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Obesity Has More to Do With Diet Than Excercise
Researchers have studied a hunter-gatherer tribe, the Hazdas, and have discovered that despite much higher levels of activity compared to Western lifestyles, their metabolic rate is identical to ours. Even after corrections for height and weight, all Hazda men and women aged 18 to 75 burn calories at the same rate of people in the West.
This has shone a bright light on the importance of diet, especially when it comes to portion size. According to one of the chief researchers, Dr. Pontzer,
“This to me says that the big reason that Westerners are getting fat is because we eat too much – it’s not because we exercise too little. Being active is really important to your health but it won’t keep you thin – we need to eat less to do that.”
Energy expenditure happens to be almost identical across the physiological board.
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North Korea Propaganda About the Western World is Sadly Accurate
http://kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com North Korea has recently released a film illustrating what it sees as Western propaganda; revealing the consumeristic and capitalistic world of the West. The poignancy of the video sent shivers down my spine. In an endless attempt to better ourselves and our world, we may as well learn from any and all sources.
The video is hauntingly accurate. It is weird to think that a video produced in such an underdeveloped, struggling, downright crazy country can present so much truth about the life of the West in one package. Take a look in the mirror. You have been born and raised in this society:
http://www.ourbreathingplanet.com That being said, I am by no means claiming that North Korea is a great country. It is a country founded on the deception of its citizens and a refusal to cooperate with the world at large (sound familiar?). The North Korean government starves its citizens of healthy food and jobs on a massive scale in favor of an expensive, standing military (sound familiar?). Don’t get me wrong, despite working in South Korea right now, I don’t want to be anywhere near North Korea as it now stands.
Instead of talking about how much better we are than other cultures in the world, why don’t we compare ourselves to… our selves. I’m talking about growth and evolution (on an individual, communal, national, and global scale) for the sake of being the best we can be, not just one-uping someone else!
Sources:
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North Korean Propaganda About the Western World is Sadly Accurate
North Korea has recently released a propaganda video illustrating the consumeristic and capitalistic world of the West. It sent shivers down my spine. In an endless attempt to better ourselves and our world, we may as well learn from any and all sources.
Strangely, the video is hauntingly accurate. It is weird to think that a video produced in such an underdeveloped, struggling, downright crazy country can present so much truth about the life of the West in one package. Take a look in the mirror. You have been born and raised in this society.
That being said, I am by no means claiming that North Korea is a great country. It is a country founded on the deception of its citizens and a refusal to cooperate with the world at large (sound familiar?). The North Korean government starves its citizens of healthy food and jobs on a massive scale in favor of an expensive, standing military (sound familiar?). Don’t get me wrong, despite working in South Korea right now, I don’t want to be anywhere near North Korea as it now stands.
Instead of talking about how much better we are than other cultures in the world, why don’t we compare ourselves to… our selves. Growth and evolution (on an individual, communal, national, and global scale) for the sake of being the best we can be, not just one-uping someone else!
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Epigenetics and Altering Your DNA
The world used to believe that we were all bound by the fate of our genetics. Science is now telling us that is far from the truth. Epigenetics, a fairly new field of study in genetics, has revolutionized the way we think of genes and the effect we can have on our own behavior and health. More importantly, it has redifined the way in which we can affect our offspring.
Epigenetics is derived form the word ‘epi’ which is Greek for ‘above, or outer.’ Researchers have located centers outside of the nucleotides of DNA called epigenetic centers that can be altered and affect our health as well as the way we think and behave. These centers can be altered without changing the underlying DNA sequence of our beings. And yet, despite the DNA remaining physically unchanged, traits can be passed down to future offspring through these epigenetic changes creating temporary but fundamental changes (1 – 70 or more generations) to genetic makeup. This has profound implications for our current theories regarding inheritance and evolution.
The bad news first: the detrimental choices you make to your health, like smoking cigarettes, can in fact effect the genetic behavior of your children.
The good news: we are at no time utterly bound by our genes. For good or bad, change is always an option!
This Time article does a great job explaining the history, theories and contemporary research currently being implemented in the field of epigenetics.
This places a new level of responsibility on each and every one of us. Your decision to become a musician may turn your great great great great grand daughter into the next Rebecca Black. Just remember, it was your fault!
This discovery stresses the importance of holding ourselves accountable for the future. Our genes aren’t just a factor of the person we choose to mate with, they are molded by every moment of our lives. A famous Iroquois saying tells people to think of everything they do or say with 7 generations ahead in mind. Epigenetics is telling us the same thing, except instead of 7 generations, think 1000.
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Music’s Grand Effects on the Mind
http://www.elevate.ie Music training can help improve quality of life Music isn’t just an interest, it’s a way of life. Researchers say that even a small amount of music training when we are young can dramatically effect the way our brains develop. Music training can have many beneficial outcomes. Scientific American states that:
…researchers have found that musicians are better able to process foreign languages because of their ability to hear differences in pitch, and have incredible abilities to detect speech in noise.
So that is great for professionals with years of music training, but what about people with only a few years of band class?
The study of 45 adults with varying degrees of musical background revealed that
music training had a profound impact on the way the study subjects’ brains responded to sounds. The people who had studied music, even if only for a few years, had more robust neural processing of the different test sounds. Most importantly, though, the adults with music training were more effective at pulling out the fundamental frequency, or lowest frequency sound, of the test noises.
Music training has shown to be a powerful tool in helping people with many obstacles in life. Children that study music in school have stronger reading skills, increased math abilities, and higher general intelligence scores. Music also improves sociability as people believe music helps them be better team players and have higher self-esteem.
Music can even awaken the brain into a more conscious, active state. Watch the video below documenting a senile, dimensia-stricken man whose brain is awoken from a nearly unresponsive state into lucidity, all by listening to music.
Historically, music therapy has existed since the late 1700’s. Music has become exponentially more popular as a form of therapy, with over 5,500 certified music therapists around the world.
Intellectuals from every walk of life have expressed the joy and depth of music. One of my favorite quotes:
“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” -Aldous Huxley
Sources:
Scientific American: Benefit of Music Training
Science Daily: Music and Reading Skills
University of Illinois: Music and Math Ability
Music’s effect on Intelligence
Music and Team Playing Improvement
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Music’s Grand Effects on the Brain
Researchers say that even a small amount of music training when we are young can dramatically effect the way our brains develop.
It is well known that professional musicians are better at processing foreign languages because they can hear the differences in pitch more closely, but what about a few years of band class?
The study of 45 adults with varying degrees of musical background reveals that “music training had a profound impact on the way the study subjects’ brains responded to sounds. The people who had studied music, even if only for a few years, had more robust neural processing of the different test sounds. Most importantly, though, the adults with music training were more effective at pulling out the fundamental frequency, or lowest frequency sound, of the test noises.”
Children that study music in school have stronger reading skills, increased math abilities, and higher general intelligence scores. Music also improves sociability as people believe music helps them be better team players and have higher self-esteem.
Music can even awaken the brain into a more conscious, active state. Watch this video about a very old man whose brain is awoken from a nearly unresponsive state into lucidity.
Intellectuals from every walk of life have expressed the joy and depth of music. One of my favorite quotes:
“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”
-Aldous Huxley
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Huge Rise in Skin Cancer Among Young Women
The Mayo Clinic has found that over the course of nearly 40 years from 1970 to 2009 a dramatic rise in skin cancer has occurred. To be exact, an eight fold increase in women, and a four fold increase in men!
Most alarming is the frighteningly spiked increase of melanoma found in women in their 20’s and 30’s.
I think for many of us, this is no surprise. There are multiple tanning salons in nearly every city and town. The desire to have a tanned complexion has become a social epidemic.
I have news for you girls; orange is not a good look, and cancer is even worse. Any guy who prefers a fake tan on his partner is either legally blind, extremely sadistic, or entirely brainwashed. Drop him, and find a man that likes you for you.
I have heard many women claim that they just happen to like the way tanning makes them look. According to the study “people who use indoor tanning beds frequently are 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma.” Is the orange glow really worth the risk?
It’s time to alter our conceptions of beauty and opt for happy, healthy lives instead. That or just dive in to the melanoma pool and lead a life like this woman.
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The Big Bang Wasn’t the Beginning
A team of physicists are now hypothesizing that the big bang may not have been the beginning of the universe. They believe that the big bang is instead the start of a phase change, like liquid water suddenly cooling to form solid ice.
The theory gets really interesting as the physicists discuss potential cracks in the universe like the cracks that form in actual ice. One of the researchers, Quach, explained that the universe can be thought of “as being like a liquid, then as the universe cools, it ‘crystallises’ into the three spatial and one time dimension that we see today. Theorized this way, as the universe cools, we would expect that cracks should form, similar to the way cracks are formed when water freezes into ice.”
The theory postulates that space and time are emerging properties of the universe that did not always exist. The theory’s math holds up, but even if the physicists do find the ‘cracks’ only time will tell whether the theory is even partially correct. A whole lot of time. And by that time a wholly other set of properties may emerge making the notion of time moot.
As for now, it’s certainly fun to consider.
Isn’t mystery just awesome?
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The Greatest Medical Discovery of Our Time: Starve Cancer by Eating
Everybody in the world has a body that produces abnormal cancer cells. For most people, the cancer cells, usually the size of the tip of a ball point pen, does not have any available oxygen from surrounding blood vessels, and thus perishes. In this same way, if we are able to destroy the tiny capillary veins through a natural process of antiangiogenisis the cancer cells will be rendered harmless and quickly disappear without any available oxygen.
In this TED talk, William Li describes a new approach to treating cancer by halting angiogenesis, or the growth of blood vessels. By consuming antiangiogenic foods the survival time of patients with late stage cancer can be extended by more than six times the normal span.
Many different antiangiogenic drugs and topical creams have been created but they come with the price of dealing with many side effects. Not only is antiangiogenic food side effect free, it is also cheaper and, most importantly, more effective.
Li has already shown dramatically effective and efficient results in his work but takes the idea of treating cancer a step further by emphasizing prevention. Very simply, all forms of cancer, and more over disease, can be prevented through diet.
This article goes into detail regarding how the antiangiogenic properties of certain foods were discovered. It also mentions many diseases that can be treated through antiangiogensis including:
- Cancer
- Blindness
- Psoriasis
- Endometriosis
- Obesity
- Rosacea
- Alzheimers
A list of some highly antiangiogenic foods are as follow:
- Green Tea
- Strawberries
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Oranges
- Grapefruits
- Lemons
- Apples
- Pineapples
- Cherries
- Red grapes
- Red wine
- Bok Choy
- Soybean
- Ginseng
- Maitake
- Licorice
- Turmeric
- Nutmeg
- Artichoke
- Lavender
- Pumpkin
- Sea Cucumber
- Tuna
- Parsley
- Garlic
- Tomato
- Olive Oil
- Grape Seed
- Dark Chocolate
“Of these foods, the ones that appear to have the most potent anti-angiogenesis activity include (in order of potency):”
- Soy extract
- Artichoke
- Parsley
- Berries
- Soy
- Garlic
- Red grapes
- Brassica
- Citrus
- Lavender
- Green tea
- Glucosamine
- Turmeric
- Tea
Li also discusses how the foods almost miraculously and inexplicably work synergistically. Researchers tested the antiangiogenic properties “of three different types of tea to inhibit blood vessel growth. In this study, they determined that they all had anti-angiogenesis activity, however, of the three, Earl Grey appeared to be the most potent. The researchers then decided to combine the two weaker teas and test the anti-angiogenesis activity of the mixture. They discovered that the combination of the two weaker teas resulted in more inhibition of blood vessel growth than the stronger Earl Grey tea. According to Dr. Li, this shows the presence of what is called “Nutritional Synergy” meaning, smaller quantities of many different nutrients and phytochemicals is likely superior to high quantities of fewer nutrients.”
Food is medicine, and prevention is the key to longer, healthier lives.
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Bonobo Makes Tools Similar to Early Humans
Kanzi the genius Bonobo can speak sign language, assign words to his favorite items, and can now create relatively sophisticated stone tools!
The most remarkable aspect of the tools Kanzi created “is their resemblance to early hominid tools.” Kanzi is able to crate and distinguish between wedges, choppers, scrapers and drills in order to get hard-to-access food.
These findings may help illuminate what defines modern human culture.
It is unclear whether these specific tools could be created by Bonobos in nature without any direct influence. One thing is clear though, the potential is there!
ape, Bonobo, creation, culture, genius, hominid, homo, human, intelligence, Kanzi, monkey, sign language, stone tools, tools, wedge
Wonder about your world…
Take the plunge down the rabbit hole of insanity and wonder in this fast-paced, nonstop psychological thriller that will leave you questioning the very nature of reality and beyond. Part thriller, part romance, part existential horror, A Dream of Waking Life delves into lucid dreaming, psychedelics, existential ontology, video games, the nature of love, the nature of reality, and more.
Mendel’s Ladder delivers an adrenaline-fueled journey set on a dystopian future Earth, brimming with high-stakes action, adventure, and mystery. This epic series opener plunges readers into a world filled with diverse cultures, heart-pounding battles, and characters who will captivate your heart and imagination.
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Wondergressive 
