Why Men Just Don’t Understand Women

Turns out, the average guy doesn’t know jack about the female brain

By: Louann Brizendine, M.D. & Charles Hirshberg

I know it sounds trippy, but it’s true, and if you want to understand the mysteries of the female brain, you need to accept it. Throughout the ?rst 2 months of pregnancy, every embryonic brain is wired for girlhood. If that embryo has female genes, its brain will continue to develop with little interruption. But in a case like yours, all hell breaks loose in the third month, as a pair of extremely tiny testicles begins to send squirts of testosterone through your developing body.

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As the hormone enters the nascent brain, it will arrest development in certain regions and stimulate growth in others–notably, the ones that govern your sexual appetite.

That’s just the beginning, for after you’re born, the sex cabinets in your male brain just keep expanding. Indeed, the portion of your hypothalamus that governs sexual pursuit will grow larger and stronger until you reach adulthood. Scientists are unsure of its exact size in humans, but in other mammals, it’s known to be as much as seven times larger in males than in females. It has been estimated that the sex circuits in a typical man’s brain light up once a minute–much more often than a woman’s.

Scary, ain’t it?

Don’t worry, I’m here to help. I’m a professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco, and for years I’ve had this fantasy: I’m in a classroom that’s stuffed to the rafters with men, all of them listening attentively to my seminar on the female brain. They have good reason to listen–and so do you. You’ve probably heard it said that the most important sexual organ in a woman’s body is her brain. It’s not just a cliché. It’s a biological fact. And after spending 2 decades counseling thousands of couples about their intimate lives, I know that the average man doesn’t know jack about the female brain.

But what if you did know something about what goes on in that mysterious organ? Can you imagine the misunderstandings you might avoid and the rewards that might come your way?

Here’s the best part: I predict that the woman in your life will see as many benefits from these revelations as you do–not only in her sex life, but in all your mutual attempts to build bridges across the gender gap.
Lesson 1: Love’s Stop Sign
A woman’s brain is, in fact, roughly 10 percent smaller than a man’s. But it turns out that in brains, as in so many things, size doesn’t always matter. Women’s brains contain the same number of neurons as men’s; they’re just packaged together more firmly and tightly, like breasts in a bustier, you might say. And in a few unique areas–particularly those involving love, sex, and child rearing–the differences are as significant as those that distinguish our bodies. Every brain is intricately hardwired to satisfy the reproductive needs of its sex. And, at times, the differences in our wiring can cause some pretty spectacular collisions.

You know the kinds of collisions I mean–the ones that, unfortunately, always seem to happen when the big-date preliminaries are over, and you’re alone with the woman of your dreams. At first, everything goes beautifully: You find a private, intimate spot. The two of you commence smooching. You kiss her lightly behind the ear, and she giggles with appreciation.

After a few minutes of that, your hands glide softly across her shoulders and massage that magnificent, polished skin beneath her shirt. She coos, and your wandering hands encounter no resistance. Finally, the tiny third-base coach in your brain starts waving you frantically toward home plate, and of course you obey–he’s the coach. Your eager paw steals down the third-base line, cheating into foul territory.

“Stop right there,” she growls. You’rrrrrre OUT!

Now all you can do is stare at her like some big-eyed, drooling dog that’s been caught trying to steal a pork chop off a kitchen counter. You feel like the loneliest man on Earth.

And yet, you’re not alone. Such disasters are as old as dating itself, and almost as common. All too frequently, they’re caused by the differing biological underpinnings in our brains. And the better you understand those differences, the better she’ll welcome the touch of your south-sliding hand.

One such difference begins with a network of cells that starts at the base of your brain and runs all the way down your spine until it reaches your genitals, stimulating your sexual response. Now, you might suppose this job would require a huge number of cells–millions, even. Actually, it takes only three, each of them as long as your spine and microscopic in diameter. Remarkable? Not so much, when you consider that a woman’s nervous system accomplishes the task with just one neuron. To put it another way, your sex circuits are three times fatter than hers.

In fact, nearly every difference in the brains of males and females affects love and sex in one way or another. Her anterior cingulate cortex, or ACC–a region involved in fretting over options, including whether or not she should risk going up to your apartment–is, predictably, larger than yours. Her prefrontal cortex–essentially the brain’s nanny, which tries to prevent her from making a fool of herself–is larger than yours, too. So is her hippocampus, which preserves in her memory all those minute details of romantic events that you catch hell for forgetting.

As a result of the unique requirements of pregnancy and nursing, women have evolved to consent to sex mainly with mates who are likely to be devoted to them and their children. Males, on the other hand, evolved to regard sex as pretty much all upside, regardless of the mom-worthiness of their partners. This contrast in our evolutionary goals, etched deep in our brains, continues to cause no end to conflict between the sexes.

The old cliché that men are animals is certainly true. But women are animals, too. It’s just that a woman’s animal nature expresses itself differently than a man’s, because of differences in their brains. And your best bet for success is to bear that in mind.
Lesson 2: The Tickle In Her Tummy
Once upon a time, a white-hot, deliciously nubile, very young actress told a reporter that kissing her boyfriend gave her “a tickle in [her] tummy.” A snarky men’s magazine made this memorable reply: “That’s not your tummy, dear. . . .”

Well, that just shows how little most men know about women.

Let’s get back to that date of yours–the woman who stopped you dead in the base paths. When dinner began, you weren’t sure where you stood with her. Then, somewhere between the Caesar salad and the steak au poivre, your eyes locked and sparks flew.

Here’s why: Her eyes sent a vision of your adorable self zipping down a superhighway called the lateral geniculate nucleus, or LGN, all the way to her primary visual cortex. Immediately, her cerebral cortex–which takes up the entire top floor of the brain and is responsible for most of our logical calculations–began a lightning-fast analysis.

Congratulations! The cortex registered you as a hunk, so her amygdala lit up like a firecracker. Her hypothalamus ordered her testosterone spigots to open up, triggering sexual arousal–often described by women as “rolling in my stomach.” (Or for the nubile actress, “a tickle in my tummy.”) A woman’s need to quickly evaluate this rumbling in her gut (caused by sloshing blood in the lower abdomen) might be one reason the insula, where “gut reactions” are processed, is both larger and more active in women.

You might say that her brain is looking for reasons not to select you as a mate. The testosterone and dopamine that washed over her brain when she recognized your hunkishness will, for a short time at least, inhibit the sadder-but-wiser parts of her brain that weigh and worry about risks.

From here on out, your job, essentially, is not to blow it.

Before we cover the many ways you might blow it, though, we can concentrate on what leads a skeptical female to make a gut reaction in your favor. Her state of attraction–which so often seems to occur by accident, or even by magic–is mostly a matter of biology.

David M. Buss, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Texas and the author of The Evolution of Desire, has amassed an extraordinary trove of data on the mating preferences of thousands of people from a wide variety of cultures. His findings, and those of many other researchers, leave little doubt that many of the qualities that attract a woman to a mate are hardwired into the brain.

For instance, women throughout the world almost always prefer men who are older (by 31/2 years, on average) and taller (by an average of 4 inches). And though they might not admit it, or even consciously realize it, most women are more interested in the size of a man’s wallet, and his reputation, than in any part of his body.

But these factors are far less important than the evolutionary logic that underlies them. It’s a safe bet that a woman doesn’t admire a man’s money as much as his willingness to use it on her behalf. Think of a male bird impressing a female by building her a nest; that’s the sort of signal you want to send, and sometimes you can do it just by cheerfully picking up the dinner tab. By the same logic, it is maturity, particularly in the area of commitment, that she’s usually looking for, not a man who’s had more birthdays than she.

Much of the basic definition of handsomeness, too, is hardwired into the female brain. Studies of both sexes have shown the importance of symmetry in the facial features; symmetry in the body; and symmetry in clothing as well as in grooming.

Pay attention, men. Few women, of any culture, will date a man with uneven sideburns.

Lesson 3: Your Friend, Oxytocin
As Sigmund Freud lay on his deathbed, he is said to have murmured a famous question that every man ought to ask (preferably before he’s nearly dead): “Women–what do they want?”

Sexually speaking, the answer is, they want you to slow down!

Think about your trembling hand moving toward paradise. That, my too-eager friend, is where you blew it. Blame her amygdala–the same amygdala that screamed to her hypothalamus that you were a hunk. It’s screaming a cautionary message now, schooled by millions of years of natural selection. It’s warning her ACC that a quick decision must be made about your groping hand–and that the wrong decision could have disastrous consequences. So the female brain sends visceral instructions to the female mouth, which issues this visceral response: “STOP!”

The point, gentlemen: You’re not likely to make progress with a lady until you lower the voltage in her amygdala and sweet-talk her ACC into concluding that you are safe. And that takes time.

Like most of our instinctual behaviors, sex is controlled by the autonomic nervous system (ANS). This intricate network of neurons is divided into distinct divisions, the busiest being the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, each wired to produce vastly different, and in many cases opposite, behaviors. For instance, if you opened the drawer of your desk and a hissing cobra popped out, your sympathetic nervous system would make your heart beat like crazy and kickstart your adrenaline pumps. But you would have very little appetite for food–and even less for sex.

That’s because sexual arousal is under the exclusive control of the parasympathetic nervous system, which also controls everything related to the enjoyment of food and the digestion of it. Imagine yourself, after a delicious dinner, settling down by the fireside with a glass of wine while a beautiful woman snuggles up next to you. It’s your parasympathetic nervous system that’s in overdrive now. Your heart beats in a slow, relaxed rhythm, you feel content, secure . . . and ready for love.

Now you can begin to see why a wrong move on your part can so completely spoil the mood. Caress her, compliment her, and relax her, and you’ll turn up her parasympathetic nervous system; she’ll smile, she’ll smooch, she might even coo. Parasympathetic impulses from her brain and elsewhere are prompting the release of a wicked cocktail of ligands (hormones and other chemicals that carry messages through the body) directly into her sex organs. This cocktail stimulates the release of vaginal lubricants and opens blood vessels in the labia and vagina, causing them to swell.

All systems are go!

But then you do something stupid, like force the issue. In that case, you will ignite her amygdala, agitate her ACC, and rouse her sympathetic nervous system–which means her parasympathetic nervous system goes off-line. At that point, it is biologically impossible for her to become sexually aroused. Once the mood is broken, you’re going to have to work extra hard to bring her back. It can be done, provided you learn to coax a particular ligand–oxytocin–into working its magic on her brain.

Love, desire, and sexual fulfillment are stimulated by ligands, and though our scientific understanding of their processes is still in its infancy, the little we do know is extremely useful. For instance, men have far more of a ligand called vasopressin, which gives men a laser focus on the object of their love. Studies on animals show that a male’s level of vasopressin rises sharply during sex.

Another ligand that increases during sex: oxytocin. Along with estrogen, oxytocin in women plays much the same role in forming attachments as vasopressin plays in men. But the feelings it creates are quite different. Vasopressin tends to produce sensations of longing. Oxytocin, by contrast, produces a feeling of well-being, a desire to nurture, and a sense of trust. So an excellent way to soothe a woman’s ACC and turn up her parasympathetic nervous system is to raise her levels of oxytocin.

How do you do that? With a nice long hug, for starters. Studies have found that a hug from a partner will produce an oxytocin rush in a woman’s brain–but only if that hug lasts 20 seconds or more. And just about everything that falls under the general heading of “foreplay” is likely to produce a similar effect–provided she’s into you and you do it long enough.

The effects of oxytocin can be incredibly disarming to a woman. Female animals injected with the stuff seem to throw caution to the wind and cuddle up with the first available male. And that is why, when women ask me for advice about men, I warn them, “Don’t hug the guy unless you plan to trust him.”

Lesson 4: Love and Ecstasy
Not much is known about what makes female orgasms happen, at least from a neurological perspective. We do know that an orgasm is essentially a conversation between the clitoris and the nervous system, and that it occurs when a rush of feel-good chemicals washes over the brain.

We also know–or think we do–something about what can make a female orgasm elusive. Just as the sympathetic nervous system must be turned way down before a woman can become sexually aroused, it must be turned back up before she can climax. Only the sympathetic nervous system can achieve the powerful muscular contractions that accompany orgasm, drawing sperm into the cervix and increasing the chance of conception.

If the amygdala must be quieted for sexual arousal, it must be switched off entirely to allow the complex neurological maneuvers that make climaxing possible. Anything that spoils a woman’s concentration at this crucial juncture–bad breath, ill-timed drool, a noise–may stir the amygdala and that old worrywart the ACC, and make orgasm impossible.

But in the quest for climax, the two of you can recruit at least one powerful ally: love. A dose of that can be as powerful as a hit of Ecstasy. Really.

Most drugs produce highs by hijacking portions of the brain’s reward system. But Ecstasy in particular quiets both the amygdala’s ability to alert us to clear and present danger and the ACC’s skepticism about risks in general. Frequently, the result of both Ecstasy and love is a person heedless of the potential consequences of his or her actions–the very definition of a fool.

The upside for you, of course, is that a fool in love is likely to overlook many of your blemishes when you’re in the sack. This is not to suggest that if she loves you, she’ll climax. But it does help explain why so much of the world’s best sex is experienced by people in the pink-and-flush of newfound love.

Appropriately, a complex emotion like love requires a complex mixture of ligands to bring it off in the brain, and oxytocin, dopamine, and testosterone are just a few of those involved. Scientists are continually finding new ligands. One recent discovery is particularly worthy of note, since it shows not only where the joys of infatuation come from, but also why they die down.

Nerve growth factor is better known as “the love molecule.” Enzo Emanuele, M.D., of the University of Pavia, in Italy, discovered that couples who have been in love for a year or two have substantially more nerve growth factor than lonely hearts do. But he also found that in couples who’ve been in love for longer than 2 years, levels of this love molecule are no higher than in people who are not in love at all.

Lesson 5: Love Me, Love My Brain
It’s never a happy moment when a young couple discovers that the exhilarating dopamine-powered sexual chemistry of early romance is a temporary phenomenon. But it often cheers them up when I explain that the declining amplitude in their sex lives is perfectly normal and need not spell the end of a relationship. The most happily married couple you know may love each other as much as they ever have, but they probably don’t love each other in quite the same way as they did in the beginning.

The warmth and contentment of long-term love has clear biological differences from the jungle fire of romance. It is fed, in large measure, by surge upon surge of oxytocin, produced by the long stretches of routine physical closeness that happy couples take for granted. Anything that brings the two of you together–reading on the couch with her legs stretched across your knees, or watching TV with your heads resting together–can produce a splash of the stuff.

But “staying close” is no simple task. I often think of one couple who came to see me in hopes of saving their marriage. The woman–let’s call her Jane–had virtually stopped having sex with her husband, whom we’ll call Evan. They had both begun new jobs, and the hot wires that connected them had gradually gone cold. Jane never felt in the mood. Evan suspected she had a lover. Jane was thunderstruck. How could Evan imagine such a thing?

“Never in the mood” is one of the most common complaints women bring to my office, and one of the easiest to fix. It’s simply what happens when male and female brains miss the point with one another. It was natural for Evan, with his male brain bleating for sex once a minute, to assume that his wife had similar appetites that were being satisfied elsewhere. Jane had no idea that to the male brain, sex is as essential to a relationship as talking is.

We hashed this all out, they went home, then we all met in my office a week or two later. Their sex life was as hot as ever. But they no longer called it “sex”– they called it “male communication.”

And that is what I wish for you and the woman of your dreams–plenty of male communication.
7 Steps to the Bedroom
1. It starts when her eyes send your picture shooting down an information highway called the lateral geniculate nucleus, or LGN, all the way to her primary visual cortex, located in the back of her brain.

2. Then her cerebral cortex–the part of the brain responsible for logical decisions–rates your potential as a mate.

3. If her cerebral cortex likes what it sees . . .

4.. . . it sends a signal to her fiery amygdala, which, in turn, shouts the good news to . . .

5.. . . her hypothalamus. This hormonal air-traffic controller then sets off a release of testosterone that . . .

6.. . . washes over her brain’s worry center, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), signaling it to relax and let her enjoy herself.

7. Bingo! Sexual attraction! As her brain celebrates this good news, her hypothalamus is set to “ready,” preparing her for sex–blood begins sloshing around in her abdomen, ready to prime her vagina. But if you try to move too quickly, her amygdala will shout a warning to her ACC, and you’ll wind up sleeping by yourself.
By: Louann Brizendine, M.D. & Charles Hirshberg

So XKCD posted this yesterday ……

Now CNN made this post http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/27/swine.flu.twitter/index.html

(CNN) — The swine flu outbreak is spawning debate about how people get information during health emergencies — especially at a time when news sources are becoming less centralized.

Buzz about swine flu on Twitter is stirring conversations about how people get health news.

Some observers say Twitter — a micro-blogging site where users post 140-character messages — has become a hotbed of unnecessary hype and misinformation about the outbreak, which is thought to have claimed more than 100 lives in Mexico.

“This is a good example of why [Twitter is] headed in that wrong direction, because it’s just propagating fear amongst people as opposed to seeking actual solutions or key information,” said Brennon Slattery, a contributing writer for PC World. “The swine flu thing came really at the crux of a media revolution.”

Twitter’s popularity has exploded in recent months, and Slattery said it’s a new development that a wide number of people would turn to the site in search of information during an emergency.

Others take a softer approach to the buzz on Twitter.

Writing for CNET, a CNN partner site, Larry Magid advises online readers to take medical advice with a grain of salt.

The Internet is “a great way to get general information, prevention tips and information on how to handle a known condition, but be cautious when using it to try to diagnose yourself,”he writes.

Several dozen cases of swine flu worldwide have been confirmed by the World Health Organization and hundreds more are feared. Read more about the situation

That information needs to be put in context by journalists, especially given the fact that so many deaths from the common flu occur each year and go underreported by the news media, said Al Tompkins, who teaches broadcast and online news at the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists.

About 36,000 people die from flu-related symptoms each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

The fast pace of new swine flu cases and their relevance to global public health policy makes the situation newsworthy, Tompkins said.

Tompkins said there is a tendency for television stations to hype health emergencies to boost their ratings, but so far coverage of the swine flu outbreak has been responsible. Coverage of the story is just ramping up, though, he said.

Of the swine flu news on Twitter, Tompkins said, “Bad news always travels faster than good news. I’m sure that was true in smoke signal days.”

Unofficial swine flu information on Twitter may lead people to unwise decisions, said Evgeny Morozov, a fellow at the Open Society Institute and a blogger on ForeignPolicy.com.

For example, some Twitter users told their followers to stop eating pork, he said. Health officials have not advised that precaution. Read about how the virus is transmitted

Morozov said there’s incentive for Twitter users to post whatever is on their mind because it helps them grow their online audiences.

But in an emergency, that tendency means people write about their own fears of symptoms and widespread deaths, which can create an uninformed hysteria, he said.

The debate about swine flu on Twitter is not one-sided, however. And the site is not the only place online where people are talking about the outbreak.

Some Twitter users have expressed concern that the swine flu story is being hyped. Several media outlets, including the BBC and CNN’s iReport.com, give readers and viewers a chance to express their own views about the outbreak.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also maintains its own Twitter account where official government information is given straight to the public.

And on Monday, President Obama seemed to try to calm national fears by saying the outbreak is “cause for concern and requires a heightened state of alert,” but is not a “cause for alarm,” CNN reported.

Twitter traffic about swine flu has been strong. According to Nielsen Online, swine flu has worked its way into about 2 percent of all notes posted on the site on Monday. You can follow that Twitter conversation here.

Chatter about swine flu is also loud elsewhere online. About 10 times more people are writing online about swine flu than wrote about the salmonella and peanut butter scares from this winter, Nielsen says.

On Google, an interactive map lets Internet users see where outbreak deaths have been confirmed and where they are suspected. See a CNN map

Slattery, the PC World writer, said he generally was excited about Twitter until recently. Now he finds the site to be “an incredibly unreliable source of information.”

Tompkins said people who post information on social media sites should think about the credibility of their sources before they pass something on.

That’s the “online equivalent of washing your hands,” he said.

“Before you pass it on, wash your hands a little.”

And yes i did bold the “About 36,000 people die from flu-related symptoms each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention” , as I think its fairly relevant to the panicdemic about swineflu. It only has a 4% or less hit rate. Though we have lots of ways to get it around the world really fast, we also have a LOT better ways of dealing with it and medicines and other similar things than say the previous pandemics that the world has seen.

So if I were you, i wouldnt panic just yet. Thank god its not something else, Bird flu fatality rate was 60%, SARS was 9.6% (though these figures probably vary depending on the countries socio-economic development as well as many other factors)  – and they havn’t and wont rule out Bird flu, its a matter of time rather than ‘you said it was coming and it never did’.

Heres an interesting article http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/2320534/Food-myths-busted

Do crusts make your hair curly? Does spinach make you strong? And will eating fish make you smarter? The experts look at the origins of some popular food myths.

* Spinach makes you strong

Nutritionist Catherine Saxelby, who has written nine books about food, blames Popeye the Sailor for this common misconception.

“Popeye used to swallow a can of spinach and his muscles would suddenly get big,” she recalls.

While spinach is high in iron, it is not very well absorbed.

Your best bet for big muscles is red meat, Saxelby says.

The reason the 1930s comic strip hero popped a can of spinach when he needed to bulk up was because of a misprint in a study on the leafy vegetable.

According to reports, an early study stated spinach had ten times the amount of iron than it actually did.

The error wasn’t widely known until it was uncovered by the British Medical Journal in 1981.

But for Saxelby one big question remains: “Why didn’t he have fresh spinach? Maybe it wasn’t as portable.”

* Eating fish make you brainy

Saxelby says the jury is out about this one, but recent research suggests it has some truth.

A Swedish study of almost 4000 15-year-old boys published last month found those who ate fish once a week had higher cognitive skills by the time they turned 18.

A weekly intake of fish increased a range of intelligence scores by an average of 6 per cent, according to the report in the journal Acta Paediatrica.

And tucking into fish more than once a week increased scores by about 11 per cent.

“For the time being it appears that including fish in a diet can make a valuable contribution to cognitive performance in male teenagers” the study’s author, Maria Aberg said.

Saxelby says the omega 3 fatty acids in fish are important for the development of cognition, concentration and memory in unborn and newborn babies.

“(But) Does it make you smarter than you would’ve been?. . . Does it make a kid go from average to super smart? I don’t know because there’s a lot more things come into it,” she says.

* Chocolate gives you pimples

Chocolate on it’s own will not make you break out in zits, but all the other stuff in your candy bars will, Melbourne dermatologist George Varigos says.

Dr Varigos, the head of dermatology at Royal Melbourne Hospital, conducted a study with researchers at RMIT university that revealed a link between diet and pimples.

“Your grandmother was partly right. . . (but) it does depend on the type of chocolate bar, so you have to be cautious,” he says.

“It’s not the chocolate bar that is fatty and hard, but it’s the chocolate candy (inside) that’s soft and juicy with sugar (that makes you break out).”

The study, involving about 75 boys aged 16 to 25, revealed High GI food fuels a peak in insulin, causing zits.

* Red wine good for your heart

Red wine is packed with antioxidants that are good for your heart, Saxelby says.

She says alcohol in all its forms has some health benefits in moderation, but red wine “has the edge”.

“It has a much higher concentration of antioxidants from the grapes.

“They keep your blood free-flowing. . . around your body, they stop it clotting and clumping. . . (and) open up the blood vessels.”

She also says red wine drinkers are more likely to have “a healthier lifestyle” than people who imbibe other types of alcohol.

But the Australian Heart Foundation (AHF) recommends getting the good stuff directly from fruit and vegies.

The AHF says over-indulgence can mean the alcoholic content of red wine cancels out any benefits.

“It is reported that drinking only a small amount. . . will provide the health benefit from alcohol,” the foundation’s nutrition manager Barbara Eden says.

* Crusts make your hair curly?

Both nutritionists like Saxelby and hairdressers like celebrity stylist Joh Bailey agree on this one, saying it’s a myth invented to get kids to eat their crusts.

Saxelby says children don’t like chewing, which is why many kids have a tendency to nibble around the crusts.

Bailey thinks the tale originated in the 1930s and 40s when it was “desirable” for girls to have curls.

“People used to set their hair and do all sorts of things to make their hair curly. . . and it was kind of torturous. . . and uncomfortable and not pleasant,” he said from his salon in Sydney’s Double Bay.

“I think it was a mother’s way of saying, if you eat your crusts you won’t have to be tortured into having your hair curled.

“There is no foundation to the fact that flour, particularly the part closer to the oven than the part in the middle, could possibly make your hair curl.”

* Carrots make you see in the dark

“Theoretically this is true”, Saxelby says.

Carrots are rich in betacaritine, better known as vitamin A, which is good for vision, in particular night vision, she says.

“That (is the) vision you get when you walk into a dark room and at first you can’t see something and then gradually objects come into view.

“So yes, carrots are meant to be very good for your eyes.”

But retina expert Dr Paul Beaumont describes this as a “complete fabrication”.

But Dr Beaumont, who has been studying human retinas since 1976, said the carrot theory evolved in World War 2.

“When the English. . . were flying at night they used radar but the Germans didn’t know that radar existed,” Dr Beaumont told AAP from his Sydney clinic.

“The English certainly didn’t want them to know so they put out a myth saying they were feeding their pilots carrots to improve their night vision and that’s why they could fly and see things at night.

“I think that is the greatest food myth”.

* An apple a day keeps the doctor away?

Eating apples will not keep you out of the doctor’s surgery, nor is the fruit any better than an orange, Saxelby says.

She says she suspects the apple is a convenient symbol for all fresh fruit and vegetables.

“You see apples used so many times to convey something healthy. . . so I think an apple is just a visual symbol of all things fresh and good,” she says.

“I don’t think apples on their own are anything more superior than oranges or mandarins.”

Saxelby says this line harks back to biblical times when Adam and Eve munched on the apple in the Garden of Eden.

In her opinion, berries and citrus fruits are much more nutritious.

* More information visit foodwatch.com.au/

And on another more geeky note, good to see Stuff having cleaner nicer URLS

Interesting read here http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/welcome-to-the-real-world/

Something’s been bothering me lately, and judging from what I know about the people who read these articles each week, I bet it’s bothered some of you before too.

It’s that phrase—“Welcome to the Real World.”

Have you ever heard that? It’s usually intended as a sarcastic remark about what someone else has said or is doing.

It might also have been phrased like this:

That’s just not how it works.

You’ll understand better one day when you’re (older, wiser, have a mortgage, whatever)

That sounds nice, but it’s unrealistic.

Let me share something very important with you: these are the things that people say when they want to marginalize you.

Other negative adjectives are idealistic, naïve, and well-meaning. If you hear those words, get ready – someone is very close to telling you about their interpretation of the ‘real world.’

To be more precise, here’s what the real world looks like from the perspective of those who would like to welcome you to this world:

• Remaining true to principles or values is admirable to a point, but after a while we are expected to compromise them in order to be true to a greater good

• No one should be ‘too much’ of anything. If you’re too smart, you can’t relate to regular people. If you’re too rich, you don’t understand how the rest of us live. If you’re too nice, even, you’re naïve for not knowing that the world is a dog-eat-dog place where each person must compete for scarce resources.

• Anyone who is able to break loose and find their own way should be treated with suspicion. The attitude is, “If I can’t do that, you shouldn’t be able to either.”

Please note: the real world is not reality. It is not defined by facts. It is determined by the collective perception of unremarkably average people. They are the people in the Matrix who have taken the blue pill.

Remember that?

Naturally, I have a different perspective from those who talk about the real world. The perspective is: THIS IS ABSURD.

Here’s how I see it instead:

• No one is better than you. Short of being enslaved, no one can get away with telling you what to do without you accepting it

• The best years of our lives are neither behind us nor ahead of us. They are RIGHT NOW, so we’d better take advantage of them

• You can walk away from a good job and have more freedom and opportunity than the colleagues you leave behind

• The widespread belief in deferred gratification—where we willingly put off the things we want for decades in a vague hope that one day we can enjoy life—is a false belief that prevents people from finding their purpose at an early age

• The world is waiting for you for you to go out and see it. No need to pack the Lonely Planet or plan much of anything before you go. You’ll figure it out

I’m well aware what people in the ‘real world’ say about these ideas. They say pretty much the same thing that has always been said throughout history about unrealistic ideas. You know, those notions about how women should have the same rights as men, human beings should not be bought and sold, lay people should have access to religious texts, criminals should be rehabilitated instead of simply put to death, and so on.

All of those crazy, unrealistic ideas that could never work in the Real World.

Response

When presented with the “Welcome to the Real World, that’s not how it works here” pitch, you have to choose whether to ignore it or fight back.

Be careful when you choose to fight back, because people who hold these beliefs are like caged animals. In the long run you are smarter, stronger, and have more stamina than them, but in the short run, you might get bitten if you put your hand in the cage. When animals or small-minded people feel threatened, they tend to lash out at whoever is nearby.

If you do fight back (carefully), the response that comes to mind is something like this:

“Maybe that’s not how it works for you in your world. However, not all of us are sleepwalkers. Some of us are alive.

Some of us have not given up on the unrealistic.

Some of us have taken the red pill.

Some of us don’t want the things in the real world.”

The Living World

The alternative to the real world is to join the living world. Joseph Campbell understood this alternative years ago when he wrote about the meaning of life:

People say that what we’re seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. What we seek is an experience of being alive.

The living world gives us yet another reason to be happy about the world falling apart around us. In the context of losing wealth and job security, more people are choosing to seek the experience of being alive. Some (certainly not all) are realizing that the real world has failed them, and that they need to find another way to make it now that the curtain has been lifted.

Yes, I know it sucks to realize that everything you’ve been told is a lie, but consider the alternative – would you rather spend your whole life believing the lie? Don’t get me wrong, I know there are plenty of people who would choose the lie. They are the ones who say your ideas are unrealistic and you aren’t living in the real world.

But the good news is that the people in the ‘real world’ are losing their ranks, and some of them are ready to wake up. If you’ve already done so, you’re ahead of the game.

You can help people wake up from sleepwalking and welcome them to the living world.

I don’t think that’s an unrealistic idea at all.

Even if you think you’re pretty smart or have a good memory, your brain is begging you to work it to its full potential. Getting stuck in the same routine, never exercising and eating junk food are all brain killers that decrease good cognitive function and increase your chances of memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer’s. But with these 50 tips and ideas for flexing your brain power, you’ll be able to boost performance right now and in the future.

Daily Habits

Make a point to exercise, sleep on a regular schedule and socialize with friends and family each day for the sake of your brain.

1. Sleep right: Healthy sleeping habits, like getting enough sleep and sticking to a regular sleeping schedule, can promote brain health by improving your ability to focus and remember things. Get at least eight hours of sleep to ensure that you reach your REM cycle.
2. Exercise: Exercise boosts your mood by releasing endorphins, but it also stimulates oxygen intake and “increases levels of brain chemicals that encourage the growth of nerve cells” that help memory, according to the AARP.
3. Socialize with friends and family: Studies have shown that remaining socially active is very important in reducing your chances of dementia.
4. Do the daily crossword puzzle: Exercise your brain and maintain cognitive function by doing puzzles and brain teasers everyday.
5. Read: Read the newspaper, a magazine, books, and online material to keep your brain sharp and to challenge yourself to learn new words and information.
6. Keep stress in check: Stress affects memory and can also cause tension headaches, so remember to relax and unwind.
7. Do something new everyday: Whether it’s learning a phrase a day in a foreign language or reading a different kind of article in the newspaper, challenge your brain to explore a new topic.
8. Subscribe to online puzzles: Make it easy to do a puzzle or brain teaser a day by subscribing to an RSS feed.
9. Switch up your routine: Even small changes in your daily routine will help you stay sharp and introduce you to new elements and variables while you shop, garden, take a walk, or call a friend.
10. Eat right: A brain-healthy diet includes low-cholesterol and low-fat foods.

Brain Food

A healthy diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and even a little caffeine are what your brain needs for optimum performance.

1. Salmon: Cold-water, deep-water fish like salmon and tuna are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce inflammation and “which are essential for brain function,” according to Dr. Ann Kulze and WebMD.
2. Baked and grilled items: The Alzheimer’s Association suggests baking and grilling food instead of frying it to reduce saturated fat and cholesterol intake, which can contribute to Alzheimer’s.
3. Kale and spinach: Darker skinned vegetables like kale and spinach have the highest levels of natural antioxidants.
4. Flax seeds, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds: These seeds have high levels of Vitamin E, which reduces risk of cognitive decline as you age.
5. Nuts: Walnuts, cashews, peanuts and almonds are excellent brain food because of their high concentration of vitamin E.
6. Canola oil and walnut oil: Cooking with canola oil and walnut oil is an easy way to balance your omega-3s and omega-6s, according to Psychology Today.
7. Beans: Eat beans to stabilize your blood sugar.
8. Coffee: According to a study reported by the BBC, “coffee may cut the risk of dementia by blocking the damage cholesterol can inflict on the body,” due to its caffeine content.
9. Blueberries: Blueberries are a popular brain food because they reduce inflammation in the central nervous system and are an excellent source of antioxidants.
10. Whole grains: Whole grain bread, rice and oatmeal lower your risk of heart disease, which maintains healthy blood flow to the brain. WebMD reports that whole grains also contain vitamin E, fiber and omega-3s.
11. Avocado: Avocados are rich in monosaturated fat, which promote blood flow. They’re also an incredible source of dietary fiber, vitamins B6, C and E, potassium, magnesium and folate.
12. Green tea: Green tea contains antioxidants called polyphenols, which help prevent cancer and “may help maintain positive mood states and protect against Parkinson’s disease and other brain disorders,” reports Psychology Today.
13. Dark chocolate: Dark chocolate contains antioxidants and caffeine, which protect the brain and improve your mood.
14. Eggs: Eggs in moderation can increase your intake of omega-3s and choline, which improves memory.
15. Strawberries: Add strawberries to ice cream, yogurt or fiber-rich cereal for a bigger brain boost. They are rich in antioxidants, fiber, vitamin C and potassium.
16. A moderate amount of carbs: Whole foods with carbohydrates give us needed energy, but overdoing carb-laden foods can make you sleepy and sluggish.

Activities and Games

Keep your brain guessing by switching up your activities and trying new games that will form new connectors.

1. Change the way you tie your shoelaces: Try reversing the hands you use to tie your shoelaces to challenge your brain.
2. Change up your regular route: Switch up the drive to work or your regular evening walk to test your brain.
3. Travel: Traveling is supposed to keep your brain in top shape. Neanderthals are believed to have sharp brains because of their nomadic lifestyle, according to The Franklin Institute.
4. Take a dance class: Challenge your brain to learn new steps and follow along with the music while getting needed exercise.
5. Yoga: Yoga may help prevent or ease depression and anxiety.
6. Games for the Brain: Play Sudoku and brain puzzles, trivia games and strategy games to flex your brain muscles.
7. Concentration and memory games: This group of brain games tests your concentration, memory and matching skills.
8. Read a mystery novel: Pick up a challenging mystery novel that encourages you to solve the puzzle as you read along.
9. Babysit: Babysit your grandkids or your neighbors. You’ll be challenged to keep up with their fast pace and games that are probably new to you.
10. Concentration practice: Did you know that you can practice your concentration skills to improve brain function? Brain exercise through crossword puzzles and Sudoku can help.
11. Opencourseware: Take a free not-for-credit class online to learn something new, test out your technology skills and challenge your brain.

Things to Avoid

Smoking, junk food, and too much TV are all harmful to brain performance.

1. Smoking: The Alzheimer’s Association maintains that “smoking interferes with blood flow and oxygen to the brain and is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.”
2. Getting overweight: Being overweight increases your chances of having a stroke, so exercise and eat a low-cholesterol, heart-healthy diet.
3. Junk food: Junk food is bad for your heart, your weight and your cholesterol, and it’s also bad for your brain. Foods that are high in trans fats “adversely affect cognition,” according to LiveScience.com.
4. Too much TV: Too much TV doesn’t challenge your brain enough, keeps you from moving around and exercising, and can cause headaches.
5. Routine: Your brain can get in a rut just like your mood can, so play around with your routine to keep your brain guessing.
6. Too much alcohol: Besides impairing judgment and brain performance during drinking, consistently drinking too much alcohol may speed up the shrinkage of brain volume, leading to dementia and other disorders.
7. Starving yourself: Maintain your focus and avoid headaches, stress and irritation by refueling every few hours on healthy snacks, like nuts and fruit.

Miscellaneous

From managing your anger and stress levels to meditating, these simple tips will improve focus and keep your brain sharp for years to come.

1. Getting to the country: Moving to the country, or at least vacationing there once in a while, gives your brain a break from the chaos of urban life, which according to a study reported by Boston.com, “impairs our basic mental processes” and “dull[s] our thinking, sometimes dramatically so.”
2. Anger management: By learning how to deal with problems, the AARP reports, your brain “forms new neural connections” and avoids stress.
3. Stimulate your senses: Try focusing on only one or two senses, like touch or sound to challenge your brain to make sense of what you feel or hear without help from your other senses.
4. Get a check up: Make sure your brain is in good shape and not at risk for any tumors or other conditions by scheduling regular doctor’s visits.
5. Notice more: Instead of focusing on what you’re doing only, open your eyes and notice your surroundings. The more you take in, the more your brain has to process.
6. Meditate: Clear your mind with meditation, which also reduces stress and helps you refocus on what’s important.