Crack out the bottle opener ladies! According to “new” studies, a glass of wine every day will help you stay slim.

This American study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston  studied 19,200 women aged 39 and over and asked about their drinking habits. Their weight gain was recorded for the following 13 years. Not surprisingly, all of the women gained weight, but those who reported to drink “moderate” amounts – which consisted of a glass or two of wine each day gained the least weight.

But the researchers noted that not all types of alcohol are equal – hard liquor and beer are less friendly to the waist line.

So, with this information, the researchers decided that one theory for this is that the livers of regular drinkers develops a separate method of breaking down alcohol, with surplus energy turned into heat, rather than fat.

Another theory is that maybe the age old saying of “everything in moderation” could be true…

Or alternatively, since this study does not appear to prove that wine is the sole reason behind these women gaining less weight. It could be that they exercise more, or that they eat a more balanced and healthy diet? Or it could just prove that women who throw back a few glasses of wine each day lie about their weight! Who knows!

It’s groundbreaking research, nonetheless!!!

Also, it has been proven that eating too much fruit will make you fat. And the acid in fruit – if ingested too much – can lead to tooth decay.

Fruit is of course, very good for you. I am not trying to tell you to not eat fruit. But it’s the crazy people who take it a step too far, and go and a diet, vowing to be more healthy. And instead of eating a salad and an apple for lunch, they eat 6 salads, 5 apples and 2 grapefruits.

*Just because it’s healthy, doesn’t mean you should eat 70 times more of it*

The fact that someone needs to research this means that there is clearly a problem. I mean, isn’t it just common sense!? It’s like telling someone that water is good for them, so they go and drink 6 gallons of water. What will happen? They will die from drinking too much water! Ok, this may be a bit of an extreme example, because I don’t think too much fruit can actually kill you, but I think you see my point.

Eating reasonable amounts of nutritious food with a bit of excercise – even just a brisk walk will make you healthy.

And I’m not even going to start on the study by the British fish & chip people claiming that cutting the chips bigger will be more healthy – something about how the oil is absorbed when they are fried.

If they’re that bloody concerned about obesity etc, then the governments and councils should stop allowing McDonalds and Burger Kings to be built on every corner! Keep the humble chippy and let the fast food joints go!

I do enjoy writing these, it seems there are SO many stories in the news of what is good/bad for you. Maybe I’ll try to do them daily!

Ok, so lets see what changed from last week! Well, this week, “Sunshine” and “Blueberries” are good.. Whereas “Rickets” and “The ability to choose” are bad.

Sunshine, lolly-pops and rainbows… Yes, sunshine is amazing. It’s warm, it gives life.. And according to some new studies from France, it cuts the risk of cancer – just like beer. Having high levels of vitamin D in your blood may lower the risks of developing bowel cancer. If you live in a cave – far, far away from sunlight, then 2 alternatives are supplements and eggs! You might get more vitamin D for ordering your eggs “sunny-side up”!!!! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself!!

Next up is the little blueberry. I don’t like blueberries – either by themselves or in muffins etc. yuck. But apparently, they have the power to protect from memory loss! Research conducted in the USA on senior citizens showed that a pint of blueberry juice each day for a 3 month period led to 33% of the subjects doing better at memorizing lists, 40% of the subjects doing better at word association tasks. Supposedly, it is the “anthocyanins” (what makes the blueberries blue) that is responsible for this – and also is said to help ward off things like heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes. Pretty impressive for a little tiny berry! Of course there are more tests to be done, but so far researchers are calling the results “very encouraging”.

You’d think that modern life would mean the end to diseases from nearly two centuries ago.. But no. Poor diets and lack of playing outside is causing a vitamin D deficiency in children and subsequently a lot of kids are developing Rickets. Researchers are saying that children are staying inside and playing their video games and not taking things like cod liver oil. Who took cod liver oil as a kid? I did.. mmm… Children who have Rickets suffer from bowed legs and fragile bone structure. The condition is linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and autoimmune conditions. Someone get these kids outside and give them some eggs!

This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard all week. Apparently, when we are given too many things to choose from, we feel depressed. For example, imagine you’re at the market and you’re standing in front of 18 kinds of apples, and you don’t know which one to buy, the uncertainty and confusion will make you miserable. A Professor from Stanford University said that this could lead to increased anxiety, depression, drug abuse and even suicide. What a bloody load of rubbish. According to the specialists, choice is supposed to be a sign of freedom. But in the context of shopping, choice is merely price comparison and branding coupled with pretty packaging – “Same sh*t, different bucket”, if you will… Modern life has turned everything into an anxiety attack waiting to happen: kids picking their major in school, buying appliances for your home – like how the new hot thing is red washing machines.. What happened to simple white appliances?! Too much choice is bad.. but it’s good for people in the marketing field and the pharmaceutical companies as more and more people will need crazy pills for their anxiety and depression resulting in too much choice!!

Check out the “Health” section for more health & wellness related “news”

fruit & vegetables vs. pills & medication

Ok, it’s time for another round up of the week’s stupid health news.

I found this fantastic article on Wednesday with a dreadfully long winded headline: Don’t eat cereals that change the colour of the milk: Unlikely but brilliantly simple rules that will transform the way you eat

No, I didn’t make that up!!! Feel free to read it, it’s really quite insightful! Here are some of my favourite bits:

Don’t eat cereals that change the colour of the milk
Um, I thought that it was because of cocoa powder – which is good for you, right?! I get the ones that are coloured purple or bright green etc, because I’m sure that’s all awful chemicals and colourants etc.. but what about Nesquik? It looks suspiciously like dog food, but cocoa is natural.. actually, I guess it depends on whether or not cocoa is good for you or not this week! And what about Fruit Loops?

Avoid foods Grandma wouldn’t recognize
I’m not sure that my Grandma would know what tofu is let alone recognize it.. Or goji berries.. Or ginseng.. Well, my Chinese Grandma would of course know what they are and how to best cook them.. Is this rule calling White people stupid?! lol

Buy smaller plates and glasses
I’m pretty sure that if I went by this rule, it would only encourage me to help myself to more helpings – since the tableware is smaller!!! Makes me think of Zoolander “What is this.. A school for ants?!?”

It’s not food if it has the same name in all languages
I’m going to pull the Chinese card again and say “TOFU”!! … I wanted to be smart and think of more things, but I got nothing…!

Ok, that’s enough of that.. If you want to read more of these stupid rules, then check out the link!

Now for some happier health news! A study done in the UK showed that the average woman burns 48,000 calories per year by shopping! So now we have an excuse to go running around the shops! But it’s true, especially if you don’t drive and you have to rely on public transport or walking to bring all of your new treasures back home! Carrying stuff is a workout in itself!

And finally, this isn’t really health news, but I’ll throw it in anyway. According to yet another useless study, the weight of the average woman’s purse/handbag has decreased by 50% over the last two years. Apparently, this is due to the take-over of gadgets like BlackBerries and iPhones replacing the heavy cell phone and bulky address books/planners. I don’t know about you, but my purse always weighs a ton! And it’s full of so much crap! I have to have about 5 lip glosses and hand cream, and maybe some ibuprofen, and maybe a book, and of course my glasses case, a nail file or 2.. and then there are receipts, loose change, old bus passes, Mentos <3 .. And what doesn’t help is the fact that the new hot thing is those great big giant purses – even “small” bags are still really big. So ok, your phone might not weigh 2lbs like it did before, but to me, if there’s more space, then I’ll cram more crap in there. Maybe an additional hand cream and a few more lip glosses!!!! Did I mention that make-up makes me happy???

They should have factored in the weight of a woman’s handbag when doing that shopping study.. I remember when I was in college, they had some chiropractor people come in and weigh people’s school bags to see what kind of long term damage hauling a heavy bag around all day was doing to them.

Check out last week’s stupid health news too!!