Subscribe to and Contact HDC
|
By Neece, on November 20, 2009, at 4:58 am
 If you’re like me, and you enjoy dark chocolate, then I have some studies to share with you! I think they’ll be helpful for the holidays as well as generally beneficial throughout the year. If you don’t like chocolate (WTF, just kidding), see below for swine flu info, and other linky goodness.
Dark Chocolate Helps Ease Emotional Stress: A new study found that eating about an ounce and a half of dark chocolate a day for two weeks reduced levels of stress hormones in people who felt highly stressed. The chocolate also partially corrected other stress-related biochemical imbalances. “The study provides strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40 grams [1.4 ounces] during a period of 2 weeks is sufficient to modify the metabolism of healthy human volunteers,” the scientists say.
That led me to a study from last December. It’s rather small and involves self-reporting, but it could [...]
By Neece, on July 24, 2009, at 1:55 pm
 Water is good for you. If you’re thirsty, it’s usually the best choice. But do you need 8 glasses a day? Does it count when you drink tea or juice or coffee? Do you need to force down another glass even if you aren’t thirsty?
According to Heinz Valtin, a retired professor of physiology from Dartmouth Medical School who specialized in kidney research and spent 45 years studying the biological system that keeps the water in our bodies in balance, the answer is no. If you have kidney stones or if you get urinary tract infections easily, then drinking lots of water can be beneficial.
But there is no scientific evidence to support the notion that healthy people need to drink 64 ounces of water a day.
Valtin found that the 8 x 8 guideline may have originated from a misunderstanding. In 1945 [...]
By Neece, on March 2, 2009, at 7:15 am
I think I understand what it’s like to be lost in a world of woo thinking. Maybe even an inkling of what it’s like to believe in Jesus as your personal hero.
Butch, my awesome husband, came home Friday night and told me he felt awful. He and I both got a cold about 3 weeks ago and he shook if off in about 4 days while I suffered with a nasty chest cold, congestion and laryngitis until just the other day. I didn’t want to hear that he was sick again. It was my birthday weekend, we were supposed to go out to dinner on Sunday (last night), and I was hoping we’d both be feeling well for a change.
Alas, it was not to be. He had a fever, the chills, and was completely miserable. And here’s where I realized I felt totally helpless. I can’t [...]
By Neece, on February 28, 2009, at 2:39 am
Monday is going to be a great day. I just know it. At least I’m really excited about it. Of course I’m also sort of dreading it for a different reason.
Monday I will hopefully get both my wonderful, new microscope as well as the slides for it. That will be awesome and fun and keep me busy for a long time.
Monday is also my 40th birthday. March 2nd, mark it on your calendars. I’m going to thoroughly be middle aged. This one is really hitting me hard, for some reason. Should I have accomplished something by now? I think about other people my age and then I think about my life and I feel like I haven’t done anything yet. I’m not ready for my life to be half over. I’m just getting started, in some ways.
Anyway, I’m trying to be positive [...]
By Neece, on December 5, 2008, at 5:22 pm
 I learned about a study through Scientific American yesterday. Psychologists, writing in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, found that people keeping a weekly gratitude journal exercised an hour and a half longer per week than those who kept a complaining journal.
Basically, once a week for 10 weeks, people in the study would write down up to 5 things they were grateful for. It could be as simple as “waking up this morning”. By the end of the study, they were working out an hour and a half more per week than a group that wrote about life’s hassles, like “stupid people driving”.
Ironically, I’ve had trouble being motivated to exercise and keep a food journal since Thanksgiving, so I thought I’d give this a shot. Last night I wrote down 5 things I’m grateful for. It was pretty easy.
But that got me [...]
By Neece, on November 23, 2008, at 5:26 am
 I listen to several science/skeptical podcasts and like to browse the latest science headlines on Science Daily occassionally. I was searching for something the other day and came upon 2 news items that I find fascinating.
Atheists are often labeled as nihilistic, all doom and gloom, angry and miserable. But while I can be just as grumpy or unhappy as the next person, I like to revel in the beauty and complexity of the natural world. I find it awesome and inspiring. See? It’s totally reasonable to be a happy, moral and thoughtful person and be completely godless.
The first news report is from June 5, 2008. Humans Have TEN TIMES More Bacteria Than Human Cells. How amazing is that!? Only 10% of the cells in and on your body are human. The rest are bacteria. Now, before you grab that horrid antibacterial soap you insist [...]
By Neece, on November 15, 2008, at 2:09 am
 I read something the other day that was titled Atheistic Societies are Happy Societies. It’s based on a study by Phil Zuckerman and finds that the most organically atheistic countries in the world are better off.
The top 10 non-religious countries according to the study are:
- Sweden
- Vietnam
- Denmark
- Norway
- Japan
- Czech Republic
- Finland
- France
- South Korea
- Estonia
This is from the paper, from the site I was [...]
|
Neece & Butch’s Zazzle Designs – Sir Lee Tees
Neece & Jenny’s Zazzle Designs
|
If you’re like me, and you enjoy dark chocolate, then I have some studies to share with you! I think they’ll be helpful for the holidays as well as generally beneficial throughout the year. If you don’t like chocolate (WTF, just kidding), see below for swine flu info, and other linky goodness.
Recent Comments