Mice given extra doses of a new magnesium compound had better working memory, long-term memory and greater learning ability.Before you go popping heavy doses of magnesium, however, know that much more testing is needed. Though rodent brains work similarly to ours, animal studies do not always predict what will happen in humans. "If MgT is shown to be safe and effective in humans, these results may have a significant impact on public health," said Guosong Liu, director of the Center for Learning and Memory at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Magnesium is an essential element found in some fruits, spinach, and other dark leafy greens. It is known to be important for the immune system. Consume less than 400 milligrams a day and you may be at greater risk for allergies, asthma and heart disease. The element was shown brain-boosting abilities in earlier studies using cultured brain cells. But the new compound — magnesium-L-threonate (MgT) — was tested in animals and found to be effective.

New York City’s health department is devoting what energy it hasn’t spent on counting calories and discouraging sugary drinks to cutting consumers’ salt intake down to size.
The plan is to get restaurants and packaged food makers to reduce the amount of sodium (a major contributor to high blood pressure, and thus heart attacks and stroke) in packaged and restaurant food by 25% over five years. The city has released its proposed sodium targets for both restaurants and packaged foods. It has persuaded such varied bodies as the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the World Hypertension League to voice their support. And it’s requesting industry comment on the tentative salt cuts. Cutting sodium intake is a valuable goal, but I’m a little skeptical as to how a voluntary program will make much difference -- especially one where each food item isn’t individually held to standard. The cuts are measured across a category, like “hamburgers” under restaurant food targets, or “sauces, dips, gravies and condiments” under packaged food).

Eva Mendes and model Jamie Dornan get greased up and writhe around in new Calvin Klein ads.Winter just got a little bit warmer thanks to Eva Mendes.

The sultry actress stars in a new ad campaign for Calvin Klein that is guaranteed to stop traffic – again.

Wearing nothing but the denim brand's new Whitewashed jeans, an oiled-up Mendes and model Jamie Dornan wrestle around in the hot sand in a series of ads that will hit billboards this spring, reports the U.K.'s Marie Claire.

Though this isn't the first time Mendes has shed her clothes for the controversial company, this may certainly be the most jaw-dropping.

In November, the actress and Dornan were featured on a Calvin Klein billboard in the heart of SoHo that drew both displeasure and appreciation from spectators.

A sweaty Mendes was pictured wearing sheer lingerie and tugging at the boxer briefs of a glistening Dornan.

Mendes, 35, previously bared all in steamy television ads for the company's Secret Obsession fragrance that were banned from American airwaves in 2008 because they were deemed too risqué.eva mendes nude

Imagine a treatment that could build bones, strengthen the immune system and lower the risks of illnesses like diabetes, heart and kidney disease, high blood pressure and cancer.Some research suggests that such a wonder treatment already exists. It’s vitamin D, a nutrient that the body makes from sunlight and that is also found in fish and fortified milk.

Yet despite the health potential of vitamin D, as many as half of all adults and children are said to have less than optimum levels and as many as 10 percent of children are highly deficient, according to a 2008 report in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

As a result, doctors are increasingly testing their patients’ vitamin D levels and prescribing daily supplements to raise them. According to the lab company Quest Diagnostics, orders for vitamin D tests surged more than 50 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, up from the same quarter a year earlier. And in 2008, consumers bought $235 million worth of vitamin D supplements, up from $40 million in 2001, according to Nutrition Business Journal.

Because up to 10% of adults have diabetes and because a substantial proportion will ultimately be prescribed insulin, reports that insulin therapies may be associated with cancer are of significant concern.1-2 This Commentary highlights limitations of the literature and notes that the evidence is also consistent with the hypothesis that insulin therapy targeting good glycemic control might actually reduce cancers.

Is an Elevated Glucose Level a Risk Factor for Cancers?

Type 2 diabetes is an independent risk factor for several cancers,3 and this relationship parallels the relationship between obesity and cancer. For type 1 diabetes, prospective studies report a modest 20% increased risk of stomach, endometrial, and cervical cancer and a 2-fold higher risk of pancreatic cancer. Prospective studies also suggest that glucose levels above normal predict cancers. For example, in a 10-year follow-up of more than 1 million Korean adults, there was a progressive relationship among fasting glucose levels above normal, cancers, and cancer .