Why Chocolate Is Good For You (video)

The Economist: Why eating chocolate is good for you 

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Remember, Do Not Trust Your Memory

Remember Not to Trust Your Memory: "Daniel Schacter, a Harvard memory researcher, says that when the brain remembers, it does so in a way that is similar to how an archaeologist reconstructs a past scene relying on an artifact here, an artifact there. The end result might be informative and useful, but don’t expect it to be perfect. This is important because those who don’t know anything about how memory works already have one foot in fantasyland. Most people believe that our memory operates in a way that is similar to a video camera. They think that the sights, sounds, and feelings of our experiences are recorded on something like a hard drive in their heads. Totally wrong. When you remember your past, you don’t get to watch an accurately recorded replay." (more at link above)

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Mindful Breathing, Sleep, Stress

How I Learned To Fall Asleep In Under 1 Minute | Byrdie.com: "the “4-7-8” breathing trick. She happens to be a licensed wellness practitioner who studies meditation, stress, and breathing techniques, and told me it would change my life. You simply breathe in through your nose for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds, and exhale through your mouth for eight seconds. She explained that the studied combination of numbers has a chemical-like effect on our brains, and would slow my heart rate and soothe me right to sleep that night. “It works,” she told me. “It’s crazy.” How it Works I couldn’t wait to put the trick to the test, and to my complete disbelief, I woke up the next morning unable to even remember getting to the eighth second of the exhale because it knocked me out that fast. For the next four nights leading up to the big day, even as my stress increased, I was able to fall asleep the minute I tried the 4-7-8 trick. I also used it to relax in the moments leading up to the speech.... Mindful breathing practices have been a part of yoga and Eastern wellness modalities for centuries, but aren’t as popular in Western culture. The most well-known champion of the 4-7-8 breathing technique in the U.S., who is somewhat responsible for the prevalence that the technique does have amongst integrative medicine practitioners, yogis, and those in search of stress reduction and overall relaxation, is Harvard-educated Dr. Andrew Weil ..."

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How sugar affects the brain (video)

How sugar affects the brain - Nicole Avena -

more info -- see:

How Sugar Affects the Brain

Sugar Cravings

Why We Get Fat

The Science of Addictive Food

Coevolution and Artificial Selection

America’s Food Crisis: The Omnivore’s Dilemma

Ancient Wisdom For Lifelong Health

Mindless Eating

What Predicts a Healthy Diet

​​(source: TED)

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