HealthAssist Blog

By now you probably have your Christmas tree installed and decorated. But if not, you might try something unusual. Take a look at these strange, unusual and funny Christmas trees.

A Christmas tree made of candles inside glass capsules in Shiodome, Japan. Link

Steel Christmas tree. Link

Tire Christmas tree. Link

World’s largest living Christmas tree, in Wilmington’s Hilton Park, an oak that is believed to be more than 400 years old. Link

A Christmas tree in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. According to Guinness World Records, the 82-meter-tall tree decorated with 2.8 million colorful bulbs is the biggest one in the world. Link

A Christmas tree made of barrels. Link

Little cork Christmas tree. Link

The Christmas tree along the slopes of Monte Ingino, located in Gubbio, Italy. It’s made of 500 lamps connected by 12000 metres of electric cable and covers a mountainside of Monte Ingino from about 500 to 900 metres altitude. Link

A glass Christmas tree in Saint Mark Place, Venice, Italy. Link

Plywood Christmas tree by Australian graphic designers Buro North. Link

Ice sculpture of the Christmas tree in North Yorkshire. Link

A Christmas tree carved from 30 tons of ice in Klagenfurt, Austria. Link

World’s tallest LEGO Christmas tree: 9 m (30 ft) tall, diameter 5 m (16 ft), more than 245,000 bricks, weighting 6.3 tons (including the steel construction inside), December 2003, two identical trees have been constructed, One has been placed in Oberhausen, Germany, the other one had a prominent place next to the entrance of LEGOLAND California, Carlsbad (USA). Link

Living singing Christmas tree at the Oak Grove Baptist Church, in Bel Air, Maryland, Christmas: 37 foot high structure topped with an 11 foot lighted star with up to 125 singers stacked in the shape of a tree. Link

Book Christmas tree. Link

PacMan Christmas tree. Link

Shelf Christmas tree. Link

Empty bottles Christmas tree. Link

Ladder Christmas tree. Link

24k gold Christmas treein Osaka, Japan. The tree is decorated with more than 240 jewels including diamond baubles and strings of pearls, weighs more than 21 kilograms - and is worth 150 million yen. Link

Diamond Christmas tree by Singapore jeweler Soo Kee Jewellery. It is encrusted with 21,798 glittering diamonds totaling 913 carats, 3,762 crystal beads and is decorated with 456 lights. With a height of 6 meters and weighing at 3,215 kg, it is worth US $1,005,000. Link

High blood cholesterol level is one of the major risk factors for heart disease. When there is too much cholesterol in your blood, it builds up in the walls of your arteries. Over time, this buildup is leading to atherosclerosis, the narrowing of the arteries, and a restriction of blood’s ability to pass through them unhindered and deliver oxygen and other essential nutrients to various parts of the body.

As plaque builds up, the arteries narrow and harden until eventually blood flow is obstructed. If the obstruction is so severe that oxygen can’t reach a portion of the heart or brain, the result is a heart attack or stroke. This can happen quite suddenly if a small blood clot lodges in the narrowed artery and cuts off blood flow.

Having a high cholesterol level does not cause symptoms. Most people find out they have high cholesterol when they have their blood cholesterol measured as part of a medical check-up. Alternatively, it may be identified after other health problems, such as heart disease, have been diagnosed.

One of the ways to lower cholesterol levels is to eat proper foods. And this doesn’t mean dieting.

Diet tends to help people lower triglycerides and raise good HDL cholesterol, but it’s less likely to have a big impact on bad LDL cholesterol.

We compiled a list of foods with cholesterol-lowering properties. Not only the following foods are proven to reduce your risk for developing heart disease, but many will also reduce your risk for other serious conditions such as high blood pressure, stroke, or diabetes.

16 Foods Proven to Lower Cholesterol

A paradox is a fact that contradicts the paradigm.

Besides probably the most known and discussed “French paradox” there are other paradoxes that were discovered by the researches and they are not less interesting then the French one.

1 French Paradox

The most famous is the French Paradox. Over the years, many studies have highlighted a conundrum: Despite the typical French diet contains large amounts of butter, cream, and other foods rich in artery-clogging ‘unhealthy’ saturated fats, the French incidence of heart disease is low. They don’t diet and they don’t spend hours panting round the gym. This is, of course, seen as a ‘paradox’ because conventional wisdom has it that such a diet should increase heart disease rates.

Not so long ago we have been writing about the French Paradox in more detail.

2 Israeli Paradox

Have you heard of the Israeli Paradox, which is less known but may be is more important?

The Israeli Paradox is the fact that Jewish Israelis have very high rates of heart disease and diabetes in spite of a diet low in total fat, saturated fat, and high in polyunsaturated fats (the supposedly “good”fats). According to the current conception, polyunsaturated fats contained in vegetable seed oils are supposed to lower the risk of heart disease. Yet, high consumption of these oils doesn’t seem to have prevented the Israelis from dying from heart attacks.

Researchers suggest that the explanation for this paradox is Israel’s high intake of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (mainly from soybean oil), the predominant essential fat in soybean, safflower, and corn oils.

Israel has one of the highest dietary polyunsaturated/saturated fat ratios in the world. The consumption of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids is about 8% higher than in the USA, and 10-12% higher than in most European countries. In fact, Israeli Jews may be regarded as a population-based dietary experiment of the effect of a high omega-6 fats diet, a diet that until recently was widely recommended. Despite such national habits, there is paradoxically high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and obesity[1]. There is also an increased cancer incidence and mortality rate, especially in women, compared with western countries. Thus, rather than being beneficial, high omega-6 fatty acids diet may have some long-term harmful effects.

Non-Jewish Israeli citizens have rates of heart disease and diabetes roughly half the Jewish rate. The non-Jews consume lots of olive oil (low in omega-6) rather than soybean oil.

[Continue reading →]

Bananas are unique fruit with unique properties. It is fantastic fruit with sweet taste that most people enjoy. Bananas perfectly satisfy hunger and supply an organism with energy and useful nutrients. It has a rare combination of energy value, tissue-building elements, vitamins and minerals, fiber and other essential nutrients. Also bananas have very convenient natural packing. It is compact, healthy, easy to carry, and easy to use.

The health benefits of bananas are being investigated worldwide. And here is the list of these benefits. But first, some interesting facts about bananas:

• Banana fruit is botanically defined as a berry, and the plant it grows on is a herb.
• They are the only fruit that actually develop better color, texture, aroma, and sweetness when ripened after harvest. It’s the tiny seeds within the fruit that release a ripening hormone, a mixture of ethylene gas and carbon dioxide.
• Bananas are the most potassium-rich food that is available worldwide and year-round.
• Bananas make baby boys! Recently researchers confirmed the old wives’ tale that eating bananas is associated with having a boy.

[Continue reading →]

If you actually want to say "goodbye" to your belly, you should take a lesson from the French.

Despite a diet stuffed with cream, butter, cheese and meat, just 11 percent of French adults are obese[3], compared with America’s 33 percent[2]. The French live longer too, and have lower death rates from coronary heart disease. They don’t diet and they don’t spend hours panting round the gym.

Here are several solutions for the notorious “French paradox” - the riddle of how a nation of alcohol-quaffing, croissant-munching gourmands stays healthy and slim, while a disproportionate number of health-obsessed Americans are obese and at cardiovascular risk.

[Continue reading →]

The days of thinking about fats just as calories are over!

Initially, trans fats were thought to be a healthy alternative to animal fats because they’re unsaturated and come primarily from plant oils. However, in 1990 scientists made a startling discovery: Trans fats appeared to both increase LDL (bad) cholesterol and decrease HDL (good) cholesterol. More studies over the years confirmed this. At the present time, we do know that trans fats have a very deleterious effect on heart and metabolism in general. However, this is still far not all negative consequences.

Hydrogenation process

Trans fats are made by a chemical process called partial hydrogenation. In the hydrogenation process, vegetable oil is reacted under pressure with hydrogen gas at 250 - 400 F for several hours in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel or platinum. Hydrogenated oils are “molecularly changed” oils. Full hydrogenation results in saturated fats only, but partial hydrogenation will lead to the formation of trans fats.

The purpose of hydrogenation is to solidify an oil so that it can be made to resemble real foods such as butter.

Foods that are likely to have trans fats

• Stick margarines and shortenings
• Packaged foods
• Bakery products (crackers, cookies, cakes)
• Frozen foods (frozen pies, pot pies, waffles, pizzas)
• Potato chips, corn chips, popcorn
• Fried fast foods (fried chicken, fried fish, French fries, doughnuts)
• Hamburgers, cheeseburgers
• Desserts

Why Trans Fats are put in so many foods?

[Continue reading →]

To Drink Or Not To Drink? Is it really necessary to give up coffee while pregnant?

Coffee is one of the most studied products in the world. Caffeine’s effect on pregnancy has been extensively researched. However, the results of research are controversial. It is supposed, that coffee can contribute to miscarriage, low birth weight, premature birth and stillbirth.

The question of coffee drinking safety during pregnancy causes many disagreements. Doctors are split on what this means for pregnant women, with some advising avoiding caffeine altogether and others saying caffeine-containing beverages are still safe in moderation.

And though a lot is not clear in the question of coffee safety, it is authentically known, that:

• Caffeine readily crosses the placental barrier.
• Clearance of caffeine is slower in pregnant vs non pregnant women.
• The fetus has low levels of enzymes which break down caffeine, so fetal metabolism of caffeine is delayed.

[Continue reading →]

"The bonds of wedlock are so heavy that it takes two to carry them - sometimes three"
Alexandre Dumas

Most people list being faithful as one of the top essentials in a successful relationship. But the fact is, people cheat. It is estimated that about 44-76% of men and 21-50% of women are cheating their “significant other”.

Probably everyone knows that cheating is wrong. Anytime someone has an affair there’s a danger that it will ruine their marriage or relationship. Even long and happy marriage or relationship. But this doesn’t stop the majority of people.

So why people do this? Why people are willing to conduct themselves in the ways that could be very damaging to them and to their partners?

[Continue reading →]

Do you like coffee? I do, it’s taste and aroma make my mornings so much better!

However, coffee is not usually considered as a healthy food. It has a long history of being blamed for many ills. But some recent research indicates that coffee may not be so bad after all. So which is it - good or bad for your health?

I decided to do my own little research and noted 10 benefits and 11 potential health risks of coffee drinking. Here is what I have found:

[Continue reading →]

Few people drink soda because they believe it’s a healthy drink. We drink it because it is very tasty, convenient and inexpensive.

Statistics shows that Americans drink more soda pop than ever before. These popular beverages account for more than 25% of all drinks consumed in the United States. More than 15 billion gallons were sold in 2000. That works out to at least one 12-ounce can per day for every man, woman and child. Fifty-six percent of 8-year-olds down soft drinks daily, and a third of teenage boys drink at least three cans of soda pop per day.

Besides that, the number of Americans who consume products that contain sugar-free sweeteners grew from 70 million in 1987 to 160 million in 2000. At the same time, the incidence of obesity in the United States has doubled from 15 percent to 30 percent across all age groups, ethnic groups, and social strata. And the number of overweight Americans has increased from about 30 percent to over 65 percent of the population.

And though soda is rather addictive treat and for many of us it would be hard to give up soda habit once and for all, at least we should try to place it to the category of things we enjoy on occasion.

As for me, the following information will surely keep me away from opening the can:

[Continue reading →]