The Art of the Silent Fart

Wait to hear a pop, then release the rest of the piggybacking fart.
by Edwin of awkwardlist.com

Photo from Matias Jaramillo’s flickr

The whole world needs to be able to fart freely, because nobody wants to hold it in for so long that you explode, and we all know that you should never force such a thing. You see, by the time farts come out, most of it is composed of nitrogen. If you’re a nervous person who swallows a lot of air and digests things quickly, your farts may contain a lot of oxygen.

Why do they stink?

Small amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas and mercaptans in the mixture (compounds that contain sulfur) makes them smell. Bacterial fermentation and digestion processes produce heat as a byproduct, which create bubbles that are small, hot, and heavily concentrated with stinky bacterial metabolic products. Aka the silent-but-deadly.

If you skipped the last paragraph because I used chemistry, I’m not offended.

In order for you to fart silently, there are a few techniques out there that can help you out:

1. Let out a little gas (you may hear a pop) and then release the rest piggybacking on the opening the pop made. If you can stop the pop, you’re golden.
2. Squat. A band conductor once suggested this to us, and even though I haven’t tried it.. I still don’t endorse it. It’s risky.
3. Muffle the sound somehow.

Didn’t think you’d be getting a lesson on flatulence this morning, right? Haha! You’re welcome!

Any awkward fart stories out there?

Energy Drinks Industry Secrets

The thing is, our body doesn’t want all the energy 24/7.

Photo from nattu’s flickr

Coffee is no longer the only beverage to keep us awake and alert. Energy drinks tipped its popularity and valuation is in billions of dollars. The market is even expected to reach $52 Billion by 2016.

Effective or not, it doesn’t matter for me. I drink it because of the premise of extended performance. Knowing that I should perform longer is enough to push me to do more.

But studies show that energy drinks can really sustain energy for up to 90 minutes after consumption. Athletes perform better and drivers counter their sleepiness. Since these benefits are real, these drinks should be good right? We are not given all the facts.

We are not supposed to devour on energy drinks everyday.  Franca Alphin, director of health promotion at Duke Student Health, said it well: “caffeine is not a substitute for sleep”. I know no one wants to sleep when we demand more time from us but drinking anything will not do the sleeping for our body. We still need to rest.

But energy drinks can be addicting and people will drink it everyday. People will think that an energy drink is a necessity for concentration. Tracy Falba, a faculty who studied addiction, claimed that energy drink addiction is in the same isle of alcohol or smoking addiction because people suffer the withdrawal symptoms after halting the consumption.

Bruce, et al’s (2000) study shows that caffeine dosage of 6 mg/kg body weight has the same effect with 9 mg/kg body weight. It doesn’t matter whether you drink more – you get the same benefit of increased performance. Nonetheless, certain energy drinks can contain caffeine of 7 cups of coffee.

More is worse. Cans after cans of energy drinks could lead to caffeine toxicity. Signs of too much energy are anxiety, nervousness, nausea and the list goes on.  Seizures, manias and strokes are not unheard of. Death incidents are also linked to the head players in the industry including Monster and Red Bull.

Energy drinks are very high on sugar, which is one of the reasons why it’s very hard to combat diabetes. A ploy to escape the sugar content is using artificial sweeteners instead. Certain artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose are hazardous chemicals. Heck, sucralose is even harmful to plants and animals; and the human body won’t even recognize them as food but toxins.

It’s delicious, but the myriad of ingredients are too much for the human body.

How frequent do you consume energy drinks?

Sources:
Experts: energy drinks can be addictive; The Chronicle
What happens if you drink too many energy drinks?; Livestrong
The Dirty Secrets of Energy Drinks; Natural Commando
Energy Drink Side Effects; Energy Friend
MarketsandMarkets: Global Sports and Energy Drinks Market is Expected to Reach $52 Billion by 2016; PRNewswire
Energy Drinks: An Assessment of Their Market Size, Consumer Demographics, Ingredient Profile, Functionality, and Regulations in the United States; Comprehensive reviews in food science and food safety

Squeezing a Ball Improves Sports Performance

Audience screams, cheers, and reacts to athletes’ performance; and athletes make mistakes when they think about it.

Photo from Photoxpress

Several athletes in the Olympics perfect their moves over years but they make mistakes on the day of show. It happens to the most of us. We prepare for a long time but on the exact time we should perform, we gag and choke. We make mistakes we have never committed when we are practicing. This is a familiar feeling to athletes because eyes are on them in every sporting event.

The source of the blunder is when athletes started thinking of their own movements instead of relying on their body’s motor capabilities. Overthinking can intervene with concentration and performance of motor tasks.

For the athletes who aren’t used to the pressure of an audience yet, squeezing a ball or clenching a hand may help. According to the new research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, doing so before the competition will activate certain parts of the brain.

But it has to be the left hand. In the study, right handed athletes who squeezed a ball using the left hand have lower chances of choking than right handed athletes who squeezed a ball using the right hand. This may be due to the system of our brain’s supervision, where the right brain controls the left part of our body – the side of the brain that directs automated and instinctive behaviors.

The idea is to distract athletes from thinking. “Athletes usually perform better when they trust their bodies rather than thinking too much about their own actions or what their coaches told them during practice”, said Juergen Beckmann, PhD, chair of sport psychology at the Technical University of Munich in Germany.

This technique may also be applied outside athletics, especially in pressing situations.

Do you think this will work for you?

Sources:
Squeezing a ball before competition may improve performance, study finds; American Psychological Association
Do You Choke Under Pressure? A Routine That May Help; PsychCentral
Sporting skill improved by just a simple squeeze; drbriffa

 

Changing Definition of Sexy Women

Women have different body figures, and varying eras in history dictates which is sexy.

Photos from whiterskin.info, contourcorsets.com, asunnydayinla.com, fanpop.com

In today’s societal standards, skinny women classified as sexy. Gyms are rampant, plastic surgeries are in the trend and different kinds of diets are accessible. And when I say diet, it no longer means a mere lessening of food intake but in the fashion of low carbs, bland and slimming teas.

It isn’t natural. Human body requires the normal healthy foods. It could use some fats as well for energy and body temperature maintenance, among others. But the last time people are pleased with plump women was during the renaissance era.

In the 1400s to the 16^th century, the attractive women are curvy. To get sexier, they just have to eat more. This translates to the overweight we know of today, but back then they get praises than ignores.

In 1837 to 1901 (Victorian era), sexy perception shifted and women have to sacrifice for it. They compete to get the slimmest waistlines, wearing corsets so tight some breaks their ribs. Sitting is out of choice. There’s an extra burden to merely breath. Just imagine constricting your waistline up to 12 inches!

In the 1920s, there is one question women ask: “do I look boyish yet?” They wore garments to keep their chests flat and mimic the abs of men. They hide their curves and cut their hair short. And men like it that way.

In the 1930s to 1950s, Hollywood started to influence women. Sexy will judge women’s arms and legs apart from face and chest; hence, the lifting of weights. Women desired to show off their feminine sides with their choice of clothes.

In the 1960s, it is claimed that the British teenage Twiggy modeled the skinny body and women followed to be the same. Contrary to the renaissance era, women don’t eat at all to persuade themselves that they’re sexy like Twiggy who weighs just 89 pounds.

From the 1980s, advertisement featuring the “sexy” women boomed. What people see in TV and print portray the perfect body which was tenuous, large breasted and stout hips. Fats are everybody’s enemy and weight loss became a lucrative industry. And until now, the skinny type is the sexy one.

Only 2% of the population will have ideal model body without trying ; while the rest of the women will have to work for the sexy status.

What’s sexy in your standards?

Sources:
The Perfect Woman Throughout History; Google Sites
A Timeline of Sexy Defined Through The Ages; StyleCaster News
Women in the 1920s in North Carolina; NCPedia
Perceptions of Body Image throughout History; timetoast
The Ideal Woman Throughout the Years; MFL Mar Mac

Health Hazard: Sitting

Sitting too long is apparently killing you.

Photo from photoXpress

Sure, we exercise regularly. We limit the indulgence and eat the right foods. Those are good healthy habits, but it’s not enough. According to UK researchers, sitting too long is risking you diabetes, heart disease and even death. That is regardless of your exercise.

This study also asserts that Americans spend 60-70% of their time sitting. Before you deny this, evaluate yourself. Do you sit when you eat? Do you sit when you use your computer? Do you sit when you watch your shows? Yeah, I think we do a lot of sitting.

Is this implying that we should stand when we do these activities? Yes, and it’s not a bad thing. I wrote this post standing up, and ideas come smoother when I pace around.

All we do now is contrary to the men who lived in a cave. They walk on foot. They stand and collect or kill for food. They don’t sit around and expect to receive food as instantaneous as ten minutes. It’s true that we live longer because of our medical innovations, but I believe their bodies are healthier. I don’t think our bodies evolved that fast to accommodate long hours of sitting. It is unnatural for us.

Pan (2012) called sitting as the “worst positions for the body to maintain”.  You are familiar with the feeling of strain on your lower back after a prolonged sit. That is because sitting puts immense pressure on your back, unlike when standing up, the weight is evened out. Many people sit in the wrong posture as well. Flexors tighten, hamstrings shorten, nerves pinch, blood pressure flow disrupts result from sitting.

Either you cut your prolonged sitting or take intervals from sitting. How hard would this change be for you?

More Moments for you:
Perfectionism Ruining Your Health?
Fitness Industry Secrets
Alternative Therapies

Source:
Study: Sitting too long can be a health risk; The Community Press & Recorder
Why Sitting Too Much Is Dangerous; Mashable