6 Surprising Foods with Health Benefits

Start incorporating these unlikely nutritional powerhouse foods into your diet and watch the extra inches disappear.

 Unlike most diet plans, which are laden with complex, hard-to-follow rules and verboten foods you love but have to live without, the Abs Diet lets you eat the foods you love, keeps your cravings at bay, and helps you control stress—all at the same time. Try to eat more of these 6 foods for additional health benefits.
 
Iceberg Lettuce


Did you think it was a nutritional weakling? Most people do, yet it turns out that half a head contains significantly more alpha-carotene, a powerful disease-fighting antioxidant, than either romaine lettuce or spinach.

Pork Chops

Purdue University researchers found that a 6-ounce serving daily of the other white meat helped people preserve their muscle while losing weight.

Mushrooms


When you digest mushrooms, metabolites are created that have been shown to boost immunity and prevent cancer growth, according to researchers in the Netherlands.

Red-Pepper Flakes


A Dutch study shows that by consuming about half a teaspoon of red pepper 30 minutes prior to a meal, you can reduce calorie intake by 16 percent. Plus, new research shows that the active ingredient capsaicin in hot peppers may help kill cancer cells.

Full-Fat Cheese


You know that dairy is one of the 12 Abs Diet Powerfoods, but full-fat cheese? Yes. It’s an excellent source of casein protein, one of the best muscle-building nutrients you can eat.

Vinegar


Sprinkle it on your sandwich. Scientists in Sweden discovered that when people ate 2 tablespoons of vinegar with a meal high in carbohydrates, their blood sugar was 23 percent lower than when they skipped the antioxidant-loaded liquid.

Who needs NASA now?

Evidence found for unseen comet that may threaten Earth


All Sky Cameras / Peter Jenniskens

This February Eta Draconid meteor streak was filmed by Peter Jenniskens with one of the low-light-level video cameras at the Cameras for All-sky Meteor Surveillance station in Mountain View, Calif., at 07:59:24 GMT on Feb. 4, 2011.

A surprise meteor shower spotted in February was probably caused by cosmic "bread crumbs," dropped by an undiscovered comet that could potentially pose a threat to Earth, astronomers announced Wednesday.

The tiny meteoroids that streaked through Earth's atmosphere for a few hours on Feb. 4 represent a previously unknown meteor shower, researchers said. The "shooting stars" arrived from the direction of the star Eta Draconis, so the shower is called the February Eta Draconids, or FEDs for short.

The bits of debris appear to have been shed by a long-period comet. Long-period comets whiz by the sun very infrequently, so it's tough to predict when they last cruised through our neck of the woods — and when they'll come back, researchers said.

That uncertainty is cause for some concern in this case, they added. [Close Encounters of the Comet Kind]

"If the meteoroids can hit us, so can the comet," said Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute and NASA's Ames Research Center, who discovered the February Eta Draconids. "We don’t know whether the comet has already passed us by or is still on approach."

Jenniskens stressed that the chances of such a collision are extremely remote.

Scanning the night sky

Jenniskens heads the Cameras for All-sky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS) project, which has been monitoring the San Francisco Bay Area's night skies with low-light video cameras in an effort to map meteor showers.

CAMS' cameras picked up the FEDs, bringing the tally of officially recognized meteor showers to 64.

The comet that produced the meteor shower is unknown. It may have last zipped by the sun just a few hundred years ago, or many thousands, researchers said. But it apparently came relatively close to Earth on its last trip through the inner solar system. [Comet Dive-Bombs Sun During Big Solar Eruption]

At that time, the comet released a cloud of dust, which is now making its own way around the sun.

"Earth gets hosed typically only once or twice every 60 years by such streams," Jenniskens said. "The stream of dust is always there, but quite invisible just outside of Earth’s orbit. Only when the planets steer the dust in Earth’s path do we get to know it is there."

Learning more about the comet

Jenniskens teamed up with a colleague, Finnish astronomer Esko Lyytinen, to investigate when the FEDs might have another encounter with Earth. Lyytinen calculated a possible return in 2016 or 2023, and after that not again until 2076, researchers said.

Whenever the FEDs show up again, astronomers will study them closely. Future observations of the shower may reveal key information about its parent comet — including whether or not it poses a real danger of ever slamming into Earth.

However, it can be tough to gauge a comet's path based on how its sloughed-off pieces are moving around the solar system.

"The bits from the comet are not subjected to the same forces that the comet is," said Bill Cooke, head of the Meteoroid Environment Center at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

Dusty comet debris is affected primarily by things like radiation pressure and gravity, explained Cooke, who was not part of the FEDs discovery team. But comets' orbits are more of a wild card, since the icy wanderers tend to spawn gaseous jets as they approach the sun and begin heating up. These jets can have a big impact on comet trajectories.

"That's why tracking a comet can be quite a tricky business," Cooke told Space.com.

Don't worry too much: Despite the uncertainty, Cooke said the public shouldn't get into a panic about a potential "doomsday comet."

"Does this shower indicate that a comet's going to whack Earth? I kind of doubt it," he said. "I don't think you can infer from this meteor stream that the parent comet is in a potentially hazardous orbit."

Jenniskens also urged some perspective, drawing on history as a guide.

"Chances are very small that the comet will actually hit us, as such impacts are rare in Earth’s history," he said.

You can follow Space.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall. Follow Space.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Sunny Sad Up....

SAD in the summer? Sunshine depression rare, but real


Scorching temperatures can challenge even the sunniest of dispositions -- but it makes some genuinely SAD.

By Cari Nierenberg

Many of us can hardly wait for summer to arrive, but a small number of people are much happier when it's over. You've no doubt heard of Seasonal Affective Disorder, the wintertime mood disorder -- but some get SAD in the summer.

As hot weather approaches, those with summer SAD sleep less, eat less, and lose weight. They're extremely irritable and agitated. (It's the reverse for people with winter SAD, who sleep more, gain weight and crave high-carb foods, and tend to slow down and socially hibernate from late fall to early spring.)

Summer-onset depression is thought to affect less than 1 percent of the population, making it much rarer than the winter variety experienced by an estimated 5 percent of people.

In its most severe form, people with summer seasonal depression may be more at risk for suicide than cold-weather SAD, says Dr. Norman Rosenthal, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School, who has studied both types and first helped discover their existence. "Suicide is more of a concern when people are depressed and agitated rather than depressed and lethargic," he explains.

When summer depression was first recognized in 1986, Rosenthal said that mental health professionals suspected the cause was the heat and humidity. That, he said, lent itself to the idea that a cold shower, air conditioning, swimming in cold lakes or heading North would relieve symptoms. Although these treatments for hot-weather depression are useful for some, they lack the staying power that light-box therapy has on winter SAD.

'The light is cutting though me like a knife'

A person with summer SAD can stay inside, crank up the AC, and darken the room but then go outside into the heat and it's as if they've never been treated, explains Rosenthal, the author of "Winter Blues."

Another idea is that it might be the light itself that's aggravating sufferers, whether it's the intensity of sunlight or the angle it's coming at people. One of Rosenthal's summer depression patients describes it as "feeling like the light is cutting though me like a knife."

Still another possibility is that there may be two kinds of warm-weather depression, says Dr. Alfred Lewy, a professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. He suggests there might be one group of people who have an unpleasant reaction to the heat and humidity -- a discomfort with the climate. But even in Portland where summers aren't that hot or humid, he's seen patients struggle with summer depression.

Lewy suspects the cause in a second group might be that the body's natural clock, it's circadian rhythms, are misaligning in summer. Instead of cueing to dawn, the longer daylight is causing some vulnerable people to cue to dusk. Cueing to dusk shortens the typical body clock and delays a person's sleep-wake cycle. This mismatch, theorizes Lewy, may be triggering depression.

He successfully treated a person with summer depression with a combination of getting early morning sunlight (30 to 60 minutes daily), which shifts the body clock forward, and low-dose melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate sleep-wake cycles. Severe symptoms may also benefit from antidepressants.

Writing on the wall?

I HATE!!!

I HATE- that I don't get home from work until almost 9pm daily...
I HATE- that I have lived in Florida 8 years & still do not own a boat!
I HATE- that I get "Just thought about you & wanted to let you know- Hope your having a good day" emails from coworkers I haven't seen in months, and the only communication I get from home is about kid issues!
I HATE- that I forgot my lunch today & had to eat a sandwich whith soggy bread!
I HATE- that I own a crappy little car & not a truck!
I HATE- that I will have to miss my teams football practices because CCS is anti-family!
I HATE- guys who wear girly shoes
I HATE- that I don't get to talk to my wife enough!
I HATE- that I live in a state that has water on 3 sides yet only get to the beach a few times a year!
I HATE- that it is too damn far to drive to Ohio, and airfare is ridiculous!
I HATE- that I have put back on 20# since last July!
I HATE- that I don't live on a lake, at least then I could fish at night when I am lonely!
I HATE- that I am lonely at night, yet I am not alone!
I HATE- that I don't get a chance to cook more!
I HATE- that Florida drivers are all idiots!
I HATE- that so many people in Japan are suffering right now!
I HATE- that Charlie Sheen will probably get back on 2&1/2 Men, but they won't remake The Dukes of Hazzard series!
I HATE- that Lady Gaga makes such damn good music!
I HATE- I never manage to get up & go for a run even when I swear I will as I fall asleep each night!
I HATE- that coworkers making 1/3 what I do are buying houses & I still rent!
I HATE- that I have the worst furniture on the planet!
I HATE- the 2 cats in my house who keep me from replacing my furniture!
I HATE- that I have never sky dived!
I HATE- that I allow myself to feel so insignificant!
I HATE- that I need a hair cut & that hair cut will leave me all grey again!
I HATE- that it is only Thursday!
I HATE- that I can't get enough time to clean my garage!
I HATE- that my father is dead!
I HATE- that it is lawn mowing season again already!
I HATE- that I have no health care benefits!
I HATE- that between 6:04am & 7:12am this morning was the longest I have ever been able to spoon with my wife.
I HATE- that I have no place to shoot guns at in Fl!
I HATE- most forms of social media!
I HATE- that I don't have a motorcycle or cycle license!
I HATE- that my kids are being raised in Florida!
I HATE- that I can't trust!
I HATE- when my car has a wierd smell in it for no apparent reason!
I HATE- most seafood, all mushrooms, and tomatoes!
I HATE- that I have not been to Hawaii yet, or Germany for that matter!
I HATE- crowded parks!
I HATE- that I will never retire!
I HATE- feeling like a mark all the time!
I HATE- that I have never learned to play a piano, guitar, or the drums!
I HATE- that I have no regular sitter for the kids!
I HATE- my shitty cell phone!
I HATE- my little house which has no pool!
I HATE- not having a dog!
I HATE- that my dance partner is not as motivated as I!
I HATE- skinny jeans for dudes!
I HATE- that I am a nice guy.... finishing last sucks!
I HATE- knowing that I could go on for a long time without completing this list!

The big cave adventure!

With the excitement building for todays field trip, my ten year old asked me last night if I have ever been in a cave before. I shared my brief experience as a youth back in the caves of Ohio to his amusement. But I explained to him there was a good movie for him to watch to see what he may encounter with his classmates today. I even think I convinced him that the movie Descent was based on true events. But he was not stirred, & rose at 5am this morning excited for the days outing. But even the excitement could not keep him awake, and by 6am he was passed out on the couch snoring like a thunderstorm. Lets just hope the trip fulfills all his young minds wondrous expectations, and the group of 5th graders all make it out alive...….

Quote to live by...

Best thing about life - its never so bad that it can't get worse. - Unknown Author