In the early days scientists assumed that starch would be completely digested to glucose as it passes through our digestive system. However that assumption was overturned when research showed that about 10% of consumed starch is not digested and instead undergoes fermentation in the large intestine. This starch is called resistant starch and it is considered to be an important class of dietary fiber.

Recent studies have also shown that replacing 5.4% of the carbohydrate content of a meal with resistant starch increased fat metabolism by 23%. It appears that resistant starch changes the order in which the body burns food. Usually the body metabolizes simpler foods such as carbohydrates and then followed by fats. But when resistant starch is present, dietary fat gets metabolized first into energy before it has a chance to be stored as body fat. This is why it is believed that resistant starch is an excellent candidate for inducing the body to increase fat metabolism and therefore an excellent fat burning food. (more…)

Many people who stick to a calorie-reduced diet don’t lose weight as fast as they think they should. That’s because they activate metabolic protection. Their body senses starvation and shuts down fat burning in order to conserve fat as an emergency energy source. Hence the key to losing weight is to induce the body to turn on its metabolic processes in particular the fat burning metabolism.

The key to doing that should involve three interrelated processes namely:

• Conditioning the body for optimal fat burning
• Reducing fat absorption from other sources
• Triggering the body’s natural fat burning metabolism

Don’t worry is this sound complicated. The above information has been condensed in the form of 12 easy tips to promote the body to burn fat all day long and thus lose weight easily. (more…)

Global warming is no longer a theoretical concept. While raising average global temperatures, climate change could also bring more snow, harder rain, or heat waves, meteorologists say. Computer models based on climate data from nine countries indicate every place on the planet will be hit with extreme weather events, including coastal storms and floods.

There is emerging scientific consensus that human activity in particular through the emission of carbon dioxide has certainly contributed to drastic changes in our climate through global warming.

While waiting for political will and sanity to prevail at the global level, each of us could do our part to reduce our carbon footprint. A Carbon Footprint is a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide. Calculate your carbon footprint here.

(more…)

Scientists have found a correlation between drinking diet soda and metabolic syndrome. They found that the risk of developing metablic syndrome was 34% higher among people who drank one diet soda a day compared with those who drank none.

This is something to worry about. Diet sodas are an indispensable part of modern life. Many people drink diet sodas for health reasons as they are low in calories. It is also consumed by people who want to make a statement about being hip.

Metabolic syndrome consists of multiple interrelated risk factors that include abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and blood glucose levels, and elevated blood pressure that increases the risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and diabetes. (more…)

Re­search­ers re­port that they have ar­ti­fi­cially cre­at­ed a beat­ing rat heart, with help from na­ture.

Through a pro­cess called whole or­gan de­cel­lu­lar­iz­a­tion, Uni­vers­ity of Min­ne­so­ta sci­en­tists said they grew the or­gans by tak­ing dead ani­mal hearts and re-seed­ing them with live cells. The re­sults are de­scribed in the Jan­u­ary 13 on­line is­sue of the re­search jour­nal Na­ture Med­i­cine.

Al­though re-cre­ating hu­man hearts may be years away, the work seems to be a prom­is­ing start, said the prin­ci­pal in­ves­ti­ga­tor, Do­ris Tay­lor of the uni­vers­ity. “The idea would be to de­vel­op trans­plantable blood ves­sels or whole or­gans that are made from your own cells.”

(more…)

In this context, the web-based tool recently launched by Asterpix, a startup company based in California seems to be riding the crest of this wave of the future.

(more…)

I read an interesting article which shows a challenging leg-balancing move to help develop concentration, strength and balance.

I’ve tried it and it works. It can be done at home or at work. I recommend that you do these exercises everyday.

Share your views.

So how will our lives change in the future?

(more…)

Last June Craig Venter of Craig Venter institute in Rockville Maryland announced that they have successfully synthesized an entire genome or genetic blueprint of a bacteria using lab chemicals.

In other words the genome is entirely synthetic. It is a momentous step indeed. This brings mankind to the second last step towards creating artificial life.

(more…)