Health Thoughts

Monday, January 25, 2010

WOBBLY VEGAN ATHLETES

I have many athlete friends who are competing for international competitions. Many of them have seen the advantages of a vegetarian diet. But their coach has the impression that vegetarians have wobbly legs and are not very strong. For him, nothing beats the energy derived from meat. He thinks vegetarian athletes would definitely fare less in competitions than if they are carnivorous.

But what does an athlete need to compete at a high level of performance? He needs determination – he wouldn’t do well without it. Of coarse, proper training is indispensable. But without the right amount of energy, all these are meaning less.

We’ve learned of many different ways by which we can attain a high energy level; we’re also told to do the dos and don’ts of proper nutrition. Now, we can believe everything we hear – the nest is to objectively know how carbohydrates fuel the athlete’s body with loads of energy.

We are talking about two basics types of carbohydrates; starches (complex carbohydrates) and sugars (simple carbohydrates). “Blood sugar” or glucose comes from simple carbohydrates. This kind of sugar circulates in our body and supplies it with energy. Starch is the most common carbohydrates. It is made up of hundreds of chains of glucose units. Starch provides a longer-lasting source of energy, since it has to be broken sown before the body can utilizes it.

Glycogen is the result when the body converts simple and complex carbohydrates. Glycogen is stored in the muscles and the liver as energy reserve. Carbohydrates – simple or complex – basically provide energy, but it is more advisable to eat foods rich in complex carbohydrates. Such carbohydrates don’t cause a sudden shoot up of energy like simple carbohydrates, which leaves us with an energy slam.

Aside from being an excellent source of dietary fiber, complex carbohydrates usually contain large amounts of essential nutrients. Root crops like potatoes, sweet potato, cassava, ube, bean sprouts, whole grain breads and cereals, pasta are example of such carbohydrates. Suger foods only provide excess calories and leave you feeling listless later on.

Athletes interested in being vegetarians may wonder when it is the best time to eat to have more energy. Studies made at the University of Texas Exercise Science labs show that our bodies uses carbohydrates most effectively within two hours after a work-out. John Ivy suggest that the best way to fight fatigue and still feed the muscles is to eat a protein and carbohydrates meal shortly after exercising, this will maximize the absorption of essential nutrients.

Carbo-loading is commonly known to athletes. The theory behind it is that by “starving” skeletal muscles of their primary source of energy (glycogen) for a few days-by eating high carbohydrates food in much smaller amounts than normal and increasing exercise – you can coax the muscles into soaking up glycogen when foods high in carbohydrates are eaten shortly before competition. According to research, a meal heavy in carbohydrates can boost muscles glycogen by nearly 80% and enhance endurance, if not speed.

A typical carbo-load diet reduces one’s intake of complex carbohydrates by about 40%-60% and adds more protein, fats (from beans, nuts, and dairy products), and fruits. Then two or three days before competition, one must increase his complex carbohydrates to 70%-75% of his diet, and eat at least three big meals of carbohydrates, with some proteins and fats.

Doing this increases the stored glycogen in the liver and muscles. Then the body can easily retrieve the stored glycogen, which it converts to energy. Glycogen is burned first for energy, and then if more is needed, the fats are used. If there is low body fat, proteins in tissues are tapped to provide energy.

With the carbo-loading diet, some athletes report an increase in their sexual energy and a good feeling known as “runner’s high”. So, who says vegetarians have wobbly legs? In fact Mr. Coach, I have two vegetarian friends excelling in international competitions; one of them has been a vegetarian since birth.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Holiday Heartburn

With the last minute of rush of Christmas shopping, the seat-burning traffic jams in the city, and the round of Christmas parties and late night binges, it is not surprising to find many people stressed out from the so-called holidays. One common complaint is heartburn, which, as one patient describes, is “like having a giant fireball struck in your throat.”

This condition is one of the many signs of gastroesophalgeal reflux disease (GERD), a common ailment felt by millions of people daily. In the US alone, it is estimated that over 100 million adults monthly and at least 25 millions daily are afflicted.

“Gastroesophageal reflux” is derive from a Latin term meaning “stomach to esophagus flowing backwards.” The stomach contains many digestive enzymes and acids. If these flow back into the throat and voice box, a person will experience discomforts like chest pains, indigestion, hoarseness, and sore throat, difficulty in swallowing and breathing, and coughing.

How would you know if you’re suffering from GERD, since its symptoms are similar to those of other ailments? Cardiovascular ailments, for one, have similar symptoms as heartburn. Among those who are more liable to develop the symptoms are women in the first trimester of pregnancy, late night eaters, obese people, tea and coffee drinkers, smokers and alcohol drinkers, those with collagen vascular disease, people over 60 and those with stressful lifestyles. Don’t these cover a majority of people?

The general publics are solution antacids and other prescription drugs, which are more in demand this season. In fact, you may have notice a lot of antacid advertisements, but the problem with taking these antacids and prescription drugs is that they do not really cure the ailment. Once you stop taking them, the symptoms persist. Aren’t we advertised to see a doctor when this kind of condition arises?

Even if you do have a variety of antacid brands to choose from, and regardless of what the drug companies may put forward about you’re “need” to stick to your products, hold on to your hard-earned money. Don’t rush toward to your local drugstore to get some. GERD is not a hi-tech disease. It is highly treatable by more conservative, non-drug

methods. According to medical literatures, 90% to 95% of GERD victims have been treated without medication.

A stressful life is experienced by those working in and out of the house. Sometimes, it

is non-stop work from the moment a person opens his eyes to the time he goes back to sleep. Although stress is not a direct cause of acid reflux, it nevertheless contributes to the problem. Acid in the stomach are increased with stress. High-fat foods, late night eating, strong coffee, cigarettes, and alcohol are the grids of a stressful lifestyle.

What is wrong with eating late at night? First of all, you’re fueling up a vehicle (body)

which is about to go to the garage (sleep). This may not be such an accurate analogy because fuel just stays in the vehicle while the body continues its metabolism process even while at sleep. Lying down after eating at night disrupts the body’s normal acid handling mechanism. With the body lying horizontally, the esophagus makes the acid reflux easier to reach the upper throat. Swallowing and saliva production is reduced at night, which further adds to the problem. Hence, the acid reflux is neither swallowed nor neutralized as effectively while sleeping.

To check and treat GERD, stay away from offensive foods and habits. Have a program correcting your dietary habits and adopt an exercise to promote weight loss and reduce stress. You can also tilt your bed to facilitate the pull of gravity so acids won’t reflux to your throat. This done by raising the head of the bed to four to six inches, having a strong support for the legs of the bed, or having firm pillows by your head. Over 90% of those who have done these simple techniques have been effectively treated. Again, if symptoms persist, go see a more aggressive therapy.

Take it easy with the feasting and partying this Christmas. Happy Holidays!!!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

NO to CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

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Sex is the highest enjoyment in the eyes of the materialist.
But quite a number of divorce cases(a different social issue) is alarming. It's because they don't see and admit that sex is not that enjoyable, starting on sex with the opposite sex. They don't see that they seek happiness in sex in another level, same sex (another social issue - homosexuality/gay/lesbian). Unsatisfied, the next level again, child abuse (the issues of pedophiles, child pornography, the 'lolitas", "angel", "pedoboy" or "preteens". They now try to find alternative sex enjoyment through "sex toys" like "dildos", artificial sex organs, and others. Still, not satisfied or seeking other means to enjoy sex they tried sex "in the farm" or sex with animals and last but not the least is the "snuff".
The "snuff" video is the bit by bit view of the unsatisfactory nature of trying to enjoy, not on sex alone but to different consequences in life, money, beauty, power or fame.

But here we are now only dealing on NO TO CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.
This a blog campaign to move the offenders, other supporters and perverts around the globe that there is an undying search for happiness and satisfaction that can never be found on material sense of view. These "cravings" is not satisfying unless it is transfer or intended to our real nature or our real "self".
Matter can not satisfy matter, our desire to enjoy comes to our true nature, our real "identity",
we cannot find happiness until we know and realized who we really are, who is the 'One" trying to enjoy or desiring to enjoy. (This is another Issue that connects to our life, our existence)

Stop CHILD PORNOGRAPHY! STOP CHILD ABUSE!
Open our eyes that is illusion to enjoy on material sense objects.
To the offenders, this will only makes things worst, the cravings for sexual happiness specially turning to the children as your sex objects will make you desire for more and more. Having sex with an innocent child which is also a human being, they are just small persons, with young bodies, very young and even under develop bodies of persons - this is never satisfying but instead it will set your mind to a demoniac mentality. Without respects to others, to others' feelings and their individual life will bring chaos to one's self and even destroying the lives of your victims.
If you believe in "karma" my friend, STOP CHILD ABUSE. Please think that you have children too and you don't want that to happen in them for sure.
Do not make your life more miserable and put the lives of the poor children in anguish.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Nature's Beauty Aids

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The skin is not just a superficial covering to be adorned and beautified. It is the body’s first line of defense. Also, through the skin pores, toxins are vented out of the body. The skin expresses the condition of he liver, pancreas and lungs, according to the Traditional Chinese medicines.

Just like the body as a whole need the right kind of fuel to metabolize properly, each skin cell must likewise receive food and your circulation determines the kind of nourishment it gets.

The market is flooded with various facial cleansers. But great caution is required since many commercial lotions and creams which are deemed harmless contain lead, mercury, antimony and bismuth which, when absorbed by the body tissues damage to the health of the skin. This is where the good habit of label reading comes in.

Perhaps, with the very hectic schedule, naturally concocting facial cleansers and creams might be quite demanding and difficult to do. But we can start off with using pure baby oil which will not only remove our makeup but naturally lubricate our skin. Heating and applying olive oil does some wonders to the skin, especially the eyes. Apply this oil in a circular manner to smooth out wrinkles and made those eyelashes silky. Remember the facial sauna, this streaming water will open the pores ad cleanse away the embedded dirt and oil.

Many advertisers capitalize on the idea that their product makes your skin good enough to eat. Hold it! I am not proposing some form of cannibalism here so people can devour you. But there is close link between cosmetics and food. Cosmetics should be made from natural ingredients such as plants and herbs. Since the skin sells should be nourished, you should be putting on our skin something that is really food. The simple rule is do not put anything on your skin that you can’t eat. Much benefit is derived from utilizing facial creams made from lemons, cucumbers, honey, strawberries, oats, and milk.

In to the countries, grandmothers in their younger days used oatmeal and cucumber as facial to soften their skin and prevent wrinkles. Vegetables are now recommended for everything involving skin care, and so are fruit extracts and creams made from papaya and carrots. Actually, you can eat the papaya and do not dispose the pulp. This can be used to scrub the whole body with. Our female ancestors used wines, whiskeys, brandies, and even beer as astringents to maintain that natural beautiful glow in the skin. They usually mix equal parts of whiskey with milk and apply it on the skin. After washing the skin, pat this mixture and leave it for several hours or overnight. In the middle ages, ladies of the French court of Louis XIV and other kings used the white of an egg together with camphor and alum to clear up blemishes and tighten the skin. The same mixture can also works for you today. This mixture can be applied in the neck and arms as well. The egg mask used for thousand of years was also combines with three ounces od honey to make a thick paste.

Cucumber juice is another old time favorite recipe: three ounces of cucumber juice, three ounces of distilled water and 1 and ½ ounce of rose water which can be locally purchased from Indian Specialty Stores. Rub this mixture into the skin with the finger tips. A refreshing hot weather beauty trick is to wash the face with cold water in which some cut-up cucumbers have been mashed.

Pimples, blackheads, and large pores can be treated using the facial mask we’ve mentioned. For minor blemishes, you can mix equal parts of pure lanolin, glycerin and castor oil. Melt this concoction over low heat, let it cool and keep in a glass jar. Apply to pimples until it’s healed. A word of caution: Never mix these ingredients is a metal container unless it is glazed or a heavily enameled ironware cooking pot. It is best use enamel, china, glass or earthenware.

Brown or yellow laundry soap applied to pimples will dry it off. Onion juice is an excellent remedy for pimples as well as for boils or skin infection. An easy remedy and ideal for travelers is the used of camphor which is available at any drugstores. Simply pat camphor at the pimples until it disappears. Squeeze gently and apply camphor. It may sting a bit but infection is prevented and the blotch quickly heals. Blotches are healed with boric acid dissolved in boiling water. Calamine lotion is also good, as it heals and stops itching.

Large pores are caused by incorrect cleansing, acne, blackheads, and improper diet. The buttermilk treatment acts as an astringent to the pores. Allow it to dry for ten minutes and rinse it off with cool water. Equal parts of apple cider vinegar and hot water can be used as facial wash to refine the pores. Camphor wash can also be substituted for water to refine the pores. Cornmeal and oatmeal, as well as alum powder, has been lauded by women trough ages as being very effective in reducing the pores and as an astringent.

Raw tomatoes had been used for centuries to tighten the skin. The tomato pulp contains vitamins, minerals and acids to cleanse the skin. The juice of lettuce, cucumber and poultices of bread and milk reduce large pores.
To ward off blackheads is to keep the face clean. Streaming daily and scrubbing with some natural soap and water are good. Rubbing the blackheads with lemon juice is an old remedy. Baking soda dissolved in 8 ounces of distilled water clears off blackheads.

I hope you can benefit from these natural beauty tips which date back not just from our grandmothers but from the middle Ages. They are very inexpensive, yet very effective. Also, don’t forget to have lots of exercise and a good healthy diet. These are essentials in producing that healthy, rosy skin glow.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Antidotes to Memory Loss

Physical fitness of the brain should be one of our prime considerations, especially as we approach 40. Midlife crisis besets people who worry about those dreaded gray hairs, memory loss, and cognitive decline.
Must memory lost be part of it? Sanity is an awful reality to face. Cast your anxieties aside regarding cognitive decline, as Dr. Singh Khalsa has tried a formula that’s doing wonders for a lot of aging people, many of them with the Alzheimer’s disease.
Khalsa regimen consists of nutritional therapy, stress management, exercise and prescription of some drugs for those on the more advanced stage.
Stress causes cognitive decline. Chronic stress result in the over-production of a hormone called cortisol, which causes the death of the brain cells. Stress management not only halts the over-production of cortisol, it also enhances the cerebral circulation.
An efficient brain circulation is achieved by lowering blood pressure, encouraging the adequate production of neurotransmitters and helping the brain waves to shift from the common “beta” mode to the more relaxed “alpha” and “theta” mode.
A cruel irony regarding cognitive decline is that the more damage to the brain the person has suffered, the harder it is to control the biological production of the cortisol. The area of the brain that shuts off cortisol production often deteriorates with age, sitting in motion a whole digestive spiral.
To control stress, you can adopt a positive attitude and not think that you have to set aside your desires to get along with people. A helpful reminder is that although you can’t always control what happens to you, you can control how you react to it.
A little help from our friends is an important tool in coping with stress. Even contact with relative strangers also help. Robert Sapolsky, a Stanford neurologist, conducted studies measuring the cortisol levels of patients undergoing a painful cardiac catherization. Those who did not voice out their fears to the doctors had higher cortisol levels than those who did.
Meditation and prayers are also very potent antidotes to stress. Meditation evokes what Harvard stress management expert Herbert Benson calls the “relaxation response”. The opposite of the cortisol-producing stress response, it lowers blood pressure, relax and brings on the alpha and theta waves, decrease oxygen consumption and cortisol output, increase alertness and improves memory. Ten to 20 minutes of meditation twice a day gives you an edge over stress.
Exercise is not only an excellent way to relieve stress, but also to increase blood flow to the brain, providing more oxygen and glucose and aiding in the removal of toxins. Aerobic exercise also increases the production of certain neurotransmitter for carrying memories to “long-term storage.” In addition exercise heightens the output of the “feel good” chemicals known as endorphins. It increases the production of hormone called “nerve growth factor”, which helps stimulate the repair and regeneration of neuros.
A half hour moderate exercise – like walking, biking, swimming, stair climbing, golf or tennis – is very helpful. Excellent exercise that mobilize the chi or internal energy are chi kung, tai chi and hatha yoga. Mental exercise such as reading, playing word or board games, conversing or engaging in stimulating activities, is equally important.
Recent experiments of Marian Diamond at the University of California at Berkeley show that just by using the brain increases its size and the number of certain kinds of brain cells. If the brain is not regularly engage in mental exercises, it begins to atrophy physically, just like muscle that is not used. Atrophy of up to 25% can occur in the hippocampus, the part of the brain most responsible for memory.
Yogic mind/body exercises form another part of the program. Khalsa says that such exercise help restore the brain’s ability to access existing memories, create new memories and concentrate more intensely.
Brain care is vital to our health. At any stage of our life, age-old precautions have to be remembered always. Smoking, drinking and drugs, eating and other activities must be considered carefully. Care for your brain – it’s the only one you’ve got.