Does drinking two litres of water a day improve your skin?

It’s common knowledge that drinking two litres of water a day will keep us properly hydrated. But is this true, or another myth?

We enlisted the help of beauty conscious twins Susie and Alice to see if we could solve the mystery. We asked one of them, Susie, to give up their two litre daily bottled water addiction to measure how their body, and more importantly, beauty was affected. They got their fluids from tea, coffee and soft drinks instead.

"we lose approximately 2 litres of water each day"

Five days later we conducted some rigorous tests to see what had happened to the water-starved twin. Was her skin in a state of stress? Not really, no.

In fact, both Susie's moisture and elasticity showed no major change after five days. Why? Well, a reasonably inactive adult (like most of us who work in offices) loses approximately two litres of water each day through breath, sweat, urine, and faeces, which is where the myth that we need those two litres a day may have originated.

All drinks we have during a day, apart from alcohol, count towards making up this amount - including tea and coffee - and more than a third of our water needs comes from our food.

Can Omega 3 reduce your stress levels?

Fish is often credited for everything from combating depression to alleviating the symptoms of arthritis. We investigate recent research that has found there are componants in oily fish, part of a group of fatty acids called Omega 3, that may improve the way we cope with stress.

"really made a difference on their stress levels"

With this in mind we searched for a group of people known for having stressful jobs who would benefit from an improvement in memory. Step forward our London cabbies - famed for suffering the consequences of irate customers if they fail to meet expectations.

We took ten London cabbies and fed them on a diet of four portions of oily fish a week for 12 weeks. They were tested before and after the 12 weeks to see what affect the increased intake of oily fish had on their stress levels and memory.

After the diet, we found that out cabbies were better able to deal with stressful situations and their visualisation-based memory had also improved significantly, something Omega 3 is believed to help with. As a group, their stress hormone as a whole was down by 22% and their anti-stress hormone up by 12%.

Since the study included only ten participants and had no control group the results are not statistically significant but may be an indication towards the benefits of Omega 3. Certainly for our cabbies three months of a fish boost really made a difference on their stress levels and heart rates.

N.B. Women thinking of getting pregnant, or who are pregnant should try and avoid fish which may conatain high levels of mercury - www.cfsan.fda.gov.

Think Before Giving Your Dog A Bone!!

Everybody used to feed dog bones. Then veterinarians deemed them dangerous. Now, there's disagreement: Some veterinarians warn against bones, others claim they're essential.

Bones improves dental health:

When your dog chews on bones, the chewing action scrapes away plaque, controls tartar buildup, and helps stimulate gums. This diminishes bad breath, keeps teeth whiter, and reduces the risk of potentially serious dental problems.

While all our bones offer dental benefits, Dental bones are specially designed to promote clean, healthy teeth and gums in even the most aggressive chewer. They're also often flavored to prevent bad breath.

Prevents negative chewing behavior:

Bones satisfy your dog's innate urge to chew. They also help to relieve teething pain, giving your puppy a beneficial (and acceptable) item to chew on when teething. If you encourage your dog to chew on bones from puppyhood on, chances are he'll choose a bone over your shoes, books, television remote, and so on. Offer a variety of bones to maintain your dog's interest.

"low-calorie" bone:

Healthy Edibles dog chews and Booda Velvet Chews are all good choices for dogs on weight-loss plans. These all-natural, low-calorie chews are made from healthy ingredients and taste great.

The Good Choice:

• Try beef tails and ribs, or necks from lamb, chicken, turkey, and beef.
• Select bones with meat attached and most fat removed.
• Choose bones too large for your dog to swallow hole.

The Bad Choice:

• Sharply angled, sawed bones.
• Bones cut in small pieces or without much meat.
• Heavy leg marrowbones.
• Bones from baked, broiled, or barbecued meat.

Tips To Safer Chewing :

If you think your dog would benefit from chewing bones:

• Supervise all bone chewing.
• Teach your dog to release objects willingly so you can safely take the bone away if necessary.
• Discard after two days; raw bones spoil quickly.
• Bones for older dogs
  Provided that your older dog has healthy teeth, bones are extremely appropriate. Bones provide entertainment and mental stimulation that can be very beneficial to older dogs - especially those who are not extremely active.

Raw vs Cooked :

Cooked bones are harder to digest and give rise to increased risk of obstruction or penetration of the bowel.

If you prefer to give your dog cooked bones, boil them rather than roasting; dry heat makes bones more brittle.

For your own safety, be aware that raw meat and bones can harbor salmonella and E.coli; pregnant women who handle them risk exposure to toxoplasmosis, an organism that can cause miscarriage.

Dogs face less bacterial risk than people do.Dogs usually recover on their own, but see your veterinarian of your dog experiences diarrhea for more than 24 hours, bloody diarrhea, or diarrhea and vomiting.

Nylon - safe for dogs:

Nylon is a harmless plastic used in dog bones for its strength. If your dog ingests small pieces of nylon, it simply passes through the digestive system and is eliminated in the stool.