A cold slice of watermelon has long been a Fourth of July holiday staple. But according to recent studies, the juicy fruit may be better suited for Valentine's Day.
That's because scientists say watermelon has ingredients that deliver Viagra-like effects to the body's blood vessels and may even increase libido.
"The more we study watermelons, the more we realize just how amazing a fruit it is in providing natural enhancers to the human body," said Dr. Bhimu Patil, director of Texas A&M's Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center in College Station.
"We've always known that watermelon is good for you, but the list of its very important healthful benefits grows longer with each study."
Beneficial ingredients in watermelon and other fruits and vegetables are known as phyto-nutrients, naturally occurring compounds that are bioactive, or able to react with the human body to trigger healthy reactions, Patil said.
In watermelons, these include lycopene, beta carotene and the rising star among its phyto-nutrients -- citrulline -- whose beneficial functions are now being unraveled. Among them is the ability to relax blood vessels, much like Viagra does.
Scientists know that when watermelon is consumed, citrulline is converted to arginine through certain enzymes. Arginine is an amino acid that works wonders on the heart and circulation system and maintains a good immune system, Patil said.
"The citrulline-arginine relationship helps heart health, the immune system and may prove to be very helpful for those who suffer from obesity and type 2 diabetes," said Patil. "Arginine boosts nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels, the same basic effect that Viagra has, to treat erectile dysfunction and maybe even prevent it."
While there are many psychological and physiological problems that can cause impotence, extra nitric oxide could help those who need increased blood flow, which would also help treat angina, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems.
"Watermelon may not be as organ specific as Viagra," Patil said, "but it's a great way to relax blood vessels without any drug side-effects."
The benefits of watermelon don't end there, he said. Arginine also helps the urea cycle by removing ammonia and other toxic compounds from our bodies.
Citrulline, the precursor to arginine, is found in higher concentrations in the rind of watermelons than the flesh. As the rind is not commonly eaten, two of Patil's fellow scientists, drs. Steve King and Hae Jeen Bang, are working to breed new varieties with higher concentrations in the flesh.
In addition to the research by Texas A&M, watermelon's phyto-nutrients are being studied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service in Lane, Oklahoma.
As an added bonus, these studies have also shown that deep red varieties of watermelon have displaced the tomato as the lycopene king, Patil said. Almost 92 percent of watermelon is water, but the remaining 8 percent is loaded with lycopene, an anti-oxidant that protects the human heart, prostate and skin health.
"Lycopene, which is also found in red grapefruit, was historically thought to exist only in tomatoes," he said. "But now we know that it's found in higher concentrations in red watermelon varieties."
Lycopene, however, is fat-soluble, meaning that it needs certain fats in the blood for better absorption by the body, Patil said.
"Previous tests have shown that lycopene is much better absorbed from tomatoes when mixed in a salad with oily vegetables like avocado or spinach," Patil said. "That would also apply to the lycopene from watermelon, but I realize mixing watermelon with spinach or avocadoes is a very hard sell."
No studies have been conducted to determine the timing of the consumption of oily vegetables to improve lycopene absorption, he said.
"One final bit of advice for those Fourth of July watermelons you buy," Patil said. "They store much better uncut if you leave them at room temperature. Lycopene levels can be maintained even as it sits on your kitchen floor. But once you cut it, refrigerate. And enjoy."
[Dr. Bhimu Patil @ Texas A&M University -- Agricultural Communications]Related Articles:
Earlier today Harmonix announced on the Rock Band website that they are releasing Rock Band 2 later this year. Now a lot of gaming sites already talked about that there were making Rock Band 2 but they haven't officially announced it until now. Now this time around Harmonix will be adding more game modes and improving the drum sets with more realistic ones kinda because what they saw Guitar Hero doing and Improving both the Guitar and the Drums sets so they won't break as easy as the first game did. Now one of the great things from learning that they are making a new Rock Band is that they have manage to make Rock Band 1 downloadable songs work on the new Rock Band 2 so there won't be any re downloading and all the new songs they release every week will work with both games. Now one of the bad parts is that it seems that they will release it first for the Xbox 360 in September while other systems like the PS3, PS2, and Wii will have to wait til later. Which of course affects me because I own a PS3 Version of the first Rock Band but I guess I don't have to complain because I probably will be playing the new Guitar Hero or another game so they can just take there time so it can work. Overall I'm really excited can't wait for the new Rock Band. 
Everyone loves to save a little money right? Well here's a way to save up to 35% the next time you buy something off of eBay.com, thanks to Microsoft.
This offer only applies to Buy It Now items that are paid for with PayPal. The daily rate changes day to day; some days it might be the full 35%, other times it might only be 10%. Here???s how to get the discount.
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If you were to take the 
One of the most spectacular anatomy exhibits that I have ever seen in my life has been the Body Worlds exhibit in Phoenix Arizona.?? Body Worlds is an exhibit that shows real humans, who have been preserved through a process called plastination.?? Each exhibit showcases different muscles and organs of the body.?? Besides anatomy, the exhibit shows the differences between alcoholic and normal livers; smokers lungs compared to a normal lung and so forth.
(CNN) -- Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-Independent who is a strong supporter of Republican John McCain's White House bid, suggested Sunday the United States will likely face a 
Apple today released 10.5.4 for all Leopard users. This update fixes some general bugs in iCal, Expose/Spaces, Safari, Airport, and security fixes. As Apple puts it,
??The 10.5.4 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac.
For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: 
This guy named jon who posted a comment in my Best Adobe Air App blog post, told me about this app called DeskTube. I think by the name of it you should know pretty much what it is. YouTube, on your desktop. And I think this app is pretty awesome because of the fact that I don't need to open my browser to watch youtube videos. I really like it. It has a really good User Interface, you can log in with your YouTube account, you can even make comments. I would LOVE to have this app into the iPhone instead of the one that Apple provided, because Apple's YouTube app only allows you to watch videos, not comment or view anyone's profile. So thanks Jon once again for recommending me this app, and I hope everyone else enjoys it too. Not exactly my favorite though, I still have Twhirl on my top list, but a few tweaks to DeskTube and it could reach my #1 favorite. The main problem with DeskTube is that its a little slow to load. But thats ok, because at least the quality is good :)
DeskTube Rating: 9.5/10
I have used adsense for along while now. I have yet to have had one person join the adsense program through a referral link on my site. Or atleast as reported by them i have not. Then again, none of the affiliate programs I have ever signed to have?? let me know that anyone used my link. I do know that when i am looking fro a new advertiser for my site. I do checkinto the?? " hey try us" links. Can we trust DoubleClick yet?
But as the title stated, here is the email I received today .
Hello,
Thank you for participating in the AdSense Referrals program.
We???re writing to let you know that we will be retiring the AdSense
Referrals program during the last week of August. We appreciate
your patience during this transition and here are some alternative
options to consider:
* Google Affiliate Network: As part of the integration of
DoubleClick, the DoubleClick Performics Affiliate Network will now
operate as the Google Affiliate Network for advertisers targeting
users located in the United States. Similar to the AdSense
Referrals program, the Google Affiliate Network enables publishers
to apply for advertiser programs and get paid based on
advertiser-defined actions instead of clicks or impressions. For
further details, please visit:
Can you afford not to drive? Most of us depend on cars for some part of our daily lives. By using some easy Hypermile (or fuel efficient driving) tricks you can beat your car???s EPA rating and save some dollars. Here are ten easy things you can do to boost your MPG. Read more.
In a theatre of war, there is a term that is known universally to all military personnel. That term is "the golden hour". Simply it means that the first sixty minutes after a trauma are critical. It means life or death.
People living in cities take it for granted that medical services are readily available. It may mean that an ambulance reaches your door in minutes or emergency room services are accessible quickly.
It is not so in small communities. Sometimes, an adequate emergency room is hours away. The community may have limited medical services. It is not unusual for a small town physician to have a patient base that numbers in the thousands and covers a wide catchment area. For many physicians, it means an unmanageable work load and constant stress.
The simple solution is to have more physicians in small rural communities.
This is a simple solution but it is not easily accomplished. Rural communities have a difficult time attracting graduating medical students. Practice in rural communities just does not have the lure of big city medical practices. The possibility of being overworked in a rural community is not a strong incentive to these graduates. This will continue to be the trend until rural communities become pro-active in selling their communities and taking steps to secure medical services.
One step that small communities can take is to set up financial stipends to help future physicians through medical school. This is not a small investment and, in return for this financial support, the community would be guaranteed a certain number of years of service in that area. It would be a positive situation for both the community and the medical graduate. The community would have the much needed service and an opportunity to "sell" regional practice to the new graduate. For the new graduate, it means going to a community in which services are needed and going into practice without a massive financial debt.
The financial support may mean that medical admissions committees have a more diverse application pool from which to select their students. People for whom medical school is not financial viable could afford to apply, with rural financial support. Small communities need to lobby medical school admission committees to select for people who will return to rural areas to practice. Universities could adjust their fee schedule in return for a commitment to work in a rural practice for a certain number of years.
Some people are hoping that technology will solve this problem. Rural communities can be connected online to medical personnel on a constant basis. That is fine for some problems. However, remember the 'golden hour'. That means that treatment must begin as soon as possible. This means 'hands on' treatment - and an internet connection is only an intermediary solution.
In the end, medical service is still 'old school'. It means people being available to treat other people. And for rural communities, it means being pro-active. This problem is not even a faint blip on the radar of most politicians. However if, in the future, someone from a rural community needs emergency medical service, this may be a 'life or death' issue.
Catherine Forsythe 
Choice of footwear is important for many reasons. Now it appears that a bad choice may have further reaching implications than previously known.
from Popular Science
A new bill before Congress would add some new features to the Americans With Disabilities Act, to insure that all Americans have equal access to TV and the Internet. But the one feature that stands out is providing close captioning for Internet videos. The bill would mandate that the FCC have in place guidelines for close captioning 18 months after the bill is passed. The articles goes on to state:
Quick question...do you like my new background? This new background not only fits in with the blog, but also cures to some extent the 
Opera has scheduled 
I still think that Bill Gates has been the single most influential person in the computer market for the last 30 years. Without him things would have happened in a very different way. We would still have many of the technologies that we have today but there would be so many different standards that the computer wouldn't be the same convenience it is today.
Bill Gates technically spent his last day at Microsoft and while I sometimes get angry at Microsoft's monopoly, I still think that we were better off with one company taking us all in a clear direction. So now we move into the Steve Ballmer era. What does that mean for us? I think this is an uncertain time in the technology world. I don't think that our lives will change to an extreme, but I think that with a new captain in the ship we could end up taking a different route from now on.
I think the next version of Windows will tell us a lot. Windows Vista was still Bill's project really. Even though he had given the CEO position to Steve quite some time ago, just having Bill at the office means that he was still making decisions.
Windows 7 as it is being called right now, will be headed up by the same execs but I wonder if they have had some ideas in their heads that they just didn't push because it didn't follow Bill's vision. Now that Bill has left it might be their opportunity to try those ideas out.
My feeling is that it's scary that we might lose some of that direction we have come to trust and on the other side there might be an opportunity for things to change and improve.
Only time will tell. 
It's time for my favorite summer-time activity; barbecues! While you might think you already have everything you need to throw a great barbecue here are ten items that can make barbecuing tastier, easier, and much more fun.
I had to get a case for my iPod Nano because it kept getting small scratches along the back of it. So I went to Staples and found the 
A former teen mom rings in with commentary about the teen pregnancy pact...
At the left, you're seeing a picture of my father's computer. It's a Packard Bell iStart-model.
If you want to know WHAT happened to my father's computer, please search for the other post. Sorry, I'm to lazy to post a link right now...
If you want to know what was being repaired, stay reading here...
So, my father brought the computer to our nearest computer shop. He gave them the computer, and my father thought it would take them at least three to four days.
Well, it wasn't. They repaired the problem in just ONE day. That's right, ONE.
So, what broke? Just one little part, but it's a very important part of the computer. It makes the processor working, and the hard drive spinning. It makes the DVD-burner burn all your home movies, and makes the diskette drive (if you still own one) do magic things (for the time diskettes were popular... so... never mind.).
Do you already know what broke? Some people already sent in comments, and they were indeed right: it was the power block.
That's right, one of these things.
And it's unbelievable, but the computer shop made my dad (which doesn't has any base knowledge about the inside of a computer, so he believes like everything he's being told), pay $150 for it!
FireTune: downloaded and used on more than 2.5 million computers!
??In most of all cases you'll notice an improved browsing speed after optimizing Firefox with FireTune.
