Love coffee? It loves you back.

For a long time, caffeine has had a bad rap. Recent studies show that it may actually have some powerful health benefits. Just stick to two or three cups of coffee a day--that's been shown to be a safe intake.

Gallstones: Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health speculate that caffeine causes the gallbladder to contract, reducing the chance for gallstones to build up. A study of men between the ages of 40 and 75 found that coffee drinkers have fewer gallstones than those who don't drink it.

Parkinson's disease: Harvard researchers discovered that women who drank one to three cups of coffee a day cut their risk of developing Parkinson's disease in half. Drinking more than three cups, however, seems to reduce the positive effect.

Breast cancer: A Toronto study found that women who carry the BRCA I gene that puts them at risk for developing breast cancer can actually decrease that risk by drinking coffee. The study showed that those who drank six or more cups reduced their risk even more than those who drank between one and three cups.

Type 2 diabetes: A recent study from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis showed that women who drank more than six cups of coffee a day were 22 % less likely to develop type 2 diabetes--but those who preferred decaf reduced their risk even more, by 33 %. Therefore, the researchers speculate that the anitoxidants in coffee, not the caffeine, may provide the benefit.

So it's OK if you need a cup or two to get you going. Just avoid the sugar and cream which greatly increase the calories in your cup.

Hiccups

Hiccups: Spasms of both the vocal cords and diaphragm, causing periodic, audible, short, inhaled coughs.

Causes: Irritation of the diaphragm, indigestion, or your habit of drinking and eating so fast.

Self-Care Treatment: Breathing into a paper bag (inhaling carbon dioxide) or dissloving a teaspoon of dry sugar at the back of your tongue may stop them.

Personally, breathing into a paper bag works for me. Whenever I can't help getting hiccups, I breath into a paper bag for 10-15 times. It works!

Shiny-licious lip-gloss

Only for my ladies.

Maybelline shiny-licious lip gloss. They are the best and my favorite lip-gloss all time. Reasons?

• Non-sticky
• Light weight
• Colorful
• Long-lasting
• Good taste & nice flavour
• Cost only $ 6

Well, what more can you ask from lip-gloss? My favorite colors are Pink Sorbet (#87), Chocolate Cherry (# 85) & Caramella (#70). Did I mention that these guys are the Glamour's beauty award winner of drug-store for 2005 & 2006?

Kate Bosworth's physical changes

The left picture was taken at the LA premiere of Lions Gate's "Wonderland"- 9/24/2003 and the right picture was taken at Marc Jacobs Fashion Week- 9/11/2006. Look at her legs! It looks freakingly frightening. Her knee bones are sticking out. Her chest bones are visible. If we had a more close-up look, we could even see her hip bones protruding. All time sexy girl turns into a total sickness.

If you want to see more skeleton starlets, click on the picture. It will take you to People magazine.

If you have extra time, I strongly recommend you to read this Belinda Luscombe's essy, The Real Skinny, appeared in Time magazine October 2, 2006 issue. It's worth to give a thought.

Raspberry ricotta fool

Enjoy the fresh fruit dessert with family or friends in every occasion.

Serves: 6
Total: 20 min

1 Cup ricotta cheese
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp freshly grated orange peel
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
Two 1/2 pt raspberries
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
Garnish: toasted sliced almonds

1. Have ready 6 dessert glasses.
2. Process first 4 ingredients in blender or food processor until smooth. Beat cream until stiff. Fold in ricotta mixture.
3. Gently toss raspberries with orange juice to moisten.
4. Spoon about half the ricotta cream into a large sturdy ziptop bag (refilling when necessary). Cut a 1-in. opening off 1 corner of bag.
5. Put 3 or 4 raspberries in bottom of each dessert glass. Pipe on about 1/2 the ricotta cream. Top with remaining berries, then remaining ricotta cream. Garnish with almonds.

Per serving: 259 cal, 6 g protein, 15 g carbohydrate, 2 g fat, 20 g fat (13 g sat fat), 75 mg cholestrol, 50 mg sodium.

Best & Worst Drinks

Can you resist to drinks at the party, especially when your boss's offering you something to drink? Drinking with knowing how much calories you are consuming is better than the blindfold drinking, I guess. Agree?
You may have a problem to see the words in the picture. Please click on the picture for the bigger one. I just hope it can help for your visual.

Here is 3 clues for knowing your drink is high-calorie.

1. You're seeing double: Some drinks are twice the size they used to be. A 16-ounce margarita, for example, packs about 680 calories-as much as three beef tacos with the works!
2. It has a lot of liquer: Yes, it tastes good, but it's about 30 percent sugar.
3. The main ingredient is sour mix: It has a whopping 27 calories an ounce without the liquor.

Simple remedy for Puffy eyes

Puffy Eyes

Remedy : Apply cotton balls dipped in ice-cold whole milk or cream for five to 10 minutes.
Why it works: The high fat content of this liquids provides a moisturizing treatment for the delicate skin around the eyes and reduces puffiness, says Stephanie Toules, author of Naturally Healthy Skin.

Risk factors for your Breast cancer

Everyone knows breast cancer is one of the deadly causes among women. The disease is not only primarily occurs in women but also occasionlly in men. But not many people know about the risk factors. So I decided to start my blog with it.

You may be more likely to develp breast cancer if you have any of these risk factors:

• Family history of the disease (meaning a mother, grandmother or sister had breast cancer before menopause)
• Menstrual period starting by age 11
• Older than 30 at time of first child's birth
• Consuming more than one alcoholic beverage a day
• Overweight by more than 20 pounds
• Age is the most importan risk factor of all, says Charles E. Geyer Jr., M.D. As you age, be sure to continue with regular screenings.

For more information about risk factors of breast cancer, Click right here.

For information about breast cancer in Men, Click here.