Daily Chai

The real reason there's a cupholder on the treadmill

Some more good news about drinking (drinking alcohol that is), which has long been established to be beneficial to the heart when done in moderation: Time Magazine recently reported that alcohol may also produce a benefit similar to exercise.

This finding comes by way of an epidemiologist at Denmark's National Institute of Health, who dared to ask a stupid question: If  you don't want to exercise, can you just drink instead? The answer was yes.

More good news. Drinking "in moderation" may not be so moderate after all. The study in question defined moderate drinking as up to one drink a day for women and two for men. The not-so-good news: the exercise like benefits really don't kick in until you reach an age, say 45 or 50, when heart disease becomes a significant risk. Younger people may need to get their exercise benefits the old-fashioned way ... by exercising!

Fascinating research about attraction and The Pill

I've read a fair number of articles about the science of physical attraction and I am almost always disappointed. But the January-February issue of Psychology Today has just such a story that I found fascinating, for the way it really gets to the heart -- or should I say the nose -- of physical attraction.

To make a rather complex theory a lot less complex, the story says that attraction is based on scent and we are programmed to be attracted to people who are genetically quite different from us, but that women's noses are thrown off when they are on the birth control pill. The pill after all, replicates a state of pregnancy, and a pregnant women is naturally drawn to different types than a woman on the prowl for a mate.

"When we disregard what are noses tell us," the story states, "we can find ourselves mired in partnerships that breed sexual discontent, infertility, and even -- in extreme cases -- unhealthy offspring. One researcher quoted in the story even offers this advice: "If you're looking for a man to be the father of your child, go off the pill before you start your search."