Ramblings of my curious mind

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Pretty Products For Healthy People Minus Many Lousy Chemical Substances" is something a company called Best in Beauty would like you to remember. Their mission it is to increase awareness about potentially harmful ingredients in cosmetic products, and each word in the phrase is supposed to remind you of a sketchy chemical. We ran their list by independent cosmetic chemist Jim Hammer and dermatologist Jeannette Graf to see what's really worth worrying about:

"Pretty" is for "Phthalates": "Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) has been found by the FDA to be safe and effective in making nail polish flexible and resistant to chipping," Graf says. "However, since DBP has been banned in some countries, most polish manufacturers no longer use it."

"Products"is for "Propylene Glycol": This is widely used as a humectant (a substance that draws water to the skin), and at the very worst, "may cause some skin irritation," Hammer says. Otherwise, the FDA has found that the levels used in cosmetic skin-care products are well within the safe range.

"For" is for "Formaldehyde": "Formaldehyde is a carcinogen, but most issues come from breathing its fumes," Hammer says. In beauty products, like nail hardeners, the liquid form is used--and formaldehyde is far less toxic in that form, adds Graf. "The FDA and CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review) have concluded that, in the levels used in nail-hardener products, it is safe for the vast majority of consumers." The one beauty use it isn't necessarily safe in, Graf says, is Brazilian hair straightening treatments.

"Healthy" is for "Hydroquinone": "This is a very effective skin-lightening agent, widely used in many products," Hammer says. "However, based on some evidence in rodent studies that it may cause cancer, the FDA has proposed a ban on its use in over-the-counter products." Graf adds that most dermatologists believe hydroquinone is safe at the levels used in cosmetic products. "The rat studies were done with intravenous hydroquinone--not topically, as humans use it--and the doses were very high," she says.

"People" is for "Petroleum": "The most widely used petroleum products in cosmetics are petrolatum and mineral oil," Hammer says. "Petrolatum is safe for use, but has a negative stigma attached because it's derived from crude oil, and seen as harmful to the environment."

"Minus" is for "Mercury": Mercury has antibacterial properties that can help prevent eye infections. "But it can be toxic, so according to the FDA, it can only be used in trace amounts in certain eye products, including mascaras and eyeliners, when no other preservative can be used," Graf says. "It is otherwise outlawed in any cosmetic product."

Additional info on Mercury and your diet.

"Many" is for "Mineral Oil": "Mineral oil has received a very bad rap. It was vilified in the 1950s when the mineral oil was industrial-grade and extremely pore-clogging," Graf says. "Today, cosmetic-grade mineral oil is quite elegant and non-irritating as well as non-clogging." Adds Hammer, "It is a very good moisturizer because it forms an occlusive covering over the skin."

"Lousy" is for "Lead": "The FDA has looked at the lead levels in lipstick and found that they are well within non-toxic levels," Graf says. According to Hammer, "If any trace lead is present from the use of other minerals, the amounts are small enough not to worry about."

"Chemical" is for "Colorants": "Cosmetic colorants are strictly regulated by the FDA and have been determined to be safe for use at the levels found in cosmetics," Hammer says. "Some individuals may experience particular sensitivity to certain ones, for example FD&C Yellow #4"

"Substances" is for "Sodium Lauryl Sulfate": "It's just internet paranoia," says Hammer. "This is a very effective surfactant, in many cases derived from coconut, used in shampoo, body wash, even in toothpaste. " Graf adds that, despite the rumors, sodium lauryl sulfate "is not linked to cancer."

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Some people just love to gossip about the health benefits of certain foods (like eating oysters for better sex), but it’s not so great when they end up spreading food myths instead of truths. It’s not that they’re intentionally lying. It’s just that they don’t have the whole story. There are a few myths (or you might call them half-truths) that I hear again and again. Here they are, “busted” with the cold, hard facts.

Eating oysters helps get you “in the mood.” That oysters or other foods can spark your libido is more fable than fact, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which reviewed the science on the subject. So why, then, do some people report heightened arousal after eating “aphrodisiacs,” such as oysters, chocolate or chile peppers? Some experts say that feeling friskier after eating oysters is a little like feeling better after taking a pill that’s really a placebo: it’s all in the mind. But then again, “getting in the mood” is often a state of mind, too, so if you find a food that works for you, go for it. (In the mood for something sweet? Dark chocolate may not boost libido after all, but eating it sure makes us—and our hearts—happy. So indulge!)

Turkey makes you sleepy. Go ahead and have that Turkey & Tomato Panini for lunch. Turkey alone will not make you feel tired. It’s true that L-tryptophan, an essential amino acid found in turkey and many other protein-based foods, can have a soporific effect on some people. But its effects are blunted by other amino acids in turkey, which compete for the same binding sites in the brain. Lots of other foods, including ground beef and chicken, contain L-tryptophan, too, and don't have this reputation. But turkey is often associated with big meals such as Thanksgiving—which make you sleepy because a full stomach means that blood is directed away from other bodily functions and systems, including your nervous system.

Food allergies can make you fat. Food allergies may cause symptoms like hives, gastrointestinal or respiratory distress. (In severe cases, they progress to anaphylaxis, a potentially fatal condition.) But there is no evidence at all to suggest that food allergies contribute to weight gain, says Brian Smart, M.D., an allergist with DuPage Medical Group in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. “Food allergy is related to IgE antibodies and these have no influence at all on hormones that affect weight, such as thyroid hormone, growth hormone or insulin, or on any other regulatory process that can affect overall metabolism.”

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-The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon. The record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses.

- It's impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it.

- Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you're sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you're still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.

- A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year

- One of the best predictors of insomnia later in life is the development of bad habits from having sleep disturbed by young children.

- The continuous brain recordings that led to the discovery of REM (rapid eye-movement) sleep were not done until 1953, partly because the scientists involved were concerned about wasting paper.

- REM sleep occurs in bursts totalling about 2 hours a night, usually beginning about 90 minutes after falling asleep.

- Dreams, once thought to occur only during REM sleep, also occur (but to a lesser extent) in non-REM sleep phases. It's possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless.

- REM dreams are characterised by bizarre plots, but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like, with little imagery - obsessively returning to a suspicion you left your mobile phone somewhere, for example.

- Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analagous to watching a film

- No-one knows for sure if other species dream but some do have sleep cycles similar to humans.

- Elephants sleep standing up during non-REM sleep, but lie down for REM sleep.

- Some scientists believe we dream to fix experiences in long-term memory, that is, we dream about things worth remembering. Others reckon we dream about things worth forgetting - to eliminate overlapping memories that would otherwise clog up our brains.

- Dreams may not serve any purpose at all but be merely a meaningless byproduct of two evolutionary adaptations - sleep and consciousness.

- REM sleep may help developing brains mature. Premature babies have 75 per cent REM sleep, 10 per cent more than full-term bubs. Similarly, a newborn kitten puppy rat or hampster experiences only REM sleep, while a newborn guinea pig (which is much more developed at birth) has almost no REM sleep at all.

- Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain's sleep-wake clock.

- British Ministry of Defence researchers have been able to reset soldiers' body clocks so they can go without sleep for up to 36 hrs. Tiny optical fibres embedded in special spectacles project a ring of bright white light (with a spectrum identical to a sunrise) around the edge of soldiers' retinas, fooling them into thinking they have just woken up. The system was first used on US pilots during the bombing of Kosovo.

- Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%.

- The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident have all been attributed to human errors in which sleep-deprivation played a role.

- The NRMA estimates fatigue is involved in one in 6 fatal road accidents.

- Exposure to noise at night can suppress immune function even if the sleeper doesn’t wake. Unfamiliar noise, and noise during the first and last two hours of sleep, has the greatest disruptive effect on the sleep cycle.

- The "natural alarm clock" which enables some people to wake up more or less when they want to is caused by a burst of the stress hormone adrenocorticotropin. Researchers say this reflects an unconscious anticipation of the stress of waking up.

- Some sleeping tablets, such as barbiturates suppress REM sleep, which can be harmful over a long period.

- In insomnia following bereavement, sleeping pills can disrupt grieving.

- Tiny luminous rays from a digital alarm clock can be enough to disrupt the sleep cycle even if you do not fully wake. The light turns off a "neural switch" in the brain, causing levels of a key sleep chemical to decline within minutes.

- To drop off we must cool off; body temperature and the brain's sleep-wake cycle are closely linked. That's why hot summer nights can cause a restless sleep. The blood flow mechanism that transfers core body heat to the skin works best between 18 and 30 degrees. But later in life, the comfort zone shrinks to between 23 and 25 degrees - one reason why older people have more sleep disorders.

- A night on the grog will help you get to sleep but it will be a light slumber and you won't dream much.

- After five nights of partial sleep deprivation, three drinks will have the same effect on your body as six would when you've slept enough.

- Humans sleep on average around three hours less than other primates like chimps, rhesus monkeys, squirrel monkeys and baboons, all of whom sleep for 10 hours.

- Ducks at risk of attack by predators are able to balance the need for sleep and survival, keeping one half of the brain awake while the other slips into sleep mode.

- Ten per cent of snorers have sleep apnoea, a disorder which causes sufferers to stop breathing up to 300 times a night and significantly increases the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.

- Snoring occurs only in non-REM sleep

- Teenagers need as much sleep as small children (about 10 hrs) while those over 65 need the least of all (about six hours). For the average adult aged 25-55, eight hours is considered optimal

- Some studies suggest women need up to an hour's extra sleep a night compared to men, and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men.

- Feeling tired can feel normal after a short time. Those deliberately deprived of sleep for research initially noticed greatly the effects on their alertness, mood and physical performance, but the awareness dropped off after the first few days.

- Diaries from the pre-electric-light-globe Victorian era show adults slept nine to 10 hours a night with periods of rest changing with the seasons in line with sunrise and sunsets.

- Most of what we know about sleep we've learned in the past 25 years.

- As a group, 18 to 24 year-olds deprived of sleep suffer more from impaired performance than older adults.

- Experts say one of the most alluring sleep distractions is the 24-hour accessibility of the internet.

- The extra-hour of sleep received when clocks are put back at the start of daylight in Canada has been found to coincide with a fall in the number of road accidents.

Demi Moore bush is what everybody is talking about today. Daniel Tosh, host of the Comedy Central show TOSH.O, wants everyone to see Demi’s bushy private parts and unfollow Aston Kuther on Twitter.Here's a Sneak Preview for you. Those picture is taken in the 80's


[NSFW picture here.]
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Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel will be released to theaters on December 25, 2009. Watch the teaser trailer below.


It's a real thing.Check out Munkyourself.com for more update.