Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Watch your Health!

Last week I received an email from one of my colleagues at work. I opened the email and saw that it is about a Chinese doctor who survived Lung Cancer. As I go along reading, it is about living a healthy lifestyle. That medicines are not always a way to cure ones sickness. It also about Dr. Tom Wu's book about health. I can't understand the title of the book because it is in Chinese but the email said that it is about 100 ways to stay healthy and eating what is right. I got interested on the topic and researched further and there is an online article I found dated April 2006. The title of the article is Let Medicine be Your Food and Food be Your Medicine - Hippocrates. It talks about healing and staying healthy the natural way and not other people are currently doing like taking pills to stay fit and taking advantage of the new technology.



Dr. Tom Wu
Photo from the Internet

Reading further on the email I have received, Dr Wu's principle is to strengthen the immune system, and avoid medication as much as possible. In his book, he offers the following guidelines to good health:

1. Have at least three bowel movements a day.

Other health experts may advise one bowel movement a day, but Dr Wu says that's not enough. You need three to four bowel movements a day in order to excrete all the accumulated feces from your intestine. Your liver will not be overburdened and it also helps reduce cholesterol in your body.

2. Drink at least three glasses of fruit or vegetable smoothies each day.

This is a way to ingest enough phytochemicals to strengthen the body's cells and immune system. Use not only the flesh, but also the skin and seeds of fruits and vegetables to make smoothies, as they are rich in phytochemicals. Most of the fruit seeds have small amounts of cyanide which kill bacteria and viruses without damaging the body.

Actually the recommended smoothie diet is six glasses a day, two in the morning, one before lunch, two more in the afternoon, and one more before dinner. However, if that's too much, you may start with three glasses a day. Use a high powered blender (at least three horsepower) as it can release phytochemicals from the fibre. It's best to choose sour fruits like green or red apples, grapes, pineapples, kiwi and lime.

3. Sunbathe 30 minutes daily.

We often hear that the Sun's UV rays will damage our skin, and many people apply sunblock before going out. But Dr Wu says the opposite. He says the UV rays will help convert cholesterol underneath the skin into vitamin A which helps moisten the skin and
prevent skin cancer, and also vitamin D that helps prevent colds, osteoporosis, and certain kinds of cancer.

"Therefore, use the Sun. Expose yourself to sunlight about one-half hour a day, at noon or another appropriate time based on your local climate. The Sun will make you healthier," says Dr Wu.

4. Exercise 30 minutes a day.

Don't exercise for more than 30 minutes. If you go beyond that, your body will be overworked. "If you do it more than half an hour, that will become labour, not exercise. Your heart and your body will be working too hard," he says.

5. Shower with hot, then cold water.

Try an alternating cold and hot water shower: Three minutes of hot water followed by 30 seconds of cold water, then repeat twice more. This process will bring a rush of blood and energy to your body. It helps increase your immune system, blood circulation, and metabolism.

6. Drink a lot of water, in the correct way.

How much water you need to drink each day depends on your specific situation. If your office is air-conditioned, drinking six glasses of water a day is enough. If your work involves lots of walking, you have to drink 8-10 glasses a day. If you work under the hot sun, then 10-12 glasses of water are required.

The way you drink is also important. The correct way is to sip it little by little, to give your body cells time to absorb the water. If you drink the whole glass down at once, your cells can't absorb it all, and the water will be excreted as urine.

7. Eat according to your blood type.

Your blood type determines what you should eat. Eating the wrong foods will make you sick.

People with blood type O have to eat a certain amount of meat. If they eat only vegetables for a long time, their body won't absorb all the substances they need to strengthen their immune system. The recommended diet for this group is 75% vegetables, 10% fruits, 10% meat, seafood and goat's milk (avoid cow's milk), and 5% grains.

People with blood type A, however should avoid milk and meat, while increasing grains and fruits. People with blood type B should also avoid meat, while those with blood type AB should avoid chicken and beef.

8. Eat according to your biological clock.

Every human being has a biological clock that tells us when to eat, sleep, and wake up. If you don't follow your biological clock, the organs will lose their balance. Toxins and wastes won't be excreted from your body, and soon you'll get sick.

According to Dr Wu, the biological clock is divided into three phases.

From 4am to noon is the time for bowel movements, so in the morning you should eat foods with lots of fibre. Fruit and vegetable smoothies are recommended.

From noon to 8pm, your body will absorb food so lunch is the most important meal. A vegetable salad with grains is recommended. Fish or boiled eggs can be added to your lunch. Avoid meat at dinner as the amino acids in the meat will disturb your sleep. Try to finish dinner by 6pm.

From 8pm to 4am, the nutrients and energy from food will be distributed throughout your body organs. The golden time for your sleep is between 10pm and 2am, as your immune and self-healing system will function at its best.

Dr Wu says people get sick because they eat the wrong foods. Fried food, for example, causes blockage in the arteries, bad circulation, cholesterol, and heart disease. "Instead of taking a cholesterol lowering drug, I would urge them to stop eating greasy food. My suggestion is to eat clean food, which is high in phytochemicals," he says.

Phytochemicals are natural cleansing agents that will help rid plaque from your arteries. They come from natural foods such as vegetables, fruits with their seeds, and common garden herbs. Phytochemicals will nourish the body's cells so they can fight against any foreign substances that invade your body.

With those mentioned above, I think it's time that we check what we eat on a daily basis and somehow be cautious of what we take in.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Salad anyone?

Yesterday after I got off from work I craved for salad. For my stomach and taste buds are telling me that I had enough meat and meat and meat for the whole week. Since there are lots of salads or should I say "types" or "kinds" of salad, I don't know which one I want to have. I usually eat Chef salad at Shakey's. I like salted eggs but not too much of that on my Chef salad. Too much of everything is bad for everyone's health. Yeah talk about of too much I need to get back in shape. Yeah I know your asking why I said that wherein if your reading my blog, you will read that I am playing lawn tennis. Well, weather here in the Philippines is not good lately. In the morning it rains and in the afternoon Mr. Sunny is way up high with all might light... then vice versa. With this kind of weather, even a kid can't go out and play. This is the scenario almost everyday and with that almost all my colleague are still going to work with colds, cough and a bit of flu. My colleague that I am sitting next to for the past week, until now, is coughing and she said that her throat is itchy. I just hope I won't catch any of those at work.

All right, salad salad salad, that's what I want to eat. When you say Salad, it contains lots of veggies especially green leafy lettuce. But I am wondering if there is another meaning for Salad so I checked Wikipedia and saw that the term Salad originated as the common name for schizophasia, a symptom of various mental illnesses. Schizophasia produces language that is not meaningful and might or might not be grammatical. "Salad" indicates that the words are tossed together randomly. Weird meaning for me but it is good for me. Ironic?

So I went to Shakey's one of my favorite restaurant, and checked their menu under salad and my eyes caught "Mandarin Salad
". Hmmm.. I've never tried this one before. So I ordered Mandarin Salad with Honey Mustard dip and here it is..







The salad contains fresh green crunchy leafy lettuce, shredded carrots, minced cucumber, whole corn and ofcourse when you say Mandarin, there is the orange. Sliced sweet mandarin oranges on the salad. It is healthy, refreshing and sweet!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

World Day for Water

In 1993 the United Nations General Assembly declared March 22 as World Day for Water (also known as World Water Day).

This day was first formally proposed in Agenda 21 of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Observance began in 1993 and has grown significantly ever since.

In 2005, marked the start of the second UN International Decade for Action for Water. Also called Water for Life Decade 2005-2015. This is in coordination with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) coordinated the World Day of Water in 2006 with the theme: Water and Culture. While in 2007, the theme was "Coping with Water Scarcity" in coordination with FAO.

Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) helps in promoting clean water and sustainable aquatic habitats. With this, they used World Day for Water to have the public be aware about the critical water issues of our era. NGO's and other agencies joined in getting the public be aware of issues like there are a billion people who have no access to safe water for drinking and the role of gender in family access to safe water.

Today, March 22, 2009 marks another World Day for Water. The ICRC calls the attention of the governments to ensure safe water and decent sanitation for civilians in conflict zones. It is said that many die because of diseases that is from unsafe water that people take in. We are lucky that we have safe drinking water. Whenever we do not use water properly, think of those people who don't have enough water to take in order to keep them hydrated and for those who are sick and dying due to not able to drink clean or fresh water. As they said, we cannot eat on bread alone, we need water to sustain our bodies and not be dehydrated especially now that we are having global warming.

Here are some photos I found on the internet.
Children carry home water collected from a roadside tap in an impoverished neighborhood of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, March 20, 2009. There is no direct supply of potable water at homes in most of the poor neighborhoods, and people residing there depend on regulated supply of water from public taps erected on roadsides, with a single tap catering to hundreds of households.

A boy drinks water from a roadside tap in Amritsar, India, Friday, March 20, 2009, ahead of World Water Day. There is no direct supply of potable water at homes in most of the poor neighborhoods and people have to depend on regulated supply of water from public taps erected on roadsides, with a single tap catering to hundreds of households.





A young girl fills a bucket with water from a public tap in Amritsar, India, Friday, March 20, 2009, ahead of World Water Day. There is no direct supply of potable water at homes in most of the poor neighborhoods and people have to depend on regulated supply of water from public taps erected on roadsides, with a single tap catering to hundreds of households.



People fill water from pipes on the outskirts of Ahmadabad, India, Saturday, March 21, 2009. World Water Day will be celebrated Sunday.

"Conserve Water!"

Sources: World Water Day , Wikipedia

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

It's Summer time in the Philippines!

Summer is filling the air. It's hot and humid. Wishing one can take a plunge to a nearby swimming pool or lake. Aside from that, drinking ice cold refreshments is one of the remedy to remove the heat feeling. Halo-halo is one of the prefect refreshments on the summer days here it has lots of ingredients in it like banana foster, topped with scoops of ice cream, coconut gel (nata de coco), coconut string, sweet ube, leche flan, sweet beans, palm fruit and jackfruit. All of these are packed beneath crushed ice and poured milk on it. Refreshing!



Aside from halo-halo and ofcourse wide variety of ice creams, for those health conscious but wants to refresh themselves, I suggest that you make yourselves fruit shakes or smoothies. When I have time or if there is a fruit available in the fridge, I make myself fruit shakes. You can turn one kind of fruit into a fruit shake by just using a blender and add milk and suger (if you prefer it to be sweet). But I always prefer two fruits in one fruit shake. What I observed is that not all fruits you can turn into a fruit shake. So here are the list you can use if you wish to make a fruit shake at your own home.




What are you waiting for, keep yourselves cool and prevent from dehydrating. Don't forget to put sunblock when you get out into the sun. Sunblock with SPF30 is the better than SPF15. It's best not to go anywhere between 10am to 4pm if you are not suppose to be going somewhere. Wear clothes that feels comfy to you and go to places well ventilated. Drink lots and lots of water. Keep it cool!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Nasopharyngeal Allergy

Here I go again... Sick again... Geezzz! I'm perfectly in good health, however, above my throat is not doing very well, I think it's my Nasal area. First week of February I had a flu and Pharyngitis. Pharyngitis is an inflammation of the throat or pharynx. In most cases it is painful, and thus is often referred to as a sore throat. Inflammation of the tonsils (tonsillitis) and/or layrnx (laryngitis) may occur simultaneously, which can make eating difficult or painful. But I still managed to eat after taking 3 days of antibiotics to a week. So I was well again and ready to do what I planned doing for the first week of February but never did due to I got sick. Then after a week of finishing my antibiotics, here it is again. I can eat but I feel that there is a lump near the left part of my throat and feeling a bit rough. It's hard for me to swallow at times and sometimes I lose my voice.

Yesterday I went to my doctor and have my throat checked. My tonsils are normal and no inflammation. As I tell my doctor what I feel, she finally told me that I have an allergy and this allergy is what they call Nasopharyngeal Allergy. Never heard of it and never had one before. I had nasal allergies and tonsilitis before but nothing like this one. I was trying to search the internet what it is all about but it only gives me Pharyngitis and Nasopharynx. The nasopharynx (nasal part of the pharynx) is the uppermost part of the pharynx. It extends from the base of the skull to upper surface of the soft palate. Here are some photos for you to see it,

Now I am taking anti-allergy meds. I hope after a week of taking these new sets of meds everything would be fine. Let's wait and see.

P.S. to my friends here in blogosphere, I'm sorry I cannot visit your blogs for the time being. But I'll try to visit okay. I hope you are all well.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Thirst Quencher

Whew! It's really hot hot outside. It seems like summer, right? It was only 8am but the heat of the morning sun seems like to already 12 noon. It really makes you thirsty and you wish you can stay in an air conditioned room all day. Others get headaches, cough and runny nose because of the changing weather everyday. You cannot predict it. Climate here in Philippines really have changed and not only here. It's alarming that the big glacier in Iceland are starting to melt one by one. If all of those melts, most of our lands will be covered with water. I just remembered the Bible story of Noah's Ark. I think before that happens we must do something.

We must consume a minimum of 2 liters of water everyday are more especially with this kind of heat. 60% of our body is compose of water. When we sweat and urinate, we lose water. So it is advisable to take plenty of water when you sweat a lot and when you always go to the comfort room to urinate. Drinking water will replace the body fluids that we lose. I myself makes it a daily habit to atleast consume 2 liters of water. That's why I bring along my tumbler when I am at work.








Cool tumbler huh! Makes me wanna drink plenty of water to refresh me.

Also to keep me awake at work because I am on a night shift. I need to drink coffee. But I think I am already immune to coffee. I'm still sleepy after I drank coffee geezzz! Anyway, I love my coffee cold especially during these hot temperature. So I bring with me too my coffee mug.



Well aside from those are my drinking glasses, those are also part of my superman collections.
So what are you waiting for, be sure that you drink 2 liters of water daily and it's good for your health.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

On Melamine content products

This melamine content products are really scary. Even though we know that kidney failure will not only result from taking melamine, we still need to be aware of what are the products that are being tested that might have melamine in them. I have read and heard on news that there are already products that are already tested and proven to have melamine content in them.

But I am curious to what are these products are since I love to eat almost anything edible. I did a search on the internet and some of the products that are proven to have melamine content are White Rabbit and a Koala cookie from Lotte. I love to eat both of those and after knowing that they have melamine, I don't think so I can eat those again even though Department of Health (DOH) said that it will take 15 cups of milk with melamine content everyday for several months for an adult to have kidney problems due to intake of melamine. For an infant, it is risky because they drink lots of milk since that is where they get their daily nutrients even if it will take 2 cups of milk with melamine content everyday for several months. Countries all over the world are now testing and making lab examinations on all their dairy products. Milk Products from New Zealand and Australia are safe to take.

Here are the products that are currently being tested for melamine content at the Bureau of Food and Drug (BFAD). Again this is the partial list of milk and other milk products undergoing testing for possible melamine contamination.


Below is the partial list:
1. Anchor Lite Milk
2. Anchor Wam Froot Milk Drink Mango Magic
3. Anchor Wam Froot Milk Drink Orange Chill
4. Anchor Wam Froot Milk Drink Strawberry Spin
5. Anlene Milk
6. Anmum Materna 180 g
7. Anmum Materna Chocolate
8. Dutch Lady Pure Milk
9. Farmland Skim Milk
10. Green Food Yili Pure Milk
11. Jinwei Drink
12. Jolly Cow Pure Fresh Milk
13. Jolly Cow Slender Low Fat Milk
14. KLIM instant full cream milk 1.8kg
15. M&M Chocolate Brown 40g
16. Meiji Hokkaido Azuki (Red Bean Ice Cream)
17. Meiji Ujikintoki (Red Bean and Green Tea Frozen Confection)
18. Mengniu Original Drink Milk
19. Mengniu Pure Milk
20. Milk Chocolate Bars/China
21. Milk Chocolate Candies/China
22. Milk Boy repacked
23. Milk Boy repacked
24. Monmilk Breakfast Milk Walnut Milk Beverage
25. Monmilk High Calcium Low Fat Milk
26. Monmilk High Calcium Milk
27. Monmilk Milk Deluxe Pure Milk
28. Monmilk Pure Milk
29. Monmilk Suan Suan Ru Sour Milk Beverage (mango flavor)
30. Natural Choice Milk Ice Bar
31. Nespray
32. Nestle Carnacion Calcium Plus non fat milk powder 1.6 kg
33. Nestle Chocolate Flavor Ice Cream cone
34. Nestle Dairy Farm Pure Milk
35. Nestle Vanilla Flavor Ice Cream Cone
36. Nutri Express Milk
37. Nutri Express Milk 15 Nutritional Elements (Blue, Red and Orange label and cap)
38. Nutri Express Milk
39. Nutri Express Milk Green Apple
40. Prime Roast Cereals 28g
41. Pura Fresh Milk
42. Snickers brown 59 grams
43. Strawberry Sorbet
44. Trappist Dairy Low Fat Yogurt Drink
45. Vita Fresh Milk
46. Wahaha Orange
47. Wahaha Yellow
48. Want Want milk drink
49. Yili High Calcium 250ml
50. Yili High Calcium Milk 1 liter
51. Yili High Calcium Low fat milk beverage
52. Yili Low Fat Milk 1 liter
53. Yili Milk
54. Yili Pure Milk 250 ml
55. Yili Pure Milk 1 liter
56. Yinlu Milk Peanut

as of September 27, 2008

Prevention is better than Cure...

Monday, June 30, 2008

Everybody's Drink...

I am beginning to watch what I eat and drink because let's face it, I not getting younger. LOL! I don't want to take medicines at an early age that will lower this and that and to avoid eating or taking this and that. Aside from playing outdoor sports (yes, I started to play again one of my favorite sports), I also need to watch what I eat and drink. I am becoming a water drinker too or what they call water therapy. I make it a point that I drink at least 1 to 2 liters of water a day. All of this I don't do at all previously but I am beginning to feel signs of aging. Here is some that I have found out about Drinks with High Calories, Fat, Sugar Content.

Your favorite beverage may be just as diet-wrecking as fatty fast food, adding calories, sugar and fat and offering little or no nutritional value. Watch out for these drink shockers that will tip you closer to the F.D.A. and U.S.D.A. recommended daily limits for calories (2,000), fat (65 grams) and added sugar (40 grams) a day. Added sugars means any sugar not found naturally within the food, so look out for ingredients like sugar, maple syrup, honey, corn syrup and molasses, says Bonnie Taub-Dix, MA, RD, CDN, and national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association (ADA).


Gatorade
Size: 20 oz bottle Calories: 125 Fat: 0 g Sugars: 35 g
Sure, the bottle says it has 50 calories per serving, but a regular-sized Gatorade includes 2 servings, making it nearly as caloric as a typical soft drink. You don't need a bottle of Gatorade every time you go for a walk, but this drink is a great thirst and energy quencher for longer or more intense workouts.


I usually take Gatorade when I play sports or when I did not have a chance to take in at least 1 liter of water for the day.

Godiva Milk Chocolate Mocha
Size: 9.5 fl oz Calories: 200 Fat: 3.5 g Sugars: 35 g
If you thought this coffee drink would be better than a soda, think again. It's packed with sugar and has around as many calories as a can of soda.
*Calories per Ounce: About 21
Dunkin Donuts Vanilla Bean Coolatta
Size: 16 fl oz Calories: 500 Fat: 17 g Sugars: 82 g
If you've got to have a Coolatta, order the Coffee Coolatta with skim milk which has 170 calories, no fat and less than half the sugar that the Vanilla Bean flavor.
*Calories per Ounce: About 31



Starbucks Frappuccino Blended Crème, Double Chocolate Chip Crème (without whipped cream)
Size: Venti, 24 fl oz Calories: 550 Fat: 11 g Sugars: 79 g
By adding whipped cream this drink becomes even more shocking with an extra 120 calories and 11 fat grams.
*Calories per Ounce: About 23
Everybody loves Starbucks and people that are nocturnal like me, cannot get to work without having one.

Wendy's Chocolate Twisted Frosty with M&M's
Size: 16 oz Calories: 560 Fat: 19 g Sugars: 72 g
Yes, this drink is a little lighter on all counts than a McFlurry, but you'd still be better off ordering a chocolate or vanilla Frosty in the junior or small sizes. You'd save 250 to 410 calories and 11 to 15 grams of fat.
*Calories per Ounce: 35

McDonald's McFlurry with M&M's candies
Size: 12 oz Calories: 620 Fat: 20 g Sugars: 85 g
When it comes to calories, this drink is about the equivalent of one meal. Plus, you better watch your sugar intake for the rest of the day.
*Calories per Ounce: About 52

Hershey's Chocolate Milk
Size: 1 cup, or 8 fl oz Calories: 270 Fat: 5 g Sugars: 45 g
Just one serving of this milk contains 33 more grams of sugar than regular low-fat milk, or nearly all the added sugar you should have in one day. Make this an occasional treat, not a once or twice-a-day habit.
*Calories per Ounce: 33.75

Red Bull
Size: 8.3 oz can Calories: 110 Fat: 0 g Sugars: 27 g
This drink contains more than half the sugar you should have in one day. Plus, do you really want to use 110 of your 2,000 calories on something you can drink in about 10 seconds?
*Calories per Ounce: About 13
Although I no longer drink Red Bull "when I need it", I found an alternate drink to this, it's the Sting Energy Drink by Pepsi Bottling Company.
I don't drink or eat all of those I have mentioned above but I know those are mostly what people I think takes with them on their daily food intake. It's better to watch one's health now than be sorry later.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Keyboard that warns users when it is dirty could banish hospital superbugs

I was doing my daily browsing on the internet and at the same time looking for a topic to post here. I'm a bit techie so I browse for something new about gadgets and technology. And then this article caught my attention, really caught my attention because I use the keyboard everyday and I am not the only one that is using it. I want to share this article for your own safety and health.

Health chiefs are spending £1 million on the latest weapon against superbugs - "infection-resistant" computer keyboards.
Experts at University College London Hospital (UCLH) have developed a keyboard which is easier to clean than conventional designs.It also includes an alarm to warn staff when it needs cleaning.
The flat silicone keyboards will be rolled out in hospitals across England, and it is hoped they will save the NHS millions cut rates of MRSA (MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. See sources below for more information) by 10 per cent.



A red light flashes when the medigenic keyboard needs to be cleaned. This turns off after it has been wiped down
Microbiologist Dr Peter Wilson helped develop the keyboard. Just last month he found the average keyboard was five times dirtier than a toilet seat. Swabs taken from office and hospital desks revealed 150 times the recommended limit for bacteria.
"Should somebody have a cold in your office, or even have gastroenteritis, you're very likely to pick it up from a keyboard," the professor said.
The NHS spends more than £1.6 billion a year on combating superbugs.
There has been a huge drive to encourage nurses and doctors to wash their hands between examining patients but a persistent problem is staff spreading infection by touching keyboards, picking up bacteria and then transferring this to other surfaces.
Research by microbiologists at UCLH has shown bacterial levels on the new style keyboards fall by 70 per cent if they are cleaned every 12 hours.
UCLH microbiologist Dr Peter Wilson, who helped invent the keyboard, said: "Doctors and nurses were going from patient to keyboard without washing their hands.
"That's quite understandable because you would wash your hands between patients but not between a patient and a keyboard."
Traditional keyboards are high-risk areas in hospitals because they can harbour bacteria and cannot be cleaned with water or fluids.
Keyboard covers are also to blame for spreading infection because they are rarely cleaned so hospital workers who use them spread potentially lethal bacteria.
The new type of computer keyboard has hidden sensors to make sure its surfaces are cleaned properly with alcohol wipes.
Manufactured by American company Esterline and distributed by British firm Advanced Power Components, it has incorporated a warning light system that activates every three or 12 hours.
The keyboard is also covered with a hypo-allergenic material resistant to bacterial growth.

Be sure that you clean your computer keyboard before using it because you might not know what's in between those keys.

Sources:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mrsa/DS00735
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1026739/Keyboard-warns-users-dirty-ban


 

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