Moderate Alcohol Intake Associated with Higher Levels of Omega-3 Fatty Acids

A recent European study, IMMIDIET has found that moderate alcohol intake, most particularly wine intake, is associated with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in plasma and red blood cells.

IMMIDIET examined 1604 people from three different geographical areas, southwest London in England, Limburg in Belgium and Abruzzo in Italy. Through a comprehensive medical examination as well as a one year food frequency questionnaire to assess their dietary intake, including alcohol, IMMIDIET found that moderate alcohol consumption works like a trigger in the body, boosting the count of omega-3 fatty acids in our systems.

Omega-3 fatty acids are mainly found in fish and while many of us have probably heard of these fatty acids, it could be potentially dangerous to our health to not know how important they are to our diet. Due to their high blood concentration, omega-3 fatty acids are highly protective against coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke, as well as sudden cardiac death. The leading cause of death in women today is heart disease, so we can easily see the affect that omega-3 fatty acids have on our bodies and we can also easily see that women are obviously not receiving enough of these vital nutrients that could potentially save lives.

If you aren’t a big fish eater you are most likely not receiving the amount of omega-3’s you could be putting into your system, but because of this study all of you non-fish-eaters can receive the correct amount of these acids just by having a glass of wine. It has been proven that moderate wine consumption will give you those omega-3 fatty acids your body has been missing due to wine’s polyphenols. Polyphenols are naturally occurring compounds contained in a variety of foods and beverages, such as wine. Due to the antioxidant activity of wine, it is able to reduce the oxidation process caused by free radicals. This study has opened a wide door in the field of cardiovascular prevention.

Although this study looks very promising and will prevent heart disease, we must remember that this isn’t a get out of jail free card to alcoholism; the key word used in the study and within this article regarding alcohol consumption is moderate. It is important to make sure that you are not shocking your body, especially if you are not a frequent or social drinker to begin with and it is especially important to keep our bodies as well as our minds the healthiest that they can possibly be. In order to effectively prevent cardiovascular disease and keep your heart and body strong, women are urged to only drink one glass of wine per day and men are limited to two glasses.

To carry on the research, married couples have been recruited in the same three European areas.

Help Support Locks of Love with Social Media

Heavy As Hell, a social media site for music of the rock, metal, punk, industrial and goth variety was relaunched at the beginning of this month. Not only is this good news for all music lovers, bloggers and followers everywhere, but it is also good news for Locks of Love.

Locks of Love helps financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love suffer from a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. Locks of Love provides hairpieces to children to help to restore their self-esteem and confidence, which can of course be hard because children their own age are most of the time a child’s worst critics. By receiving a prostheses from Locks of Love these children are rejuvenated, feeling like just another normal child free to live their lives free of ridicule and feelings of insecurity.

Mark Carras, founder of Heavy As Hell has designed a challenge for the members of the Heavy As Hell community and also for people who may have never heard of the social media site in hopes of inspiring other music lovers to jump on board and help out a great cause. Because this challenge launched in the very beginning of August and has yet to take off as much as we would like to see, Mark has extended the challenge. First of all, here is the original challenge video:

Changes in the challenge since then include getting 250 on topic stories on the front page of Heavy As Hell by the end of this month, which gives us 9 more days! If 250 on topic music stories get on the front page of Heavy As Hell by August 31, we will then have until September 30 to reach 1000 stories gracing the front page of the site. As soon as 250 stories are made popular, the wife of Mark Carras, The Queen of Cheese will be donating one foot of her hair to Locks of Love and the popularity ticker will keep on ticking until 1000 stories are reached, where Mark Carras will shave his head and donate $1000 to Locks of Love to sponsor a child. We’re talking cumulative here, so reaching 1000 stories is made even easier by the counter on popular stories not being restarted to reach 1000.

I have personally donated hair to Locks of Love–Over 11 inches of it and love what Locks of Love are doing for children who frankly would benefit from your hair more than you. It’s a worthwhile cause and I know I will be donating to them again, I’m already in the process of growing my hair out again. But if you don’t have the means (or patience) to donate to them yourself, the least you could do is support someone else who wants to do a good deed and Mark Carras is presenting a fun opportunity to get everyone on board.

So if you’re a music lover or even if you’re not particularly interested in the type of music Heavy As Hell covers, but have some interesting music industry news, go over to Heavy As Hell, sign up, submit your story and also vote up some others and help support Locks of Love. Mark Carras really wants to shave his head so let’s help him do it.

Blogging for Blood Cancer

The first ever, annual Blogging for Blood Cancer event starts tomorrow! I wish I had heard of this cause sooner, but as soon as I stumbled upon it over at Goodies for Mom, I immediately signed up.

The Blogging for Blood Cancer event is hosted by Goodies for Mom in conjunction with the Friends of Heroes (FOH) National Light the Night Team in hopes of bringing United States bloggers together to raise awareness for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and its mission to cure Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin’s Disease and Myeloma as well as to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

This is an excellent cause to hop on board for and I will most definitely be participating this upcoming week. I have personally seen what Leukemia and Hodgkin’s Disease can do; how tragic and merciless the diseases are and how an entire family and support system for someone who has these diseases are affected, so raising awareness and helping The Leukimia & Lymphoma Society is very important to me.

If simply blogging to raise awareness about blood cancer isn’t enough, Goodies for Mom has lined up several prizes for the bloggers who take part in this event, so head on over and sign up to start blogging for blood cancer and win some awesome prizes! Also, be sure to check out the other bloggers who are participating and don’t forget to check back here to read what I’ll be posting throughout the week.

Actor/Comedian Bernie Mac Dies of Pneumonia

It has been confirmed and reported by TMZ, CNN and MSNBC that actor and comedian Bernie Mac passed away yesterday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago due to complications with pneumonia.

Mac, who also had inflammatory lung disease and was hospitalized for pneumonia earlier this month, was said to be responding well to treatments and in stable condition just the day before he passed away.

Rest in peace.

Vote For Your Favorite Undies and Help Cervical Cancer Research

I love underwear. Seriously, I cannot be within five feet of Victoria’s Secret or any store selling cute and sexy undies or I would go broke in minutes. I’ve owned pretty much all styles and types of bras and panties and if you’re like me, once you find that bra or panty that fits you the best and is the most comfortable, you love it to death–Literally, you will wear it until it develops holes and still consider keeping it. You may even go as far as to want to tell every other woman you come into contact with all about the bra that makes you feel incredible or the panties that you can wear with a tight skirt without any discomfort.

So I want to hear about your favorite undies. What are your favorite bras, panties, G strings, thongs, body shapers and so on? Not only do I want to wear about them, but I want you to vote in The Undie Awards.

The Undie Awards are where men and women can vote for their favorite undies by type, brand and style and once your vote is in, 25 cents is donated to cervical cancer research. The voting is completely anonymous, all you have to do is provide your email address after you cast your votes and the only information The Undie Awards have about you is that and your body type.

This is a fun and easy way to donate money to the National Cervical Cancer Public Education Campaign, so go on over and cast your vote for your favorite undies!

The ‘Healthy’ Glow

It’s spring, which means summer is just around the corner and women are getting ready to get their bikini bodies. But what if women, with their exercise schedule and healthy diets, are backtracking and while they think they are being healthy in their efforts to maintain that perfect beach body, are really just harming their health more?

If you go to a gym, you most likely utilize most of the facilities and activities that they have to offer. Work out equipment, maybe some private classes with a personal trainer or being part of a weekly class, if they have a nutritionist on staff, you most likely consulted with them about maintaining some healthy eating habits or have gotten a quick snack from them. Just before taking your shower, getting back into your street clothes and going home, how many women hop into the tanning bed for that healthy summer glow; because lets face it, who wants to be a color just a few pigments darker than chalk? But what you don’t know is that tanning beds, a $5 billion/year industry, are harming you more than you may think.

Personally, I used to frequent tanning salons because I suffered from chronic insomnia and I found that while accompanying a friend of mine on her tanning trip and deciding to try it out for myself, that a tanning bed was the only place where I could fall asleep. While I didn’t strive for the perfect tan, I do know women who became absolutely obsessed with tanning, making appointments at two or three different tanning facilities just so no one told them that they were tanning too much because they would go to a variety of different places. It looked as if they were going once a week, but they were really visiting these facilities three times a week or more!

Tanning, while incredibly bad for your skin to begin with, as the ultraviolet radiation can cause wrinkles, dark spots and premature aging; indoor tanning can also put you at a 55% higher risk for Melanoma.

Dermatologist Louis Barich, MD, has reported that “Essentially, 20 minutes in a tanning bed can do as much damage as five hours of natural sunlight.”

So before hopping into that tanning bed for that healthy glow, go outside and get some fresh air instead–but be sure to put the sunblock on! While being pasty white may not seem very attractive to you, think about how you would feel about wrinkles, dark spots and ultimately, skin cancer.

Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk

The battle between women and breast cancer is one that is fought daily for many women across the globe. One great way for you to join the battle against breast cancer is to join up with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, who have given a whole new meaning to the term activism, and participate in the Susan G Komen 3 Day Walk.

To qualify for the three day walk, you must raise a minimum of $2,200 for breast cancer research. Afterwards, you join thousands of other women in walking 60 miles in three days (about 15-22 miles a day.)

There are a total of 14 cities participating in the walk which will take place during the months of August through November. After registering you will have access to participator tools and also be sure to check out the calendar for activities taking place in your city. You can also buy some 3 Day gear to get all decked out for the big days!

The reason behind raising awareness for this walk so early is to get as many people as possible in joining the battle against breast cancer and to give the participants the time to train, since 60 miles in three days is no easy task!

For a list of the cities participating, Read more