World's Finest Chocolate:Prove your worth before you brag for supremacy

The thing, which actually discerns an Internet user, is the fact that each and every one of the companies and individual out there unilaterally make a decision that they are the best and promote themselves keeping that point in mind. For an instance, when are seeking for online services, you go for reading the services of the company along with its history, reputation and pricing. But, can you put your faith on the text, which you read on these sites, when you already know that it has been written by someone affiliating? Can you have a belief in the fact that online home schooling is actually the world’s leading school? Do you feel biting like hungry fishes when a research company declares that the school is the best of its kind? Again, whenever you come across the ‘world’s finest chocolates’, do you feel like saying, ‘Well, from now onwards, I am going to buy them only?’

Or Are you, as a careful consumer, looking forward to make further investigation, reading reviews and reports of past consumers and then make a decision on the world’s finest chocolates or the best schools in western hemisphere? Well, I suspect you to be a part of the latter bunch of people. So, You’d wish to add the reports of the company, which calls itself the World’s Finest Chocolates.

Like most of you, I, myself, am a chocolate fiend too. I do know some of the chemical causes and effects of chocolate (in the pituitary gland and hypothalamus, chocolates act on your dopamine & serotonin levels and all that). I always live on chocolates as staple. I’ve sold chocolates for fundraisers in our school. I’ve even tried my hand at making triple-dipped and hand-rolled chocolates. So, I kind of have an idea of what works for me and also the ones around me.

Again, I worked for a company, which dealt in incentive sales during my ghastly grade school days. They supplied the incentive products and prizes for most fundraising product companies and local businesses. They also provided all newspaper supplies, which included the newspaper boxes, bags and rubber bands, to each paper across US. One of our fundraising product customers was the World’s Finest Chocolates.

While filing the order, I thought was it possible. Then I came across the CEO of West Coast. She was one of the prettiest, classiest and the most generous women that I had the pleasure of meeting. After every interaction, which she had with our company, she always left a sample in an amount that will suffice the entire bunch of people at our place. Those sample chocolates were coveted, salivated and much anticipated. No doubt, the chocolate lived up to its expectation. It was [one of the] world’s finest chocolate, which all of us ever came across.

And then too when we already had the popular See’s Candy in the west coast, makes them pretty tough to out-do.

So, now I must take back my complaint that all companies claiming themselves to be the best are full of it… I would reduce my allegation from every company to only those, who are yet to prove themselves. Another way of putting it is that when the company has been online only for couple of months and are referring themselves to be the best in a rare field, then they should think again. ‘The best’! You are yet to born. First, share the wares and then brag for the spot.

Drink Red Wine And Live Longer

RED WINE may be the next best thing to the fabled elixir of youth, new research suggests.

A compound in the skin of red grapes has been found to curb the effects of ageing, even when taken in tiny doses. Scientists believe the discovery, made in mice, may explain the so-called
"French paradox".

Experts have long puzzled over the fact that people in regions of France where food is soaked in saturated fat have astonishingly healthy hearts and arteries. Plant chemicals in red wine, which often accompanies French meals, have been suggested as a possible explanation.

The new study highlights one compound, resveratrol, which is known to have anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. Experiments with mice indicated that low doses of resveratrol mimic the effects of calorie restriction to combat ageing. Previous research has shown that reducing dietary calories by 20 to 30 per cent can extend lifespan and prevent genetic changes linked to ageing in a range of animals. Resveratrol appears to influence the same biological pathway, say the scientists.

Professor Tomas Prolla, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US, author of the research published this week in the online journal, said: "Resveratrol is active in much lower doses than previously thought and mimics a significant fraction of the profile of calorific restriction at the gene expression level."

The scientists investigated the influence of resveratrol by looking for changes in gene expression, or activity, in heart, muscle and brain tissues. As animals age, gene activity in different parts of the body changes as genes are switched on and off.

In the mouse heart there are at least 1,029 genes whose functions alter with age, leading to impaired function. When mice are fed a restricted diet, 90 per cent of this age-related change is
prevented.

The study found that low doses of resveratrol blocked harmful changes in 92 percent of the heart genes. At the same time, declines in heart function associated with ageing were prevented.
A glass of red wine, or food supplements containing even small doses of resveratrol, were likely to represent a "robust intervention in the retardation of cardiac ageing," the scientists wrote.

Prof Prolla said: "There must be a few master biochemical pathways activated in response to caloric restriction, which in turn activate many other pathways. And resveratrol seems to activate some of these master pathways as well."Whether or not resveratrol can extend life span will require further study.

Resveratrol is produced naturally by plants when they are under attack by bacteria or fungi. The compound is abundant in the skin of red grapes. Its concentration in red wine varies greatly depending on the grape variety. Smaller amounts of resveratrol are also found in blueberries, bilberries, cranberries and peanuts.

Dreams That Have Meaning

Dreams often tell us something. It might just be about our health or what future has in store.There are too many recorded incidents to dismiss dreams as mere "vestiges of the day" that get projected on the silver screen of the mind at night. Our own experience also points out the fact that, at times, dreams do try to tell us something vital or important, but we are unable to comprehend them. In my years of experience in interpreting dreams, I have gained some immense insights into the meanings and workings of dreams. Let us see some common dreams that most of us have dreamt at some point in our lives:

Exam dreams:

These dreams run something like this: We are unable to reach the examination hall and the clock is ticking away; our pen just refuses to work; we just don't seem to comprehend the question paper or recall the answers...the variations are endless. Fortunately, such dreams are not related to examinations at all. They suggest that we are being tested or scrutinized in some way in our lives. These may also be related to our self-esteem and confidence or the lack of it.

Chase dreams:

Who has not broken into a cold sweat running scared from an assailant or a murderous mob in dreams? Even if we ran fast, the pursuer always seemed to catch up. At the exact moment of getting caught, we woke up with a start! Although these dreams can arise from an actual fear of being attacked, they often stem from our feelings of anxiety in waking life. These dreams indicate running away from a difficult situation, rather than confronting it.

Naked dreams:

Turning crimson with embarrassment on finding ourselves completely or partially naked in public in our dreams generally leaves us unsettled on waking up. Such dreams are often a reflection of our lack of confidence or self-esteem in real life. We may be hiding something and are afraid that others might discover it by seeing right through us. Nudity also symbolizes our fear of getting caught or exposed in something that we have done. This dream can have variations, which can range from embarrassment to feeling proud about your nakedness in public. Each, of course, has different interpretation.

Falling dreams:

Almost all of us get scared out of our wits while plunging down from dizzying heights in our dreams. No amount of convincing can rid us of the fear that we will not actually die if we do not wake up before we hit the ground! Falling can be of two types — one when we wake up alarmed before we hit the ground, the other when we land slowly just before the point of impact. Both have different interpretations. Generally, falling is an indication of insecurity, instability and anxiety. Such dreams occur when we feel overwhelmed and out of control

Dreams of losing teeth:

Dreams of falling teeth are quite common. These may take the form of teeth crumbling in our hands or falling out one by one with just a light tap. It was thought that such dreams represented malnutrition. which may have been true for some dreamers. Actually, such dreams reflect our anxiety about appearance and how others perceive us.

All dream imagery is symbolic. Each dream symbol is person specific. In other words, what a symbol represents for one person can have an entirely different meaning for another. This is the reason why dream dictionaries generally prove useless. Of course, a common streak runs through all symbols, but they have to be interpreted in the context of the dream content.

Dreams driven by the subconscious mind usually reveal our underlying issues, often symbolically. For example, being held back or frustrated can be telling you to set some life goals and develop a strategy for achieving them. Our dreams support this endeavor by showing the causes and effects of our subconscious conditioning. Every thought nourished regularly by the mind activates the subconscious mind to generate those thoughts and energy whether good or bad into your life. So, any attempt to understand dreams or what is really going on in your life and mind , as well as in the lives and minds of others, cannot fully succeed unless it takes into account the study of subconscious mind.

Discover the potentials of your subconscious mind and experience a positive change in your life

Why Some People Commit Suicide

All over the world, as many as a thousand people try to commit suicide every day.

• From the survey made in the U.K. it was estimated that a very large number of people make suicide attempts every year. Numerically the largest number of suicides and attempts of suicide occurred in cases of people over 55.
  

• Many cases of suicide attempts are those of impressionable young girls who take an overdose of sleeping pills or tranquillizers; but much less than half the cases of people who attempt suicide really want to die. What is important to know is that many suicide attempts are a means of communication: virtually a cry for help and sympathy.

• The motives for suicides include bad health, troubled relationships with other people, material problems such as shortage of money, bad housing, a disorganised life, failure in marriage and living in a depressing area. People from broken homes often attempt suicide; chronic alcoholism can also be a cause.

• Suicide is the ultimate act in succumbing to stress.

• Compared with the so-called working classes in the developed countries the upper social classes are more prone to kill themselves. Doctors, in particular, are two-and-a-half times more likely to commit suicide as other men and one-and-a-half times as likely as their social equals.

• Two countries whose suicide rates appear to be going down are Japan and Britain. In Japan the reason is because ideas of dishonor and disgrace are changing and in Britain because of an organization called the Samaritans.

• To prevent suicide is the reason behind the existence of a world- wide organisation called the Samaritans. Anyone who is considering committing suicide can contact a member of the Samaritans who are specially trained to deal with such cases. Usually, all that is required is a sympathetic ear — somebody who will listen. If persons desperate enough to commit suicide can get someone sympathetic to listen patiently to their problems, the urge to commit suicide frequently subsides and then vanishes altogether. And that is where the Samaritans play such an important part.

• Ten times more men in the age group 65 to 69 kill themselves eachyear in the U.K. than do young men aged 20 to 25. They kill themselves by hanging, drowning, by inhaling gas, or taking an overdose of sleeping tablets and other such drugs.
  

Pre-eclampsia - A Risk Factor During Pregnancy

Pre-eclampsia is a common medical condition which most women suffer during pregnancy. The mother-to-be may also have certain other complications such as disturbances in her vision, headaches and pain in the upper abdomen.

Being a multi-organ disorder, pre-eclampsia affects the brain, kidneys, lungs, liver as well as the uterus of the mother, thereby putting the baby also at risk.

In its severe form seizures may also manifest and that's when the disorder goes from pre-eclampsia to eclampsia.

THE HIGH RISK GROUP

• A woman who is in her fifth month of pregnancy is at risk as research shows that most women are diagnosed between the 20-24th week of gestation.
• A woman who is pregnant for the first time is 15 times more likely to develop pre-eclampsia than a woman who has had a normal pregnancy in the past.
• A woman who has had a normal pregnancy in the past but is now expecting her first child from a new partner is at a greater risk. This is because pre-eclampsia can be partner specific.
• A woman who is pregnant post 35 years of age.
• A woman suffering from other medical conditions such as diabetes mellitus, chronic hypertension, chronic renal failure, migraines and asthma.
• A woman with a stressful lifestyle.
• A woman who suffered from pre-eclampsia in her previous pregnancies.
• A woman with a family history of the condition.
• The risk factor increases with certain conditions such as multiple pregnancy, a post term pregnancy etc.

WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR
The symptoms will vary depending on the degree of severity of the condition. In mild preeclampsia, symptoms include:

• Elevated blood pressure.
• Small amounts of protein in the urine.
• Swelling of the hands, feet or face.

SYMPTOMS OF SEVERE PREECLAMPSIA

• Very high blood pressure.
• Large amounts of protein in the urine.
• Decreased urine output.
• Severe headaches.
• Disturbances in vision.
• Pain in the upper abdomen.
• Decreased liver function.
• Decrease in the blood clotting ability of the body.

DIAGNOSIS
A confirmed medical diagnosis is made by means of laboratory evidence. Some of them are:

• Increased liver enzymes.
• Low platelet count.
• Increase in plasma creatinine, uric add.
• Increased circulating flbrinongen.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES
For those who fall in the high risk group, certain preventatrve measures are suggested, such as:

• Weight control
• Restriction of salt in the diet
• Regular intake of calcum supplements
• Regular intake of anti-oxidants such as vitamin C and B.

PREECLAMPSIA TREATMENTS
For those who have already been diagnosed with the condition, the treatment will vary with the severity of the condition. In mild forms, treatment includes:

• Bed rest
• Anti-hypertensive medications.

In severe forms, treatment includes:

• Hospitalization while blood pressure is brought under control
• In cases where the condition becomes life-threatening the baby may have to be delivered before time.

POST DELIVERY
Since pre-eclampsia is a condition peculiar to pregnancy it disappears within 12 weeks post delivery.

How To Loose Belly Fat And Stay Healthy

People who are in their 40s and have big bellies are much more likely to get Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia in their 70s, according to a new research that, for the first time, links the middle age spread to fading minds. Are you peering down to check if your stomach qualifies? Wait, there's more.

Twice the risk

The study of more than 6,000 people found the more fat they had in their guts in their early to mid-40s, the greater their chances of becoming forgetful or confused or showing other signs of senility as they aged. Those who had the largest mid-sections faced more than twice the risk of the leanest. Surprisingly, a sizable belly seems to increase the risk even among those who are not obese, or overweight, the researchers reported in a paper published last week by the journal Neurology.

Worst kind of fat

This research is the latest evidence that fat in the abdomen is the most dangerous kind. Previous studies have linked the apple-shaped physique to a greater risk of diabetes, heart disease, even cancer. Researchers suspect that those fat cells are the worst because of their proximity to major organs. "There is a lot of work out there that suggests that the fat wrapped around your inner organs is much more metabolically active than other types of fat right under the skin," said Rachel Whitmer, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California.

How it works

The risk of dementia, the researchers found, increased steadily with the amount of fat in the abdomen, even after accounting for alternative explanations, such as other diseases, bad habits and lower education. They found no such association for fat in the thigh. Stomach fat might increase the risk of dementia in the same ways that it promotes heart disease — by boosting blood pressure and constricting blood flow, Jose Luchsinger of Columbia University said. But Luchsinger and others said it might also promote the accumulation of a substance called amyloid found in the brain of Alzheimer's patients. While acknowledging that more research was needed, Whitmer said that this type of fat is the most easily shed by dieting and exercise. So if you are in your 40s, sit glued to a computer screen all day and boast of a prosperous midriff, it may be time to get off the couch.

Fitness experts advise you on how you can alter your diet and crank up your exercise routine to stall the middle-age spread.

Diet and exercise

By the time you hit your 40s, the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), the rate at which your body burns calories even during rest, goes down. Whatever extra you eat gets stored as fat. Increasing physical activity is of primary importance. Start off on and weight training. Cardio is very essential because it helps you burn fat. Building lean muscle tissue also helps burn fat. You have to do a lot of stretching for the body to recuperate. If it doesn't recuperate, the body will not react to the next day's workout. You can't lose midriff fat only with abdominal crunches. These will help tone your muscles, but it's the layer of fat that has to go. Your diet does 90 per cent of the work; weight-training, cardio and stretching do the rest.

Aim for the mobile fat

Before elaborating on the diet needed to stay healthy into your 70s, Dr B Sesikeran, Director of the National Institute of Nutrition, also stressed on the importance of being mentally active. "A person can put on weight due to a lack of physical activity." So we need to consider some basic lifestyle changes, beginning with reducing oily, deep-fried foods in our diet. Refined foods like maida, polished rice, and wheat without the bran, have no dietary-fibre, essential for decreasing the rate at which glucose enters the blood from the intestines. More fibre translates to better control on blood sugar levels. Abdominal fat is both visceral (surrounding organs like the Intestines and the liver) and sub-cutaneous (accumulated under the skin.) While subcutaneous fat is tougher to lose, it is less harmful. Visceral fat on the other hand is more harmful. This is highly mobile fat and constantly circulates in your body as fatty acids. When they break down, they release free radicals that damage cells, including those in the nerves. This process is called oxidative stress. Eating your greens and taking your daily dose of fruits helps tackle that by increasing the level of antioxidants in your body.

Cutting down on calories also includes cutting down on all that social drinking. Alcohol only provides empty calories and increases fat accumulation. If your excuse is the antioxidant content of the red wine, you can get that from grapes as well.

Abdominal fat is an indicator of a host of other problems such as sleep disorders, narrowed blood vessels, and higher triglyceride and lipid levels in the blood. It also indicates lesser blood circulating in the brain, which makes a person more prone to neuro-degenerative diseases like dementia. Keeping your diet in check can only help prevent further abdominal fat from accumulating. To reduce already existing fat, you need to exercise.

If you really want to get rid of the stubborn belly fat and look forward to a healthy life, here's a key to a simplified comprehensive plan that will help you kill and remove the unhealthy belly fat out of your body forever.

Secret To Beat Belly Fat Easily And Effectively

A Tattoo Could Prove Good For Health

Studies on mice show the future of vaccines may be in tattoos. Results show vaccines given by tattooing produced antibody levels about 16 times higher than vaccines by injection. It is more effective in delivering DNA vaccines, say researchers.

We may all be getting tattoos in the future— tattooed vaccinations against disease, that is. German researchers have shown that tattooing is a more effective way of delivering DNA vaccines than intramuscular injection.

Martin Mueller and his team at the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (German Cancer Research Centre) in Heidelberg published their findings in the online open access journal, Genetic Vaccines and Therapy.

Using a coat protein from the human papillomavirus (HPV the cause of cervical cancer) as a model DNA vaccine antigen, they compared delivery by tattooing the skin of mice with standard intramuscular injection with and without the molecular adjuvants that are often given to boost immune response.

The tattoo method gave a stronger humoral (antibody) response and cellular response than intramuscular injection, even when adjuvants were included in the latter. Three doses of DNA vaccine given by tattooing produced at least 16 times higher antibody levels than three intramuscular injections with adjuvant. The adjuvants enhanced the effect of intramuscular injection, but not of tattooing.

Tattooing is an invasive procedure done with a solid vibrating needle, causing a wound and sufficient inflammation to "prime" the immune system. It also covers a bigger area of the skin than an injection, so the DNA vaccine can enter more cells. These effects may account for the stronger immune response arising from introducing a DNA vaccine into the body by tattooing.

Of course, the tattooing approach may not be to everyone's taste - as it is likely to hurt - but the researchers believe that it could have a role in, for instance, routine vaccination of cattle or in delivering therapeutic (rather than prophylactic) vaccines to humans.

"Vaccination with naked DNA has been hampered by its low efficiency" says Mueller. "Delivery of DNA via tattooing could be a way for a more widespread commercial application of DNA vaccines."

This adds another reason for those who want to wear tattoo as a fashion acceessory because if you are planning to get a tattoo done, you are on your way to protect yourself from any number of diseases, including some cancers.

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