Drink Coffee, Lower Your Cancer Risk

Yosef Meystel knows that some of us don’t need another reason to drink coffee, some of us may dislike the taste of coffee – regardless there has been another study published with another benefit of coffee.

On July 1, 2012 there was a study published in the Cancer Reasearch journal that suggests drinking caffeinated coffee could lower the chances of developing basal cell carcinoma – the most common form of skin cancer.

Yosef Meystel read that the study had found that women who drank more than three cups of caffeinated coffee were less likely to develop the disease than women who drank less than one cup per month by 21%. With men, the risk re-education was 10%. The study also found that caffeinated tea, cola and chocolate appears to reduce the risk as well.

While this is an interesting study, it’s important to note that this will not prevent skin cancer. It’s still necessary to apply the appropriate sunscreen with SPF and apply it regularly throughout the day.

Guide Dogs For People With Dementia

Yosef Meystel knows that everyone loves a fluffy friend? There are a lot of guide dogs that help people who are blind, deaf, have epilepsy or other health conditions. Did you know, oversees there are not dogs that can help people with dementia?

These guide dogs can help humans by encouraging them to eat, take medications, sleep and show them other reminders. These guide dogs may prevent people with dementia from checking into a nursing facility so soon. Sounds triggered in the home can prompt the trained dogs to perform tasks.  Some of the tasks may include delivering a bite-proof bag of medicine with a note inside reminding the patient to take it or waking the dementia owner up in the morning.

The idea was developed by students in Glasgow School of Art and will be put in practice by the Alzheimer’s Scotland and Dogs for the Disabled. Dogs trained for people with dementia will start with Labradors and retrievers and training will begin in Banbury.

Joyce Gray of Alzheimer’s Scotland said: “People in the early stages of dementia are still able to live a relatively normal life, and dogs help to maintain routine.”

The dogs also offer support for the person.

Ms Gray was quoted in The Independent and said, “The anecdotal evidence we have is that people may forget familiar faces but not pets. It’s such a strong bond that people often remember them longest. People light up when they see animals. They don’t need to communicate verbally but they can still interact. You can have a speechless bond.”

While this idea is still in development, it could be a global possibility in the near future. The dogs can help people with dementia in the early stages to develop and maintain routine.

What Common Factors Are in Half Of Alzheimer Cases?

There are many, many studies out there that try to convince us of what can contribute to Alzheimer’s and what doesn’t. One source says that red wine helps decrease the chances, other sources say that’s not true.

While we cannot pinpoint what causes Alzheimer’s, we can see what common factors are in just about half of Alzheimer cases.

At the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2011, scientists were able to use a mathematic model to calculate the percentage of Alzheimer cases that may attribute to certain factors. It is important to note, that this is an observation and has not been proven.

The researches found that around half of the Alzheimer’s cases could be associated with modifiable risk factors. These seven factors contribute to as many as 3 million Alzheimer’s cases in theU.S. and 17 million cases worldwide.

The researchers reported on seven risk factors, specifically in the U.S., and those risk factors included:

1. Physical inactivity (21 percent)
2. Depression (15 percent)
3. Smoking (11 percent)
4. Mid-life hypertension (8 percent)
5. Mid-life obesity (7 percent)
6. Low education (7 percent)
7. Diabetes (3 percent)

While this is a broad spectrum, it is things we should be working on anyways for our overall health.

Eat A Nutritious Breakfast

Yosef Meystel wants to know, have you ever looked at the word breakfast? Look at it: breakfast. Do you know why it’s so important? Besides the fact that breakfast meals are usually delicious, it means it’s time to break the fast (see? break – fast) and eat something. Skipping breakfast is not recommended. It’s actually recommended to eat a nutritious breakfast. Breakfasts jump start your metabolism, help wake you up and fill you up. Sumo wrestlers skip breakfast then eat all their calories the rest of the day and that’s how they pack on the pounds. Do you want to look like a sumo wrestler? If you eat breakfast but make it all sugar or too heavy you can throw off your day just as much as you would by skipping it. A caffeine-filed or sugary breakfast can lead to a crash and a heavy meal can lead to a food coma at work.

Here are some nutritious breakfast suggestions:

• Eat lean protein. You can eat food full of lean protein such as Canadian bacon, eggs, cheese, deli meat, peanut butter or yogurt.
• Eat whole-grain carbohydrates. Eat things such as whole-grain cereal, bread, waffles and pancakes.
• Fruits and veggies! Top your yogurt, pancakes or cereal with fruits or add veggies to your eggs to make an omelet.
• Prepare in advance. Mix eggs, veggies and meats in a muffin pan and bake them. Put the cooked mini omelets in the fridge and pair them in the morning with a whole-grain English muffin. It’s a quick and nutritious breakfast that you can grab on the go.

Do You Know What You And Sumo Wrestlers Have In Common?

Remember all those times as a kid your parents told you not to skip breakfast? Yosef Meystel understands that we all brushed them off – c’mon, what do they know?

Well, a lot more than we do/did.

A new study found that people who skip breakfast are more likely to become obese and obtain type 2 diabetes or gain a few inches around their belly.

Researcher Andrew Odegaard, PhD, MPH, of the University Of Minnesota School Of Public Health says that having breakfast just four to six times a week may help.

One of the ways sumo wrestlers train and gain weight is by skipping breakfast. We don’t want to be sumo wrestlers, do we? (Maybe you do, if so, more power to you!)

Having regular eating habits, versus random eating, is seen to help fend off weight gain and control blood sugar.

While eating balanced meals is advised, in the study there was no breakfast food that stood out as the best.

“The findings [held true] regardless of what they ate for breakfast,” Odegaard told WebMD. Still, what you eat for breakfast clearly impacts risk of these disorders, he says.

Yosef Meystel suggests some fruit, whole wheat toast, smoothies or whole grain cereal for your breakfasts!