可治感冒，但有一篇针对三十项研究报告（其中包含一万一千多名每天至少服用二百毫克维他命C的研究对象）的评论发现︰维他命C对大部分人缩短感冒时间或减轻征状的功效有限。该评论作者说，维他命C对某些人的确有效，例如马拉松选手和滑雪者，因为他们有时承受高压力，但一般人其实可以不必服用。

to be continue..

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