Health -John Lisenby

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The Science of Sex Appeal

In the Science of Sex Appeal on Discovery Channel I learned some pretty interesting things. The first thing that that I learned was that women find the smells of their relatives as unsexy, subconsciously protecting them from incest. Another surprising and kind of depressing tidbit of information was learning that women married to good provider men may stray and seek more masculine men in an attempt to gain their genes, particularly when ovulating. As far as physical attraction men have a tendency to be drawn to hips and breasts. Women who sway their hips when walking also appear more attractive. For women, men with broad shoulders and a confident walk attracted them. When a woman is ovulating, her voice becomes more attractive to men. Men also put off a smell that is unattractive to women unless the woman is ovulating. Women in turn put off a smell that makes all women appear sexy. And one of the last things I learned was love and sex each trigger totally different parts of the brain.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Digital Communication Advertisement

(Artifact 11)

Monday, July 22, 2013

Reflection on "Bully" Documentary

"Bully" is a documentary about bullying in US schools. The lives of several children and the bullying they face are documented in the film. Many of which commit suicide in response to constant bullying. The film can be found on Netflix and on Blueray/DVD. The film's main goal is to be an advocacy tool against bullying. http://www.thebullyproject.com/

I was amazed and disturbed at how severe the bullying is in certain schools and how poorly the school administration handled it. The school administration did next to nothing to stop bullying and had a,"There's nothing we can do about it, it's just the way it is." attitude. There's definitely a huge negative health impact due to bullying in schools in both mental health and physical health. Mental health is most effected by bullying. http://www.makebeatsnotbeatdowns.org/facts_new.html Here are some statistics I've found. I can't bet my life on the accuracy on these statistics because none are cited. One disturbing statistic is that 1 in 20 students have seen another student with a gun at school and 71% of students have experienced being bullied.

In order to combat bullying schools should promote and reward students for standing up to bullying and making friends with those who are at risk. Teachers and administration should also do a better job standing up to bullying when it is seen. I think awareness and promoting a positive environment is most important to stomping out bullying instead of a passive wait until something goes wrong and punish system.

(Artifact 10)

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Stress and Psychological Health

What really motivates us? Are you motivated by money or more by intrinsic motivators?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rrkrvAUbU9Y

In this presentation Dan Pink challenges the notion that money motivates us at work. He goes over research that proves this is not true, when in fact money incentives can actually cause poorer performance. This seems to me to go more in line with psychological health. When presented with a higher cause as motivation rather than money people have better success. Also people were allowed to have their own time to work on their own projects at work. At Google this time is where 50% of their ideas/products are formed. I believe this can be attributed to self realization by feeling self worth.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Nutrition Journal

What I eat on an average day:

Morning - Food: 1 medium sized whole peach and 1 cup of black berry. Drink: Bottle of water.
Afternoon - Food: 6 inch spicy Italian sandwich from Subway. Drink: 50% Lemonade 50% Unsweetened Iced Tea. 12oz total.
Night - Food: 3 slices of pizza. 16in 1/8 slices. Drink: 1 12oz Pepsi.
Snack (throughout day) - Food : One 6oz can of Pringles. Because once you pop you just can't stop!

What I eat mostly depends on what's available, so my actual day to day diets vary greatly. Here is my report-o-nutrition on something I would likely eat during a day based on the list of food above:

-373g Carbohydrates consumed
-1492 Calories from Carbohydrates consumed
-45% of Calories in my diet contributed to Carbohydrates (recommended amount: 45% to 65%).

Foods containing complex carbohydrate

-Bread and vegetables on the Subway sandwich.
-Dough and vegetables on the pizza.

Foods containing simple carbohydrate

           -Peach
           -Blackberry
           -Cheese on pizza
           -Cheese on Subway sandwich

Foods containing mostly concentrated simple carbohydrate

           -Pepsi and lemonade.
           -Sugar in Pringles.

Fat Intake:

-157g total Fat.
-1416 Calories from total Fat.
-Fat contributes for 43% of total Calories.
-The pizza and Pringles could be replaced with healthier alternatives to remove up to 46g of saturated fat. Reducing total fat intake by about 30%

Protein Intake:

-104g Protein.
-416 Calories from Protein.
-Protein contributes for 13% of total Calories.
-Protein should account for 10-35% of total Calories.

Vitamin/Mineral Intake:

-5876mg Sodium = to 14.69g of Salt.
-All these foods come with sodium as is, no salt is added. Only way to lower sodium intake is to change what is eaten.

Conclusion:

      Based on the data I've collected it is clear there are many imbalances in my diet. Meaning there is too much and too little of certain nutrients in my diet. The main nutrients in my diet there are too much of include over all calories, sodium, and saturated fats. The nutrients I lack include linolenic acid, potassium, and vitamin A. The main changes I would make in my diet would be replacing the pringles, pizza, and soda with healthier alternatives. I am underweight and trying to gain weight so the alternatives would need to have high carbs and protein with low sugar, saturated fats, and sodium.