a cuppa joe is the way ta go

I'm going to continue with more information on the brain, only because i just read another couple of articles in the paper about some new findings.

I'll start with a scary statistic from The Toronto Star:

"By age 80, 30 to 50 per cent of Canadians ( don't know about other countries) will develop dementia, the most common form of Alzheimer's disease" (YIKES!) according to Dr. Jennifer Ingram. The symptoms include loss of memory, judgment and reasoning and decline in mood, behaviour and ability to communicate.

Now i really want to do anything I can to help prevent that, we all do of course!! I already take about 8 vitamin and mineral supplements per day, including Vitamins B Complex, C and D, Lecithin (great for your brain) Calcium and Magnesium, Evening Primrose Oil (for PMS symptoms) and lets see, i know their is one more.....um.....okay, need more Lecithin i see! I'll think of it later. I saw on Oprah the other day, Suzanne Somers was on chatting about Hormones and her healthy lifestyle. They showed her in the morning at her home, downing about 80 vitamins and minerals with a fruit smoothie made by her hubby. She was scarfing down 80!!!!! She had all the pills lined up in a long row on the kitchen table. She is a vitamin junkie, if i ever saw one!! They also showed her doing yoga and other things around the house. I used to do yoga but stopped about 3 yrs ago. I wish i could get back into yoga again. I also saw on The View (yep, I AM a talk show junkie) where Shari was trying out 'anti-gravity yoga' (click here to see her demo) where you are suspended from a sheet tied up on either side of a large contraption. It is the new wave of yoga i guess. It looked very interesting, and you use the sheet rope in different ways, which looked like a good way to do yoga! I don't' think Whitby Ontario is up with it yet though, i would guess.

Anyhoo, enough about the brain for now. I think I've given enough info already. But I will leave you with just one more bit of info i read about how drinking coffee can help stave off dementia. We all know that coffee can help improve mental alertness and stimulate your brain in the morning....i know i need a half pot to get me going....but here is a blurb of the article i read the other day:

"Researchers from Finland, followed a group of 1,400 middle-aged people over a period of 20 years (that's a looong study folks) and found that people who drank three to five cups of coffee a day had lower risks of developing Alzheimer's disease. The reasons for this effect are not established, but they felt it may have to do with the antioxidants found in coffee or possibly the effects that caffeine has in stimulating brain activity".

That's great news for myself and those of you who also drink loads of coffee every day! Starbucks here we come! Oh but wait a minute, there is a catch here:

"Just a week earlier, however, another study suggested that drinking more than seven cups of coffee a day can make you more likely to hallucinate."

Now, seven cups of coffee is a lot of coffee for one person to consume and I do think that this study underlines the importance of moderation! So people, be warned or you will start hallucinating and may end up wandering around your neighbour hood in your underwear, while singing show tunes to your mailman...er..mailperson.

FIND THE MAN IN THE COFFEE BEANS :

This is bizarre -- after you find the guy -- it's so obvious. Once you find him -- it's embarrassing, and you think, Why didn't I see him immediately?
Doctors have concluded that if you find the man in the coffee beans in 3 seconds, the right half ! of your brain is better developed than most people. If you find the man between 3 seconds and 1 minute, the right half of the brain is developed normally. If you find the man between 1 minute and 3 minutes, then the right half of your brain is functioning slowly and you need to eat more protein. If you have not found the man after 3 minutes, the advice is to look for more of this type of exercise to make that part of the brain stronger!!! How long did it take you? Let me know in the comments.

And yes! He really is there!!

(Darnit, I couldn't find him in 3 seconds. I found him in less than 10 seconds, not too bad i guess. My brain is normal,not brilliant...sigh.!)