Andrulla Blanchette and Valentina Chepiga news

Gene X Hwang writes on the blog on Genex Online Magazine:

“The only time there were two Ms. Olympias was (in 2000) when Andrulla Blanchette (older interview on bodybuilding.com) and Valentina Chepiga (older interview on bodybuilding.com) won it together as the classes were split up. Andrulla is back training some but also has some of her suits and such on auction at eBay now while Valentina is planning a comeback for the 2007 Olympia!”

Exercise important in reducing size of abdominal fat cells

ScienceDaily reports of new research from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Exercise is the medicine that ails most problems:

“Reducing the size of abdominal fat cells takes more than cutting calories, according to new research. Early results from a five-year study show that exercise should be added to the equation.”

Other titles of releases from WFUB Medical Center News from 2005/2006 I found interesting:

• Animal Studies Suggest Vegetables May Reduce Hardening of Arteries
• Trans Fat Leads To Weight Gain Even on Same Total Calories, Animal Study Shows
• Small Study Points to Addictive Effects of Frequent Tanning
• Expectations About Pain Can Affect Its Intensity, Research Shows
• Genetics May Affect How Older Adults Respond to Exercise
• Suppressing Growth Hormone in Early Adulthood May Prevent Cancer
• Liver May Be Source of “Good” Cholesterol, Animal Study Suggests
• Deficiency of Growth Hormone and IGF-1 Reduces Cancer and Kidney Disease, but Creates Other Problems

Soy sauce made out of human hair

This should make dieting much easier. If you have a taste for food after reading this, you are stone cold! Blogger Lou Minatti asks “You want some human hair with your eggroll?“:

“A team of journalists from the state-run China Central Television (CCTV) investigated the production of the Hongshuai Soy Sauce. The Chinese journalists went to the food seasoning manufacturer in Hubei province. They pretended to be buyers and enquired about the soy sauce ingredients. The source was human hair. But wait, it gets better.

“Because the human hair was gathered from salons, barbershops and hospitals around the country, it was unhygienic and mixed with condoms, used hospital cottons, used menstrual cycle pads, used syringes, etc. After being filtered by the workers, the hair would then be cut small for processing into amino acid syrup.”

The original report can be found in The Internet Journal of Toxicology:

“The reason for the food seasoning manufacturer using human hair to generate amino acid syrup for making soy sauce is economic. Human hair is cheap and rich in protein content, similar to soybean, wheat and bran, which gives the soy sauce its characteristic favour.”

Museum of Hoaxes has another view:

“But what the article doesn’t mention, but which I believe to be true, is that soy sauce isn’t the only food product made out of this cheap hair-made amino acid powder. The stuff is also sold in large quantities to the bakery industry which uses it as a source of L-cysteine to make dough softer and more elastic. Think about that next time you’re chewing on a bagel.”

Loose fat with a diving suit, a treadmill and vacuum

The blog Medgadget writes about a diving suit, vacuum, and exercise on a treadmill. Sounds like a dream I once had…

“Apparently the Vacunaut works on the theory of hypoxic training which says that difficult fat deposits have decreased blood flow and are therefore less likely to be utilized by the body.

Never mind the fact that exercise increases blood flow or that ‘hypoxic training’ traditionally refers to high altitude induced erythropoiesis, not weight loss. Color me suspicious.”

From the Vacunaut section of the Southwest Hypoxitraining Centre website:

“Vacunaut treatment involves exercising on a treadmill whilst wearing a specially adapted diving suit which places your abdomen in a computer controlled vacuum.”

DeCarbolito: The Ultimate Supplement – spoof of “as seen on TV”-ads

GreatInventions.tv (a spin-off on MailOrderHusbands.net) has many fake products on their site, such as Stoltz Revolution Razor, Magic Wand Home Tattoo Removal System, and Holistic Harmony Belt. A funny spoof of supplement ads is DeCarbolito (Ingredients: Boldenone Undecyclenate (horse steroid),  Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase (hummingbird enzyme))! Just read these warnings:

• Users of DeCarbolito should drink 18 to 20 glasses of water a day to avoid kidney infection.
• Use of DeCarbolito may cause gastro-intestinal discomfort, such as diverticulitis.
• DeCarbolito may cause breath to smell like oysters for up to two hours after ingesting.
• DeCarbolito may cause breasts to grow in males between ages 18 and 49.
• Use of DeCarbolito may cause nose hair to grow at an accelerated rate.
• DeCarbolito may cause voices to lower in females by up to three octaves.
• DeCarbolito may cause people to experience a fear of widths.
• DeCarbolito may cause an extra four to six molars to grow in some cases.
• Avoid taking DeCarbolito within seven days of any medical exam.

Rocky statue struggles to find a new home

First of all, don’t miss the Rocky VI trailer at Apple – Movie Trailers. It kicks ass!

The half-ton bronze statue of Rocky currently sits in storage, since Philadelphia’s Art Commission objects to moving the statue to the foot of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps, “questioning its artistic value…”. CBC writes:

“An attempt to move a bronze statue of the movie character Rocky Balboa to the foot of the Philadelphia Museum of Art has been quashed. Sylvester Stallone donated the statue of himself playing the underdog boxer from the film series Rocky.

Stallone immortalized the museum in the first film in 1976 with a triumphant run up its steps as Rocky, his fists pumping in the air as he got to the top, accompanied by the exultant Rocky theme.”

More about the Rocky statue(s): TotalRocky.com, Philadelphia Oddities, and a discussion about the placement at Phillyblog.com. Or why not visit the offical movie blog for more news about the film, opening December 22nd, 2006… In other news, you know you are from Philadelphia when…

…You know (knew) where to find the Rocky statue.