Health Benefits of Pears:

• As pears are rich in vitamin C, they have antioxidant properties and protect the cells of the body from the damage caused by free radicals.
• Dietary fiber in pears aids in preventing constipation and ensure regular bowel movement.
• According to the studies, regular consumption of pears protect women from postmenopausal breast cancer.
• Foliate present pears prevent neural tube defects in babies.
• If pears are consumed regularly, they may reduce the risk of age related muscular degeneration. This is the primary cause of vision loss in older people.
• Intake of pear juice assists in relieving pain in several inflammatory conditions.
• Boron in pears aids body to retain calcium, thereby lowers osteoporosis risk.
• It has been noticed that this fruit aids in lowering blood pressure and chances of heart stroke too.
• Pectin present in pears helps in reducing cholesterol levels.
• This fruit is good for colon health.

I have already listed several ways in order to keep my body from becoming fat this season. First I will go to the gym tomorrow. Biking is one of my favorite activities in the gym since it can make me sweat a manifestation that I am burning fats. It also serves as my cardio exercise, which is vital for my blood circulation. Getting into shape is also my goal when I am on the gym so weight lifting will be a big help in attaining sculpted arms.

Another way of burning these fats in my body is by taking food supplement which aims to catabolize excess fats in the body. I would use those that are made from natural ingredients like those plant base supplements. I would also have to consult my physician first before taking the supplement to make sure that it is safe for me.

So there those are my plans to burn my fats away I just hope I can really accomplish them.

The journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence is set to publish a study that showed people who had never adopted the habit scored 37% better on a cognitive test than smokers. Those who had quit smoking for at least two and a half years fared 25% better than those still puffing. We’ve known that smoking effects retrospective memory, but this study reveals that smoking undermines your prospective memory, which is what you need to remember to carry out activities such as putting the toilet seat down, buying her flowers on her birthday and remembering to call on your anniversary.

In the United States alone, cutting salt intake by a third would save tens of thousands of lives per year and shave $24 billion off of health care costs. Reducing the country’s intake of salt could also reduce the deficit.

The equation is fairly simple: salt intake is directly correlated to blood pressure. In turn, high blood pressure is linked to strokes and heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in developed countries.

Sounds serious enough, but try convincing someone to trade in their salty French fries and pretzels for an abstract concept of better health down the road.

The correlation between over-salting and death isn’t as direct as a gunshot or a car accident, but the science is solid: The white stuff will kill you if you’re not careful.

This delicate oriental fruit is native of china. It spread to Japan very long ago and later was introduced to California during the middle of nineteenth century.

Health benefits of persimmon fruit

• The fruit is low in calories (provides 70 cal/100g) and fats but is rich source of dietary fiber.
• Persimmons contain many health benefiting phyto-nutrients flavonoid poly-phenolic anti-oxidants like catechins and gallocatechins as well as important anti-tumor compound betulinic acid. Catechins are known to have anti-infective, anti-inflammatory and anti-hemorrhagic (prevents bleeding from small blood vessels) properties.
• Fresh permissions contain anti-oxidant compounds like vitamin-A, beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin and cryptoxanthin. Together, these compounds functions as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that plays a role in aging and various disease processes.
• Zeaxanthin, an important dietary carotenoid, selectively absorbed into the retinal macula lutea in the eyes where it is thought to provide antioxidant and protective light-filtering functions; thus, helps prevent “Age related macular disease”(ARMD) in the elderly.
• The fruits are also very good source of vitamin-C, another powerful antioxidant (especially native Chinese and American persimmons; provide 80% of DRI). Regular consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.
• The fruit is good in many valuable B-complex vitamins such as folic acid, pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), thiamin…etc. These vitamins act as co-factors for numerous metabolic enzymatic functions in the body.
• Fresh Persimmon fruits also contain healthy amounts of minerals like potassium, manganese (15% of DRI), copper (12% of DRI),  and phosphorus. Manganese is a co-factor for the enzyme, superoxide dismutase, which is a very powerful free radical scavenger. Copper is a co-factor for many vital enzymes, including cytochrome c-oxidase and superoxide dismutase (other minerals function as cofactors for this enzyme are manganese and zinc). Copper is also required for the production of red blood cells.

Concentration
Concentration is the second exercise of Yogoda that is practiced to stimulate the ability to concentrate. This exercise allows focus on internal and external problems and questions while ignoring distractions and external surroundings. According to Yogoda practitioners, realizing divine consciousness is enhanced with improved concentration. Concentration is developed through lengthy meditation and focused posture.

Meditation
With the exercises of energization and concentration comes what is considered by Yogoda supporters to be the most important element of Yogoda; meditation. Both energization and concentration are drawn upon to utilize the full capacity of meditation to reach the point of self realization and total awareness of the trinity of spirit, body and mind. The exercise of meditation is developed through regular practice with the intention of reaching ultimate clarity.

In a study that followed older French adults for five years, researchers found that those who regularly used olive oil were 41 percent less likely to have a stroke than those who never used the oil.

The findings, reported in the journal Neurology, hint that the well-known connection between olive oil and heart disease might extend to stroke as well.

Olive oil is a key ingredient in the so-called Mediterranean diet. And some clinical trials have suggested that the diet helps control risk factors for heart disease, like high blood pressure, abdominal obesity and elevated levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol.

High olive oil intake is also linked to a lower risk of heart attack, and a longer lifespan among heart attack survivors.

These latest findings support the general advice that people replace dubious dietary fats — namely, saturated fats and “trans” fats — with olive oil and other unsaturated fats, according to an expert not involved in the study.

But he also stressed that the study does not prove that olive oil, per se, helps prevent strokes.

“We need to remember that this is an observational study,” said Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York who wrote an editorial published with the study.

The study found a correlation between people’s olive oil use and their stroke risk, he told Reuters Health — but that doesn’t necessarily translate into cause-and-effect.

“People who use a lot of olive oil may be very different from people who don’t,” Scarmeas said.

Olive oil users may, for example, have higher incomes, eat better overall or exercise more often than people who never use the oil.

The researchers on the new study, led by C?cilia Samieri of the French national research institute INSERM, tried to account for those differences. And after they did, olive oil was still linked to a lower stroke risk.

But it’s impossible to fully account for all those variables, Scarmeas noted. What’s needed, he said, are clinical trials where people are randomly assigned to use olive oil or not, then followed over time to see who suffers a stroke.

Such clinical trials are considered the “gold standard” of medical evidence.

The current study included 7,625 French adults age 65 and older who reported on their diets and other lifestyle factors. People who said they used olive oil for both cooking and as a dressing were considered “intensive users.”

Over the next five to six years, those intensive users suffered strokes at a rate of 0.3 percent per year. That compared with just over 0.5 percent among non-users, and 0.4 percent among moderate users.

When the researchers factored in other diet habits, exercise levels and major risk factors for stroke — like high blood pressure and diabetes — heavy olive oil use was tied to 41 percent reduction in the odds of stroke.

Samieri’s team also took blood samples from another 1,245 older adults, measuring their levels of oleic acid — a monounsaturated fat that accounts for most of the fatty acids in olive oil. The one-third of participants with the highest oleic acid levels were 73 percent less likely to suffer a stroke than the one-third with the lowest levels.

The findings, according to Scarmeas, argue for more research into olive oil’s potential benefits against not only heart disease, but stroke and other neurological diseases as well.

For now, he suggested that people choose olive oil and other unsaturated fats over saturated fats (found largely in meat and dairy) and trans fats (found in some processed foods, like crackers, cookies and chips).

“It’s better to rely on this type of fat for your overall health,” Scarmeas said.

That said, no single food is consumed in isolation, he points out in his editorial.

Olive oil is one part of the Mediterranean diet that has been tied to heart benefits. The diet also boasts plenty of fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fish and moderate amounts of red wine.

They did detect an increased risk in men, but only when cholesterol was at almost twice the average level.

The report in Annals of Neurology recommends using a different type of fat in the blood, non-fasting triglycerides, to measure the risk.

The Stroke Association said triglyceride tests needed to become routine to reduce the risk of stroke.

A total of 150,000 people have a stroke in the UK each year. Most are ischemic strokes, in which a clot in an artery disrupts the brain’s blood supply.

The research followed 13,951 men and women, who took part in the Copenhagen City Heart Study.

During the 33-year study, 837 men and 837 women had strokes.

Poor predictor

They reported that the cholesterol levels in women were not associated with stroke, while there was only an association in men with levels higher than 9mmol/litre. The average in UK men is 5.5.

The researchers at Copenhagen University Hospital said this was “difficult to explain” as LDL, or bad, cholesterol is known to cause atherosclerosis which can block arteries.

They did notice a link, in both men and women, between the risk of stroke and non-fasting triglycerides.

They believe these fats are a marker for “remnant cholesterol” which is left behind when other forms of cholesterol are made.

Dr Peter Coleman, deputy director of research at The Stroke Association said: “Tests for triglyceride levels aren’t routinely carried out in the UK unless there is significant concern.”

“We know that high levels of fats, such as cholesterol, increase your risk of having a stroke. However, this research shows the importance of measuring the fat triglyceride, as well as cholesterol.

“This study highlights the importance of measuring triglycerides routinely in order to reduce a person’s risk of stroke.”

The key to a healthy balanced diet is not to ban or omit any foods or food groups but to balance what you eat by consuming a variety of foods from each food group in the right proportions for good health.

Fruit and vegetables

These should make up about a third of your daily diet and can be eaten as part of every meal, as well as being the first choice for a snack.

You should eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. Research suggests this can help to protect against cancer, obesity and various chronic diseases such as heart disease. This is because of the unique package of nutrients and plant compounds they contain.

Bread, rice, potatoes and pasta

This food group should also make up about a third of your diet and contains the starchy carbohydrates that are the body’s main source of energy.

When selecting products from this food group, choose unrefined carbohydrates over those that have been refined, as they will contain the whole of the grain. Wholegrain foods are rich in fibre and other nutrients that have many health benefits, and people who consume wholegrains seem to have a reduced risk of certain cancers, diabetes and coronary heart disease.

The final third of the eatwell plate is made up of three groups containing foods that need to be consumed in smaller proportions than the other two principal categories. These food groups also contain nutrients essential to our diet, so it’s important not to leave them out altogether.