This is how to cool down in the Summer heat!

07 Friday Jun 2019

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

Tags

coffee, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, hot, hot weather, humid, humidity, iced coffee, iced tea, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, Loughborough University, New Orleans, New York City, Phoenix, summer, sweat, sweating, tea

hot-drink-in-hot-weather2-wp

Before you sip iced tea or iced coffee to cool off in sweltering heat, consider trying a HOT drink instead. It sounds counterintuitive, but it may cool you down better than something ice-cold.

Loughborough University researchers in the UK found hot drinks increase body temperature, and can trigger sweat, which is the body’s way of cooling off. That’s why many of the top tea-consuming countries – like India – have hot climates.

But other research shows cold drinks work best in extremely humid conditions since sweat evaporates more slowly in humid weather.

So when in Phoenix, drink hot tea. And in New Orleans or New York City, drink it iced.

Follow me on Facebook

There’s a reason your face is breaking out.

14 Wednesday Feb 2018

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

acne, bacteria, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, dry weather, germs, hot showers, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, moisture, pimples, scarf, Spring, summer, winter, zits

pimples-winter-wp

It’s Winter. Dermatologist Dr. Ellen Marmur says acne gets worse in Winter – and it’s down to the dry weather. She says cold outside air has significantly less moisture than the warm or hot air from Spring and Summer. Combine that with windy conditions, and your skin is stripped of natural fats and oils. Those oils usually act as a barrier, keeping bacteria out – and holding moisture in. So without them, it’s a lot easier for dirt, pollution and bacteria to access our pores. The next thing you know: Hello, zits! Another problem in winter are the hot showers we love. They also strip skin of its natural moisture. Add to all of that a dirty scarf rubbing against your chin – and it’s a recipe for skin flare-ups. So wash your scarf once a week, try to take lukewarm showers, and moisturize your skin more in winter than any other season to avoid breakouts.

Follow me on Facebook

How gross is your grill?

05 Friday May 2017

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Albert Einstein, bacteria, barbecue, BBQ, charcoal, charred, clean the grill, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, cook, cooking, Einstein, fire, flames, germs, grates, grill meat, grilled meat, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, summer

dirty-bbq-wp

Outdoor grilling adds a lot of flavor without a lot of calories. But how sanitary is it to throw fresh meat on a grate you haven’t used since last summer? Or on a public grill at a park or campground? The good news is, the heat quickly kills any microbes that sprouted on the grates since its last use. That’s from microbiologist Dr. Steven Porcelli, from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He says the flames essentially sterilize the cooking surface before food comes into contact with it. But still, if the grates are covered with charred residue, it can affect the taste of your meal. So scrape and rinse the grates before cooking.

To prevent burning when you’re out in the sun (even in the winter)…

05 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

burn, cologne, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, fragrance, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, irritate, irritation, lotion, perfume, scent, smell, solvents, summer, sun, sunburn, sunscreen, unscented, UV, UV damage, volatiles, winter

sunscreen-winter-wp

you need to do more than wear sunscreen. Make sure your body lotion is unscented – and skip the perfume and cologne. Because the chemicals in scented products make our skin more sensitive to UV damage. They’re called volatiles and solvents.
Volatiles are the chemicals that make a liquid airborne. Without this, no one could smell your favorite perfume unless their nose made direct contact with your skin.
Solvents are what hold those volatile fragrance notes in the product so they don’t separate out in the bottle. But both of those things make skin more vulnerable to irritation in general – and when you add UV rays into the mix, you can come home with a serious skin reaction and burn.

How well do you sleep?

29 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

68 degrees, 68°, bedroom, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, Florida Sleep Institute, insulate, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, paint, radiant barrier paint, sleep, spaceships, summer, temperatures, The Home Depot, winter

thermo-68-degrees-wp

Ideally, your bedroom should be 68 degrees. That’s according to the Florida Sleep Institute. If your bedroom is freezing in winter and roasting in summer –paint the walls with radiant barrier paint. That’s the stuff used in spaceships to insulate them and keep temperatures constant. You can find it at The Home Depot.

There’s still time to enjoy this super-healthy summer treat:

31 Monday Aug 2015

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

cholesterol, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, copper, healthy summer treat, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, lobster, protein, selenium, summer, summertime

Lobster!

One pound of lobster meat provides a day’s worth of protein…plus, it’s a good source of key vitamins and minerals, like B12, copper and selenium.

But don’t worry about the cholesterol: a study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found no link between the dietary cholesterol in shellfish, and heart disease risk.

If you’re cooking: Drop a live 1-pound lobster into a large pot of boiling salted water, and cover the pot. Cook about 10 minutes, until the shell is a deep rusty red…And add 2 minutes for every additional one-quarter pound.

But ditch the butter. Lobster meat is rich enough all by itself. So, top each forkful with a squeeze of lemon instead.

What’s better than watermelon on a hot day?

29 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bacteria, beta-carotene, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, couche, hot day, hydrate, hydrated, hydration, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, low carb, ripe, summer, summertime, watermelon

Not only is it sweet and delicious – one slice of watermelon has the hydration equivalent of 10 ounces of water, that’s over a glass! And a slice of watermelon only has 85 calories! It’s the lowest carb fruit you can eat! How can you tell if a watermelon is ripe? Roll it around and check for the ‘couche’ — that’s the spot the melon rested on the ground while growing. If it’s white or yellow, it’s ripe. There should also be very little contrast between the stripes.
Also, you want to store watermelons at room temperature to bring out the most nutrients. One cup of watermelon has more lycopene and beta-carotene than a medium-sized tomato. Lastly, ALWAYS WASH the rind before slicing. It can be harboring bacteria which gets transferred into the fruit when you cut it.

Let’s bust some summertime myths…

20 Monday Jul 2015

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

American Red Cross, bacteria, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, digestion, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, Journal of Food Protection, leg cramps, mayonnaise, picnic, raw eggs, salmonella, summer, summertime, summertime myths, swimming, swimming pool

• How about this one: You can’t swim after eating. That’s false. Years ago, medical experts thought it was dangerous to swim within an hour of eating… Because they believed digestion diverted blood away from muscles, and could lead to dangerous leg cramps. But today, even the American Red Cross says it’s OK to swim after eating.
• One more summer myth: Mayonnaise causes picnic poisoning. Again, that’s False. Mayo earned its bad rep back when people ate mayo they made at home… Because it contained raw eggs, which can be full of harmful bacteria. But today’s store-bought mayonnaise is pasteurized and sterile, so that’s not an issue. In fact, a recent study in the Journal of Food Protection found that professionally-made mayonnaise actually slows the growth of salmonella and other bacteria on food… Just keep in mind that all perishable food can spoil if it sits out for more than two hours.

If the summer weather is making you stink, eat more cashews.

18 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

baked beans, BO, body odor, cashews, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, minerals, smell, spinach, stink, summer, sweat, sweating, zinc

Researchers at Reading University have found that people with body odor often have a zinc deficiency – it affects about 1 in 3 people! And the problem is even worse in summer, when sweating makes you lose even more zinc. But cashews are loaded with the mineral – which stops the growth of the skin bacteria that make you stinky. Not a fan of cashews? You can get more zinc in spinach and baked beans too.

ConnieSelleccaBlog

~ Intelligence for Your Life

Tag Archives: summer

This is how to cool down in the Summer heat!

There’s a reason your face is breaking out.

How gross is your grill?

To prevent burning when you’re out in the sun (even in the winter)…

How well do you sleep?

There’s still time to enjoy this super-healthy summer treat:

What’s better than watermelon on a hot day?

Let’s bust some summertime myths…

If the summer weather is making you stink, eat more cashews.