How to snack the right way

It is not unusual and wrong to eat snack between meals. The reason is that anyone can occasionally feel a real and urgent hunger between meals. As long as this snacking is in moderation and provided the right kind of snack is chosen.

Here are a few healthy options:

Exercising is not only for the young, the fit or the healthy. More and more seniors are exercising and keeping fit by participating in various activities like swimming, athletics, tennis, or any number of other informal exercise activities.

Here for the full article. A must read!! 

The Versatile Soya Bean

Soya is one of the world’s oldest crops and is used by millions of people throughout the world in many variations. Soya beans can be used green or dried. Green or immature soya beans are similar to green peas or lima beans in colour and flavour. They have a slightly crisp texture and are not mealy or soft. Dried soya beans are the mature form.

Soya beans are cooked whole and are processed to make diverse products such as soya bean oil, soya bean milk, soya bean curd, soya bean sprouts and soya bean flour:

Soya Bean Oil

When considering edible uses of soya beans, soya oil tops the list. Products that contain soya oil include prepared dressings, margarine, and salad and cooking oils. Soya oil has a bland taste and a high smoking point and therefore it is highly recommended for frying.

Soya Bean Milk

Because of the relatively high protein content of soya beans, soya milk can be favourably compared to cow’s milk and mother’s milk. It is available processed and is strongly recommended in some cases of milk allergies.

Soya Bean Curd

Also called ‘miso’, soya bean curd is prepared from soya bean milk by adding vinegar, lemon juice or calcium chloride. In some countries the curd is allowed to ferment naturally in a warm place – which results in a different soya bean curd called ‘tofu’. By itself the soya bean curd has no taste but it is used in soups, salads, omelettes, etc.

 Soya Bean Sprouts

Soya beans, like chickpeas and mung beans, can be used for sprouts, either grown at home or commercially. Sprouts can be blanched and kept refrigerated for use in soups, salads, vegetables and chicken casseroles.

Soya Bean Flour

Soya flour is the ground product obtained after the oil and the seed coat have been removed. The flour is used in baked foods such as doughnuts, bread, rolls and cakes.

Technological advances have made it possible for soya to stand tall next to all other major protein sources.

Exercise your brain

Astonishing facts about the human brain

The human brain is a monster of a computer. It outclasses the best of the best of human built computers as far as memory, capacity and speed is concerned. Unfortunately, it is also the “computer” that is the most underutilized and sometimes misused!

1. Weight of the human brain

The average weight of the human brain grows phenomenal between birth and adulthood. It can reach a final weight of about 1.4kg for men and 1.3 kg for women.

2. Brain size and intelligence

There is no correlation between brain size and intelligence. The brain of a man is usually slightly larger than that of a woman’s. Interesting enough, in both sexes the brain makes up a similar proportion of the total body weight.

3. Brain hemispheres

The human brain is divided into two hemispheres, each a mirror image of the other. The right hemisphere controls the muscles of and receives information from the left half of the body; the left hemisphere monitors and controls the right half of the body.

4. Left-handed vs. right-handed people

In right-handed people the left side of the brain is concerned with such skills as reading, writing and talking. The right hemisphere deals with artistic activity and the mechanisms of the imagination. In left-handed people the functions of the two hemispheres may be reversed.

5.  Feeling of pain

Pain from any injury or illness is always perceived by the brain. However, the brain itself is immune against pain as it contains none of the specialised receptor cells that sense pain in other parts of the body.

Go out and maximize the utilization of the best computer there will ever be!

The benefits and risks of a vegetarian diet

Daydreaming

Check out this article

Here is an article I published on Helium:

To be or not to be a vegetarian or vegan

Brain teaser – manhole covers

Why is it better to have round manhole covers than square ones?

Click here for the answer

Female energy, love and sensuality

How to grow a herb lawn

A stupid joke

Isn’t it strange that sometimes the most stupid joke is the one that genuine makes you laugh?

Here is such a one – it made me laugh, genuine laughing when I read it.

Enjoy!!

A salesman telephone a household, and a four-year-old answered.

Salesman: May I speak to your mother?

Child: She is not here.

Salesman: Well, is anyone else there?

Child: My sister

Salesman: O.K., fine. May I speak to her?

Child: I guess so.

There was a long silence on the other phone. Then;

Child: Hello?

Salesman: It’s you. I thought you were going to call your sister.

Child: I did. The trouble is: I can’t get her out of the playpen.

Perfume can make you sexy

Jenny Love

What are the advantages of a Home internet Business?

More and more people move to a home internet business. The reasons are numerous but the major three are:

·         The internet revolution took the world by storm – everyone wants to be part of this global phenomenon and the hype that is associated with it

·         Past and current recessions of the world economy have forced more and more people to seek alternative employment or for this matter, many were forced to work for themselves and subsequently the home based business received a huge impetus

·         Make no mistake; there is big money in the internet and internet based businesses

So, why is the home-based internet business so popular? Here are the 8 advantages of a home internet business:

1. An Internet based business can be launched quickly and cheaply in comparison with the traditional business or commercial venture.

2. It is easy to start your own website or blog and it is also easy to make the appearance thereof professional and personal.

3. The internet is very adaptable and therefore any lay-person can create a business that targets a tiny niche market.

4. Websites or blogs can be changed instantly when a new competitor joins the internet business fraternity or when new products become available. Under normal circumstances such amendments or upgrading won’t cost you a dime, on condition you can do it yourself.

5.  There is a vast amount of information and resources readily available on the internet for free or at relative low costs to help you plan your business.

6. There numerous sites with free software download which can enhance and support the operations of your business; this includes payment options via the internet which are normally also secure.

7.  An internet based business can market, sell and buy goods and services all on-line without a scrap of paper being used – the savings on overhead-costs are enormous.

8.  Technology allows your business to be mobile and open 24/7, whether it is at home, on holidays or during travel.

It is important to understand the internet phenomenon, even if you think that it is unlikely to feature in the planning or launch of your own business. Using the internet for a start-up business can give you a huge advantage over existing conventional competitors. It is also a proven fact that that there are very few businesses that cannot be effectively run and marketed on the internet.

An off beat story

Can you figure this out?

'This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious as to just how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so ordinary and plain that you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is highly unusual though. Study it and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out. Try to do so without any coaching.'

Click here for the answer

A tribute to John Love

Don’t Fly to High …..

Larry Walters was a truck driver, but his lifelong dream was to fly. When he graduated from high school, he joined the Air Force in hopes of becoming a pilot.

Unfortunately, poor eyesight disqualified him. So when he finally left the service, he had to satisfy himself with watching others fly the fighter jets that criss-crossed the skies over his backyard. As he sat there in his lawn chair, he dreamed about the magic of flying. Then one day, Larry Walters got an idea. He went down to the local army-navy surplus store and bought a tank of helium and forty-five weather balloons. These were not your brightly colored party balloons; these were heave-duty spheres measuring more than four feet across when fully inflated. Back in his yard, Larry used straps to attach the balloons to his lawn chair, the kind you might have in your own back yard. He anchored the chair to the bumper of his jeep and inflated the balloons with helium. Then he packed some sandwiches and drinks and loaded a BB gun, figuring he could pop a few of those balloons when it was time to return to earth. His preparations complete, Larry Walters sat in his chair and cut the anchoring cord. His plan was to lazily float back down to terra firma. But things didn't quite work out that way.

When Larry cut the cord, he didn't float lazily up; he shot up as if fired from a cannon! Nor did he go up a couple hundred feet. He climbed and climbed until he finally levelled off at eleven thousand feet! At that height, he could hardly risk deflating any of the balloons, lest he unbalance the load and really experience flying! So he stayed up there, sailing around for fourteen hours, totally at a loss as to how to get down. Eventually, Larry drifted into the approach corridor for Los Angeles International Airport. A Pan Am pilot radioed the tower about passing a guy in a lawn chair at eleven thousand feet with a gun in his lap. (Now there's a conversation I'd have enjoyed hearing!) LAX is right on the ocean, and you may know that at nightfall, the winds on the coast begin to change. So, as dusk fell, Larry began drifting out to sea. At that point, the Navy dispatched a helicopter to rescue him. But the rescue team had a hard time getting to him, because the draft from their propeller kept pushing his homemade contraption farther and farther away. Eventually they were able to hover over him and drop a rescue line with which they gradually hauled him back to earth. 

As soon as Larry hit the ground, he was arrested. But as he was being led away in handcuffs, a television reported called out, "Mr. Walters, why'd you do it?" Larry stopped, eyed the man, and then replied nonchalantly, "A man can't just sit around."

How antioxidants work

The woes of ignoring bills

In March 1992 a man living in Newtown near Boston Massachusetts received a bill for his as yet unused credit card stating that he owed $0.00. He ignored it and threw it away.

In April he received another and threw that one away too. The following month the credit card company sent him a very nasty note stating they were going to cancel his card if he didn't send them $0.00 by return of post. He called them, talked to them, they said it was a computer error and told him they'd take care of it.

The following month he decided that it was about time that he tried out the troublesome credit card figuring that if there were purchases on his account it would put an end to his ridiculous predicament. However, in the first store that he produced his credit card in payment for his purchases he found that his card had been cancelled. He called the credit card company who apologized for the computer error once again and said that they would take care of it.

The next day he got a bill for $0.00 stating that payment was now overdue. Assuming that having spoken to the credit card company only the previous day the latest bill was yet another mistake he ignored it, trusting that the company would be as good as their word and sort the problem out.

The next month he got a bill for $0.00 stating that he had 10 days to pay his account or the company would have to take steps to recover the debt. Finally giving in he thought he would play the company at their own game and mailed them a check for $0.00. The computer duly processed his account and returned a statement to the effect that he now owed the credit card company nothing at all.

A week later, the man's bank called him asking him what he was doing writing a check for $0.00. After a lengthy explanation the bank replied that the $0.00 check had caused their check processing software to fail. The bank could not now process ANY checks from ANY of their customers that day because the check for $0.00 was causing the computer to crash.

The following month the man received a letter from the credit card company claiming that his check had bounced and that he now owed them $0.00 and unless he sent a check by return of post they would be taking steps to recover the debt. 

The man, who had been considering buying his wife a computer for her birthday, bought her a typewriter instead.

Beautiful women

The letter game

There is a common English word that is nine letters long. Each time you remove a letter from it, it still remains an English word - from nine letters right down to a single letter. What is the original word, and what are the words that it becomes after removing one letter at a time?

Click here for the answer

Read this interesting article: The beauty properties of eggs

10 Ways to Improve Your Day in Just 5 Minutes

Five minutes. True, it's not a heck of a lot of time. But it's just long enough for you to do one thing -- and maybe that one thing that will turn your day around.

In our busy 24/7 universe, it often seems like there's not enough time to do everything you want in a day. But take five and try these 10 simple ways to lower stress and boost your mood and energy levels. They may just help you find the extra spark you need to meet the challenges of the day.

1. Make your bed. Starting off each day with this small ritual can help create a calm environment for you in your bedroom. Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, writes that many people benefit from making this modest step part of their routines. By checking it off your to-do list first thing, you've got one less thing to worry about for the rest of the day.

2. Pack a snack. Before you head out the door in the morning, go into the kitchen and grab a fruit (like a banana, apple or grapes) or a healthy snack (like unsalted nuts or low-fat cheese). This way, when a case of the munchies strikes later in the afternoon, you won't be reaching for a bag of chips or a candy bar from the vending machine out of convenience. Besides, you know what they say about an apple a day.

3. Clear your desk. You may not be able to overhaul your closet in five minutes, but you can manage to tidy your desk at work. From stray papers to scattered coffee mugs, clutter can make you lose focus and curb productivity. Declutter your outer environment and you may feel lighter on the inside and more motivated to concentrate on the task at hand.

4. Pump up the music. Several studies have found that listening to music can help lower blood pressure, reduce stress, and boost mood. The right music has the power to change your attitude. So load up your MP3 player and create a special playlist that will make you smile -- whether you're working or working out.

5. Sniff a lemon. For a quick de-stressing trick, turn to an underrated sense -- your sense of smell. Japanese researchers found that linalool; a substance found in lemons, has anti-inflammatory properties and may reduce the flight-or-fight stress response. Other scents like basil, juniper, and lavender have also been found to lower stress. 

6. Stretch. You don't have to be a yogi to benefit from light stretching. Lift your arms above your head at your desk. Or better yet, stretch your legs by walking outside. Stretching can help improve your circulation and flexibility, and may help ease the tight muscles that accompany stress.

7. Meditate. Try meditation and deep breathing to relax and turn your mind off. You don't need any special equipment to practice meditation. Find a comfortable position in a chair or on the floor. Meditating on a daily basis, even just for a few minutes, has been shown to fight depression and ease stress.

8. Keep a gratitude diary. Take a minute every day to write downseveral things you're thankful for, whether they're big or small things. It's easy to vent about weather, traffic, or job woes, but complaining brings negative energy along with it. Being thankful for what you have can make you appreciate all the positives in your life.

9. Turn off your electronics. Just becausewe live in a wired world doesn't mean you need to stay connected every minute of every single day. Staring at computer screens and electronics all day long can zap your energy and encourage inactivity. So log off youremail, phones, and Internet (yes, social networking web sites count, too). This is especially important to allow you to unwind and relax before bed.

10. Prioritize. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you have multiple tasks crowding your mind. Make a list and finish your most dreaded duties first to avoid the anxiety caused by procrastination. Make a list and check off each task as you complete it. At the end of the day, a list of accomplishments is a great visual reminder of how productive you were.

By Jennifer Soong

Jennifer Soong is a freelance writer who frequently covers health, wellness, and lifestyle trends. Her work has appeared in the pages of Redbook, New York Daily News, Boston Magazine and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She lives in Decatur, Ga., with her husband and son.

10 Envelopes

A man told his son that he would give him $1000 if he could accomplish the following task. The father gave his son ten envelopes and a thousand dollars, all in one dollar bills. He told his son, "Place the money in the envelopes in such a manner that no matter what number of dollars I ask for, you can give me one or more of the envelopes, containing the exact amount I asked for without having to open any of the envelopes. If you can do this, you will keep the $1000."

When the father asked for a sum of money, the son was able to give him envelopes containing the exact amount of money asked for. How did the son distribute the money among the ten envelopes?

Click here for the answer