All You Need to Know About Lazy People Can Be Seen in a Grocery Store Parking Lot

It occurred to me again last night that we are really lazy. I was sitting in my truck waiting for my wife to come out of the grocery store and while I listened to the news, I was observing the behavior of people who were looking for a place to park. It is amazing to me that someone will drive circles around a parking lot looking for one of the ten closest spots to open up instead of parking 250 feet away and actually saving time by hoofing it! Not to mention, I watched a Suburban try to squeeze in a spot intended for a Prius. Queen Latifah would have a better shot getting into Jessica Simpson's jeans. And people don't really seem to care about what happens to the other car when they swing open their doors and crash it into the nice door in the next parking spot. So wouldn't it be better for your body, save time, save gas, and save your car doors if you parked a little further away? Don't be lazy.
by Chris Scully

Obama Can't Be Our President!

I probably shouldn't pontificate about politics or religion on my company website; however I enjoy both subjects so I'm going to start talking about them. So...after the ongoing battle between Hillary and Barack you'd probably think I'm going to weigh in on some crucial issue? But actually, it's something else: it's Obama's bowling! I have been wondering how a person who bowls a legitimate 37 can POSSIBLY run the world's greatest nation? Now I just took a 10 year-old boy to the bowling alley a couple weeks ago and he's only bowled a couple times in his life - and he managed a 68! I bet Hillary, Bill, Bush, Condi, McCain, McCain's wife, Ralph Nader, and the Bush's dog, Spot, could beat a 37!! Do you realize how humiliating that is? Obama couldn't get more than 4 pins per frame! I have always observed how well Presidents throw out the first pitch at baseball games - but PLEASE: Keep Obama away from the pitcher's mound! It would be so embarrassing to our country. I can already see it! We need a leader that has some kind of athletic ability to go along with their intellect and leadership. I don't want to cringe on Opening Day!

by Chris Scully

4 small lifestyle changes that can give you 14 extra years

If your New Year’s resolve to eat better and be more active is wearing thin, here’s some news that may help bolster your efforts: scientists have reported that people who engage in just four healthy behaviors — eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day, drinking moderately, not smoking, and getting some kind of physical activity daily — live 14 years longer, on average, than people who don’t have these habits. This finding, published in the January 2008 issue of the journal Public Library of Science Medicine, held true even among people who were overweight.

Charlie Bit Me!

Calorie Restriction and Aging

The first suggestion that the process of aging might not be inevitable—or at least that it could be slowed—emerged about 70 years ago. Scientists discovered that when animals are forced to live on 30% to 40% fewer calories than they would normally consume, something unusual happens: they become resistant to most age-related diseases—cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease—and live 30% to 50% longer.

Scientists set out to understand what genes are turned on by calorie restriction because if they could figure that out, they might be able to develop medications that turn those genes on just like calorie restriction does (but without people having to drastically reduce food intake). Over the past 15 years, scientists at MIT and Harvard Medical School identified a family of genes called sirtuins that are responsible for the health benefits of calorie restriction. Then they developed compounds called sirtuin-activating compounds (STACs) that turn on the sirtuin genes. The first STAC is called resveratrol, which is found in red wine. Resveratrol can extend the life span of simple organism like yeast, fruit flies, worms, and fish. In late 2006, resveratrol was shown to extend the life span of mice fed a high-calorie, high-fat diet. Not only did it extend life span in all these animals, but the animals were protected against several diseases of aging and remained physically active and vital until very late in their extended lives.

It’s easy to see why this research is potentially relevant to humans. Like the mice in these studies, many of us are middle-aged mammals who eat a high-calorie, high-fat diet. While research results in mice do not always prove true in humans, they often do. Still, we are a long way from knowing whether human life span can be extended, and the added years made vital and active, by such knowledge of the biology of aging.

Reprinted from HealthBeat