"women" news and stories

Now that Bulgaria has joined the European Union, some of the previously high taxes on Bulgarian goods have been eliminated. Bulgaria is known for having good wine, but it is beer that has people from other EU countries flocking to the stores to buy it now that some of the taxes have been lifted. Boza beer apparently claims to help women's breasts grow larger.

Upon hearing of its claims, your first thought might be why taxes would matter, since there are surely people who would pay anything for a product - let alone a beer - that could do that. The following thought, of course, would be about how accurate this claim is.

Boza is made from fermented wheat and/or millet and has a low alcohol content. The original recipe has been around for thousands of years and dates back to Pre-Ottoman Turkey. It has always been considered to be a very healthy drink, a "warming and strengthening beverage" with approximately 1,000 calories per liter. For comparison, milk has about 630 calories per liter.

It is unlikely that Boza actually does increase the size of women's breasts, although with the high number of calories it contains, it is certainly possible that it could cause weight gain in general if enough is consumed.

Source

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in conjunction with the University of California, Davis, has uncovered a difference in the way that the eating habits of men and women are impacted by body image.

When shown images of "ideal-bodied people" of their own gender, young men and women often changed their eating habits depending on how they perceived their own body in relation to the image shown. If they were insecure about their bodies, some women would eat less after seeing the image, while some men would eat more. The food used in the study was pretzels, which the participants were given free access to during another activity.

The body images that the women saw were taken from magazines like Cosmo, Vogue, Shape and Elle. The men's images came from fitness magazines, including Men's Health, Men's Fitness and Muscle & Fitness. The participants were all of average build.

The question that remains is what effect viewing these images has in the long run and whether it contributes to the development of eating disorders.

Source

Peels is a brand of alcoholic mixed drinks that, unlike most others in their category, are made with real fruit juice. Like so many mixed drinks, they are aimed a women, but their flavors - Blueberry Pomegranate, Cranberry Peach and Strawberry Passion Fruit - should appeal to anyone who likes fruity flavors. For this holiday season, the company has released a new flavor, Spiced Apple. The drink is made with 100% natural ingredients and tastes similar to a classic spiced cider, with the crisp taste of apples and the warming scent of cinnamon. It can even be heated up, although the rest of the Peels drinks are generally meant to be served cold. It contains 5% alcohol by volume and the company says that it is "perfect for a girls' night-in, a seasonal party or just enjoying in front of the fire."

Source

For years, binge-eating has been thought to be an almost entirely secretive, private habit, but some new research by Dr. Gayle Timmerman of the University of Texas at Austin's School of Nursing shows that binge eating may be more likely to occur in restaurants, especially for women. Binge eating is overeating compulsively and in a restaurant that can translate to ordering an appetizer and a dessert when you might only otherwise have been hungry enough for one main course. Women tended to take in an extra 200-300 calories and about 15 grams of fat when they ate out.

The frequency with which the study participants, as well as people in general, eat out is one of the biggest causes for concern. The participants went to a restaurant or got take out on half of all the days they were in the study and when meals out get that frequent, they are no longer "special occasions" calling for indulgence, though that is the mindset than many still have. Another problem is portion size which, when combined with restaurants' "ample delicious food cues," can cause even a disciplined eater to press on with eating when they should have stopped.

Source

Master sommelier Alpana Singh has just penned a new book about women and wine, Alpana Pours: About Being a Woman, Loving Wine & Having Great Relationships. It is based on her observations of couples and how they interact over wine, as well as how to incorporate wine into different occasions, such as from "first dates to 'meeting the parents'." It seems aimed at women who are novice wine drinkers - just about everyone, compared to Singh - and wants to serve as an introduction to the subject, to push wine one step closer to being an everyday thing. Here are a few of Singh's most basic tips for wanna-be wine lovers

• Older isn't always better, so don't be afraid to drink it if you've got it.
• Chardonnays are "'pretty boys' that don't ask you to think." Develop a taste for "sophisticates" like Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling and Sangiovese.
• Chilling inexpensive wines makes "off" flavors disappear in whites, and makes reds "taste earthier and richer."
• "Don't give easily recognized, inexpensive wines as gifts." Look for more obscure, but still recommended, budget wines.

Source