Would you end a friendship because you were afraid of getting fat? That may sound like a silly question, but research shows there are at least three ways to catch obesity from your friends. Now, we aren’t suggesting you cut ties with all your heavy-set friends, but it is important to know what puts you at risk. And when it comes to gaining weight, hanging out with obese friends very definitely puts you at risk.

The “Fat” Virus: Ad-36

For me, not much is scarier than knowing there’s a virus that makes you fat. Forget the years of exercise and eating right: are researchers really telling me all that work will be wiped out if someone sneezes on me in an airport? Well, yes. And no. Surprisingly, there are six different viruses that have been shown to cause weight gain in animals. Adenovirus Ad-36 is the only virus associated with human obesity, however. In a study of rhesus monkeys and male marmosets, both groups of animals that had been exposed to the virus exhibited increased adiposity – that is, fat.

The good news is that not everyone who carries the virus will become obese. Research indicates that there is a genetic component involved as well. In fact, the adenovirus most often manifests as a respiratory or eye infection, but in some individuals, a particular gene inside the virus causes stem cells (cells that can develop into any type of in the human body) to turn into fat cells.

The human body recovers from most viruses on its own, including Ad-36. Scientists still aren’t sure why Ad-36 leaves you fatter after recovery. In studies, animals remained obese for six months after testing positive for Ad-36 antibodies. Considering the epidemic proportions of obesity in the United States, we can expect this virus to become a relatively long-term problem for people who become infected.

The University of Louisiana’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center is studying Ad-36 with the hope of developing a vaccine that could prevent the spread and occurrence of the virus. Unfortunately, however, medical science doesn’t have any easy answers for us yet. There are no cures, and research is still in the preliminary stages. On the other hand, most researchers working on the problem agree that it is not the only cause of obesity in the United States or even one of the leading causes. In a study conducted in Bombay, only ten out of 52 obese adults tested positive for Ad-36 antibodies. Lifestyle and genetics are still much more significant concerns.

Sharing Meals: Choose Your Dinner Partner Wisely

Did your mother ever warn you to watch your figure after marriage? Many new wives find that eating like a man can lead to a well, more manly figure, which is not exactly what most of us had in mind when we said: “for better or for worse.” When it comes to meals, what is good for a 6 foot, 2-inch man is not necessarily so good for his 5 foot, 4-inch wife.

While dating, many of the women I know have been willing to occasionally trade in their favorites for his – which usually means trading in the salad and lean meat option for an occasional t-bone and fries. But once the couple marries, and evening meals are more shared than not, this willingness to give in can become a problem that shows up on the hips.

Similar problems can arise with our friends. In fact, according to a new study by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler, our chances of becoming obese increase by 57% if a friend becomes obese, as compared to only 37% of your spouse puts on weight.

Not only do we often eat the same food at meals with friends, but friends also serve as a social barometer of what is or is not appropriate. If your friend is ordering extra cheese and a double order of fries, you might indulge with them without scrutinizing this behavior as carefully as you might otherwise. A Cornell study even shows that obese wives are happier in their marriages than average-weight wives, which might suggest that the psychological comfort of marriage (or having friends who accept you for who you are), goes a long way.

Comfort food is a particular problem. Eating a pint of ice cream in your sweatpants at home might be a clear tip-off that you need to change your behavior, but meeting a girlfriend for a chat at a cute little downtown pastry shop isn’t likely to toss up any red flags. It just feels like a good way to connect with your gal pals. Unfortunately, in terms of fat and calories, both activities will leave you a little heavier.

Many weight loss programs advise you to avoid situations in which your companions are overeating. Others, such as Weight Watchers, stress the importance of support groups. One thing is certain you need to work extra hard to be sure that your dinner partner’s plate doesn’t affect yours unless you’re eating with Jenny Craig herself.

Get Out and Move

Remember back in college when a girls’ night meant dancing in a crowded bar until two o’clock in the morning? Remember when you didn’t just watch football on Sundays, but you went outside at half-time for a game of pick-up? Just as an earlier active lifestyle kept us in the best shape of our lives, the inactive lifestyles of our friends can affect us as we get older. If spending time with a friend means always choosing a movie over a bike ride, this will have a long-term impact on our bodies.

It’s not just a question of how good you look. Sedentary lifestyles carry very serious medical and emotional risks. According to a Harvard study, “The direct costs of lack of physical activity, defined conservatively as the absence of leisure-time physical activity, are approximately 24 billion dollars [per year].”

Fortunately, this is one area in which our friends can be just as much of a help as they are a risk factor. Making a pact to meet two or three times a week to take a walk is a great way to keep in touch with friends and get some exercise at the same time. The gentle social pressure of knowing you have a commitment to someone can be a great way to motivate yourself. And a good conversation with a buddy can turn a long walk into something that’s more of a pleasure than a chore.

The most important point of the Christakis / Fowler study is that like it or not, we gain and lose weight as a team. Our friends’ choices and habits – and even their viruses – are likely to affect us. Yet the choices are ours. We just need to be conscious enough to make the very best choices. And once we’ve done that, we’ll be prepared to give the people we care about a pretty spectacular gift: a friend who is not just true blue, but a positive influence for good health and a slim figure. Who knew that friendship could provide such benefits?

Let’s face it. This has been a rough year. A lot of us don’t feel all that merry (or bright) this holiday season. Well here’s something that’ll twinkle your tinsel and bounce your ornaments. Drinking is good for you! And I’m not just talking about red wine. Here are 10 reasons to put the good cheer back into your festivities.

10. Drinking alcohol does not contribute to weight gain.

Although alcohol contains calories, apparently drinking alcohol doesn’t lead to weight gain, according to extensive medical research over the past decade. In fact (and this really is the best part), many studies report a small reduction in weight for women who drink.

The reason alcohol doesn’t increase weight is unclear, but research suggests energy from alcohol is not efficiently used but the body. Alcohol also appears to increase metabolic rate significantly, thus causing more calories to be burned rather than stored in the body as fat.

Whatever the reasons (and frankly, I don’t care!), alcohol consumption is not associated with weight gain and is often associated with weight loss in women.

After drinking alcohol in bars you must test yourself with rapid tests, this is a simple COVID self-test that will ensure you that you did not get COVID from the crowded spaces. It will enable you to get medical treatment on time if you got COVID and helps others not get infected by you, it’s the responsibility of everyone to be safe.

9. Vodka could save your life!

It did for an Italian tourist in Australia. Although it’s not clear that’s the result he was seeking. The 24-year-old, who was not further identified, was rushed to Mackay Base Hospital in northeastern Queensland state after an apparent suicide attempt by ingesting a large quantity of ethylene glycol, a common ingredient of antifreeze that can cause kidney failure. Pure alcohol is often used to treat these cases because it can inhibit the toxic effects of ethylene glycol. Mackay Base Hospital Dr. Pascal Gelperowicz said the man was given pharmaceutical-grade alcohol when he arrived, but that the hospital’s supplies soon ran out.

“We quickly used all the available vials of 100 percent alcohol and decided the next best way to get alcohol into the man’s system was by feeding him spirits through a nasogastric tube,” Dr. Gelperowicz said in a statement.

“The patient was drip-fed about three standard drinks an hour for three days in the intensive care unit,” he said. “The hospital’s administrators were also very understanding when we explained our reasons for buying a case of vodka.” If you have just gone through cataract eye surgery, avoid drinking alcohol.

8. Compared to the rest of the world, you don’t drink that much anyway.

We’re always told you only derive benefits from alcohol with “moderate” drinking. In the stingy US, that’s only 2 drinks for men, and one for women. But most countries define moderation at higher levels than the US. For example, Australia, Italy, and France consider 3 to 4 drinks per day for men to be moderate. In terms of overall alcohol consumption by country, the US isn’t even in the top ten!

According to “The Top 10 of Everything” for 2000, with per capita consumption of only 1.74 gallons of alcohol per person, the US is way down at 32nd on the list. Portugal is number one, with 2.98 gallons per person, with Luxembourg, France, Hungary, Spain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland rounding out the top ten.

7. Moderate Champagne consumption may protect your brain.

According to study results published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, sparkling wine may help protect the brain against injuries incurred during a stroke and other ailments, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The joint British and Italian research team found that the particular antioxidant polyphenols found in Champagne (which differ from those in red wine) give bubbly its ability to not only protect against neurotoxicity but even restore brain-cell function in the test subjects (Champagne-quaffing mice).

The scientists also believed that two of the polyphenols (caffeic acid and tyrosol)l may help to normalize the cells’ response to injury with their anti-inflammatory attributes. The compounds also act as cellular-level mops, essentially cleaning up and removing hazardous chemicals from the body. The researchers also wrote that there was evidence that dietary polyphenols can cross the “blood-brain barrier,” which would suggest this molecular behavior has the potential to act in the same way within the human central nervous system if consumed. Down the road, scientists are hoping to shed more light on the potential beneficial effects of Champagne on human health and life span, with a specific interest in its influence on aging.

6. Overall, drinking saves more lives than it ends.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) calculates that if all drinkers in the U.S. became abstainers, there would be an additional 80,000 deaths per year because abstaining dramatically increases the risks of heart attack, ischemic stroke, and other diseases and life-threatening conditions. Separately, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated in 2001 that abusive drinking lead to about 75,766 deaths from all causes, a number that continues to decline. Putting the two analyses together indicates that moderate alcohol consumption saves more lives than are lost as a result of alcohol abuse.

5. Jagermeister might help your digestion (and trap flies).

Introduced in Germany in 1935, Jagermeister was originally concocted for medicinal purposes, said to cure everything of chronic cough to digestive problems. In Germany to this day, it is still widely recognized as a digestif and is kept in many German households for that purpose, sometimes irreverently called Leberkleber, or “liver-glue.”

It is also commonly used around the home in small quantities as an insect trap, as small flies and wasps are drawn to the sweet smell and taste of the drink (especially when mixed with Red Bull, but then you can’t get them to sit still).

4. Beer is good for you

While the health benefits of red wine are old news, Dutch researchers, writing in the journal The Lancet suggests beer may be even better.

Beer contains vitamin B6 which prevents the build-up of a chemical called homocysteine in the body- thought to be linked to an increase in the risk of heart disease. Dr. Henk Hendriks and colleagues from the TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute studied 111 healthy men who each drank beer, red wine, spirits, and water for three weeks with dinner. They found that homocysteine levels did not increase after beer consumption, but rose after drinking wine and spirits. Beer drinkers had a 30% increase in vitamin B6 in blood plasma, much higher than those who had drunk only wine or spirits.

3. Whiskey, brandy, rum, tequila, and gin might be healthier than your mother’s pot roast.

Distilled spirits contain no carbohydrates, no fats, no cholesterol, and no sodium. Your mother’s braised pot roast most likely contains about 10 grams of fat (3 grams saturated), 65 grams of cholesterol, 232 mg of sodium, and 12 grams of carbs.

2. Gin and tonic can help relieve cramps (leg cramps, that is).

Tonic water is flavored with a small amount of quinine, which comes from the bitter bark of the South American cinchona tree, and has been used for hundreds of years in more potent medicinal doses to prevent and treat malaria, stop nocturnal leg cramps, and treat a host of other maladies. It can also bring the fever down, reduce inflammation, and combat some infections. Full strength quinine is only available by prescription, but many people report relief from leg cramps – even those brought on by athletic activity such as cycling or running – when they drink tonic water.

1. The court won’t force you to join Alcoholics Anonymous.

In 2000, model-citizen Ricky Inouye, a Buddhist, meth addict, an ex-con in Hawaii was arrested for trespassing and tested positive for drugs. His parole officer ordered him to attend a Salvation Army treatment program that included participation in Narcotics Anonymous meetings. Inouye showed up but refused to participate, dropped out after two months, and was later sent back to prison in November 2001 for violating his parole. After his release in 2003, Inouye sued his parole officer and others for violating his constitutional rights. Inouye died while the suit was pending, but his son took over the case. In September of 2007, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Inouye, ruling that the state had in effect coerced him into a religious-based program in the form of Alcoholics Anonymous (which requires participants to commit to “turning our lives over to the care of God”). So that’s ONE less thing to worry about!

“Is that a baseball bat in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” Ask any of the following guys that question and you just might get an eyeful of flesh that would put Dirk Diggler to shame. These fellas have all been blessed-or cursed-with the largest penises in the world, and their larger-than-life measurements will make jaws drop and eyes cross (and surely increase sales of lubricant and Magnums in the process). So who are these XXXL lovers, and more importantly, what are their phone numbers? Read on.

Jonah Falcon

Jonah Falcon

New Yorker Jonah Falcon’s super-sized penis (9.5 inches flaccid, 13.5 inches erect) has earned him the title of “world’s biggest penis.” Still with us? According to a Rolling Stone profile, Falcon’s been packing heat since he was ten (the same year he lost his virginity).

“Those who have witnessed it describe it as ‘grotesque,’ ‘gorgeous,’ ‘hideous’ and ‘stunning,'” reporter Robert Kurson writes. “Falcon, who stands five foot nine, thinks his penis is perfectly formed, with a fifteen-degree downward curvature at the six-inch mark and absent the blotching, lumpiness, and sudden bends that mark some oversize sex organs. A penis this size functions, physiologically, like any other, according to urologists, a claim substantiated by Falcon. His balls are proportionately huge, each the size of a grade-A jumbo egg. When erect, Falcon’s penis generates enough heat to warm hands — campfire-style — from a distance of six inches.”

While one would think that a million women would love a large lover and fireplace in one, The Sun reports that Falcon hasn’t had a girlfriend in a decade and feels that his girth is a curse.

“When I meet people they find it hard to look me in the eye, they just see what’s in my trousers,” Falcon told the paper. “I just want to find a steady girlfriend who doesn’t think I’m a freak show.”

Mandingo

ManDingo

According to his Wikipedia.com entry, adult film star ManDingo (real name: Frederick Lamont) boasts a penis that measures 11 3/4 inches in length and over 6 1/2 inches in girth and has been recognized by his porn peers as the biggest in the biz. (They should know, right?) His prolific film career supports that rep, with films like Monster Cocks, Little White Chicks, Big Black Dicks, Big Black Beast, When Big Just Ain’t .

Liam Neeson

Liam Neeson

We’ll have to depend on Liam Neeson’s lovely wife Natasha Richardson to give us the exact dimensions, but according to former lover Janice Dickinson, “The Loch Nees” monster isn’t just a myth. ContactMusic.com reports that the loud-mouthed former supermodel had this to say about Neeson’s goods: “He unzipped his pants and an Evian bottle fell out. It was insane! Wouldn’t you just go gaga? He was amazing!” We’ll never look the same at bottled water again.

Castro Caliente

Castro Caliente

At 11 inches in length and 8 inches in girth, adult entertainer Castro Caliente’s penis is bigger than some socialite’s lapdogs. Not surprisingly, Caliente’s talents have made him a favorite with the Big Cock Society, which enthuses, “What a sex tool. Some people might even call it a hammer.” We’ll just call it

Milton Berle

Milton Berle

Most people remember late comedian Milton Berle for his performance as an Alzheimer’s patient bonding with Steve Sanders on “Beverly Hills 90210” or as a 1950s dress-wearing yukster. But Berle’s biggest legacy may be the one between his legs. Berle was rumored at one point to have the biggest package in Hollywood. Even a memorial tribute following his death was riddled with penis jokes, says The New Yorker. “We are here to honor Milton Berle, who passed away on March 27th,” comedian Freddie Roman eulogized. “On May 1st and May 2nd, his penis will be buried.”

Everything2.com has this telling anecdote: “The famous story goes that whenever anyone challenged Milton to compare sizes, he would have the other mango first, and then only pull out enough of his own to beat the other guy. Berle never denied the rumors because, hey, what guy would.”

Shane Diesel

Shane Diesel

Otherwise known as “Blackzilla,” adult film star Shane Diesel is the proud owner of a penis that, according to BigCockSociety.com, measures 10 inches in length and 8 inches across. What else would you expect from the star of 2 Big To Be True? To get all the gory details of the exploits of Shane and his “black hose,”

Tommy Lee

Tommy Lee

Even our grandmothers caught a glimpse of Tommy Lee’s motley crew member. And according to FemaleFirst.co.uk, she can read about it too. The site reports that Tommy Lee, the ex-husband of Pamela Lee Anderson, devoted a chapter of this autobiography, “Tommyland,” to his “manhood.” Lee was also inspired to write this little ditty: “My baloney has a first name, it’s p-e-n-i-s.” Has a nice ring to it, don’t

Richard Mann

Richard Mann

Porn star Richard Mann has got some major privates. BigCockSociety.com says Mann measures up at 11 by 6 inches, meaning he’s one inch short of being a walking ruler. The site devoted to large appendages raves, “There is lots of cock leftover even when he wraps two hands around it.” Judging by the raunchy pics posted on Mann’s blog, “The Abominable Blackman” loves to put his “huge African oak” to good use. .

John Holmes

John Holmes

If you’ve got a large penis, you might as well be a porn star. That’s where John Holmes made his name, starring in countless XXX flicks. According to Rotten.com, “The most precise measurement ever given for the length of John Holmes’ penis was 12.58 inches, cited in SCREW magazine. But 20.51% of that figure was pure hype. In a 1989 Rolling Stone article, ex-wife Sharon recalled John’s self-amazement when he measured his penis in 1968: ‘It goes from five inches all the way to ten. Ten inches long! Four inches around!'”

Allegedly the inspiration for the Dirk Diggler character in Boogie Nights, Holmes got involved with drugs and ultimately died of AIDS in 1988. He was portrayed by Val Kilmer in the film Wonderland.

Ricky Benetiz

Ricky Benetiz

According to the Latin Men Society escort service, Ricky Benetiz’s whopper of a penis measures 12.5 inches in length and is 7 inches thick. And as BigCockSociety.com helpfully points out, it “takes three.

Ron Jeremy

Ron Jeremy

The catch about large penises is that they aren’t always bestowed upon good-looking men. Case in point: Ron “Hedgehog” Jeremy. So how big is Ron Jeremy’s famous penis? “Two inches…from the floor,” he likes to joke, according to an interview with New York magazine. In fact, it measures 9 3/4 inches in length, which is impressive but comes up a bit short on this list. Still, the man can perform autofellatio, so we’ll,

Porfirio Rubirosa

Porfirio Rubirosa

We may never know the exact measurements of legendary, dearly departed playboy Porfirio Rubirosa (why don’t history books record the good stuff?), but according to The New York Times, “cheeky waiters referred to the largest pepper-mill in the house as ‘the Rubirosa.'” Perhaps that helped the Rat Pack-era Latin Casanova lands famous babes like Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eartha Kitt, and heiresses Barbara Hutton and Doris Duke, the former wife who, according to Shawn Levy’s “The Last Playboy,” described it as being “six inches in circumference… much like the last foot of a Louisville Slugger baseball bat with the consistency of a not completely inflated volleyball.”