House pollution

Here's an interesting article on health:

Got Gas?

Your house sure does—and it's bad for your health.

By the Editors of Women's Health

More on this in Health & Fitness 100+ Tips to Stay in Shape 15 Ways to Save the Planet Best Powerfoods For Women

We humans breathe in 3,000 gallons of air daily—65 percent of it indoors. Not exactly great news. Why? Because indoor air pollution can be two to five times as high as levels in the great outdoors, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Blame building materials, fuel-burning appliances, and stuff you use to clean your castle: They all emit pollutants that, over time, can contribute to health problems like asthma, headaches, fatigue, heart disease, and even cancer, says Helen Suh MacIntosh, Sc.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health. Snuff out these bad guys and breathe easier:

Carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and tiny, sootlike floaters called particulate matter can seep out from improperly maintained stoves, fireplaces, and chimneys. Low-level exposure to carbon monoxide leads to headaches and nausea; high levels are deadly. Nitrogen dioxide can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation. Particulate matter can damage lung tissue.

Do this: Snag a carbon monoxide detector ($20, lowes.com). Use a fan when cooking with a gas stove, and make sure the flame tip is blue. (Yellow indicates that pollution emissions are too high; call your gas company to adjust the burner.)

Phthalates are chemicals used to disperse scents and make plastic flexible. Found in detergents, air fresheners, vinyl flooring, and vinyl shower curtains, they're linked with reproductive and developmental problems and, studies indicate, an increased risk for asthma and allergies.

Do this: Switch to phthalate-free detergents (like Seventh Generation products), use baked lemons as natural fragrance, and hang hemp or cotton shower curtains (from $35, greenhome.com).

PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers), flame retardants added to plastics, foams, and fabrics, are found in some TVs, computers, and furniture. Exposure can cause brain and reproductive problems in developing animals.

Do this: Clean with a damp rag to avoid stirring up dust (which may contain PBDEs) and cover or replace exposed foam pads in cushions.

Radon is an odorless, naturally occurring radioactive gas. It arises from the breakdown of uranium in the bedrock beneath your home. Among nonsmokers, it's the leading cause of lung cancer, resulting in about 20,000 deaths in the U.S. annually.

Do this: Measure levels in your home with a certified home test like the Kidde Radon Detection Kit ($17, lowes.com).

VOCs (volatile organic compounds) are chemicals that are gaseous at room temperature; they're in paint, all-purpose cleaners, wood preservatives, carpet glue, and dry-cleaned clothing. Possible health effects range from eye, nose, and throat irritation to headaches, nausea, and cancer.

Do this: Look for cleaning products that have simple ingredients (such as those by Seventh Generation and Ecover), and avoid products made from pressed wood, such as particleboard—it contains the VOC formaldehyde, a probable carcinogen. Find low-VOC paints and flooring at ecologo.org. ID perc-free dry cleaners at findco2.com.

Taken from: MSN

Picture of the Day

Gotta love the smile of that kid. Ironic enough, this kid is from one of the very poor areas in the Philippines

Cross cultures… where to meet? We’ll figure it out someday.

Sometimes I wonder how Sam and I will manage- being from totally different cultural, racial, and family backgrounds. It'll be interesting, for sure, and as long as we're both willing, I know we'll get past the little kinks I'm sure we'll run into. Where exactly we're going to meet is kinda hard sometimes. We haven't even decided where we'll settle. It's a long time from now that we'll actually get married anyway, so it's all right, we'll figure it out later on.

I can cook- and he can' really cook well, so and so I'm at a certain advantage. :D
So far he seems to like a lot of Filipino stuff, which is good. Ayaw niya lang ng mga ginataan ganon. Bwisit. Dibale, masasanay rin sya! And even better, he eats a lot. I've always liked to feed people, so this will be okay. I just have to watch the sugar I guess. :/

Filipino Breads
This website has a few samples of Philippine breads. I've never had bread from this bakery before. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of my favorite bakeries and their breads.

Pandesal- very easy to make, rather fattening (if made right) but worth it anyway- and well, insanely cheap!! The very best place to buy Pandesal is no where else but Binmaley, Pangasinan, a small town before Lingayen. If you happen to be going in that direction, it's a must to stop by Louella's Bakery, which is found soon after the welcome sign and bridge entering Binmaley. mmm. Always hot, and crunchy on the outside, and beautifully soft inside. For 2 straight weeks I would buy my friends and I 5 pandesals each for our dinner when we were doing community work in Lingayen.

Pandecoco- my sister's favorite bread. It's bread with sweet coconut inside. Masarap (yummy) rin (too/also)! The best place to buy this is in Baguio, in a much beloved bakery on the road going to the Philippine Military Academy.

Spanish bread- really really yummy too. The best place to buy this stuff is also in the bakery I mentioned right above this.

Picture of the day.

Dusk in Whangamata.

Picture of the Day (with a story to go with it)

This is a place called Piha on the wild west coast of New Zealand. It's about 45mins from Auckland City. I grew up in Piha so I'll probably be posting a lot of pics.
I almost died in Piha surfing. Theres a lot of jagged Rocks and caves all around the west coast. I was surfing with one of my friends just around the bay from this photo. I caught a big wave and ended going over the falls. I got smashed by a few waves and when I came up I was right against the rocks. A cave was about 5 meters away from me and the current was sucking me in there. That was about the freakiest time of my life because I couldn't see what was in the cave. So I ended up getting sucked in the cave which was like a washing machine. Very freaky. I got stuck in there for over an hour until I managed to climb up onto a ledge then climb out of the cave. My board was smashed already. I climbed out of the cave and sat on a perch. I decided I wasn't going anywhere until a helicopter came to save me haha. while I was in the cave my friend had gone to get the life guards so they ended up coming round in their IRB (rescue boat) to save me. I tell you that was the best sight of my life. I thanked the lord at that point because I thought that was it for me :D.

These pictures are taken of Lion Rock. From some angles it really looks like a lion sitting down but you can't really tell from these pics.

Simple tips for stress relief

Meditation always goes a long way. One thing Sam and I agree on (or at least, one of the things) is that we start our day with meditation. We both do hatha yoga too, but he's way better than I am at it. Anyway... here's a little article I found helpful.

Dr. Mao's Secrets of Longevity
7 Ways to Slash Stress Posted Mon, Oct 27, 2008, 1:29 pm PDT

Chronic stress seems to be our national disease, especially these days. Millions suffer from symptoms of stress: nervous tension, restless sleep, difficulty focusing and remembering, irritability, and health complications. Generally speaking, stress speeds up aging. Learn the ways to manage stress, and you will look and feel younger.

1. Start your day with meditation
Spend time every day in meditative relaxation, with calming music if you desire. Start with five minutes and work your way to 15 or 20 minutes each day. Meditation is your number one way to reduce the output of stress hormones and avoid adrenal exhaustion, serious threats to your health.

Try this Stress Release Meditation: Breathe consciously, relax, and with each exhale focus on relaxing each area of your body in sequence, starting from the top of your head and moving all the way down to your toes.

2. Manage your mood with diet and herbs
Chinese Medicine considers the liver to be the center of your emotions. To allay stress and balance your emotions, keep your liver healthy and happy:

• Every day, eat lots of green leafy vegetables, barley grass, seaweed - anything high in chlorophyll - to keep the liver in good health.

• Take 500 mg dandelion daily for a month or longer to cleanse the liver and help release built-up anger.

• Take 400 mg white peony root daily for 1 to 3 months to soothe the liver and balance your mood.

• Schisandra berry protects the liver from chemicals and calms the spirit. For emotional anxiety, take 200 mg daily for a month.

Take these herbs anytime during the day and before bed in tea or capsule form. All the herbs are available from health food stores and Eastern medicine practitioners. Many of my patients have had remarkable results with Calm-Fort Elixir, an all-natural formulation of herbs to calm your spirit. For more information, click here.

3. Suppress stress with positive thinking
Instead of letting your thoughts run wild with anxiety, say affirmations to yourself, such as "I can handle the tasks I have ahead of me. I enjoy my responsibilities and fulfill them well." In fact, repeating positive affirmations can actually suppress the cortisol that the adrenal gland releases in times of stress - leaving you peaceful and calm.

4. Get stress out of your head and on paper
Writing in a journal every day can help you release thoughts and emotions that are causing you stress. Write from the position of an observer, recording your thoughts without any judgments. Just write it down so that you can see clearly what is going on inside. The next step is to identify the source of any anger or stress so you can begin to make changes. Looking into your thoughts give you the opportunity to gain insight into your feelings and reflect the underlying issues.

5. Unblock tension with exercise
The constant pressures of your job and family can lead to chronically elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is a direct cause of muscle and joint pain. Clenched jaw? Lump in your throat? Chronic back and neck pain? These can all be manifestations of stress in your body. Release physical tension and clear these emotional blockages by using massage therapy, exercise, yoga, tai chi, or qi gong to get the circuits moving.

6. A Retreat to Avoid Burnout
Overloading your brain is a recipe for stress and health problems. Information overload is particularly harmful at midlife because we have less tolerance for stress, which can contribute to high blood pressure and heart disease. Press the "reset" button on yourself. Give yourself a retreat from the stresses of modern life. Take one day out of the seven-day week to minimize "screen" time. Don't watch TV, don't check email, and don't look at the news - it will be there tomorrow, and after a day of rest, you will be refreshed and ready to look at them.

7. Perspective from the Natural World
Use nature to reduce stress. Go outside, hike in the woods, walk on the beach, anything that puts you in contact with the natural world. It is difficult to feel stressed when you are surrounded by nature's abundance of vitality and wonder.

I hope you find the ways to have less stress! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.

May you live long, live strong, and live happy!

-Dr. Mao

From: Yahoo!

Kicking the sugar habit

I love sweets. I'm the only one in our family who does... :/.. well, no my uncle and I see things in the same way for the most part, even with our love for sugar. Caramel, chocolates, pies... ahh.. but more recently I've been reading more about sugar, and it's worrying me. I don't want to get sick, cause endless trouble for myself and for family and etc just because I ate too much sugar!

Here's an interesting little snippet from the author of a book I've been avoiding to read:

76 Ways Sugar Can Ruin Your Health

Contributed by Nancy Appleton, Ph.D
Author of the book Lick The Sugar Habit

In addition to throwing off the body's homeostasis, excess sugar may result in a number of other significant consequences. The following is a listing of some of sugar's metabolic consequences from a variety of medical journals and other scientific publications.

1.

Sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease.1,2
2.

Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body: causes chromium and copper deficiencies and interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium. 3,4,5,6
3.

Sugar can cause can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline, hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.7,8
4.

Sugar can produce a significant rise in total cholesterol, triglycerides and bad cholesterol and a decrease in good cholesterol.9,10,11,12
5.

Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function.13
6.

Sugar feeds cancer cells and has been connected with the development of cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, rectum, pancreas, biliary tract, lung, gallbladder and stomach.14,15,16,17,18,19,20
7.

Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose and can cause reactive hypoglycemia.21,22
8.

Sugar can weaken eyesight.23
9.

Sugar can cause many problems with the gastrointestinal tract including: an acidic digestive tract, indigestion, malabsorption in patients with functional bowel disease, increased risk of Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.24,25,26,27,28
10.

Sugar can cause premature aging.29
11.

Sugar can lead to alcoholism.30
12.

Sugar can cause your saliva to become acidic, tooth decay, and periodontal disease.31,32,33
13.

Sugar contributes to obesity.34
14.

Sugar can cause autoimmune diseases such as: arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis.35,36,37
15.

Sugar greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections)38
16.

Sugar can cause gallstones.39
17.

Sugar can cause appendicitis.40
18.

Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.41
19.

Sugar can cause varicose veins.42
20.

Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users.43
21.

Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.44
22.

Sugar can cause a decrease in your insulin sensitivity thereby causing an abnormally high insulin levels and eventually diabetes.45,46,47
23.

Sugar can lower your Vitamin E levels.48
24.

Sugar can increase your systolic blood pressure.49
25.

Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.50
26.

High sugar intake increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs)(Sugar molecules attaching to and thereby damaging proteins in the body).51
27.

Sugar can interfere with your absorption of protein.52
28.

Sugar causes food allergies.53
29.

Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.54
30.

Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.55
31.

Sugar can cause atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.56,57
32.

Sugar can impair the structure of your DNA.58
33.

Sugar can change the structure of protein and cause a permanent alteration of the way the proteins act in your body.59,60
34.

Sugar can make your skin age by changing the structure of collagen.61
35.

Sugar can cause cataracts and nearsightedness.62,63
36.

Sugar can cause emphysema.64
37.

High sugar intake can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in your body.65
38.

Sugar lowers the ability of enzymes to function.66
39.

Sugar intake is higher in people with Parkinson's disease.67
40.

Sugar can increase the size of your liver by making your liver cells divide and it can increase the amount of liver fat.68,69
41.

Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney such as the formation of kidney stones.70,71
42.

Sugar can damage your pancreas.72
43.

Sugar can increase your body's fluid retention.73
44.

Sugar is enemy #1 of your bowel movement.74
45.

Sugar can compromise the lining of your capillaries.75
46.

Sugar can make your tendons more brittle.76
47.

Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines.77
48.

Sugar can reduce the learning capacity, adversely affect school children's grades and cause learning disorders.78,79
49.

Sugar can cause an increase in delta, alpha, and theta brain waves which can alter your mind's ability to think clearly.80
50.

Sugar can cause depression.81
51.

Sugar can increase your risk of gout.82
52.

Sugar can increase your risk of Alzheimer's disease.83
53.

Sugar can cause hormonal imbalances such as: increasing estrogen in men, exacerbating PMS, and decreasing growth hormone.84,85,86,87
54.

Sugar can lead to dizziness.88
55.

Diets high in sugar will increase free radicals and oxidative stress.89
56.

High sucrose diets of subjects with peripheral vascular disease significantly increases platelet adhesion.90
57.

High sugar consumption of pregnant adolescents can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration and is associated with a twofold increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.91,92
58.

Sugar is an addictive substance.93
59.

Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.94
60.

Sugar given to premature babies can affect the amount of carbon dioxide they produce.95
61.

Decrease in sugar intake can increase emotional stability.96
62.

Your body changes sugar into 2 to 5 times more fat in the bloodstream than it does starch.97
63.

The rapid absorption of sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese subjects.98
64.

Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).99
65.

Sugar adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition.100
66.

Sugar can slow down the ability of your adrenal glands to function.101
67.

Sugar has the potential of inducing abnormal metabolic processes in a normal healthy individual and to promote chronic degenerative diseases.102
68.

I.V.s (intravenous feedings) of sugar water can cut off oxygen to your brain.103
69.

Sugar increases your risk of polio.104
70.

High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures.105
71.

Sugar causes high blood pressure in obese people.106
72.

In intensive care units: Limiting sugar saves lives.107
73.

Sugar may induce cell death.108
74.

In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44 percent drop in antisocial behavior.109
75.

Sugar dehydrates newborns.110
76.

Sugar can cause gum disease.111

Source