Jan 24, 2014

Happy Friday

Nature gives us the morning dew. We must make our own morning DO.

I DO always enjoy having a Happy Friday!

Global Belly Laugh Day

Today is Global Belly Laugh Day. Laughter causes the tissue lining our blood vessels to expand and increase blood flow. This makes us feel more positive, boosts our immune systems, increases pain tolerance and makes us feel good. It is appropriate to be celebrated this time of year as Victor Hugo said, " Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face."

Send out an email, put up posters, and tell everyone you meet to laugh out loud. Share your laughs with others. Look through old photos of you, family, and friends wearing crazy outfits and send them with good wishes. On your way to work, laugh out loud at every stop light and look around at how many people you can make smile. Ask your work friends to try it on the way home and report back next Monday. This will extend the holiday into next week. Text a picture of you laughing to everyone on your contact list and ask them to do the same. When no one is around, draw a smiley face on any blackboard or whiteboard at work with the words Global Belly Laugh Day.

It is OK to laugh in private, but much better to share. That is why today is not just a local or national holiday, it is a global holiday. Laughter knows no language, age, ethnicity, etc., barriers and can be shared with all.

Today is the day to take the Laughing Oath and paste a copy on your bathroom mirror to remind you every day.
"I do solemnly swear from this day forward
To grease my giggling gears each day
And to wear a grin on my face for no reason at all!
I promise to tap my funny bone often,
With children, family, friends, colleagues and clients,
And to laugh at least fifteen times per day.
I believe that frequent belly laughter
Cures terminal tightness, cerebral stiffness,
And hardening of the attitudes,
And that HA HA often leads to AHA!
Therefore, I vow, from this day forth,
To brighten the day of everyone I meet,
And to laugh long and prosper."
from - The Laughing Classroom, by Diana Loomans and Karen Kolberg

National Peanut Butter Day

Interesting that these two holidays would be on the same day this year. January 24, 2014 is National Peanut Butter Day.

Peanut butter is a staple in over 90% of US households and the average person consumes more than six pounds of peanut products each year. Women and children prefer creamy peanut butter, while most men go for the chunky variety.

George Bayle, a St. Louis snack food maker, started making peanut butter in the 1890s. For many years, manufacturers struggled with the oil separating from the grainy solids of the peanut butter. In 1923 Heinz became the first company to homogenize the peanuts into the spreadable butter we know and love today.

It takes 550 peanuts to make a 12 ounce jar of peanut butter. It is the high protein content that causes peanut butter to stick to the roof of your mouth.

Nuts Are Healthy

Had been thinking about this and it seems to fit with peanut butter day. According to data analysis conducted by researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Harvard School of Public Health and published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2013, those who ate nuts nearly every day were 20 percent less likely to die in the course of two 30-year cohort studies.

Nut eaters were almost 30 percent less likely to die of heart disease and more than 10 percent less likely to die of cancer than those who never ate them, even after adjusting for other lifestyle factors. The nut eaters were also slimmer and had lower rates of type 2 diabetes.

The study found that nuts, such as almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, and peanuts delivered the health and longevity benefits in direct proportion to consumption.

Researchers tracked the health of 119,000 men and women for 30 years and included detailed dietary questionnaires every four years.  “What we find is regular nut consumers are actually lighter; there is less obesity in that group,” said Charles Fuchs, director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Treatment Center at Dana-Farber and senior author of the paper.

Previous studies have also pointed to a correlation between eating nuts and lower risks of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, and diverticulitis. Higher nut consumption also has been linked to reductions in cholesterol levels, inflammation, and insulin resistance. It is nuts not to eat nuts.

Superman's Real Name

Comic book character Superman's alter ego, Clark Kent was named after actors Kent Taylor and Clark Gable. He was also the first superhero to wear a cape.

Shubsthoughts Blogviews

The top ten viewers to my blog last month in order are:
Russia
United States
Malaysia
Germany
France
China
United Kingdom
Poland
Canada
Ukraine
Thank you to all my new best friends from Russia for being number one. Thank you to all the rest of my new friends from around the globe. Hope you enjoy the content.

Basketball Quickie

This week in 1892, the first officially recognized basketball game was played at the YMCA gym in Springfield, Mass.

Flying vs. Driving

MIT statistics professor Arnold Barnett reports that in the last five years, the risk of dying on a flight in the United States was one in 45 million. So, you can fly every day for 123,000 years before encountering a crash.

Your chance of being killed in a car accident in a given year is one in 7,000, making flying thousands of times safer.

Is It Cold or Flu

This time of year many will get one or the other, or both. However, there is a difference that is quite striking. Both can share a number of the same symptoms, including a runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, and cough. Because both the common cold and flu are caused by viruses, neither respond to antibiotics, which only work on bacterial infections. Antiviral medications can be prescribed by a physician to treat the flu and should be administered within 48 hours of when people begin to feel ill.

Colds tend to be relatively mild and typically last only a few days. Colds also have a more gradual onset with mild aches, and pains. Common colds are caused by many different viruses and high fever is rare. Colds are much more common than cases of flu.

The flu, short for influenza, usually comes on suddenly and is accompanied by fever, severe aches, chills, and fatigue. Effects of the flu can last for weeks.

Treatment for both includes plenty of rest, drinking fluids, taking antihistamines, pain relievers, and decongestants. Don't forget to keep a good supply of chicken soup, just in case.