Got Migraines? Blame Your Belly

By Kelley Herring

Blasting belly fat may have yet another health benefit: fewer migraines.

Recent research conducted at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia evaluated 22,211 participants between the ages of 20 and 55. The researchers found that those with larger waistlines were more likely to have migraines than people the same age who had smaller waistlines. The results seemed most relevant for women. In those with excess belly fat, the odds of having migraines were 1.3 times higher than in those with trimmer tummies.

Belly fat isn't the only thing that researchers have connected to migraines. There are many substances in food that can act as triggers, including tyramine (in red wine, aged cheese, smoked fish, chicken livers, figs, and some beans), monosodium glutamate (MSG), nitrates (in cured bacon, hot dogs, and lunchmeats), alcohol, salt, lactose, and tryptophan.

Migraine triggers are different for everyone. If you suffer from migraines, keep a food journal to help identify your personal triggers and stop the migraine chain reaction before it starts.

It's Good to Know: A Ban on Bad News

Bad economic news got you down? Well... just pretend it's not happening.

That's sort of what the United Arab Emirates is doing with pending legislation. Some government officials hope to make it a crime to report news that would "harm the economy."

It's a pretty vague rule, but, if enacted, coverage of tumbling property values, record job losses, and other serious problems could simply disappear when sources, fearing fines of up to 1 million dirhams (approx. $272,000), clam up.

This will, of course, allow the government to fix the economy in peace and quiet without meddling reporters and oversight getting in the way.

(Source: Boing Boing)

Word to the Wise: Anagogic

Something that's "anagogic" (an-uh-GOJ-ik) - from the Greek for "to lift up" - has a secondary spiritual meaning.

Example (as used by Joy Williams in a New York Times review of Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor by Brad Gooch): "She was an anagogical writer, of that there is no doubt. The civil rights movement interested her not at all."

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2611, 03-09-09], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.