10. Being Working Mum.

Do you sometimes worry that the stree of caring for a family while holdind down a job will drive you into a madhouse or an early grave?
In fact, a 2005 study found that women who combine a carere with marriage and matherhood are less likely to have poor health than those who stay at home or have no children.
A study in the UK following British men and women born in 1946 throughout their lives, also found that 38 percent a long-term homemakers were obese by their fifties, compared with just 23 percent who had been working mothers.

BUT WATCH OUT!!.
Sadly the same benefits don't come from going it alone. Lone working mother were less healthy than ones with partners or childless women (though still healthier than mums who didn't work).

9. Sugary Soft Drink.

Surely it's great that soft drinks come in diet form? The same drink with virtually no calories. But a 2005 study from the University of Taxas found that in a group of 622 participants studied over eight years, those are regularly drank diet soft drink were far more likely to become overweight or obese than those drinking the same amount of non-diet drink.
Alrhough artificial sweeteners may taste the same as sugar, "your body may not be fooled that it's received the same calories - so it craves more", says Jacqui Lowdon, a spokesperson for the British Dietetic Assosiation.
Diet soft drink may also lull you into false sense of security. Some people feel that if they drink one, they can have a Mars bar," says Lowdon.

BUT WATCH OUT!!.
To loss weight, you still have to cut down on calories. "Have one sugar drink a week and enjoy it, rather than a lot of diet drinks that don't satisfy you," advises Lowdon.

8. Computer Games.

They isolate children socially and distract them from learning, right? Think again. Researcher have found that kids who clock up regular console time can improve their hand-eye coordination, thier grip on science, even their IQ.
A 2002 study of 700 children found that stimulation and adventure games such as Sim City and RollerCoaster Tycoon develop children strategic thinking and planning skills. And research by Peter Excell, head of computing and communications technology at Glyndwr University in Wales, suggests computer games are a great way to explain the basic of physics. (A weapon thrown in a game, for example, has to follow a certain trajectory, illustrating the laws of gravity.)
Bishop John Robinson Primary School in Thamesmead, London, actually started a pilot project in September last year using 16 Nintendo DS consoles running the Math Training Game with a Year Five class- who were so engaged that other classes are now sharing the consoles and some students and some students have asked their parents to buy the games to use at home.

BUT WATCH OUT!!
Some games can creat stress-like symptoms, with younger children more effected because they are less able to distinguish between fact and fiction. Ensure the computer is somewhere you can see it.

7.BOOZE.

By now you'll have heard that red wine in moderation helps protect against heart disease, but the healing benefits don't stop there.
If you're more of a beer drinker, take heart: studies in both the Netherlands and the Czech Replublic have found that the rich vitamin B6 cantent in beer can prevent the build-up of homocysteine, an amino acid high levels of which have been linked to heart attacted. Beer also contain polyphenols-the same things that in wine are lauded for controlling LDL cholesteral.
What if you're a spirit-drinker? Well, if you like a gin and tonic, you may want to know that the quinine in tonic water (and bitter lemon) can prevent night cramps.
In a small 2005 study, Dr Richard Coppin, a general practitioner in the UK, showed that quinine was more effective than calf-stretching exercises in preventing the condition. Of course, tonic water cantains 83mg of quinine per litre - and doctors typically prescribe 200 to 300mg of quinine to be taken each night. But its possible that smaller doeses might help too,says Dr Coppin.

BUT WATCH OUT!!.
Not only drinking more than 3-4 units of alcohol a day for men (2-3 for women) a health risk, but booze is high in calories too. And very high does of quinine can result in cinchonism, a cluster of symptoms including tinnitus, headache, flushing, nausea, abdominal pain and rashes.

6.Caffeine

Many people assume that decaffeinate coffee and tea is somehow healthier-and there have been suggested links between caffeine and heart palpitations and pancreatic cancer. But there's a glowing list of ways that it might actually be good for you. Several studies have flagged coffee as combating or delaying the development of Parkinnson's disease in men. z
Is's most likely the caffeine that's doing it, says DR Kieran Breen, director of research for the Parkinson's disease society in the UK; perhaps it stimulates nerves cell's production of dopamine to counteract the disease's symptoms, or it may actually be protecting the nerve sells. Some studies have suggested that caffeine can help prevent gallstones,
though there's no consensus yet. A Japanese study found that middle-aged and older people drinking caffeine dairy had half the rate of common liver cancer.
Also, as a pick-me-up, caffeine doesn't just effect your mood - there's evidence it can enhance the performance of athletes.

BUT WATCH OUT!!.
It has been suggested that caffiene is harmful to those with diabetes or hypertension though doctors simply advise sufferers to drink it in moderation and the Blood pressure Assosiation in the UK says cutting out caffeine does not hava a major impact on blood pressure.

5. Full Fat Dairy.

If you're trained yourself to touch nothing but low-fat or no-fat, you might want to relax.
A study at the University of Wales of 2375 men over 25 years showed that those who consumed the most full-fat diary were 63 percent less likely to develop "metabolic syndrome," a cluster of symptoms such a high blood pressure, blood lipids and glucose levels that can lead to diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
It is believed that medium-chain fatty acids, present in full-fat (but not low-fat) milk, yoghurt and cheese, boost insulin sensitiveity in those with a metabolic syndrome, making it easier for the body to control weight.

BUT WATCH OUT!!.
Full-fat diary is only going to have these benefits as part of balanced diet. At the end of the day, if you eat too many calories you'll put on weight.

4. Being a Bit Overweight.

If you worry that being even a few kilograms over your target is a death sentence, fret not. A US study of the mortality rates of 2.3 million people found that those with a Body Mass Index ( BMI ) of 25 to 30 - technically " overweight" - were not more likely to die of cardiovascular disease and cancer than those with a "healthy" BMI of 18.5 to 25.
How come? It's possible, says Katherine Flegal, senior research sceintist study, that older who are overweight have greater nutritional reserves thst help carry them through bouts of ill health - this may influence that overall figures for all age groups. But Dr cloin Waine, chair of the National Obesity Forum in the UK,also point out that where are put on weight can be more significant than your BMI :carrying weight round your middle is much worse than carrying it on your hips.
"Having a waist of over 37 inches for men and 33 inches for women, gives you a significantly greater risk of cardiovascular disease and Types 2 diabetes," he says. "That danger rises even more sleeply above 40 inches [for men and] 37 inches [for women].
" So if you are generally fit and active, then carrying a few extra pounds is not worth stressing over.

BUT WATCH OUT!!.
Health risks climb far more sleeply if you're clinically obsense (BMI 30 and above). A study that followes 115,000 nurses for 15 years showed the obese women had a 28 times higher risk of developing diabetes than women with a BMI of 22. Dr Waine advises keeping your BMI no higher than 27 (devide your weight in kilos by your height in metres squared).

3. Pounding the Pavements.

Running, particularly on the roads, has been blamed for wear and tear on the knees, which can lead to osteoarthritis. but a new study shows that those who regularly run are actually less likely to develop the condition than those who don't. It seems running can strengthen the cartilage around the knee, preventing degeneration.

Researchers at Monash University in Victoria, Australia, followed 300 adults aged between 50 and 79 over a decade and found that cartilage volume increased in those who exercised the most.

Regular running can also reduce pain: a study at California's Stanford University found that older people engaging in regular exercise, including running, reported 25 percent less musculo-skeletal pain than sedentary people.

So does this mean that people with osteoarthritis should exercise? "yes ", says Dr Adam Bajkowski, president of the Primary Care Rheumatology Society, UK. "the more you exercise your joints, the stronger they become."

But Watch Out

"Older people should always get a medical assessment before taking up a new activity and you should build up to running gradually, starting with a power walk," says Claire Small of UK's Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

2. Texting, Not Talking

In the Philippines alone, about 400 million text messages are sent in a day, which you may see as another nail in the coffin of human interaction.

But a survey by YouGov, an international internet-based market research firm, found that 43 percent of resident felt mobile phones improved communications.

A study by professor Helen Haste of The Nestle' social research programme in London confirmed that for young adults, texting was crucial in their interaction with parents.

Experts suggest it's the discreet nature of texting that makes it so appealing to young people, allowing them to keep in touch while maintaining their own space.

Phone call may be more immediate, but means explosive emotion can be edited and the misinterpretation of tones of voice, which ofter lead youngsters to avoid phone calls ( parents may sound interrogative when they're really just concerned ), become a thing of the past.

BUT WATCH OUT!!

A Virgin Mobile survey suggests millions suffer text related injuries each year. Doctors advise against spending more than 5-10 minutes texting, to avoid repetitive strain injury. Spread the load by varying the fingers you use.

by Marie Cleland

10 bad things are good to you by Marie Cleland

1. Listening to Loud Music..

If you despair over the thumping soundtrack blasting from your teen's room, you may be surprised to hear it could be doing him some good.
There's scientific proof that the greater the music's intensity the more pleasure it brings, according to research from the University of Manchester.
It's all down to the vestibular system, which is responsible for balance but also carries vibration; when sound waves set it off, it sends a positive massage to the brain. Study author Neil Todd believes it's a hangover from a primitive acoustic sense connected to basic drives such a hunger and sex. Todd found that while sounds carried across a room had to be louder than 90 decibels ( equivalent to a motorbike or lawnmower ) to produce the vestibular response, sounds carried through mass - such as a floor or learning against a speaker - need only be 30 decibels to achieve the same sensation.

BUT WATCH OUT!!
In reality, clubs and rock gigs can reach over 100 decibels. Bradford Backus, an expert on music and hearing loss at the University College London Hearing Institute, says the longer you listen to to the loud music, the more damage you do. It's considered safe to listen to 85 decibels for 8 hours, but it if increases to 88 decibels, you should have to length of time.

By Marie Cleland