World No Tobacco Day, May 31, '08

I came across this article in the website of WHO. It has a campaign on total ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. This year's campaign focuses on the following message:

One of the most effective ways countries can protect young people from experimenting and becoming regular tobacco users is to ban all forms of direct and indirect tobacco advertising, including promotion of tobacco products and sponsorship, by the tobacco industry, of any events or activities.

Let us support this campaign. If you want to read more on this issue click here.

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Fighting sinusitis

My sinusitis just gets worse and worse these days. Add the abrupt changes in the weather, plus my eating spree this past few weeks, and what do I get? A killer headache. If you are experiencing pain over the cheeks and upper teeth, pain in the forehead, above the eyebrow, behind the eyes, on top of the head, or in both temples, or pain around or behind the eyes then you may be suffering from sinusitis. There are several types of sinusitis, but the two main cases are: acute (caused by viral infection) and chronic (caused by bacterial or fungal infection).

I've been reading some articles about treatment for sinusitis. Here a few remedies I gathered from my readings:

• Antibiotics. Antibiotics can help eliminate sinusitis caused by a bacterial infection.
• Corticosteroids. Corticosteroids can reduce swelling if you have severe inflammation of your sinuses.
  
• Decongestants and antihistamines. Taken orally or in the form of a nasal spray, decongestants or antihistamines can help dry up or shrink the backed-up mucus and give temporary relief by helping to drain the sinuses.
  
• Moisture and humidification. Flushing the nasal cavity with saline nasal sprays can help loosen dried mucus. In dry climates, installing humidifiers in the home can promote nasal drainage.
• Immunotherapy. If allergies are contributing to the sinusitis, stimulating the antibodies that block the body's reaction to specific allergens may help alleviate the condition.
• Sinus surgery. This would be the last resort. But it needs to be considered as some sort of cure for severe cases of sinusitis.
  

There are also natural remedies for sinusitis, for people who don't really like to use drugs and other chemicals.

• Drink lots of water, tea and other clear beverages
• Stay away from dairy products. Some doctors believe that dairy products, like cheese, milk, ice cream, may cause more mucus to form.
• Treat a cold as soon as possible.
• Eat foods that have lots of antioxidants, e.g. red wine, soybeans, tomatoes, watermelon, leafy greens, and other citrus fruits
• Steam inhalation helps clear out nasal passages and provides moisture for sinuses. You can also add apple cider vinegar or eucalyptus or peppermint extract to your steam.

There are millions of people (both young and old) who suffer from sinusitis. You can try out those methods of treatments that are natural or unnatural, whichever suits you. I hope this can help those who are suffering from sinusitis these days.

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Weird Dreams

According to my very good friend Wikipedia, "dreams are the images, thoughts, and feelings experienced while asleep". I have been having a lot of weird dreams lately. They're not related though. Maybe all dreams are weird one way or the other. I also have dreams about other people's lives. It's like I'm living there lives in those dreams. I have dreams of my life as a baby. I even dreamed of being inside my mother's womb. Now how weird is that?

I found this interesting site about dreams and their interpretations. Dreams are messages that teach us something about ourselves. It states there that dreams are somewhat linked to our reality. Now the one thing I remember most about my dreams, maybe the most common in them, is the ocean, and there are always waves. From what I gathered, seeing an ocean in a dream represents emotions and feelings, an indication of some spiritual renewal. The rising waves indicate struggles and overwhelming emotions. The crashing waves, however, indicate tenderness and relaxation. Now I'm confused. The latter is just the complete opposite of the other one.

Recurring dreams are often caused by a certain unsettled situation in your life or an unsolved problem. Looking back at the interpretation of my recurring dreams, I just realized that a bit of it is quite true. I'm not discussing it in this post, though, maybe later.

Here are some tips of overcoming recurring dreams from the site I mentioned earlier:

1. In understanding your recurring dream, you must be willing to accept some sort of change or undergo a transformation.

2. You must be willing to look within yourself and confront whatever you may find no matter how difficult it my be.

3. You must be able to look at the dream from an objective point of view. Try to get pass the emotional and reactive elements of the dream and get down to the symbolic images. Many times dreams are masked by elements that are disturbing preventing you to delve any deeper. This is a defense mechanism that your unconscious may be putting up.

4. Be patient. Do not get discourage if these dreams still recur even after you thought you have come to understand them.

5. Learn to accept yourself truly and fully.

Sweet dreams everyone! :)

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The top five cancer-causing foods

1. Hot dogs
Because they are high in nitrates, the Cancer Prevention Coalition advises that children eat no more than 12 hot dogs a month. If you can't live without hot dogs, buy those made without sodium nitrate.

2. Processed meats and bacon

Also high in the same sodium nitrates found in hot dogs, bacon, and other processed meats raise the risk of heart disease. The saturated fat in bacon also contributes to cancer.

3. Doughnuts
Doughnuts are cancer-causing double trouble. First, they are made with white flour, sugar, and hydrogenated oils, then fried at high temperatures. Doughnuts, says Adams , may be the worst food you can possibly eat to raise your risk of cancer.

4. French fries
Like doughnuts, French fries are made with hydrogenated oils and then fried at high temperatures. They also contain cancer- causing acryl amides which occur during the frying process. They should be called cancer fries, not French fries, said Adams.

5. Chips, crackers, and cookies
All are usually made with white flour and sugar. Even the ones whose labels claim to be free of trans-fats generally contain small amounts of trans-fats.

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health tips

Found this in one of my mails today.. thought I share it with you... it's good to live a healthy life... :)

Brain Damaging Habits

1. No Breakfast
People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level.
This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.

2. Overeating
It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.

3. Smoking
It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High sugar consumption
Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.

5. Air pollution
The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.

6. Sleep deprivation
Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.

7. Head covered while sleeping
Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.

8. Working your brain during illness
Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.

9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts
Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.

10. Talking rarely
Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain.

The Main Causes of Liver Damage:

1. Sleeping too late and waking up too late are main cause.
2. Not urinating in the morning.
3. Too much eating.
4. Skipping breakfast.
5. Consuming too much medication.
6. Consuming too much preservatives, additives, food coloring, and artificial sweetener.
7. Consuming unhealthy cooking oil. As much as possible reduce cooking oil use when frying, which includes even the best cooking oils like olive oil. Do not consume fried foods when you are tired, except if the body is very fit.
8. Consuming raw (overly done) foods also add to the burden of liver.
9. Veggies should be eaten raw or cooked 3-5 parts. Fried veggies should be finished in one sitting, do not store.

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Clumsy anyone?

I’m very clumsy today. I cut myself while slicing tomatoes. When I threw a calamansi it missed the trash can, it just missed, and I mean I threw it in and it just went out. Then I spilled vinegar on the kitchen floor. I banged my legs on the side of the chair. I opened a new tab in Firefox and forgot the site I was going to open. And now I just realized I forgot to eat breakfast. So that’s why my stomach is grumbling and I feel a little dizzy… heheh What is wrong with me today? Maybe because my mind is too preoccupied that my body just can’t do anything right.

According to Robert Slater, M.D., an assistant professor of clinical neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, “We're all clumsy to some extent. It just varies from person to person. For the average person, a normal amount of clumsiness might be one or two awkward incidents a day. You might tip over a glass or bump into a doorway on any given day," Dr. Slater says. "On the other hand, if you bump into the doorway half the time you try to go through it or you knock the same glass over three times in a row in quick sequence that may be cause for concern."

Do I need to be concerned? Hehhe maybe this is not just my day. They said that if you find yourself being more clumsy than you normally are, it could simply be a symptom of fatigue (but I’m well rested!), premenstrual syndrome (yah this could be it!) or anxiety (or this one! hehe). But it also could be a warning sign of a stroke, multiple sclerosis or a tumor (NO! NO! NO! God forbid, no way!).

Symptom Relief (as in there is a "cure" for clumsiness?!!)

While a sudden increase in clumsiness should be brought to the attention of your doctor, there also are a number of quick, easy remedies for those occasional times when things near you seem to go bump, crash and rattle.

Don't dwell on it. "People who notice they're clumsy invariably become more clumsy," Dr. Slater says. "In reality, they may have been this clumsy all of their lives and suddenly, for some reason, often stress or fatigue, they become more aware of it."

Take a nap. You may be a bit more clumsy because you're tired. "If you know that you've been missing sleep, and you've been fumbling things around, then the first thing to do is to get some rest," says Dr. Slater.

Take time to relax. Some people who are prone to stress or are suffering from anxiety can become more fumble-fingered, Dr. Slater says. Stress-reduction techniques such as biofeedback or meditation may help.

Tennis, anyone? Exercises requiring hand/eye coordination can improve your reflexes and make you less clumsy, says Jim Buskirk, a physical therapist at the Dizziness and Balance Center in Wilmette, Illinois. "Activities like tennis and Ping-Pong are particularly good for hand/eye coordination," he says. "Just taking a paddle with a ball on a string and bouncing that for one or two minutes twice a day can help. We also have people hold two round sticks in their hands and we put a third stick on top so it forms an H. Then we ask them to roll the sideways stick back and forth."

Imagine your worst nightmare. Imagery can help you overcome your clumsiness, says Dennis Gersten, M.D., a San Diego psychiatrist and publisher of Atlantis: The Imagery Newsletter. To try it, close your eyes and imagine that you're in a shop full of china or glass figurines. Then imagine that you're the clumsiest person in the world. In your klutziness, you stumble and fall into all sorts of precious objects. Now let go and have a good laugh because the world did not fall apart. "Many people walk on pins and needles so they avoid some imagined catastrophe. But actually imagining the worst-case scenario often takes the bite out of that fear of klutziness," Dr. Gersten says. Practice this imagery for five to ten minutes a day.

Bring out the animal in you. Animals are another image that helps people become less clumsy. "What is the most graceful animal that you can think of? A cheetah? An eagle?" Dr. Gersten asks. "Imagine yourself as that animal. Feel yourself as that animal. Feel how every muscle in your body works together. Feel the wind in your face as you run or soar through the air in perfect balance with yourself and with nature." Practice this imagery for five to ten minutes whenever your self-esteem is low because of an episode of clumsiness.

Ok I'll better try this symptom reliefs... maybe my clumsiness is just....well... just plain everyday clumsiness. :)

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health tips

Ok so im starting to be conscious about my health and now im watching my diet. To all fellow "dieters" out there, here are some few tips i found in the web...

To prevent fall weight gain, adopt some of the following smart habits. These 20 simple tactics—if you stick to them regularly—will help you get more of the stuff you need into your diet while eliminating the stuff you don't. The best part? Before long you'll be dining like a nutrition expert, without even thinking about it.

At breakfast, put coffee in your milk instead of milk in your coffee.
Fill your mug to the rim with skim milk first thing in the morning. Drink it down until all that's left is the amount you'd normally add to your coffee; then pour your java on top. You just took in 25 percent of the vitamin D you need every day, and 30 percent of the calcium.


Take your vitamins every morning.
Study by study, evidence is mounting that a standard multivitamin fills enough of the gaps in your diet to make a real difference. For example, a recent study at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute in Seattle showed that people who took a multivitamin supplement and 200 I.U. of vitamin E for 10 years were half as likely to get colon cancer.

Drink two glasses of water before every meal.
This will do two things: keep you hydrated and make you eat a little less. A Dutch study showed that drinking two glasses of water can make you feel less hungry, possibly reducing your food intake and aiding weight loss.

Always order your pizza with double tomato sauce and light cheese.
Men who eat a lot of tomato products tend to have less prostate cancer—probably because tomatoes are a rich source of lycopene, a type of carotenoid that's believed to cut your risk of cancer. If you double the sauce on your pizza, you get double the lycopene. Reducing the mozzarella by just one-third (you won't miss it) will save you 20 grams of fat. That's as much as in a McDonald's Quarter-Pounder.

Always order your sandwiches with double tomato slices.
Another chance for a healthy dose of lycopene.

Pile onions on everything.
Research has revealed that onions are so healthful—they're a top source of heart savers called flavonoids—that it's practically your duty to eat them lavishly on hot dogs, pizza, burgers, and sandwiches. And speaking of junk food...

Whenever you eat fast food, drink two glasses of water afterward.
Big Macs, subs, fries, and pepperoni pizza are all loaded with fat and sodium, which can be hellish for your heart. You can't do much about the fat once you've eaten it, but you can flush away some of the excess sodium by drinking plenty of fluid afterward, says Tina Ruggiero, R.D., a New York City dietitian.

When the waitress asks what you want to drink, always say iced tea.
The more we learn about tea, the more healthful it looks. A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture study found that a serving of black tea had more antioxidants—crucial to your body's defense against heart disease, cancer, and even wrinkles—than a serving of broccoli or carrots.

Have an afternoon snack every day at 3 o'clock.
A nutritional boost between lunch and dinner wards off fatigue and keeps you from overindulging later, says Keith Ayoob, Ed.D., R.D., director of the nutrition clinic at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine's Rose F. Kennedy Center. Just don't scarf down a candy bar. Try yogurt and fruit, crackers and cheese, or eat an egg (hard-boiled), an apple, and a thirst-quencher like bottled water. All of these foods will give you long-lasting energy.

Always leave the skin on your fruit.
If you peel apples or pears, you're throwing away heavy-duty nutrients and fiber. Same goes for potatoes. Go ahead and peel oranges, but leave as much of the fibrous white skin under the rind as you care to eat—it's loaded with flavonoids. Ditto for the white stem that runs up the middle.

Put a bottle of water in the office freezer every night before you leave work.
You already know that you should drink eight glasses of water a day, but how are you supposed to do it? Fill a half-gallon bottle in the morning, and make sure you've downed it all by the time you go home. If you like your water cold and you have access to a refrigerator, fill the bottle partially the night before and stick it in the freezer. Next morning, fill it the rest of the way. You'll have ice-cold water all day.

Whenever you buy grapefruit, go for red instead of white.
Remember lycopene, that stuff in tomatoes that may fight prostate cancer? It's what makes tomatoes red. And it's responsible for the color in ruby red grapefruit. (Watermelon and guava also have some.)

Eat salmon every Wednesday.
Actually, the day doesn't matter; the important thing is to have it once a week. Salmon is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, a type of fat most experts say we don't get enough of. Omega-3s seem to keep the heart from going into failure from arrhythmia—men who eat fish once a week have fewer heart attacks—and they may even ward off depression. A weekly serving of salmon should supply the amount of omega-3 fats you need.

Always wash your meat.
Here's an easy way to cut the fat content of your secret chili recipe: As soon as you finish browning the ground beef, pour it into a dish covered with a double thickness of paper towels. Then put another paper towel on top and blot the grease. If you want to remove even more fat, dump the beef into a colander and rinse it with hot (but not boiling) water. The water will wash away fat and cholesterol. Using these methods together can cut 50 percent of the meat's fat content.

Whenever you have salad, keep the dressing on the side.
Here's the drill: Dip your fork in the dressing first, then spear a piece of lettuce, then eat it. Sound dumb? In fact, it's one of the smartest habits you can have. Four tablespoons of, say, honey-mustard dressing can have 60 grams of fat—nearly an entire day's worth for an average guy.

Whenever you eat broccoli, put a little margarine, olive oil, or cheese sauce on it.
This is our kind of nutrition advice. Broccoli is a rich source of beta-carotene—one of the major antioxidants your body needs. But beta-carotene is fat-soluble, which means it has to hitch a ride on fat molecules to make the trip through your intestinal wall. Without a little fat in the mix, your body won't absorb nearly as much beta-carotene.

Always have seconds on vegetables.
If we had to pick one food that represents the best insurance for long-term good health, vegetables would be it. Your daily goal: Three servings minimum. A serving, by the way, is 1/2 cup. Think of a tennis ball—it's about half a cup in volume.

Do a fat analysis before every meal.
It's tempting to go fat-free at breakfast and lunch so you can indulge in a high-fat dinner. Wrong. Studies show that, for several hours after you eat a meal with 50 to 80 grams of fat, your blood vessels are less elastic and your blood-clotting factors rise dramatically. William Castelli, M.D., director of the Framingham Cardiovascular Institute, says, "The immediate cause of most heart attacks is the last fatty meal." Spread your fat intake over the whole day.

Always eat (a little) dessert.
Here's why: Sweets such as cookies and low-fat ice-cream bars signal your brain that the meal is over. Without them, you might not feel satiated—which might leave you prowling the kitchen all night for something to satisfy your sugar jones.

Eat a bowl of dry cereal every night before you go to bed.
A low-fat, low-calorie carbohydrate snack eaten 30 minutes before bed will help make you sleepy, says Judith Wurtman, Ph.D., of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The nutrition bonus? Cereal is one of the easiest ways to reduce your fiber deficit. (Most men eat only half the 25 to 35 grams of fiber they need daily.) So pick a cereal that has at least 5 grams of fiber per serving.

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