Coffee Breaks and Health Benefits

Once suspected in a variety of diseases, coffee now has an impressive résumé: Mounting evidence suggests that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, gallstones, Parkinson's disease, cirrhosis, and certain types of liver, breast, and colon cancers.

Better than fruit juice?
Hundreds of compounds, including antioxidants, seem to be responsible for coffee's many protective benefits. In a recent Harvard University study, coffee drinkers had a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular causes than nondrinkers. Black coffee is probably even better for you than high-calorie beverages. A Norwegian study found that a typical serving of brewed coffee is richer in antioxidants than a serving of blueberries, raspberries, pineapples, or many fruit juices.

Brain bonus
Coffee might help your mind as much as your body. One study found that sleep-deprived rats were much calmer after simply inhaling roasted coffee beans.

Sipping tips
Many dietitians believe moderation is still best and recommend drinking only one or two cups of coffee a day-without whole milk, whipped cream, and sugar (which jolt only your waistline). Drink much more than that and the caffeine can dehydrate you or raise your blood pressure. Pregnant women will want to limit their intake, too, as coffee can boost the risk of miscarriage.

If you're worried about cholesterol, stick to paper-filtered and instant coffees. Unfiltered coffees, which are typically made with a French press, contain more of a cholesterol-raising substance called cafestol.

From Reader's Digest - October 2008

Whole Again

Seven years ago, in the spring of 2000, Amy Grant and I said "I do" under an arbor on a hill at her farm in Tennessee. The sweetest woman in the world wore flowers in her hair, and as we recited our vows, I cried. The view from the hilltop that day made me think I could see forever, which is how a man feels when he's finally complete. I tell Amy all the time, "You have no idea how amazing it is to be whole again."

I was pretty miserable there for a while. My first marriage ended in divorce, and in the middle of that, my father died. I turned to food for comfort. Though I was as thin as a rail growing up in Oklahoma City, that all began changing in my late 30s. I'd try something like the Atkins diet, and the weight would come off. But it would come right back on again. I wasn't learning how to eat; I wasn't doing my body any good.


I never did have a lot of discipline, which is one of the ways Amy and I are opposites. She pushed me to find a trainer, a guy named Raymond Harvey at the YMCA in Nashville, where we live. When I first went to see him, Raymond asked, "What are your goals?" I said, "I don't want to be big. I hate this. I want to be lean." So I quit drinking nine sodas a day. For breakfast, I eat oatmeal and egg whites. I see Raymond three times a week.

I've lost 30 pounds, and my body is much more toned. It feels great. I want to lose a total of 50 pounds by my 50th birthday, in April. I think Amy will hold me to it: She's big on planning ahead. It's another one of her strengths; she has a lot of them.

I fell in love with her the first time we really talked. It was in '93, when I invited her to be a guest on my Christmas TV special. With her enormous popularity as a Christian singer, I knew she'd be great on the show. And as we spoke, I instantly felt comfortable. I thought, Wow, what a neat person. But we were both married.

In 1994, Amy and I recorded a pop duet, "House of Love," and as we got to be better friends, we couldn't deny that we really liked each other. When two people click, there's not much you can do about it. She and I just shared so much: music, golf, even our names (my middle name is Grant). In 1997, my marriage broke up.

Completely on her own, Amy's marriage also ended, in 1999, though it was tough for both of us to have people passing judgment on our friendship and, often, thinking the worst. Amy and I didn't plan what happened. But we belonged together. We just fit.

These days, Amy and I work with each other a lot, doing shows or cowriting songs. But our private life is our priority. Our daughter Corrina, who is five years old, is the center of our world. She's the bridge between our families -- Amy's two daughters, Sarah and Millie, and her son, Matt, and my grown daughter, Jenny. Corrina is such a happy, confident child. She's been an amazing gift to all of us.

I don't want to be big. I hate this. I want to be lean. I always say she's a little Amy because, like her mom, she doesn't have an unkind bone in her body. Amy always looks at the positive side of things. She got me going to church again after a long lapse; she showed me by example how to live my faith. Sometimes, after our Christmas concerts, she'll spend three hours doing meet-and-greets with fans. Over and over again, people will come through the line and say to me, "Nice show." Then they'll turn to Amy and say, "You can't imagine how you've changed my life." They will tell her their story. Amy listens to every single one.

She never stops giving. When the Nashville Symphony went bankrupt in the '80s, she began appearing with them. Their CEO said revenue from her performances paid off their debt -- about $1 million in total. Amy helped raise another million toward the group's new home, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

Her example really inspired me to step up my own charity work. The Home Depot folks and I built a new playground at a New Orleans school last fall. It felt great to help give the kids a place to play and a reason to smile.

There's just no overestimating the power of a second chance, which is what I feel I got by marrying Amy. She's helped me get over my toughest trait of all -- a bad temper. Amy helped me see the value of calmly discussing issues, not just venting emotions. I got my self-respect back. And that is no small thing.

Our marriage has brought me total peace. I cannot imagine life without this woman, so when I say I can see forever, Amy's always in the picture.

In Love with Bacteria

Ashley Bono ’09 fell in love with bacteria in a sophomore introductory microbiology course. Now, as a senior at UMass Amherst, she is putting her fascination to work on a capstone project funded by a Commonwealth College Honors Research Grant. In Fernald Hall, she is uncovering information about the causes of Lyme disease and other tick-borne bacterial illnesses.
Working in the lab of entomology professor Stephen Rich, Bono is analyzing the gene sequences of the bacteria associated with deer ticks and studying how the bacteria affect the tick life cycle.
“Bacteria are everywhere and they’re amazing,” Bono says. Whenever we think they can’t live somewhere or do something, it turns out they can. They can eat metal!”
A dual microbiology and biochemistry major from Medway, Mass., Bono is on track to graduate summa cum laude. She has applications out to graduate schools and plans to become a researcher.
As a Commonwealth College scholar, she didn’t have to wait for graduate school to conduct high level research. She received a $1,000 research grant for lab equipment and supplies from the honors college at UMass Amherst. “I have a whole lot of gene sequencing to do and it can get expensive,” she says.
Commonwealth College, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, has long promoted student research. Original research in the form of a capstone project is a graduation requirement for its students. Bono was one of 37 students who received Honors Research Grants this academic year. She will present her project with an oral defense in May at the Commonwealth College-sponsored statewide conference on undergraduate research.
Bono’s project may help scientists figure out how Lyme (one of the fastest-growing infectious diseases in the U.S.) and other tick-borne illnesses are perpetuated. “If we’re lucky we’ll find something that will help us better understand the means of Lyme disease transmission,” she says.

A Teacher's Story

FOR ALL MY TEACHERS




True or not - who cares, How many times do we "misjudge" by appearance?

Her name was Mrs. Thompson. As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn't play well with the other children. His clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. And Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners...He is a joy to be around."

His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home is a struggle."

His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death had been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class."

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs.Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents.

Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one quarter-full of perfume. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.

Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mother used to."

After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children.

Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets."

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer the letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story doesn't end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he'd met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom.

Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.

They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs.Thompson's ear, "Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."

Remember - that wherever you go, and whatever you do, you will have the opportunity to touch and/or change a person's outlook. Please try to do it in a positive way.

Healing Hands

It was August 1994 and I was 16 weeks pregnant with my second child. My eldest daughter, Megan, was 18 months old at the time and had only recently been told of the impending arrival of a brother or sister to complete our family.
That day, I noticed all was not well. My heart sank. I rang my husband, Dominic, and could barely speak when I asked him to come home straight away. We rushed to my gynaecologist. He examined me and performed an emergency ultrasound, which confirmed my worst fears; our baby had died in my womb.
I was hysterical, wanting to know what went wrong and how this could happen.
I was placed in hospital, in my own room in the maternity ward. I asked my husband to take my daughter home and tell her Mummy was fine and would be back after a sleep at the hospital.
After reading all the magazines I had brought in, I ventured to the patients' common room to watch some television to pass the time. Soon a woman came in to also watch TV. She was wheeling her bassinet containing a newborn baby.
We began talking and naturally she asked where my baby was. I told her I'd lost my baby at 16 weeks and she apologised and went quiet. I decided to save her further embarrassment by returning to my room.
Just as I was about to get up and excuse myself she asked, "Would you like to hold my baby?" The next thing I knew I was breathing in the wonderful newborn scent of a three-day-old baby boy.
After chatting some more, I reluctantly but gratefully gave her back her son. I, of course, went back to my room and cried a flood of tears, but that brave act of kindness from one mother to another was the catalyst for my recovery. Holding another precious baby in my arms made me look forward to going home to the precious baby I still had, who was yet to realise she was no longer going to be a big sister.
I never saw that wonderful lady again and I hope her life has been filled with joy and happiness with her family. I would love to thank her again for showing that the kindness of strangers can work true miracles. Happily on January 14, 1996, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

By Christine Demicoli

Who R U?

I had recently moved from Rockhampton to Sydney in Australia and was having trouble settling in when a friend invited me to a corporate ball. Getting ready for the occasion, I sent a quick SMS message to his cellphone asking him to bring his camera. I was all dolled up and wanted to record what promised to be a great evening. Continuing to get ready for the ball, I heard the familiar "beep beep" of an incoming SMS message: "Who R U and why do U want my camera?" I was shocked. I must have punched in the wrong number. Goodness knows who I'd sent the message to. I quickly replied to the mystery person, apologising.

I didn't think much of it until later that evening when another message came through: "Who R U anyway?" At first I was reluctant to reply, but reassured myself no harm could come from an SMS message. "A 21-yr-old female QLDer in NSW. Who R U?" The reply came back: "A 21-yr-old carpenter from Brisbane. Nick."

By now I was far more interested in the guy who was messaging me than the ball I was attending.

Pushing my luck, I replied: "Single?" Again he sent back: "Yeah. You?" My heart racing, I replied: "Yes."

As the night went on we exchanged several more messages.

We discussed what I was doing that evening and what he was doing the next day (looking at houses). And we left it at that.

A week later I got another message: "Have been thinking about U all week. Tell me about yourself." Acknowledging the alarm bells going off in my head, I replied cautiously – giving as little away as possible. "Wanted to MSG U too. Have 2 bros & 2 sisters. 2nd eldest." He replied straight back: "Me too. 2 bros, 2 sis. I am 2nd eldest."

OK, my guard went right up at this point. "R U kidding?" I asked. "No, serious," he replied. I still found the coincidence hard to believe but asked: "Where R U going to buy house?" His reply: "Buy house wherever U want to live."

Now, this made me uneasy. He sounded like a great guy and we had uncanny things in common, but what did I really know about him? Then he sent another message: "Where do U work?" I replied: "Work 4 a bank. 1st job since Uni. OK, but miss QLD sun." He replied: "Plenty of sun here."

And so it started – a beautiful, funny SMS friendship.

I discovered Nick was originally from New Zealand. He worked for a construction company and was also a triathlete – ironically, I had completed my first triathlon the month before. He was funny, athletic, intelligent and had the same sense of humour as me. Often we would message each other at exactly the same moment and even think the same things at the same time.

But we had other things in common, too: I've always dreamt of living in a big, old Queenslander timber house. Nick, as a carpenter, has always wanted to build one.

After six months of messaging, I finally built up the courage to speak to Nick and phoned him on his birthday. Soon we were racking up enormous phone bills – which we couldn't afford, but couldn't go without.

Six months later we decided to meet. I was flying back to Rockhampton, with a 45-minute stopover in Brisbane, so we arranged to have breakfast at the airport.

Despite a bad case of butterflies in my stomach, I was looking forward to finally meeting Nick.

He wasn't exactly what I'd expected... but...
I stepped off the aeroplane and my heart jumped. He wasn't exactly what I'd expected (not the tanned Adonis I had often pictured), but he was tall and muscular. His hair was long and he had gorgeous freckles. He held a single gold rose in his hand.

Our romance progressed quickly after that and over the next few months Nick made the ten-hour drive to Sydney three times. Then one day he rang me, excited and unsure. He had found a house in Brisbane that he liked and wanted to know if he should buy it. Although it wasn't the house of his dreams, it was a good price and we decided he could do it up.

Nick moved into the house and two weeks later his work required him to move to New Zealand for six months. It was a great opportunity. Nick asked me to go with him – I had never been overseas and yearned to travel – but I had a great job in Sydney and friends I didn't want to leave.

A month went by with Nick in New Zealand and our phone bills were expanding to a dangerous size, when my roommates decided to move out. My landlord took the opportunity to increase the rent and I knew I couldn't afford to live there any longer. Fate seemed to be pushing me towards Nick, so I took the hint.

I rang Nick, booked a flight, organised movers to take my furniture to his Brisbane home and was gone within a week. The five months I spent with Nick in New Zealand were amazing. He was amazing!

A few months later we settled back in Australia, in Nick's house, and I started a new job. Life was great. Then one weekend we decided to drive to Rockhampton to visit my family. On the way, we stopped near a historic village to stretch our legs. My gaze drifted towards the highway. When I turned back Nick was standing before me with a glinting diamond ring in his hand. I couldn't help but smile, tears coming to my eyes. I looked from him to the ring and back again. "Will you marry me?" he asked. I was so busy smiling and crying that it took me a few seconds to reply, "Yes!"

The ceremony took place on February 19 last year. It was a beautiful occasion that we shared with our very large families and dearest friends. But one thing was different: we didn't ask our guests to turn off their cellphones. After all, you never know who might be on the other end of the line.

By Jacinta Farrow.

A Wise Young Muslim Boy:

Imam Muwaffaq Ibn Ahmad al-Makki


[Adapted into English from "Manâqib Abî Hanîfah" written by Imâm Muwaffaq Ibn Ahmad al-Makki (d. 568 Hijri). Dar al - Kitâb al-'Arabiy, Beirut, 1981/1401H.]

Many years ago, during the time of the Tabi'n (the generation of Muslims after the Sahabah), Baghdad was a great city of Islam. In fact, it was the capital of the Islamic Empire and, because of the great number of scholars who lived there, it was the center of Islamic knowledge.

One day, the ruler of Rome at the time sent an envoy to Baghdad with three challenges for the Muslims. When the messenger reached the city, he informed the khalîfah that he had three questions which he challenged the Muslims to answer.

The khalîfah gathered together all the scholars of the city and the Roman messenger climbed upon a high platform and said, "I have come with three questions. If you answer them, then I will leave with you a great amount of wealth which I have brought from the king of Rome." As for the questions, they were: "What was there before Allah?" "In which direction does Allah face?" "What is Allah engaged in at this moment?"

The great assembly of people were silent. (Can you think of answers to these questions?) In the midst of these brilliant scholars and students of Islam was a man looking on with his young son. "O my dear father! I will answer him and silence him!" said the youth. So the boy sought the permission of the khalifah to give the answers and he was given the permission to do so.

The Roman addressed the young Muslim and repeated his first question, "What was there before Allah?"

The boy asked, "Do you know how to count?"

"Yes," said the man.

"Then count down from ten!" So the Roman counted down, "ten, nine, eight, ..." until he reached "one" and he stopped counting

"But what comes before 'one'?" asked the boy.

"There is nothing before one- that is it!" said the man.

"Well then, if there obviously is nothing before the arithmetic 'one', then how do you expect that there should be anything before the 'One' who is Absolute Truth, All-Eternal, Everlasting the First, the Last, the Manifest, the Hidden?"

Now the man was surprised by this direct answer which he could not dispute. So he asked, "Then tell me, in which direction is Allah facing?"

"Bring a candle and light it," said the boy, "and tell me in which direction the flame is facing."

"But the flame is just light- it spreads in each of the four directions,

North, South, East and West. It does not face any one direction only," said the man in wonderment.

The boy cried, "Then if this physical light spreads in all four directions such that you cannot tell me which way it faces, then what do you expect of the Nur-us-Samawati-wal-'Ard: Allah - the Light of the Heavens and the Earth!? Light upon Light, Allah faces all directions at all times."

The Roman was stupified and astounded that here was a young child answering his challenges in such a way that he could not argue against the proofs. So, he desperately wanted to try his final question. But before doing so, the boy said,

"Wait! You are the one who is asking the questions and I am the one who is giving the answer to these challenges. It is only fair that you should come down to where I am standing and that I should go up where you are right now, in order that the answers may be heard as clearly as the questions."

This seemed reasonable to the Roman, so he came down from where he was standing and the boy ascended the platform. Then the man repeated his final challenge, "Tell me, what is Allah doing at this moment?"

The boy proudly answered, "At this moment, when Allah found upon this high platform a liar and mocker of Islam, He caused him to descend and brought him low. And as for the one who believed in the Oneness of Allâh, He raised him up and established the Truth."
" Every day in (new) Splendour doth He (shine).
[Surah ar-Rahman; 55: 29]."

The Roman had nothing to say except to leave and return back to his country, defeated. Meanwhile, this young boy grew up to become one of the most famous scholars of Islam. Allah, the Exalted, blessed him with special wisdom and knowledge of the deen. His name was Abu Hanîfah (rahmatullah 'alayhi- Allah have mercy on him) and he is known today as Imâm-e-A'dham, the Great Imam and scholar of Islam.