According to scientists at Milan 's Institute of Pharmacological Research , people who eat a lot of white bread have a much greater risk of developing a common form of kidney cancer. The reason, as explained by the International Journal of Cancer, is that refined cereals like white bread cause a big increase in blood sugar and insulin, which is thought to stimulate the growth of cancer cells. The safer choice: Wholemeal bread which releases sugars more slowly into the bloodstream.

Eat little and often, to keep your metabolism up to speed.

Eat ‘good' fats like omega-3 found in fish, omega-6 and -9, found in avocados, nuts and seeds.

Adding spices, chilli and mustard to food can speed up your metabolism by 8% for up to four hours!

Some say drinking iced water burns more calories than water at room temperature, because the body has to work to warm it up.

Green tea does help you burn fat, but... you have to drink at least 5 cups to burn 80 calories!

Turn up the lights: Low lighting can encourage overeating!

Source: Harper's Bazaar

TIPS for staying fit at the office!

•  Stand during meetings

•  Take the stairs, not the lift

•  Don't email colleagues; go and visit them instead

•  Do press-ups at the photocopier

•  Use 500-sheet packs of A4 paper as dumbbells

•  Do leg-lifts while talking on the phone

•  Go for a walk during your lunch break

•  Change your position regularly between walking and standing

•  Blink every five seconds; computer screens can make you stare

Source : The Times

Move your eyes horizontally

from side to side for 30 seconds, to improve your memory! Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University showed that these rapid eye movements on a regular basis can boost memory by 10%, because it makes the two hemispheres of the brain work more efficiently together.

Source: The Times

Conserve water this summer!

•  Install a water butt in the garden to collect rain water. Use it for watering the garden instead of the hose.

•  Try to water in the morning, when it is cooler and evaporation is less.

•  Use mulch (eg. composted bark) in your flower beds and vegetable patches – it retains water like a sponge!

•  Keep flowerbeds well weeded, so plants aren't competing for water.

•  Choose low maintenance flowers, such as pelargoniums, calendulas and petunias.

•  Don't cut your grass too short! Longer foliage shades the ground and the roots below.

Source: The Sunday Times

WSP Environmental Consultants found that a person working from home produces more carbon dioxide than one who commutes to work everyday. The extra heating and power used by home workers in the winter months offsets the reduction in carbon emissions gained by not driving to work. A home employee produces 2.38 tons of carbon compared with 1.68 tons (a year) produced by office workers!

COMING BACK FROM EXTINCTION

The population of Amur tigers, the largest of the world's big cats, was on the verge of extinction – only 40 were alive in the 1940's. But, according to the WWF, there are now 600 Amur tigers living in Siberia and northern China ! It seems they've made a remarkable recovery!

In the UK , bee-keepers are contributing an unusually high number of honey bee deaths to mobile phones. A study at Landau University in Germany showed that radiation from mobile phone signals interferes with the bees' navigation systems, so they are unable to get back to their nests. Mobile phones may also be the reason that Colony Collapse Disorder (CDD) – a strange condition where bees never return to their hives and eventually die – is spreading dangerously. The disease has wiped out 90% of colonies in 24 U.S. states and is also affecting bee colonies in Poland , Greece , Italy , Spain and Portugal . A disaster for apiculture, as well as for farmers who value bees for the pollination of crops and fruit trees.

Did you know...?

Contrary to what many people think, the distinctive seaside smell is not caused by ozone. Scientists have discovered that the aroma is caused by strong-smelling gas (dimethyl sulphide, DMS), which is actually produced by marine bacteria. DMS, which is not necessarily good for you, is important for the formation of clouds and the cooling of the atmosphere.