better breath through yogurt

Halitosis, the more sophisticated term for 'bad breath', is embarrassing for the sufferer as well as his environment. The common solution for breath odor is to cover it up with mints--but of course that doesn't really change the condition. Now, a team of researchers from Tsurumi University in Yokohama, Japan, have found a real, all-natural remedy: Yogurt.

During the study, 24 volunteers were being fed 3 ounces of a specially concocted yogurt--sugar free, fermented with living cultures of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus--twice a day for six weeks. After completion of the study, measured hydrogen sulfide levels had decreased in 80% of volunteers who had bad breath... and as a bonus, plaque and gingivitis were reduced, too.

Natural Choices for Women's Health

When Laurie Steelsmith finished writing the book she'd always wanted to read, it turned out to be a 404-page guide to women's health from both the Eastern and Western perspectives.

But Steelsmith can summarize the book — "Natural Choices for Women's Health" (Three Rivers Press, paper, $15.95) — in four points that she calls "the four foundations" of good health: diet, exercise, emotional/spiritual well-being and detoxification.

Or perhaps in one word: choices.

pictures of elephants

Since 1992, Gregory Colbert has launched 33 expeditions to film and photograph the wondrous interactions between human beings and animals.

- from Cool Tricks and Trinkets #353