Fast Food Chart Rounds Up the Unhealthiest Items at Popular Chains [Fast Food]
It's a given that fast food isn't the most nutritious way to sate your hunger, but as a helpful reminder, the gang over at web site Next Generation Food have charted the unhealthiest items from the most popular chains.
Sophie Clayton took to charting the high calorie menu items at Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts, KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Sonic, Starbucks, Subway, Taco Bell, and Wendy's. Specifically, she did a side-by-side comparison of the fat, cholesterol, calorie, and sodium contents of some of their more greasy foods.
Some samplers? A 14 inch Supreme Stuffed Crust pizza at Pizza Hut, for example, will set you back 80 grams of fat and over 4,000mg of sodium, while a Blueberry Crumb Donut at Dunkin' Donuts is—at just under 500 calories—one of the more healthy options on the menu. Then again, it's just one donut.
Hit up the link to view the full chart, and if you want a closer look at the unhealthiest and healthiest items you'll find on the menus at McDonald's and Wendy's, check out the best and worst fast food: McDonald's edition and Wendy's edition.
Get On A Plane, Go To Your Surgery [Insurance]
We're not sure if this is the start of a trend or just some very creative cost-cutting by a few companies, but Business Insurance notes that some self-insured firms are now sending their employees to other states to save money on medical procedures.
The first wave of the practice of "medical tourism"—going elsewhere for cheaper procedures—was focused on foreign travel. We've previously talked about getting your boobs done in Buenos Aires and getting a new crown in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and earlier this summer we noted that Mexico City has gone so far as to offer free health insurance to foreign visitors.
Last year, notes Business Insurance, the supermarket chain Hannaford Bros. Co. got in on the trend in a big way when it announced "that it would begin sending its employees to Singapore for knee and hip replacements to save the company money." Hannaford is located in Maine, and the announcement prompted several hospitals in Boston to say they would match the price of the Singapore hospitals. Ta-dah! Domestic medical tourism.
Unlike foreign medical tourism, patients don't leave the country. Instead, they travel to another city within the United States to have procedures for up to 75% less than they would pay if they were treated closer to home.
One of the primary reasons some U.S. medical facilities are willing to be paid less is that they are generally compensated upfront, before the procedures are conducted, which enables them to avoid the arduous task of seeking reimbursement afterward from insurers and third-party administrators. The facilities also receive a single package price that is negotiated beforehand.
"In many cases, if you're self-funded or a cash patient, a hospital is more willing to deal directly with you rather than work through (preferred provider organizations) or insurance companies," explained Alex Sanchez, managing director of Healthcare Concierge Services, a subsidiary of Miami-based Olympus Managed Health Care Inc.
"Employers consider short-haul medical tourism" [Business Insurance via retailwire]
(Photo: √oхέƒx™)
Gauge Your Fitness Level Using the Marine Corps Test [Exercise]
So you've decided to get into shape. Before you put on your running shoes or hit the gym, it may be worth knowing just how out of shape you are—you know for motivation. The Marine Corps Fitness test can help.
Photo by DVIDSHUB.
The Marine Corps Fitness test is comprised of three parts: pull-ups, crunches, and a three-mile run. All three tests must be performed in one continuous session, and you only have up to two hours to complete as much as you can.
Each exercise has specific instructions, so concerning the crunches, for example, if your derriere isn't in constant contact with the ground and both your arms don't remain in constant contact with your rib cage throughout, that crunch doesn't count.
Hit up the below link to see the minimum fitness requirements for your age group. As a potential benchmark, the highest score involves performing 20 pull-ups, 100 crunches in two minutes, and running three miles in 18 minutes.
They have developed electronic contact lenses!
Electronic contact lenses? Sure, why not? Developed by researchers at the University of Washington at Seattle, the lenses are kitted out with all sorts of built-in electronics and an LED. The uses right now for such lenses are fairly limited, but in the future you can expect things like internal body monitors (blood sugar level reporting is the given example), translation, and, yes, improved gaming. Oh, the days when being a low ping bastard was your biggest advantage!
Says one of the folks involved:
To turn such a lens into a functional system, we integrate control circuits, communication circuits, and miniature antennas into the lens using custom-built optoelectronic components. Those components will eventually include hundreds of LEDs, which will form images in front of the eye, such as words, charts, and photographs. Much of the hardware is semitransparent so that wearers can navigate their surroundings without crashing into them or becoming disoriented. In all likelihood, a separate, portable device will relay displayable information to the lens’s control circuit, which will operate the optoelectronics in the lens.
In other words, these lenses are just a little more complicated than your average contact lens.
Here’s a fun scenario. Some time in The Future, you’re on vacation in Europe, but you can’t speak the local language. Let’s say you pick up a copy of A Bola, and want to read about how terrible Benfica will be this year. But who speaks Portugese? (I do, but whatever.) Activate your contact lens, and the headline “O Benfica perde outra vez” becomes “Benfica loses again.” (I was actually a Sporting season ticket holder last season, so it’s my duty to hate Benfica.)
I like it!
via Huffington Post
Boost Your Brain’s Health with Loud Music [Mind Hacks]
Generally speaking, things that are good for you aren't always the most enjoyable. But there are certain cases when being "bad" can actually help improve your health. Enjoy blasting your music, for example? Then you're in luck.
Photo by rossinabossio.
A while back, we covered ten bad things that are good for you. Now London's The Daily Mail is chiming in with some more "bad" habits that, if applied properly, can actually benefit you. We've already mentioned how swearing can help relieve pain, but the Mail also says that blasting loud music is a good way to stimulate your brain. (Your ear drums on the other hand? Probably not so much, so be careful!)
According to researchers at Manchester University, music fans are stimulating part of the inner ear known as the sacculus, which responds to the beat in music. This gives the brain pleasure and makes us feel good — during the music and afterwards.
[When loud music is playing,] the brain is stimulated into releasing feelgood hormones that make us calm, happy and responsive. So to trigger a dose of happy hormones on a Monday morning, you should, in theory, choose Black Sabbath over chamber music.
Just how loud should you play your tunes? The rag says that the above mentioned sacculus only responds to volumes above 90 decibels.
It's not as though we didn't already know that music can make you feel good, but who doesn't appreciate a little science backing it up? Check out the full post to learn more about how playing video games, not making your bed, and other "bad" habits may be worth picking up.
[Daily Mail]
Reduce Browning by Cutting Apples Underwater [Food Hacks]
Browned apple slices are nobody's idea of appetizing, so the next time you reach for the fruit, remember to cut it under water to keep its color fresher for longer.
Photo by rore.
Tips site wikiHow says that to keep an apple from quickly turning brown, cut it under water to prevent the enzymes from getting in contact with the surrounding oxygen, then store it in water until it's time to eat or serve the fruit. Choosing apples that brown less, such as the Granny Smith variety, is another way to keep browning to a minimum. For their part, Red Delicious apples are apparently the fastest to turn brown.
Browse the full post for the other color-preserving tips including using the aid of lemon or lime juice, then check out our previous post on how to freze your apples and other fruit.
You Can Carry This Many Drugs In Mexico
Not to totally alarm you but drugs are now legal in Mexico, okay. Here's how much you can carry! For "personal use," Dr. Gonzo:
The maximum amount of marijuana for "personal use" under the new law is 5 grams-the equivalent of about four joints. The limit is a half gram for cocaine, the equivalent of about 4 "lines." For other drugs, the limits are 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams for methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams for LSD.