Author: Avisoscuba

What the humble cumin lacks in appearance it more than makes up for it in its princely health benefits. The spice is one of the more popular natural remedies in Ayurvedic medicine and is used quite often in many Indian, Asian and Mexican cuisines. The taste of the condiment is quite strong — chefs recommend only using a small amount to flavor any dish. Yet its popularity is not really due to its culinary use but in its ability to flood the body with important phytochemicals that keep our bodies strong. Do you know that cumin contains 18 amino acids?…

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Many people believe that the 1.6 million people who die of lung cancer each and every year are just older citizens that have been smoking heavily for years. The truth is, however, that that couldn’t be more wrong. According to a new Norwegian-Greek study published in the Lancet-affiliated EBioMedicine Journal, those who are young and haven’t smoked very much are still at risk of developing lung cancer at some point in their lives. This finding has put even more emphasis on the importance of educating the public about risk factors, of which there are seven: increasing age, pack-years (which refers to how…

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American researchers claim they are coming closer to a working birth control pill for men. In a Daily Mail article, they reported that the contraceptive compound EP055 temporarily turned off the swimming ability of sperm in male monkeys. They tested the compound on male macaques. Per their findings, the immobilizing effect took place 30 hours after infusion. Immobile sperm will have a very hard time reaching the egg for fertilization. None of the lab animals displayed negative side effects. Researchers theorize that EP055 did not alter the male hormones of the monkeys. The compound itself is not a hormone, either. In…

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People who check the nutrition labels are more likely to eat healthier, according to a study led by researchers at the Miguel Hernandez University in Spain. In the study, the researchers investigated how looking at nutrition labels affected the dietary intakes of over 1,000 university students. The participants were asked to answer whether they usually read nutrition labels on packaged foods. With their answers, they were classified as label-users or non-users. Their adherence to the Mediterranean diet was also evaluated using the relative Mediterranean Diet Score (rMED), in which positive scores are attributed to fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, olive oil, and cereals. On…

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Ashwagandha was proven to be effective for managing and treating arthritis of the knee, according to a study published in the Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine. The study was carried out by researchers from Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) looked at the efficacy and tolerability of the combination of the root and leaf extracts of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), also known as Indian ginseng. Ashwagandha is a plant that belongs to the Solanaceae family and is widely used in Ayurvedic medicine for its therapeutic effects on a variety of musculoskeletal conditions, such as arthritis and rheumatism, and as a general…

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A workshop to explore, define, and promote the adoption of lighting systems, particularly for healthcare environments, was carried out and sponsored by the Center for Lighting Enabled Systems & Applications (LESA) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Illumination Engineering Society (IES). The workshop was attended by lighting and human health researchers, healthy-lighting design experts, senior representatives from healthcare standards organizations, and healthcare providers. The workshop also aimed to initiate a crucial discussion among different stakeholders on the changes in modern healthcare interior lighting applications. “Today, the field of lighting and health care is undergoing rapid development,” said Robert F. Karlicek…

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If you have kids, one of the most difficult things to do is to feed them vegetables. Different strategies, such as repeated food exposure, food adaptations, mealtime adaptations, social factors, nutrition education, and mixed-methods interventions, may help you get your child to eat more vegetables. Among all these methods, repeated exposure was found to be the most effective for increasing vegetable consumption of children aged two to five years, according to a study published in the journal Current Nutrition Reports. A team of researchers from Loughborough University and Aston University, both located in the U.K., reviewed methods for feeding more vegetables to…

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Not all couples discuss their physical fitness, especially since it may cause disagreements. However, this can be bad for your relationship because fitness is more than just looking good in a bathing suit or having abs. If you wait until the other person becomes too unhealthy before you start discussing their fitness, it may be too late. For example, men may not pay that much attention to their appearance or fitness after marriage, but women tend to be more aware of how much they weigh or what they look like. The facts According to behavioral scientists, human behavior is “primarily motivated…

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The Canadian archipelago of Haida Gwaii is returning traditional Haida food to their two major hospitals. A Hakai Magazine article states that the move is part of a nationwide effort to improve food practices and policies in Canada’s hospitals. Found off the northwestern coast of British Columbia, Haida Gwaii is the ancestral homeland of the Haida Nation. To this day, the residents of the sparsely populated islands catch fish from the Pacific Ocean and collect food from the land. The Haida people collect butter clams, razor clams, salmon, and seaweed from the abundant waters. The forests provide them with blueberries,…

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When it comes to snacking, popcorn is usually thought of as one of the healthier snacks out there. It’s low in calories, rich in antioxidants, and offers a satisfying way to get your daily fill of whole grain goodness. But that’s if you opt for plain, air-popped popcorn. According to LiveScience, microwave popcorn is anything but healthy, thanks in part to some dangerous hidden chemicals. The damage you don’t see Diacetyl is a common food additive most often used to imbue popcorn with a creamy, buttery flavor. It’s made by extracting hydrogen from 2,3-butanediol, a naturally-occurring substance and byproduct of…

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We lead busy lives, and sometimes there just isn’t enough time in the day to fit everything in. Between work and family responsibilities, many of us find ourselves sacrificing sleep to get it all done. You’re probably well aware of the negative impact a lack of sleep can have on your mood, but a new study might make you think twice the next time you’re tempted to stay up late finishing that project or TV show. According to research from Georgia Southern University, getting just six hours of sleep a night – an amount many people consider acceptable if not…

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Naked mole rats have long been a source of fascination to scientists. These cold-blooded mammals can go as long as 18 minutes without oxygen, they form breeding colonies like insects, and they appear not to age, which means they’re as likely to die when they’re 25 as they are when they’re 1. Females don’t undergo menopause and stay fertile throughout their lives, and they have a disproportionately long lifespan for their size. Perhaps the most interesting feature about these rodents, however, is their inability to get cancer. The naked mole rat has a unique cellular structure that prevents it from…

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We’ve all probably wondered what the exact formula is to achieving happiness. Well, if you ask Dr. Tim Bono, psychologist and lecturer at Washington University, there are seven concrete ways to being happy. (h/t to Healthista.) Take walk breaks often — The lack of physical activity doesn’t only increase our risk of developing illnesses, it also dampens our mood, and this is the reason why we should break up our day with walks. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that people perform at least 150-minute moderate activity every week to prevent any health risks. Dr. Bono explains that exercising boosts confidence, makes us…

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The fertile farmlands of South Dakota do not produce sweet potatoes. But the even more fertile minds at the state’s biggest university are producing a sweet potato-fortified bread that can fight vitamin A deficiency in Africa, a NewsWise article states. Daniel Mbogo has come all the way from the International Potato Center (CIP) on the other side of the world. The Kenyan researcher is working with an American assistant professor in South Dakota State University (SDState). Srinivas Janaswamy has been researching micronutrients and starch digestion at SDState’s Department of Dairy and Food Science. He and Mbogo are coming up with…

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American corporations often take the clean language of true clean eating and make it “dirty” by selling us tainted, toxic, gene-altered food that causes disease and disorder, all while promoting it through the use of propaganda and lies. The latest example is the term “clean meat,” and it’s just the opposite of what you could ever imagine. This non-organic meat is created in a laboratory where scientists trick cells from a biopsy into thinking they’re still in the animal’s body. Sounds like the whole concept might spare some animals’ lives, but what if those “clean meat” cells are corrupt, cancerous, deformed,…

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There is something all around us that we cannot see, that can cause serious health problems like cancer, but that we might not even know about. You may never have heard of electromagnetic fields (EMFs), and even if you have, might be unaware of their damaging effects. Nonetheless, they are all around us, and it is important to explain just what they are and how they affect us. In simple terms, EMFs are invisible low or high frequency forces that emanate from electrical and wireless devices. The electricity and appliances we use on a daily basis all emit low frequency…

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Experts could not emphasize enough how eating the right food is important to keep our bodies healthy and away from sickness. Even more so since there are types of gut bacteria found to be wreaking havoc inside our system once they find the right host or food to prey on. One of these opportunistic bacteria is the Clostridium difficile (C. diff), which is said to be biding its time until the right moment comes to attack our bodies. These bacteria naturally live in our guts, and more often than not, we are also the ones responsible for giving them the chance to…

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A robotics company has turned its medical exoskeleton design into a strength-assisting wearable robot. The new bionic vest protects factory workers from harm by increasing the strength of their shoulders, a CNBC report states. The first robotic device designed by Ekso Bionics was a medical exoskeleton that helps disabled persons and recovering patients walk on their own power. The company refined their technology over time, and now they are building wearable robots for construction workers and factory workers. Their Ekso Vest increases the shoulder strength of the man or woman wearing it. Workers can lift heavy equipment, hold up bulky…

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Your cell phone may increase your risk of brain cancer, according to a study. An expert review panel looked at a $25-million study carried out by the National Institutes of Health’s National Toxicology Program (NTP). The panel discovered that radio-frequency radiation emitted from cell phones was linked to heart and brain tumors, providing evidence of carcinogenicity, at least in animals. Researchers of the NTP study exposed thousands of rats to two types of radiation emitted by cell phones for a period of nine hours each day, starting in the womb and ending with their natural deaths. Results revealed that the…

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The head of Roscosmos, Russia’s state-run space agency, announced Tuesday (July 26) that Russia intends to withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS) after its current commitment expires at the end of 2024.Yuri Borisov, who was appointed head of Roscosmos several weeks ago, made the announcement in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made,” Borisov said. “I think that by this time we will start putting together a Russian orbital station,” he added, referring to a plan to build an exclusively Russian space station called the Russian Orbital Service Station,…

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Bernard J. Wolfson If you have medical insurance, chances are you’ve been utterly exasperated at some point while trying to find an available doctor or mental health practitioner in your health plan’s network. It goes like this: You find multiple providers in your plan’s directory, and you call them. All of them. Alas, the number is wrong; or the doctor has moved, or retired, or isn’t accepting new patients; or the next available appointment is three months away. Or perhaps the provider simply is not in your network. Despite a spate of state and federal regulations that require more accurate…

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