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Am Fam Physician. 1998;57(10):2319

Athletes who can successfully train their brains as well as their bodies may be able to gain that extra edge needed during competition. According to a report in The Brain in the News, founders of the Brain-Body Center for Performance Enhancement are helping athletes teach their brains to overcome mental blocks using “brain integration movement” exercises. Essentially, the athletes learn to use the right and left sides of the brain equally, allowing them to achieve a higher level of performance.

Divorce isn't necessarily bad for children. It all depends on what happens before the divorce. If there are high levels of hostility in the marriage, children whose parents divorce end up just as happy and well-adjusted as their peers who grow up in two-parent households, according to a study cited in Psychology Today. Children who aren't aware of hostility between their parents before the divorce are the ones who may be harmed by it. As these children grow up, they often have trouble forming relationships and are unhappy as adults.

If you're going to bring her candy, make it Good and Plenty. According to a study conducted at the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, which evaluated the effect of odors on sexual arousal in women, the odors emitted from Good and Plenty candy, cucumber, baby powder, lavender and pumpkin pie cause a greater increase in vaginal blood flow than do colognes or perfumes. In fact, men's colognes actually reduce vaginal blood flow.

The importance of brain food may be no myth, according to Prevention magazine. Certain types of food may be able to keep your brain in peak shape for life. In a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a group of Spaniards 65 to 90 years of age took two tests to measure mental function. The people who received perfect or satisfactory scores were the healthiest eaters. They tended to eat more vegetables and fruit, foods rich in fiber, vitamin C, folate, beta-carotene and zinc, and foods lower in saturated fat and cholesterol.

What are the top 10 facts about breast feeding that physicians might have missed in medical school? Breast feeding benefits mothers as well as babies; breast-feeding mothers don't need to drink milk; infants should begin breast-feeding in the first hour of life; duration of feedings should not be limited; babies should not be given water; frequent breast feeding from the beginning minimizes jaundice and maximizes milk production; every breast-fed baby does not need supplemental vitamin D; exclusive breast feeding for six months is optimal; hepatitis and maternal fever are not contraindications to breast feeding; and a baby's first birthday doesn't have to be the end of breast feeding, according to breast feeding guidelines published in Pediatrics, which were cited in Family Practice News.

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