Silvie+Maryl – Holistic Living, Plant-Based Diet, Recipes, Love & Relationship, Healthy LifestyleTips

Love: Looks like love is definitely a two way street – from the heart to the brain and back. According to a new meta-analysis study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, the brain plays a huge role in our love lives. The study “The Neuroimaging of Love” reveals that falling in love can elicit not only the same euphoric feeling as using cocaine, but it also affects intellectual areas of the brain. The research indicated that  when we fall in love, 12 areas of the brain work in tandem to release euphoria-inducing chemicals such as dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline and vasopression. The love feeling also affects sophisticated brain functions such as mental representation, metaphors, and body image. So, does the heart fall in love, or is it the brain? Professor Stephanie Ortigue, lead author of the study, says, “That is a tricky question always. I would say the brain, but the heart is also related because the complex concept of love is formed by both bottom-up and top-down processes from the brain to the heart and vice versa. For instance, activation in some parts of the brain can generate stimulations to the heart, butterflies in the stomach. Some symptoms we sometimes feel as a manifestation of the heart may sometimes be coming from the brain.” Read More…

Green: Want to help the planet? Waste less food. Scientists have identified a way that the United States could immediately save the energy equivalent of about 350 million barrels of oil a year – without spending a penny or putting a ding in the quality of life: just stop wasting food. The study, reported in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, found that it takes the equivalent of about 1.4 billion barrels of oil to produce package, prepare, preserve and distribute a year’s worth of food in the United States, while consumers waste about 27% it in general. The top most wasted food items were fats, oils, dairy, grains, eggs, sugar and other sweeteners. The waste represents a largely unrecognized opportunity to conserve energy and help control global warming, so do your part. Read More…