14 THINGS WOMEN SHOULD KNOW 1 How much is too much? (Red wine, that is!) There you are happily glugging your nightly glass of red wine or three, readily citing the beneficial antioxidant properties it contains. But don't get blasé -although a moderate amount of red wine has been proven to be good for us, we shouldn't exceed more than two to three units a day, according to the Department Of Health. With a 125ml glass of wine (that's a small one), coming in at 1.5 units, anything more than two glasses a night and you are doing more harm than good. And don't think you can abstain for a few nights and save all those units for the weekend. Binge drinking has been linked to conditions including brain damage, breast cancer and strokes, and is an increasing problem in the UK. Alcohol Concern defines binge drinking as 'drinking that gets you drunk'. So cut down and you'll be doing yourself some good -as well as saving on all those empty calories. Which, of course, means you can have more chocolate! 2 Who said women can't throw? Throw a ball like a shot-put and you'll be accused of 'throwing like a girl'. However, according to former England women's cricket captain Clare Connor, 'There's nothing in the physiological make-up of women that would make them throw any differently from men.' Connor believes it's a nature-nurture issue: 'Fathers instinctively teach their sons to throw and catch when they're growing up, while daughters are usually overlooked.' 3 Straight up, dirty or with a twist? Mojitos will come and go, but the Martini will never go out of style. What is continually changing, however, is how to drink one. 'Straight up with a twist is the most popular on our menu,' says Tony Micelotta, head barman at Dukes Hotel in Mayfair, and a winner at the World Martini Championship in Italy. 'In a chilled glass I put a drop of dry vermouth, then five ounces of either gin or vodka that has been frozen for 24 hours. The twist is thinly peeled lemon zest, twisted to release its lemon oil into the drink.' But Micelotta, who serves around 100 Martinis a day, and makes his brand of mixology look as easy as falling off a bar stool, has a warning about dirty Martinis. 'They are not to everyone's taste because of the olive brine used in the drink. More of my women customers tend to drink passion fruit or rose petal Martinis,' he says. 4 Why is a catwalk called a catwalk? The word first appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1885 but as fashion historian Grace Rothstein, from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, reveals: 'Catwalks were originally much narrower than you'd see today, so that more space could be afforded potential buyers. Combined with high heels, the walk was said to be so perilous that only a sure-footed cat could walk it.' Now only women thinner than a moggy can strut it... 5 Can your heart skip a beat? The heart's sinus nodes, which generate the electrical signals that keep the heart beating, can momentarily lose their regular pattern, but these palpitations – or arrhythmias – are usually harmless, according to the British Heart Foundation, although they can be quite unpleasant or even alarming. Everyone experiences them at some time, including people with no evidence of heart disease. They have many causes including fear, anger, exercise, fever, stomach upsets or alcohol. However, that sneezing and orgasms cause arrhythmias is apparently a misconception... 6 Why do we fall out of love? It turns out Kate and Pete aren't the only love junkies around. 'We're all addicted to the chemicals that surge around our brain and through our bodies when we're besotted,' says Helen Fisher, author of Why We Love: The Nature And Chemistry of Romantic Love. 'But, inevitably, that chemical high starts to lessen over time and that‟s when it feels like we're falling out of love.' In particular, one highly addictive chemical is to blame: it's called phenylethylamine (PEA) and it controls the transition from lust to love, plus all the other chemicals, such as dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin, that contribute to our fervour. 'Couples stay in love because they keep doing things for each other that release PEA,' says Fisher. 'However, people who have had many relationships may have built up a tolerance to these chemicals, and it takes more and more to produce that much sought after 'love high'.' 7 Can you ever have too many shoes? Even though all women are affected with MCD -Manolo Compulsive Disorder -most don't take things to Imelda Marcos extremes. But who's to say that, with the resources, time and shelf space, they wouldn't? According to a 2005 study, British women possess £637 million worth of high heels that they have never worn. 'A woman's predilection towards buying shoes is only occasionally a practical one,' explains Sue Constable, a shoe heritage officer at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, which holds a collection of more than 12,000 pairs. And if you've ever dispatched half your pay cheque on a pair of yellow neon mules with vertiginous heels, you will know exactly what she means. But don't worry: 'Buying shoes fulfils another need,' continues Constable. 'The need to escape, to fantasise; the Cinderella factor.' In other words, it's enough to feel that those heels could whisk you safely down a red carpet, even if they're more likely to end up sitting in their box. 'For every practical purchase there is an aspirational purchase, and that is enormously beneficial for mental health and well-being,' says Cary Cooper, a professor of psychology and health at the University of Lancaster. So, before your partner throws up his smelly trainers in protest, let him in on the cure for your addiction -increased cupboard space. 8 What becomes of the broken hearted? Well, if recent studies are to be heeded, those pining over a relationship break-up should try to take it easy, as research has proven that a broken heart can actually be bad for your health. It's been the subject of romantic literature and soppy love songs for decades, but it seems that, far from being melodramatic, people really can die from a broken heart. A study carried out by researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2005, found that a traumatic break-up or the death of a loved one can unleash a flood of stress hormones into the body, which can stun the heart and produce symptoms similar to a heart attack. The condition, known to experts as stress cardiomyopathy, can cause chest pain, shortness of breath and weakening of the heart muscle in otherwise healthy people. One of the researchers, cardiologist Ilan Wittstein, warns, 'A broken heart can kill you, and this may be one way.' So it seems booking a fabulous post-break-up girly holiday and joy-inducing shopping trip is in fact a life-saving exercise after all! 9 Who invented high heels? Since the harlots of ancient Greece wore platforms to make them easier to spot, heels have been shorthand for sexy. Catherine de Medici, Italian wife of the Duke of Orleans and future Queen of France, commissioned a pair of heeled shoes for her first wedding in 1533 'both for fashion, and to increase her stature'. But it wasn't until the 1590s that heels really caught on in Europe, says Susan North, a curator at the V&A. Elizabeth I was a devotee, but it wasn't just the girls, says Susan: 'The, er, vertically challenged Louis XIV of France wore red heels in the 1650s -though presumably when his courtiers caught up with the fashion he was back where he started! And in England, Charles II set the fashion for high heels after the Restoration, although men's heels got lower again throughout the 18th century.' 10 When does an old dress become 'vintage'? There was a time – just ask your mum – when second-hand clothes brought shame on a woman's wardrobe. These days, 'vintage fashion' is something to shout about and the shame has been replaced by a hefty price tag. However, just because a dress looks vintage doesn't mean that it is. Reese Witherspoon found this out to her cost when she wore 'vintage' Chanel to the 2006 Golden Globes, only to make the discovery that the dress was, shock horror, only three years old. Let's face it – most of us have got something in the fridge older than that. 'The dateline for vintage clothing usually means nothing after 1980,' says fashion and textile expert Kerry Taylor, who sells vintage clothes through her own auction house. 'That includes accessories too. However, don't disregard eighties fashions as it was such an extravagant period there will almost certainly be a revival at some point and then the term will be broadened to include the eccentric designs of that decade too'. So, when buying vintage the rule is: look at anything up to the seventies but keep the shoulder pads on stand-by. 11 Why 2.5 litres per day? Actually, we don‟t need that much – no one even knows where the 2.5-litre rule came from. „It‟s almost an urban myth now,‟ says Catherine Collins, a dietician at St George‟s hospital, London, „ but it could have its origins in the fluid intake measurements of patients on IV drips.‟ So how much should we swig? „Only around one litre to replace the fluids lost throughout the day.‟ says St George‟s kidney specialist Professor David Oliveira. We lose about 100ml from breathing – body water is used to humidify air entering and leaving the lungs; 500ml from sweating and about 500ml through loo breaks. „A healthy diet can provide up to one litre of water a day,‟ adds Oliveira on the hidden H2O we often forget. „So another litre on top‟s more than adequate if you‟re not exercising.‟ 12 How are red and green peppers different? „It‟s all in the flesh of the vegetable,‟ says Gordon Muir at Hendon Salads, one of the UK‟s leading glasshouse growers. Most bell peppers, as horticulturalists call them, start out green in colour, but the vegetables that have been left to ripen longer turn yellow, purple, red, orange and even brown. „Vine-ripened peppers, like red and yellow varieties, have thicker, sweeter-tasting flesh because they have been on the vine longer. The less mature green bell peppers have thinner flesh and a sharper taste.‟ 13 Is there real bone in bone china? A sure way to horrify any vegetarians during high tea is to reveal to them the origins of their teacup. „Animal bone, which is a by-product of the food industry, is processed to create bone ash, which is added to the porcelain to increase the strength of the china,‟ says Heather Bayliss, category manager at Royal Doulton. „Porcelain can chip easily and can have a grey tinge. Adding bone makes it more resistant, whiter and more translucent.‟ That‟ll stop them licking the plate. 14 How do you make your eyelashes grow? „There is nothing that anyone knows of that will increase the growth of eyebrow/lash hair,‟ says Dr Ted Wojno, oculoplastic surgeon at the Emory Eye Center in Georgia. „This is particularly problematic when patients lose their lashes due to skin cancer or trauma.‟ Hair-loss specialist Lucinda Ellery agrees: „The length and thickness of eyelashes is determined by DNA. “Remedies” such as dabbing Vaseline on the lashes are simply old wives‟ tales.