What Are You Hiding?

By: Kate M. Serrano

Almost everyone has at least one real or perceived physical imperfection. You may either think your nose is too big or that your lips do not have the perfect pout of Angelina Jolie’s. For those who are financially capable, seeking the help of a plastic surgeon is the quick solution. For those who are not, cramming a hat on the head to conceal a thinning topknot or a long-sleeved blouse, oversized shirt or ball cap can often provide a quick cover-up that is a cheaper and less painful alternative.

In extreme cases, body image issues may fall into the category of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). This is a condition where a person obsessively worries about appearance, even for individuals who may actually look attractive. 93 percent of women and 82 percent of men openly admit that they care about their appearance and work to look more attractive while someone with BDD is overly preoccupied with worrying about his or her looks that it interferes with daily life.

In 2012, there more than 14 million cosmetic procedures performed in the United States alone and this is all in the pursuit of beauty. Below is a rundown of the top 3 body parts (in random order) people hide as they are most prone to criticism.

The Breasts. Breast augmentation tops the list of cosmetic surgeries performed in the U.S. in 2010 while breast reconstruction is among the top five reconstructive plastic surgeries. Breast issues can be disturbing for both men and women. For women most especially, the breasts have deep significance so problems with breast perception can have wide-ranging quality of life implications.

The Stomach. A large or sagging stomach is hard to conceal with layers of clothing. Unfortunately, women who have given birth may have trouble getting rid of that extra pouch of pregnancy-related stomach flab. It's hard to make a rounded belly look like anything other than what it is. Exercise and surgery may be the only two viable options.

The Face. The face is a person's most distinctive and recognizable body part but people most of the time perceive their facial features as being too large, too small, or uneven. It probably doesn't help that apart from the way the lips, nose, eyes, complexion, chin, and forehead are formed individually they have to work well together to create a pleasing whole. Nose reshaping and eyelid surgery were two of the top five cosmetic surgery procedures performed in 2010 in the United States.

Depending on the standards of beauty in a given culture, body parts transform to conceal or downplay specific flaws. But nobody is perfect. So don’t let the judgemental and harsh ones of today convince you that you’re not beautiful.

The Morning After

Kate M. Serrano

Hangovers. Whether you are headed to happy hour, a friend’s wedding or a party, sipping your spirits can get uncontrollable and haunt you the next morning. No expert has ever recommended overindulging in alcohol. Heavy drinking rocks the central nervous system. This translates to the headache and dizziness that sends you running to the bathroom so often that you become dehydrated.

Unknown to most, women are more likely to feel the effects of a hangover. It’s because men have higher percentage of water in their body that helps dilute the alcohol. So for girls, never ever go crazy over the free drinks on Ladies’ Night. Having a non-alcoholic drink in between each beer can help keep your body hydrated and cut down your overall alcohol intake. Or you can hit the rocks – order drinks that are on-the-rocks. As the ice melts, the drink is diluted. That’s lesser alcohol for you.

Eating pasta before bed is a myth many believe that could prevent hangovers. Wrong. Food has to be in your stomach before Happy Hour. And while food slows down how fast the body absorbs alcohol, fat does a better job at it. So why not go for pizza before your first mojito? And while at it, having a conversation is an easy way to pace your drinking. By putting your mouth to work, the rate of booze hitting the blood stream is lowered down.

More alcohol in the morning is another myth that needs to be busted. It does nothing more than postpone a hangover. If you have a martini at breakfast, the hangover might just come later in the day. Coffee too leads to more dehydration and may just make the hangover worse. It’s best to avoid caffeine after a night of drunkenness; water and sports drinks can counter dehydration. If you can’t function without a wake-up cocktail or five cups of coffee, it may just be time to call your doctor.

Too much of something can always go bad and there is a price for partying hard. With the decision to drink comes the responsibility to stay safe.

Have you been partying responsibly? If so, let’s drink to that! 

Do GMO's affect you?

By: Daniela Silva

     When providing a balanced diet for your children, to what extent do you control the nutritional value and safety of their food? One of the most important things you can do to help your child’s overall health is to maintain a healthy diet; full of organic, natural, raw material. Labels also help us make decisions as to what would be a healthier choice for our families. Nonetheless, more than 70% of produce in grocery stores have genetically modified (GM) ingredients that we cannot identify, owing to an absence of labeling. Almost all produce is distributed by Monsanto a company specialized in biotechnology; in other words, specialized in manipulating biological development for their own industrial use. In what way can this be healthy? How may we identify what is safe to eat?  

       Monsanto is a company that seeks to be a hero in a world of famine, using biotechnology to reduce water usage and waste, which by me; that doesn't sound bad at all. However despite their efforts there is more waste being generated and it is impacting the health of consumers, and obviously negatively impacting the ecosystem as well. Mass suicides in India’s agricultural work fields are said to be a result of Monsanto’s Bt cotton, and with further study on Monsanto’s other product; Bt corn, is now considered a pesticide by many.  Both The institute for responsible technology and the organic consumers association are concerned of the long term effects of the toxin as a result of the corn’s capability of producing the pesticide in every kernel of corn. It has been banned in 64 countries to have GM foods without labels.  However it is still kept in our grocery stores

    What is significantly alarming is that we don’t know to what extent genetically modified foods are safe for consumption; how much GM foods occupy our grocery stores. Some tests on store bought produce show that genetically modified foods can link to leukemia, anemia, allergens, and horizontal gene transfer. Whereas Monsanto has stated the food to be”… “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) in the United States, and are considered safe by food safety experts globally.”  Beneficial or not, we are not given the opportunity to make a decision democratically whether or not if it should be on our grocer’s shelves. In addition it is difficult to identify genetically modified products so we are not able to avoid these foods as a whole. As a consumer, I support banning non-labeled GMO foods; do research your local grocery stores and genetically modified products. You’ll be glad you did.