Spending a great deal of time sitting in your cubicle? Do you love to be indoors sitting down while watching your favorite TV show? Do you find yourself sitting down very often on your college campus after lectures? It’s been suggested that 13 percent of the global ailment of Alzheimer’s can be attributed to sedentary behavior. 100 million people will be affected by dementia by 2050 (Hughes et al., 2010).   It can be alarming when finding out that a sedentary activity such as sitting is no bueno for your health but it’s best to learn earlier so as not to continue actions that can be detrimental to health. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles discovered a link between sitting for long periods of time and decreased brain thickness in a region that is essential for the formation of memories (Siddarth et al., 2018). This is an area of the brain that declines with age. Thirty-five adults between the ages of 45 – 75 took part in the study. The adults were given q...

Dark chocolate has frequently been lauded by health fanatics for its numerous benefits.  It’s classified as a source of antioxidants and has been even said to help regulate blood pressure and cholesterol levels.  It's even been claimed to help with weight loss.   A  New York based non-profit named Consumer Reports tested heavy metal levels of 28 different brands of chocolate including Hershey’s, Godiva, Tony’s, Lindt, Endangered Species and Trader Joe’s.  Consumer Reports measured levels of cadmium and lead against standards set by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA).  According to OEHHA, human exposure to cadmium should not be more than 4.1 mcg per day and their exposure to lead should not be more than 0.5 mcg per day. Many of the dark chocolate bars contained more lead than they should have.  Ten bars contained more than the OEHHA recommended level of lead while eight contained more than the recommended level for c...

Elvis Francois became lost at sea and survived for 24 days eating only ketchup, rainwater and seasoning.  The 47-year-old man was repairing his sailboat while off the island of St. Martin in the Netherland Antilles when currents pushed him further into the depths of the sea. The Caribbean sailor phoned his friends to let them know that he was lost but unfortunately, he was unable to receive communication from them due to loss of signal.  He waited for someone to come to his rescue but to no avail.  He discovered a passing plane and used a mirror as a distress signal while writing out the word "help" on the hull of his boat. He lost hope for a brief moment and thought that there was no way forward.   "At some point I lost hope and thought about my family, but I thank the coast guard. If it weren’t for them I wouldn’t be telling the story,” Francois said.  Francois didn’t become disheartened and instead showcased superior survival skills. Of his experience be...

What Research Has Revealed about Medicinal Mushrooms Introduction The branch of medicine that involves the consumption of foods as medicine is called Functional Medicine or or the new scientific discipline of “functional food science.”  The father of medicine, Hippocrates, once said, “Let thy food be thy medicine and medicine thy food.” There are many healing and health benefits that can be achieved when consuming certain foods.  The nutritional value of mushrooms is high due to the amount of minerals, protein and vitamins like D2, C, B that they contain.   Mushrooms are antiinflueza, anti-inflammatory, anticancerous, antiinfective, antidiabetic and antimicrobial (Elkhateeb, Daba, Thomas & Wen, 2019; Ganeshpurkar, Rai & Jain, 2010; Sabaratnam et al., 2013).  If one is looking for the richest source to aid in relief of these types of conditions, they should look no further than the medicinal mushroom.  People in countries of Asia (Japan, Korea, China...

Mushrooms are an extremely tasty food, which boast earthy umami flavors.  They can be excellent sources of protein for those seeking healthy meat substitutes and they work so well in a variety of dishes.  There are over 140,000 mushroom species 10% of which have actually been classified.  Aside from your average mushroom, are the medicinal mushroom varieties. Medicinal mushrooms have become popular wellness ingredients and can be found in a range of items from teas to coffees to tonics to tinctures.  These medicinal mushrooms are not your average mushrooms that can be found in your local grocery store.  They’re more so “super” mushrooms! How Super Are They? Medicinal mushrooms are powerful natural sources that can help to improve vitality of the body.  Medicinal mushrooms contain bioactive compounds such as beta-glucans, polysaccharides, triterpenoids and ergosterol.   The bioactive compounds found in medicinal mushrooms have superior anti-inflamm...

Just Stop Oil has been constantly on the go promoting environmental causes in a way that only they can.  Their most recent protests that occurred in London involved a few bottles of spray paint.  The Bank of London, Home Office, MI5 Building were all covered in bright neon orange paint with protesters giving short impassioned speeches providing reasoning for the acts.  Tez Burns, a young bicycle mechanic from Swansea had this to say after spraying the Thames MI5 building: “Our demand is simple. No new fossil fuel licenses—no new fossil fuel licenses and I won’t have to do this anymore! The government has taken our future.  I want our future back.  It’s criminal inaction—criminal inaction on the climate crisis.  The UN say you need to act.   The IPCC say you need to act.   The IMF—the World Bank all say you need to act and yet the government does nothing.  What does it do? It issues new fossil fuel licenses." "It says we need to...

Just Stop Oil is back at it again and this time the shenanigans included British Royal family members, King Charles, Prince William, Princess Catherine and Camilla Consort.  Yesterday, two members from the organization marched into Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum and visited the royal family section.  As the two protesters made their way to the royal wax figures, they began removing their bags and outerwear.  The bold letters of the organization’s name swiftly appeared on their white tees as people quietly walked to and fro past other wax figures.  The activist duo consisted of a woman and man.  The woman grabbed a flat looking cake out of her bag and jammed it right into the face of the figure of King Charles.   Would Prince William be next?  No! Prince William was actually spared of being a cakeface.  Perhaps Just Stop Oil is aware of William’s work with his Earthshot Prize which is an initiative being used to fund environmental solutions....