
Some Healthy tips and facts...
Veggie Smarts
A diet rich in green vegetables may help your brain stay sharp as you age. Nearly 2,000 people kept track of their eating habits and participated in mental function tests over a six-year period for a study recently reported in Neurology. Researchers found that participants who eat more than two servings of green vegetables per day had approximately 40 percent less mental decline that those who ate fewer vegetables. Leafy greens – kale, spinach, and collards – high in the antioxidant in vitamin E seemed to be the most beneficial.
Decaf buzz
Find yourself wide-awake after drinking an evening cup of decaffeinated coffee? Turns out that the cup may not be as caffeine-free as you think. Researchers analyzed coffee products from fast food restaurants, grocery stores and Starbucks and found that two cups of some of the sampled java contained as much caffeine as a can of Coke or Pepsi. All decaf Starbucks-sampled products, including brewed coffee and espresso drinks, contained caffeine, from 3 to 13.4 milligrams per 16-ounce serving. While a regular cup of coffee contains 85 milligrams of caffeine, studies have shown that those sensitive to caffeine can feel its effect with as small a dose as 10 milligrams.


Music to your Ears
With iPods becoming essential to runners and office workers alike, researches at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Children’s Hospital in Boston have produced the first-ever safety guidelines for using earphones. Analyzing five portable music players including the Apple iPod and the SanDisk Sansa, the study found that it’s safe to listen to music thru earbuds at 70 percent volume for up to six hours per day. But blasting music at full volume for just five minutes can increase the potential for hearing loss.
The type of earphones you use also makes a difference. Here are some recommendations for maximum listening time per day:


|
PERCENT OF MAXIMUM VOLUME |
EARBUDS |
OVER-THE-EAR HEADPHONES |
|
10-50 % |
NO LIMIT |
NO LIMIT |
|
70% |
6 HOURS |
20 HOURS |
|
80% |
1.5 HOURS |
4.9 HOURS |
|
100% |
5 MINUTES |
18 MINUTE |