Being Geek Chic is the yammerings of a Midwestern nerd named Elizabeth Giorgi. My vision impairment is real, which is frustrating because I really would like to see a 3D movie.
Send questions, requests and ideas to [email protected]. Please put your complaints on a napkin and toss it.
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28th January 2011
Weird science: That's not weight gain, just fluid retention
If you think your oral contraceptive is to blame for a few extra kilos, US researchers say think again. … So, what accounts for the weight gain some women experience when on the pill? Blame age, said the researchers. “Most likely, the reason why this belief continues to exist [that the pill makes you gain weight] is that the weight gain that seems to occur with age is being attributed to these medications,” states Judy Cameron, Ph.D., senior author of the paper. However, many doctors acknowledge that for a few woman the pill may add on a little weight due to fluid retention.
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15th January 2011
Weird science: want a happy marriage? Stay skinny!
Psychologists at the University of Tennessee studied 165 newly-married couples, most in their twenties, for four years. They found that both husbands and wives were more satisfied throughout the marriage if the wife’s BMI was lower than the husband’s.
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12th January 2011
Weird science (or totally obvious news of the day): Being optimistic lowers depression risk
Adolescents with optimistic viewpoint are less likely to suffer health risks including emotional problems, substance abuse and antisocial behaviors.
Totally obvious news for the day: if you have a future to look forward to, you won’t be a boozing, manic-depressive. Who would have thought?
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15th December 2010
New report: more women are binge drinking
This is the fifth and final report card (from the National Women’s Law Center and Oregon Health and Science University) for the decade, and its findings uncovered some troubling trends about the state of women’s health. Most notably, more women report binge drinking and fewer report being screened for cervical cancer than in 2007. On these two important indicators, the nation’s grade dropped to an F: the percentage of women who reported consuming five or more drinks at a time in the past month jumped more than 3% since 2007, to 10.6%, while the percentage of women who received annual pap smears dropped nearly 10% to 78% over the same time period.
Via TIME -
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9th November 2010
Weird science: Get slinky with Twinkies
Nutrition expert Mark Haub shed 26.6 pounds during a 10-week class experiment in which he says he fed primarily on Twinkies, snack cakes, doughnuts, Doritos and other foods rich in saturated fats.He was testing whether calorie-counting is more important for weight loss than nutritional value.
The results were sweet.
The 5-foot-10 Haub dropped from 201 to 174 pounds, and his body fat fell from 33.4 percent to 24.9 percent.
Via New York Post -
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14th October 2010
Weird science: Yoga may combat Fibromyalgia Symptoms
Yoga that includes gentle stretches and meditation may help alleviate the symptoms of fibromyalgia, a small study finds. … After eight weeks, the yoga group reported improvements in both physical and psychological aspects of fibromyalgia, including decreased pain, fatigue, tenderness, anxiety and better sleep and mood.
