A Mood-Boosting Mineral

By Kelley Herring

Can you blame your bad mood on your food? New research says yes. That's because soil levels of selenium - an antioxidant micronutrient involved in over 400 biochemical functions - are greatly depleted. And because foods grown in that soil are coming up seriously short in selenium.

Selenium is required for the proper function of the thyroid, which plays an important role in mood and behavior. As a result, people with a selenium deficiency may have an increased risk for depression.

A recent study published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal found a connection between mood and selenium intake. Men who boosted their intake of dietary selenium to 220 mcg daily felt less anxious and more energetic, pleasant, and confident. And those with the most selenium in their blood felt the best. What's more, the men in the study who initially had the lowest moods saw the biggest improvement.

Put a smile on your face and get your fill of this mood booster. Brazil nuts are the richest food source of selenium. In fact, just one Brazil nut - if you buy it shelled and crack it yourself - averages 100 mcg. (A Brazil nut that you buy already shelled averages 12-25 mcg.) Other excellent sources of selenium include button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, cod, shrimp, snapper, tuna, halibut, calf liver, and salmon.

The Language Perfectionist: A Word That Actually Isn't Needed

By Don Hauptman

This is the first in a series of tips on how to avoid common mistakes in grammar and usage. Follow this advice and your writing will be clearer, more powerful, and more persuasive.

The word actually is routinely misused. Here are a few examples I found in the media:

• "It sounds simple but it was actually difficult and expensive to fix."

• "Blaming society actually absolves everybody."

• "Portable home video cameras were actually introduced in the early 1980s."

In each case, the word is intended as an intensifier. The writer or speaker wants to convey the message "I'm not exaggerating. This is the truth!" But it's actually (see what I mean?) superfluous. With rare exceptions, actually is unnecessary, redundant, and an irritating "filler" in both writing and conversation.

[Ed Note: Don Hauptman, a direct-response copywriter for more than 30 years, may be best known for the space ads he wrote with the classic headline "Speak Spanish Like a Diplomat!" He also writes books and articles on language and wordplay.]

It's Good to Know: The Destruction of Art in India's History

When the Muslims conquered India in the 12th century, they damaged many beautiful carvings of human figures on Hindu and Buddhist temples. They did it because, at the time, their religion banned the depiction of the human form in art. As a result, we have the words deface and iconoclast in the English language.

To "deface" (dih-FASE) is to disfigure. Literally, it refers to ruining the face (usually the nose) of a stone figure.

An "iconoclast" (eye-KON-uh-klast) is someone who attacks traditional or popular institutions or ideas. The word is ultimately from the Greek for "smasher of religious images."

More Indian Words to the Wise...

Inspired by Michael Masterson's trip to India, we've been featuring familiar words that have their origins in India: mogul (Mughal), bungalow, jungle, pajamas, khaki, pundit, and cheroot. And there are lots more. So let's finish up "India week" with this list of words - some of which may surprise you...

• dungarees (from the Hindi for a kind of coarse cloth)

• bandana (from the Hindi for "tie dying")

• shampoo (from the Hindi for "massage")

• bangle (from the Hindi for "glass")

• chintz (from the Hindi for "shiny, variegated")

• dinghy (from the Hindi for "float, raft")

• cummerbund (from the Persian for "waist" + "band")

• cheetah (from the Hindi for "tiger/leopard")

• loot (from the Hindi for "plunder")

• catamaran (from the Tamil for "tied wood")

Michael Masterson
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2214, 12-01-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.