Todayshealthsite.com » Todays Drinks http://todayshealthsite.com This site provides new health articles, concerning your health, todays diets, and general wellness. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:58:05 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Shelf Life for Healthy Juice http://todayshealthsite.com/shelf-life-for-healthy-juice.html http://todayshealthsite.com/shelf-life-for-healthy-juice.html#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:10:44 +0000 d68452s http://todayshealthsite.com/?p=5792

Todays Health Article

January 12th, 2012

Today you could simply ask the question…how many people want to take the necessary actions to enact a more healthier  lifestyle, among others, by drinking their fruit juice. There are some who just love their juice. But is it still healthy.

Then the lives we live, have become so busy, we tend to take short cuts or not always focused on how to accomplish the very thing we need to do to stay healthy.

Although some choose to making their own juice, most of you buy your  juice in cartons or bottles at the supermarket, and then store it in the fridge. Here is where we fall short of drinking healthy!

Drinking Our Juice or Not

However, when does our juice actually get drank or not, depending on a number of factors,  mostly because we are too  busy,  and we neglect to check, or take the time to check the juice in the refrigerator. If you are not a real juice drinker or you buy in abundance, the juice is left there for weeks! Now the discovery  may be by the expiration date… which is not likely,  because few of of us read them after the juices  are in the frig… but when it’s blah or spoiled! The question is when is our juice still healthy for us, and when is it not?

Actually, you may know, that some foods and drinks could actually lose the benefits of vitamins and antioxidants after exposure to air in a matter of days or weeks?

Brierley Wright, MS, RD, a master’s in Nutrition Communication at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, provides some clues about how long should we store certain kinds of food. To be sure, certain nutrients will be lost after exposure to oxygen, heat (when cooking), and light.

Orange Juice

A glass of orange juice, to meet the  vitamin C required in a day, that may be packaged in a box or bottle, after opening will lose all the benefits of antioxidants after 1 week.

To get your vitamin C, buy frozen juice concentrate and  drink in a few days. Frozen concentrate can be exposed in a little light and air and provide a healthy drink.

 

Apple Juice

With Apple juice refrigeration will slow down the spoilage, but it won’t kill the bacteria that will form after a time.  So eventually, bacteria will attack the natural sugars present in the juice, causing the juice to ferment.

Just like the other juices, the vitamin C that is naturally in the apple juice, will break down as well.  Since vitamin C is an antioxidant and helps the product keep its color, after the expiration date, there is a gradual loss of taste, quality, color, and nutrition, although there is no danger to the consumer.  However, there is a lose of health benefits, and your apple juice will turn into vinegar, leaving not such a nice taste.

 

Cranberry Juice

Cranberry juice depending the percentage of water and added fill-ins to sweeten the taste falls into a similar case as the other juices. But if we are actually talking about 100% cranberry juice, its shelf life in the frig is a lot longer due to the acidity of the drink and the low content of sugar. You might be surprised that some brands due not even have expiration date regarding the use. However, if exposed to sunlight will discolor as well. It is best like any other juice to drink within a short time frame to benefit from this very healthy drink

 Pineapple Juice

You may have wondered why pineapple juice either is frozen or comes in those old fashion cans. It use to be that most fruit juices were sold that way, but not today after the plastic bottle has basically taken over the packaging of juices. Well pineapple is  very susceptible to light, thus the can provides the best protection and the longest life. Putting the juice in a can gives the juice a two to three year life span if stored in a cool dry area.

Once Juices are Opened

If fruit juices are exposed to sunlight or over the temperature of 65degrees… the health benefit becomes to lessen and the shelf life as well. This must be taken into consideration regarding how long your juice will be healthy and have the best flavor. So once the glass is poured, its best to return to the frig and not leave sitting on the table.

Todays Health Comments

Fruit juices today are important for a healthy diet considering you are drinking the juice within the shelf life that allows you to benefit the fullest. It is important to manage them like any other food or drink in the frig that the will spoil and turn into fermentation at some point. If you think they have been opened for a period of time, it easy to open and smell or if they have expiration dates to verify the continued use. To healthy drinking.

 Further Reading

Orange Juice

Todays Health Drinks

 



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		 Ice Water, Diet, Weight Loss!
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		Fri, 30 Dec 2011 04:23:23 +0000
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Ice Water
Ice Water


Todays Health Article


December 29th, 2011


Today we are closing in on the end of the year, and like most people, we begin thinking about all those New Years Resolutions. Many of you will give some thought to losing weight or eating less of the junk food after the Holidays end. Perhaps you do not want to weight and get started now. For those who are reading this, you could simply just work on what you now drink. It was just a year ago when I came to realize that Soda Pop was  no longer going to  be a daily drink, and water was become a regular part of my diet. Amazing that now I can hardly stand to drink the stuff. I still like my Root Beer once and awhile. I have lost 25lbs just contributing to that fact and the consumption of water.


Body Exposed To Cold Temperatures


I recently discovered that winter time is great time to rev up your weight loss. When the body is exposed to cold temperatures, it burns extra calories to keep yourself warm, thus increasing the metabolism by up to 50% in the process. The human body is constantly trying to maintain a static temperature of 98.6 degrees. The colder the surrounding or internal conditions, the more calories the body burns to keep warm. Metabolism acts like a furnace that must burn fuel to keep the body nice and toasty. Luckily, the body’s fuel of choice for keeping warm is “brown fat.”


Drinking Ice Water


Drinking iced water is  just one of several ways to harness this mechanism for Weight loss, since the body must compensate for the sudden temperature drop. Just One 16 ounce glass of cold water can burn up to 17.5 calories. Cold showers, a lowered thermostat, and vigorous swims  can also contribute to the burning of calories.


Weight Loss


Glass of Ice Water


Drinking ice water will contribute to a lose of calories and replacing it from the sugary drinks will definitely contribute to weight loss but it is just one facet or part of  your weight loss. So do not run out in a snow bank in your summer attire and expect to loose weight immediately… you might just catch a good case of the shivers.


Warning


On the other side of the coin… our body only can sustain to keep


us warm to a certain point. When it is cooling down faster than our body can keep up, Hypothermia  symptoms sets in. This can be life threatening. Also those   who are exposed to extreme cold might be at risk of of other complications, such as heart conditions, resulting in Heart attacks.


Diet


Be certain to drink that glass of Ice Water with those healthy fruits and vegetables. A Tip drink a glass of ice water before you eat your meal. Not only will the ice water burn off some calories, it will take up space in your stomach that would other wise be used for food. Plainly you eat less when you drink ice water before a meal. Another Tip is drinking ice water between meals…allows you not to feel as hungry.


Todays Health Comments


Today we  may need all the help we can get in curbing obesity. It is national problem that started with each one us contributing to the tipping scales.There is a portion of our society that have approved or endorsed that big is better. For sometime I think all of us wanted more for our buck… and now our bodies are paying for that era of time when we were blindly looked the other way.


Ice Water is one of those drinks that just may be the answer to a lot of  our health problems and we need to drink more. I know in some parts of the world it is actually hard to get clean water, and bottled water is a luxury. But for those who have plenty of water, are not drinking enough. Drink up that ice water for good health.


Further Reading


http://todayshealthsite.com/drink-your-water-and-eat-your-fruit-diet.html


http://todayshealthsite.com/my-new-weight-loss-with-results.html


 


 


 


 


 


 


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		Grampa's "Tea of Nutrients" from the Farm
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		Wed, 09 Nov 2011 03:36:59 +0000
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Todays Health Article


November8th, 2011


Todays article takes me back to the day when we had acres of hay fields. Though we cut the hay for our dairy cows, who found the hay very nutritious and their large milk production was the result of  it. Although I never was a great fan of tea when I was a child, my grampa would always show up after the hay was drying in the fields, and gather bundles and tie them up and place the stems face down into burlap bags, so not to loose the leaves.  As to curiosity one day, I thought they were taking the Alfalfa hay to feed their rabbits, who seemed to enjoy it as well, but  I was wrong!  Come to find out later, they received the remainder of the plant, after grampa had removed the leaves from the shaken bag. The leaves were treated just like tea leaves and Alfalfa tea became the drink. Having come from across the sea, he explained to me, it was a tea drank regularly back in the days.


   Alfalfa 


  Alfalfa (play /ælˈfælfə/; Also known as (Medicago sativa, lucerne, holy-hay, and trefoil, )    seen at the right, is a flowering plant, belonging in the pea family, Fabaceae. As mentioned above, it is cultivated as an important forage crop through out the world. It perhaps in some ways resembles clover, with it’s clusters of small purple flowers.


Alfalfa is a perennial plant, which normally lives 4–8 years, but can live more than twenty years, depending on it’s variety and  the climate. The plant grows to a height of up to  3 ft, sometimes higher, with the right weather conditions. Alfalfa has a very deep root system, sometimes stretching more than 49 ft  underground, capturing the moisture necessary to survive those dry spells.


History Of Alfalfa


May be dated back to a Roman writer by the name, Palladius, who in the 4th century AD, includes a section about alfalfa, in his book on agriculture. Palladius says: “One sow-down lasts ten years. The crop may be cut four or six times a year…. An [Roman] acre of it is abundantly sufficient for three horses all the year…. It may be given to cattle, but new provender is at first to be administered very sparingly, because it bloats up the cattle.” Palladius called alfalfa “medica”, a name that referred to the Medes, a people who lived in ancient Iran.


 A Timeline in the progressive spread of Alfalfa through out the world




    

  • The 13th century Arabic dictionary Lisan al-Arab says that “al-fiṣfiṣa” (alfalfa) is cultivated as an animal feed and consumed in both fresh and dried form.
    • 

  • In medieval Spain, the Arabic name “al-fisfisa” mutated into the Spanish name “alfalfa”
    • 

  • Alfalfa in medieval Spain was cultivated as fodder for horses and had a reputation as the best fodder for them.
    • 

  • In the 16th century, Spanish colonizers introduced alfalfa to the Americas as fodder for their horses.
    • 

  • The English name “alfalfa” dates from mid-19th century far-west USA, from the Spanish.
    • 

  • Alfalfa seeds were imported to California from Chile in the 1850s. That was the beginning of a rapid and extensive introduction of the crop over the western US States
    • 



Alfalfa Tea




Grampa’s Alfalfa Tea was made from the dried leaves that were soaked in boiling water anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes.  Now Grampa’s formula was not very scientific but seemed to satisfy his taste. This was usually a handful of leaves grabbed from the bag. I guess the formula today may be similar but more specific.The recommended dose today is 40 mg of alfalfa seed or 5,000 to 10,000 mg of alfalfa leaves and stems drank a  couple times a day.


Capsules and tablets of whole alfalfa may be substituted for Grampa’s drink, but somehow it seems to take all the nostalgia out of  making the tea that has been drank by our past heritage.Alfalfa 


Alfalfa Tea  Nutrients




Perhaps before Grampa days, and civilizations in the past,  they both may have  been well informed of the nutrients of Alfalfa tea.  Alfalfa is considered highly versatile due to its nutritional content. The alfalfa plant has all the known vitamins such as vitamin K and vitamin D, has a high chlorophyll content, and a balanced group of minerals including calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium. Alfalfa leaves likewise contain eight essential amino acids and high protein content. For this reason, tea made from the alfalfa plant, provides a good nutritional source for us, too.


 Alfalfa Benefits


Some of the healthy properties of alfalfa tea include:


    

  •  Helping in the  lowering of your cholesterol levels.
    • 

  •  Keeping the calcium in bones and out of artery linings.
    • 

  •  May help to lower blood sugar levels.
    • 

  •  Help in treatment of upset stomach.
    • 

  • Found to be useful in the treatment of arthritis.
    • 

  • Alfalfa Tea is a diuretic to alleviate kidney and bladder woes.
    • 

  • May help stimulate the immune system.
    • 

  • Alfalfa Tea may help purify your blood
    • 



Other Benefits








 Antioxidants


Antioxidants are substances that can protect the body from damage caused by free radicals, highly reactive chemicals that can change the structure of molecules, causing mutations. Antioxidants can slow, prevent or repair damage to cells. Cells that are damaged may mutate into precancerous or cancerous cells.As of 2010, a food’s antioxidant capacity is measured using an ORAC score. Clemson University states that alfalfa has a very high ORAC score, 930.Drinking alfalfa tea can provide beneficial antioxidants that may help reduce risk for cardiovascular and other diseases.


Since antioxidants may be able to prevent damage to cells, drinking alfalfa tea may help prevent some of the signs of aging such as cognitive decline and poor eyesight.


Crohn’s Disease




According to a discussion published by the Baylor School of Medicine, alfalfa may be a beneficial alternative in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, or Crohn’s Disease.The abundance of nutrients and antioxidants along with the minimal processing of green grasses may contribute to the efficacy of alfalfa, including alfalfa tea, in treating bowel diseases.


 Drinking teaDisplaces the consumption of nutrient-poor beverages such as sodas and alcohol, the Center for New Crops & Plants Products states that alfalfa may help prevent or aid with the management of certain conditions such as scurvy, constipation, high cholesterol and hormonal issues. Because of its ecbolic and stimulant properties, alfalfa tea may be helpful during childbirth.


Today’s Health Comments


Today, Alfalfa Tea may not being served up in your favorite Tea House, but perhaps it should. It is a Tea of Nutrients and health benefits that most everyone could take advantage of. Grampa certainly acclaimed how well he enjoyed the benefits of his Alfalfa tea. He was probably right, since he did almost live to 102 yrs. of age. However, this  is not like all tea’s as it strongly enriched and too much of a good thing… can go bad. You may experience bloating and should not be drank if you are a kidney transplant patient, with out contacting your doctor.  For those who wish to boost your immune system or enrich the nutrients into your system… Alfalfa tea maybe the answer.










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		 Herbal and Amla, It's Remedies Today
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		Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:42:07 +0000
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Today Health Article


October 3rd, 2011


Todays advantages of herbal beverages, is that they rarely do any harm to the body. They are unlike the flavored sodas of today, which are loaded with sugar, calories, artificial flavors, and preservatives.  The herbal beverages come with health benefits along with healing properties.


 One of the most admired herbal beverages today is the green tea.Green tea is popular because of its antioxidant properties which are clinically proven to postpone aging and fight cancer. Green tea is recommended for diabetic patients too. It has a unique aroma and is very refreshing after a long day at work. Teas blended with herbs, seed, roots and dried flowers like basil, ginger, camomile and so on, herbal tea is considered to have therapeutic benefits. Though these are on a little higher side when compared with conventional black tea, the money spent on them is worthwhile for healthy living.


Amla juice


 Amla, the Indan Gooseberry, is another herbal beverage today that has attracted attention to many health conscious people. The tree is small to medium in size, reaching 8 to 18 m in height, with a crooked trunk and spreading branches. The branches  are 10–20 cm long and are usually deciduous. The leaves are simple, and are closely set along  the branch, and are light green in color.


The flowers are greenish-yellow, with the fruit being nearly spherical, light greenish yellow in color. The fruit is also quite smooth and hard on appearance, with six vertical stripes or furrows.


The berries ripening in autumn, and are harvested by hand, after climbing to upper branches bearing the fruits. The taste of Indian gooseberry is sour, bitter and astringent, and is quite fibrous.


In India, it is common to eat gooseberries steeped in salt water and turmeric to make the sour fruits palatable.


Amla




This fresh-green berry is a remedy to scores of diseases and infections. It is claimed to also delay aging. Loaded with vitamin C, amla juice is recommend for skin, hairs and joints. If  drank regularly it boasts the immune system and the metabolic system, which fine tunes the body to be fit and healthy.


Finding this magical juice at your nearest store might be a remote possibility. You can still benefit from the amla juice concentrate by buying it over the Internet. It is normally suitable for consumption by people of all ages. You can have it as many times in a day and enjoy the renewed energy within you. It is recommended for premature hair greying. Amla juice is an effectual hair tonic. Mix the juice with water and use it for the last rinse on shampooed hairs. Leave to dry naturally for soft and tangle free hairs.


Aloe juice is next on the list of healthy beverages. A lot has been said about the wonderful qualities of aloe. From skin problems to cancer, aloe has been clinically proven to reduce symptoms of many life-threatening diseases. Aloe juice is recommended for relieving joint pain. Mixture of aloe and amla juice is an effective remedy for stomach related problems. Add it with water and have it at least once a day to keep health problems a bay.


Perhaps owing to its medicinal qualities, the Hindus, treat it as a very sacred tree and worship on ‘Akshaya Navami’. In the Kartik month (mid Oct. to mid Nov.) if one takes its dose regularly it provides complete protection against all the disorders due to cold. Amla is unique as it doesn’t leave its chemical ingredient even if it is heated. It is a tree whose no part is useless. It also has the atmosphere purifying qualities. Chemically, besides being the best source to get Vitamin C from, it also has gallic acid, tannic acid, sugar, albumen, calcium, protein, phosphorus, carbohydrates, irons etc.


Amla and Health Remedies Offered




  It seems that taking Amla and Black Til (black sesame seeds) in equal quantity with honey or ghee is linked to increasing mental and physical weaknesses. By taking a cupful of sugarless milk with the murraba of Amla, it helps to revitalize the brain. Some suggest taking every morning with water makes one’s resistant enough to fight off various ailments.


Also the suggestion of taking milk in the morning after licking one teaspoon of ground Amla powder mixed with honey imparts freshness and strength to the body.


 Intellect gets sharpened if one takes the pulp of fresh Amla or Amla juice with honey or ghee every morning and evening.


Other Remedy Facts to Consider


    

  • As an eye tonic and cure of eye ailments
    • 

  • For curing relief in  heart ailment
    • 

  • Relieves Pain of Migraine.
    • 

  • Curing involuntary nocturnal emission
    • 

  •  Remedies for Sexual Impotence
    • 

  •  Problems connected with uro generative system
    • 

  • Acidity and digestive problems
    • 

  • Female ailments
    • 

  • Blood impurities
    • 

  • Diabetes
    • 

  • Piles
    • 

  • Stone-problem
    • 

  • Constipations
    • 

  • Cold and cough
    • 

  • Skin troubles
    • 

  • Baldness and other allied problems
    • 

  • Gives relief in Jaundice
    • 

  • Gout
    • 

  • Removing the spots left by measels, chicken pox, small-pox etc.
    • 

  • Boils in mouth
    • 

  • Lice in hair
    • 

  • Amla as the beautifying agent
    • 

  • Checking menstrual disorder
    • 

  • Insect-bite
    • 



What you might find so amazing is this gooseberry has  so many benefits regarding our health, and so many remedies, I believe one could write a book on this very subject. Some have studied this berry with great interest and have found what the Hindu’s may have already learned, that this gooseberry is perhaps very key to our longevity  and good health.


Todays Health Comments


This article today made believe I should run out and buy some Amla juice, but knowing we just do not have these trees growing in our backyard, the health food stores or the Internet is the most probable resource to purchase. Although we actually grew native gooseberries, I had no idea that their were others with such health benefits, so I will have to check out our local gooseberries as well. There is numerous health remedies which have included this juice or other parts of the plant, which have aided in our health.


Further Reading


 Yokozawa T, Kim HY, Kim HJ, et al. (Sep 2007). “Amla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) attenuates age-related renal dysfunction by oxidative stress”. J Agric Food Chem. 55 (19): 7744–52. doi:10.1021/jf072105s. PMID 17715896.



 


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		Just How Badly Do We Love Our Sugary Drinks Today?
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		Thu, 08 Sep 2011 04:42:42 +0000
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Todays Health Article


Sept 8th, 2011


Sugary Drinks


Today, most everyone, including  our infants  have  indulged in a sugary drink. We have had a  great love for our sugar, since the beginning of time. However, it seems the natural fruits, and even our water now, is now having its share of sugar added. It is not my imagination, but even the so called energy drinks are loaded up with the sweet stuff. What’s a person to do, if they choose not to drink all this sugar? Now I know it sounds crazy, but some of you, REALLY LIKE YOUR SUGAR! Even McDonald’s got in on the marketing scheme, with their Sweet Tea. I find for some of you, the more sugar, the more you drink. How is your Health by the way?


Just How Badly


The sugar craze has undeniably touched everyone… but how badly are we consuming these drinks? The fact is, not too long ago, we drank sun tea, lemonade, milk and water, and occasionally we drank those sugary drinks ( Sodas).


Today, it’s a daily drink, just a everyday way of life in America. You do not have to look to far those inviting vending machines at almost every business, and even at hospitals. The scheme of super size, has  huge bucket-like containers at the gas stations, convenience stores, concerts, the movies, and most likely served  with your fast-food meals.


In today’s carbonation nation, half of the U.S. population over age 2 consumes sugary drinks daily, according to a report released by National Center for Health Statistics.


The sugary drinks include sodas, sweetened waters, energy drinks,, sports and fruit beverages. Not included in the total were diet drinks, 100% fruit juices, sweetened teas and flavored milk. The report states that sugary drinks have been linked to “poor diet quality, weight gain, obesity, and in adults, type 2 diabetes.”








Todays Sugary Drinks




The recent CDC report also found that while half of the population doesn’t drink sugary beverages… about 25% consumes amounts of the drinks that total fewer than 200 calories per day. About 5% drink about 567 calories on any given day, which amounts to more than four 12-ounce cans of cola.About 5% of people ages 2 and older consume at least 567 calories a day from

such drinks.




That’s a national problem, nutrition experts say. “Sugar-sweetened beverages are the No. 1 single source of calories in the American diet and account for about half of all added sugars that people consume,” says Rachel Johnson, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association and a nutrition professor at the University of Vermont.


The Bad News… Good News


We will deal with the Bad first…


Did you know that you can consume half or more of your recommended daily calories within sugar-sweetened beverages and not even realize you’ve done it?


Do you give out a moan, not believing you drank the whole thing. Rarely do we hold  back our groaning how after drinking a 20 ounce cola, at 230 calories.


If you add up those calories your drinking everyday and you will be very surprised. A loaded latte…250 calories. A Double Gulp soda with lunch…600 calories (OK, let’s say half of a Double Gulp for 300 calories). A couple of beers after work… 250 calories. Sweetened iced tea with dinner…200 calories. A highball or two in the evening…400 calories.


Many experts have even proposed that a large part of the obesity crisis in America today is singularly caused by the sugar-sweetened beverages we drink!


Good News


That’s bad news! Now it’s  the  good news because usually sugary beverages are easy to cut down on or quit completely.  I found substituting water was for me, others might have with their water a slice of lime, a diet drink, or sparkling water with lemon flavoring.


In the beginning, down-sizing that latte; drinking a small glass of sugary drink rather than  the large


Whenever you become thirsty, drink water first so you can sip your calorie-containing drink rather than using it to quench your thirst.


Todays Health Comments


Today we seem to consume way too much sugar, and sugary drinks have certainly contributed to our consumption, leading to a intake of calories that have no value other than our waistlines. Many argue that sugar does not contribute, but the word is… if you intake more calories than you burn, the excess is going somewhere. I think a lot us, actually 64% are overweight because they simply do not understand this simple theory. So reality watch calories, drink more water, downsize your drinks, and of course exercise daily for better health.


Todays Health Forum


1. How much sugary drinks do you drink a day?


2. Does Sugar contribute to ill-health


Further Reading


Sugary drinks add 300 calories a day to youths’ diets -

USATODAY …




yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness-food/diet





 


 


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		What Our Water Today, Might Some Day Become!               
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		Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:22:36 +0000
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Todays Health Article


August 19th, 2011


Today, people  just may have completed or kicked this line around with several answers. Perhaps it may never even touched you in way that seemed to matter.  Why should this subject, be even given such consideration. Perhaps ridiculous, when the world as we  see it, is a planet full of water, lakes and streams. Simply put, we need water every day to stay healthy… and today when you think about it, all the vegetation on this earth, and all life existence, is in need of water, as well. It very well may be, to the average person, who seems surrounded by accessibility to water, it’s too much to even to compensate how much water is being used on this earth  each and every day. What  our water today, might one day become, simply not enough, very costly, controlled or rationed, and or contaminated. Where do we go from here.


Where is Earth’s Water Located?


 


Pie charts of the distribution of water on Earth.


You may have concluded that… water is continually moving around, through, and above the Earth as either water vapor, liquid water, and ice. The Earth may be compared closely to the likes of a terrarium, whereby it neither, as a whole, gains nor loses much matter, including water.


If you think about it, not too get far off the subject, little  matter, other than meteors from outer space, are captured by Earth, and very little of Earth’s substances escape into outer space.  This is an important concept to understand which certainly holds true about water. This means that the same water that existed on Earth millions of years ago is still here. Think there is no idea how old or where the water you just drank came from.


 


 


Barcharts of the distribution of water on Earth


Water on and in the Earth


Picture of Earth showing if all Earth's water (liquid, ice, freshwater, saline) was put into a sphere it would be about 860 miles (about 1,385 kilometers)  in diameter. Diameter would be about the distance from Salt Lake City, Utah to Topeka, Kansas, USA. ( Credit: Illustration by Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; USGS)


Picture of Earth showing if all Earth’s water (liquid, ice, freshwater, saline) was put into a sphere it would be about 860 miles (about 1,385 kilometers) in diameter. Diameter would be about the distance from


Salt Lake City, Utah to Topeka, Kansas, USA.

Credit: Illustration by Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; USGS.

View the picture full size. View full size


FACTS


By viewing these bar chart, about 97 percent of all water is in the oceans and about three percent of all Earth’s water  is freshwater. The majority of that, about 69 percent, is locked up in glaciers and icecaps, mainly in Greenland and Antarctica.


You might be surprised that of the remaining freshwater, almost all of it, is below your feet, as ground water. No matter where on Earth you are standing, chances are that, at some depth, the ground below you is saturated with water.


Of all the freshwater on Earth, only about 0.3 percent is contained in rivers and lakes—yet rivers and lakes are not only the water we are most familiar with, it is also where most of the water we use in our everyday lives exists.


Simply Not Enough!


Wong Poh Poh, a professor at the National University of Singapore, told a regional conference that global warming was disrupting water flow patterns and increasing the severity of floods, droughts and storms — all of which reduce the availability of drinking water.


Wong said the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that as many as 2 billion people won’t have sufficient access to clean water by 2050. That figure is expected to rise to 3.2 billion by 2080 — nearly tripling the number who now do without it.


At the beginning of the decade, the World Health Organization estimated that 1.1 billion people did not have sufficient access to clean water.


The New York Times article, “Southeast Drought Study Ties Water Shortage to Population, Not Global Warming”, summarizes the findings of Columbia University researcher on the subject of the droughts in the southwest between 2005 and 2007. The findings were published in the Journal of Climate. They say the water shortages resulted from population size more than rainfall.


Lawrence Smith, the president of the population institute, asserts that although an overwhelming majority of the planet is composed of water, 97% of this water is constituted of saltwater; the fresh water used to sustain humans is only 3% of the total amount of water on Earth (Hoevel). Therefore, Smith believes that the competition for water in an overpopulated world would pose a major threat to human stability, indeed, world wars may be fought over the control of thinning ice sheets and nearly desiccated reservoirs.[6] 2 billion people have gained access to a safe water source since 1990.


According to the California Department of Water Resources, if more supplies aren’t found by 2020, the region will face a shortfall nearly as great as the amount consumed today. Los Angeles is a coastal desert able to support at most 1 million people on its own water; the Los Angeles basin now is the core of a megacity that spans 220 miles (350 km) from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border. The region’s population is expected to reach 41 million by 2020, up from 28 million in 2009. The population of California continues to grow by more than two million a year and is expected to reach 75 million in 2030, up from 49 million in 2009. But water shortage is likely to surface well before then


Water Very Costly


It was not that long ago when most of thought that selling bottled water was a joke someone came up with, who in their right mine would buy a bottle of water, yet today its is one of the bigger share of the beverage industry. Who would ever thought that what was for many FREE for the taking is now dollars for a gallon. I remember our water came from a spring that ran out of the side of the mountain into a a concrete reservoir which then was gravity fed to our house… no electricity required. Yes, all you had to do was turn on the faucet and the water freely flowed out. Those were the days.


Now if you live in a city or even now miles from one, their control or regulation to pay the price that they demand seems to be a way of life… even in the Great North West! We have have seen the price of a gallon of water to continually escalate whether we have had large snow fall or little, makes no difference here. I have not heard of a water bill going down.


“Water bills future” was Googled and many of the major cities all over the world indicated that the need for increase costs for their water prices. Therefore, as the demand for water is being indicated, so does the price escalate. Needless to say, where will the price stop, will water be afforded, only by the wealthy.


On 23 April 2010, the World Bank held a high-level private meeting about water in New York, at which higher  prices were discussed. Days before that the OECD, which represents the  world’s major economies, issued three water reports calling for prices to rise. “Putting a price  on water will make us aware of the scarcity and make us take better  care of it,” said Angel Gurría, the OECD secretary-general. It has also been a key theme of meeting of industry leaders in Paris, hosted by Global Water Intelligence.


The discussion at the World Bank was  raised by Lars Thunell, chief executive officer of the International Finance Corporation.  “Everyone said water must be somehow valued: whether you call it cost,  or price, or cost recover,” said Usha Rao-Monari, senior manager of the  IFC’s infrastructure department. “It’s not an infinite resource, and  anything that’s not an infinite resource must be valued.”


Controlled or Rationed by !


Whether we like it not, this country, government, state, and city, have many of these regulations all ready in place to ration water if need be or they do so by the cost of water. Many of our elderly or fixed income families use very little water compared to the average household. There is also brown yards, no grass watered, nor do they take long showers.  Water for these people is already a commodity that has out priced their household income.


Reminds me of our farming days, where sometimes the only green grass was in our yards because the horses  and cows had eaten the grass to barren ground, so we let them in the yard to mow the grass and clean up the neglected weeds.


It’s no secret that water is being rationed, as we speak,in many parts of the world… either because of droughts or heat waves, or just unhealthy water, or natural disasters. Rationing is a form or control that allows all to share… sort of. I remember a few years ago our city chose to do so, as well. We could only water on even days, night only, because our address was an even number. There was city crews patrolling, “the water patrol” giving tickets to those who chose not to adhere to the rules.


Just think how this might become should our neighborhood become one of those areas that has not seen rain for a very long time, and haveexcessive heat! Poor Texas!


Contamination on the Rise


The Facts of contamination are certianly on the rise


    

      

        

      • 

        Every day, 2 million tons of sewage and industrial and agricultural waste are discharged into the world’s water (UN WWAP 2003), the equivalent of the weight of the entire human population of 6.8 billion people.
        

        • 

      • The UN estimates that the amount of wastewater produced annually is about 1,500 km3, six times more water than exists in all the rivers of the world. (UN WWAP 2003) 
        • 

      • An estimated 500,000 abandoned mines in the U.S. will cost $20 billion in management and remediation of pollution; many of these sites will require management in perpetuity. (Septoff 2006 and http://www.abandonedmines.gov/ep.htm
        • 

      • In the U.S. state of Colorado alone, some 23,000 abandoned mines have polluted 2,300 km of streams. (Banks, et al. 1997) 
        • 

      • Chlorinated solvents were found in 30 percent of groundwater supplies in 15 Japanese cities, sometimes traveling as much as 10 km from the source of pollution. (UNEP 1996)
        • 

      • Roughly one unit of mercury is emitted into the environment for every unit of gold produced by small-scale miners, a total of as much as 1000 tons of mercury emitted each year. (UNEP/GRID-Arendal)
        • 

      • 

        In a recent comparison of domestic, industrial, and agricultural sources of pollution from the coastal zone of Mediterranean countries, agriculture was the leading source of phosphorus compounds and sediment. (UNEP 1996) Nutrient enrichment, most often associated with nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural runoff, can deplete oxygen levels and eliminate species with higher oxygen requirements, affecting the structure and diversity of ecosystems. 
        

        • 

      • Nitrate* is the most common chemical contaminant in the world’s groundwater aquifers. (Spalding and Exner, 1993) And mean nitrate levels have risen by an estimated 36% in global waterways since 1990 with the most dramatic increases seen in the Eastern Mediterranean and Africa, where nitrate contamination has more than doubled. (GEMS 2004) 
        • 

      • According to various surveys in India and Africa, 20-50% of wells contain nitrate1 levels greater than 50 mg/1 and in some cases as high as several hundred milligrams per liter. (cited in FAO 1996)
        • 

      

    



 


Todays Health Comments


Today water is no dougbt a main health issue… It is our very existance to survival. What Our Water Today, Might Some Day Become is dependent on actions today and not wasting and not contaminating for tommorrow. With our every day growing population… to exceed a 40% growth by by the year 2020… will our water supply be an enough? Will water become the most costly commodity on this earth… or will find the solution to utilize what we have? There may come a time when natural disasters, like the tsunami in Japan, where water may  become rationed to only those type of disasters. With the need to provide more and more food supply to feed the worlds population, what will be the next chemicals used to fertilize those crops, to control the ever increasing contaminates found in our water? Many questions will need to be resolved and there is not much time  for some action to be taken. Our industrial waste and sewage is becoming a costly  action necessary to continue to provide clean water.


 


 


 


 


 


 


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		 Is Drinking Defining or Defying A Free Society?
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		Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:39:42 +0000
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Todays Health Article


June 4th, 2011


Today, is drinking alcohol, readily accepted, having been defined by our Society, perhaps now defying our past culture. For some, drinking is a past time , but for all who do drink, they have become  part of our defining our rights as as a Free Society. Drinking is an exercise defined by society, and by legal age and consumption. This definition, defining drinking has been a around  for generations “If your able to fight for the Freedom of our country and vote for those you choose to run your country, then by all means your are entitled to drink, it is your right in today’s society”. There is no rebuttal to the fact, that it is your right to do so, and it has been defined by our society, since man discovered it to be considered a beverage of  pleasure.


 What has been perhaps a pastime of pleasure for some, or an addiction for many, with those actions are we on our way to defining a new Society?  What are those actions, exercising our freedom to do so, what is our Society facing today?


Society Defines…


Drinking of Alcohol


Is a beverage  containing ethanol, most commonly known to us as alcohol.These drinks are divided into three categories: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption. In particular, such laws specify the minimum age at which a person may legally buy or drink them. This minimum age varies between 16 and 25 years, depending upon the country and the type of drink. Most nations have age requirements 18 to 21′


In many cultures, drinking plays a significant role in social interaction — mainly because of alcohol’s neurological effects.


Alcohol is a psychoactive drug that has a depressant effect.  By drinking such beverages a high blood alcohol content may be obtained and is usually considered to be legal drunkenness, because it reduces attention and slows reaction speed. Alcohol can be addictive, and the state of addiction to alcohol is known as alcoholism.


Drinking by the Under Age


Underage Drinking


 The alcohol use by persons under age 21 years is defining  a major public health problem to our Society. Alcohol  has become the most commonly used and abused drug among youth in the United States. It has exceeded  tobacco and illicit drugs. Although drinking  under the age of 21 is illegal, people aged 12 to 20 years drink 11% of all alcohol consumed in the United States.


 Did you know that more than 90% of this alcohol, is consumed in the form of binge drinks.  Also on the  average, underage drinkers, consume more drinks per drinking occasion than adult drinkers.


In 2008, there were approximately 190,000 emergency rooms visits by persons under age 21 for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol.


 Todays Juvenile Drinking


  http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/underagedrinking/


 http://www.udetc.org/documents/Drinking_in_America.pdf Adobe PDF file [PDF–1.08MB]External Web Site Icon. Accessed March 28, 2008.


 Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective ResponsibilityExternal Web Site Icon.


Drinking Levels among Youth


The 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that among high school students, during the past 30 days


    

  • 42% drank some amount of alcohol.
    • 

  • 24% binge drank.
    • 

  • 10% drove after drinking alcohol.
    • 

  • 28% rode with a driver who had been drinking alcohol.
    • 



Other national surveys indicate


    

  • In 2008 the National Survey on Drug Use and HealthExternal Web Site Icon reported that 28% of youth aged 12 to 20 years drink alcohol and 19% reported binge drinking.
    • 

  • In 2009, the Monitoring the Future SurveyExternal Web Site Iconreported that 37% of 8th graders and 72% of 12th graders had tried alcohol, and 15% of 8th graders and 44% of 12thgraders drank during the past month.
    • 



  


Drinking by College Students


Drinking by College students, has long been an ongoing part of College atmosphere, although most colleges would like to redefine this part of their  Society, it has severely  been ingrained by years of active drinking college students. Through the drinking, underage students as well, have now defined alcohol by college students as their greatest health risk.















The consequences of excessive and underage drinking affect virtually all college campuses, college communities, and college students.


    

  • Death:  1,825 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes (Hingson et al., 2009).
    • 

  • Injury:  599,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol (Hingson et al., 2009).
    • 

  • Assault:  696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking (Hingson et al., 2009).
    • 

  • Academic Problems: About 25 percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall (Engs et al., 1996; Presley et al., 1996a, 1996b; Wechsler et al., 2002).
    • 

  • Health Problems/Suicide Attempts: More than 150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem (Hingson et al., 2002), and between 1.2 and 1.5 percent of students indicate that they tried to commit suicide within the past year due to drinking or drug use (Presley et al., 1998).
    • 

  • Drunk Driving: 3,360,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 drive under the influence of alcohol (Hingson et al., 2009).
    • 

  • Vandalism: About 11 percent of college student drinkers report that they have damaged property while under the influence of alcohol (Wechsler et al., 2002).
    • 









Further Reading  www.yic.gov/drugfree/alcabuse.html


Defying a Free Society


A Free  definition…  used somewhat derogatory is for every Freedom defined by Society, comes responsibility for our actions and to the Freedom given to us, yet we by our very human nature seem to defy the responsibilities of these action. In other words we as a Society readily have accepted that people are going to drink, pain and suffering may be inevitable, lives may be endangered, yet there is the continuous use of those acting in drunken capacities, threatening to be completely irresponsible to our Society.


So with the staggering stats of underage drinking, whom will soon be adults, college students whom are knocking on the door to become Doctors, Lawyers, Nurses, Fireman, Policeman, and much much more, and add those stats to the acoholic  problems the world already knows…Is this the Society we are currently defining?  A Society either with massive alcohol problems or the Freedoms of drinking will come under tight scrutiny of laws and regulation.


The Fedral and State laws may come to intervene if those now drinking do not become more responsible to others. The perfect example of this was the use of tobacco products. Advertising curtailed, warning Labels, to where you can and can not smoke. High taxes continue to haunt most smokers today and their freedoms to light up any where… has gone for good. Otherwise by defying some freedoms of our Society, new ones have been defined.


Todays Health Comments


If you believe the writing is on the wall regarding alcohol, just wait, you will see, that we can not have a Society defined as a nation or a world ( if you care) full of  intoxicated people acting irresponsibly.Its a matter of time… Perhaps Prohibition will return, or most likely deterrents will come to be with stiffer regulations fro m the State and Federal levels. Drinking is now the number 1 health risk for youth, and that is a lot of unsupervised youth and parents and our educational systems need to step up and do their part. The stats are shocking how many young people loose their lives to drinking each and every year. 


If we continue down this road, are we not redefining what use to be unacceptable in our Society, to now defining excessive drinking to be looked upon as a way life for all, now  including our children? The Stats show almost 20% of all alcohol consumed today, is drank by underage… our youth!


 


 


  


  


 


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		   Choices for Bottled Water and Criticism Mounting!
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		Sat, 30 Apr 2011 03:27:22 +0000
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Todays Health Article


April 27, 2011


Todays article , a concern that Bottled Water is becoming just too easy, no need for the glass, no dirty dishes, and is discarded when done.  Bottled water is our excuse not to drink water from the tap,  “Remembering before bottled water”,  that’s where we all got our drink of water from. After all, bottled water comes from some form of tap. Do not get me wrong there are good arguements why bottled water should be considered, but there are actually other options you may have not considered   for your daily drinking water. This article is not going to dispute the health issue of bottled water. However, there are arguments that substantiate that bottled water can have its health issues as well. Great article for another time. But for now,we are just  going to discuss when bottled water should be considered and bottle waters critics are mounting evidence that may become relevant.


Water in a Bottle


Who would of thought of that… In fact sound it absolutely ridiculous when I was young…Who would even consider such a thing. Our family had all the water in the world coming out of a mountain spring. It was cold all year round and was the best tasting water in the country. Since we were under the scrutiny of the state regulations, having a Grade A Dairy, and my parents were Foster Parents for some time…our water was tested for its impurities and bacteria and none was found. The Inspectors were always amazed how good our water was. It certainly would have qualified perhaps better than most water used today, after all most bottled water goes through some intense filtration process.


After all that is what sold most people in the first place…it was healthier….spring water, artisan water, or mountain water, alluding to the fact that it was pure and not contaminated. Early into past decades, and they definitely do today, chemically additives to our water. A country boy…we use to say to the city folks…”HOW CAN YOU DRINK THAT CITY WATER” well a lot of those city people could not tolerate it either…SO WATER IN THE BOTTLE …became the answer. The convenience of water in the bottle is now 25% of the beverage industry.


When Tradegy Strikes


Bottled water is the first on the scene… One of the most requested, because today if electricity is out….Sorry no water. Also many times the water supplies are contaminated. The need for water consumption is very key to our living as well as maintaining a healthy community. We have seen these Natural Disasters strike, recently the Tsunami in Japan, leaving thousands with out water. Perhaps one of the best purposes for bottled water.


 What are the… Effects of Bottled Water? 








Although Bottled water has been described and criticised in recent years, the impact may have not been that noticeable since the marketing strategy has boosted the the production  to a global high, reaching  approximately 50 billion bottles of water which are now consumed per annum in the U.S. and around 200 billion bottles globally.


Bottled water has come under criticism in recent years;


    

  • The environmental impacts of groundwater extraction
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  • The energy and environmental costs of the plastic packaging and transportation costs
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  • The concerns about water quality 
    • 

  • The validity of some marketing claims.
    • 



 Bottled water  falling under these concerns, critics have marked bottled water as an overly market product with environmental impacts.


 Many have expressed the validity of marketing claims and the quality of water being bottled.  The packaging of bottled water, commonly  packaged in Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which requires a significant amount of energy to produce. While PET is considered to be recyclable, only a fraction of plastic bottles made from PET are recycled. 


 Although, in the United States, according to a NAPCOR study, water bottles account for 50% of all the PET bottles and containers collected by curbside recycling, and the recycling rate for water bottles is 23.4%, an increase over the 2006 rate of 20.1%. European recycling rates tend to be somewhat higher.


Plastic Use for Water Bottles


 In the United States, Fossil fuels are also used in the packaging of water. The most commonly used plastic for making water bottles is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is derived from crude oil. Making bottles to meet Americans’ demand for bottled water requires more than 17 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel more than 1 million U.S. cars for a year. Worldwide, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year.


After the water has been consumed, the plastic bottle must be disposed of. According to the Container Recycling Institute, 86 percent of plastic water bottles used in the United States become garbage or litter. Incinerating used bottles produces toxic byproducts such as chlorine gas and ash containing heavy metals. Buried water bottles can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade. Almost 40 percent of the PET bottles that were deposited for recycling in the United States in 2004 were actually exported, sometimes to as far away as China—adding to the resources used by this product.


Todays Health Comments


Today’s bottled water may becoming not only an environmental issue but costly as well. With the price of oil on the rise and the cost of water…depending how the the Bottled water is purchased you may spending way more for that bottle of water than could be expected…equating out to as much as $10.00 a gallon, considerably more than the gallon of gasoline. And if you compare to utility bill for the gallon of water, could be  many times more for that drink of water. To help the environmental issue recycle, or use the tap water with a purification system… and you most likely will save a few dollars and not tell the difference in taste.


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		Wanting That Desired Mood, Just Drink Up!
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		Thu, 07 Apr 2011 02:42:57 +0000
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Todays Health Article


April 5th, 2011 


Today we have entered into a new frontier where no man has dared to go before. Perhaps something out of a science fiction show, and you know Scottie said “Beam me up”, well that was fictional space travel, not having anything really to do with our moods. But perhaps its close, they have just about beamed up or dreamed up about every kind of beverage, playing on the mood you so desire. Let’s for a moment, examine for the sake of it, some of those common drinks from the past and now the present. They seemed to strike up a variety of moods, some of those moods, one  would rather not be experienced. But first I might define in simple terms, what is a mood.


A Mood Definition…


It is a relatively long lasting emotional state. Moods differ from emotions, they are less specific, less intense, and less likely to be triggered by a particular stimulus or event.


It is a general  consensus that moods are either a positive or negative. Typically speaking , either a good mood or a bad mood.  Moods unlike acute  emotional feelings, such as  fear, moods  may often last for hours or days. Mood is an internal, subjective state, but it often can be effected by personality traits, and longterm disturbances, such as depression. .


According to psychologist Robert Thayer, a mood, is a product of two dimensions: energy and tension. A person can be energetic or tired, while also being tense or calm. According to Thayer, people feel best, when they are in a calm-energy mood, and worst, when in a tense-tired state. People often use food to regulate mood. Thayer identifies a fundamental food-mood connection,and advises against the reliance on food as a mood regulator. The low energy arousal coupled with tension, as experienced in a bad mood, can be counteracted by walking. 


Thayer, Robert E. (1996). The origin of everyday moods: Managing energy, tension and stress. New York, NY: Oxford University Press


 The Past Mood Drinks


Now Alcoholic beverages, have been around for a long, long time, and some may say that it is as good as any, in altering our mood swings, just depending on how much and the drink  you choose to drink. They may illiustrate from anger, to down right sillyness and display many other moods in a given moment. Seems that most  say… “ It’s a form of relaxation”, to others, an excuse to drink.


A cup of coffee


Others are caffeine lovers or just plain addicted to the stuff, and may become down right cranky before they get their caffeine and are wired afterward, depending on their intake. They say it rounds off the edges of the day. Those used to be just the coffee, cocoa, and tea drinkers. Some people got creative and mix these with their alcohol as well. Most people again, indicated that it changed or altered their mood.


      The New Age Drinks 


These drinks have also found their way to altering our attitude by our drinking up. Now we have the energy drinks, heavily caffeinated, and  some even contain alcohol as well. They have become very popular with our younger generations. Mostly because of the ability to access these drinks. Also many of the nutritional and diet drinks have fallen it to this category.


Relaxation drinks are the Newest Beverages




 The newest trend in mood altering beverages: the relaxation drink. So now the beverage industry has gone from the  souped up, high octane energy drink to just the opposite, to “I’m Sorry, I am so relaxed, for a moment, I dozed off kind of a drink. If you can believe that, no need of  to bring up the past codeine, NyQuil, or that hot drink. Do not let that out to our Tea Lovers, we might have a rubble.


The products are known as; Marley’s Mellow Mood,  Drank, is carbonated and berry flavored, Unwind features three lightly-carbonated flavors: Goji Grape, Pom Berry and Citrus Orange. Lastly, Marley’s Mellow Mood, which carries the name of reggae icon Bob Marley, comes in Peach Raspberry Passion Fruit Black Tea, Green Tea with Honey, Citrus Soda and Berry Soda is Michigan Based.


“I like to almost call it the anti-energy drink,” said Paul Fuegner, Marley Beverage Co. chief marketing officer. “It’s not a slam to the energy drink, it’s a complement to it. It’s an alternative to all that hyped-up, amped-up energy, and … I think we all can use that in these crazy times.”


Canada Dry Bottling Co. of Lansing is marketing and distributing all three. So far, the biggest response has been generated from the age 18-35 demographic.


“It’s a convenient way to unwind after a long day,” said Brian Breen, Canada Dry project manager, about Unwind, a 40-calorie drink with 10 grams of sugar.


Todays Health  Comments


Today our beverage industry has become so in tune to our moods, they are capitalizing upon them. We felt a need for more energetic drinks because we were on a downer, so they hyped and octane their drinks up. Now  we are so addicted to being wired, we can not relax, so why not, mellow us out, with a relaxation drink. So today the beverage industry gives you the drink to get through the day, and an assortment of drinks to forget the day, and lastly after all that, to finally relax. How confusing can the is be to the human body…  not knowing what mood coming next, and what drink being dreamed up.




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		Diet Soda, Is It Weight Gain Nonsense, or Facts!
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		Fri, 18 Mar 2011 05:51:00 +0000
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Todays Health Article


National Nutrition Month


Theme  “Eat Right With Color”


March 15th, 2011


Todays challenge is not to follow in the footsteps of those articles already written about this topic,  but perhaps, simple logic might suggest a better explanation of this over whelming topic. I know for the readers like myself, it would be informative if some one would just step up to the plate and tell us all the real facts, if they do know, and we could move on to another health issue. Unfortunately, no one has done that with indisputable facts. In fact like a great debate contest, where one team has the objective to prove how bad this drink really is, and the other, how really great this drink is.


 Leading to the confusion… which I am trying not to do here, each time a study is brought to the attention of which debate team you have chosen to stand by, out pours a flood of articles regarding this new position. Almost like we have nothing better to do. and again leading to more confusion. COULD this be “THE Study” which we have all been waiting for, to put closure to all thats been written in the past, merely just does not exist yet. Well I hate to burst everybody’s bubbles (OOOOO), but remember to end this, we have take away the equation of good vs bad.


Diet Soda Leads to Weight Gain 


I thought perhaps some one had resolved this topic of debate, yet only found, by browsing, (searching the Web) that many articles  key words “weight” and “diet soda” certainly suggested that many web sites and blogs had stood on the side of diet soda is leading to weight gain based on only 2 studies. The first the was an observation study, and our favorite students (rats), who will eat or drink anything, drank the diet stuff. Upon this study, the conclusion was that  they enjoyed more chocolate pudding, If I was a rat,who would not enjoy chocolate pudding, after all, it is far from their normal diet, but the indication was, those who had drank the diet, ate more pudding.


Journal article: “A Role for Sweet Taste: Calorie Predictive Relations in Energy Regulation by Rats,” Susan E. Swithers, PhD and Terry L. Davidson, PhD, Purdue University; Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol. 122, No.


Another study often cited from…”June 13, 2005 — People who drink diet soft drinks don’t lose weight. In fact, they gain weight, a new study shows. The findings come from eight years of data collected by Sharon P. Fowler, MPH, and colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio. Fowler reported the data at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association in San Diego.”What didn’t surprise us was that total soft drink use was linked to overweight and obesity,” Fowler tells WebMD. “What was surprising was when we looked at people only drinking diet soft drinks, their risk of obesity was even higher.” In fact, when the researchers took a closer look at their data, they found that nearly all the obesity risk from soft drinks came from diet sodas.


“There was a 41% increase in risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink a person consumes each day,” Fowler says. http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/diet-sodas-and-weight-gain-not-so-fast


Debate Issue…Diet Soda Has Zero Calories


 Diet soda, a carbonated beverage that is typically sugar-free, artificially sweetened and non-alcoholic. These beverages are generally marketed towards health-conscious people, diabetics,athletes, and other people who want to lose weight, improve physical fitness, or reduce their sugar intake athletes, and other people who want to lose weight, improve physical fitness, or reduce their sugar intake.


 Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.


“Drinking a reasonable amount of diet soda a day, such as a can or two, isn’t likely to hurt you. The artificial sweeteners and other chemicals currently used in diet soda are safe for most people, and there’s no credible evidence that these ingredients cause cancer. Some types of diet soda are even fortified with vitamins and minerals. But diet soda isn’t a health drink or a silver bullet for weight loss. Although switching from regular soda to diet soda may save you calories, some studies suggest that drinking more than one soda a day — regular or diet — increases your risk of obesity and related health problems such as type 2 diabetes.


Effects of intense sweeteners on hunger, food intake, and body weight: a review.


Rolls BJ.


Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205.


Comment in:



 Abstract




The sweet taste of aspartame, saccharin, and acesulfame-K has been reported to increase ratings of hunger and, after saccharin consumption, to increase food intake. However, most investigators have found that aspartame consumption is associated with decreased or unchanged ratings of hunger. Even if aspartame consumption increases ratings of hunger in some situations, it apparently has little impact on the controls of food intake and body weight. Aspartame has not been found to increase food intake; indeed, both short-term and long-term studies have shown that consumption of aspartame-sweetened foods or drinks is associated with either no change or a reduction in food intake. Preliminary clinical trials suggest that aspartame may be useful aid in a complete diet-and-exercise program or in weight maintenance. Intense sweeteners have never been found to cause weight gain in humans.




PMID: 2008866 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]Free Article


Todays Health CommentsTodays Water


Resolution to  Studies and Endless Debate


 The studies continue to be influential regarding many factors, diet soda is one of the number one drinks chosen today, why?  Through a logical understanding, many people will continue to drink diet soda. With the above four studies, there was no conclusive evidence that diet soda was the culprit to weight gain, and neither was there facts that was conclusive that it did not. The health dogs all over this drink regarding the health implications, such as the ingredients found in these drinks. So much has been exposed to such nonsense, it, diet soda, may never be full understood. Many believe that we may be in harms way with this drink, and our health may be at risk.


Why would a person deliberately drink something that has nothing going for it, other than taste. Your Right you like it, it has zero calories, and make you feel so good about all those calories you just saved that you went out and had a 2000 calorie meal, or a whopping fast food meal. I believe most think by drinking diet soda, it allows to it more. Not  all have this mindset, but through observation, ask over weight people their favorite drink. 


Diet Coke is the Number 1 diet soda, for those who drink, believe  it’s for the taste. Where the problem has gone wrong, is our minset, drinking for what has good taste, and for whats good for us. Have we forgotten water, that has been around for hundreds of years, and has a nutritious benefit to our bodies, yet we substitute water, for taste. 


To me the answer is simple…if all these studies, well educated individuals can not come to some conclusion, and  they have taken this drink on, as their career, to study while millions are still drinking the stuff, let them! I will settle with something natural made, and if they ever come to some conclusion, then I will decide. To maintain a healthy diet, it should at least be that… healthy.


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