Craving for Chocolate? We have a suggestion!
Filed under Foods, Health, People, Tech
Meet the Le Whif inhalers.
A lipstick-shaped aerosol that sprays particles of dark chocolate into the mouth is being hailed as providing all the pleasure of the real thing but with no need to feel guilty. Dieters may also find that the mere taste of one of their favourite treats curbs their appetite.
Cool right?
David Edwards, a Harvard professor who invented the spray, says that it only takes a touch of chocolate to satisfy our tastebuds. He said: ‘When you breathe the chocolate into your mouth, it dissolves immediately and coats the tongue and taste buds.
‘Le Whif is a new approach to eating, by breathing.
Additionally, Le Whif comes in three different chocolate flavours: plain, raspberry and mint.
Source: Daily Mail UK
Tags: Le Whif, spray chocolate
Flu and Infections: Vitamin D Deficiency
Filed under Foods, Health, Science
A new study led by researchers at the University of Copenhagen has confirmed that vitamin D plays an important role in activating immune defenses against infectious diseases like flu.
Vitamin D deficiency has already been linked to a wide spectrum of diseases including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, depression, autoimmune disease and many others.
In the case of flu fighting, Dr. John Cannell and his colleagues have reported that vitamin D helps produce antibacterial peptides that help protect against flu. That is why in winter people are prone to becoming vitamin D deficiency and getting infected with flu viruses.
Dr. Cannell, a vitamin D expert and director of Vitamin D Council, says in his newsletter sent last year that two physicians, one in Wisconsin and the other in Georgia reported to him that few of their patients/residents who maintained a high level of serum vitamin d acquired swine flu last year while many of other patients and medical workers who did not take vitamin D to maintain high vitamin D levels got swine flu and other flu viruses.
Cadbury Rejects £10.2bn Offer from Kraft
Cadbury today rejected a £10.2bn approach from Kraft Foods, eventually sparking talk of a bidding war. As a result of the refusal, Cadbury’s shares surged 40% subsequently.
Kraft said that the purchase of the maker of Dairy Milk would protect jobs in the UK – including saving a factory earmarked for closure.
But Cadbury, a dying firm, said the approach “fundamentally” undervalued the firm.
Kraft said it wanted to create “a global powerhouse in snacks, confectionery and quick meals”.
As well as Dairy Milk, Cadbury also owns the Green & Black’s chocolate brand and Halls lozenges, Trident and Dentyne gum brands, and liquorice allsorts maker Bassett’s. It span off its drinks division as a separate business last year.
For Kraft, the proposed deal would allow up to $625m a year to be saved in distribution, marketing and product development costs, Kraft said. Cadbury’s brands were “highly complementary” to its portfolio, it added, saying the UK firm “would benefit from Kraft Foods’ global scope and scale and array of proprietary technologies and processes”.
But coming to end-consumers, that is you; would you prefer to buy a Kraft-branded “Cadbury Dairy Milk” or rather see an iconic brand deteriorate further into economic loss?
Source: BBC
P/S: Kraft however stated that it will continue to pursue for the takeover in spite of the rejection.
Donoghue vs Stevenson repeats; this time in a Pepsi
Filed under Foods, Interest, Visual Graphics & Images, World
For those who aren’t aware of the above case, let me briefly tell you. In the case, the plaintiff found a snail in her root beer. Well now coming back here, let’s just replace the root beer with Pepsi and the snail with a frog!
Shocked? Read on..
The American FDA examined a recent complaint where a “disgusting blob” apparently poured out of the complainant’s Diet Pepsi can, and has concluded that the blob was probably a gutted frog or toad!
The complainant, DeNegri, was grilling in his backyard tiki bar in Ormond Beach, Florida, when he popped open a can of Diet Pepsi, took a big gulp and started gagging, his wife, Amy, said. He emptied out the can down a sink but something heavy remained inside. His wife took over and shook the can over a paper plate until something resembling “pink linguini” slid out, followed by “dark stuff,” Amy DeNegri said.
“It was disgusting,” said Amy DeNegri, 55. “And now, what started out as a normal afternoon in our tiki bar has blown up into this crazy thing.”
The DeNegris took pictures before calling poison control and the FDA, which showed up the next day to examine the can in question and collect it for lab testing.
The couple received a copy of the completed report last week from the Food and Drug Administration Office of Regulatory Affairs, which concluded the foreign matter appeared to be a frog or a toad. Worse, “the animal was lacking internal organs normally found in the abdominal and thoracic cavity,” the report noted.
When asked if Pepsi believed it was not responsible for the animal getting into the can, Dahncke said, “We have addressed the facts of the investigation and stated our position. It’s not appropriate for us to comment beyond that.” But the DeNegris say they’re hopping mad over Pepsi’s handling of the matter.
What a world! Want to see a pic of it? Here it goes [Warning!]:
Source: CNN
Aspartame Linked to Three Types of Cancer
A new study links small doses of the popular artificial sweetener aspartame to leukemia, lymphoma and breast cancer in rats.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said it will review the data, but will not rush to judgment on the sweetener, which can be found in the sugar substitutes Equal and NutraSweet, as well as in diet sodas and food.
The study followed a group of 4,000 rats who were given low daily doses of aspartame (comparable to what a dedicated human diet soda drinker might consume) beginning during “prenatal” life, according to a report in the Consumerist.com. The rats were dissected after natural death and the effects of the aspartame calculated.
Source: Fox News
Cutting Your Daily Calories = Slower Aging Process?
Cutting daily calorie intake by 30 percent may put the brakes on the aging process, have beneficial effects on the brain, and result in a longer life span, according to a new 20-year study of monkeys published in the journal Science.
Now, you might just brush this off because they were not conducted on us, humans; but remember, monkeys are the nearest primates to us, Homo Sapiens. And by and large, the effects would be pretty similar on both sides.
At the start of the study, the researchers analyzed how much the monkeys were eating and then cut the calories by 10 percent each month for three months in the calorie-restricted group. The other monkeys were allowed to eat as much as they wanted. The calorie-restricted monkeys preserved volume in areas of their brain that have been linked to motor control, memory, and problem-solving.
“The new study shows the effects of calorie restriction in primates that are closely related to humans,” says lead researcher Ricki Colman, Ph.D., an associate scientist at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, in Madison. “Monkeys in the calorie-restricted group are more likely to live healthier, longer.” The oldest monkey in the study is now 29. This species has an average lifespan of 27 when in captivity.
Click here to read more on Cutting Your Daily Calories = Slower Aging Process?
Surprising Discovery: Coffee May Reverse Memory Problems
Drinking five cups of coffee a day could reverse memory problems seen in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, US scientists say.
The Florida research, carried out on mice, also suggested caffeine hampered the production of the protein plaques which are the hallmark of the disease.
Previous research has also suggested a protective effect from caffeine.
But British experts said the Journal of Alzheimer’s disease study did not mean that dementia patients should start using caffeine supplements.
According to the test, when the mice that were given the prescribed dosage of caffeine were tested again after two months, those who were given the caffeine performed much better on tests measuring their memory and thinking skills and performed as well as mice of the same age without dementia. Those which drank plain water did poorly on the tests.
Read more on BBC
Vegetarians Avoid More Cancers
I’m not siding vegetarians or whatsoever, because I’m not one either. Just came across this and thought of sharing with you guys.
Apparently, a study has showed that vegetarians are generally less likely than meat eaters to develop cancer but this does not apply to all forms of the disease, a major study has found.
The study involving 60,000 people found those who followed a vegetarian diet developed notably fewer cancers of the blood, bladder and stomach.
But the apparently protective effect of vegetarian did not seem to stretch to bowel cancer, a major killer.
Overall, their results suggested that while in the general population about 33 people in 100 will develop cancer during their lifetime, for those who do not eat meat that risk is reduced to about 29 in 100. Not a big gap you may say, but even the slightest form of precaution could save one’s life.
Read more on the breakdown of different cancers relating to vegetarianism on BBC.
Green Tea Slows Prostate Cancer
I’m so excited about this. Guess why? Because Green tea is indeed one of my favourite drinks, hot or cold.
BBC reports that a study suggests that a chemical found in green tea appears to slow the progression of prostate cancer.
Green tea has been linked to a positive effect on a wide range of conditions, including heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. The research, in the US journal Cancer Prevention Research, found a significant fall in certain markers which indicate cancer development. A UK charity said the tea might help men manage low-risk tumours.
I know some some people are still very sceptical about this, especially on the side effects. Well here goes your answer; “There were only a few reported side effects associated with this study, and liver function remained normal“.
Click here to read more on Green tea ’slows prostate cancer’
World Hunger Hits One Billion
I guess news about this issue will keep on coming over the years, but nothing has been done so far nor will be done (I doubt) to reduce the problems herein mentioned.
BBC reports that UN claims of one billion people throughout the world suffer from hunger, a figure which has increased by 100 million because of the global financial crisis.
Persistently high food prices have also contributed to the hunger crisis.
The director general of the FAO said the level of hunger, one-sixth of the world’s population, posed a “serious risk” to world peace and security.
The UN said almost all of the world’s undernourished live in developing countries, with the most, some 642 million people, living in the Asia-Pacific region.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the next worst-hit region, the figure stands at 265 million.
Just 15 million people are left hungry in the developed world.
“The silent hunger crisis – affecting one-sixth of all of humanity – poses a serious risk for world peace and security,” said Jacques Diouf.
The increase in the number of hungry people was blamed on lower incomes and increased unemployment, which in turn reduced access to food by the poor, the UN agency said. But it contrasted sharply with evidence that much of the developed world is richer than ever before.
Among other pressures is the reality that borrowing from international capital markets is “more limited” in a global crisis, the FAO said. Food costs in developing countries now seem more expensive, despite prices in world markets declining during the food and fuel crisis of 2006-08, it added.
Head over to BBC to read more.
