From the ThirdAge website
Did you know that tears contain toxins? Sounds like crying may remove byproducts of stress from the body. What does this mean for mind-body health?
Humans are the only animals who shed tears of emotion. Why do we cry? Are there any physical or health benefits from crying?
Years of tears
"Until the Industrial Revolution, crying in public was pretty normal, even for men," says Tom Lutz, Ph.D., an associate professor of English at the University of Iowa and author of Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears. "Heroic epics from Greek times through the Middle Ages are soggy with weeping of all sorts," Dr. Lutz says. "Through most of history, tearlessness has not been the standard of manliness."
For instance, when Roland, the most famous warrior of medieval France died, 20,000 other knights wept so profusely they fainted and fell from their horses. Long before that, the Greek warrior Odysseus cries in almost every chapter of Homer's Iliad while St. Francis of Assisi was said to have been blinded by weeping. Later, in the 16th century, sobbing openly at a play, opera or symphony was considered appropriately sensitive for men and women alike.
Tearless generations
The industrial age needed diligent, not emotional, workers. Crying was then delegated to privacy, behind closed doors. Children learned that weeping itself was the problem and not the result of a problem. People everywhere became more uncomfortable with public tears.
The purpose of crying
Throughout history and in every culture, people cry. "Weeping often occurs at precisely those times when we are least able to fully verbalize complex, overwhelming emotions and least able to fully articulate our feelings," Lutz writes.
Crying can also be an escape; it allows us to turn away from the cause of our anguish, and inward toward our own bodily sensations. Scientists feel that weeping is probably necessary because no human behavior has ever continuously evolved unless it somehow contributed to survival.
"Science has proven that stress is terrible for the health of your brain, heart and other organs," says William Frey II, Ph.D., biochemist and tear expert of the Ramsey Medical Center in Minnesota. "It isn't proven yet, but weeping has most likely served humans throughout our evolutionary history by reducing stress."
Studying the waterworks
In one oft-quoted study, Frey studied five different groups of people. The people kept records of all emotional and irritant crying episodes for a period of 30 days. Information such as date, time, duration, reason for crying, thoughts, emotions and physical components, such as "lump in throat," watery eyes vs. flowing tears, etc.
Frey found that 94 percent of the females had an emotional crying episode in the 30-day recording period, as compared with only 55 percent of the males. Eighty-five percent of women and 73 percent of men reported feeling better and more relieved after a good cry. Dr. Frey's lab also chemically examined tears produced by onions and compared them with emotional tears. While chemical tears (caused by onions) were 98 percent water, emotional tears contained more toxins.
Why do people produce tears?
Tears are secreted through a duct, a process much like urination or exhalation. Frey believes that like these other processes, tearing may be involved in removing waste products or toxic substances from the body. .
"Crying is natural, healthy and curative," according to Barry M. Bernfeld, Ph.D., director of the Primal Institute in Los Angeles. "[But] crying which should be the most natural, accepted way of coping with pain, stress, and sorrow is hardly mentioned in psychiatric literature. Now we seem finally to recognize that crying is good for people."
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Picnic safely
The weather is getting warm and thoughts turn to leaving the house for the afternoon, why not have a picnic.
Picnics can take on many forms, such as the community picnic, friends and neighbors, tailgate parties, or ball games. There is also one sure thing at every picnic-lots of good food. The important point is to have safe and healthy food, not food that can cause food borne illness. Always prepare and store food properly. These tips are from the What's Cooking America website.
* As always, wash hands and work areas before preparing food.
* Plan your menu with an eye to safe food handling. Cook foods in plenty of time to thoroughly chill them in shallow containers in the refrigerator.
* Have enough coolers with ice or frozen gel packs in which to store the perishable foods like meat, poultry, fish, eggs and salads. You want to keep the food at 40 degrees F. Pack foods right from the refrigerator into the coolers.
* Don't put the cooler in the car trunk; Carry it inside an air-conditioned car. At picnics, keep the cooler in the shade and keep the lid closed. Replenish the ice if it melts.
* Use a separate cooler for drinks so the one containing the food won't constantly be opened and closed.
* Find out if there's a source of safe drinking water at your destination. If not, bring water for preparation and cleaning; or pack clean, wet, disposable cloths or moist towelettes and paper towels for cleaning hands and surfaces. Cross-contamination during preparation, grilling, and serving food is a prime cause of food borne illness.
* Pack raw meats, poultry, or seafood on the bottom of the cooler. This will reduce the risk of them dripping on other foods. Pack coolers until they are full. A full cooler will stay cold longer than one that is partially full.
* If you plan on getting takeout foods such as fried chicken, Eat them within an hour of pick up.
* Do not partially grill extra meat or poultry to use later. Once you begin, cook until completely done to assure bacteria are destroyed. Grill raw poultry until the juices run clear and there is no pink. Hamburger should not be pink in the center.
* When taking food off the grill, Don't put the cooked items on the same platter which held the raw meat unless you have washed the platter in between uses.
* Two Hour Rule. Don't leave perishable food un-refrigerated for more than two hours. Put perishable foods back in the cooler or refrigerator as soon as you finish eating. Don't leave them out while you go for a swim or a hike, and don't leave them out all afternoon to nibble on.
* Chances are, picnic leftovers have been sitting out for more than an hour or two. Discard these leftovers. Cold food that were kept in a cooler that still has ice may be safe. If the ice has melted, the food should be discarded.
Finally scrub out the coolers afterward with a mild dilution of bleach to get rid of any bacteria left over from spills or drippings from the food, meat in particular.
Picnics can take on many forms, such as the community picnic, friends and neighbors, tailgate parties, or ball games. There is also one sure thing at every picnic-lots of good food. The important point is to have safe and healthy food, not food that can cause food borne illness. Always prepare and store food properly. These tips are from the What's Cooking America website.
* As always, wash hands and work areas before preparing food.
* Plan your menu with an eye to safe food handling. Cook foods in plenty of time to thoroughly chill them in shallow containers in the refrigerator.
* Have enough coolers with ice or frozen gel packs in which to store the perishable foods like meat, poultry, fish, eggs and salads. You want to keep the food at 40 degrees F. Pack foods right from the refrigerator into the coolers.
* Don't put the cooler in the car trunk; Carry it inside an air-conditioned car. At picnics, keep the cooler in the shade and keep the lid closed. Replenish the ice if it melts.
* Use a separate cooler for drinks so the one containing the food won't constantly be opened and closed.
* Find out if there's a source of safe drinking water at your destination. If not, bring water for preparation and cleaning; or pack clean, wet, disposable cloths or moist towelettes and paper towels for cleaning hands and surfaces. Cross-contamination during preparation, grilling, and serving food is a prime cause of food borne illness.
* Pack raw meats, poultry, or seafood on the bottom of the cooler. This will reduce the risk of them dripping on other foods. Pack coolers until they are full. A full cooler will stay cold longer than one that is partially full.
* If you plan on getting takeout foods such as fried chicken, Eat them within an hour of pick up.
* Do not partially grill extra meat or poultry to use later. Once you begin, cook until completely done to assure bacteria are destroyed. Grill raw poultry until the juices run clear and there is no pink. Hamburger should not be pink in the center.
* When taking food off the grill, Don't put the cooked items on the same platter which held the raw meat unless you have washed the platter in between uses.
* Two Hour Rule. Don't leave perishable food un-refrigerated for more than two hours. Put perishable foods back in the cooler or refrigerator as soon as you finish eating. Don't leave them out while you go for a swim or a hike, and don't leave them out all afternoon to nibble on.
* Chances are, picnic leftovers have been sitting out for more than an hour or two. Discard these leftovers. Cold food that were kept in a cooler that still has ice may be safe. If the ice has melted, the food should be discarded.
Finally scrub out the coolers afterward with a mild dilution of bleach to get rid of any bacteria left over from spills or drippings from the food, meat in particular.
Don't poison the family safely store leftovers
Common sense some times forgets the kitchen when you are in a rush or if you are hungry. Leftovers is a champion comfort food mainly because it normally tastes better the second day. The problem is what happened to the food after the first day.
The following information is from A Rutgers Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet
Leftover" foods are cooked foods that you or your family do not eat within 2 hours after they are cooked. Leftovers include foods that you may eat before or after they have been stored in the refrigerator or freezer. The chance of food poisoning increases the longer you store a food after it is cooked. Improper handling or storing cooked food is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in the home.
The careful cook can reduce this threat by following the guidelines below for storing, reheating, and disposing of leftover foods.
Storing Leftovers
All cooked foods should be reheated to 165° F, refrigerated, or frozen within 2 hours after cooking. In hot weather, that time limit is only 1 hour. Remember that the "safe" period starts after the food is cooked. It includes the time that the food sits before being served and the time it sits on the table while the meal is being eaten. This period lasts until the food is actually in the refrigerator or freezer.
Remember to wash your hands with soap and water before handling any cooked food, especially food you store to eat later. Use clean utensils to handle the food, and store it in clean containers. Do not put food back into the same container it was in before it was cooked, unless you have carefully cleaned the container with soap and water. Do not place food on a counter or cutting board before refrigerating or freezing, unless you have carefully cleaned the surface beforehand.
You should place foods to be refrigerated or frozen in small, shallow containers, 3 inches tall or less, and cover them completely. Don't stack these containers right next to other containers, but leave some air space around them. By using shallow containers and by leaving air space around the containers you can promote rapid, even cooling of the food. When you refrigerate or freeze cooked food in a large, deep container, the food in the center of the container remains warm for a longer time. Dangerous bacteria may grow in this warm spot without making the food look or smell bad. If you eat this food later, you may get food poisoning.
Never taste leftovers that are of questionable age or safety.
As a general rule, never keep leftovers for more than 4 days.
Remember to remove the stuffing from cooked poultry and refrigerate or freeze it separately. You should do this because the stuffing in the center of the bird can stay warm long enough for food poisoning bacteria to grow. By removing the stuffing and placing it in its own container, you allow it to cool more rapidly.
If you date leftovers before refrigerating them, this can help you ensure they don't remain in your refrigerator too long.
The following information is from A Rutgers Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet
Leftover" foods are cooked foods that you or your family do not eat within 2 hours after they are cooked. Leftovers include foods that you may eat before or after they have been stored in the refrigerator or freezer. The chance of food poisoning increases the longer you store a food after it is cooked. Improper handling or storing cooked food is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in the home.
The careful cook can reduce this threat by following the guidelines below for storing, reheating, and disposing of leftover foods.
Storing Leftovers
All cooked foods should be reheated to 165° F, refrigerated, or frozen within 2 hours after cooking. In hot weather, that time limit is only 1 hour. Remember that the "safe" period starts after the food is cooked. It includes the time that the food sits before being served and the time it sits on the table while the meal is being eaten. This period lasts until the food is actually in the refrigerator or freezer.
Remember to wash your hands with soap and water before handling any cooked food, especially food you store to eat later. Use clean utensils to handle the food, and store it in clean containers. Do not put food back into the same container it was in before it was cooked, unless you have carefully cleaned the container with soap and water. Do not place food on a counter or cutting board before refrigerating or freezing, unless you have carefully cleaned the surface beforehand.
You should place foods to be refrigerated or frozen in small, shallow containers, 3 inches tall or less, and cover them completely. Don't stack these containers right next to other containers, but leave some air space around them. By using shallow containers and by leaving air space around the containers you can promote rapid, even cooling of the food. When you refrigerate or freeze cooked food in a large, deep container, the food in the center of the container remains warm for a longer time. Dangerous bacteria may grow in this warm spot without making the food look or smell bad. If you eat this food later, you may get food poisoning.
Never taste leftovers that are of questionable age or safety.
As a general rule, never keep leftovers for more than 4 days.
Remember to remove the stuffing from cooked poultry and refrigerate or freeze it separately. You should do this because the stuffing in the center of the bird can stay warm long enough for food poisoning bacteria to grow. By removing the stuffing and placing it in its own container, you allow it to cool more rapidly.
If you date leftovers before refrigerating them, this can help you ensure they don't remain in your refrigerator too long.
Honey, the perfect food?
From the website Healthbot, a serious case is made for using honey a little more liberally in the household.
Honey has been consumed by humans for 2,500 years and it’s still got the right stuff. Check it out:
Honey has been consumed by humans for 2,500 years and it’s still got the right stuff. Check it out:
- Honey is mostly known as a sweetener. It contains about 69% glucose and fructose.
- Honey is a universal source of energy that provides 64 calories per tablespoon. (One tablespoon of sugar will give you about 50 calories.) The sugars in honey are easily converted into glucose by even the most sensitive stomachs.
- Honey contains a variety of vitamins and minerals. The vitamin and mineral content of honey depends on the type of flowers pollen was gathered from during the making process.
- Good for your skin: milk and honey are often served together. Both of these help smooth and sooth skin.
- Honey has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. It has traditionally been used as a natural treatment for wounds, burns and ulcers. In recent years there has been renewed interest in the medicinal properties of honey for wound care.
- Honey is an excellent ergogenic aid and can boost the performance of athletes. Honey helps maintain blood sugar levels, muscle recuperation and glycogen restoration after a workout. During the ancient Olympics, athletes ate honey and dried figs, to enhance their performance.
- Antioxidants: Honey contains nutraceuticals, which are effective in removing free radicals from our body. As a result, our body immunity is improved.
- Honey can help control cholesterol levels and type II diabetes. In a series of experiments involving healthy subjects and those with either high cholesterol or type 2 diabetes, honey has proved itself the healthiest sweetener.
- Phytonutrients found both in honey and propolis (or ‘bee glue’, which is found in raw honey) have been shown to possess cancer-preventing and anti-tumor properties. These substances include caffeic acid methyl caffeate, phenylethyl caffeate, and phenylethyl dimethylcaffeate. Researcher has shown these substances to prevent colon cancer in animals by shutting down activity of the enzymes, phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C and lipoxygenase.