According to Dr. Ben Kim, there is research that says that LASIK may cause more vision problems than previously thought. In New Zealand, researchers at Otago and Oxford Universities say that LASIK surgery can cause permanent long term problems.

They claim that if a person has laser surgery to overcome near-sightedness, then that could cause excessive haze, glare and blurred vision in their senior years.

Personally, I started wearing reading glasses a few years ago. Everything close up seemed to be getting blurrier as I aged. I started taking a Bilberry supplement, and it seems to be helping a bit. It’s too early for me to say whether or not it will be of any long term use, but for now, it does seem that my vision is a bit less blurry. I don’t know if supplements help with near-sightedness, but I think it would definitely be worthwhile to spend a month or two taking supplements to find out for yourself.

I used to have a lot of problems getting to sleep. It wasn’t that I’d lie there and worry, it’s just that I have a hard time getting my brain to slowly wind down. I still don’t know how most people just shut down when they go to bed, but I’ve found a few things that help me sleep if I don’t feel tired at bedtime.

I think Melatonin is one of the best supplements out there. All I need to do is to take it 30 minutes before bed and I am sawing logs. Melatonin has never failed me. Not only is it helpful for humans, but some studies show it is very beneficial for helping dogs with various anxiety and behavior problems.

If I don’t have Melatonin, then Catnip tea works well for me. I don’t use the same catnip that my cat does, one of my local stores sells it in loose form. It’s amazing how well it works, and my cat seems to enjoy the aroma as well. ;-D

I haven’t taken prescription sleep aids for awhile, but the last time I tried them, they didn’t work for me. I’d much rather use something provided by nature because it seems that there are less side effects when I use Melatonin or Catnip.

Or maybe I should say, “What doesn’t tempt you at Christmas time?” There’s a lot of goodies available this time of year, from ham to homemade fudge. Why is it so hard to resist all this temptation? Is it because we that gorging helps add to the festive mood? Is it because it’s cold and dark outside, so there isn’t much else to do? Or is it because we feel we can hide the extra weight under our bulky sweaters and coats?

I think it’s time to think of what causes our temptations, why they’re so tempting, and how to avoid or lessen them. For example, I loooooove my daughter’s homemade fudge. But if we don’t buy the ingredients at the store, then I can’t be tempted by it. I’m sure there are other ways to successful deal with holiday eating and people should try to envision what works best for them.

I was just reading about him and he was born September 26, 1914, so he is in his 90s. I vaguely remember seeing him on tv when I was very young, it seemed it was just him, a chrome kitchen chair and a white German Shepherd named Happy. Back then, I was more interested in his dog than I was in his techniques. Now, I am amazed at his longevity. In interviews, he says his two simple rules of nutrition are “if man made it, don’t eat it,” and “if it tastes good, spit it out.” He often says, “I cannot afford to die, it will ruin my image.” He also claims he hasn’t eaten dessert since 1929.

His physical accomplishments are outstanding and impressive. For example, when he was 70, he was swam 1.5 miles while shackled and handcuffed and he was also towing towing 70 boats with 70 people from the Queen’s Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary. He is also credited with inventing the jumping jack. He designed the first leg extension machines, pulley machines using cables, and weight selectors. This type of equipment which is now standard in the fitness industry.

I tried going to his official site, but it is very graphic intensive and caused my computer to freeze. That really saddened me, because I have a feeling there’s a lot of good information there. I guess we’ll just have to be satisfied with this picture of Jack in the 1940s:

According to a study in the International Journal of Cancer, drinking hot drinks may cause a fourfold increase in the risk of esophageal cancer.

3,000 people were involved in five studies and researchers found that several hot types of beverages were found to increase the cancer risk, green tea was actually found to be protective.

Unfortunately, the site I found this at doesn’t have a link to the study. Nor does it list how the study was conducted or how long the studies ran. So, take this for what its worth and come to your own conclusions. For me, I’ve never liked super hot foods or beverages, but that’s just my personal taste. I’ve never bothered to research the effects of molten mashed potatoes.

When I say “flutter”, I mean it in a good way.

Peanut butter, and other legumes, can be very beneficial to most people. There are studies that show that it may help decrease hypertension, especially if following the DASH diet . DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.

Although there is fat in peanut butter, 80% of the fat in peanut butter is unsaturated fat, “the good fat” which may actually help lower LDL-cholesterol levels in your blood.

When you select your peanut butter, make sure that you avoid those with added oils, or those that say “hydrogenated” on the label.

According to ediets, there are numerous ways that sugar can adversely affect your health:

Sugar accelerates causes sagging skin and accelerates aging. So, not only do you wear the calories on your hips, that candy bar you eat could end up affecting your face and jowls!

Sugar can increase the risk of such things as diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

Sugar interferes with immune function. Although there hasn’t been much research done on human immune systems, some studies show that bacteria and yeast feeds on sugar, and this could cause an imbalance in the system.

Sugar causes blood glucose to spike and plummet which can lead to symptoms like fatigue, headaches and even mood swings. fatigue, headaches and cravings for more sugar.

Right now, a lot of people aren’t thinking of what their plans are for the New Year. But I thought I’d share some information on smoking, it might be an encouragement to give up smoking in 07.

I knew that tobacco manufacturers put a few chemicals in the cigarettes, but here’s a few of the gory details:

• Ammonia is added to cigarettes to enhance the absorption of nicotine
• Formaldehyde is present in cigarette smoke
• Hydrogen Cyanide is present in cigarette smoke and is inhaled in every puff

There’s so much more in every cigarette and its all bad news. There are 4,000 identified chemicals in cigarette smoke, and some of them on the list are known to cause cancer.

If you smoke, please consider giving yourself the best gift of all, the gift of being smoke and tobacco free.