Beetroot Juice: The new cardiovascular cure-all???

Check this out!  I don't usually get too excited about a new wonder drug -- but what happens when the new wonder drug is juiced up plant product?  Beetroot?  I'm not sure how that is going to taste.  Or if your teeth are going to become permenantly purple but....

Researchers are finding that the nitrates in beetroot juice lower blood pressure (the high the pressure the more effective it is!), increase our ability to exercise, and improve physical performance in events like the Tour de France.

How's this all possible?  And what are the downsides?

Well...the nitrates in the juice relax the blood vessels and cause working muscles to require less oxygen for a given amount of work.

As for the downsides.....taste, maybe?  Research has shown results with 250 ml of juice.  Seems like a very small price to pay to possibly avoid having to take blood pressure meds!

What do you think?

How play can transform our economic landscape

Think we need to be serious about getting our country's ecomony back on track?  From the unhappiest, least innovative place in Europe, here's one speaker's thoughts on how play will transform his country.  Can it work for us too?  I think so.



What do you think?

Good Samaritans saving lives? Now there's an App!!

Fire Department App - PSA from Fire Department on Vimeo.


Check out this app!  The San Ramon Fire Dept built an app to connect first responders to emergencies.  In many cases, especially cardiac events, the difference between a 2 minute and 5 minute response time is the difference between life and death.

According to TechCrunch:

[Y]ou launch it, and it prompts you to ask if you’ve been trained in CPR and would be willing to help a stranger in the event of an emergency. If you accept this, then the application will take advantage of the iPhone’s location monitoring to get a general sense of where you are (a new feature enabled with the most recent update allows this with a minimal amount of battery drain).

Then, the next time a 911 dispatch center receives a call for an emergency that’s occurring near you, you’ll receive a push notification telling you that help is needed. The app will also tell if you if an automated external defibrillator (those electric paddles that can kickstart a heart) is nearby.

How cool is it when technology really does bring us together and make the world a better place!!

Interested?  Read more here !

Loved this and thought I would share it.....

How cool is this?!  Thanks Michael via Dewey!

The Future of Medicine?

Small changes add up

I just came across this calculator that let's you figure out how many more calories you would burn if you did your office work standing instead of sitting.  It's an interesting take on trimming your waistline!

Thanks to Jay for sharing.

We're not victims -- we need to get to work!

“Individual behavior is highly modifiable-and is responsible for the lion’s share of health status and associated costs. An individual’s lifestyle choices-smoking, nutrition, weight, exercise and stress management-are responsible for approximately 40% of one’s health status and 87.5% of healthcare claim costs. Clearly an opportunity exists to reduce healthcare spending by motivating healthier behaviors and lifestyle choices.” (S.A. Schroeder in the NE Journal of Medicine and the IPFW Study of 2006).