Helene

Have you heard of stevia? It’s a natural, herbal substitute to sugar and artificial sweeteners, it’s 30 - 45 times sweeter than ordinary sugar, and the best part is that it’s calorie-free.

Stevia has shown that it can counteract obesity , high blood-pressure, lower blood sugar and low pancreas functionality.  Diabetics can use stevia as a natural sweetener, and it even contains several vitamins. Stevia can be purchased as a powder and is very light. Millions of japanese have used stevia for thirty years, and there is no reported or known harmful effects.

Unfortunately there is a health/political controversy to stevia despite all the research. EEC have decided to make the herb forbidden to use as food. They claim that it hasn’t been proven scientifically that stevia isn’t harmful, a claim that is even more interesting since the negative effects of sugar and aspartam has been known for years and is legal. One could wonder who is really benefitting from ensuring that stevia keeps being forbidden.

I use it mostly to sweeten my tea, and it takes a suprising small amount of stevia to  make the tea sweet. I recommend everybody to try it.

Update:

Stevia has recieved GRAS approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. On a more practical level that entails that companies can use stevia in food and beverages. Hopefully Coca Cola, Pepsi and other producers will jump at the chance.

Norwegian resources:

Purchase stevia as powder or the plant itself here: http://www.naturlegemiddel.com/
Information about stevia

I was introduced to the mooncup by Merete. A mooncup is a silicone menstruation cup that one places into the vagina and it works like a tampoon except the fluid goes into the cup.

After I bought the mooncup, menstruation have never been the same. Now, I don’t really notice when I have the period. I’m not worried about leakages, I don’t have to think about changing tampons etc. all the time, I don’t notice that it’s there, I can take a swim with it, I can sleep with it. It’s easy to clean, and it saves the environment from unnecessary waste.

If your female and haven’t heard of it before - buy it! You will love it. I guarantee it.

One guy have taken a look at the different extreme sports out there. I did find some I would like to do like zorbing and kite jumping. I have actually tried to control a kite once and it required a lot of muscles when turning the kite from left to right.

11 of the World’s Most Extreme Sports