• I loved this heading from one of my medical newsletters…”Garlic protects women’s hips”. Visions of cloves of garlic stuck all over my hips suddenly filled my head.  I mean, garlic is one of my favorite food items, and I knew it could help my heart…but my hips?  Well, apparently researchers in England found that women who ate a lot of garlic and onions had a lower incidence of hip osteoarthritis.  Of course, no one can stand to be in the same room with them after a meal!

• Now, I have used hummus in place of mayonnaise on a turkey sandwich in the past, but I recently ran across a suggestion for other healthy spreads for sandwiches that sound worth trying.  The three examples are:

1. Black beans with balsamic vinegar and tahini
2. Kidney beans with apple cider vinegar and basil
3. Lentils with sesame ginger dressing

Put three parts of the vinegar with one part of the cooked legumes in the blender, doctoring it until it suits your fancy.  Not only is it suggested for  sandwiches, but also as a veggie dip and sauce for pizza and pasta (I’m not so sure about that one).

• I thought this was pretty cool…there are actually websites out there that will buy your unused gift cards from you.  Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever NOT used a gift card; but apparently it happens a lot, to the tune of $2.5 billion of unused cards in 2010!  Be forewarned that more money is paid for the cards from the more popular retailers out there, i.e. Walmart, Home Depot, Macy’s, the Apple Store, etc.  Of course, they aren’t going to give you the face value of the card, but it’s certainly better than having them gathering dust in a kitchen drawer.  Not only can you sell the cards you won’t use, but you can buy discounted cards from these sites for a retail outlet you might want or even trade.  The sites I looked at were Cardpool, Giftcardrescue, Giftcards, and Monstergiftcard.

• Thanks to AARP (again!), I found this site that, in actuality, my children would be using for me if I wasn’t the wonderfully tech savvy person that I am (try to keep the laughter to a minimum).  The website was developed by Google (of course), and is a way for “kids”, as they call them, to email techie instructional videos to their parents who need help with such things as copy/paste, how to change the screensaver or wallpaper on the computer, how to find directions or have a video chat.  The format is very humorous, but not condescending enough to be insulting.  If my mother had a computer, I might even send her a few.  If you know someone who needs “help”, check out TeachParentsTech.org.

That’s info junkie for this week.  I think I’ll go eat some roasted garlic now while I search my kitchen drawers for old gift cards!

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I apologize to you…and to myself…for letting so much time lapse since my last post.  Many of you who are my personal friends know that from August through November of last year, I was dealing with issues regarding my father and finally have him with me here in the St. Charles area.  Then came the holidays and also just trying to get myself back on track after traveling so much and not taking the best care of myself and my recovery.

BUT!!! Now I am feeling good and am functioning in a more organized fashion…which means I am once again making time to blog for me and my “fans”!

SOoooooooo, on to Information Junkie Day!

From my January 2011 Natural Healing newsletter, more on the benefits of eating walnuts.  If you suffer with high blood pressure, you should consider adding walnuts to your diet.   Penn State University researchers have shown that for those with high LDL levels, eating walnuts and/or walnut oil can lower their resting blood pressure and stress level blood pressure by a couple points.

Next, here are a few websites dealing with travel just in time to start planning those summer vacations:

Air Travel –

• Momondo.com
• Dohop.com
• Kayak.com

Car Rentals –

• AutoSlash.com
• BreezeNet.com

Hotels –

• HotelsCombined.com
• BetterBidding.com
• BiddingForTravel.com

Home Rentals –

• HomeAway.com
• VRBO.com
• Zonder.co
• Rentalo.com
• SecondPorch.com

Cruises –

• VacationsToGo.com
• CruisesOnly.com
• CruiseStar.com
• CruiseBrothers.com
• Cruise.com
• OnlineVacationCenter.com

Okay, I must admit I’m not a big fan of Martha Stewart, but somehow last year I ended up with a subscription to her magazine, Living.  Grudgingly, I must say there have been some interesting ideas and products in it.  Here’s a product I didn’t know about…”silver-crowned bulbs”.  If you have light fixtures in your home where the light bulbs are exposed, you may want to consider trying these.  The top of the bulb has a silver coating that covers up the internal parts of the bulb and “diffuses” the light.  Of course, this fashionable option comes at a price…$5 each.  If you’re interested, check them out at www.gracioushome.com, which is actually a pretty cool site with everything you could possibly want for your home…sort of like a Bed, Bath & Beyond online.

Lastly today, I was reading in AARP…yes, I am a card-carrying member…about new words that have now made it into the dictionary.  Here are a few, along with their definitions:

• Sheeple, noun – Unquestioning followers (from sheep + people)
• Turducken, noun – Roast of a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey – WHAT???????
• Cheeseball, adj. – Lacking taste or style
• Bromance, noun – Close platonic male friendship – I HAVE A LOT OF THESE!  It’s a lot easier than romance!
• Matchy-matchy, adj. – Excessively color-coordinated
• Chillax, verb – To calm down and relax…which is what I’m going to do right now, since I’m no longer feeling stressed that I haven’t posted to my blog in six months!

Glad to be back in the saddle, so to speak.  More to come…but not today!

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The July 15, 2010 edition of Bottom Line Personal had quite a few gems I found interesting:

• Buzzillions.com – This is an awesome website that will help you with your purchasing decisions.  Somewhat like a Consumer Report, the reviews of the items at this site (over 11.5 million, BTW) are all done by average Joes like you and me!  They have every category imaginable (electronics, computers, sporting goods, home and garden, shoes, toys, YOU NAME IT!).  Plus on the home page, you will see the Most Popular Top 10 Lists (washers, robotic pool cleaners, hybrid bikes, etc.).  On the right-hand margin, you’ll see an ever-changing  selection of individual product reviews.  It’s a well laid out, clean, user-friendly site.  The product review pages even have Q&A sections for people who are looking but need more information.  Before you part with those big bucks, you may want to try it out!
• Frequent Flier Award Tickets – In a recent poll of 22 airline websites checking on the availability of free tickets using Frequent Flier miles, results confirmed what most of us already know…all airlines are not created equal!  Not surprising to me, Southwest Airlines came up the big winner, fulfilling 99% of the free ticket requests.  They really are the way to go these days (i.e. no baggage charge and extremely easy online flight changes).  Next in line unfortunately (unless you’re traveling internationally) were Air Canada (94%), Lufthansa (86%), Alaska (75%)…oops, how did that get in there?…and Qantas (73%).  United and American weren’t horrible, I guess…69% and 58%, respectively.  But if you’re planning on using your Delta or US Airways miles (13 and 11%), good luck!
• Do you use bulky, awkward-to-handle bags of dry goods (i.e. rice, flax seeds, beans, and bird seed) on a regular basis?  Well, here is an intriguing product…the Bag Spout.  In a nut shell, there are a couple parts that go together and form a “collar” for the corner of the bag; then a cap attaches to the collar, creating a pour spout, of sorts.  The website (Lee Valley) caters to people who do woodworking and gardening, and it’s a company based to our north (Canada).  I think it’s a handy little item (#EA158) and reasonably priced, as well…..only $3.95 for two!
• Shorter days! Don’t you just love little bits of useless knowledge?  Apparently, the earthquake in Chili this past February (8.8 on the Richter scale) made the Earth “wobble” on its axis, increasing the rate at which it rotates by 1.26 microseconds!!!!  Do you know what this means???  Are you sitting down???  After 130,000 years, our days will be 23 hours and 59 minutes long!  Yes, that’s right, days will be one minute shorter within the next 1,300 centuries.  Now I’m planning to live a good long time, but I think I’m not going to worry about that little “issue”.
• Grilling and carcinogens – I know I’ve written about this before, but it’s worth repeating, in my humble opinion.  Even people who make an effort to eat more healthy love to grill their foods.  Personally, I try to avoid food cooked on a grill; but I know I’m in the minority on this one (and believe me…I do love a charcoaled hotdog, for sure!!!).  So here’s the deal…USE A MARINADE!!! It’s such an easy solution to a rather serious situation. Follow these simple guidelines, and you can reduce the carcinogens produced from grilling your meats by up to 90%…that’s huge!

Marinate for at least 20 minutes

Season with antioxidant herbs, such as turmeric, garlic, ginger, rosemary and cumin

Grill at cooler temperatures – sear the meat briefly, then cook slowly at low temps

Cook the meat rare, medium-rare or medium (be sure to cook poultry to an internal temperature of 165 degrees)

Use lean cuts to avoid “flare ups” caused by fat dripping

“Smoking” may increase cancer risks

Grill veggies instead…brushing with olive oil prior to grilling.  HCAs and PAHs (carcinogens) are only created from animal proteins

• Islands for sale! No doubt buying an island is on your bucket list…and I’m here with the website that will help you make that dream come true…Private Islands Online!   I went online and found locations in South and North Carolina…so you don’t have to go far for your island!  The one in South Carolina, called Live Oaks Island, has a “motivated seller”, so you should probably jump on that one if you don’t mind staying state side!

Okay, this is my last bit of info junk for the week!  You know I had to include more than just one “healthy”-type bit of info.  I’ve told you about grilling, now I want to give you a website (found in my Eating Well Magazine, July/August 2010) where you can actually order your own customized energy bars!  It’s called YouBars.   Isn’t that cool??!!  Build-A-Bar!! This site is AWESOME!  Not only can you customize your own energy bar, but you can also customize your own trail mix, cereal, shakes, and cookies!  Once you create your item, it even provides a Nutrition Fact bar for it!  Granted, these bars aren’t cheap ($2.99 each), but not much that’s customized is!  They even print your name on YOUR bars.  I think I’m going to try it!

Let me know if you check out and/or try any of these sites and let me know what you think…especially if you buy that island you’ve been wanting!  I expect an invitation for a little vacation!  Have a great week!

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This morning I was reading my Summer 2010 issue of their magazine and learned about some of the great (in my opinion) projects they’re taking on.

Asian Carp Invasion – Sounds ominous, doesn’t it?  Well, actually, it could be serious for the fishing industry based in the Great Lakes Region of the U.S.  Asian Carp were imported here at one time to clean up algae in catfish ponds in the South.  Unfortunately, floods enabled them to escape into the Mississippi River system.  Now that they’ve made their way upriver, scientists worry they will starve the fish native to the Great Lakes and change the ecology.  Almost a decade ago, an electric barrier was placed on the canal between the Mississippi River Basin and Lake Michigan.  Last year, however, the Nature Conservancy’s “Great Lakes aquatic invasive species director (gotta love it!) found DNA of Asian Carp in several places beyond the barrier.  Of course, they are now trying to coordinate doing whatever it is they need to do to prevent an all out, full-scale “invasion”.

Zion National Park Easements – in Utah The Nature Conservancy has designated a total of 2,700 acres as conservation easements on ranches that are above Zion National Park in order to restrict development in these areas, thereby maintaining habitats that are of utmost importance to wildlife, such as cougars, elk, black bears, etc.

Penobscot River Dams – Truly amazing is the work they’ve done with the Penobscot tribe in Maine, along with other organizations, forming the Penobscot River Restoration Trust.  The long-time goal of the Penobscot Tribe has been to realize the fishing rights promised by treaties that have been in existence for centuries.  Through the collective efforts of not only The Nature Conservancy, but also such organizations as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, they have been able to purchase dams along the Penobscot’s watershed from Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL) in order to tear them down, opening up 100 miles of the river in the “main stem” (and tributaries where the fish can spawn) to Atlantic Salmon, American shad, as well as up to 11 other species.  Really fantastic!  I love reading stories like this that are helping people and our environment.  So much goes on around us that we are just never aware of, yet the ways in which lives are impacted are tremendous!

Alright, I’ll get off my soapbox now; but if you want to support an environmental group that does a lot of great “stuff”, consider The Nature Conservancy!  

Now on to other Information Junk!

• You know those coin-counting machines you see in the grocery stores?  I tend to avoid them, because they charge a percentage of your money to count it for you!  What I didn’t know is that you can put the amount of your change into a gift card, in which case you can get the full value of your coins!  The retail businesses involved include:  Amazon, iTunes, Lowe’s, Old Navy, and Starbucks!

• Look out for health insurance scammers!  Why am I not surprised!?  It’s sad that there are so many people out there willing to prey on others in order to make a buck!  Anyway…some are going door-to-door identifying themselves as federal employees offering to sign you up and getting credit card numbers or bank accounts.  Some of them, of course, are working through telemarketing and e-mail.  So if you are health insurance poor (as I am), don’t be scammed!  Keep your guard up and your wallets closed!

• Here’s a bit of information that I found important:  If you’ve survived breast cancer, you should watch your intake of alcohol.  If you average three or more drinks each week, your chances of having a recurrence of your breast cancer increase by 34%.  It also increases the likelihood of dying from the cancer by 51%!!!  These findings could make a teetotaler out of me!

• Last, but certainly not least, if you’re a cat or dog lover, be aware that lilies are toxic for cats (Tiger, Easter, stargazers, etc.), causing kidney failure and possibly death for a kitten.  Also, your dog can actually get poison ivy…on his tummy…because there isn’t usually enough fur there to provide a buffer from the plant oil.  Wash him right away with soap and water if you think he’s been exposed.

That’s it for this Wednesday’s Information Junkie!  I realize I got a little verbose today, but there’s just so much great “junk” out there…it’s hard to stop sometimes!

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From Prevention, May 2010:

If you walk for exercise and want to burn more calories, take your dog instead of your best friend (unless, of course, your dog IS your best friend)!  According to researchers at the University of Missouri, walking with a dog can increase your speed by 28% and your calorie burn by up to 30%.  The other plus is that Fido is usually much more excited than that friend who willingly agrees with you when you want to shorten the route!

What kind of movies and TV shows do you watch?  Well, if you like comedies and you actually allow yourself to chuckle or laugh out loud, you could be improving your blood flow by 21%!  At the University of Texas in Austin, a study showed that “chuckling” while watching a show improved blood vessel dilation for up to 24 hours by one-fifth; whereas, watching documentaries or serious shows actually restricted blood vessels by 18%.  I guess that means if I watch Criminal Minds, followed by Modern Family, I should end up with a net 3% improvement!

From AARP Bulletin, May 2010:

If you’re looking for an idea for a vacation excursion, check out the over 500 tours across the United States that can be taken of manufacturing facilities at www.factorytoursusa.com.  Since I live in Missouri and hail from New York, I searched to see what I might find:  Anheuser-Busch Brewery, Purina, Hallmark, Harley Davidson Power Train, Herbaria Soaps, and Sierra Bullets (Missouri); Chelsea Modular Homes, Corning Museum of Glass, Herschell Carousel Factory, Madison Square Garden, NBC Studios, and the Original American Kazoo Company in New York, just to name a few. You can check out all 50 states on the site.

Be aware of the newest, rampant form of identity theft…your medical identity!  Information from medical records contains tons of valuable data, including social security numbers, insurance account numbers, addresses, etc.  Using this information, anyone can get health care using your identity, leaving you with the bill, not to mention having all the needed information for obtaining a passport in your name!  Be sure to keep an eye on letters and statements from your insurer, monitor your credit report (www.AnnualCreditReport.com) for billing errors, and keep a close eye on your insurance cards.

Last, but not least, From Living  Magazine (Martha Stewart), June 2010:

I don’t actually know how I ended up with this magazine.  It’s not really “me”, if you know what I mean; but I thought I’d take a look today.  A couple things I found were pretty cool…living more “green” is on my mind a lot (and others I know).  Both these items speak to this desire.  One is napkins and placemats that come on a roll…but they’re not paper, they’re cotton!  They are biodegradeable and recyclable and can be washed so you can use them again.  They’re called Mydrap and cost $29, come in three sizes and 20 colors.  Unfortunately, it appears they are not sold here in the U.S., but need to be ordered from overseas.  To order: 877-625-2539

Another great little tip I learned while skimming through Living today was to use leftover packing popcorn in planters.  Put them in a plastic bag, place the bag at the bottom of the planter, then put potting soil on top.  It saves you from having to use as much soil and saves the environment from all that “popcorn” being thrown away!

Well, that’s it for the Information Junkie today.  See you next Wednesday!

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This morning I was perusing the May/June issue of AARP Magazine…okay, yes, I admit I am a card-carrying member of AARP!  Believe me, I fought it for a long time after I started getting those darn mailings when I turned 50.  But then I saw one of the magazines (I’m an information junkie, remember?), and it really was pretty good…and informative!  So I joined.  Anyway, one of the first things I read about in this issue had to do with spices that can help your brain.

If you read my post from Monday, that also had to do with the brain as we age.  It’s one of those challenges that we need to learn to accept (note yesterday’s post)…the fact that as we age we just don’t remember “stuff” like we used to.  However, this was more than information on improving your memory.

The first spice mentioned is Turmeric (accent on the first syllable).  A research study at the University of California, LA, found that curcumin (which is the “active” ingredient in turmeric) was quite effective in destroying that nasty amyloid beta brain plaque that is found in Alzheimer’s patients.  Now the study was done on mice, not humans, but it’s still a promising find, I’d say.  In fact, it seems that in India, where they eat a lot of curry (which contains turmeric), the rate of Alzheimer’s is only one-fourth of the rate of that found in the U.S.  Personally, I’ve been using turmeric in my home made salad dressing for the past couple of months; because it is also a good cancer-fighting spice.

You may want to try their chicken salad recipe: Toss 2 tsp curry powder w/2 cups cubed chicken. Saute’ in olive oil until cooked, then cool.  Add raisins, diced apples, chopped almonds, chopped celery, and low-fat yogurt to taste.

Second on the list is saffron.  I LOVE saffron!  It is nostalgic for me.  Being the daughter of a first-generation Spaniard, I was raised eating chicken and yellow rice (arros con pollo).  Saffron is what turns the rice yellow.  In 2007, the University of Tehran did a study showing that getting a dose of saffron twice a day can be as effective on mild to moderate depression as Prozac! You can add ½ tsp of saffron to the water you cook your rice in.  Of course, last time I checked, saffron cost a fortune; in fact, I think they keep it behind the customer service desk at the grocery stores so it doesn’t get ripped off!  Plus your insurance (if you even have insurance) isn’t going to cover that purchase.  I don’t have a problem with depression, but I may just ask how much it would set me back to buy a small supply of it the next time I shop.

This next research study I found very interesting, since I am constantly researching alternative treatments for cancer so I can pass the information on.  The study was referenced in the 2007 Cancer journal.  In the study it seems that garlic compounds were shown to eliminate brain cancer cells!  WOW!  Wouldn’t that be wild and wonderful if new treatments for brain cancer would be composed of garlic compounds rather than chemotherapy drugs?!!!  One suggestion for getting your healthy dose of garlic on a regular basis is to make marinara with tomatoes, a couple cloves of garlic, and basil.

For all you jocks out there, you might want to try chewing cinnamon gum when preparing to battle your opponents.  Apparently, cinnamon helps to regulate blood sugar levels, which helps you to stay focused.  This in turn helps your brain process visual cues at a faster rate.  If you don’t like to chew gum, try adding cinnamon to a bowl of oatmeal before you get out on the raquet ball court or pick up the controller on your Wii.

One last note on the spices you use.  Store them in glass jars, rather than plastic; they will last longer (6-12 months).

Okay, that’s it for Information Junkie Wednesday.   Go season up your brains; feel better; play better!  Adios!

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Since I’m so “in tune” with anything to do with the ‘c’ word, and since spring is sprung (or close enough) and that means barbecues will be coming out, I thought I’d pass along a “Cancer-Quashing” marinade posted in Prevention last summer.  I shy away, as much as possible, from barbecued meat, because I know that it can contain carcinogens.  But I had heard that marinading the meat did cut down on those nasty things.  The marinade should be wine or beer based (this from the University of Porto in Portugal).  According to this study, soaking your meat for six hours lowered the “heterocyclic amines” (that’s the bad stuff in the crust of the meat when bbq’d) by 88%.  A Kansas State University study reported a 77% reduction when rosemary was used in cooking the beef.  So here is the marinade to try when grilling your next steak or hamburgers:

Dark beer (i.e. Guinness), garlic, rosemary, olive oil, low-sodium soy sauce, and dark brown sugar OR

Red wine, olive oil, red wine vinegar, rosemary, and garlic.  Season both of these with fresh pepper.

Okay…here is another interesting bit of info.  I think last week’s Information Junkie post had information on men and getting them aroused.  Truly, I’m not searching out this kind of info; but if it helps somebody with their love life, why should I keep it to myself?

Researchers in Israel found that in men with moderate to severe ED (erectile dysfunction), 15% had chronic gum disease.  Men who did not have ED had only 2% chronic gum disease.  So guys, while your lady is baking you a pumpkin pie and putting lavender oil behind her ears…go brush and floss your teeth!

That’s it for the Information Junkie tonight.  Bedtime!  My wonderful, healthy white blood cells need their rest!

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Well, I’ve decided to post a routine blog post where I will begin to share all these little gems and tidbits of information that could be of help to someone…we never know, do we?  These posts will be titled, aptly, “Information Junkie”.  Hopefully, it will get to be a fun part of reading my blog that will be looked forward to with happy anticipation.  Maybe you can share some information you think this junkie will be interested in that I may even pass on to the multitude of readers I’m amassing!

Here is a little taste of the kind of things I’ll be blogging about in the Information Junkie posts from Thrive to 105:

• From Prevention Magazine (Nov 2009) – the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation has found in its studies that most smells will increase penile blood flow for a man.  Why is this important?  Well, ladies, your perfume only increases the blood flow by 3%!  The smell of a cheese pizza increased (in their studies) blood flow by 5%.  Buttered popcorn (make sure you take a seat at the back of the theater) increased blood flow by 9%!  However, to get the biggest (no pun intended), best reaction…bake him a pumpkin pie and dab lavender-scented oil behind your ears.  These combined scents increased blood flow by an impressive 40%!!!  Move over Viagra!

• From MORE (December 09/January 10) – I loved this one.  A woodworker from Maine named Chuck Lakin makes furniture that can later be used as a coffin.  Now all you need is a little plot in the backyard, and you can cut out the middleman and do your own funeral!

Okay, I know neither of these things has anything to do with self-improvement or longevity; but I’ve just moved, and a lot of my notes are still waiting to be unearthed here in my humble (and cluttered) abode.  How about this, from the Mind, Mood, and Memory newsletter for all you “multi-taskers” out there:

• If you frequently multi-task, you could be less able to concentrate than those who DON’T multi-task.  Tests were done that asked subjects to do tasks that involved “cognitive control” or how your brain directs its attention and decides what’s important.  People who make a habit of multi-tasking, when asked to ignore blue rectangles as they made determinations on aspects of red rectangles and switch between number and letter-based tasks, had more difficulty blocking out the irrelevant information.  It also took them longer to switch between areas of focus.  So if you like to brag that you are a great multi-tasker, you may not be quite as effective and efficient as you think.

That’s it for the first ‘installment’.  Check back soon for more “Information Junkie” junk!

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