BIO E® World

Australian air-quality inspectors studied the emissions of 62 laser printers. They found that 27% of laser printers emitted toner grains into the air. These tiny grains of Toner, when breathed into the lungs, could be compared to second-hand smoke. Some laser printers' emissions were dense enough to almost match pollution from second-hand cigarette smoke.

"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. - Confucius"

Enajinja Reitaisai (Ena Bunraku Hounou) 恵那神社例大祭（恵那文楽奉納） This traditional puppet drama, known as Ena Bunraku, has been handed down since puppeteers came from AWAJI to perform here in the late 17th century. Where's it at : 3786-1 Nakatsugawa, Nakatsugawa-shi, Gifu-ken

Many people think bottled water is safer than tap water. There is no such guarantee & here's why... Little Regulations on Bottled Water Most developed countries   {e.g. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S} have strict water quality standards for tap water, but they DO NOT oversee bottled water. Many of the regulators do not prevent bottling companies from drawing water next to industrial sites, underground storage tanks or dumps. Bottled Water Do contain Contaminants An independent test performed by the Environmental Working Group revealed 38 low-level contaminants in bottled water, with each of the 10 tested brands containing an average of 8 chemicals including: Disinfection by-products (DBPs) Caffeine & Tylenol Nitrate Industrial chemicals Arsenic & bacteria In Pennsylvania, the state health department tested the water and found high levels of coliform bacteria after a man reported getting sick from drinking bottled water. In California, an indepen

Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) recently conducted a study on the effects of probiotic supplementation during pregnancy. The team found that mothers who drank probiotic-supplemented milk during their pregnancies cut their children's risk of developing eczema by 40%. The study is part of a larger Norwegian research project being conducted by the university called " Prevention of Allergy Among Children in Trondheim ", or PACT. In this particular study, women were given either milk with probiotics or milk with a placebo, beginning at week 36 of their pregnancies. Neither group knew which formula they were drinking. Researchers evaluated the women and their children from pregnancy until the children were two years old before presenting their findings. "The taste of both products was similar, and the milk was delivered in unmarked milk cartons. This means that neither the participants in the study or the researchers knew who had

That’s right, Propylene Glycerol is used to keep your Salad Crispy. This chemical, also comes with alerts like skin and eye irritation if exposed to the human body. It is generally used in products like Sierra Anti Freeze and even worse Astroglide Sexual Lubricant .

Used for Emergecies only, coconut water can be used as a substitute for blood plasma. The reason for this is that coconut water (the water found in coconuts – not to be confused with coconut milk, which comes from the flesh of the coconut) is sterile and has an ideal pH level. Coconut water is liquid endosperm – it surrounds the embryo and provides nutrition.

Ofune Matsuri 御船祭 Boat-shaped floats resplendently decorated with dolls parade through town to gather at the shrine. The festival's dramatic climax comes with a fierce clash between two boats. Where's it at : 6079 Hotaka, Azumino-shi, Nagano-ken

Do you know that the FDA allows an average of 30 or more insect fragments, and one or more rodent hairs, per 100 grams of peanut butter. I will certainly think twice before buying my next jar!

From Time.com By Amie Ninh Thursday, April 21, 2011 Consider this: of the trillions upon trillions of cells in the human body, only about 1 in 10 is actually human. The rest belong to microbes, which colonize every inch of you, from the inside of your mouth to the skin between your toes. It's no wonder, then, that research is increasingly finding that the diversity of these microbes has important effects on health. The vast majority of microbes — perhaps up to 100 trillion of them — live in our guts. So-called gut bugs help digest our food, assist our immune systems, maintain the health of the intestines, produce vitamins, aid metabolism and extract calories from food (which is why much research has associated gut bugs with obesity). To better understand the way gut bugs work, a new study has aimed to categorize the lot of them. The study, led by Peer Bork of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, found that the bacteria in our guts falls into one of t

Picture of : Asian longhorn beetle: used as artificial colouring in your yogurt! Yes, if you see food labels that read "artificial colouring" and "colour added" that means most likely you'll be eating bugs along with other ingredients. The FDA does not require companies to be more specific about their food colouring. Therefore, companies choose not to label "crushed beetles for red dye", a label that might discourage consumers from buying their products. Dannon admits to using cochineal beetles as a dye to some of its yogurt products. In 2009, Michael Jacobson has attempted to pressure the FDA to require more specific labeling for the sake of those who might have allergies.

Great Article from Time Magazine. Gut Bugs: They Are What You Eat

If you want to live a longer & more importantly a healthier life, nothing beats proper diet & exercise—even low amounts of exercise. A recent study published in the journal Lancet, which included several hundred thousand people between 1996 & 2008 found that a mere 15 mins of exercise a day can increase your lifespan by 3 years! Those who got themselves moving for at least 15 mins a day, or 90 mins a week, also had a 14% reduced risk of all-cause mortality. Researchers have measured the biochemical changes that occur during exercise & found alterations in more than 20 different metabolites. Some of these compounds help you burn calories and fat, while others help stabilize your blood sugar, among other things. Essentially, being of a healthy weight and exercising regularly creates a healthy feedback loop that optimizes and helps maintain healthy glucose and insulin levels through optimization of insulin receptor sensitivity. And, as I've mentioned before, insulin re

Takeo no Araodori Hounou (Nakano no Araodori) 武雄の荒踊奉納（中野の荒踊） The traditional dance that can be seen at this festival is preserved by only three local districts. The dance is renowned for its smooth movements and elegant hand gestures. Location : Asahi-cho Nakano, Takeo-shi, Saga-ken

If a healthy immune system is capable of keeping you flu-free year after year, is it necessary for you to get a flu shot? The choice is yours, but keep these four important factors in mind: All vaccines are immune suppressive -- that is, they suppress your immune system, which may not return to normal for weeks to months. This could increase your risk of contracting the flu or another infectious disease. Flu vaccinations are notoriously ineffective and keep coming up short in study after study when it comes to having any measurable impact on what matters most, which is reducing illness and mortality from the flu. After the largest flu-vaccination campaign in Canadian history, a Canadian-led study (through the Cochrane Collaboration, a highly respected international network of researchers who analyze the scientific evidence, including the methodology, used in clinical trials) concluded that vaccinating nursing home workers had no effect on confirmed influenza cases among the homes'

To optimise your natural immune system & be part of those that “rarely get sick”, here are some pointers you may want to follow. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it does give you a Simple General idea of how to live healthy and avoid getting sick. 1. Optimize Your Vitamin D This takes the number one position for a reason: if you're vitamin-D-deficient, and many are, your immune system will not activate to do its job. Just one example of an important gene that vitamin D up-regulates is your ability to fight infections, including the flu. It produces over 200 antimicrobial peptides, the most important of which is cathelicidin, a naturally occurring broad-spectrum antibiotic. At least five studies show an inverse association between lower respiratory tract infections and vitamin D levels. That is, the higher your vitamin D level, the lower your risk of contracting colds, flu, and other respiratory tract infections. The best way to increase your vitamin D level i

By   Amanda Chan The Huffington Post   Probiotics , the healthy bacteria in yogurt and supplements, could do more than help your digestive system -- a new review of studies show they could also help to stave off colds. Chinese researchers analyzed 10 studies that gave probiotics, a placebo or no treatment for more than a week to a combined total of 3,451 study participants whose ages ranged from infancy to adulthood (40s). They found that taking probiotics could help reduce the number of upper respiratory tract infections by 12%. "This indicates that probiotics may be more beneficial than placebo for preventing acute URTIs," researchers wrote in The Cochrane Library review. "However, the results have some limitations and there were no data for older people." MedPage Today reported a possible reason why probiotics could help against colds: Probiotics, which most commonly include lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria, may exert their immune-boosting effect by bolst

By Chris Woolston Babies are born to cry. The average infant cries about two hours each day -- enough to announce every wet diaper and hunger pain. And no matter how careful, loving, and attentive parents may be, a baby just might decide to make crying her number-one pastime. If your baby cries more than three hours a day at least three days each week, she's not just fussy -- she's colicky. Colic is the term for excessive, unexplained crying. The majority of babies with colic do most of their wailing in the evening. The high-pitched, piercing scream seems perfectly designed to get a parent's attention. Colicky babies emphasize their discomfort by pulling their legs up to their stomach and clenching their fists. They look like little balls of agony. The crying may be heartbreaking, but it's rarely anything to worry about. Colic usually disappears within a few months. So hang on: Peace, quiet, and a good night's sleep aren't that far away. What causes colic? You

By Remy Melina | LiveScience.com – Sat, Sep 17, 2011People who volunteer for selfless reasons, such as helping others, live longer than those who don't lend a helping hand, a new study shows. However, those who volunteer for more self-centered reasons do not reap the same life-extending benefits. "This could mean that people who volunteer with other people as their main motivation may be buffered from potential stressors associated with volunteering, such as time constraints and lack of pay," study researcher Sara Konrath of the University of Michigan said in a statement. (Past research suggested another benefit for selfless volunteers — a date. Apparently women rate such altruism high on their list of desirable traits in a mate.) Konrath and colleagues looked at results from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, which has followed a random sample of 10,317 Wisconsin residents from their high school graduation in 1957 until the present. In 2008, the average age of the p

Pregnant women who eat low-fat yoghurt can increase the risk of their child developing asthma and hay fever, a study says. At the European Respiratory Society conference, researchers will suggest this could be due to an absence of protective fatty acids in yoghurt. The diets of more than 70,000 Danish women were analysed and their children followed until the age of seven. Asthma UK says pregnant women should follow a balanced diet. Pregnant women who ate low-fat yoghurt with fruit once a day were found to be 1.6 times more likely to have children who developed asthma by age seven, compared with children of women who did not eat low-fat yoghurt. The study also found that the children of these women were more likely to have allergic rhinitis (hay fever) and current asthma symptoms. But the results showed that milk intake during pregnancy was not linked to any increased risk of asthma. In fact, milk was shown to protect against asthma development. Ekaterina Maslova, lead study author for

A new study broke ground in a capability we don't currently have as an option: growing new hair follicles. For the study, published in the scientific journal Cell , the Yale University researchers had a hunch that hair follicles are controlled by fat cells and it appears they were onto something: When they injected fat cells into the skin of mice that weren't producing hair, the rodents began to actually grow hair about two weeks later. While it will be some time before these findings are able to spur a new product or procedure, it's a super interesting and hopeful lead for men and women who stuggle with thinning hair.

It is important to understand & differentiate the different types of Processes for Probiotics. There are 4 methods of Probiotic development. These are listed below:- Centrifugation is a method that when used, damages bacterial cell walls, breaks their chains as they multiply and even kill the bacteria outright. The supernatant is also removed in the process. In spite of the damage centrifuging does to the friendly bacteria, it remains a popular processing method because it is easy and cheap. Ultrafiltration is another process although better than centrifuging, it is also harmful. In this process some bacterial chains are broken which reduces bacterial activity and the supernatant is separated. Freeze drying is a method that uses lightning-fast biochemical process that dries the bacteria by freezing it within a vacuum. All that is removed is the water. This results in some bacteria   being damaged or hurt in the process and the freeze drying also interferes with the bacteria&#

Click Image to Enlarge Sections of the Healthy Eating Plate Corresponding sections of MyPlate Whole Grains The Healthy Eating Plate encourages consumers to choose whole grains and limit refined grains, since whole grains are much better for health. In the body, refined grains like white bread and white rice act just like sugar. Over time, eating too much of these refined grain foods can make it harder to control weight and can raise the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Grains MyPlate does not tell consumers that whole grains are better for health. Healthy Proteins The Healthy Eating Plate encourages consumers to choose fish, poultry, beans or nuts, protein sources that contain other healthful nutrients. It encourages them to limit red meat and avoid processed meat, since eating even small quantities of these foods on a regular basis raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer and weight gain. Protein MyPlate’s protein section could be filled by a hamburger or

By Ken Hayward Is your colon in tip-top shape? Flushing bowel movements normal? Bowel movements regular? These are some of the questions I asked myself about 10 years ago because of my unhealthy eating habits and not paying attention to what I was inserting into my mouth. I could not answer these questions in a favorable and satisfying manner. One can say I was cleaning up my act with colonic cleansing, like digging in an irrigation ditch to clean out the path to make way cleaning a path for flowing waste. In 2001 I started in with a health regimen of a complete change of attitude, mindset, and mentality. I started to move away from fast foods, junk foods, wrong products going into my mouth. I started to add vitamins to my daily routine along with my healthy eating food regimen. Wow, the change was tough for the first eight months but as I continued to implement my health regimen I started to enjoy better foods and how I felt. My colon enjoyed the changeover colon and colonic

Tea Although tea has a reputation as a healthy beverage, it may not be the best choice when it comes to keeping your teeth white. Dentists say tea -- especially the basic black variety -- can cause more stains than coffee. However, recent studies have found that even herbal teas and white teas have the potential to erode enamel and cause tooth staining. Sauces They may be delicious, but deeply-colored sauces -- like soy sauce, tomato sauce, and curry sauce -- are also believed to have significant tooth-staining potential. Consider lighter cream sauces for less damaging options and rinse or brush soon after eating to reduce the potential for teeth stains. Sports Drinks Acidic foods and drinks can also lead to tooth discoloration. Recent research finds that highly acidic drinks -- like sports or energy drinks -- can erode tooth enamel, setting the stage for staining. When exercising, limit the intake of these drinks. Water may be a better choice -- at least for your teeth. Wine If a