Some people think mushrooms are nutritional nothings. But enlivening soup, salads, sandwiches and anything else you can think of with this flavorful fungus could mean something big for your heart.
Mushrooms may be the top source of a compound called ergothioneine. That turns out to be a big word for healthy: In the lab, the substance reigned supreme in inhibiting adhesion molecules -- the bad boys responsible for helping plaque-forming cells latch onto blood vessel walls.
Ergothioneine is found in other foods, too, including wheat germ and chicken liver. But the amount in white button mushrooms is four to 12 times higher, and meaty Portobello mushrooms have even more. Add to that the fact that Portobello shrooms, just 22 calories per raw cupful, often can stand in for fatty meat (far more than 22 calories per cup!) and contain a lot of magnesium too, and you have a tasty recipe for younger arteries and maybe a smaller waistline, too.
Other reasons to choose mushrooms, In another study, the white button variety boosted production of natural killer cells in mice. If the same thing happens in humans, that's great news, because killer cells help defend against tumors and virus-infected cells. The biggest reason to pile them on wherever you can imagine. They taste great.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
The Two Second Way To Save Your Life
Turn off your phone and put it away when you get in the car. You'll seriously up your odds of a longer and better life.
No, don't switch to a headset; even though some states now mandate them as safer, on the hands-free theory, Washington is the most recent to completely ban driving while holding a cell phone to your ear. Five states and D.C. have nixed it.
But here's the thing, hands-free devices don't necessarily make it safer for you to talk while driving. There's still the brain-free problem. A new study shows that chatting with someone you can't see uses up spatial attention, essential for driving well. Talking, especially the subconscious act of thinking about what you're going to say (even if it doesn't come out so thoughtfully) interferes with your visual attention even more than listening does. So it should be no surprise that driving while phoning gives you a four times higher crash risk than driving with the phone turned off and there only for emergencies.
At all hours of the day and night, 6 percent of American drivers are talking on cell phones. That's another reason to put yours away, someone has to be alert around the people who are talking to their spouses on the phone, watching their kids in the backseat and reaching for their soy latte at the same time.
Believe it or not, whole generations of people used to drive around quite happily without talking on the phone. Try it. You'll like it.
No, don't switch to a headset; even though some states now mandate them as safer, on the hands-free theory, Washington is the most recent to completely ban driving while holding a cell phone to your ear. Five states and D.C. have nixed it.
But here's the thing, hands-free devices don't necessarily make it safer for you to talk while driving. There's still the brain-free problem. A new study shows that chatting with someone you can't see uses up spatial attention, essential for driving well. Talking, especially the subconscious act of thinking about what you're going to say (even if it doesn't come out so thoughtfully) interferes with your visual attention even more than listening does. So it should be no surprise that driving while phoning gives you a four times higher crash risk than driving with the phone turned off and there only for emergencies.
At all hours of the day and night, 6 percent of American drivers are talking on cell phones. That's another reason to put yours away, someone has to be alert around the people who are talking to their spouses on the phone, watching their kids in the backseat and reaching for their soy latte at the same time.
Believe it or not, whole generations of people used to drive around quite happily without talking on the phone. Try it. You'll like it.
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