The Oxford University research also shows that a tasty Americano is not the only requirement — lights, music, aroma and good company need to be added to the mix. The experts developed the formula (M = 0.5 x F + (0.5 x E + 0.3 x P + 0.15 x C + 0.05 x T) by combining various factors such as great flavour (F) with the perfect environment (E), the container it comes in (P), who you drink coffee with (C) and the time of day you enjoy your coffee break (T) to create the most enjoyable coffee moment (M).

After applying this formula, the scientists found 11 a.m. is the best time to have a coffee bream, in a well-lit room with friends and nice music in the background, the ‘Daily Mail’ reported.

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Prof Charles Spence, from the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University, who led the research, said: “The formula describes how to create the perfect coffee moment at home or at work. We have known for some time that our taste buds are a vital part of the taste experience.

“However, we can now pinpoint the exact sensory conditions required to enjoy coffee, or any other food and drink.” According to the researchers, 11 a.m. is the best time to have a coffee break as this is the time when the average person’s palate is at the height of its powers.

They also suggested for soothing background music at the venue which should be a well-lit room or outside in the sun. About the aroma, they said it should be strong as 80 per cent of the flavour of food or drink comes from the nose and not the tongue.

So far as the company is concerned, they reasoned that the anticipation of meeting up with friends increases your enjoyment and the sensation of a warm drink makes your brain see the people around you in a more favourable light.

Spence’s formula, published in a report called ‘Changing Tastes’, highlighted how external, environmental influences also affect our brain’s interpretation of taste and enjoyment of food and drink.

Kevin Gould, a British food futurologist said: “Prof Spence’s research report proves the importance of all the senses in the enjoyment of food and drink.”Aroma is a vital ingredient to make the most of your coffee break.” Indian Express

The finding builds on prior research that established that being obese raises the risk for developing colon cancer in the first place.

“Previous studies have shown that obesity does influence the risk of developing colon cancer, but this study takes it one step further,” said study author Dr. Frank A. Sinicrope, a professor of medicine and oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “Because now we know that if you’re obese, you have a higher risk of cancer recurrence or death for patients who have established colon cancer.”

Sinicrope and his colleagues, whose work was funded in part by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, report their findings in the March 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

The American Cancer Society estimates that last year more than 106,000 Americans were newly diagnosed with colon cancer, while nearly 50,000 men and women died from the disease.

To explore a potential connection between obesity and colon cancer survival, the authors analyzed data concerning 4,381 men and women who had been diagnosed with either stage II or stage III colon cancer. All of the patients had undergone both surgical removal of their cancer and subsequent chemotherapy.

Based on body mass index (BMI), which is a measurement that takes into account weight and height, the researchers determined that approximately 20 percent of the patients were obese (above 30 on the BMI chart). Among that group, about seven in 10 patients were classified as “moderately obese” (BMI between 30 and 34.9), while slightly more than one-quarter were “very obese” (BMI of 35 and up).

About 37 percent of the patients were normal weight (BMI of 20 to 24.9), while a similar number were deemed overweight (BMI of 25 to 29.9). Six percent were classified as underweight (BMI under 20).

Tracking all the cancer survivors for an average of eight years, Sinicrope and his associates observed that 36 percent went on to experience cancer recurrence, while 42 percent ultimately died.

Furthermore, the researchers found that, taken as a group, being either moderately or very obese was associated on average with a 19 percent increase in the risk for death, when compared with normal-weight cancer patients.

Although the pool of underweight patients was considerably smaller, the researchers found that the underweight group also had a much poorer survival rate than normal-weight patients. And while overweight patients actually seemed to fare slightly better (by 6 percent) than normal-weight survivors, Sinicrope indicated that more sophisticated obesity measurements that take into account muscle-mass ratios (not revealed by BMI) could yield slightly different results.

Gender differences were also apparent.

With a patient pool that was more or less evenly divided between men and women, the authors found that taken on their own, the most severely obese men faced the highest risk for cancer recurrence and death — tagged as a 35 percent increase, relative to normal-weight patients.

However, women on the lowest end of the obesity scale were linked to a 24 percent increased risk for death — a risk that actually dropped down to 11 percent as obesity rose.

“For now, we don’t really have a clear explanation for why the moderately obese women did worse than the very obese women,” said Sinicrope. “Menopausal status and hormone replacement therapy — which could be protective against colon cancer — could both be factors. But we don’t know which women were pre- or postmenopausal and which were taking this medication.”

As for what general underlying cause accounts for the obesity-survival risk connection, Sinicrope said the question remains unanswered. But he speculated that the association might result from the presence of higher insulin and insulin-like growth-factor-1 hormone levels in obese patients.

“We know the obese patients have higher levels of both these hormones, which have been associated with both obesity and colon cancer risk in the past,” he noted. “So we think that could be playing a role in this risk.”

A number of variables could explain the findings, said Dr. Joseph Martz, chief of the division of colorectal surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.

“Obesity is often associated with a higher likelihood for diabetes and other diseases, and overall secondary immune dysfunction. And since colon cancer is somewhat of an immune disease, that is going to be a driving factor,” he noted.

“There is also a good deal of data already regarding the supportive benefit of exercise and activity after colon cancer treatment in terms of prognosis,” Martz added. “So I think that goes along with the concept that obese individuals are less likely to be in shape. Also, there may be some inherent surgical limitations that could compromise the technical ability to achieve complete removal of the cancer and the potentially affected lymph node tissues when operating on an obese person. All of this may play a role.”

On a related front, a separate study published this week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute provides fresh evidence that being obese does appear to be linked to a higher risk for colon cancer.

However, the research team — led by Peter T. Campbell of the epidemiology research program at the American Cancer Society — also found that the obesity-survival link does not seem to hold for all tumors, but only for those that are so-called “microsatellite stable.” Obese patients who had this common type of tumor had lower five-year survival rates than obese patients with “microsatellite-high” tumors, suggesting that obesity has a varying impact on prognosis, depending on the kind of colon cancer at hand. By Alan Mozes, Yahoo Daily News

Americans recognize things need to change in the grocery aisle, and they support Uncle Sam’s efforts to overhaul what is included in their food and on the packages. The majority also believe they are individually responsible for making the right food choices to avoid obesity, but will readily accept the government’s help to be successful, according to a new survey by FoodMinds.

“In light of all the recent attention around food labeling and nutrition guidance programs, we wanted to get a sense of what the consumer actually thought,” said Grant Prentice, FoodMinds’ director of Strategic Insights. “We heard clearly they believe things need to change – and that it makes sense for the government to lead that charge.”

Americans Want Uncle Sam…

…Involved in Food Labels

* Eighty-six percent of consumers are interested in the government implementing objective front-of-pack labeling that calls out calories and beneficial nutrients such as vitamin D or fiber

* Seventy-seven percent of shoppers are interested in front-of-package labels designed to warn them of products with high calories, low nutrients

- And, 64 percent said if their favorite food had a warning label on it, they would either eat less or stop buying the product entirely

…To Help Educate, Mitigate and Motivate

* Seventy-four percent favor government-sponsored nutrition education programs to help them better identify the “good” versus the “bad” foods

* Fifty-eight percent support the government banning advertising of “unhealthy” foods to children and young adults

* Half are in favor of the government allowing employers to reward healthier employees while levying higher costs or fines to punish those who engage in unhealthy behaviors

…But Not His Taxes

* Rejected by 65 percent of shoppers are proposed taxes on soft drinks and foods high in sugar and calories, but low in nutritional value

Just the (Nutrition) Facts, Ma’am

Consumers love food-related information – and want more of it, in particular basic, factual data.

* The Nutrition Facts panel ranks first with 93 percent of shoppers saying it’s a very or somewhat useful tool, followed by front-of-pack information (low fat, high in fiber, etc.) at 88 percent

* Not quite as popular are marketing-oriented claims such as “helps lose weight,” “helps build strong bones,” with 71 percent of shoppers finding them useful

* Three quarters of shoppers like seeing where their food comes from (“organic,” “natural” and “sustainable farming practices”)

Not It! Significant Minority Believes Others Responsible for Individuals’ Eating Habits

* When asked who holds the primary responsibility to make sure the public makes right food choices to avoid obesity, 38 percent chose: 14 percent said food companies, 12 percent said the government, nine percent said the health care system and three percent pointed to the educational systems

About the Food Temperance Survey

Created by the FoodMinds Strategic Insights department, the Food Temperance survey was conducted through Greenfield Online’s Omnibus service on January 18, 2010. The sample of 1045 adults is balanced on age, gender and region of the U.S. Sub-samples of 869 primary grocery shoppers and 182 Opinion Leader Shoppers were screened from the overall adult sample. The MOE is +/- 3% for primary grocery shoppers and +/- 7% for the opinion leader shoppers. redOrbit

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Moderate female drinkers also have a lower risk of obesity than teetotallers, according to new research. The findings, from a study of more than 19,000 women, is at odds with most dietary advice: that alcohol consumption leads to weight gain.

The research suggests that a calorie from alcohol has less impact on weight than a calorie from other foods and that the way the body deals with alcohol is more complex than realised. One theory is that in regular drinkers the liver develops a separate metabolic pathway to break down alcohol, with surplus energy turned mainly into heat, not fat.

In the study, Lu Wang, a medical instructor at Brigham and Women’s hospital, Boston, and colleagues asked 19,220 American women aged 39 or older with a healthy body weight to describe their drinking habits in a questionnaire. About 38% drank no alcohol.

Over the next 13 years the researchers found that all the women tended to gain weight but the non-drinkers gained the most. The women’s overall weight gain decreased as alcohol intake increased.

There was also a difference according to the type of alcohol: red wine was associated with the lowest weight gain; beer and spirits were linked to the highest weight gain.

The report, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, seems to confirm that there is no clear connection between alcohol consumption and weight gain. By Jonathan Leake, The Times

Be that as it may, however, be extra careful in choosing your desired colon cleanse as different companies have been flooding the market and often advertised as the best colon cleanser available. Though it may be quite difficult for you to find out which product really produces the promised results, hence, many users of colon cleanse say that since they used the product, they stopped gaining weight, felt loss bloated and consistently kept weight off all while feeling less irritability.

Cooking fruit damages the nutrients in them. And, though fruit chaat is delicious, adding iodised salt or chaat masala dries out the fruit cells, cheating you of the hydrating properties of the fruit. And when you dust sugar over fruit, you’re just adding empty calories to a healthy snack.

Another myth is that some fruits, like lemons, are ‘acidic’. Most fruit turn alkaline in our body especially lemon which is acidic on the tongue but alkaline in the stomach. Only plums are slightly acidic so eat them paired with another fruit.

Feast on an empty stomach

Fruits when eaten as recommended, play a major role in detoxifying the system, boosting energy reserves and helping with weight management. Fruit is quickly and easily digested, gentle on the stomach and floods the body with energy, phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals. Which is why, ideally, you must eat fruit on an empty stomach. If you eat food before you eat fruit, the food starts reacting with gastric juices but will not be absorbed into the body because the fruit is preventing it from doing so. This will cause acidity, gas and bloating.

Beauty secret

They say if you master the correct way of eating fruit, the secrets of beauty, longevity, happiness and health are yours.

Apple

An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Though apples have a low vitamin C content, they contain antioxidants and flavonoids which enhance the activity of vitamin C thereby helping to lower the risks of colon cancer, heart attack and stroke. Apples are also low on the Glycemic Index, so they are low on calories and excellent for diabetics. However, there is a risk of constipation.

Strawberry

Protective Fruit. Strawberries have the highest antioxidant power among major fruits and protect the body from cancer-causing, blood vessel-clogging free radicals. Strawberries also contain lots of vitamin C, which make them an antioxidant-rich food. Again, low on the Glycemic Index, therefore excellent for diabetics.

Orange

Sweetest medicine. Two to four oranges a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent and dissolve kidney stones as well as lessen the risk of colon cancer. All this is attributed to its vitamin C content. Low on the Glycemic Index.

Watermelon

The re-hydration expert! With water content at 92 per cent, watermelons are packed with a giant dose of glutathione, which helps boost our immune system. They are also a key source of lycopene, the cancer fighting antioxidant. Other nutrients found in watermelon are vitamin C and potassium. Watermelon is high on the Glycemic Index, so it is not always recommended for diabetics. It could also cause gas when combined with other food. By Naini Setalvad , DC Correspondent