Mind can at times play games beyond the understanding of the wisest of the intellectuals. Selective retention is one such debate. 

Selective retention, as researched by scholars over the centuries, is the psychological process by which the mind tends to retain and remember best the things that are in equilibrium with their pre-existing beliefs, interests and attitudes. In simpler terms, students tend to remember only those selective portions of a teachers lecture with which they agree. To simplify it to an even lesser extent, you would only remember the days you got the bonus and would easily forget the ones when you were penalized! 

But the debate arises over the fact that if this psychological process always operates and tends to maintain consistency in mind, why is depression and other psychological ailments considered to be cancerous? Why are the frustration levels amongst the youth always sky-rocketing? Why does terror attack in one city triggers a panic globally? 

Although the other school of thought argues that selective retention is nothing more than a mere effort to cope up with the loads of information being bombarded every moment, it continues to haunt many psychologists. Mind games, it seems, are never ending!

A new study has shown that contraceptive methods can have a significant impact on women’s sexual pleasure and satisfaction. Research also proves that many women think condoms decrease their sexual pleasure. On the other hand, those who use both hormonal contraception and condoms report higher overall sexual satisfaction.  

During the study, women admitted condoms make sex less pleasurable, while those who used only hormonal methods — such as the birth control pills — were unlikely to associate their method with decreased sexual pleasure.  When asked about the effect of contraceptives on sexual enjoyment, women who used condoms either alone or with hormonal methods reported decreased sexual pleasure.

Severely obese patients have reportedly lost weight by changing their diet and exercises perhaps would be as successful as those who lost weight after bariatric surgery and then retaining it. Reports say that while weight loss and maintenance were comparable between the two approaches, patients who relied on non-surgical methods had to work harder over a longer duration to maintain their weight losses,.

Sources also say that behavioural modifications and lifestyle changes are critical components to long-term weight loss maintenance. The participants who were involved in this diet changing exercise managed to lose an average of 60 kg and had maintained their weight loss for an average of 5.5 years at the beginning of its two-year study.

Some foods are recognized as mind-power foods: whole-wheat products, brown rice, oats, fruit and vegetables, low-fat dairy. Nuts and seeds also keep our minds in a state of harmony — they contain clusters of mood-enhancing Vitamin B and nerve-soothing nutrients like calcium, magnesium, zinc and chromium.

A few tips can be handy though:

Eat right — You may feel like skipping meals or you may not feel hungry, but your body still needs nutritious food. But emotional eating, which means eating as a way to suppress stress, anger, anxiety, boredom, sadness or loneliness can make you pack on the pounds.

Snack healthy — If you feel the urge to eat between meals, choose a low-fat, low-calorie food, such as fresh fruit, vegetables with fat-free dip or unbuttered popcorn. Or test low-fat, lower calorie versions of your favorite foods to see if they satisfy your cravings.

Try to eat at fairly regular intervals — Don’t skip breakfast. Include foods from the basic groups in your meals. Emphasise whole grains, vegetables and fruit, as well as low-fat dairy products and lean protein sources. When you fill up on the basics, you’re more likely to feel fuller for longer.

According to latest reports, it wouldn’t really harm one if you were to go nuts at a party, literally so! Research reveals that nuts can drive home more energy than appetizer would. For example almonds can give you 35% of your daily value of vitamin E, that is quickly depleted when you’re under pressure.  The nuts that have the most monounsaturated fats; the good ones, which lower bad LDL cholesterol are macadamia nuts. They’re a good source of thiamin, a B vitamin that helps keep your muscles, nerves, and GI system humming. Walnuts on the other hand give you Omega-3 fatty acids and help you meet your daily value for these hard-to-get health protectors in about 14 halves (1 ounce). Walnuts are also stuffed with disease-fighting antioxidants: In a study of nearly 100 plant foods, they ranked #2 in antioxidant content

The study also states that mood swings can be handled by hazelnuts. These are packed with mood-stabilizing tryptophan; 20% of the RDA is in every ounce (about 20 hazelnuts). Finally snacking on peanuts is also a great idea as they aren’t really nuts. They’re legumes (bio-cousins to peas, lentils, and beans) rich in three key B vitamins — folate, niacin, and riboflavin — so you can lose the guilt at happy hour. And ounce for ounce, they pack the same protein punch as beef (7 grams), minus the saturated fat.

If the adage, ‘you are what you eat’ is to be believed then most Americans are an ear of corn, suggests research. A chemical analysis of popular fast foods reveals that some form of corn appears as a main ingredient in most items—especially beef.

Research also denotes that the molecular makeup of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches and french fries purchased from some popular fast food chains in six U.S. cities. Corn’s dominance in US fast food is well known, however the chemical analysis proves that corn’s pre-dominance in a big way. French fries for example are often cooked in corn oil, and cows and chickens eat either corn or feed fertilized with corn.

“Weak hearts” are supposedly going to get weaker as the mercury lowers in several parts of the globe. Experts say that cardiac patients need to spend more time indoors and cut down exposures to cold. Doctors also claim that winter brings in an increase of about 20 per cent incidence of cardiac arrests as compared to warmer months, as low temperatures increase the possibility of spasms in arteries.

Low temperature is one of the primary causes of spasms in arteries that carry blood to the heart, thus forcing the heart to pump more blood. This increases the BP levels as well as raises the probability of heart attacks. Most doctors insist that people with heart ailments should take precautions and their early morning walks should be delayed to post sunrise.

With a red ribbon adorning her silhouette, French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy became a global AIDS ambassador, as she vowed to direct the media spotlight on her toward a “more important” cause. Wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy, she chose World AIDS Day to announce her new mission as ambassador for the Global Funds to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Post her marriage to Sarkozy, Bruni who is a supermodel-turned-singer stated that she wanted to use her celebrity status to draw attention to “the most vulnerable victims of AIDS”, women and children. The first lady will focus her work on preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV – an event that is virtually wiped out in Europe through treatment but still affects 30 percent of newborns in Africa. She hopes to bring about renewed focus to a cause that appears to be suffering from donor fatigue.

Studies have suggested the effects of dairy or calcium supplements on bone health. While studying the effects, it was noted that a healthy intake of dairy foods on a routine day-to-day basis is bound to have a positive effect on adolescent bone health. The research is based on the data collected after analyzing 106 children for 12 years. The children aged 3 to 5 years old at the beginning of the study were analyzed and the researchers tracked the food intake and bone scans until they were 15 to 17 years of age.

It was found that those who took at least two servings of dairy food a day throughout their childhood had denser bones in their teens than their peers who ate less. Eating four or more servings of meat or other protein-rich foods also boosted bone density. In particular, the benefits were seen in several regions of the body including bone mineral content in the arms, legs, trunk, ribs and pelvis.

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In the last few decades if any of our celestial bodies has acquired a repute of being a truant it is Sun. Our life giving source of energy has been linked with sun burn, cancer, pigmentation and tens of other cosmetic skin ailments by skin companies. We forget that the Sun has for centuries been a source of healing and power.

In an article titled Healing Sunlight in Mindpowernews writer Andreas Moritz says very few people know that not getting enough sun kills 50,000 people from cancer deaths every year in the US alone. As shown later, these are deaths that are easily preventable through the Vitamin D produced by the body in response to regular sun exposure.

Unfortunately, it is the ultraviolet portion of sunlight that is the most easily eliminated by windows, houses, spectacles, sunglasses, sun lotions, and clothing.

Before antibiotic drugs were discovered in the 1930s – penicillin having been the first one – the healing power of sunlight was favored by the medical community, at least in Europe.

Andreas Moritz is also the author of a book Timeless Secrets of Health & Rejuvenation. This article is a must read and you can read it here.