besse066: February 2012 Archives

Many people have started eating six smaller meals throughout the day rather than three, hoping to boost their metabolism. Health professionals have differing opinions, making this a subject of much debate.

According to an article from 101weightloss.com, eating 5 to 6 smaller meals daily will "definitely boost your metabolism." This is a very confident claim for a subject that hasn't been heavily studied. I noticed many magazine articles also claimed mini-meals as their secret to a faster metabolism. While they backed up their claims with some general science, they did not go into detail. Other sources had different opinions. Writer, Krisha McCoy, from Everyday Health concluded that your metabolism will be maintained no matter how many meals as long as you don't go too many hours without food and enter in starvation mode. An article on Medicinenet.com says that while there is not enough evidence to determine if there's a difference, one thing we do know is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Both of these sources said at the top that they were reviewed by health professionals.

So, while there may not be a clear answer, it seems that we can rely more on the last couple sources that say multiple smaller meals throughout the day do not boost your metabolism as some sources claim. Whether you're eating 3 meals or 6, what's important is the total number of calories consumed and making sure to start your day off with a healthy breakfast.

Sources
http://www.101weightloss.com/articles/eat-six-meals-a-day-2.htm
http://www.everydayhealth.com/weight/boosting-metabolism-with-mini-meals.aspx
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56254

Have you been sleeping and known for a fact you were dreaming? If I have, I don't remember it. The phenomenon is called lucid dreaming, which means the experience of becoming aware that one is dreaming. Scientists say most people have experienced lucid dreaming at least once in their lifetime and some even experience this phenomenon monthly. When I awake from my sleep I am lucky to even remember if I had I had a dream or not. It is said that the thing that tips lucid dreamers off, that it is a dream they are experiencing is anything truly out of the ordinary or so crazy that it could not be real.
One point that was made in the chapter really caught my attention and intrigued me. "Lucid dreaming opens up the possibility of controlling our dreams" (171). The ability to control what we dream is almost like a superpower in some way. Well, maybe not but it is for sure an incredible gift. Lucid dreaming is just one of the topics covered in chapter 5. Throughout the chapter there is a vast amount of extraordinary concepts they cover such as stages of sleep, disorders of sleep, and hypnosis.