Like many last weekend, I ate slice after slice of watermelon, scrunching the fruit right down to the rind. My appetite insatiable, I took another whole watermelon and ground it up, making a pitcher of watermelon juice. And I am here to report that...wow, the melon and the juice tasted good.
Yep. That's it.
Who knows what else I'd have to say if I were a man? According to a news release from Texas A&M University, watermelon contains a chemical with Viagra-like properties. The chemical in question-- citrulline, richest in the rind of the melon--is converted into the amino acid arginine when it gets into the body. "Arginine boosts nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels, the same basic effect that Viagra has," says watermelon researcher Bhimu Patil of Texas A&M, in the news release.
The release doesn't refer to any studies done by the scientists demonstrating Viagra-like properties in humans or animals, or experiments in dishes with little pieces of human penile tissue, as was done for compound UK-92,480, the name that Viagra once went under. And if arginine's the business, why not cut out the middle man and scarf it directly? Or go for protein-rich foods? (Proteins, you'd think, would have plenty of arginine, since they're made of amino acids.)
Though these are pressing issues, maybe what we're really seeing here is yet another jostle in the battle for superfruit supremacy. Already, as we reported last week, mangosteens and açai berries are facing potential healthful-fruit challenges from the decidedly-odd-looking baobob tree. And now, this. "The more we study watermelons, the more we realize just how amazing a fruit it is in providing natural enhancers to the human body," Patil says.
Fruit. It's good for you. Eat lots of it. Maybe we should just be satisfied with that?
Making a pledge to remain a virgin until marriage is a popular part of some youth sex education programs. Several studies have cast doubt on their effectiveness. But new research from RAND Corp. says the idea appears to have some value.
Researchers surveyed 1,461 adolescents ages 12 to 17 in 2001 and reinterviewed them three years later. About one-quarter of the teens had made a virginity pledge when the study began. The researchers found that 42% of those who had not made virginity pledges compared with 34% who did became sexually active within the three years. Those who pledged were no more likely to engage in other non-intercourse sexual behavior. The study differed from others testing the power of virginity pledges because the researchers surveyed teens who were similar to one another in terms of religiosity, parenting and friendship characteristics. The results were published online this week in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
Pledges won't work for everyone, psychologist and lead author Steven Martino said. Nor should they be considered a substitute for a comprehensive sex education program. But, he adds:
"Making a pledge to remain a virgin until married may provide extra motivation to adolescents who want to delay becoming sexually active. The act of pledging may create some social pressure or social support that helps them to follow through with their clearly stated public intention."
Remember "Science of the orgasm"? It's OK to admit it -- you're far from alone. That February story about the nervous system's role in orgasms set an online readership record for the Health section. Prurient interest didn't seem to be driving the numbers, not completely anyway. The story featured researchers discussing the spinal cord, vagus nerve network and other parts of the nervous system not normally regarded as erotic. Rather, readers seemed genuinely curious about the "why" of it all.
They were almost as curious about love. "This is your brain on love" -- about why people fall in love and what makes it last -- was the second-most popular Health story in the last 12 months among online readers. Its highlights included explanations of the limbic system's role and the relevance of the brain chemicals dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin.
Now the Health section proves that monitoring online readership pays off. (We will not, however, be offering slide shows from the Westminster dog show. Well, maybe just this once...) Beginning this week, we'll offer a monthly column called The Mating Game. The first installment examines the research behind ScientificMatch.com, a website that promises to winnow your mate options based on genetic compatibility. The basics of attraction, the site's operators contend, are largely based on three genes termed (in non-come-hither fashion) the major histocompatability complex. Those three genes, in essence, might determine the appeal of a potential partner's smell.
Researchers have been studying the whys and hows of mate selection for years, but talk of the mating and dating world has largely amounted to ignore-the-cold-hard-facts-at-all-costs relationship advice or how-to-win-the-person-of-my-dreams wishful (and tiresome) thinking.
We're not going in either of those directions. For relationship advice, ask pretty much anyone (except me -- whatever the question, I assure you, I don't know the answer). For sex advice, check out the absolutely riveting Savage Love over at L.A. Weekly.
But for the science of it all, check out The Mating Game. And maybe the occasional Booster Shots posting.
"With the nation's divorce rate hovering around 50%, there is clearly a need for couples to better connect," declares a news release from K-Y Brand personal lubricants.
K-Y's new contribution? A product, YOURS+MINE, that is "designed specifically to increase intimacy and communication between couples." The man uses a blue lubricant containing a substance that is "invigorating." The woman uses a purple lubricant providing a sensation that is "thrilling." And when the two mix? A new sensation "ignites" between the two of them.
Reading about this reminded me of those chemistry classes in middle school (and in that context, I found the word "ignite" a tad disconcerting, I'll admit). Remember that experiment where you'd take a tube of polymer A and a tube of polymer B and you'd add them together and get a foamy mushroom thing frothing out of a plastic cup? Is the product like that?That would get couples talking, all right.
Unfortunately, business being business, Liz Cermak, worldwide vice president, intimate health products, for the Johnson & Johnson group of consumer companies, said she could not divulge the active chemicals that go into the products nor the atomic events that occur when the two mix together. She did confirm, however, that we're not talking about frothing mushrooms. Instead, when the lubricants move between man and woman, the man gets to feel what the woman's been feeling and the woman gets to feel what the man's been feeling.
Tami Dennis, who takes the word "skeptic" to previously uncharted territory, is editor of The Times' Health section. She's adamant that pitches promoting awareness days, weeks or months are, by their nature, non-stories. And, because she's an adult, she refuses to use words like "veggies," "tummy" and "yummy."
Rosie Mestel, Health section deputy editor, studied genetics before abandoning flies, fungi and DNA for health/medical writing. Her hero is the biologist Ernst Haeckel, whose jellyfish paintings inspired snazzy chandeliers. Her favorite toast-spread is Marmite, a British delicacy made of yeast extract. Her least-favorite word is "millenniums."
Susan Brink has made health and medicine her beat for 26 of her 28 years in the business. She’s covered a wide range of disease and health policy stories, and is always on the lookout for fresh angles. Few things make her happier than busting through preconceived notions to give readers an accurate view of people behaving as…well, real people.
Melissa Healy is a staff writer for the Health section reporting from Washington D.C. Healy's a veteran of The Times' National staff, having covered the Pentagon, Congress, poverty and social welfare, the environment, and the White House before shifting to Health in 2003. She writes frequently about mental health and human behavior, about federal health policy, prescription medication and ethics in medicine. More wonk than wellness freak, Healy chooses to believe in the health benefits of coffee and wine, and considers water a better work-out medium than beverage.
After a brief stint as a sports writer, Shari Roan turned to health journalism and has covered the topic for The Times for 18 years. She is the author of three books and the mother of two daughters, both teenagers who refer to her as a "health freak." She likes to jog, watch baseball and is very happy that dark chocolate contains some health benefit.
Jeannine Stein writes about fitness, sports medicine and obesity for the Health section. She’s a gym rat from way back and never met an elliptical trainer she didn’t like. Well, maybe one or two. She tempers exercise with a steady diet of reality television because she believes it’s all about balance.
"With the nation's divorce rate hovering around 50%, there is clearly a need for couples to better connect," declares a news release from K-Y Brand personal lubricants. 
