#325 Carrots~ Daucus carota

Facts:
A super source of beta carotene,
a powerful anticancer,
artery-protecting - so prevent your blood vessels from artherosclerosis
immune-boosting - so you will not get sick easily
infection-fighting - helps to fight "germs"
antioxidant with wide protective powers.

A carrot a day slashed stroke rates in women by 68 percent.
The beta-carotene in one medium carrot cuts lung cancer risk in half, even among formerly heavy smokers.
High doses of beta carotene, as found in carrots substantially reduces odds of degenerative eye diseases e.g. cataracts
Reduces the odds of chest pain (angina).
The high soluble fiber in carrots depresses blood cholesterol.
NOTE:Cooking can make it easier for the body to absorb carrot's beta-carotene.

To summarise...... Carrots,

• protects against lung cancer
• protects against ovarian cancer
• protects against bladder cancer
• Reduces smokers cough/wheeze
• Prevention and therapy for Gastrointestinal infections.

#322: Blood Pressure numbers

Remember your last trip to the clinic and your blood pressure was taken? Do you know what those numbers represent? do you know where your blood pressure lies? Do you check your blood pressure regularly? Here are the categories :

Categories for Blood Pressure Levels in Adults over 18 (in mmHg, millimeters of
mercury)

Category	Systolic (top number)	Diastolic (bottom number)
Normal	Less than 130	Less than 85
Prehypertension	130–139	85–89
High BP Stage 1	140–159	90–99
High BP Stage 2	160-179	100-109
High BP Stage 3	180-209	110-119
High BP Stage 4	>210	>120

Why are the B.P numbers important?. Firstly the top number represent the Systolic pressure, which is the maximum arterial pressure achieved and the diastole pressure is the number at the bottom which is the minimum blood pressure recorded in the aorta.

Constant high blood pressure , or hypertension or "darah tinggi" is harmful. It makes the heart work harder and causes the arteries to narrow ( saluran darah mengecil). This increases the chance of fats to get deposited in the artery lumen. Which may lead to heart attacks or heart failure. The systole number show how hard your heart is working.

The bottom number indicates the resistance of the arteries to blood flow. If the number is high, that's means that the person's arteries may have some atherosclerosis ( saluran darah mengecil).
~ Oh no!

#320 GOUT / SAJAHAN

My grandma is a "gout-prone" person. Whenever it strikes, she will be bed-ridden for weeks. She could hardly move and became very dependent in every little thing. Her condition had initiated me to do some research on gout~sajahan.

What is gout?

Gout is a painful condition that occurs when uric acid (normally removed in urine) is deposited as needle-like crystals in the joints and/or soft tissues. In the joints, these uric acid crystals cause cause inflammatory arthritis, which in turn leads to swelling, redness, heat, pain, and stiffness in the joints.

In many people, gout will start to affect the joints of the big toe . But many other joints and areas around the joints can be affected including the ankles, heels, knees, wrists, fingers, and elbows. White deposits of uric acid, can appear as lumps under the skin that surrounds the joints.

Signs and symptoms:
high amount of uric acid in the blood
arthritis that develops in a day, producing a swollen, red and warm joint
arthritis that is in only one joint, often toe , ankle or knee

risk factors
- genetics
- hypertension
- being overweight
- exposure to lead ( in petrol)
- high purines diet
- taking aspirin etc... read more at http://www.niams.nih.gov
- drinking alcohol
-not drinking enough water ( 2 litres per day is recommended)
- not eating for a long time ( uric acid increase during starvation)

Food to avoid ( pantang)
-High protein diet
- food high in purines including anchovies ( ikan pusu), sardine, animal organs ( lungs- hati buyah), brain ( otak), liver ( hati), pancreas ( hati kura), kidneys( buah pinggang), exotic meat ( deer, ostrich, ayam hutan) , beans and nuts, shellfish, breads, oats, mushrooms, margarines, coffee, tea and junk food.

Natural remedy of Gout
- Soya Lechitin
- cherries
- vitamin E
-flax seeds oil
- apples
- bananas
- fresh lemon juice ( without sugar)

hope this helps :)

#319: Food containing Magnesium

USES: Building bones, regulation of body temperature, manufacture proteins and release energy from muscles storage. Many enzymes need magnesium for proper functioning. The enzymes themselves are important in controlling a number of body functions. Magnesium is also needed for proper functioning of nerves.

Unfortunately, we tend to lose magnesium through cooking so try to minimise the loss by using little amount of water and do not cook your food for a long time.

Sources:
Milo
Hot chocolate
Coco powder
soya products
wholemeal
bread ( coming from yeasts)
Dried Apricots
Dates
Peach
prunes
Figs
parmesan cheese
skim milk
Walnut
Almonds
Beras kampong
Yoghurt
baked potato with skin
Spinach
oats
Banana
raisins
Tuna
Tomato paste

Conditions linked to Magnesium deficiency (kekurangan makanan ber"magnesium") include:
Allergies
Asthma
Anxiety (In Brunei we call this "uri")
Attention deficit disorder - Hyperactivity
Cardiovascular diseases
muscle pain
neck pain
chest tightness
back pain
constipation
menstrual pain
insomnia
panic attack

#318 : Hiking to the road of healthiness

I am now in the process of deleting my health blog. However, there are some posts that I feel "sayang" to remove. So, I post them here instead. The following post is about my experience in June last year, while helping my hubby to supervise the PRYNSA 10, Maktab Sains team.

Hiking can be a great way to escape the monotony of the gym and get a heart-pumping workout.

There are many benefits of hiking. The most common benefits are:

• Weight loss.
• maintain healthy blood pressure
• Helps prevent osteoporosis by improving bone density.
• Relieves back pain.
• It doesn't cost much
• It is a stress buster

This holiday is a hectic one for me. There are so many events that takes place that require my attention directly or indirectly. Yesterday I had another chance to hike in the virgin forest of Andulau. It is a highland Dipterocarp forest, and again this is a forest reserve. I am very honored to be given the opportunity to go into the forest as this area is out of bound to public. Only researchers are allowed to enter and get their sampling done. We went uphill for 30 minutes, supervised the students to do their sampling for another 6 exhausting hours , and hiked back to the roadside for another 30 minutes. I was exhausted, thirsty, hungry, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I went home and cooked "kampong-style" dinner for the family, I guess the hours of running that I did these few months really boost my fitness level...

here goes... #1 The majestic forest


#2: The students are doing their sampling, tedious job for teenagers who are between 13-15 years old (Form 4 students)


#3: Mud covered shoes on a muddy hillside transect


#4 ; There I was , supporting myself on a dead tree trunk, which was about 1 metre in diameter, next to me was a medium size butress root Shorea, which is probably about 60 years old.


#5 A hike back to the main road..., exhausting but enjoyable.... :)