List of Foods Having Aphrodisiac Qualities

Apart from satisfying our hunger and taste buds, foods also have fringe benefits to them. Some foods are claimed to be able to increase arousal in both male and female. Here are the theories behind the aphrodisiac potential foods.

Arousal for Men
There are some components in oysters that have aphrodisiac qualities. For one thing, oysters contain varying levels of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that affects the arousal center in our brain. The effect is straight away. Secondly, oysters contain high level of zinc, that is important in raising level of testosterone in men. The effect, though, is not immediate.

Arousal for Women

Parsley and truffles may have aphrodisiac potential, as these food smell like that of androsterone, a pheromone usually responsible for men's musky body smell. This smell can influence arousal in women.

More Arousal
Ginger, cayenne pepper and garlic also can stimulate the arousal centers in the brain. Garlic which has anti-clotting properties can affect libido by increasing blood flow to brain and sex organs.

The smooth texture of chocolate and the cocoa's serotonin creating chemical, tryptophan, contributes to chocolate's aphrodisiac potential.

Happy experimenting potentially aphrodisiac foods! Best served with soft dimmed light or maybe during candlelight dinner. Do share stories of your experiences with these food (^-^)

Can Milk Consumption Increase Mucus Production

Milk has been long blamed for increasing mucus production. New studies concluded that there was no link between milk consumption and increased mucus production or asthma.

In one study, participants infected with the common cold virus reported symptoms of increased in mucus production after drinking milk, but when their mucus production was actually measured there was no statistical difference. In another study, there was no difference in the sensation experienced between drinking soy milk and cow's milk.

Many people also wrongfully claim mucus-milk phenomena as an allergy. The fact is that true cow's milk allergy is rare in adults. Children who have allergy to cow's milk usually outgrow the allergy when they are teenagers or even earlier. The symptoms are severe, rather than increased mucus production. The symptoms include rashes, vomiting and breathing difficulties. These symptoms appear within first 15 minutes to an hour after consumption.

On the other hand, lactose intolerance, causes diarrhoea, nausea or bloating. But lactose intolerance doesn't cause rashes or mucus. Lactose intolerance is caused by lack of enzymes required to process the sugar lactose.

Any suspicion on food allergy has to be confirmed by dietitian. Exclusion of milk in babies will cause unmet needs of nutritions, and lack of calcium in adults.

Poisonous Houseplants

My baby has just started to crawl around pretty quickly. She's been trying to crawl since last 2 months ago, not too much improvements since then, but she is one patient girl and keep on trying despite how many falls she had. All with no signs of frustation.

It is now the high time to start clearing away objects that are hazardous in nature when she can really crawl smoothly. Not only objects that can be hazardous, some houseplants are also potentially hazardous. Some poisonous houseplants include but not limited to the following:

- Azalea
- Bird of paradise flower
- Lily of the valley
- Caladium
- Mistletoe
- Morning glory
- Daffodil
- Philodendron
- English ivy
- Holly
- Hyacinth
- Hydrangea
- Iris
- Wisteria

Diet During Pregnancy Affects Your Child's Puberty

It is becoming a common knowledge that kids nowadays tend to have early puberty. Quite a lot of them start puberty as early as 7 years old! Young girls start menstruating at this age and their body start to change to become more womanly. Gosh. I remember back in my days, puberty starts around 10-12 years old. What a huge difference.

Apparently, what a pregnant mother eats during her pregnancy, and also lactation, affects her child's puberty. Researchers from Auckland University, New Zealand, found that the offspring of rats given high-fat diets started puberty significantly earlier compared to those rats given healthy diets. The same thing applies for rats given a calorie restricted diet.

The disadvantages of having early puberty would involve:
- changes in mood disorder
- increased prevalence in depression in adolescence
- increases in sexual activity in teenagers
- early puberty and early menopause in female
- link between early first period and breast cancer in female
- increased aggressive behaviour and risk taking behaviour in male

This study has just been published in the online journal PLoS ONE. Further research is needed though to replicate the study using different strains of rats, because different strains behave differently to diets and hence its impact.

Green Tea Benefits

I love drinking Japanese green tea, just because it taste nice. I have read many about the benefits of green tea.

However, a recent study published in Journal of the American Medical Association shows that the benefit of green tea is reduced chances of death from heart disease, but not cancer.

In order to benefit from green tea, men have to drink 5 or more cups a day. As for women, 3-4 cups a day.

Go drink more green tea today!

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For Reference
Journal of the American Medical Association
http://jama.ama-assn.org/

Smell Good for Better Mood

I have always been a girly girl. Name it, from wearing dresses, handbags, accessories, even to smell of perfume. Love the smell of soft and sweet, or flowery perfume. My big time favourite is Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana. The smell is so nice that it never fails to elevate my mood everytime! Hence, my motto Smell Good, Feel Good.

Not a big fan of fresh smelling perfume. It would be a good change once in a while, but not for my everyday use. And definitely, a big NO for strong smelling perfume. It gets me dizzy everytime I smell people using strong smelling perfume. Let alone if I have to use it on myself. But anyhow, this is all a matter of personal preference. We use what best suit our mood on that particular day.

Scent.net online perfume has a good range of perfumes that I love. They carry many great perfume brands, both for men and women, all at very good prices. So, get the perfume which smell can improve your mood, spray it on every morning and carry it in your bag (this is so me!) for more spraying later on in the day, and have a nice day, everyday.

New Strain of HIV

All these times, it has been known that there have been separate transmissions of different HIV strains into human from chimpanzees. But now scientists have found that new strain of HIV virus has been transmitted to humans from gorillas.

The new virus subtype in a woman who migrated to France from Cameroon in West Africa. The researches are still unsure how the woman contracted the HIV virus from gorillas.

Apparently this new finding shows that the virus can jump easily between species.