KAIZEN

This Food Robs Your Brain Power - Avoid It for Clearer Thinking

2012-01-23T14:52:00.001+08:00

Grains should represent a small part of your diet, regardless of your age. I personally seek to avoid most grains, except rice.
But if you're going to eat some grain-based foods, how much is too much?
This debate heated up earlier this year when two nutritional experts, Dr. Paul Jaminet and Dr. Ron Rosedale, engaged in a debate over how many starches are too many.
Dr. Rosedale believes there is no such thing as a "safe starch" and that all starchy carbohydrates should be avoided, which of course includes all grains.
Dr. Jaminet, on the other hand, is a little more forgiving of some of the "safer starches," such as potatoes and rice. He believes some people need a small amount of these in their diets.
This is an interesting debate.
It's well thought out and well articulated, but quite lengthy.
If you have time, I do recommended your reading through all of it to see the nuances of their contrasting views.

Controversial Carbs

The amount of carbohydrates one should consume for optimal health is a widely controversial topic. Fortunately we can gain some insights as to how much we might need by examining a child's diet, which is critically important for proper brain development. As you would expect, the quality of a child's diet will directly affect his or her cognitive functioning. Two recent studies highlight just how important this is.
STUDY #1: In the first study, Japanese researchers analyzed the relationship between breakfast staples and intelligence in children. They divided 290 healthy children into three groups according to their breakfast staple—rice, bread, or both. What they found was that children in the rice group had significantly more gray matter in their brains and showed a higher perceptual organization index, which is a component of intelligence. This supports the theory that children's breakfast choices affect their cognitive function.
According to the study:
"... [O]ne possible mechanism underlying the difference between the bread and the rice groups may be the difference in the glycemic index (GI) of these two substances; foods with a low GI are associated with less blood-glucose fluctuation than are those with a high GI."
STUDY #2: A 2011 cross-sectional study in Tehran, Iran, examined the relationship between long-term refined carbohydrate intake and non-verbal intelligence among 6 to 7-year-old schoolchildren. Researchers found that refined carbohydrate consumption and non-verbal IQ were inversely related for these Tehrani children. In other words, the more refined carbs the children were eating, the lower their non-verbal IQs. So how much starch is too much starch for breakfast—or any other meal, for that matter?

My Personal Experience with an Ultra-Low Carb Diet

After trying both approaches, my experience suggests that Dr. Jaminet's position is more clinically relevant. The challenge is that most people will not be able to lower their carb level to the below 20 percent suggested by Dr. Rosedale. This very low level is a long reach from the average American diet, which is actually around 50 percent carbohydrate—it is simply too hard. Achieving Dr. Jaminet's far more carb-liberal recommendations will be enough of a challenge for most.
When I eliminated all my grains and starchy vegetables, I actually experienced some negative effects. My energy levels declined considerably, and my cholesterol, which is normally about 150, rose to over 200. It appears I was suffering a glucose deficiency and this can trigger lipoprotein abnormalities. It also seemed to worsen my kidney function. So, while carbohydrate restriction is a miracle move for most people, like most good things in life, you can overdo it.
This information really underscores how important glucose is as a nutrient, and some people can't manufacture glucose from protein as well as others, so they need SOME starches in their diet or else they will suffer from metabolic stress.
About half of your proteins have glucose attached to them, and if they don't have glucose, they simply don't work well, if at all. Your body needs glucose both as a substrate and as a fuel in order for these proteins to work well. If you drop below 200 calories of glucose per day, you might notice some negative consequences in the way you feel and even in some of your blood work, as I did.
My experience now shows me that I need to have some source of non-vegetable carbs. I still seek to avoid nearly all grains, except for rice and potatoes. I typically limit my total carbohydrate calories to about 25 percent of total daily intake, and my protein to about 15 percent, with the additional 60 percent coming from healthful fats like butter, egg yolks, avocados, coconut oil, nuts and animal fat.
However, that is what works for me. You must listen to YOUR body and perform your own experiment. The bottom line is how your body responds, and you're the ONLY one who can determine that.
So, if you are going to try eating some grain-based foods, which ones are the least likely to cause a problem? How damaging is wheat versus rice? Or potatoes? Before casting a vote on this, it is important to understand how grains contain different amounts and types of natural toxins that can create problems with your health.

Avoid Carbs that are Loaded with Toxins

Aside from providing excessive calories as carbohydrates, one of the major adverse consequences of most grains is that they are loaded with toxins. In fact, as you'll learn in the interview above, the average person gets about 1.5 grams of natural food toxins daily, which makes up more than 99.9 percent of all the toxins ingested. These are toxins made by plants, as opposed to manmade toxins, which serve to protect the plant from being eaten by mammals.
The one grain type that is virtually toxin free is white rice, which has far fewer toxins than brown rice. The vast majority of toxins in white rice are destroyed by cooking, which is why white rice is the only grain Dr. Jaminet recommends. One of the grain toxins with which you may be familiar is gluten.
"Gluten" comes from the Latin word for glue, so named because its adhesive properties hold bread and other baked goods together. Gluten is present in grains such as wheat, rye, and barley. The glue-like properties interfere with the breakdown and absorption of nutrients, including the nutrients from other foods in the same meal. The result is a sticky, constipating lump in your gut, rather than a nutritious, easily digested meal.
This undigested glutinous gut-bomb may trigger your immune system to attack the lining of your small intestine, causing diarrhea or constipation, nausea, and/or abdominal pain. Severe reactions are classified as "celiac disease," and milder reactions fall under the category of "gluten intolerance." Over time, your small intestine can become increasingly damaged and less able to absorb nutrients, such as iron and calcium. This in turn can lead to anemia, osteoporosis and other health problems.
Modern wheat (and other grains) differs greatly from the wheat our ancestors ate. The proportion of gluten protein in wheat has increased enormously as a result of hybridization. Legumes are also loaded with lectins, which is why most who follow a Paleo type diet avoid them.

Lectins: The Plant Kingdom's Weapon of Mass Destruction

Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that are widespread in the plant kingdom. Plants produce lectins to ward off their natural enemies, such as fungi and insects. However, lectins are not just the nemesis of fungi and insects, but are also plaguing humans. Please refer to the excellent video above by Chris Meletis, ND, who discusses the many dangers posed by these glycoproteins.
There are many types of lectins.
Some lectins (including those in wheat) bind to specific receptor sites on your intestinal mucosal cells and interfere with the absorption of nutrients across your intestinal wall and into your blood. So, they act as "antinutrients."
Lectins are proteins that are looking to hook up with carbohydrates in your body. C-reactive protein, which is a marker of inflammation, is one example of the many lectins you have circulating right now. Lectins are also used to determine blood type. Lectins trigger inflammation, stimulate a hyper-immune response, and increase your blood viscosity—all conditions that can predispose you to disease.

Wheat Lectin (WGA) is Cytotoxic, Neurotoxic, Cardiotoxic and Immunotoxic

Wheat lectin, or "wheat germ agglutinin" (WGA), is largely responsible for many of wheat's pervasive ill effects. WGA is highest in whole wheat, especially sprouted whole wheat, but wheat isn't the only grain with significant lectin. All seeds of the grass family (rice, wheat, spelt, rye, etc.) are high in lectins.
WGA has the potential to damage your health by the following mechanisms (list is not all-inclusive):
Pro-Inflammatory: WGA lectin stimulates the synthesis of pro-inflammatory chemical messengers, even at very small concentrations
Immunotoxic: WGA lectin may bind to and activate white blood cells
Neurotoxic: WGA lectin can pass through your blood-brain barrier and attach to the protective coating on your nerves, known as the myelin sheath. It is also capable of inhibiting nerve growth factor, which is important for the growth, maintenance, and survival of certain neurons
Cardiotoxic: WGA lectin induces platelet aggregation and has a potent disruptive effect on tissue regeneration and removal of neutrophils from your blood vessels
Cytotoxic (Toxic to cells): WGA lectin may induce programmed cell death (apoptosis)
Research also shows that WGA may disrupt endocrine and gastrointestinal function, interfere with genetic expression, and share similarities with certain viruses.
The following foods contain chitin-binding lectins, which are very similar to wheat lectin:
Barley
Rye
Tomato
Chitins are the primary binding target of wheat lectin; therefore, wheat lectin and chitin-binding lectin are functionally identical. This could be important information if you are struggling with celiac disease or other gastrointestinal issues. For a complete understanding about chitin-binding lectins, please read this article by Sayer Ji.

If You're Sugar Sensitive, Beware of the SWEET Potato

Although sweet potatoes have some excellent nutritional components and are considered a "safe starch" by Dr. Jaminet, many people have problems from eating them because of their high fructose content. Dr. Jaminet actually recommends white potatoes over sweet potatoes. There are many different varieties of sweet potato, all varying in sugar content. An article on the Perfect Health Diet website discusses the difference between conventional sweet potatoes and other varieties.
The American sweet potato has been literally bred for sweetness. If you are trying to tease out the nuances of your potential carbohydrate foods, it's worth noting the differences in the varieties.
The American sweet potato has nearly half the sugar content (6.5g per 100g) of grapes (15.5g per 100g). They are sort of half fruit, half starch! By contrast, yams are far less sweet, with only 0.5g of sugar per 100g. White potatoes actually contain more sugar than yams, at 1.2 g.

The Bottom Line

My conclusion is that there is a certain minimum carbohydrate threshold that you should not drop below. The sweet spot for most is 20 to 30 percent of your diet as carbs, but most likely 25 to 30 percent. Most of those calories can come from non-starchy vegetables, but you'll probably need some starchy carbs, such as white potatoes or white rice, and starchy vegetables like carrots and squash.
Breast milk is considered by many to be the perfect food for infants. Breast milk is 40 percent carbohydrate, which is great for babies because they have an increased glucose demand related to their rapid brain development. Adults simply need less.
Regardless of which starchy foods you put on your plate, make sure they are as organic and unprocessed as possible, free of pesticides and chemical additives and NOT genetically modified. I believe that low toxicity, high quality nutrient-dense foods are the MOST important consideration for you and your child's optimal health, as well as your child's brain development.
Regardless of your dietary choices, please remember to ALWAYS listen to your body, as it will give you feedback about whether or not the approach you've chosen is right for your unique biochemistry and genetics. Listen to that feedback and adjust your program accordingly.

Be Among The Few

2012-01-22T13:25:00.000+08:00

You and I can go through life by just doing enough.

We can do just enough to rise in the morning and drag ourselves to work. We can just do enough work to get paid. We can just do enough, day in and day out for the rest of our lives.We will survive. Look around you, many are just like that.

But we never going to live our lives fully. Our lives would be of ifs and why not. A life of regret. Look around you, many are feeling just that.

Mediocrity. Wishful thinking. Fear of hard work and love of easy money. This what many want.

We have a choice. We can be mediocre. Another face in the crowd another sound in the noise,another employee in the office. Do not choose to be among the many.

Choose to be among the few.

The few that does more than what is asked of them. The few that goes that extra mile. The few that is not scared of hard work. The few that will be able to say that they have their best.

Jim Rohn once said : "Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you."

Let us choose to be among the few. Let us not be another name, another number, another statistic. Let us not be worried about what comes tomorrow because whatever it may be, we know we will do our best. Let us not be scared of toil

About You

2012-01-20T10:57:00.000+08:00

Here is something Brian Tracy wrote in his book Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential.

You are a thoroughly good person. You deserve a wonderful life, full of success, happiness, joy and excitement. You are entitled to have happy relationships, excellent health, meaningful work, and financial independence. These are your birthright. This is what your life is meant to include.

You are engineered for success and designed to have high levels of self-esteem, self-respect, and personal pride. You are extraordinary: there has never been anyone exactly like you in all the history of mankind on earth. You have absolutely amazing untapped talents and abilities that, when properly unleashed and applied, can bring you everything you could ever want in life.

You are living at the greatest time in all of human history. You are surrounded by abundant opportunities that you can take advantage of to realize your dreams. The only real limits on what you can be, do, or have are the limits you place on yourself by your own thinking. Your future is virtually unlimited.

Two Foods To Avoid After a Workout

2012-01-07T13:00:00.000+08:00

Did you know that what you eat directly after exercising – typically within two hours – can have a significant impact on the health benefits you reap from your exercise?
Consuming sugar within this post-exercise window, will negatively affect both your insulin sensitivity and your human growth hormone (HGH) production.
A recent study in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that eating a low-carbohydrate meal after aerobic exercise enhances your insulin sensitivity. This is highly beneficial, since impaired insulin sensitivity, or insulin resistance, is the underlying cause of type 2 diabetes and a significant risk factor for other chronic diseases, such as heart disease.
In addition, as HGH Magazine explains, consuming fructose, including that from fruit juices, within this two-hour window will decimate your natural HGH production:

"A high sugar meal after working out, or even a recovery drink (containing high sugar) after working out, will stop the benefits of exercise induced HGH. You can work out for hours, then eat a high sugar candy bar or have a high sugar energy drink, and this will shut down the synergistic benefits of HGH.
… If you miss reaching HGH release during working out, you will still receive the calorie burning benefit from the workout. However, you'll miss the HGH "synergy bonus" of enhanced fat burning for two hours after working out.
This is an extremely important fact to remember if you want to cut body fat and shed a few pounds.
The University of Virginia research team demonstrated that carbohydrates are burned during exercise in direct proportion to the intensity of training. Fat burning is also correlated with intensity. However, the actual fat burning takes place after the workout, during the recovery.
This makes the "Synergy Window," the 2 hour period after a workout, very important in maximizing HGH, once it's released during exercise.
… If you are middle-age and want all the benefits from exercise induced HGH, then apply this strategy."

Fitness expert Phil Campbell, author of Ready, Set, Go! further explains how you can maximize your HGH production by limiting sugar intake for two hours post exercise, in this article on HowToBeFit.com.
Exercising one hour a week and getting the same results as traditional strength training might sound impossible. However, University of Florida orthopedics researchers have developed a system that may do just that, and as you will read in my comment below, the kind of exercise you perform can dramatically reduce the time you spend in the gym while still getting better results than you did before.
The system created by University of Florida researchers uses eccentric (negative) resistance training, which capitalizes on the fact that the human body can support and lower weights that are too heavy to lift.
According to UF Health Science Center:

"Through a system of motors, pulleys, cams and sensors it adds weight when a person is performing a lowering motion, and removes that weight when the person is lifting. As a result, the body starts seeing loads, resistance, and forces that it doesn't normally see".

Other scientists have found additional clues that explain how exercise reshapes and strengthens more than just your muscles.
It changes your brain too.
In the late 1990s, researchers proved that human and animal brains produce new brain cells, and that exercise increases the process. But precisely how exercise affects the intricate workings of your brain at a cellular level remained a mystery.
However, a number of new studies have begun to identify the specific mechanisms, and have raised new questions about just how exercise reshapes your brain.
In some studies, scientists have been manipulating the levels of bone-morphogenetic protein (BMP) in the brains of mice. The more active BMP becomes, the more inactive your brain stem cells become and the fewer new brain cells you produce. Exercise reverses some of the effects of BMP.
According to the New York Times:

"BMP signaling was found to be playing a surprising, protective role for the brain's stem cells ... Without BMP signals to inhibit them, the stem cells began dividing rapidly, producing hordes of new neurons."

Buy Better Lightbulbs

2012-01-07T09:11:00.003+08:00

Read this if you are planning to buy lightbulb

A Photo A Day

2012-01-02T09:39:00.001+08:00

Check out Time magazine's a picture a day for 2011 here.

New Year Resolutions

2012-01-01T09:30:00.003+08:00

I am not going to write about how to make resolutions and keep them. I believe your daily paper has done that already. To start of 2012, I want to share of the New Year's resolutions articles that I have been reading.

Happy New Year folks.

Chaplin's Speech From The Great Dictator

2011-12-31T07:40:00.001+08:00

The comedy movie The Great Dictator was released in October 1940 and was written, produced and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The movie which satirizes Adolf Hitler was a commercial success and is best remembered by the speech at the end of the movie. It is one of the greatest speech ever made in movie history.

I'm sorry but I don't want to be an Emperor, that's not my business. Idon't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone ifpossible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another,human beings are like that.We all want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery.We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is roomfor everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone.

The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way.
Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate;
has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.

We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in:
machinery that gives abundance has left us in want.

Our knowledge has made us cynical,
our cleverness hard and unkind.
We think too much and feel too little:
More than machinery we need humanity;
More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness.
Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very natureof these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out foruniversal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reachingmillions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and littlechildren, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocentpeople. To those who can hear me I say "Do not despair".

The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitternessof men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass anddictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to thepeople and so long as men die [now] liberty will never perish. . .
Soldiers: don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslaveyou, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and whatto feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, as cannon fodder.

Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machineminds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You aremen. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don't hate, only theunloved hate. Only the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers: don't fight forslavery, fight for liberty.

In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written:
"The kingdom of God is within man"
Not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men; in you, the people.
You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power tocreate happiness. You the people have the power to make life free andbeautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name ofdemocracy let's use that power, let us all unite. Let us fight for a newworld, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will giveyou the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things,brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfil their promise,they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Nowlet us fight to fulfil that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to doaway with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance.Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress willlead to all men's happiness.

Soldiers! In the name of democracy, let us all unite!
. . .
Look up! Look up! The clouds are lifting, the sun is breaking through. We are coming out of the darkness into the light. We are coming into a newworld. A kind new world where men will rise above their hate and brutality.

The soul of man has been given wings, and at last he is beginning to fly.He is flying into the rainbow, into the light of hope, into the future,that glorious future that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up. Look up.

About White Tea and Witch Hazel

2011-12-18T08:38:00.000+08:00

Recently Natural News carried an article about the proven benefits of white tea, witch hazel and rose as anti-inflammation agents. Read it here.

World's Best Antioxidant

2011-12-12T09:06:00.001+08:00

By Dr. Mercola

Rudi Moerck, who has advanced training in biological sciences, is an expert on fats and antioxidants.Astaxanthin is recognized as one of the most potent and exciting antioxidants to emerge, and is backed by extensive and compelling evidence.
Extracted from marine algae, astaxanthin is what makes gives flamingos and salmon their pink coloring after eating the algae.

It's a member of the carotenoid family, which includes beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene, and zeaxanthin, just to name a few.
In a normal diet, as long as you're eating enough vegetables, you'll probably get enough of most common carotenoids, such as beta-carotene (vitamin A).
"We don't recommend excessive supplementation of vitamin A," Dr. Moerck says.

"There is some literature about that. It really should not be overdone; especially synthetic versions.

You're better off getting your beta-carotene from organic carrots for instance."
The same applies for zeaxanthin, which is found in vegetables such as broccoli and leafy greens. Astaxanthin, on the other hand, can be more difficult to get in therapeutic amounts from your diet.

Why You May Need an Astaxanthin Supplement

Astaxanthin is the most commonly occurring red carotenoid in marine and aquatic animals, especially salmon, giving it its characteristic pink color.
Shrimp, lobster and crab are also sources of astaxanthin. However, you're unlikely to be able to consume enough salmon and shell fish on a daily basis to get a therapeutic dose. You'd have to consume about three-quarters of a pound of wild-caught sockeye salmon, which contains the highest amounts of astaxanthin of all the marine foods, to receive the same amount of astaxanthin you'd get in a 4mg capsule if you were to take a supplement.
That's reason alone to consider taking it as a supplement. Especially when you consider its many beneficial properties, such as:
Astaxanthin is by far the most powerful carotenoid antioxidant when it comes to free radical scavenging: astaxanthin is 65 times more powerful than vitamin C, 54 times more powerful than beta-carotene, and 14 times more powerful than vitamin E.
It’s also far more effective than other carotenoids at "singlet oxygen quenching," which is a particular type of oxidation. The damaging effects of sunlight and various organic materials are caused by this less-stable form of oxygen. Astaxanthin is 550 times more powerful than vitamin E and 11 times more powerful than beta-carotene at neutralizing singlet oxygen.
Astaxanthin crosses the blood-brain barrier AND the blood-retinal barrier (beta carotene and lycopene do not), which brings antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection to your eyes, brain and central nervous system and reducing your risk for cataracts, macular degeneration, blindness, dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
It's a potent UVB absorber and reduces DNA damage.
It's a very powerful natural anti-inflammatory.
It cannot turn into a pro-oxidant like many other antioxidants can, so it will not cause harm even in larger amounts.
It protects the entire cell—both the water-and the fat-soluble parts.

Different Types of Carotenoids

The last point is very interesting, and something that sets astaxanthin apart from other antioxidants. There are essentially three different types of carotenoids: water-soluble, fat-soluble, and an in-between group that can interface between water and fat, such as vitamin E and astaxanthin.
While water-soluble antioxidants need to be taken every day as they're easily expelled, fat-soluble ones, such as astaxanthin, lutein, or zeaxanthin, do not need to be taken daily. Ideally, you do want to take them daily at a modest dose, but it's not required as they will to some extent accumulate in your fat tissues, which have a slower rate of turnover.

Astaxanthin and Vitamin E are Similar. Do You Need Both?

Astaxanthin is often compared to vitamin E—although astaxanthin is hundreds of times more potent. (Dr. Moerck provides a lot more detail about vitamin E in the interview, so for more information, please listen to the interview in its entirety, or read through the transcript.)
Interestingly enough, while similar, astaxanthin and vitamin E are totally unrelated in structure, and astaxanthin therefore has more tricks up its sleeve than vitamin E. But because of their general similarity, a frequent question raised is, do you still need to take vitamin E if you're taking astaxanthin?
According to Dr. Moerck, the answer is yes, but with a few caveats:
"[T]he most important vitamin E derivative is alpha-tocopherol," Dr. Moerck explains. "Natural [vitamin E], not the dl- [version] but alpha-tocopherol. It's more important than the other tocopherols… [But] vitamin E in large amounts is not a good idea. The reason for that is that vitamin E, when it gets oxidized, or when there is a photochemical production of a free radical, it has [what is called]… a benzenoid ring…
That forms a very stable free radical. It can sit around and… wait until it sees something that it can react with. That could be your tissue, or it could be another vitamin E free radical.
So large amounts of vitamin E… as a supplement, actually becomes pro-oxidative—it becomes a pro-oxidant.
That is not good because you'll form these stable free radicals… Vitamin E ultra-supplementation… is in my opinion not healthy… [M]ega-dosing would be anything more than 2,000 units. Having said that, if you mix something with vitamin E that allows that free radical to quench, to get down to what we chemists call the ground state, then you have a vitamin E that's very functional and does not become a pro-oxidant and that one ingredient is astaxanthin.
If you mix astaxanthin with vitamin E, it prevents the vitamin E from being a stable free radical [because] the astaxanthin quenches it to the ground state. So that's very important. Any formula that has vitamin E in it, I think you should have a few parts per million of astaxanthin, or more. It could be up to 4 mg."
So, when you take astaxanthin with vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol), it will allow any free radicals formed when vitamin E reacts with singlet oxygen to go to the ground state, whereas vitamin E alone will not do that.

The Many Health Benefits of Astaxanthin

Researchers have discovered a number of areas where astaxanthin appears to be particularly helpful. I've previously discussed these health benefits in great depth, so for more information about its use for the following health problems, please see the hyperlinks provided:
Eye health, including protection against cataracts, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness
Inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and more
Sunburn and wrinkle prevention
Improved athletic performance
Better brain health

Beware of Synthetic Astaxanthin

Like animal-based omega-3 fat, astaxanthin is an exception to my general rule to get your nutrients from food. Since it would be quite difficult to get therapeutic amounts of astaxanthin in your diet, it's a supplement worthy of consideration—especially to address any of the health problems listed above.
That said, dietary sources of astaxanthin include salmon, shrimp, lobster and crab. However, it's important to make sure it's wild-caught if you want to reap any of its benefits. Avoiding farm raised fish is good advise overall, but especially when it comes to salmon, as it typically will not contain natural astaxanthin. If your salmon label does not read "wild" or "naturally colored," you're probably going to be eating a coloring agent somewhat closer to motor oil than antioxidant...
Natural astaxanthin is more than 20 times stronger as an antioxidant than synthetic astaxanthin, and wild salmon are 400 percent higher in astaxanthin than its farmed counterpart. Furthermore, wild salmon have much higher levels of beneficial omega-3 fats than the farmed version.
Here's another interesting tidbit:
"If you look at the structure of astaxanthin, it's a very long molecule; the center of which is extremely fat soluble. That's why it goes into the membranes of your body and then the fatty tissue," Dr. Moerck says.
"When you look at a salmon you see that redness in a salmon. That color is really in the membranes and in the fat portion of the salmon associated with omega-3 DHA. They're right next to each other. That actually keeps the DHA from oxidizing. DHA is an unsaturated fatty acid. If you just leave it exposed to oxygen, it goes rancid.
… And in krill, one of the reasons why krill is so incredibly stable is it has astaxanthin in it. That keeps it from oxidizing."
Krill oil, due to its astaxanthin content, will remain undamaged by a steady flow of oxygen for an impressive 190 hours, according to tests conducted by Dr. Moerck. That's truly incredible when you consider just how fragile omega-3 fats are (both animal- and plant-based omega-3 fats).
Compare that to fish oil—an otherwise comparable animal-based omega-3 source—which goes rancid after just one hour. That makes krill oil nearly 200 times more resistant to oxidative damage compared to fish oil. A mere 0.2 mg of astaxanthin per gram of krill oil will protect it from rancidity.
"Krill oil; I have never seen anything like it," Dr. Moerck says. "As long as that krill oil has astaxanthin, as long as it's still red, it has antioxidant performance that even surpasses things like olive oil. That to me is totally astounding… [T]he only other oil that I know that's extremely stable and is a monounsaturated oil is amaranth oil."

Potential Side Effects

According to Dr. Moerck, the only documented side effect of astaxanthin is the development of slightly pinkish skin—which typically will not be considered a detrimental, as people typically identify people with a pinkish skin color to be "healthy."
So it's really a cosmetic benefit. Like melanin in your skin, this is also what will offer you protection against the sun, as astaxanthin works as an internal sunscreen.
More recently, a few bloggers have claimed that astaxanthin caused breast enlargement.
According to Dr. Moerck:
"There has been blogs about breast enlargement associated with astaxanthin. Folks, this is simply impossible… It's that cut and dry. Let me explain why that is.
First of all, the molecules themselves, the carotenoids, have no steroidal function. They also do not inhibit steroid formation, and of course we know that testosterone and estrogen are very important for sexuality and for hair growth and breast size, etc. However, carotenoids do not affect that at all. There is NO steroidal activity. It does not enter in any mechanism pathway for the synthesis of steroids."

What Sets The Successful Apart?

2011-12-11T09:02:00.001+08:00

Often I ask myself this question: Why some people are more successful than others? The answer has always been the same.

Successful people do things that others just don't want to do.

They do more than what is asked of them. They are willing to endure more. They keep going, keep getting up after each knock.

No matter what it is, be it academics, sports or business; the one that stands out is usually if not always, the one that has done more than others.

To do more, you will have to fight fatigue. You will have to ignore the whisper in your head telling you that you have done enough, and a million other things.

To do more you must be willing to give up that Wednesday night pool, Saturday afternoon football ( or soccer as you called in the US) and other activities that gives you pleasure but keeps you trapped in mediocrity.

To do more, is to wage a war on yourself and to never cease battle until you have tasted victory.

One of the greatest sportsmen ever, Edwin Moses, who went unbeaten from 1977 to 1987 in the 400 metre hurdles, a remarkable feat that will certainly will be repeated again, had this to say when asked how he kept winning: " I always had to keep improving my skills in order to remain competitive and keep winning"

Note the word "always" in the quote. Even when he was way ahead of his rivals, Edwin Moses never stopped improving himself.

Being successful demands a certain type of character from you and that is courage. The courage to do more than others. The courage to say no to all that gives you instant gratification. The courage to take it on the chin and keep going on.

If you are serious about being successful, you must be willing to do more than others.

The 10 That Did Not Board The Titanic

2011-12-10T09:55:00.001+08:00

JP Morgan, yes that JP Morgan, for some reason had to extend his European stay and that was the reason he did not board the Titanic. Check out The 10 People Who Did Not Board The Titanic.

Never More Than Necessary

2011-11-27T09:08:00.001+08:00

"When you wish to instruct, be brief; that men's minds take in quickly what you say, learn its lesson, and retain it faithfully. Every word that is unnecessary only pours over the side of a brimming mind." ~ Cicero

Of all things that can be overdone, talking too much probably does the worst damage. Words once spoken cannot be taken back.By not saying more than needed, you minimize the risk of being misunderstood, misinterpreted or misquoted.

By keeping your words short and simple, you will get the message across faster and clearer. You messages have a very small chance or none at all being misunderstood. This is especially important when you are giving instructions. A concise instruction has shown to achieve more long muddled ones.

Which of these 2 signage below do you think is more effective?

Researches have found that the sign on the right is far more effective than the one on the left.

There are many other examples of this, a "DANGER RADIOACTIVE" is found to be more effective than "DANGER-KEEP AWAY- RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS ARE STORED NEARBY". Saying "SILENCE PLEASE" is found to be better than telling "THANK YOU for KEEPING QUIET".

Saying less and getting more done is a skill that can be learned. Anyone can do it.

Chlorella is Superfood

2011-11-24T18:18:00.001+08:00

Chlorella is a micro-algae that has been around formillions of years. It is often called ‘super food’. If you don’t already know, you might wonder why. Chlorellahas been shown to offer benefits in treating the following conditions:

Obesity
Diabetes
Hypoglycemia
Arthritis
Inflammation of joints and tissues
Depression
Severe liver damage and liver disorders
Intestinal ulcers
Hemorrhoids
Asthma
Hypertension
Constipation
Bleeding gums
Infections
Body odor / breath odor
Essential fatty acid deficiencies
Mineral deficiencies
Cancers (all types)

Chlorella is greenin colour and it is of the same size of human cell, about 2 to 8 microns. Thechlorophyll content in it gives it a green hue. Chlorella is usually grown inareas rich with sunlight.

Chlorella containsalmost known B vitamins. It also rich with:

Vitamin C
Vitamin E
Omega-3 fatty acids
Beta-Carotene
All major minerals.

And Chlorella ispacked with high-quality protein.

In his book, Healingwith Whole Foods, Paul Pitchford writes:

"Chlorellacontains a greater quantity of fatty acids than either spirulina or wildblue-green. About 20% of these fatty acids are artery-cleansing, omega-3,alpha-linolenic variety; perhaps this is one reason chlorella has been shown tobe so effective in reducing cholesterol in the body and preventingatherosclerosis."

One unique aspectof chlorella is that it contains what is known as Chlorella Growth Factor,which is essentially nucleic acids, RNA and DNA. Produced during thephotosynthesis, it promotes cell rejuvenation and body detoxification.

Foreword of Chlorella Natural Medicinal Algae by Dr.David Steeblock states:

"Chlorella is afood, not a medicine. We should realize, however, that when the proper foodsare used, together with the right supplements to build up the health level ofthe body, diseases are often "crowded out". This is nature's way of healingthe body. To put it very simply, there is no room for disease in a healthybody. When the tissues are cleansed and strengthened, and when we have removedthe obstacles to healing that drag on all the glands and organs, I feel thebody heals of its own accord. It would be difficult to describe the many highlytechnical experiments scientists have run to find out what biologically activesubstances are in CGF and what these substances do, singly and in combination.We must realize, however, that the reason why many scientists are putting somuch time and effort into investigating Chlorella and CGF is because there isalready a great deal of proof that Chlorella and CGF, even in relatively smallamounts, stimulate growth, tissue repair and healing to an extent not previouslyfound in any other food."

In his book Chlorella, Jewelof the Far East, Dr Bernard Jensen, D.O., Ph.D writes:

"Chlorella is awonderful food supplement and it will work best and most rapidly if combinedwith a correctly balanced and proportioned food regimen....We find that theaverage person does not get enough green vegetables in their diet, andchlorella helps compensate for that. The average person may not have properbowel elimination and chlorella helps make up for that also. The average womandoes not have enough iron or calcium, especially after the age of forty;chlorella is high in both. The average person does not repair and rebuildtissue fast enough, and chlorella helps speed it up. These are some of thereasons why chlorella has such a positive effect on health."

and further adds:

"All blood sugar imbalances - diabetes, hypoglycemia, manicdepression - are greatly helped because much of chlorella's protein, like thatof spirulina, is predigested and ready to work to smooth out blood sugarfluctuations."

Chlorella trulyoffers many benefits to your body and adding it to your daily diet will definitely improveyour overall health. If you intend to do so, just make sure the chlorella you aregetting is the broken cell type.

Diabetes and Dental Care

2011-11-20T11:00:00.001+08:00

Gingivitis and Periodontitis. Two common mouth disease suffered by people who have diabetes. Here is a helpful link for better dental care for diabetic people.

Breast Cancer and Use of MRI

2011-11-20T05:00:00.000+08:00

New study reveals expensive MRIs pushed on women for breast cancer screening have no medical benefit. Read more here.

My Thoughts Today

2011-11-19T23:08:00.001+08:00

With the realization that death is certain and it can come at any time, I have come to value time. Ever since than I try not waste it. It took me almost 40 years of living to discover this. I wished I had done it earlier.

I started this blog to share what I know about being more productive, doing things a little better, about continuous improvement that we make in our lives. There are various tools that we can use to do things better. There are various techniques we can use to deliver whatever that we wish to deliver.

Tools such as mind map, doing a list, getting rid of clutter even a simple smile makes our lives better. I hope to learn many more things that will save me time and make me better. And I will continue to share with you.

Have a good day.

Lead Poisoning Alert: This Widely Used Drink is Dangerous

2011-11-12T23:30:00.000+08:00

By Dr. Mercola

Jeff Green has been an activist in the movement to eliminate a toxic fluoride from your water supply for the past 15 years.

The practice of adding fluoride to municipal tap water across the U.S. began in 1945.
With more than 60 percent of U.S. water supplies currently fluoridated, chances are you're one of the 170 million Americans who drink fluoride on a daily basis. Chances are also high that you're unaware of the sordid history that made water fluoridation a reality in the first place, because contrary to popular belief, its origins actually had nothing to do with protecting your dental health.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, you might be unaware that the fluoride added to your water is far from pharmaceutical grade…read more here

Fibre and whole grains 'reduce bowel cancer risk'

2011-11-12T20:11:00.001+08:00

BBC News reported today that rResearchers from Imperial College London found that for every 10g a day increase in fibre intake, there was a 10% drop in the risk of bowel cancer. Read more here.

The Andes Plane Crash

2011-11-12T17:55:00.001+08:00

"I want to eat the pilot" said Fernando Parrado to his friend Ricardo Cannesa, after the chocolates that they have been eating since they crashed was exhausted.

Cannibalism? Or just human survival instinct kicking in?

Parrado and Cannesa, survived on eating the flesh of their dead friends. If they didn't, then one of the most inspiring survival stories of our time would never had been told.

The Andes plane crash as it become popularly known, where 16 out of 45 survived after 72 days in the harsh sub-zero temperatures of the rugged Andes mountains, is a story of the unyielding human spirit. A story worth telling. A story worth listening. A story worth reading.

Two books have been written, the first by Piers Paul Read in 1974 titled Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors. In 2006, 34 years after he was rescued Fernando Parrado together with Vince Rause published the book Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home.

The official website for the survivors Viven! is available in both Spanish and English.

How To Be More Convincing When You Talk

2011-11-07T17:00:00.000+08:00

1. Use small active verbs ofphysical movement for power and force

Verbs are words that bringto life what you say. The more simpleactive verbs you use, the better. Your language will be more forceful andconvincing. Words such as pull, push, break, cut, spin,run, go, strike, stir brings life and movement to yourtalk. Avoid abstract and vague verbs. It destroys the power and force of whatyou say. Abstract verbs are usually nouns modified by adding -ize as in finalize or -ate as in officiate. They bore your listener and makes him loseinterest in what you have to say.

2. Use simple words

The simpler your words arethe more potent it is. Short simple words are powerful not only while talkingbut also in writing. Note how much moreforce is in the sentence,“ Do Not Smoke” than in, “ Thank You For Not Smoking.”

3. Use personal words

Always use personal wordssuch as I, you, we, us, Smith, janitor. It is specific and more powerful. Avoidat all cost words that are used to pass the buck such as; “They said”, “It wassaid”. They destroy the force of yourtalk.

4. Be direct

Be direct. Be specific.Use illustration if you have to but do not beat around the bush. And if you don’t know, say so.

5. Deliver one idea at a time

The human brain has almostinfinite capacity to store information but it only can take in so much at agiven time. When you talk, you are transmitting information that yourlistener’s brain needs to interpret and this requires effort. If you are givingtoo many ideas at a time, your listener will simply lose interest out ofexhaustion. Giving one idea allows moretime for the working memory of your listener to process it better and thishelps in holding his interest.

6. Respect your listener

Don’t talk down to yourlistener. You will lose his interest and that is it.

6 Simple Ways To Earn Respect

2011-11-07T14:00:00.000+08:00

Respect, like money, must be earned. Hereare six simple ways you can earn the respect of others.

1. Seize opportunity that offers increased responsibility

Don’t be afraid to assumemore responsibility. Remember, to be stand out of crowd, you must be more thanthe crowd. If you are doing the same as what others are doing, you will neverbe more than them. If there is a fund raising project in your company, getyourself involved. If your boss is looking for some extra help with a report heis preparing, offer yourself. Do not worry what others might say, just go aboutyour way and seize every opportunity that will increase yourresponsibility.

2. Do your best in every taskyou are given

Always give your best. AsGeorge Bernard Shaw once said, “Do yourbest in whatever you do, with whatever you have, wherever you are.” Do notwhine or complain if you do not have all the tools or facts to get the jobdone, quietly go and search for solutions. Improvise and be resourceful.

3. Admit your mistakes

Never pass the buck. Thiswill hurt your reputation badly and it may never recover. The ability to admit mistakes takes courageand wins you supporters and admirers. Most importantly, it wins you respect.You must also have the courage to accept honest criticism. This shows maturityand your willingness to learn.

4. Stand your ground

Do not be made of glass.Don’t change your principles out of fear or to gain favour. If you are sure ofyour convictions, have the courage to stand by it. By no means am I suggestingyou to be hard headed. Now and then you might have see things differently.There will be time you must back down to go forward in life but once you aresure of what you think is right, stick to it.

5. Take completeresponsibility

Your success and yourfailures are results of your actions. Where you are in life and where you willgo depends on you. So take responsibility for your actions. Do not blame othersof your failures. And understand thatyour success depends on your efforts too. As a leader of man once said,responsibility is the price you must pay for greatness.

6. Take responsibility forthe failures of those working for you

You are responsible for theperformance of those under you. It is your job to ensure that they will always givetheir best. Their failure to do so, is your failure too. Do not run away fromthis responsibility. Your ability toaccept responsibility for the failures of your subordinates will win youloyalty and respect.

Brains Built To Cooperate

2011-11-07T11:14:00.000+08:00

You are a natural team player.

That is what the latest research published in Science has concluded.While researching plain-tailed wrens, famous in Ecuador for duets between males and females, researches found that the wrens do not respond strongly to their own voice but instead show stronger neuron activity while performing together.

As all vertebrates have similar neurotransmitter system, the paper's authors concluded that there is relevance to the human brain.

Vitamin D and Depression

2011-11-06T21:30:00.000+08:00

By Dr. Mercola

A study of more than 81,000 women found those with the highest intake of vitamin D from food sources had a significantly lower prevalence of depressive symptoms.
The researchers suggested that vitamin D may affect the function of dopamine and norepinephrine.
These are neurotransmitters that are likely involved in depression, while also modulating the relationship between depression and inflammation.
This adds to growing evidence showing that if you're suffering from depression one of the best choices you can make is to spend as much time outdoors in the sun as possible.
Sun exposure is by far the best way to optimize your levels of vitamin D.

Vitamin D Fights Depression

The connection between vitamin D and depression is not new.
In 2006, scientists evaluated the effects of vitamin D on the mental health of 80 elderly patients and found those with the lowest levels of vitamin D were 11 times more prone to be depressed than those who received healthy doses.
In the current study, researchers found that intake of more than 400 IU of vitamin D from food sources was associated with a 20 percent lower risk of depressive symptoms compared with intake of less than 100 IU. This was a significant benefit from a very small amount of vitamin D -- as 400 IU is far too low to benefit most people (not to mention your body is made to get vitamin D primarily from the sun, not food or supplements, as I'll explain below).
It now appears as though most adults need about 8,000 IU's of vitamin D a day in order to get their serum levels above 40 ng/ml, which is the lowest they should be. Ideally your serum levels should be between 50-70 ng/ml, and up to 100 ng/ml to treat cancer and heart disease.
It's likely that vitamin D fights depression via several pathways, not only directly in your brain but also via inflammation. Vitamin D receptors have been identified throughout the human body, and that includes in your brain. Researchers have located metabolic pathways for vitamin D in the hippocampus and cerebellum of the brain, areas that are involved in planning, processing of information, and the formation of new memories.
Sufficient vitamin D is also imperative for proper functioning of your immune system to combat inflammation, and other research has discovered that depressed people tend to have higher levels of inflammation in their brains.

Why it's Best to Get Your Vitamin D From the Sun

The researchers mentioned above noted that studies have shown only about 30 percent of Americans' circulating 25(OH)D (vitamin D) is the product of sunlight exposure. This is an unfortunate byproduct of public health agencies' misguided advice to stay out of the sun to avoid cancer (when in fact vitamin D from sun exposure will prevent cancer). The truth is, vitamin D from sun exposure is the BEST way to optimize your vitamin D levels, and a recent interview with Dr. Stephanie Seneff brought the importance of getting your vitamin D from sun exposure to a whole new level.
I've consistently recommended getting your vitamin D from regular sun exposure whenever possible, and Dr. Seneff's review of how vitamin D—specifically from sun exposure—is intricately tied to healthy cholesterol and sulfur levels, makes this recommendation all the more important. As a quick summary, when you expose your skin to sunshine, your skin synthesizes vitamin D3 sulfate. This form of vitamin D is water soluble, unlike oral vitamin D3 supplements, which is unsulfated. The water-soluble form can travel freely in your bloodstream, whereas the unsulfated form needs LDL (the so-called "bad" cholesterol) as a vehicle of transport. Her suspicion is that the oral non-sulfated form of vitamin D may not provide all of the same benefits as the vitamin D created in your skin from sun exposure, because it cannot be converted to vitamin D sulfate.
I believe this is a very compelling reason to really make a concerted effort to get ALL your vitamin D requirements from exposure to sunshine, or by using a safe tanning bed (one with electronic ballasts rather than magnetic ballasts, to avoid unnecessary exposure to EMF fields). Safe tanning beds also have less of the dangerous UVA than sunlight, while unsafe ones have more UVA than sunlight. If neither of these are feasible options, then you should take an oral vitamin D3 supplement.
It is very difficult to get enough vitamin D from food sources alone, as very few foods naturally contain vitamin D, and those that do will not contain enough to optimize your levels. Interestingly, the only vitamin not found in breast milk is vitamin D.
Consider this a giant clue that we were NOT designed to swallow vitamin D. Newborn infants, just like you, were designed to produce it by exposing their skin to natural sunlight. Lack of sun exposure is really the very root of the problem, as vitamin D deficiency, which is now at epidemic levels, is a fairly recent health concern, historically speaking.

The Depression-Inflammation Connection That Makes Vitamin D Even More Important

Depression is often found alongside gastrointestinal inflammations and autoimmune diseases as well as with cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, type 2-diabetes and also cancer, in which chronic low-grade inflammation is a significant contributing factor. Researchers have suggested "depression may be a neuropsychiatric manifestation of a chronic inflammatory syndrome."
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased inflammation in otherwise healthy people, and increased concentrations of serum TNF-alpha, an inflammatory marker, were found in women who had insufficient vitamin D levels.
What this all boils down to is that chronic inflammation in your body disrupts the normal functioning of many bodily systems, and can wreak havoc on your brain and possibly cause depressive symptoms. This is one more route by which vitamin D is important for your mood and brain health, as vitamin D will help reduce systemic inflammation. Vitamin D deficiency is actually more the norm than the exception, and this can impact far more than your mental health. Optimizing your vitamin D levels could help you to prevent at least 16 different types of cancer, along with heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, the flu and much, much more.

Why Antidepressants Don't Work

There are many reasons why they don't work the way most people think they work, or want them to work.
Two such reasons, which I wrote about two years ago, are that:
Chronic stress does not cause the same molecular changes that depression does, but most antidepressants are based on the hypothesis that stress causes depression. The hypothesis appears to be incorrect, which means the drugs are virtually worthless.
An imbalance in neurotransmitters in your brain may not trigger depressive symptoms as has long been thought. Instead, the biochemical events that lead to depression appear to start in the development and functioning of neurons. This means antidepressants focus on the effect of depression, and completely miss the cause.
These findings were presented at the 2009 Neuroscience conference in Chicago, Illinios. The press release announcing the findings reads:
"More than half the people who take antidepressants for depression never get relief. Why?
Because the cause of depression has been oversimplified and drugs designed to treat it aim at the wrong target, according to new research from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The medications are like arrows shot at the outer rings of a bull's eye instead of the center.
A study from the laboratory of long-time depression researcher Eva Redei... appears to topple two strongly held beliefs about depression. One is that stressful life events are a major cause of depression. The other is that an imbalance in neurotransmitters in the brain triggers depressive symptoms.
Both findings are significant because these beliefs were the basis for developing drugs currently used to treat depression.
Redei, the David Lawrence Stein Professor of Psychiatry at Northwestern's Feinberg School, found powerful molecular evidence that quashes the long-held dogma that stress is generally a major cause of depression. Her new research reveals that there is almost no overlap between stress-related genes and depression-related genes.
… [A]nother reason current antidepressants are often ineffective is that they aim to boost neurotransmitters based on the popular molecular explanation of depression, which is that it's the result of decreased levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine.
But that's wrong, Redei said. In the second part of the study, Redei found strong indications that depression actually begins further up in the chain of events in the brain. The biochemical events that ultimately result in depression actually start in the development and functioning of neurons.
"The medications have been focusing on the effect, not the cause," she said. "That's why it takes so long for them to work and why they aren't effective for so many people."

Well-Documented Side Effects

The interactions of antidepressants with your brain, liver, digestive system and other systems are still not fully understood, but we do know that the side effects are numerous. Besides the standard laundry list of nausea, dry mouth and loss of libido, more serious side effects of commonly prescribed antidepressants include:
Suicidal thoughts and feelings and violent behavior : The main and primary one that you should be concerned about is that they could actually INCREASE your risk of suicide. Your risk for suicide may be twice as high if you take SSRIs. Seven out of 12 school shootings were also perpetrated by children who were either on antidepressants or withdrawing from them.
Diabetes: Your risk for type 2 diabetes is two to three times higher if you take antidepressants, according to one study. All types of antidepressants, including tricyclic and SSRIs, increases type 2 diabetes risk.
Problems with your immune system: SSRIs cause serotonin to remain in your nerve junctions longer, interfering with immune cell signaling and T cell growth.
Stillbirths: A Canadian study of almost 5,000 mothers found that women on SSRIs were twice as likely to have a stillbirth, and almost twice as likely to have a premature or low birth weight baby; another study showed a 40 percent increased risk for birth defects, such as cleft palate.
Brittle bones: One study showed women on antidepressants have a 30 percent higher risk of spinal fracture and a 20 percent high risk for all other fractures. This is because serotonin is also involved in the physiology of bone. If you alter serotonin levels with a drug, it can result in low bone density, boosting fracture risk.
Stroke: Your risk for stroke may be 45 percent higher if you are on antidepressants, possibly related to how the drugs affect blood clotting
Heart disease and Sudden cardiac death: Brand new research reported at a New Orleans meeting of the American College of Cardiology found that antidepressants increase your risk of heart disease by causing your artery walls to thicken. The exact biological mechanism is still unknown. A literature review of studies from 2000-2007, published in Expert Opinion on Drug Safety in 2008, found that "Antipsychotics can increase cardiac risk even at low doses, whereas antidepressants do it generally at high doses or in the setting of drug combinations." Another study published in January 2009 in the New England Journal of Medicine also found that antipsychotic drugs doubled the risk of sudden cardiac death. Mortality was found to be dose-dependent, so those taking higher doses were at increased risk of a lethal cardiac event.
Death: Overall death rates have been found to be 32 percent higher in women on antidepressants.
When you're talking about antipsychotics, which are meant for more severe mental illness such as schizophrenia, the risks can be even more severe, depending on the drug. For example, a recent study published in JAMA discovered that contrary to what we've previously thought, schizophrenia itself does not alter your brain mass.
What was previously believed to be evidence of the disease causing brain shrinkage was actually the effect of the antipsychotic drugs prescribed to schizophrenics…
Keeping that fact in mind, is it wise to prescribe antipsychotics to anyone who does not suffer from schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder?
Well, whether it's sensible or not, the fact is they are being prescribed to a whole lot of people who are neither bi-polar nor schizophrenic, and the side effects are just as bad either way.
And as another example of the dangerous mis-use and off-label prescribing that is so rampant today, a 2009 article in Medscape Today reveals that 60 percent of the US military veterans who received antipsychotic medication in 2007 were not diagnosed with any of the mental illnesses for which these drugs were approved. So that year, more than 162,440 military veterans—the MAJORITY; 60 percent—were prescribed brain-damaging drugs without a diagnosis warranting their use!
And that's just one group of people. You also have hundreds of thousands of civilians being prescribed antipsychotic for off-label uses every year. Again, drugs that cause BRAIN SHRINKAGE are being given to people without proper diagnosis of mental illness!
How is this NOT an outrage?
How could I possibly keep quiet about something as harmful as this?
If you're given a prescription for an antipsychotic, and you're not actually schizophrenic, wouldn't you want to know about this potentially devastating side effect?

Do I Feel the Use of these Drugs is Ever Appropriate?

Please understand that I am not seeking to diminish the impact of mental illness. It is massively pervasive and responsible for tens of thousands of deaths every year and needless suffering in millions of others.
My clinical experience leads me to believe that the only appropriate use of these dangerous medications is as a last ditch effort when the patient is at a serious risk to themselves or others. The drugs should be continued until the condition is under control and they are out of harm's way.
This is a very similar strategy to the way you would employ by going to the ER and orthopedic surgeon for a cast when you are in an accident and fracture a major bone. You don't use that cast the rest of your life. You use it until your bone is healed.
The REAL tragedy is that most of the drug companies do NOT view antidepressants this way. There are enormous marketing efforts to classify normal behavior as aberrant or diseased, which then requires lifelong therapy with their drug solution.

Four More Top Tips for Overcoming Depression

Optimizing your vitamin D is not the the only treatment strategy you can use to overcome depression. Virtually everyone with depression should also be:
Exercising: Regular physical activity works better than antidepressant drugs to improve your mood. In fact, it's one of the most powerful strategies you can take to prevent and treat depression and boost your mood.
Avoiding sugar and fructose: Sugar (including fructose) also has a seriously detrimental impact on your brain function. There's a great book on this subject, The Sugar Blues, written by William Dufty more than 30 years ago, that delves into this topic in great detail.
Increasing high quality animal-based omega-3 fats: Your brain consists of about 60 percent fat, DHA specifically, so you need a constant input of essential animal-based omega-3 fats like krill oil for your brain to work properly. In fact, one study showed that people with lower blood levels of omega-3s were more likely to have symptoms of depression and a more negative outlook while those with higher blood levels demonstrated the opposite emotional states.

Addressing emotional stress: If you've followed my articles even a little while, you know that I highly recommend taking an active role in your emotional health. This includes engaging in stress-relief modalities that appeal to you and are effective, like exercise, massage, journaling, guided imagery and more.
Depression is often a serious, even life threatening, condition, and I do not recommend that you self-treat. Instead, find a health care practitioner who can guide you through natural treatment options, providing holistic emotional and physical support so you can heal at the deepest level.

Study Participants Needed: Get Your Vitamin D Tested at Home

You can become a participant in the still ongoing Grassroots Health D*Action study, which is evaluating vitamin D's impact on your overall health status.
When you join D*action, you agree to test your vitamin D levels twice a year during a five-year program, and share your health status to demonstrate the public health impact of this nutrient. There is a $60 fee each 6 months ($120/year) for your sponsorship of the project, which includes a complete new test kit to be used at home, and electronic reports on your ongoing progress.
You will get a follow up email every six months reminding you "it's time for your next test and health survey." To join now, please follow this link to the sign up form.
You may want to consider joining this study not only because you'll be helping to create awareness about the profound importance of vitamin D for optimal health, but also because it's an ideal way to test and monitor your own vitamin D levels, which is highly recommended.

Important Concluding Thoughts—Please Read!

I want to make something abundantly clear before I leave you. I know firsthand that depression is devastating. It takes a toll on the healthiest of families and can destroy lifelong friendships. Few things are harder in life than watching someone you love lose their sense of joy, hope, and purpose in life, and wonder if they will ever find it again. And to not have anything within your power that can change things for them. You wonder if you will ever have your loved one "back" again.
It's impossible to impart the will to live to somebody who no longer possesses it. No amount of logic, reasoning, or reminders about all they have to live for will put a smile back on the face of a loved one masked by the black cloud of depression.
Oftentimes you cannot change your circumstances. You can, however, change your response to them. I encourage you to be balanced in your life. Don't ignore your body's warning signs that something needs to change. Sometimes people are so busy taking care of everybody else that they lose sight of themselves.
There are times when a prescription drug may help restore balance to your body. But it's unclear whether it is the drug providing benefits, or the unbelievable power of your mind that is convinced it is going to work.
If you have been personally affected by depression, my heart goes out to you.
A broken body can be easier to fix than a broken mind. Depression is real. It is my hope that you don't feel judged here, but that you are encouraged and inspired by those who have been there.

Vitamin B, Omega fat and Alzheimer

2011-11-06T19:00:00.000+08:00

B Vitamin Supplementation Shown to Lower Homocysteine by 30% and to Slow Brain Atrophy.

Researchers studying the effects of nutrition at Oxford University in England found that daily supplementation with folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12 lowered levels of homocysteine, a known risk factor leading to decline in cognition and memory

5 Energy Foods

2011-11-06T16:43:00.002+08:00

Foods are our body's fuel. Skip your meal and fatigue sets in quickly. But don't just eat because you are hungry. The food you consume determines your energy level. Here are 5 foods that can help you have feeling more energized all day long.

1. Water.
This is an often overlooked performance enhancing supplement. More than 70% of our body is made out of water. All of the body main organs needs adequate water to function. Depriving it of water makes it works harder and this in turn takes extra energy. By keeping yourself hydrated, you are ensuring your body's vital organ runs smoothly and this will make you feeling energized through-out the day.

2. Oatmeal.

This is a food that is rich in high quality complex carbohydrates and energy boosting vitamin Bs. It is also a source of soluble fiber.

3. Seeds.

Seeds such as flax, hemp, quinoa and chia, provide minerals, antioxidants, omega-3 and healthy fats.

4. Banana.

Bananas are rich in potassium. And potassium is important because it keeps your nervous system functioning properly. Potassium also balances your blood ph level and help in muscle building.

5. Fish.

Cold water fish such as salmon, mackerel and herring provide excellent omega-3 supply. Besides being among a few foods that can supply Vitamin D, they are also rich in complete protein, magnesium, potassium and energy boosting vitamin B.

Benefits of Drinking Water In The Morning

2011-11-02T17:55:00.001+08:00

When scientists look for life on other worlds, they don't search for green, oval headed creatures with big funny eyes. They look for water first. Water is what makes life on earth possible. More than 70% of our body is water.

Without water, our body will shut down in less than 3 days. You probably already know that and many other many benefits of drinking enough water, but do you know that a glass or 2 of water can bring added benefits to your health.

By drinking water before you brush your teeth in the morning, you will be aiding your kidney in flushing the toxins in your body. By drinking water, you will also have less temptation to drink other beverages high in sugar and caffeine.

You will also be more energized. Almost all part of our body needs water to function. Without water, we will feel sluggish and tired, thus by having water as soon as you get up from bed will energize and refresh you.

By having water in the morning, you can also suppress your appetite. This is because your body cannot always tell the difference between hunger and thirst.

It is not easy to drink water as soon as you get up but with self discipline it will be a habit and a good one at that.

The Truth About Adya Clarity

2011-10-30T15:00:00.000+08:00

Do you take a product that has been claimed to cure cancer, hair loss, arthritis, kidney stones, etc, called Adya Clarity? If you don't, good. But if you do, then read this first.

Health News: Aspirin and Bowel Cancer

2011-10-30T11:35:00.001+08:00

Scientists say that just taking 2 pills per day and the risk of bowel cancer is reduced by 63%. Read the report here in BBC News.

7 Billion and Counting

2011-10-24T12:20:00.002+08:00

BBC News recently carried a video story on how the ever growing world population affecting people's lives. I found it interesting and wish to share this with you. Click here to hear what 7 individuals have to tell about their lives.

You Want These Health Benefits?

2011-10-22T18:36:00.003+08:00

We all would love to have the health benefits listed below. Right?

Improved stamina and energy level

Vast improvement in mental alertness

Fairer skin texture and more even tone color

Reduction of lines and wrinkles

Deeper and relaxing sleep

Better mobility of limbs

Slimmer and healthier physique

Improvement in blood circulation

Vast improvement in immune system against disease

Elimination of constipation

Reduction of discomfort effect of menopause

Reduction of chronic pains, migraine, headaches, neuralgia, back pain, etc.

Improve libido, potency with endurance and vitality.

You would have come across many advertisements about miracle pill or wonder tonics that promises some of the above. Stem cell therapy agents claim all the above is achievable. I have not done any research in this field so I can neither agree nor refute their claims.

But I do know something that can easily help you to achieve all the good things listed above. In fact it can do more than that. It has been shown to prolong your life, strengthens your heart and even increase your intelligence.

It is cheap. It is fun. It is called exercise.

Benefits of Walking

2011-10-18T18:00:00.003+08:00

A list of all the benefits of walking may look like a listmade to sell snake oil. Walking reduces risk of heart attack, stroke, cancer,glaucoma and other debilitating and killer diseases. Studies have shown that 30minutes to an hour walk for 5 days or more in a week can bring the followingbenefits:

1. Reducing the risk of heart attack.

2. Decreasing the risk of stroke.

3. Controlling blood pressure.

4. Increasing the count of “good” cholesterol.

5. Improve coronary circulation

6. Lowering the risk of breast cancer.

7. Reduced the risk of infection.

8. Increased muscular strength.

9. Alleviation of lower back pain.

10. Checks the decrease in bone density.

11. Promotes a feeling of wholesomeness

12. Managing weight

13. Improves sleep

14. Lengthen lifespan

Now before you go and pound your feet, check with yourphysician especially if you are over 40. You can also use the tips below tokeep you on your trail:

You must be able to hold a conversation.Increase your pace if you are breathing lightly. Reduce if you begin to pant.
Take the stairs and set aside 15 minutes forwalking after lunch.
Switch off the TV at night and try to get halfhour of brisk walk.
Keep it regular. A 30 minutes brisk walk for atleast 5 days a week is recommended.

Don't Be A Lead Character..

2011-10-16T08:15:00.001+08:00

Do you know or have known people who are always the lead character in every story they tell you? If you do, I am sure you don't like spending too much time with them. It is tiresome. For this reason, you and I must avoid being the lead character all the time in the movie of our lives.

Let others have their scene.

If you are responsible for managing or leading a group of people, you must not always be the one standing in the limelight. Step back and allow those under you to do their part. Let them have their say. Make them the star. By doing this, you are showing appreciation. You are sending a message that you recognize other people's contribution.

When you talk with your superiors or other colleagues, mention about the contribution of so and so. Do this sincerely, soon word will go around and the one benefiting the most from this will be you. Humans like the feeling of being important and appreciated. The one that can make others feel this way, will get out the best from them.And isn't that what you want when you are leading people?

By all means be the leading character. It is your life, your movie and the hero will always be you. But just don't do that all the time.

15 Brain Boosting Activities

2011-10-15T17:21:00.003+08:00

The subconscious mind is basically the underlying mental foundation which is responsible for your thought and behavioral way of doing things. It is always in operation and has the most influence over your mental development and IQ level.

If you don’t keep your mind active, studies show that your brain loses some of its functionality as you age, which causes memory loss, brain fog, and even Alzheimer’s.

A well-stimulated brain also elevates your mood, which helps you feel better on the inside.

Here are 15 brain boosting activities:

1. Play games that challenge and stimulate your mind. These include:

Picture Puzzles
Strategy Games
Crossword Puzzles
Card Games
Deduction Games (such as Clue)
Visualization Puzzles
Optical Illusions

2. Reading stimulates the brain as it activates your imagination. Reading also helps with memory retention and problem solving, especially if you’re reading a mystery. Also, self-help books stimulate your brain by helping you to think for yourself, as well as find solutions in your mind.

3. Exercising helps circulate blood that carries oxygen to your brain. Over the long-term, exercise is proven to increase brainpower and even create new neurons.

4. Stimulate your brain with meditation. Meditation has been shown to increase your IQ, relieve stress, and promote a higher level of brain functioning. Meditation also stimulates the prefrontal cortex of the brain, the area of the brain responsible for advanced thinking, ability and performance.

5. Deep breathing helps deliver oxygen to your brain. Oxygen helps you be more alert and awake. As little as 10 to 15 minutes of deep breathing daily can increase brain functionality.

6. Taking fish oil supplements is literally like membrane material for the brain. The two primary components in fish oil, DHA and EPA, strengthen the emotional center of the brain and boost focus.

7. Studies have proven that listening to music strengthens the right hemisphere of the brain and actually changes the structure of it. Also, people who listen to music are shown to be more emotionally intelligent than those who don’t.

8. Writing improves memory and thought expression. Writing articles, blogs, or journal entries stimulates thought processes, which also enhances brain function.

9. Sleep clears out brain clutter and reduces brain fog. When you don’t get enough sleep at night, your memory and normal brain function suffers.

10. Painting is shown to be an effective brain booster in that it sparks the creativity within you. Even if you’ve never tried painting before, give it a shot. You’ll find that you feel more creative and may actually enjoy it.

11. Starting the day out with a good breakfast has been proven to supply energy to the brain and body for the whole day. When you skip breakfast, you’re missing out on a powerful edge, both physically and mentally.

12. Walking allows you to clear your mind and thoughts. Not only is it good exercise for your body, walking gives your brain a chance to wander freely, clearing it of any troublesome thoughts.

13. Drink a serving of pure fruit juice. Fruit juice contains nutrients that revitalize and refresh the brain. Juices to drink are pomegranate, blueberry, and cranberry as they deliver more focus and energy.

14. Students who drink some caffeine before an exam typically have higher scores than those who don’t. This is because caffeine stimulates activity in the brain, which produces better focus and thinking ability. Don’t overdo it though!

15. Draw a picture. Like painting, drawing stimulates the creative side of your brain. So get out some colored pencils and start boosting your brainpower.

To get the most out of these brain boosting activities, mix them up and do a variety of them at different times. Just choosing one won’t boost your brainpower, however, combining and alternating them will give your brain the added boost you need now and in the long run.

Improve Your Concentration

2011-10-13T08:13:00.004+08:00

Concentration is linked in many ways to focus and both can be trained to be as sharp as a laser. When we have focus, we are mentally calm, in the moment and in a state of continuous harmony and action. What stops our concentration is the distraction of conscious thoughts, opinions, judgements and perspectives. Without these negative traits, our concentration will exist unabaited and in a state of perpetuity.

To therefore increase our concentration and focus will require us to remove these thoughts and increase the calmness and stillness in our mind. Below you will find some helpful tips to put you in the right direction:

An easy way for concentration is to use the Pseudo Telekinesis technique.

Boost your concentration by focusing entirely on the external world and environment around you.

Remove all distractions, both mental and physical.
Genius is more easily obtained when we have mental stillness through the absence of distractions. This includes mental distractions where our mind is full of thoughts, debates, worries etc, as well as external distractions in the environment and surroundings around us. To ensure we have the right situation, we should make sure our room/house is organised towards your goals. We should als practise mental silence in which we keep a thought-free mind which is clear of criticisms, bias and unnecessary judgements.

Make sure you get a good night's sleep every night.
This is an easy way to boost your concentration, because hardly anybody get's a good nights sleep. Sleep is vital to make sure your mind is receiving the rest it requires to wake up refreshed, energised and ready.

posted in : The Genius Intelligence

When it is.....

2011-10-12T21:23:00.001+08:00

"When it is not necessary to make a decision, it is necessary not to make a decision." - Lord Falkland.
The above quote is short and to the point. It captures the spirit of decision making perfectly.

Increase Your Self Confidence in 3 Simple Steps.

2011-10-09T16:25:00.002+08:00

Be an expert in your chosen field. Make it your number one business to know your business. If you are a horticulturist, make your mission in life to know everything about it. Study, research and do all you can to gather as much information about it as humanly possible. Whatever is that you might be doing, be the expert in it. This will boost your self confidence as you will be assured of your own knowledge and capabilities.

Finish what you started.This is one attitude that will make you stand out from the crowd. Cultivate the habit of finishing what you started. If you started a fitness program that involves running 5 miles every morning for a year, do it. No matter what, drag your body from the bed and hit the road. The ability to finish what you started builds character. You will develop a healthy self respect and tremendous amount of self confidence. And you will build an awesome reputation.

Act as if impossible to fail.Visualize that you have achieved your target. This will trigger a mechanism in your mind that will make you act as if you cannot fail. If you have aimed to sell 1000 shaving sticks this week, keep repeating to yourself that you will do it. Psyche yourself up. Keep success at the uppermost of your mind. But don’t be blind to obstacle, just don’t let it get the better of you. Act as if you will not fail and you won’t. And your self confidence will keep on soaring.

Keep your spirits up and have a nice day.

Are You Considering A Flu Shot?

2011-10-09T08:07:00.000+08:00

If you are, read this article from Nature News. Learn what you can do to protect yourself and the truth about the "flu season".

So Long Steve

2011-10-07T10:18:00.002+08:00

Rest in Peace Steve Jobs ( 1955-2011).

The last 24 hours, tributes to Steve Jobs have poured in from around the world. Among the many that had walked on the face of the earth, only a few had really made an impact. Steve Jobs was one of them.

Many of us will never design anything useful, let alone revolutionize 3 industries, Steve Jobs did that and many other things. He showed us what we can achieve if we are willing to work for it. He taught us that we can be different and have fun doing it.

Over the years he made my speeches, but the speech he gave at Stanford in 2005 that touched me the most. If you have not heard it yet, click here and be inspired.

This blog published the text of his speech back in April 2008, you can view it here.

Facing Reality

2011-10-05T14:15:00.002+08:00

Jack Welch, the legendary former CEO of GE once said, "Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be".

Facing reality may not be easy. More often than not, reality is just not nice. Things are not always hunky-dory and peachy-rosy.

Facing reality means seeing things as they are. If you have a sub-ordinate always giving excuses for mishandling tasks, see it as it is. The job was just badly done and someone has to take responsibility for it. Do the necessary. Do not assume that things will be okay, sunshine and happiness. They won't be.

Facing reality means doing what needs to be do. Today everyone wants to be the Nice Guy. We tolerate inferior quality of goods and service because we do not want to offend. We fail to be assertive and make our stand and give excuses such as, "maintaining harmony", 'humans are not perfect", and other such nonsense.

In the real world, there is real pain. There are issues, sometimes real bad ones, that we must face. Things can get real messy. No matter how uncomfortable you are feeling dealing with what the world throws at you, if you decide to face reality and do the necessary, you will be much better for it.

Excessiveness

2011-10-03T14:52:00.000+08:00

We live in times excessiveness. Excessive information, excessive entertainment, excessive egos...... too much of too many things.

Just like too much food will make us fat, sluggish and complicate our lives, too much of anything is not a good thing.Excessive information will cause the important and useful to be buried deep. Excessive entertainment will make the brain go lazy

Too much of anything is not a good thing. The joy of living is not to be found by having too much but by cherishing what we have and doing our best with it.

There is saying about not biting what we cannot chew. We can apply this to any part of our lives.
By not taking more than we need, we can live better.Try not to take more space than you need. Try not to say more that what is needed.

By cutting excessiveness in our lives, not only we live a better lives but so do others we share this earth with.

What Alcohol Does To The Body

2011-10-02T08:59:00.000+08:00

Just 3 glasses a day of alcoholic drinks, the human body is exposed to:

Cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx, oesophagus, larynx, breast, liver, colon, rectum
Liver cirrhosis
Essential hypertension
Chronic pancreatitis

"You cannot get a cancer cell occurring unless DNA is altered. When you drink, the acetaldehyde is corrupting the DNA of life and puts you on the road to cancer.
"One of most common genetic defects in man is our inability to counteract the toxicity of alcohol", saya Dr KJ Patel from the Medical Research Council's laboratory of molecular biology in Cambridge.

Read the rest of the article here.

Coffee May Ward Off Depression in Women

2011-10-01T16:49:00.001+08:00

A couple of cuppa a day is good for the lady. Read this new finding here.

Overconfidence Can Be Good

2011-09-25T22:56:00.000+08:00

Read this interesting new research about why a little cockiness is good for you.

The Last Lecture

2011-09-25T20:50:00.003+08:00

"We don't beat the Grim Reaper by living longer, we beat the Reaper by living well and living fully, for the Reaper will come for all of us. The question is what do we do between the time we are born and the time he shows up. It's too late to do all the things that you're gonna kinda get around to."

The quote above is from the late Prof. Randy Pausch.

Listen to this lecture and be inspired.

When?

2011-09-18T08:57:00.000+08:00

If you have goal and a plan to achieve that goal. And if you are willing to work at it, do whatever is needed and keep doing it in the face of obstacles, mockery, ridicule, fatigue; the question of whether you will achieve that goal can be eliminated.

It is only a question of when.

10 Ways to Keep Your Bladder Healthy

2011-09-15T17:56:00.000+08:00

Health.com carried this useful article. Read on to find out how you maintain your bladder healthy.

Banned for Pets and Farm Animals, but Okay for You and Your Children?

2011-09-15T16:30:00.000+08:00

Dr. Mercola With Consumers for Dental Choice

Dental amalgams have been in use since the American Civil War. They are an anachronism that has been perpetuated by dental industry patents, and there's a conspiracy of silence that seeks to keep the 75 percent of Americans who are ignorant about that fact that amalgam fillings are actually 50 percent mercury.
As stated by Charlie Brown, who founded the Consumers for Dental Choice in 1996:
"The only way amalgam could be marketed was to hide the mercury. The only way you could hide the mercury is to have a coordinated effort to make sure that nobody blew the whistle.
At the start of our movement, we confronted an iron triangle; three major forces: The American Dental Association that profit from a system of consumer ignorance; The Food and Drug Administration that sits in the hip pocket of the American Dental Association… and the state dental boards, who were the enforcers who told dentists, "You have to be silent."
The American Dental Association had a gag rule and said, "Don't say the M word. Don't tell people about the mercury; don't say that it's toxin, or there will be consequences." The consequences were the state dental boards pulling licenses of dentists all through the 1990s and threatening to pull the licenses of many more.
Fortunately in the last 10 years nearly half of all US dentists have recognized the dangers of amalgams and have stopped using them in their practice. But the remaining 50 percent of dentists still use them, and that currently accounts for between 240-300 tons of mercury entering the market every year. In the United States, dental offices are the second largest user of mercury – and this mercury eventually ends up in our environment by one pathway or another.

Did You Know?...

Dental amalgam can cause far-reaching problems, such as:
Exposure to mercury, the most toxic and more vaporous of the heavy metals, can harm your kidneys, and permanently damage your child's developing neurological system, and even kill your unborn child in the womb.
To implant amalgam, a dentist drills out healthy tooth matter in order to carve the crater necessary for amalgam placement – a primitive process that irreversibly weakens tooth structure. With a damaged tooth structure and with a metal-based filling that expands and contracts with temperature changes, teeth with amalgam are much more likely to crack years later, necessitating additional dental work.
Amalgam is a workplace hazard, especially for young female dental workers who experience an elevated rate of reproductive failures.
Dental mercury is the number one source of mercury in our wastewater, so dentists are handing the clean-up bill for their pollution to taxpayers and water ratepayers.
Why would a primitive, pre-Civil War polluting product that is 50 percent mercury and cracks teeth still be going into your mouth?
Amalgam was introduced in the Civil War era by the new American Dental Association, which won a political battle with the physicians of the mouth, who said using mercury in oral health care is malpractice. Florida dentist James Hardy, in his book Mercury Free, refers to the creation of amalgam and the creation of the American Dental Association as the "twin-birth."

Why Do Half of All Dentists Still Use Mercury Amalgam?

We now know the risks, so why do half of dentists continue to use the filling material used by their great-grandfathers?
Is it the price?
No.
The alternatives to amalgam are comparably priced – or even less expensive. Amalgams cost more than glass ionomers, which can be applied via a mercury-free technique called Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART). ART does not require drilling; only hand instruments, and is virtually painless.
Amalgam also cost the same as composite fillings (also called resin) for smaller cavities, although composite can cost a few bucks more for large cavities. But when you add the horrid environmental and health catastrophe caused by amalgam, of course, amalgam's cost to society is much higher...
The answer is: Profits!
Amalgams are quick and easy. Dentists make more money per chair per day implanting mercury. For factory-style dentistry, where the teeth represent dollar signs instead of part of a human being, dentists drill, fill, and bill. The term "drill, fill, and bill" is a joke aspiring dentists learn in dental school. Only the joke is on us and our children: they count their money, and we have a vaporous neurotoxin implanted an inch from our brains or our children's brains.
And of course, since amalgam damages tooth structure and cracks teeth, pro-mercury dentists will continue to profit from amalgam long after its initial placement. Teeth with amalgam require more dental work in the long term. So for the pro-mercury half of dentists, amalgam is the gift that keeps on giving.

How Can Pro-Mercury Dentists Compete with Toxic-Free Dentists?

The pro-mercury dentists' trade group, the American Dental Association, has pulled every lever with Congress, the Food and Drug Administration, the state dental boards and the corporate media to cover up amalgam's mercury.
First, the ADA popularized the deceptive term "silver fillings," so consumers would think amalgam is made mainly of silver (actually, it has twice as much mercury as silver).
Second, it mounted a no-holds-barred campaign to silence competitors and critics of 19th century dentistry, especially the courageous dentists who realized their leadership was so fundamentally in error.
According to its own self-description, the American Dental Association appears focused more on promoting products – and getting paid handsomely to do so – than in promoting its dentist members. At the bottom of its news releases, the ADA has frequently written:
"The not-for-profit ADA is the nation's largest dental association, representing more than 155,000 dentist members. The premier source of oral health information, the ADA has advocated for the public's health and promoted the art and science of dentistry since 1859. The ADA's state-of-the-art research facilities develop and test dental products and materials that have advanced the practice of dentistry and made the patient experience more positive. The ADA Seal of Acceptance long has been a valuable and respected guide to consumer and professional products. For more information about the ADA, visit the Association's Web site at www.ada.org."
Of the five sentences, one is about members, and three about the ADA's product endorsement system. The "ADA Seal of Acceptance" is a pay-to-play system in which companies pay the ADA to secure their endorsement. By contrast, the American Medical Association will not do pay-to-play endorsements of products; it is considered unethical.
The ADA owns two patents on amalgam, patent numbers 4,018,600 and 4,078,921. They have expired, but while they were in effect the ADA went to incredible lengths to wipe out mercury-free dentistry and quash dissent from the emerging critics of mercury-based dentistry.

The Role of the American Dental Association

How does the ADA keep pro-mercury dentists in business – and keep profits rolling in for the amalgam makers?
Here's how:
The "silver fillings" deception

Gold fillings are called gold because they are made of gold. Seizing on the comparison, the ADA brochures promoting mercury fillings called them "silver fillings." The ADA claims the term means "silver-colored," but who are they fooling? In my dictionary, the first definition of "silver" is the element. The color is the fourth definition, behind the element, medium of exchange, coins, and eating utensils.

Consumers for Dental Choice, with its Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry, fought back against the "silver fillings" deception. In California these advocates launched the term "say the M word," which led to fact sheets on amalgam in that state and several other states and cities. These fact sheets, which dentists are required to hand their patients, inform the public that amalgam is mercury.
The gag rule

When its amalgam patents were in effect, the ADA used its power to block the emergence of mercury-free dentistry by adopting a rule of conduct prohibiting dentists from discussing mercury with their patients:

"Based on available scientific data, the ADA has determined that the removal of amalgam restorations from the non-allergic patient for the alleged purpose of removing toxic substances from the body, when such treatment is performed solely at the recommendation or suggestion of the dentist, is improper and unethical."
Yes, the ADA said it is unethical for a dentist to tell the truth to his patients!

Thanks to an extraordinary campaign by Consumers for Dental Choice, the gag rule is now just about defunct. Working with state lawmakers, with civil liberties organizations, with state Attorneys General (Charlie Brown, head of the consumer group, used to be one), and with an outraged citizenry, the movement for Mercury-Free Dentistry succeeded in the legislatures, in the courts, and in the courts of public opinions to restore free speech rights to dentists.
Rent-a-Congressman

How about the political process? We do have friends in Congress, Republicans like Congressman Dan Burton and Senator Mike Enzi, and Democrats like Congressman Dennis Kucinich and Congressman Gregory Meeks. But they are few and far between.

The ADA has been particularly devious in the halls of Congress. It doesn't instruct its minions in Congress – members from both political parties – to write bills, conduct hearings, nor even make speeches. Instead, the ADA buys silence and inaction from Members of Congress. Sound familiar? It was the same tactic used by Big Tobacco for several decades.

At the state level, it's the same; in some state capitals, the ADA has had the single largest political action committee. The tactic is the same: Do nothing, say nothing, and cash the PAC money.
Strong-arming the children of America

In the Maine legislature, money is not king. The state has fair practices that limit outside money and create a level-playing field for unfunded candidates. Unable to buy their way into power, the ADA resorted to outright strong-arming. A bill was gaining momentum in the Maine Legislature to phase out amalgam. The ADA struck back, threatening to deny treatment for Maine children if their dentists could not use their favorite filling material. If amalgam were banned, the ADA threatened:

"The result will be treatment delayed, treatment denied, and treatment never being sought. That is not a situation the dentists of Maine, the United States, or our policymakers can be willing to accept."
Several years later, the ADA's Pennsylvania chapter pulled the same power play against children with disabilities. A fact sheet law in the City of Philadelphia meant parents are now made aware of amalgam's horrid health risks to their children. In inner-city clinics, parents were insisting on mercury-free dentistry – the same as parents do in the affluent areas. But to the Pennsylvania Dental Association, inner-city parents were supposed to take the crumbs their dentists offered: mercury fillings or no fillings.

A dental association leader was demanding that parents of children with disabilities sign a release allowing him to put mercury fillings in their children; when they refused, he denied all treatment. No tooth cleanings. Nothing... Suburban parents might go to a dentist down the street, but for inner-city minority parents of children with disabilities, finding a dentist is not easy – and this dentist knew it. Incredibly, the Pennsylvania Dental Association – which claims to support choice for children in the suburbs – endorsed the position of this dentist.

Fortunately, the story did not end there. This callous power play endorsed by the Pennsylvania Dental Association – denying dental care for children with disabilities unless they agreed to mercury fillings – caught the attention of the disability rights community. The Pennsylvania Governor's Advisory Commission on Disabilities enacted a resolution condemning this ADA chapter.

What Can You Do to Stop the Use of Amalgam?

During this Mercury-Free Dentistry Awareness Week, I urge you to help spread the word and help educate others by sharing this article with your social networks. Together, we can END the use of toxic mercury in dentistry.
Charlie Brown, who runs Consumers for Dental Choice, is headed to Nairobi in October to lead a worldwide delegation participating in the world mercury treaty negotiations. With him will be a team of dentists, consumers, attorneys, and scientists fighting to get amalgam into that treaty. With the world deciding whether we continue allowing mercury in children's mouths, much is at stake. Here's what you can do in your nation or state:
Americans: Our #1 problem is the Food and Drug Administration, which has partnered with the American Dental Association to cover up the mercury, to make you think you are getting silver instead of mercury in your mouth. The FDA intentionally conceals the warnings about amalgam deep in its regulation -- so parents will never see them. On its website, the FDA gives dentists the green light to continue to deceive consumers with the term "silver fillings"
"Americans are ready for the end of amalgam." This was the theme of the testimony to the U.S. Department of State on August 18 by former West Virginia state Senator Charlotte Pritt. Yes, Americans are ready. But FDA is not. So let's send them a message.
Nine months ago, FDA scientists advised the agency to disclose the mercury to all patients and parents, and to stop amalgam for children and pregnant women. Yet FDA sits – sits actually in the pocket of the American Dental Association – ignoring its own scientists.
Please write the Director of FDA's Center for Devices, Jeff Shuren, jeff.shuren@fda.hhs.gov Ask Dr Shuren why FDA continues to ignore the scientists and covers up the mercury from American parents and consumers. Ask when FDA is going to get in step with the world on mercury.
Dr. Jeff Shuren, Director
Center for Devices, U.S. Food & Drug Admin.
10903 New Hampshire Ave.
WO66-5431, Room 5442
Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002
Telephone: 301-796-5900
Fax: 301-847-8149
Fax: 301-847-8109
Californians: Dr. Shuren is coming to San Francisco for a "town meeting" on September 22. We urge Northern Californians to attend. It will go from 8 am to 12 noon, at the Embassy Suites Hotel, San Francisco Airport (telephone 650.589.3400)
In Southern California, Consumers for Dental Choice is organizing a city-by-city attack on amalgam --- and needs volunteers. If you wish to help with the grassroots work of organizing for city council hearings, gathering petitions, and telephoning, volunteer by writing announcements@toxicteeth.org
Australians: Your government, Aussies, is now in last place on the mercury treaty, asking the world to throw in the towel instead of working to phase out dental mercury. A great new group has started, Australians for Mercury-Free Dentistry, led by dentist Lisa Matriste and consumer activist Anna Priest. We urge you to go to its website and join: http://www.mercuryfreedentistry.com.au/
Folks worldwide: If you aren't on that list, there's plenty to do – for example, Dominique Bally, an outstanding young advocate from the Ivory Coast, runs the Amalgam-Free Africa Campaign. If you want to help somewhere, anywhere, and there's nothing on the list above for you, write Charlie Brown, charlie@toxicteeth.org

Consumers for Dental Choice is working to protect your health – and the health of your children – all around the world. Charged with this important mission at state and local, national, and international levels, Consumers for Dental Choice would appreciate your help!
Please consider a donation to Consumers for Dental Choice, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to advocating mercury-free dentistry.
Donations can be made online at http://www.toxicteeth.org/donate.cfm. Checks can be mailed to:

Consumers for Dental Choice
316 F St., N.E., Suite 210
Washington DC 20002

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Top 10 Misconceptions About Islam

2011-09-15T15:30:00.000+08:00

Back in July 2009, The Listverse carried a fantastic article about the misconceptions of Islam. A must read for those who think Muslims are either Arabs or Pakistanis and believe jihad means strapping oneself with bombs and exploding it in public buildings.

Peace of Mind: Near-Death Experiences Now Found to Have Scientific Explanations

2011-09-15T14:30:00.000+08:00

Near-death experiences are often thought of as mystical phenomena, but research is now..read more

50 Interesting Facts About The Human Body

2011-09-15T12:34:00.000+08:00

Brain feels no pain.
80% of brain is water
Brain uses 10watts of power
Brain plays at night
Higher IQ means more dreams
Brain can store everything
You smell is unique
Nose can remember 50,000 scents
Your teeth grows before birth
Sensation while eating chocolate is better than sex
Bones self destruct
The tongue is the strongest muscle in the body
Close to fifty percent of the bacteria in the mouth lives on the surface of our tongue
Your tongue has 3,000 taste buds
You cannot tickle yourself
Only humans shed emotional tears
You are taller in the morning
Men are able to read fine print better than women can
The cornea is the only living tissue in the human body that does not contain any blood vessels
The eyeball of a human weighs approximately 28 grams
In a month, a fingernail grows an eighth of an inch
It takes food seven seconds to go from the mouth to the stomach via the esophagus
Men sweat more than women. This is because women can better regulate the amount of water they lose
There are approximately 45 billion fat cells in an average adult
During the female orgasm, endorphines are released, which are powerful painkillers
In one day, adult lungs move about 10,000 liters of air
The average adult has approximately six pounds of skin
A pregnant woman's dental health can affect her unborn child
Humans have about the same number of hair follicles as a chimpanzee has
Next to bone marrow, hair is the fastest growing tissue in the human body
On average, a hair strand's life span is five and a half years
The big toe is the foot reflexology pressure point for the head
On average redheads have 90,000 hairs. People with black hair have about 110,000 hairs
Every hour one billion cells in the body must be replaced
The adult human body requires about 88 pounds of oxygen daily
The human body has approximately 37,000 miles of capillaries
In one day, a human sheds 10 billion skin flakes. This amounts to approximately two kilograms in a year
The right lung of a human is larger than the left one. This is because of the space and placement of the heart.
The human heart beat roughly 35 million times a year
The human heart weighs less than a pound
A fingernail or toenail takes about 6 months to grow from base to tip
Blondes have more hair than dark-haired people
A person will die from total lack of sleep sooner than from starvation. Death will occur about 10 days without sleep, while starvation takes a few weeks
A cough releases an explosive charge of air that moves at speeds up to 60 mph
According to German researchers, the risk of heart attack is higher on Monday than any other day of the week
Hair Is Almost Indestructible
You Can Still Have An Erection After Death
The stomach’s digestive acids are strong enough to dissolve zinc
A mans testicles manufacture 10 million new sperm cells each day – enough that he could repopulate the entire planet in only 6 months
The focusing muscles of the eyes move around 100,000 times a day

Meet the humble curcuma-Nature's Great Warrior against diseases

2011-09-15T11:44:00.001+08:00

By Dr. Mercola

For more than 5,000 years, turmeric has been an important part of Eastern cultural traditions, including traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda. Valued for its medicinal properties and warm, peppery flavor, this yellow-orange spice has more recently earned a name for itself in Western medicine as well.
Turmeric comes from the root of the Curcuma longa plant, which is native to Indonesia and southern India, and is widely used as an ingredient in curry dishes and yellow mustard. As research into this powerful spice has increased, it has emerged as one of nature’s most powerful potential healers.
Said Dr. David Frawely, founder and director of the American Institute for Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico:

“If I had only one single herb to depend upon for all possible health and dietary needs, I would without much hesitation choose the Indian spice Turmeric. There is little it cannot do in the realm of healing and much that no other herb is able to accomplish.

Turmeric has a broad spectrum of actions, mild but certain effects, and is beneficial for long term and daily usage. Though it is a common spice, few people, including herbalists know of its great value and are using it to the extent possible. It is an herb that one should get to know and live with.”

Turmeric’s Beneficial Effects in a Nutshell

Strengthens and improves digestion

Reduces gas and bloating
Assists in the digestion of protein and with rice and bean dishes
Improves your body's ability to digest fats
Promotes proper metabolism, correcting both excesses and deficiencies
Maintains and improves intestinal flora
Improves elimination of wastes and toxins

Supports healthy liver function and detox

Turmeric helps increase bile flow making it a liver cleanser that can rejuvenate your liver cells and recharge their capability to break down toxins
Helps to prevent alcohol and other toxins from being converted into compounds that may be harmful to your liver
Supports formation of healthy tissue

Purifies your blood

Stimulates formation of new blood tissue
Anti-inflammatory: Helps to reduce irritation to tissues characterized by pain, redness, swelling and heat

Contains curcuminoids that fight cancer, arthritis, and Alzheimer’s

Curcuminoids are potent phytonutrients (plant-based nutrients) that contain powerful antioxidant properties
Counteract the damaging effects of free radicals in your body
Relieve arthritis pain and stiffness, anti-inflammatory agent
Anti-carcinogenic: “Curcumin has been shown to prevent a large of number of cancers in animal studies. Laboratory data indicate that curcumin can inhibit tumor initiation, promotion, invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis.”[1]
Supports treatment of Alzheimer’s disease: “Because Alzheimer's disease is caused in part by amyloid-induced inflammation, curcumin has been shown to be effective against Alzheimer's. Clinical trials are in progress at UCLA with curcumin for Alzheimer's.”[2]

Curcumin: Turmeric’s Active Anti-Inflammatory “Ingredient”
Most notably turmeric is known for its potent anti-inflammatory properties, which come from curcumin -- the pigment that gives turmeric its yellow-orange color, and which is thought to be responsible for many of its medicinal effects. There are an estimated three to five grams of curcumin in 100 grams of turmeric.
Curcumin has been shown to influence more than 700 genes, and it can inhibit both the activity and the synthesis of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) and 5-lipooxygenase (5-LOX), as well as other enzymes that have been implicated in inflammation.[3]
Turmeric’s Cancer-Fighting Properties
In India where turmeric is widely used, the prevalence of four common U.S. cancers -- colon, breast, prostate and lung -- is 10 times lower. In fact, prostate cancer, which is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in U.S. men, is rare in India and this is attributed, in part, to turmeric.
Numerous studies have looked into this potential cancer-fighting link, with promising results. For instance, curcumin has been found to:

Inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells
Inhibit the transformation of cells from normal to tumor
Help your body destroy mutated cancer cells so they cannot spread throughout your body
Decrease inflammation
Enhance liver function
Inhibit the synthesis of a protein thought to be instrumental in tumor formation
Prevent the development of additional blood supply necessary for cancer cell growth

As for the results of research studies, a study in Biochemical Pharmacology found that curcumin can slow the spread of breast cancer cells to the lungs in mice.[4]

"Curcumin acts against transcription factors, which are like a master switch," said lead researcher, Bharat Aggarwal. "Transcription factors regulate all the genes needed for tumors to form. When we turn them off, we shut down some genes that are involved in the growth and invasion of cancer cells."

A second study in Biochemical Pharmacology also found that curcumin inhibits the activation of NF-kappaB, a regulatory molecule that signals genes to produce a slew of inflammatory molecules (including TNF, COX-2 and IL-6) that promote cancer cell growth.[5]
Turmeric’s Essential Role for Your Liver
Your liver’s primary role is to process and remove toxins carried in your bloodstream. When functioning at its peak, it can filter up to two liters of blood per minute and easily break apart toxic molecules to reduce their toxicity. Your liver is also a crucial part of vitamin, mineral, protein, fat, carbohydrate and hormonal metabolism.
However, poor diet, allergens, pollution and stress can cause your liver to become sluggish, and this can impair its vital functions. This is where turmeric can be a very useful part of your liver support system. Studies have shown that it:

May increase important detoxification enzymes in your liver
Induces the formation of a primary liver detoxification enzyme, glutathione S-transferase (GST) enzymes

Turmeric is also a natural cholagogue, a medicinal agent that promotes the discharge of bile from your system. Increased bile flow is important to help your liver detoxify and to help your body digest fats.
Turmeric for Your Heart, Brain and Overall Health
Turmeric inhibits free radical damage of fats, including cholesterol. When cholesterol is damaged in this way, or oxidized, it can then damage your blood vessels and lead to a heart attack or stroke. Therefore, research suggests that turmeric’s ability to prevent the oxidation of cholesterol may be beneficial for your heart. It’s also rich in vitamin B6, high intakes of which are associated with a reduced risk of heart disease.
Meanwhile, turmeric appears to be highly protective against neurodegenerative diseases. In fact, in India levels of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s are very low, and studies have shown that curcumin can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s in mice. The compound has also proven capable of blocking the progression of multiple sclerosis.
Further, Professor Moolky Nagabhushan from the Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, who has been studying turmeric for the last 20 years, believes that turmeric can protect against harmful environmental chemicals, and in so doing protect against childhood leukemia. The research showed that curcumin in turmeric can:[7]

Inhibit the toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (cancer-causing chemicals in the environment)
Inhibit radiation-induced chromosome damage
Prevent the formation of harmful heterocyclic amines and nitroso compounds, which may result in the body when eating certain processed foods, such as processed meat products
Irreversibly inhibit the multiplication of leukemia cells in a cell culture

Turmeric's volatile oils also have external anti-bacterial action. As such, they may help prevent bacterial wound infections and accelerate wound healing. Johnson & Johnson even sells a curcumin-containing Band-Aid in India!
And the therapeutic potential of turmeric and curcumin do not end there. Evidence suggests the spice may also be beneficial for:

Cystic fibrosis
Type 2 diabetes
Crohn’s disease
Psoriasis
Rheumatoid arthritis

Cataracts
Gallstones
Muscle regeneration
Inflammatory bowel disease

Which Type of Turmeric is Best?
For use in cooking, choose a pure turmeric powder, rather than a curry powder. At least one study has found that curry powders tend to contain very little curcumin, compared to turmeric powder. Turmeric is also available in supplement form and for many this is a more convenient method to obtain these health benefits discussed above, especially if they are from a high-quality organic source and if one doesn’t particularly enjoy the taste of curry.

Joshua Foer - The Memory Master

2011-09-07T06:51:00.003+08:00

I like this story of Joshua Foer not because he is the US memory champion but the fact that he is a journalist and is not a "mental athlete". Read the story here.

Productivity Tool - Syncing Calendars

2011-09-06T13:20:00.001+08:00

If you are using Google calendar to schedule your tasks at home and Microsoft Outlook at the office.

Download this free software from Google to sync the date between both the programs.

If you are using Yahoo services, click here to read how you can do the same.

And if the phone you are using has a sync capability with Microsoft Outlook, sweet, you can now have all your calendar, tasks and contacts in both your smart phone and Outlook and on the world wide web.

Human Interbred With Related Species

2011-09-06T10:00:00.000+08:00

Genetic mixing might have occurred in Africa around 35,000 years ago.

It is one of those questions that palaeontologists had always wondered; whether we came from a single species or a combination of two or more.

Read about the new findings here, published by Nature News

What is the Sex of your mobile number?

2011-09-06T06:38:00.000+08:00

Odd numbers are usually regarded as man and even numbers as female. We seem to be naturally think everything as either being male or female. Read what The Scientific American article here on why we do this.

Enjoy life. This is not a dress rehearsal

2011-09-06T06:37:00.002+08:00

“Enjoy life. This is not a dress rehearsal.”
I came across the quote above today and I thought I might share it with you.

So how do you enjoy life?

In my opinion, you savour every moment of it. Do not chase things all the time and don't focus too much on the end result. Feel and appreciate every moment of the journey you have undertaken.

Be glad to be alive and do not worry about getting old. You have to be lucky to be getting old, the alternative to that doesn't sound too good.

Spent time with people you love. Do not worry about things that gone to past. Bury it. And don't plan too much for the future, it might never come.

Do your best all the time.

Smile. It makes you feel and look good.

Do not waste time with petty people and petty things. Never think too much about what others have to say about you, either good or bad. Remember that the more successful you are, the more people will talk about you.

Live everyday as if it is your last.

Why Saturated fat is good for you

2011-09-02T17:20:00.000+08:00

The article below is from Dr. Mercola.com

A misguided fallacy that persists to this day is the belief that saturated fat will increase your risk of heart disease and heart attacks. This is simply another myth that has been harming your health for the last 30 or 40 years.
The truth is, saturated fats from animal and vegetable sources provide a concentrated source of energy in your diet, and they provide the building blocks for cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances.
When you eat saturated fats as part of your meal, they slow down absorption so that you can go longer without feeling hungry. In addition, they act as carriers for important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Dietary fats are also needed for the conversion of carotene to vitamin A, for mineral absorption, and for a host of other biological processes.
Saturated fats are also:
The preferred fuel for your heart, and also used as a source of fuel during energy expenditure

Useful antiviral agents (caprylic acid)

Effective as an anticaries, antiplaque and anti-fungal agent (lauric acid)

Useful to actually lower cholesterol levels (palmitic and stearic acids)

Modulators of genetic regulation and prevent cancer (butyric acid)

If the fact that saturated fats are actually good for you sounds conflicting, at least in terms of what is repeated by public health agencies, I urge you to read Mary Enig and Sally Fallon’s classic article The Truth About Saturated Fats.
It is one of the best and most thorough introductions to this topic, and you can read through it in just a few minutes.

Have You Heard of the Lipid Hypothesis?

If not by name, you’ve certainly heard of the concept behind the “lipid hypothesis,” and that is that dietary fat causes heart disease.
This flawed theory was largely spread by Ancel Keys, a diet researcher for whom military K-rations are named, and it was because of the lipid hypothesis that Americans were soon encouraged to substitute vegetable-based fats for animal fats, and to avoid red meat completely.
However, when Keys published his analysis that claimed to prove the link between dietary fats and coronary heart disease, he selectively analyzed information from only six countries to prove his correlation, rather than comparing all the data available at the time -- from 22 countries.
As a result of this "cherry-picked" data, government health organizations began bombarding the public with advice that has contributed to the diabetes and obesity epidemics going on today: eat a low-fat diet.
Of course, as Americans cut out nutritious animal fats from their diets, they were left hungry. So they began eating more processed grains, more vegetable oils, and more high-fructose corn syrup, all of which are nutritional disasters.

What about the Studies That DO Show a Link between Fat and Heart Disease?

Keys believed that dietary fat was causing heart disease in Americans back in the 1950s, and he soon got others to jump on the bandwagon.
Even the American Heart Association, which concluded in 1957 that “the evidence that dietary fat correlates with heart disease does not stand up to critical examination,” changed its position in 1960.
Why? Because Keys was on the committee issuing a new report that a low-fat diet was advised for people at risk of heart disease. Sadly, the theory continued to be accepted as nutritional wisdom, even though clinical trials found no connection.
There are, however, some studies that have found a link between fat and heart disease, and they are often used by saturated fat opponents to “prove” their case.
The problem lies in the fact that most of these studies make no effort to differentiate between saturated fat and trans fat. I believe this is the missing link.
If researchers were to more carefully evaluate the risks of heart disease by measuring the levels of trans and saturated fat, I believe they would find a completely different story.
Trans fat is known to increase your LDL levels, or "bad" cholesterol, while lowering your levels of HDL, known as "good" cholesterol, which is the complete opposite of what you need in order to maintain good heart health. It can also cause major clogging of arteries, type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems.
On the other hand, your body needs some amount of saturated fat to stay healthy. It is virtually impossible to achieve a nutritionally adequate diet that has no saturated fat. What you don’t need, however, are trans fats.
Further, there are some people who do well with a low-saturated-fat diet -- the one-third who are carb nutritional types. Even then, however, some animal fats are necessary and healthy, and two-thirds of people actually require moderate- to high-saturated-fat diets to thrive.

Healthy Sources of Saturated Fats to Add to Your Diet

Saturated fat is not the root of all evil … and it is NOT to blame for the modern disease epidemics facing Americans. Saturated fat is actually an incredibly healthy, nourishing and all natural fat that humans have been thriving on for generations. Again, as Fallon and Enig point out:
Saturated fatty acids constitute at least 50 percent of your cell membranes. They are what gives your cells necessary stiffness and integrity.

They play a vital role in the health of your bones. For calcium to be effectively incorporated into your skeletal structure, at least 50 percent of your dietary fats should be saturated.

They lower Lp(a), a substance in your blood that indicates proneness to heart disease.

They protect your liver from alcohol and other toxins, such as Tylenol and other drugs.

They enhance your immune system.

They are needed for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids. Elongated omega-3 fats are better retained in your tissues when your diet is rich in saturated fats.

Saturated 18-carbon stearic acid and 16-carbon palmitic acid are the preferred foods for your heart, which is why the fat around your heart muscle is highly saturated. Your heart draws on this reserve of fat in times of stress.

Short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids have important antimicrobial properties. They protect you against harmful microorganisms in your digestive tract.

So please do not shun saturated fats from your diet. If you’d like to get the most tailored information about which fats, and how much of them, to include in your optimal diet, first find out your nutritional type. Then, make sure your meals include some of these delicious and healthy sources of saturated fat:
Grass-fed organic beef and beef fat

Naturally raised lamb

Organic raw dairy products (butter, cheese, milk, cream)

Coconut oil

Top 20 Women of the last century

2011-09-01T08:39:00.000+08:00

The List Universe currently rated its top 20 women from the 20th century. Indira Gandhi is at No 3 and Dorothy Hodgkin is at No 8. You don't know who is Dorothy Hodgkin and her contribution, do you? Read on to find out more?

Partnering is Not All Good

2011-08-23T06:31:00.000+08:00

Scientific American carries an interesting article about the negative effects on partnering, called the partner paradox. Read here if you are interested in knowing why partnering can backfire.

Mind Map Collection - 10 Habits of The Highly Effective Brain

2011-08-21T19:25:00.001+08:00

Here is a mind map I did to capture all 10 habits of the highly effective brain.

The Type of Food that Will Slow Nearly EVERY Inflammatory Disease...

2011-08-21T15:08:00.000+08:00

Below is an excellent article on enzymes by Dr. Mercola from Mercola.com

You've probably heard of enzymes, and you probably already know they are important for your digestion. But you may not be aware of just how necessary enzymes are to every cell in your body—not just for digestion but for ALL your physiological processes.
Enzymes are composed of amino acids and are secreted by your body to help catalyze functions that would normally not occur at physiological temperatures. They literally make magic happen and are absolutely vital to your life.
More than 3,000 different enzymes have been identified, and some experts believe there may be another 50,000 we have yet to discover. Each enzyme has a different function—like 3,000 specialized keys cut to fit 3,000 different locks. In this analogy, the locks are biochemical reactions.
Enzymes drive biological processes necessary for your body to build raw materials, circulate nutrients, eliminate unwanted chemicals, and the myriad of other biochemical processes that go on without your even thinking about it.
For starters, here are just some of the activities in your body requiring enzymes:
Energy production

Absorption of oxygen

Fighting infections and healing wounds

Reducing inflammation

Getting nutrients into your cells

Carrying away toxic wastes

Breaking down fats in your blood, regulating cholesterol and triglyceride levels

Dissolving blood clots

Proper hormone regulation

Slowing the aging process

And small amounts of enzymes can affect profound changes! Enzymes are the catalysts that cause many essential biochemical reactions to happen—but they are not "used up" IN the reaction. They merely assist—meaning, they accelerate reactions—sometimes to a mind-boggling several million reactions per second!
Enzymes lower the amount of energy needed for a reaction to occur. Without them, some reactions simply would not function in your body.
But enzymes don't work alone.
Enzymes rely on other elements to accomplish their tasks, such as certain vitamins and minerals. These elements are called "coenzymes."
You are probably already familiar with one of these—coenzyme Q10. CoQ10 is found in the mitochondria (power centers) of your cells where it is involved in making ATP, every cell's principal energy source. Another example is magnesium, which participates in over 300 enzyme reactions.

The Concept of "Enzyme Potential"

Dr. Edward Howell spent his entire professional life studying enzymes and can be credited with catalyzing enzyme research.
Whether or not this is true, Howell believed you were born with a limited enzyme-producing capacity, and that your life expectancy depends on how well you preserve your "enzyme potential." His theory was that if you don't get enough enzymes from the food you eat, great strain is placed on your digestive system to "pick up the slack," i.e., produce enough enzymes to accomplish the task.
A deficiency in digestive enzymes then reduces availability of your metabolic enzymes. Howell believed this metabolic enzyme deficit was at the root of most chronic health problems.

Enzyme Basics

There are three basic categories of enzymes:
Digestive

Metabolic

Food based

Digestive enzymes, as their name implies, help you break down food into smaller parts that can be absorbed, transported and utilized by every cell in your body. Digestive enzymes are extra-cellular—meaning, they are found outside your cells.
Metabolic enzymes are intra-cellular—meaning, inside your cells, where they help the cell carry out a variety of functions related to its reproduction and replenishment.
Your pancreas produces most of these digestive and metabolic enzymes.
Fortunately, you get (or should be getting) many enzymes from the foods you consume—particularly, raw foods. These directly help with your digestive process.
The more raw foods you eat, the lower the burden on your body to produce the enzymes it needs, not only for digestion, but for practically everything. Whatever enzymes are not used up in digestion are then available to help with other important physiological processes.

Your Meal's Journey through Your Digestive System

Once consumed, your meal begins a complicated, multi-phased journey of breakdown and conversion into nutrients your body can use. This process is, of course, called digestion, and enzymes play a key role.
There are eight primary digestive enzymes, each designed to help break down different types of food:
Protease: Digesting protein

Amylase: Digesting carbohydrates

Lipase: Digesting fats

Cellulase: Breaking down fiber

Maltase: Converting complex sugars from grains into glucose

Lactase: Digesting milk sugar (lactose) in dairy products

Phytase: Helps with overall digestion, especially in producing the B vitamins

Sucrase: Digesting most sugars

Digestion begins in your mouth, starting with saliva. Did you know that you produce about 1.7 liters of saliva each day? Your mouth is where enzymes (primarily amylase) begin to exert their action. Amylase in your saliva begins to break down carbohydrates.
As food passes into your stomach, proteins are worked on by protease. From there, the bolus of food passes into your small intestine, where lipase begins to break down fats, and amylase finishes off the carbohydrates.
Did you know that 90 percent of your digestion and absorption takes place in your small intestine?
From here, the micronutrients are absorbed into your bloodstream through millions of tiny villi in the wall of your gut. But what happens when this process goes awry?
Disease—or "dis-ease."

Aftermath of the Western Diet: Enzyme Deficiency

Insufficient enzyme production is at the root of much "tummy trouble" in our country. Digestive problems cost Americans $50 billion each year in both direct costs and absence from work.
It is a sad fact that 90 percent of the food Americans buy is processed food. Diets heavy in cooked, processed, and sugary foods, combined with overuse of pharmaceutical drugs such as antibiotics, deplete your body's ability to make enzymes.
Enzymes may be relatively large, but their protein structures are fragile. The amino acids in the molecular chain link together to form certain patterns and shapes, which give enzymes their unique characteristics and functions. When something disrupts the chain's structure, the enzyme becomes "denatured"—it changes shape and loses its ability to perform.
Heating your food above 116 degrees F renders most enzymes inactive.
This is one of the reasons it's so important to eat your foods raw. Raw foods are enzyme-rich, and consuming them decreases your body's burden to produce its own enzymes. The more food that you can eat raw, the better. Ideally, you should get 75 percent of your digestive enzymes from your food.
In addition to heat, enzymes are also very sensitive to shifts in pH, which is why different enzymes work in different parts of your digestive tract, based on the pH each enzyme needs in order to function.
Enzyme deficiency results in poor digestion and poor nutrient absorption. This creates a variety of gastrointestinal symptoms, including:
Constipation

Bloating

Cramping

Flatulence and belching

Heartburn and acid reflux

Chronic malabsorption can lead to a variety of illnesses. Think about it—if your body doesn't have the basic nutritional building blocks it needs, your health and ability to recover from illness will be compromised.
Besides breaking down food, enzymes (particularly the proteases) can help with gut healing, controlling pathogens, and immune support. Your immune system begins in your gut—and if you have enzyme and digestive issues, chances are your immune system isn't functioning as well as it should be.
Complicating matters, your capacity for enzyme production also declines with age.

How Aging Affects Your Enzyme Production

Research has shown that your natural enzyme production starts to decline by the time you're about 20.
Studies show that, every ten years, your body's production of enzymes decreases by 13 percent. So by age 40, your enzyme production could be 25 percent lower than it was when you were a child. And by the time you're 70, you could be producing only ONE-THIRD of the enzymes you need.
Making matters worse, your stomach produces less hydrochloric acid as you age, and hydrochloric acid is crucial in activating your stomach's digestive enzymes.
When digestion of foods requires such a heavy demand, enzyme supplies run short and your enzyme-producing capacity can become exhausted. Why does this matter? The high demand for digestive enzymes depletes your body's production of metabolic enzymes, which every cell in your body needs in order to function.

The Many Roles of Metabolic Enzymes

Now that you know how important digestive enzymes are for getting nourishment, let's take a look at another type of enzymatic activity—your metabolic enzymes. Metabolic enzymes are intimately involved with running your circulatory, lymphatic, cardiac, neurologic, endocrine, renal, hepatic, and reproductive systems, and maintaining your skin, bones, joints, muscles and other tissues.
Every one of your 10 trillion cells depends on these enzymes and their ability to catalyze energy production. As I said before, each of these enzymes is highly specialized as a function of its particular molecular structure.
Consider these two examples:
RNA polymerase is an enzyme your body uses to transcribe DNA into RNA, which is used to make proteins.

Lysosomal enzyme, produced in the lysosome of each cell (also called the “suicide bag”), breaks down macromolecules and other foreign particles the cell has ingested (such as bacteria) so they can be disposed of. The lysosome is a microscopic garbage disposal!

One of the most important functions of metabolic enzymes happens in your blood. If you think about it, it makes sense. We know that bacteria, fungi, and parasites are comprised of protein, as is the shell encompassing viruses. Enzymes in your blood—primarily proteases (proteolytic enzymes)—serve to break down protein-based foreign bodies, effectively cleansing your blood.
As blood cleansers, these enzymes combat chronic inflammation, which left unchecked can lead to everything from autoimmune diseases, to cardiovascular disease and even cancer. Enzymes reduce inflammation in your body by:
Breaking down foreign proteins in the blood that cause inflammation and facilitating their removal via your blood stream and lymphatic system

Removing “fibrin,” a clotting material that can prolong inflammation

Reducing edema in the inflamed regions

It follows, then, that any disease caused by inflammation—which is practically every chronic disease we face today—can be benefited by increased levels of functional enzymes in your blood.
I will discuss oral enzyme supplementation shortly. Although taking an enzyme supplement may be helpful, NO manufactured product can duplicate the positive effects of a nutrient-rich diet.

Boosting Your Enzyme Levels Naturally

There are four ways to naturally increase your enzyme levels:
Increase your intake of raw, living foods

Eat fewer calories

Chew your food thoroughly

Avoid chewing gum

The very best way to get enzymes into your body is by consuming at least 75 percent of your foods raw. For many of you, you'll have to work toward this goal gradually.
While all raw foods contain enzymes, the most powerful enzyme-rich foods are those that are sprouted (seeds and legumes). Sprouting increases the enzyme content in these foods tremendously. Besides sprouts, other enzyme-rich foods include:
Papaya, pineapple, mango, kiwi, and grapes

Avocado

Raw honey (the enzymes actually come from the bee’s saliva)

Bee pollen

Extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil

Raw meat and dairy

The best way to bump up your metabolic enzymes is to provide your body with the raw materials and energy it needs to make them. By eating these types of foods, you supply your body with the amino acids and the enzyme co-factors needed to boost your own natural enzyme production.
Another way to lower your body's demand for enzymes is to reduce your caloric intake. Did you know the average person spends 80 percent of his available energy simply digesting food?
By reducing overall consumption, as well as introducing more living foods, you reduce your need for digestive enzymes, which allows your body to put more of its energy into producing metabolic enzymes.
Which brings us to chewing. Quite apart from the esthetic pleasure of an unhurried meal, there are important physiological reasons to chew your food well.
Chewing stimulates saliva production, and the more time you spend chewing, the longer your saliva enzymes have to work in your mouth, lessening the workload of your stomach and small intestine. Chewing also stimulates a reflex that sends a message to your pancreas and other digestive organs, "Gear up—we've got incoming!"
And don't chew gum.
Chewing gum fools your body into believing it is digesting something, so it pumps out digestive enzymes unnecessarily. Why waste those precious resources?

Digestive Enzyme Supplementation

If you suffer from occasional bloating, minor abdominal discomfort, and occasional constipation and suspect your enzyme production is low, you might want to consider a digestive enzyme supplement in addition to eating more of your foods raw.
Digestive enzymes should be taken WITH a meal. There are hundreds on the market, so how do you choose a good one? You should look for an enzyme formula with the following characteristics:
It should contain a mixture of different types of enzymes, to help digest all of the different components of your diet (including lipase, protease, and amylase)

The ingredients should be high quality, all-natural, and free of allergens and additives

The supplement should be labeled as to the enzymatic strength of each ingredient, not just its weight

It should be made by a reputable company with rigorous quality control and testing for potency

Besides digestive enzyme supplementation, there is another way to use oral enzymes—for systemic use. This requires taking enzymes between meals so they can be absorbed through your gut and into your bloodstream, where your cells can use them metabolically.

Systemic Enzymes—Playing Catch-Up with European Medicine

Getting enzymes from your digestive tract into your bloodstream isn't as easy as it would seem. As I've already discussed, enzymes are very susceptible to denaturing and must be helped to survive the highly acidic environment in your stomach. They are often given an "enteric coating" to help them survive the journey through your digestive tract.
And then, there is the matter of absorption.
For nearly 100 years, medical dogma insisted that enzymes taken orally were too large to pass through the digestive tract wall.
However, there is now a good deal of research that they can indeed pass through your intestine intact and into your bloodstream and lymphatic system, where they can deliver their services to the rest of your body... one of the mysteries of medical science.
Now that we know this is possible, systemic oral enzymes have been used to treat problems ranging from sports injuries to arthritis to heart disease and cancer, particularly in European countries. But most of the research has been published in non-English language journals.
This systemic use of enzymes is just now taking off in the United States.
It is crucial that, in order for enzymes to be used systemically, they must be ingested on an empty stomach. Otherwise, your body will use them for digesting your food, instead of being absorbed into the blood and doing their work there.
Let's take a look at how systemic enzymes can benefit your health by examining their applications for two major health problems we face today: heart disease and cancer.

How Systemic Enzymes Battle Heart Disease

It is now fairly well recognized that heart attacks and strokes are related to inflammation, which is why C-reactive protein (an inflammatory marker) can be predictive of cardiac events.
However, according to an excellent article about systemic enzymes by Michael Sellar, French researchers have proposed that bacteria might be a causative factor in coronary artery disease. Very high levels of bacteria were found in their patients' arterial plaques, possibly explaining elevations in C-reactive protein.
C-reactive protein functions to stop the spread of bacteria in your body.
Since enzymes inhibit platelet aggregation, help your immune system combat pathogens, and break down fibrin (which makes up clots), they may offer significant benefits for vascular diseases like thrombosis, phlebitis, and varicose veins.
Sellar quotes enzyme researcher Rudolph Kunze:
"Although enzymes reduce inflammation and we used to think that was all they did, we now believe that the central target of systemic enzymes is the immune system. It is my belief that heart disease is an immune disease very much, although obviously not totally, related to bacterial pathogens and other invaders."

Systemic Enzymes in the Treatment of Cancer

The use of enzymes to treat cancer has its roots all the way back to 1911 with John Beard's The Enzyme Treatment of Cancer and Its Scientific Basis. Beard believed cancer was a result of diminished pancreatic enzymes, impairing your immune response.
A study in 1999 suggests he may have been right on target.
Ten patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer were treated with large doses of oral pancreatic enzymes (along with detoxification and an organic diet), and their survival rates were 3 to 4 times higher than patients receiving conventional treatment. Proteolytic enzymes can be helpful in treating cancer because they help restore balance to your immune system.
Dr. Nick Gonzalez in New York City, NY has also done a lot of work on enzymes in cancer treatment and has written a book on the subject.
Some of the ways proteolytic enzymes can be helpful in the fight against cancer are:
Boosting cytokines, particularly interferon and tumor necrosis factor, which are very important warriors in destroying cancer cells.

Decreasing inflammation.

Dissolving fibrin: Cancer cells hide under a cloak of fibrin to escape detection. Once the cancer cells are “uncloaked,” they can be spotted and attacked by your immune system. It is also thought that fibrin makes cancer cells “stick together,” which increases the chance for metastases.

German studies have shown that systemic enzymes increase the potency of macrophages and killer cells 12-fold.

For more about the difference between digestive enzymes and systemic enzymes, click here for a video interview with enzyme expert Nena Dockery.
Hopefully you can now appreciate just how important enzymes are to your overall health, right down to the cellular level. Once you understand this, you may begin to see just how important it is to eat a diet rich in fresh, organic, raw foods. You may even want to try juicing some of your vegetables as a way of getting more nutrients—and enzymes—into your body.
It has been said, "You are what you eat." But really, "You are what you digest" is closer to the truth.

Bizarre Belief Systems

2011-08-19T20:17:00.001+08:00

There is a tribe in Vanuatu island who thinks, according to Listverse, Prince Philip, consort of Queen Elizabeth II, is the embodiment of a spirit that was born of the volcano of their island, the pale-skinned son of the mountain spirit.

Then there is church for Maradona, known as Iglesia Maradoniana, where the 10 commandments are

1. The ball must not be stained, as D10S has proclaimed;
2. Love football over all things;
3. Declare your unconditional love of football;
4. Defend the colors of Argentina;
5. Preach the words of “Diego Maradona” all over the world;
6. Pray in the temples where he preached, and to his sacred mantles;
7. Do not proclaim the name of Diego in the name of a single club;
8. Follow the teachings of the Maradonian Church;
9. Let Diego be your second name, and that of your children;
10. “No see cabeza de term y sue no se the escape la tortuga.” (Meaning “don’t be a hothead and don’t let the turtle escape you”)

Read about this bizarre beliefs and others here.

Smile and the Whole World...

2011-08-19T15:44:00.000+08:00

..will be a better place.

Smiling makes you and others. It makes you look better, positive and smarter. Okay, when I say smile, I meant the genuine and not the fake, paste-on smile.

Smiling conveys a silent message that you are harmless. People are more receptive towards you and your ideas. In fact they will like you more.

The past week I experimented with smiling at not only at people I know but to everyone I see in the course of the day. And every time they smiled back.

Apart from being an icebreaker, smiling is also credited with other benefits

It relieves stress
Lowers blood pressure
Boosts the immune system
Releases serotonin and other natural 'feel good' hormones

Smiling is also credited with making a person look younger and more successful.

Why not take up this challenge? For the next 7 days smile at everyone and discover its power for yourself .

17 September 2011 - update

I am turning this into a habit. In a little less then a month, I have greatly benefited from smiling.

I am more relaxed and so are people around me.
I feel more confident
I feel less self conscious
I am taking myself less seriously

Travelling Lightly

2011-08-18T06:30:00.001+08:00

Many times in the course of my life I have either heard or read these words: "Travel lightly in this world". I knew what it meant but never thought too much about it.

I do now.

I have came to realize, the more things we have, the more the mind seems to be cluttered. I decided to do away with a few things in my life.

I decided to clear to give away clothes that I don't wear too often. I threw away bits of papers that been lying around here and there. I got rid of business cards of people that I had met only once the last 20 years.

In the office, I threw away documents that have no use to me anymore. I had also learned to delegate parts of my work and do away with the need to be informed of everything.

I have decided not to carry too many things with me, either physically, emotionally or mentally. I am trying to let go of my worries, to control my desire, to educate my ego and I found have this to be liberating.

There are still a lot of knowledge I have to gain and much work to be done before I can truly do more with less.

Some Thoughts on Doing Without Thinking

2011-08-17T07:44:00.001+08:00

Many of us accept without question what is told. We do not question the things we see, hear or read. This makes us easy targets to be manipulated.

How many do you think really questions what they see on TV? How many really think about what they read? How many are just following the trend? They get into something because their friends, their relatives, their neighbours and their neighbours' mother-in-law are doing it.

During the 1950s and 60s, smoking was cool.James Dean was smoking, Audrey Hepburn was smoking, in fact it was estimated half the population in the industrialised was smoking. You were considered hip and happening if you smoked. Do it today and you are a social outcast.

I remember a few years ago, in my this part of the world, there was this craze for a certain type of ornamental fish. I cannot remember how it all started but suddenly having an aquarium is the coolest thing to do.

Almost every male I know was into it and everyone was an expert in fish keeping. I learned a lot about fishes and aquariums in those few months just by listening to my colleagues talking during lunch time. That craze went on for a few months, and those selling ornamental fishes and aquariums made good money ( I should have sold aquariums-could have made some easy money) and after that the whole thing faded. Some of my friends who were so into it then could not even remember the types of fish they were so enthusiastically keeping not too long ago.

And the last couple of years everyone is wearing beads around their wrist, neck, legs and God knows where else. These beads are suppose to absorb negative vibes and promote good health. Just how this is achieved no one seems to know but heck, since Mary, Jane, Tom and Tom's aunty is wearing, it must be a good thing right?

As with fishes and beads, there are trends in every aspect of our lives. In 2008 Mr. Obama can do no wrong, now it seems he can do no right. Until recently capitalism was next to Godliness, now people are not that sure anymore.

When we do as what others do, we manifest an inherent human quality-the need to belong. It is not a bad thing but as much as we want to be keeping up with the Joneses, we need to stand back, pause and think for ourselves.

The Difference Between Human and Apes

2011-08-15T11:15:00.000+08:00

With the new movie, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, smashing box-offices everywhere, learn about what makes us different from apes from Jane Goodall in this interesting TED talk here.

Peopling the World

2011-08-15T09:53:00.000+08:00

You and me and the everyone else share a common great, great,great.....grandmother.

What is mitochondrial DNA and why the statement that we inherit our genes equally from both our parents are not exactly true.

How does the human species came to populate the world? When did our ancestors migrate out of Africa? And why?

While searching for this, I came across a useful website belonging to the Bradshaw Foundation. It interesting and informative. It is titled the Journey of Mankind and has Stephen Oppenheimer as its main contributor.

Beware of Scammers

2011-08-12T10:55:00.000+08:00

Can you identify a scam?

There are many unscrupulous people around who will have you for breakfast. Check out on how to detect scams and the snake oil peddlers here.

Who Creates Your World?

2011-08-04T16:44:00.000+08:00

I saw a man sitting by the roadside looking lost and a woman beside him looking like she had lost hope. They were not disabled in any way but their clothes were in tatters. I tried not to judge. Life has taught me valuable lessons not to, but I could not stop wondering why does anyone in this country should ever lose hope.

It might not be the biggest economy around and things can get a bit difficult at times but there still plenty of work to go around.

Why then the hopelessness? Then it occurred to me that their own thoughts brought them to the state they are in now and it is keeping them there.

It is in the mind that we create the world we live in. We see with our eyes but we perceive with our mind. The mind is the decoder . It is the translator of events happening around us. It is where either we can dream of a better future or create a nightmare for the rest of our lives.

Let us put happy thoughts in our minds. Just like fertilizers to plants, so are happy positives thoughts to the mind. Read inspirational stories, listen to music that makes you happy and have a smile on your face.

Remember, your world is created in your mind and you must the master of your own mind.

Death

2011-08-03T12:17:00.000+08:00

All of us will die one day.

Nothing is more certain than that. But almost all of us feel uncomfortable to talk about it. There is a sense of uneasiness in dealing with our own mortality. It seems sometimes incomprehensible to us that we can die at any time.
Fact is, we have an expiry date and one day people will get together and mourn or be happy that we are no longer alive. This will allow us to appreciate what life has to offer and realize how precious life is.

Couple of weeks ago, I had two very opposite experiences that allowed me to see life in a new way. I attended a funeral of my friend's dad who died at the age of 70. Two days later I was saying congratulations to another friend of mine on the birth of his son. These two events made me think that the old will get replaced by the new. Such is life.

As we journey through life, it is worth remembering that sooner or later, the journey will come to an end. Thus make every effort to enjoy it.

Have a nice day people.

Yoga Boosts Stress-Busting hormone

2011-08-01T13:12:00.002+08:00

Read here how yoga can help in reducing pain.

How Is Your Ego?

2011-08-01T06:12:00.000+08:00

Does your personal feelings gets into the mix when you are making decisions?

Do you get easily upset?

Do you believe you should be obeyed all the time?

Do you feel as though everyone is looking at you and talking about you?

Do you have difficulty saying sorry even when you know you are wrong?

Do you feel you are right all the time or most of the time?

If you have answered yes to any of the above, you have a problem with your ego.

John Goddard's Life List

2011-07-30T09:31:00.000+08:00

At 15 years of age, John Goddard overheard his grandmother saying " If only I had done more when I was young" and decided he was not going to say those words and regret over things he could have done. So he sat down and wrote in detail 127 things he wanted to do and committed it to memory.

He had accomplished 109 of it. He had climbed 12 of the highest mountains, conducted 14 major expeditions into remote regions, traversed 15 of the worlds most treacherous rivers, visited 120 countries, studied 260 primitive tribes.

That is not all, he had also learn to speak French, Spanish and Arabic, explored coral reef much much more that. You can visit his website and check out his accomplishments here.

Few of us are ever going to have 127 goals and commit to memory, but the story of John Goddard in an inspiring one. It is a story about goal setting and living one's life to the fullest.

About a Movie

2011-07-24T12:03:00.000+08:00

I was watching a movie starring Bradley Cooper, carrying the title Limitless. It is about how a jobless man gains popularity and wealth by popping a pill which maximizes his mind power.

The main character in the movie Eddie Morra gains focus, observes everything, sees patterns in chaos, becomes fluent in several language and possess a host of other capabilities that is often associated with utilizing maximum brain capacity.

Though the movie is a work of fiction, the capability of the human mind is limitless. It is fantastic what the human is capable of achieving with proper training and cultivation of good brain habit, the many abilities of the mind can be unlocked.

I believe we must have a basic understanding of the brain first and also the kind of diet that makes it functions at his best. My personal experience is that, the simple recipe for healthy living, like good diet, exercising, having enough sleep and generally feeling positive and ethusiatic helps me in learning and acquiring new skills.

Another important thing is to learning to be simple. This unclutters the mind and an uncluttered mind is a better mind.

How To Make a To-Do-List

2011-07-16T16:22:00.001+08:00

Here is an article I wrote some time ago on creating a to-do list.

Frank Tibolt in his classic book, A Touch of Greatness call making a list the mind sharpener. He describes how a yard master in a steel factory rose to become its president by doing this over and over again.

Making a list is probably the best time management tool ever. There is no need for fancy software or a three day seminar that costs a fortune. Making a list is easy, simple and direct.

Here are some tips on how to make a to-do list at work.

1. Set aside a few minutes early in the day or before bed at night dedicated to list making. I find it the best to make a to-do list the next day just ten minutes before I sign-off from my work.

2. Know your peak and down times. We all have a biological clock inside of us and during the course of the day, we will have our peaks and slumps. Usually people are at the peak in the morning before energy running low in the afternoons and peaking again in the late afternoon or evening. It is important you know yours so that you can schedule your tasks accordingly.

3. Start with the most important and urgent task and go down, with each item down the list becoming less urgent and less important. Another way is to list and easy task after a difficult one, to keep you motivated. But I prefer getting the difficult ones settled first. There are no hard and fast rules regarding this, choose what suits you. What is important is that you finish the tasks in your list.

4. Remember to set aside time for breaks, meetings and other routine items that will crop up during the course of the day.

5. Break down your list into smaller sub-list. Assign time slots.

Apart from a to do list, you can list about almost anything. The list below is inspired by what appeared in A Touch of Greatness. I call it The Kaizen List. It is a list that can be used to achieve daily improvement.

1. How can I improve some part of my job?
2. How can I do this differently?
3. How can I increase productivity?
4. How to reduce the cost?
5. How to increase profits?
6. How to save time?
7. How to avoid delays?
8. What other ideas from a different area can be applied to this?
9. How can I express initiative?
10. How can I simplify this?

If you find it difficult to win over a prospect, why not make a list of all the things in your favor. If you are going to the boss to ask for a raise, wouldn’t it better if you go there with a list of all your accomplishments?

The power of making a list is that it clears your mind. It removes the mental block. We all have a thousand things going on in our head all the time, and putting it down in a list helps to figure out things more efficiently.
And making a list is the best time saving tool there is.

Liar Liar

2011-07-16T09:42:00.000+08:00

What makes a good liar? What traits makes them get away with the things they say?

Read this article by Scientific American that lists 18 attributes of highly efficient liars

Lucas Leiva of Liverpool FC.

2011-07-10T20:39:00.000+08:00

On 24 May 2011, Lucas Pezzini Leiva or simply known as Lucas, was Liverpool’s Player of the Season. Now, if you are not a football fan, you may ask what is so special about this. Every season in every club of any professional game, they will be a player that stands above his teammates. But Liverpool FC is no ordinary football club and Lucas is no ordinary footballer.

Signed from Gremio of Brazil on 26 July 2007, he arrived in Liverpool as a 21 year old and the youngest player to be given the Bola de Ouro or Golden Ball as the best player in the Compeonato Brasilero. No mean feat considering legends such Zico, Falcao and Romario are among the winners.

You would expect the best player in the Brazilian football league to easily take the English League by storm. That did not happen. After a fairly average first season with Liverpool, Lucas endured a horrible second season. Repeatedly booed by home fans and heavily criticised by the British media, Lucas’ game dropped, but only temporarily.

He returned to pre-season training 0n 2009/2010, not only more determined but physically tougher. And from that day onwards Lucas has kept on improving and along the way won over Liverpool fans and slayed his critics. Today he is pivotal to his club and country and is tipped to be a future captain of both. Lucas has come a long way. Here is an article about his journey.

It is not easy when you are 21 years of age and publicly ridiculed. It takes mental toughness and self-confidence to keep believing in yourself and working towards your goals.And if you find yourself in such a situation, remember Lucas.

A Word on Strategy

2011-07-08T15:56:00.002+08:00

"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved, ' wrote Winston Churchill, one of the greatest statesman of the previous century.

There are always are set of strategies that must be followed to achieve anything that is worth achieving, Let us say you are playing football, to win the game you will have to play a certain way. There must be a strategy. You just cannot walk into the field and start kicking the ball all over the place and hope to win.

The same goes to running a marathon, decorating your house or writing a report. To successfully complete this or any task, you are following a set of strategy, either consciously or subconsciously.

The same applies to the matter of achieving your destiny. You have to have a set of strategy to achieve it.There are certain skills you might have to learn, certain values to adopt, certain attitude to nurture. You might even have to change your sleeping habits, your diet, your clothes.

First identify what it takes to achieve your destiny, then have a strategy to execute it.