30 Healthy Cholesterol Tips

Tips on managing high cholesterol and keeping your heart healthy

1. Find more ways to walk. Can you walk to the store for milk? Park farther away? Take the stairs? If you can move more, DO! Physical activity is vital to heart health.

2. Eat six or more small meals a day. A large study of British adults found that people who ate six or more times a day had lower cholesterol than those who ate twice a day, even though the "grazers" got more calories and fat!

3. Fix all your sandwiches on whole grain bread. Eating more complex carbs, like whole grain bread and brown rice, can increase HDL levels slightly and significantly lower triglycerides, another type of blood fat that contributes to heart disease.

4. Say cheese! Women who ate a serving a day (about the size of four dice) had higher HDL (good cholesterol) and lower LDL (bad) than those who ate less, according to a study at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

5. No laughing matter. A recent study showed that diabetes patients who watched funny sitcoms for 30 minutes, along with their standard meds, reduced their heart risk substantially: They had about a 26 percent increase in HDL ("good" cholesterol), compared with a bump of just 3 percent among patients in the control group.

6. Brew it better. If you're worried about cholesterol, stick to paper-filtered and instant coffees. Unfiltered coffees, which are typically made with a French press, contain more of a cholesterol-raising substance called cafestol.

7. Make the move to nonfat milk. If you drink whole milk, switch to 2 percent. If you already drink 2 percent, move to 1 percent. If you drink 1 percent, you're ready for nonfat.

8. Start with soup. Studies show that folks who begin their meals with soup end up eating fewer calories by the end of the day without feeling hungrier. Give it a try with a broth-based soup.

9. Bag some barley. Thanks to its impressive stash of soluble fiber, which slows the digestion of food and the rise of blood sugar, barley is much friendlier to blood sugar than rice for most people. And it lowers cholesterol to boot.

10. Start three days this week with oatmeal, a proven cholesterol-reducer. Use the old-fashioned or quick-cooking kind, not instant.

11. Sip a cup of black tea every four hours. Government scientists found that three weeks of drinking five cups a day of black tea reduced cholesterol levels in people with mildly high levels.

12. Berry good news. Adults who ate about a cup of berries a day lowered their blood pressure and raised their HDL (good) cholesterol after eight weeks, according to a new study from Finland.

13. Pay attention to fiber. Studies find that eating 10 to 30 grams of soluble fiber a day -- much more than the average American eats -- reduces LDL about 10 percent. Aim to up your intake slowly though, otherwise you may experience some bloating and flatulence.

14. The use of medication doesn't have to be permanent. If you improve your diet and increase your activity level, you may reduce your cholesterol enough to get off the medication and stay off it!

15. Add half a tablespoon of cinnamon to your coffee before starting the pot. A Pakistani study found that 6 grams cinnamon a day (about 1/2 tablespoon) reduced LDL cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes by nearly 30 percent.

16. Try turmeric. Small studies have found that curcumin, a component of turmeric, cuts cholesterol. Heat a little oil in a sauté pan, and toss in a tablespoon of turmeric, a dash of salt, and a generous pinch of black pepper (pepper can increase your uptake of curcumin by up to 2,000 percent). Stir for a minute, then add veggies and lean protein for a healthy, sunny dish.

17. Pop edamame as a snack. Just half a cup contains nearly 4 grams fiber, not to mention the soy isoflavones in these soybeans. Consumption of both has been linked to lower cholesterol.

18. Fall in love with olive oil. A study found that people who consumed about 2 tablespoons of virgin olive oil daily for just one week had lower LDL and higher levels of antioxidants in their blood.

19. Put your pizza on a diet. Order a veggie pie with extra vegetables. Or, if you must have meat on your pizza, make it chicken or ham, not pepperoni. Or try clams, shrimp, or anchovies!

20. Practice deep breathing four times a week for two to four minutes. Use this technique when you're faced with a stressful situation to mitigate your body's reactions.

21. Take as prescribed. If you need cholesterol medication, statins are generally prescribed first, but your doctor may also suggest bile acid sequestrants, fibrates or prescription niacin, all of which will help.

22. Make healthy eating easy. If time's an issue, buy "semiprepared" foods. Some examples: boneless, skinless chicken breast; broccoli and cauliflower florets; and bagged salad.

23. Bag the butter. Dip breads in olive oil instead, or try a sterol-based spread. In the kitchen, try replacing butter with olive or canola oil.

24. Make meals picture-perfect. On days when you don't have salad, add a piece of fruit to your lunch. Or better yet, have fruit at lunch and salad with dinner.

25. Get creative with vegetables. Throw frozen veggies (no need to defrost!) into soups.

26. Step to it. Try to get at least 2,000 steps a day just through everyday activities, like vacuuming and gardening. Make it easy and check out a sports store for a pedometer.

27. Bored with your walks? Invite a friend to break up the tedium or try a new route -- both can make for a more enjoyable experience, and time will go much faster.

28. Lower stress levels with an enjoyable hobby. Can't think of one? Jot down your favorite childhood pastimes, then find one you can transfer to your adult life. For instance, if you loved to draw, find a drawing class nearby and sign yourself up!

29. Sprinkle wheat germ or flax-seed (both rich in omega-3 fatty acids) over salads, yogurt, and cereal.

30. Set the alarm on your computer to go off once an hour. This is your signal to get up and take a short, five-minute walk.

Dieting the scientific way

Another year, another attempt to lose weight? Sounds like it’s time to ditch that old diet and try these top new fat-shifting tips instead

Once upon a time, staying a healthy weight was easy. It could be summed up by the phrase “calories in equal calories out”. To lose weight you simply had to practice the reverse of home economics – spend more than you earned. Unfortunately for many, but perhaps not surprisingly, it turns out that people are rather more complicated than bank accounts.

A lot of research has gone into unravelling the intricacies of our personal fat accounts – driven by the dream of winning the billion-dollar prize of an effective fat pill. Some of the findings have been, to put it mildly, counter-intuitive. They also suggest whole new ways of dieting.

To stay a healthy weight, you need a hormone called lepton to work properly. It sends “I’m full” messages from the fat cells up to the brain, where they go, among other places, to the same pleasure centres that respond to sex and drugs like cocaine. Obese people produce plenty of lepton, but the brain doesn’t seem to respond to it properly. Last year, researchers at the Oregon Research Institute scanned the brains of overweight people and found their reward circuits were under-active. They were eating more to try to get the enjoyment they were missing. In other words, the study showed that fat people are actually the opposite of greedy – because they get less pleasure from eating than others do.

There’s a lot of evidence for the fact that most, if not all, of us have a set point around which our weight can vary by about seven to nine kilos, but anything beyond that is a real struggle. This goes for naturally thin people trying to gain weight as well. Making changes is hard, particularly if your body is working against you, because – as the lepton example shows – the whole weight control system is intimately interconnected with our pleasure centres.

So if your body is sabotaging your efforts to lose weight, why not ditch the traditional approaches and try some new methods, based on the latest research, that work with your body rather than against it . . .

The eat-every-other-day diet

Of course you can still follow the well trodden route of cutting calories, and by sticking to around 1500 a day you will lose weight. Other upsides are that the kilos will stay off and that you will become very healthy: the risk of all the big killers – heart disease, cancer, diabetes – will plummet, along with that of allergies, asthma and infectious diseases. The downside is that you will be constantly hungry and miserable. But what if you could get all those benefits without being in a permanent state of semi-starvation?

Well, maybe you can. The trick is to try an “alternate-day” diet. Several years ago researchers at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore reported that when they gave rats very little food one day and allowed them to eat plenty the next, they showed virtually all the benefits of a permanent calorie restriction diet. The same goes for humans, according to Dr James Johnson.

How does it work? Besides forcing the body to burn fat, it may also trigger hormonal changes, such as tamping up the activity of two anti-ageing genes called SIRT3 and SIRT4. Most people say that the diet takes a bit of getting used to, but is not as grinding as trying to cut back on an everyday basis.

Just-published research from the University of Illinois at Chicago of a ten-week trial on obese patients who followed a form of the alternate-day diet revealed a weight loss ranging from four to 13 kilograms, whereas the researchers expected an average of only two kilograms. Blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol were also lowered.

Keep cool

Older dieters may remember some-thing called brown fat. Unlike the undesirable white stuff, this was a dieter’s dream. Instead of storing excess energy as fat, brown-fat tissue burned it off to keep you warm – at least in mice. Brown fat fell out of favour because researchers couldn’t find much in humans but now, thanks to the New England Journal of Medicine, it’s back in fashion. The idea is to expose people to cold temperatures. They then make more brown fat and their weight drops. Women kept at 22˚C used up 27 more grams of body fat a day than those at 27˚C. So turn on the air-con.

Check your testosterone level (men only)

If you are a middle-aged man whose middle is spreading, it may not just be that you are exercising less and eating more, but that you are making too much of the female hormone o estrogen.

Although we talk about male and female hormones, we all make both, and we all use testosterone to make oestrogen. This is particularly significant for older men. As we age, we not only make less testosterone, we also turn more of it into o estrogen.

The extra oestrogen encourages more fat to be laid down around the middle – just the place where fat stores are linked with an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. This sets up a vicious circle. The newly stored fat pumps out more of the enzyme that turns testosterone into o estrogen.

To break the circle, you could exercise to give yourself energy and build muscle – although your reduced testosterone will make that option less appealing. A testosterone supplement, which a few doctors prescribe if your level has become very low, may help. You could also stop drinking because having to clear away regular large amounts of alcohol means your liver is less efficient at getting rid of the extra o estrogen.

Get in the sun without sunblock (or take vitamin supplements instead)

Vitamin D is the new nutrient superstar, linked with lower risk of all sorts of disorders including heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatism. And now it looks as if it helps with weight loss, too.

During the summer of 2008, in a small trial of 38, a researcher from the University of Minnesota reported that those with more vitamin D in their blood lost more weight. For every extra nano-gram per millilitre (ng/ml) they lost an extra quarter-kilo.

Other trials, too, have linked higher vitamin D levels with less obesity. But why? All vitamin D experts agree that lots more research is needed – but in the meantime, one interesting theory is emerging from Imperial College London. Because sunlight is the main source of vitamin D, a low level of vitamin D may make the body think that colder weather is on the way, and therefore that it has to store more food.

There’s also much debate about how much you should be taking. The official recommended daily allowance is 200 IU (international units) but many experts are now suggesting 1000 or even 2000. A daily dose of 1000 over several months would raise your blood level by 10ng/ml meaning you could lose an extra two kilos on top of what you’d expect to on your diet.

Be plump and proud

But is being overweight necessarily unhealthy in all cases? A ground-breaking study in The Lancet in 2007 found that about 30 percent of people classed as obese (ie, with a body mass index of 30 or more) were actually metabolically very healthy, with low cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar.

They were also responsive to insulin – which isn’t supposed to be true about fatter people.

In short, one in three of those being endlessly cajoled to lose weight may not need to. It may, in fact, be actively harmful. Researchers from the University of Montreal compared the effect of a low-calorie diet on a group of metabolically healthy obese people with a group who were obese and at risk. They found insulin resistance (a marker for diabetes) improved by 26 percent in the at-risk group but it got 13 percent worse among the metabolically healthy.

So even if your BMI is officially dangerously high but you eat pretty well, take regular exercise and feel fine, then have your metabolic markers checked out: if they are healthy, then maybe just enjoy your extra kilos!

10 Smart Money Moves to Make in 2011

There isn’t a single person that hasn’t been affected by the financial meltdown. Here are a few things we can all do, regardless of whether we have a dollar to our names, a million or if we're submerged in debt.

1. Stop avoiding the problem and start being honest. Open the envelopes, call—or even better—visit your bank or broker. Be realistic. So many of us are living in the illusion of total scarcity. Look at what really did happen during the last few months. Get some help. You aren’t supposed to be an expert. Most of us feel intimidated when it comes to money, but the truth is we were never given a proper education about it. You’re not alone. Everyone feels the same way to some degree. But avoiding the subject of money would be like saying, learning to walk is too difficult, so I’m not going to do it. Learn the basics. You’ll feel more grounded. And make sure to hire a banker or accountant you feel good about.

2. Get organized. Know where your accounts, credit-card statements, insurance documents, will, etc. are. Most of us feel overwhelmed because we just don’t know where all of this stands. Often, it’s not the lack of money but more the general level of uncertainty and messiness around this topic.

3. Review your statements. Get a feel for what you are spending. Where is your money really going? You may often find some errors and double charges. Look at hidden fees from all the bills you pay. Confirm that some of your regular income is going to a savings account on a monthly basis. If you have an investment account, take a close look at what you have: stocks, funds, bonds, cash, gold. Know what you have and then ask yourself how it feels. You don’t need to have a finance background to know whether your money situation is letting you sleep at night.

4. Get back to basics. This applies to every area of your life. Do you need to be spending so much on margaritas? Do you need another pair of jeans or shoes? Do you need a gym membership in a hot club you never use? Everyone knows where they are "leaking" money. For some it's on clothes, others it's food, and others it's on personal beauty treatments. Ask yourself what changes you can make that only you would notice.

5. Find another source of income, in addition to your regular job. Can you find a way of creating something, consulting, writing, translating, editing, babysitting, taking care of an elderly person, promoting something, or organizing something? The possibilities are endless. Here’s a clue—look for a way to take away someone’s pain, or problem. That’s what people will pay money for. What are you really good at? What is easy for you? Stretch your identity of what else you might be able to do, other than your regular job. And if you are the creative type, which deep down we all are, think about writing an ebook on a subject you know a lot about. There are plenty of sites that will put it up for free. You can then be making money while you sleep. That’s the goal.

6. Ask for discounts and special offers on everything. Think about how you can save on cable, phone bills, clothes, restaurants, or any work-related deals. Negotiate from the heart. Come from a place of authenticity and ask sincerely. You will be amazed at what you can receive.

7. Look around for things you own that you can sell. Your junk is worth something to someone else. You have thousands of dollars hidden in things you don’t really want or use anymore. Yes, this takes a bit of time but the payoff in terms of money, less clutter and freeing up space for something new to come into your life is well worth it.

8. Not that this is a must, but if you had to radically downsize your life, how would you do this? Would you move? Would you cook more or grow your own food? What would you do? Just knowing this will push you to live differently, with a higher level of consciousness.

9. Take a look at your beliefs and emotions around money. Most of us picked these up from our parents. One of them was probably fearful or always worried. Maybe one of them over-spent or was in debt. Think about it. You are now an adult and don’t have to be loyal to their beliefs around money. If you do feel anxious about money, take a deep breath and ask yourself: “Where have I seen this before?” Commit to making a fresh start.

10. Be grateful for what you do have. We have so much more than 95% of the planet. Bless what you have. Find ways of giving. If it's not money, give your time and your heart. The more you give, the more life finds ways to give back.

Money Savvy with Gabriel Yap

Our Money Savvy minded Gabriel Yap is here to share his story and answer all your money related queries.

It’s been a bumpy couple of years for Asia. Our economies have taken a beating; our stock markets have endured roller-coaster ups and downs, and let’s not even talk about property.

For many of us, our jobs and lifestyles have been affected. Families and individuals alike have had to tighten their belts and cut down on spending. And yet, we also all know of at least one fiscally savvy friend who made a fortune in a bad situation. It hardly seems fair, does it? Why them and not us? Why aren’t we as financially fit as those people?

Money. Many would say it’s the root of all evil. I’m not one of those naysayers. Money is good. More money is better. But the fact is, money can never buy you happiness. I say this from personal experience.

I used to head the regional unit of an international stockbroking firm. Life then revolved around travelling for road shows to fund managers, mutual funds, endowment and varsity funds in the major financial centres like New York, London, Frankfurt, Zurich, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

When I made a career switch to Institutional Sales in 1996, the travels and eating and drinking at Michelin-star restaurants increased substantially. My move to New York laid the foundation for my dealing career.

I moved back to Asia in the late 1990s, just when the economy really took off. I made a lot of money timing the market correctly, which was instrumental in my client profile growth. Over the past decade, I have come to advise many billionaire clients across Asia.

And then, I took the leap and left the stockbroking industry that’s been such an integral part of my life for the past 20 years. “What on earth are you doing?” “Are you nuts?” “You’ve really lost it!” were some of the comments I got from my friends. But to me, it was a natural decision. It made me happy.

The meaning of happiness for most people resides in the future rather than the present. To me, this isn’t healthy. To me, happiness is doing all those things I want to do in the “now”, not later.

So now, I work with international aid organisations like the Charities Aid Foundation and Asoka International.

You hear this from doctors all the time. They say being healthy is all about balance. It’s absolutely true and this, likewise, applies to your financial health as well. Are your finances in order? Do you have a handle on debts and assets? Are you fiscally fit?

If you’re not, how can you change and improve your financial habits to get back on track to fiscal fitness? That’s where I hope to help. Ask me. Send me your questions on all things financial. It’s not just about what stocks to buy or when to buy; it’s about how to keep yourself and your family healthy money-wise.

Having enough money to meet your monthly expenses contributes to your overall happiness, in much the same way as a rock-solid marriage or love for your job does. Having more money is great, but it doesn’t always make you happier. And we all know falling short makes life tough.

My Family's No-Buy Experiment

We ended up richer, but not in the way we expected

When you’ve committed to a month of no spending, the scariest sound in the world goes something like this: glug, glug, gorgle, glug, followed by my wife saying, “Oh, God. Honey? We need to call a plumber!”

Our experiment in money-free living had been cruising along beautifully. We were happily eating our way through the pantry, borrowing instead of buying, and feeling the burn from our free seven-day trial gym membership. But now – and on a holiday weekend at 11 pm, naturally – a grotesque and putrid black ooze began mushrooming up from the shower drain, which could mean only one thing: an overtime service call from a plumber.

“Think!” I thought as my wife, Ruth, rummaged for the plumber’s business card. “Think.”

I was still a no-spending newbie, but already I was one with the Zen of money-free living. Take a deep breath. There’s always a way around opening your wallet.

The idea to stop spending had been percolating for a while, but it was a trip to Target one afternoon that finally broke me. With our four-year-old, Sebastian, in tow, Ruth and I loaded up on packs of underwear, bath mats, barbecue gear, Spider-Man toys, kitchen gadgets, and a plug-in thingy guaranteed to kill mosquitoes. As we approached the checkout aisle, I thought, We don’t need any of this junk, and we abandoned the cart (after distracting Sebastian with ice cream), saving a good $300.

That got me thinking about all our pointless expenses: DVDs by mail, lunches out, car washes, “bargain” toys, fancy coffee drinks, and just about everything I’ve ever bought on eBay and Amazon. Especially given the current economic climate, not to mention the state of our landfills, it all suddenly felt like excess. With a promise that we’d stop if it was killing us, I convinced the family to take the giant leap into frugality.

The rules were that we would buy nothing for 30 days except absolute essentials, like fresh milk and fruit; and even there, after one too many “essential” trips to the market those first few days, I capped expenses at $100 for the rest of the month. A handful of key outlays like our mortgage, utilities, and Sebastian’s preschool tuition were excused, but restaurants, parking, clothing, toiletries, internet access, babysitting, and, yes, petrol, were now in the no-buy zone.

So were overpriced plumbing repairs, if I could help it. Unfortunately, taking a plunger to the shower drain only served to anger the sewage gods, and I watched the muck grow thicker.

Searching online (thank you, dear neighbour, for not using password protection), I read about poor souls who’d paid $200, $400, and even $1500 to have this exact problem fixed. That’s when I stumbled onto the Dawnbrigade.

On a website called thriftyfun.com, thousands of users posted tip after money-saving tip on conserving cash. There wasn’t a crisis on earth, it seemed, that couldn’t be averted with some combination of baking soda, white vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and a certain dishwashing liquid. I squirted a shot of Dawn in a kettle of boiling water, poured it into the shower, and the goop slrrrrged down the drain. Materials used: 10 cents. The look on Ruth’s face after I actually fixed some- thing: priceless.

I realise many people live like this all the time, by necessity, not by choice, and I anticipate letters saying, “Boo hoo! You had to give up your decaf Frappuccino.” But this wasn’t an exercise in “playing poor.” Our month of no spending was a financial wake-up call, a chance to recalibrate our relationship with money at a time when everyone I know has money on the brain.

Do we really need all the things we buy? Does acquiring stuff have actual value in our lives? Can’t we be just as happy – or perhaps even happier–living on much less?

Our adventure kicked off with a rousing start. After that first day, I wrote in my journal: “Feeling supercharged. We already have so much. What could we possibly need to spend money on?

“By 9 am, Ruth had already made compote from old strawberries and picked flowers I didn’t even know we had in the garden. I cleaned the car by hand for the first time in years, then found a mother lode of black beans in the back of the cupboard. Woo! Oh, and I read and returned the neighbour’s newspaper before he woke up. Total spent today: $0. This is going to be fun, fun, fun!”

Then came Day Two. A rich person once told me money is important only if you don’t have any. I suddenly understood that when it was my turn to entertain Sebastian. Normally, we stop at the comic book shop and the frozen yoghurt place and maybe the bookstore, spending all the way. Now we weren’t allowed to even feed the parking meter. Sebastian was starting to lose it, but then inspiration struck.

“Hey, Bubba,” I said. “Do you wanna ride in a silver carriage and see cool stuff and eat junk food?”

“Yaaay!” he screamed.

OK, so getting pushed around in a shopping cart isn’t exactly a theme park ride, but Costco does have cool stuff and something even better–free samples. For an hour, we munched on franks-in-jackets, cheese ravioli, chicken sausages, raspberry fruit twists, cranberry lemonade, and chocolate pudding (nutrition goes out the window when you’re eating any-thing you can get).

What was remarkable was how liberating it felt to be at a cathedral to consumerism like that and not spend a cent. I’m always confused when people rave about how much they “save” at warehouse club stores. In my experience, I can’t get out of Costco or Wal-Mart for under $200. You want to talk savings? Try going in without your wallet.

One of theunexpected benefits of no spending is that it brings you closer to people. There’s a stigma in our culture about discussing money, but the mere mention of our project prompted friends, neighbours, and even strangers to really open up, mostly about how cheap they secretly are.

The advice was great: Use an internet application like Skype for free phone calls. Ask neighbours with and told me, “Go home. Play with Sebastian. Tell Ruth how much you love her and think about ways to help other people.”

What a novel solution. Gratitude. Service. Duh. I felt like an idiot. Fortunately, all those hours away from restaurants and shopping gave me time to do exactly what he said. I immediately pedalled home and invented an outer-space-themed card game to entertain Sebastian (Jupiter and comets were wild in the homemade deck we played with for hours).

Ruth and I, meanwhile, spent our last few days volunteering at the Bread and Roses Café near our house in Venice, California. Since 1989, the café has been serving 150 people in need each morning in a restaurant setting. Ruth passed out plates of pasta and poured coffee, and I assisted the chef at the stove. Between courses, we met folks making do on the barest of resources. “This place means everything to me,” a homeless man told me. “Anytime I get upset about my situation, I think, Things could be a lot worse. At least I’m around people who care. It helps to think that.”

It was probably the best advice that I got all month, and it was free.

In the end,we saved more than $2000 by not spending for a month. When we began, I imagined we would rush out the moment we were done and stock up on groceries after breakfast at our favourite pancake place. Then maybe hit the mall or go to the movies. Instead, we stayed close to home and played outer-space poker, and I wrote out a cheque for Bread and Roses.

6 Ways to Feel Closer Right Now

You don't have to add an extra hour to the day to find time for each other. These six fun strategies can keep you connected immediately.

1. Be funny. Kind-spirited humor can douse a hot argument, head off a fight, and turn the drudgery of household responsibilities and planning into something witty, smart, and hilarious. Stick with warm humor; sarcasm and snide remarks aren't relationship-builders.

2. Be kissy. Saluting your spouse with a longer-than-usual kiss in the morning, at the end of the workday, and before you say good night telegraphs the good news that you still find him or her irresistible and wonderful.

3. Be appreciative. You can never appreciate your spouse too much. He or she needs to hear how much you admire the way he or she gets the bills paid, organizes the kids' activities, made that tasty shrimp scampi last night, rewired the basement, cleared out three months' worth of old magazines from beside the couch, or got the trash out to the curb just in time for pickup.

4. Be surprising. Bring home an unexpected little gift. Get the car serviced before he changes the oil. Deliver breakfast in bed next Saturday.

5. Be historical. Play the songs you two loved best when you were courting. Bring out your wedding album after dinner and leaf through it together. Bring up the good times from your past -- you'll both get a glow and feel lifted up as you remember your passion.

6. Be forgetful. Forgive your spouse's human shortcomings, then forget them. Nobody's perfect, especially under stress. (Hmmm ... could that include you?) Graciously overlooking flaws, errors, and gaffes sets a sweetly gracious tone for your relationship.

10 Quick and Easy Ways to Use Strawberries

1. Chocolate Bites: Dip 1 lb. strawberries into 8 oz. melted semisweet chocolate. Roll in chopped nuts. Place on parchment paper and chill.

2. Strawberry-Avocado Salsa: Combine 1 cup finely chopped strawberries, ¼ cup finely chopped and peeled avocado, 2 tbsp. finely chopped red onion, 2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, ½ tsp. grated lime rind, 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice, 2 tsp. finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper, and ¼ tsp. sugar. Toss gently. Serve immediately.

3. Strawberry Margarita: Blend 1 cup strawberries, 6 tbsp. tequila, 2 tbsp. triple sec, 2 cups crushed ice, and ¼ cup limeade concentrate.

4. Berry-nana Smoothie (non-alcoholic): Blend 1 very ripe banana, 1 cup frozen strawberries, ½ cup yogurt (plain, vanilla, or lemon), ¾ cup orange juice or apple juice, 2 oz. soft tofu (optional), and 1 to 2 tbsp. honey. Puree until smooth.

5. Strawberry Vinaigrette: Combine 1 cup strawberries, 1 tsp. sugar, and 1 tbsp. champagne vinegar. Chill 1 hour. Liquefy. Add salt, pepper, and 2 tbsp. olive oil. Blend.

6. White Chocolate Fondue: Combine 1 cup heavy cream and ½ stick unsalted butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring mixture to a simmer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add two 12-oz. packages premier white chocolate morsels. Stir until melted and smooth. Cool slightly. Transfer to a fondue pot, chafing dish, or ceramic bowl. Serve immediately with sliced strawberries.

7. Fruit Butter: Beat 2 sticks softened butter, ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar, and ¼ tsp. salt about 1 minute, until light. Fold in ½ cup chopped strawberries. Serve chilled.

8. Strawberry Parfait: In a chilled medium-size bowl, whip 1 cup heavy cream with 2 tbsp. sugar and 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice. Gradually add 2 more tbsp. sugar and 1 more tbsp. lemon juice, whipping until the cream is thick but not over-whipped.

Alternate layers of whipped cream and sliced strawberries in four 8-ounce parfait glasses. Top each treat with a dollop of cream and lemon zest.

9. Strawberry Ice Cream: Blend 3 cups strawberries and the juice of ½ a lemon in a food processor. With a mixer, whip 1 ½ cups heavy cream and 2 tsp. vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Slowly add 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk and whip until very thick. Fold in the berry mixture. Seal and freeze until firm.

10. Strawberry Banana Delight: In a small bowl, dissolve one 0.3-oz. package sugar-free strawberry gelatin in boiling water; cool for 10 minutes. Add enough water to 6 ice cubes to measure 1 cup. Place gelatin and ice mixture in a blender; cover and process for 1 minute or until ice cubes are dissolved. Add bananas; process 1-2 minutes longer or until blended. Pour into four dessert dishes. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until set. Garnish each with 1 tbsp. whipped topping and a strawberry.

Salted Egg Yolk Prawn

A tasty treat for all

Ingredients (4 servings)

500g medium-sized prawns

1 salted duck egg

1 chicken egg

1/2 cup plain flour

4 teaspoons corn flour

1 teaspoon oil (for batter)

1 teaspoon oil (for frying yolk)

1 tablespoon butter

oil for deep frying

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Steam the salted egg. Remove shell and egg white. Use only the yolk. Mash and set aside.

2. Devein and remove prawn shells. Add chicken egg, plain and corn flour, oil, water and whisk into a batter. Adjust water to ensure a smooth consistency. Coat prawns with flour and dip into batter.

3. Heat oil. Put in prawns when oil is hot and deep-fry till golden brown. Set aside.

4. Heat butter and oil. Add salted egg yolk and fry till “bubbles” form. Throw in prawns and toss lightly, ensuring it is all thoroughly coated with salted egg yolk.

6 Quick Beauty Fixes With a Lemon

See how you can use lemons in your beauty routine

Considering its size, the vitamin C powerhouse we know as the lemon provides an astonishing number of beauty benefits, six of which are listed below. (One word of caution: lemons can cause skin to be extra-sensitive to sunlight, so don't expose yourself to the sun for too long after a skin treatment.)

1. Exfoliate dead skin and bring new skin to the surface by washing skin with lemon juice mixed with a little sugar.

2. Smooth wrinkles by boiling 1 cup milk, 2 teaspoons lemon juice and 1 tablespoon brandy. Cool the mixture to room temperature, apply and let dry before wiping it off.

3. Lighten age spots by dabbing them with lemon juice and rinsing off after 15 minutes. Repeat once later in the day.

4. Create a facial that both exfoliates and moisturizes by mixing the juice from 1 lemon with ¼ cup olive oil or sweet almond oil.

5. Fight dandruff with a daily scalp massage with 2 tablespoons lemon. Rinse with water and follow with a rinse of 1 cup water mixed with 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

6. Whiten and clean fingernails by soaking them in 1 cup lukewarm water and the juice of 1/2 lemon for 5 minutes, then rub the inside of the lemon peel against the nails.

Green Tea: A top all-rounder

Antioxidants have protective qualities

Green tea is lauded for its many health benefits – it guards against heart disease, diabetes, cancer, weight gain, even tooth decay. New research continues to stack up its merits. Its secret? This brew is naturally rich in a group of antioxidants called catechins. Recently, US researchers found evidence of this compound’s osteoprotective effect. “Green tea has a higher concentration of catechins and appears to benefit bone health more than other kinds of tea, such as black and oolong,” says Dr Leslie Shen of Texas Tech University. Early research from Hong Kong also suggests green tea’s catechins can benefit the eye, with signs that it is absorbed by the lens, retina and other eye tissues.

THE MEDICINAL BREW

What makes green tea so special? Unlike black tea, its production involves little processing and fermentation, keeping catechin concentration especially high.

Flu Fighter

A University of Florida study looked at the effect of green tea during flu season. Those participants who took a capsule with decaffeinated green tea extract twice a day for three months experienced 32 percent fewer cold and flu symptoms com- pared to the placebo group. Of those who did become ill, only 6 percent needed a doctor.

8 Connections Between Diet and Sleep

What you eat or drink in the hours and minutes before bed may make the difference between a restful slumber and a fitful night of tossing and turning

1. Eating too much or too little can disrupt sleep. A light snack at bedtime can promote sleep, but too much food can cause digestive discomfort that leads to wakefulness.

2. Alcohol is a double edged sword. Small amounts of alcohol can help you to fall asleep. But as the body metabolises the alcohol, sleep may become fragmented. Alcohol makes insomnia worse and impairs rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the time when the body is in its restorative phase. It can also dehydrate you, leaving you tired the next day.

3. Caffeine can disturb sleep. For some people, any food or beverage with caffeine in it can disturb sleep. If you are sensitive to caffeine, avoid it in the afternoon and evening.

4. Cut the fat. If you have a high-fat meal in the evening or eat foods that cause you indigestion and heartburn, your sleep can be disturbed.

5. Do not eat late at night. Sufferers from heartburn or acid reflux should avoid late, heavy meals that delay the emptying of the stomach. Lying down with a full stomach encourages acids and gastric juices to flow up into the esophagus, causing heartburn that disturbs sleep.

6. Drinking fluids too close to bedtime can cause problems. Avoid fluids after dinner to reduce the need to go to the bathroom during the night.

7. Milk and honey promote sleep. Milk contains tryptophan, an essential amino acid that is a natural dietary sleep inducer. Tryptophan increases the amount of serotonin, a natural sedative, in the brain. This is why so many folk remedies include warm milk with a spoonful of honey, a simple sugar. (Carbohydrates facilitate the entry of tryptophan into the brain.) A turkey sandwich is a sleep-inducing combination of tryptophan and carbohydrates. A banana with milk gives you vitamin B6, which helps to convert tryptophan to serotonin.

8. Helpful herbs. Many herbs are said to be useful for inducing sleep; one of the most popular and reliable is valerian. Its use as a sedative has been supported by research demonstrating that active ingredients in the valerian root depress the central nervous system and relax smooth muscle tissue. Valerian that is brewed into a tea or taken as a capsule or tincture can lessen the time it takes to fall asleep and produce a deep rest. It does not cause dependency or a 'hungover' feeling. It is not recommended for use during pregnancy or breastfeeding, as it has not been studied for these conditions. Other remedies suggested for sleep problems include teas made of chamomile, hops, lemon balm and peppermint, but there is not much evidence that they work.

7 Things that are Secretly Making You Gain Weight

Not sure why your jeans suddenly feel tighter? Choices you make in your everyday life might be secretly causing you to gain weight. Here's how to spot seven diet saboteurs

1. Fancy coffee-shop beverages

Your daily treat from the corner coffee shop may be adding a significant amount of calories to your diet. For example, a Grande Strawberries and Crème Frappuccino with whole milk and whipped cream at Starbucks is 370 calories and 15 g of fat. Instead, choose a regular coffee. Alone, it has no calories, but even with cream and sugar it’s a much better choice: You’ll add 24 calories and 3 g of fat per tablespoon of cream, and 16 calories per teaspoon of sugar. Make this swap once a week and you’ll cut 17,160 calories a year, which adds up to almost 5 pounds.

2. Eating on the run

Most of us have caught ourselves walking and eating, or stuffing down a meal to get to our next commitment on time. “Eating on the run often leads to eating too quickly for your hunger and satisfaction signals to keep up,” says Mary Bamford, registered dietitian. What’s too fast? According to Bamford it means taking less than 20 minutes to eat a meal.

Instead, sit down (eating in the car while driving doesn’t count) and slow down. “If you eat in a hurry and rely on your hunger signals to know when you’ve had enough, you have to overeat to feel satisfied,” she says. “And then 30 to 60 minutes later, if you are paying attention, you may realize you are stuffed,” she adds. So stop walking and munching, and make time to savour your meals.

3. Overindulging on weekends

Researchers have found that people don’t realize they eat markedly more on weekends, particularly on Saturdays, when they tend to consume more fat. Those extra calories can add up quickly.

To combat overindulging on Saturday and Sunday, pay attention to portion size, weigh yourself daily (or on Fridays and Mondays only) and watch your alcohol intake, which provides empty calories and lowers your food inhibitions.

4. Portions that are too large

It’s a simple fact: Eat less and you’ll lose weight. There’s good evidence that over the past 50 years, restaurant portions have “super-sized,” and our waistlines have grown along with them. We’ve become accustomed to eating larger servings to the detriment of our health.

To combat this habit, use a smaller plate for your meals. Less space on the plate means automatic portion control. And when ordering or buying food, choose the smallest size of any high-calorie items.

5. Crash diets

Dieting makes food an enemy, not a source of sustenance and well-being. So-called yo-yo dieting—losing weight, putting it back on, losing it again and so on—is bad for your health. If you suddenly reduce your food intake, you body, because it is designed for survival, will slow down your metabolic rate in order to store energy more efficiently. This is why people on a diet crave snacks like chocolate, which gives a quick boost to their energy levels, and why weight loss slows down dramatically after the first couple of weeks.

To reach and maintain a reasonable body weight, you need a balanced diet full of nutrients to prevent disease and to ensure optimal energy and psychological well-being

6. Skipping meals

“Skipping meals can have a negative impact on your metabolism,” says Toronto nutritionist Aviva Allen—your body might start storing extra fat in anticipation of more missed meals. Instead of eating less, consume small, nutrient-dense snacks and meals more often – every three hours is ideal – and try not to eat after seven o’clock at night, when your metabolism is at its slowest.

Eating often also makes it easier to stay on track beacause denying yourself food isn’t a sustainable practice. “The biggest mistake is to think of your diet as a temporary event to reach a specific weight-loss goal,” says Allen. “If you plan to return to your old habits once you’ve reached your goal, the weight will quickly return.”

7. Boring workouts

No matter how good the fitness plan, sticking with the exact same routine day after day is hard—and discouraging. In his first book, 5-Factor Fitness, Hollywood trainer Harley Pastnernak recommends a different workout for every day of the week, each focusing on a different body part. Whether you vary the number of reps you do or make a switch from cardio to resistance training, it’s important to vary your routine enough so you don’t get bored. “At least one thing should be different daily,” Pasternak suggests.

5 Safety Tips for Holiday Shopping Online

Holiday shopping can be an exhausting experience, even online. There are so many places to visit and choices to make. You like to believe that the product and service recommendations you receive while shopping are helping show you the best bargains and important special offers. This is the claim made by many behavioral tracking advertisers. Their PhD-designed computer algorithms watch your every move and help predict what you might want to see.

But what happens when one of these friendly helpers has an ulterior motive such as selling your information to someone else or using it to invade your shopping privacy? These five tips will help ensure that you get the most from your holiday shopping experience and keep the unwanted intruders at bay.

1. Beware of upsells and add-on

It is common practice to offer additional related items to a customer who just completed a purchase. If you purchased a pair of shoes, it is logical for marketers to assume that you might want socks or even another pair of shoes. How you deal with these prompts tells the vendor a lot about your tendencies and preferences. Most importantly, it tells them that you DO or DO NOT respond to such advertisements. Vendors design their sites and shopping carts based on this behavior. If you ignore such prompts, or quickly navigate away from the site after receiving your purchase confirmation, you will be less likely to become a statistic and more likely to keep your personal privacy intact.

2. Use a different email address

One of the biggest annoyances surrounding online shopping is the increase in follow-up emails that are sent after you make your purchase. Good marketers know that existing customers are their best customers, so almost every purchase you make online will result in a series of emails designed to get you back to the site to buy something else. Most sites assume that by making a purchase from them, you have voluntarily "opted in" to their email marketing campaigns. But don’t forget that you can opt-out by clicking on each email’s unsubscribe link, while this sounds easy enough, it can sometimes be a time-consuming, painful process. Instead, go to gmail.google.com and get a new gmail email address that you can use exclusively for online shopping. Make sure to create a legitimate email address because some purchases will require you to validate it. Once you finish holiday shopping, you can then choose to either ignore or cancel that gmail account, and your 'real' email inbox will remain spam-free.

3. Read and understand the privacy policy

Every reputable vendor selling products online posts a privacy policy explaining what they do with the information they collect from their customers. For example, www.myshape.com is a women’s shopping site that suggests clothes that will fit a woman’s particular shape. To accomplish this task, they must collect personal details, such as body measurements, which would be of huge value to third parties who could use that data for marketing purposes. For example, a plus-size fashion company could pay for access to those measurements to target advertisements to individuals who fit their target demographic. But, reading the MyShape privacy policy we find this very clear statement:

“We never sell or trade email addresses with other companies without your expressed consent. Additionally, no personal information gathered via the MyShape registration process will be sold or shared with any third party.”

There is no ambiguity here; it is clear that your information is safe with them. During your holiday shopping, take a moment to review each site’s privacy policy before making a purchase, and look for similar statements. If a site does not have a privacy policy, or does not make it explicitly clear that they do not under any circumstances share your information, your privacy may be at risk.

4. Manage your time wisely

Holiday shopping for friends and family can be an exhilarating experience, but as the holidays get closer, online marketers ramp up their efforts to get you to spend on extras. For those who enjoy online shopping it can be easy to spend hours looking for the perfect gift. But it is important to remember that the longer you spend on a site, the more pages you click through and the more items you ask for details on, the more you are revealing about yourself to the vendor. This information is then fed to advertisers who will infiltrate your web browsing experience for the next several months. Once the cycle of targeted marketing begins, it can be difficult to stop. If you are concerned about what information you are providing to a vendor and his ad network, try to limit the time you spend on their site to greatly reduce the risk of privacy loss.

5. Be wary of social shopping

A hot new trend in social network marketing is the sharing of your purchases along with the prices that you paid for those items. Marketers tout this practice as having the benefit of letting your friends know where to find bargains, but they are really only interested in spawning additional sales. Sites like blippy.com connect directly to your iTunes and other social network accounts, automatically sharing your purchases with friends. Other sites like amazon.com offer customer reviews so you can share your opinion on books, vacuums or any of the other items that you purchased from them, providing feedback to other potential customers. Yelp.com allows customer reviews that can help promote businesses, or sometimes severely damage a vendor’s reputation. Before jumping into these systems and participating in the process, it is important to think through the extent of your engagement with them, especially in regards to your shopping tendencies. Once the “Web” knows what you purchased, how much you paid for it and how often you shop, you are likely to become a target for future advertising campaigns. While these social tools are not necessarily dangerous, your personal privacy will be much safer should you choose to ignore them. If you do choose to participate in them, at least consider doing so anonymously.

This holiday season, while browsing the electronic aisles of your favorite online retailers, remember these precautionary steps. There is no reason to fear behavioral tracking, just be aware and be in control.

Mind Over Money

In tough times, psyching yourself up to save is even more important. Here’s how:

“But I can’t save any money.” It’s an excuse I hear a lot. Sometimes it’s a whine. Other times I detect a note of defiance. In the past few years, it has become increasingly frequent, as more and more of us make less than we spend, eating up the equity in our homes, while increasing our borrowing. Savings rates are declining. And the situation seems to be getting worse.

The question is: Why? Why don’t we make saving a priority? We certainly know that saving money – like eating broccoli and strengthening our core muscles – is good for us. In the latter cases, we listen. Yoga and Pilates have never been hotter. And broccoli now comes as a baby vegetable, precut and bagged, and even in purple. Yet saving for tomorrow is still a largely ignored and unappreciated skill. There are three reasons for this.

One: Saving today is harder. “If you’re having to spend a disproportionate amount of income on food and gas, it’s hard to save,” says Anthony Pratkanis, a psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who specialises in financial issues.

Over in our part of the world, food and fuel prices have increased substantially, eroding much of the income growth we’ve enjoyed in the past few years. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, food prices soared nearly 40 percent since last year. Meanwhile, crude oil prices have surged more than five-fold since 2002.

What’s worse, the prospect of still spiralling inflation amidst a current slowing global economy will make it more difficult for already strapped households to save.

Two: Credit became too accessible. For years it was simply too easy to get your hands on money to spend. Banks are eager to extend credit to you if you meet their requirements.

A financial cards study by Euromonitor International reported there were 580 million credit cards in circulation in Asia Pacific last year, a 54 percent increase since 2002.

Correspondingly, credit cards transactions has increased 62 percent in the same five-year period.

Another study by the Bank for International Settlements, the bank for central banks, noted that many Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia, racked up a 200 to 500 percent increase in credit card usage volume, including the use of cards both to make purchases and to withdraw cash, between 1998 and 2005.

With such easy credit available, why save when you could get that big flat-screen TV today and pay for it with a simple swipe of plastic?

Three – and most intriguing: Saving is, was, and always will be no fun. “Saving money,” explains Jason Zweig, author of Your Money and Your Brain, “doesn't feel good.” Think about it this way: Choosing to save almost always means opting for delayed instead of immediate gratification. “You can buy a pair of shoes today,” says Zweig, “or have a nice retirement 20 years from now.”

You’re going to buy the shoes because the pleasure of getting something good today is much greater than the pleasure of getting something good years in the future – even if the reward in the future is bigger.

IF IT’S NOT SHOES THAT make you go mushy inside, it may be technology, or rare books. But that’s not only an intensity you feel, it’s an intensity neuroeconomists can see. In recent years, this relatively new breed of experts in economics and neuroscience have started using MRIs to view the brain as it is making money choices.

When something we want to buy comes into view, they see the pleasure centre firing up as we get a feel-good dopamine rush. Similarly, getting a few dollars today is thrilling – more thrilling, in fact, than getting a slightly larger profit tomorrow. And if you have to wait a few weeks or months for that gain, it will have to be much bigger in order to arouse the same interest in your brain. Things way off in the future – like retirement – don’t jostle the pleasure centre much at all.

“HUMANS, LIKE MOST ANIMALS, have a strong preference for immediate reward over delayed reward. If you offer me $10 today or $11 tomorrow, I’ll probably say I’d rather have the $10 today,” says Zweig. Even bigger numbers don’t seem to make a difference. Financial experts routinely use what-if scenarios to try to encourage people to save more and at a younger age. You’ve probably heard that if at age 20, you put $100 a month into an account earning 8 percent interest, you’d have $527,454 at retirement. If you waited until you were 30 to begin, you’d have only $229,388. Yes, the examples are striking, but by Zweig’s logic, they probably aren’t very effective.

“A reward you get in the distant future has no emotional kick to it. It’s just an abstraction,” he says. “Even if you tell people you’ll have a million dollars 30 years from now, the brain doesn’t get it.”

Which, of course, is perfectly rational. “If tomorrow’s reward is based on promises – which retirement is – the people making the promises might be lying, they might not be around 20 years from now, your goals might change, many things could happen,” says Zweig. “So you have this automatic preference for an immediate reward. And that probably comes from our [hunter-gatherer] ancestors.” Back in those days, food was scarce. Given the choice of eating now or maybe eating more later, the cave folk who chose the latter very likely starved to death.

So the question becomes: Knowing what we know about our money and our brains, what mind games can you play to psych yourself into saving?

Visualise your goals. Let’s say you're 31 and you want to retire in 25 years. The key is to make the goal as concrete as you can, says Zweig. Pick your birthday circa 2033 as the day for your retirement goal. Then ask yourself, What do I want to do when I retire? Do I want a villa in Bali, a yacht to sail the seas in, or a paid-off mortgage? It’s different for everyone. But you’ve made retirement tangible: You have the date. You have the goal. Then you give it a name. It becomes “The Villa in Bali Fund.” You put a little Balinese music on your desktop, or cartoons of the beach – whatever reminds you of your goal. Put your account statements in a manila folder and decorate it with coconut trees.

Sound corny? Sure, but what you’re doing, Zweig says, is building an emotional environment that you can save in. All these things work together to motivate you, and then when you see the pair of shoes, it will be easier for you to say to yourself, This is a choice between shoes and Bali. Suddenly, you can leave the shoes in the store.

Rally your team. Use your friends and family as a way to discipline yourself. Tell them what your goal is, and ask them to remind you if you’re about to spend money on something you won’t need. (Tell them you won’t get cranky and will appreciate the help.) You can even do this on the internet. Dean Karlan and Ian Ayres of Yale just launched a website called stickK.com, which lets you post your goal, notify your friends, and set up penalties if you fail. It worked for both founders, who lost a significant amount of weight by pledging a significant amount of money if they didn’t drop pounds. But you could also use it to build an emergency stash, increase your contribution to your retirement savings, or amass an education fund for your kids.

Break it down. Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America, says that one reason many middle-income families don’t save is that they don’t believe they can come up with big enough sums of money to do it effectively. The fact is, he says, small amounts can be quite effective. Start with your change. “It sounds trivial, but we have story after story of people who accumulated hundreds of dollars that way, realised they could do it, and worked harder to get more,” he says. Then add an automatic transfer from checking to savings account every month.

Finally, recognise that the saving process is actually healing. It makes you feel better – a better person, a better spouse, a better parent – to know that you have something put away for your future. Says Brobeck, “You may have to make sacrifices in the short term, but you’ll feel so much better in the medium to long.

FOR THE LOVE OF PANDAS

A mother panda is generally unable to raise two babies at the same time. Whenever twin pandas are born, human caregivers have to take on the role of “nanny” to the newborns

It’s nine o’clock in the morning of July 22, 2009 in Ya’an, Sichuan. An event that occurs only once every 500 years is taking place: a total eclipse of the sun. Standing under the eaves, Huang Zhi and Luo Bo watch the pens some 100 meters away sink into darkness at the Ya’an Bifeng Gorge base of the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center.

The storm on the previous night had damaged the power supply circuits. Within the entire 716,000-square-metre compound, the only light now emits from the maternity and nursery wards, powered by their own generators.

The rain keeps pelting down, with heavy clouds blotting out the sky. Although they are unable to witness the eclipse, both Huang and Luo, the two directors of the Department of Animal Management at the Center, are in high spirits. After an entire night’s waiting, together with panda breeder Feng Gao-zhi, they had just delivered a pair of twin “sons” with their own hands, the first delivery for Nana the panda.

This first pair of panda twins born in 2009 is also a lucky pair: a month before they were born, the Center had signed an agreement for a three-year panda conservation plan with auto-mobile giant Mercedes-Benz China. The company pledged to help improve the living conditions of baby pandas through its Green Legacy Program, a specialised fund for nature conservation it had launched in 2007. Christening the twins Xing Hui and Xing Rui respectively, the company committed to funding the twins for the duration of their lives.

Early Days

The total solar eclipse over the Bifeng Gorge has shocked the 13 baby pandas born shortly after the Wenchuan Earthquake in May 2008. They stop playing and grab hold of the trees, looking up to the sky in confusion.

Meanwhile, Li Guo, the chief of the nursery, has just checked on Xing Hui’s nursing crate. The little fella is lying on its front quietly, sound asleep under a piece of panda hide. The warmth of the box and the softness of the hide provide the baby panda with a strong sense of security. Owing to his relatively undeveloped senses of sight and hearing, his sweet dreams have been thankfully uninterrupted by the din and uproar ensuing from the eclipse.

Xing Hui is the first baby panda resident of the nursery this year. Like all other newborn baby pandas, he doesn’t look very attractive. His body, the size of a rat, is a flushed red and fur-less all over, with the characteristic black and white fur distinctly absent. Care-givers liken the appearance of these tiny baby mammals to skinned rats.

The panda nursery is located next to the “Panda Kindergarten,” both of which belong to the Mercedes-Benz Giant Panda Theme Park. The panda twins will spend half of their first six months in the nursery, after which they will begin schooling at the kindergarten with other baby pandas of the same age group.

In addition to four pens, the kindergarten also boasts two open-air amusement parks. At the centre of each park stands a wooden platform over a metre high, with six small trees each about two metres high planted at small intervals around it. Two tyres – playthings for the baby pandas – hang from one of the trees.

How to Reconnect With Loved Ones

Learn simple ways to spend more quality time with those you cherish

When life gets busy, it’s easy to forget to take the time to slow down and connect with the people who matter most in your life. Here are three, simple ways to spend more quality time with your loved ones:

Cuddle with your kids

Sit on your child’s bed, and gently smooth his hair as you softly wake him. Or if you’re dealing with a very young child, lie beside him and gently hug him awake. Such a moment will send a quiet surge of joy through your entire day.

Make dinner plans

Eating dinner together and sharing your day is one of the best ways to reconnect with your family and friends. Plan ahead for what you’ll have: who needs to pick up groceries, who will cook, and when everyone should be at the dinner table. You’ll eat healthier, for less money, and with less hassle by following this ritual.

Hug and kiss everybody (Spot and Fluffy, too) before you head out the door

Connecting with ones you love soothes stress, and provides you with a perfect start to your busy day: You’ll be happier and more connected as you shift into work mode, while at the same time staying focused on what’s really important.

Strawberry Banana Delight

Turn a classic pairing of flavors into whipped gelatin.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

You Will Need

1 package (.3 ounce) sugar-free strawberry gelatin

1 cup boiling water

6 ice cubes

2 medium ripe bananas, cut into chunks

4 tablespoons whipped topping

4 fresh strawberries

What to Do

1. In a small bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water; cool for 10 minutes. Add enough water to ice cubes to measure 1 cup. Place gelatin and ice mixture in a blender; cover and process for 1 minute or until ice cubes are dissolved. Add bananas; process 1-2 minutes longer or until blended.

2. Pour into four dessert dishes. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until set. Garnish each with 1 tablespoon whipped topping and a strawberry.

Serves 4

Nutritional analysis: 1 serving equals 78 calories, 1 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 48 mg sodium, 16 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 2 g protein. Diabetic exchange: 1 fruit.

Soft Oatmeal Cookies

These oatmeal cookies are very moist and simple to bake

Servings: 24

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 cups quick cooking oats

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Add a cup of raisins or nuts if you desire. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with a large fork dipped in sugar.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Sleep Your Way to Better Heart Health

Lack of sleep can do more than make you cranky—it could shorten your lifespan. New research suggests that sleeping less than six to eight hours a night leads to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

The risk of heart disease can increase as much as 48 percent and the risk of stroke by 15 percent when a person regularly doesn’t get a minimum of six hours of sleep, scientists from the U.K.’s University of Warwick recently revealed. The researchers found that chronic sleep shortages produce hormones and chemicals in the body that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Researchers studied 470,000 people from eight countries, including the U.S., U.K., Japan, and Sweden, and found that the demands of the modern workplace and family are taking a toll.

“The trend for late nights and early mornings is actually a ticking time bomb for our health,” researcher Francesco Cappuccio told the BBC. “So you need to act now to reduce your risk of developing these life-threatening conditions.”

The study suggests that sleep deprivation also contributes to high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity.

10 Tips for Healthy, White Teeth

Here are 10 secrets for keeping your pearly whites in tip-top shape

1. Go on a white-teeth diet. If you're quaffing red wine and black tea, or smoking cigarettes or cigars, expect the results to show up as not-so-pearly whites. Other culprits to blame for dingy teeth include colas, gravies, and dark juices. Bottom line: If it's dark before you put it in your mouth, it will probably stain your teeth. Brush immediately after eating or drinking foods that stain teeth and use a good bleaching agent, either over-the-counter or in the dentist's office. For convenient teeth-cleaning action, eat an apple.

Consume Plenty Of

1. Calcium-rich foods, such as low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese.

2. Fresh fruits and vegetables for vitamins A and C, and for chewing in order to promote healthy gums.

3. Tea, which is a good source of fluoride.

Limit

1. Dried fruits and other sticky foods that lodge between the teeth.

Avoid

1. Sweet drinks and snacks.

2. Steady sipping of acidic drinks for prolonged periods.

2. Chuck your toothbrush or change the head of your electric toothbrush at least every two to three months. Otherwise, you're just transferring bacteria to your mouth. According to Beverly Hills dentist Harold Katz, D.D.S., the best way to brush is by placing your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle against your gums and gently moving it in a circular motion, rather than a back-and-forth motion. Grip the toothbrush like a pencil so you won't scrub too hard.

3. Clean your tongue with a tongue scraper every morning to remove tongue plaque and freshen your breath. One major cause of bad breath is the buildup of bacteria on the tongue, which a daily tongue scraping will help banish. Plus, using a tongue scraper is more effective than brushing your tongue with a toothbrush, says Dr. Katz.

4. Eat 'detergent' foods. Foods that are firm or crisp help clean teeth as they're eaten. We already mentioned apples (otherwise known as nature's toothbrush); other choices include raw carrots, celery, and popcorn. For best results, make 'detergent' foods the final food you eat in your meal if you know you won't be able to brush your teeth right after eating.

5. Gargle with apple cider vinegar in the morning and then brush as usual. The vinegar helps help remove stains, whiten teeth, and kill bacteria in your mouth and gums.

5 Drinks to Help You Lose Weight

Don't drink your calories. Instead drink these low-calorie drink options.

The secret to losing weight isn't just watching what’s on your plate; it’s also about watching what’s in your glass. Popular soft drinks, fruit juices, and energy drinks can be loaded with added sugars and carbohydrates that can sabotage your weight-loss strategy. Here are five tasty ways to drink up without packing on the pounds.

1. Water

We all know this one, but it’s important to remember that water is the single best choice for effective weight loss. Whether it’s still or sparkling, aim to make water your go-to beverage choice. Think water is boring? Try adding fresh lemon slices, lime, cucumber, and even a slice of tomato to add flavor without adding many calories.

2. Vegetable juice

Whether in a can, bottled, or homemade, vegetable juice is an excellent way to get the fiber and nutrients your body needs to fuel your weight loss. If you can find a low-sodium variety, even better. The veggies will keep you fuller longer and the tangy flavor will keep your taste buds happy.

3. Unsweetened tea

Green tea has been proven to help boost metabolism and speed up weight loss. Try it hot or iced with a bit of honey for a low-sugar sweet drink. Don’t forget black and oolong teas, too! Both are filled with antioxidants, which can help rid your body of toxins.

4. Black coffee

A morning cup of joe or an afternoon iced coffee can help spur your weight loss by providing a boost of caffeine that suppresses hunger. Also, coffee has been shown to stimulate parthenogenesis, which heats up the body and boosts metabolism. Just be careful about what you add to your coffee — stick to skim milk and very little sugar.

5. Skim milk

Milk is an excellent source of lean protein, vitamin D, and calcium that can help build your muscles and keep your bones strong. Opt for low-fat or skim milk for all of the vitamins without the added fat. If you are feeling indulgent, add a little chocolate — low-fat chocolate milk is a great option for post-workout muscle recovery.