splurged on food!!! :(
Published by healthbuff on Tagged UncategorizedAll soul and all saint’s day were bad for me! I gained close to 8 lbs. in just 3 days! 2 parties in a row! Food, food, food! And more food!
I know, I know! I should be promoting health tips here right? But fear not 
I’m happy to say that by knowing how to live a healthy lifestyle, and by making it a habit, it’s easy to cut back on food and lose weight even without much of an exercise. Water, soy protein drink, fruits and meals! That’s all what it will take for me to shed the excess lbs. off. (I’ll update more on this diet soon:) )
Reasons why you should minimize meat in your diet
Published by healthbuff on Tagged Uncategorized
Love steaks? Chicken and Pork Barbecue? How about roasted pork or beef?
When my nurse friend mentioned that the required daily meat intake of an adult should that be the size of a matchbox toy, I was relieved that I learned how to really love eating vegetables and made it a priority to make it a part of my diet. Although from time to time I devour sizes of steaks the size of a small plate, I can’t help the fact that steaks, or meat for that matter, should be taken moderately and cooked thoroughly.
Meat has been known to be one of the leading causes of many cancers today. Yet with the way steakhouses, kobe and and angus beef are advertised today, many people tend to ignore or are still not aware the health risks it brings.
Some are the following studies, facts and researches. Hope it will open our minds.
- In England and Germany, studies where conducted and showed that vegetarians were about 40 percent less likely to develop cancer compared to meat eaters.
- In Harvard, studies showed that daily meat eaters have approximately three times the colon cancer risk, compared to those who rarely eat meat.
- In Japan, the traditional diet is much lower in fat, especially animal fat, than the typical western diet, and breast cancer rates are low. The American diet is centered on animal products, which tend to be high in fat and low in other important nutrients, with 30 to 35 percent of calories coming from fat. When Japanese girls are raised on westernized diets, their rate of breast cancer increases dramatically. Even within Japan, affluent women who eat meat daily have an 8.5 times higher risk of breast cancer than poorer women who rarely or never eat meat. One of the proposed reasons is that fatty foods boost the hormones that promote cancer.
- To read more about cancer check this out http://www.cancerproject.org/survival/cancer_facts/meat.php
In simple terms, it’s obvious that meat, being man’s main source of protein, should be taken in moderation. For one, meat is much more difficult to digest. It stays up to 48-72 hours in our stomach, whereas soy and other vegetable protein stays only for 24 hours. So it’s no wonder why meat eaters usually have the highest risk of acquiring colon and other cancer. Think about the rotten waste in our stomachs caused by the meat and stays for 2-3 days. Add the constipation it brings. Boom! Unhealthy stomach. Do it for the next 10, 15 years, it’s likely that you’ll acquire related diseases. After all, many type of cancers are usually acquired nowadays and not necessarily through genes anymore. Through the food that we eat and the lifestyle we live, we can help ourselves in preventing these.
So what now? Learn how to love and eat vegetables. And of course take it easy on meat guys.
To a healthier you!
TRYING TO GAIN or LOSE WEIGHT?
Published by healthbuff on Tagged Uncategorized
- lose or gain weight? tip the scales first
I think many of us already know or understand that being overweight can affect our health in a great number of ways. Just like what I experienced (back and knee pains) after I tried to play basketball again. However, the biggest health risks of being overweight normally are heart disease and type II diabetes. So before deciding on losing some lbs off, try to consider these charts. It helped me set my goal of losing and maintaining my weight.
Check this out:
http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/height_weight.shtml
Now set your goals and start working it out.
To a healthier you!
LOVE FOOD? Check this out!
Published by healthbuff on Tagged UncategorizedThis is funny and at the same time interesting! What we think of healthy food may turn out to be the opposite. So here it goes.
FOOD CHOLESTEROL per 100 grams:
- Egg white – 0
- Cucumber – 0
- Lapu-lapu – 4.1
- Cow’s Milk – 6.5
- Dilis – 19.0
- Human Milk – 19.7
- Clam – 20.9
- Tilapia – 21.1
- Cheese – 33.8
- Eel – 40.1
- Sardines – 40.5
- Ice cream – 45.0
- Bangus – 51.8
- Shrimp – 52.8
- Squid – 56.0
- Chocolate – 56.0
- Chicken – 62.9
- Beef – 64.5
- Pork – 68.8
- Crab – 72.5
- Galonggong – 73.6
- Bagoong – 75.8
- Prawn – 89.0
- Ham – 100.0
- Lengua – 100.6
- Pigeon – 110.0
- Pig Liver – 190.0
- Lobster – 200.0
- Balut – 515.2
- Egg Yolk – 731.6
- Quail Egg Yolk – 932.2
- Pig’s Brain – 1,643.6
exotic food
So take it easy guys.
To a healthier you!
STRETCHING? Why bother?
Published by healthbuff on Tagged UncategorizedA friend of mine called me after reading my previous post regarding brisk walking. Since he doesn’t exercise a lot, he asked me if he should bother stretching first even if he will just try the brisk walking thing. Knowing it’s importance, I said a resounding Yes and he bombarded me with a lot of questions.
- stretch for better health
An athlete or not, stretching is one of the most important thing a person could do to help maintain a healthy life. Coaches and trainers emphasize it, yoga and pilates does it – it’s just stretching, just a different setting where you get to use mats and nice apparels. Heck, it’s even used for losing weight and even for growing taller! It’s so important that even former tennis great Pete Sampras, when asked what his greatest regret was or what he will do if he would be given a chance to go back in time. He said stretching. That he should have given it more emphasis and that by doing so, it could have lessened his injuries and he could have won more titles.
Think of stretching as the oil that lets the car engine running, where it lubricates the metals to help last longer from the wear and tear. Stretching helps in loosening our muscles and joints. When we stretch, our muscle fibers lengthens and helps us move with ease, power and grace. That’s why coaches and trainers preach this to their players.
In the work setting, regular stretch at work helps us avoid of slouching in front of the computer monitor the whole day. And of course, aside from helping us to stay awake, it’s relaxing and gives us a sudden feel of energy.
So go ahead! Stand up and stretch! Feel your energy going up a notch! Better yet, go get a book or search the net for more stretching exercises and even pilates and yoga. Stretch before playing any sport and maintain it for a long period of time and see the difference.
To a healthier you!
3 Keys to a Happy, Long & Healthy Life
Published by healthbuff on Tagged UncategorizedThis is sure challenging! According to the late Dr. Eugenia Calle, Managing Director of the Analytic Epidemiology at the American Cancer Society, there are 3 ways in living a healthy, happy and long life. These are:
PROPER DIET – This is to eat better foods, limit consumption of processed food and red meat, should be low in fats and high in fiber, eat more fruits and vegetable protein, especially soy protein.
We all know the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables, yet we tend to label people who are vegetarians as boring. We know the effects of having high intake of meat and sometimes processed food in our body (one of which is cancer, more on this) , yet we can’t ignore the advertisements of the sumptuous steaks and grills in nearby restaurants. Many of us also don’t pay attention or are not aware of the importance of fiber on our diet.
PROPER WEIGHT – Eat less, Exercise more!
Now this is really the most challenging part. The problem with this is that a lot of people do this the other way around, eating more, exercising less and less. With a busy lifestyle, I guess this is the most hardest thing to do. But hey, who says it will be easy right? After all, it’s our health we’re talking about.
PROPER EXERCISE – This requires an individual to undergo a vigorous physical activity approximately 200 minutes per week or 30 minutes a day, or 30-60 minutes of brisk walking in 3-5 days per week.
Want proof? Read this. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-09-24-oldest-man-diet_N.htm
There you go. Now start living a long and healthy life.
To a healthier you!
Love tocino, longga, hotdogs? Reasons why you should take it moderately.
Published by healthbuff on Tagged UncategorizedProcessed foods are everywhere! In a world full of busy people, we sometimes forget the essence of preparing a good meal made of natural ingredients. Cook, eat and go! Especially when you’re living in the city where everything is fast. But then again, beware!
Processed foods like hotdogs, longganisa and tocino to name a few, when consumed in extremely large amounts, can cause a lot of problems to our body. It’s because of the preservative called nitrate. You know, the one responsible for making the meat look red. Once ingested, it turns into nitrite, which causes a disorder (methemoglobinemia) that blocks or hinders our red blood cells‘ oxygen intake and when this happens, our organs can fail because they don’t get to have the oxygen they need from the red blood cells. Other symptoms include low blood pressure, dizziness, sweating, palpitation and breathing difficulty.
So if you love to eat those food, I think it’s best to eat them in moderation. Meat eaters who have a slow metabolic rate have higher risk of suffering the disorder because of their diminished capacity in breaking down the said nitrite.
I remember also when we asked our son’s orthopedic doctor of the food that our son was not allowed to eat after his operation. What he said was to lessen his intake of the said processed foods because he just had a patient of 7 years old who was diagnosed with leukemia. They were able to trace a high amount of the said preservatives/nitrite on the blood of his patient. After that, we (and that includes me) lessened the intake of said processed food in our house.
So take it easy alright? It’s not entirely forbidden to eat them, let’s just not make it a habit of eating a thing or two everyday. Once a month perhaps? 
To a healthier you!
Best Exercise? Try Brisk Walking
Published by healthbuff on Tagged UncategorizedWant to maintain your weight? Shed some lbs. off? Or just to feel good about yourself but too tired to go to the gym or to the basketball court? Why not try brisk walking! 
It’s free! And importantly, it’s the most safest form of exercise. Especially for people who are planning to start their exercise soon. You don’t want to “shock” your body by undergoing a heavy exercise regimen would you?
Studies show, among comparisons between brisk walking, running and playing team sports (where obviously there are going to have some and if not plenty of contacts), that brisk walking is the safest way to have an exercise. Yes walking where you swing your arms while walking a little faster. That simple huh? Less injuries, same results. Unless you get to step on something while walking or you’ll fall down on a man hole. But that’s a different story.
Walking increases the body’s metabolism, to which the fats are burnt up rapidly. Unlike when we jog, where we get to put a lot of pressure to our ankles, knees and back, walking is just like breathing, we do it normally without us exerting a lot of effort. Just 30-60 minutes a day. That’s it. Cheap and safe.
So if your stressed, feeling overweight, or even just want to catch up with your best friend, go grab your sneakers, Ipods and your best apparels and walk it off. It’s never too late to start to feeling healthy and happy.
To a healthier you!
Love Fruits? Eat them the right way
Published by healthbuff on Tagged Uncategorized
When I first found about the proper way of eating fruits, I can’t help but to smile and recall on how I made different fruits as my dessert every after meal. Little did I know that I was missing a lot of nutrients, fiber, phytochemicals, and other vitamins and minerals by eating them every after meal.
So how to eat fruits the right way? Eat them before meals and on an empty stomach. Imagine eating fruits after meals, by the time it reaches the stomach, the meal rots, ferments and turns into acid. Then the fruits come and is affected by the rotten meal. So eat them before meals and with an empty stomach. In that way, our bodies will absorb all the nutrients it needs.
Here are some of the reasons why fruits can also help with our diet:
- Highest content of water of any food. So it helps in the detoxification process in our body.
- Easier to digest so our stomach will not work that hard in digesting it unlike with meat, chicken, etc.
- Some fruits help in helping fight certain cancers, heart attacks and other diseases.
- It can be added to green salads to add taste.
- And of course, it gives us a radiant look when we make it a part of our diet.
So when you’re in your respective homes, parties or when dining out, eat your fruits before meals.
To a healthier you!
HEALTH IS WEALTH
Published by healthbuff on Tagged Uncategorized
When I see the slogan “Health is Wealth” I can’t help but to recall the time when I fully realized it’s importance to our existence. As an athlete for most of my life, I never gave much meaning to eating healthy. Since my metabolism was fast, I ate anything I wanted, never mind if it was real food or junk food. However, when I graduated from school, it was when I started to encounter problems.
When an athlete’s routine of going to practice everyday is changed to a new routine of going to work and sometimes working some more, they can’t help it if they gain weight over time. Of course, less exercise, appetite maintained. Thus common to most athletes, aside from gaining weight, aches in muscles , joints and bones shows up.
Unfortunately, this was exactly what happened to me when my playing days were over. From a playing weight of 140 lbs, I gained an additional 40 lbs over time. Aside from dealing with the expensive cost of buying new set of shirts and pants to accommodate my increasing waistline, walking a couple of hundred meters made me gasp for air already. To make matters worse, I was having a hard time just putting my shoelaces on.
I decided to lose weight by playing again. This time it was basketball. A good friend of mine invited me to play in one of the prestigious ball club in the city. So I went there ready to play and with the goal of losing weight by playing in their 3x a week of regular games. But alas! After playing just 1 game, I was dead tired already and decided to call it a day. The following day was even worse. I experienced back and knee pains and had them for almost a week. And for me not having experienced this kind of pain before, it was unbearable. So with my goal of losing weight by playing basketball now in jeopardy, I knew I needed to lose weight in another way.
Luckily, our neighbor introduced a coffee and milk alternative where after I drank 1 mug in the morning, I was full already and wasn’t able to eat for almost the entire morning. He then introduced me to their nutritionist friend and explained that it was made of a lot of natural ingredients that is beneficial to our body, especially for someone who is trying to lose weight. Wow! Talk about being on the right time and place!
With my curiousity now being pushed to the limit, I was able to ask a lot of things regarding health and fitness, which to my surprise, he patiently answered and gave a lot of useful informations and examples. Examples like:
- Being slim does not necessarily equate to being healthy.
- Diet – the T in diet means Temperance. Diet does not mean starving oneself or depriving oneself of the delicious food our world has to offer, but on being able to eat in moderation.
- We hear a lot of us say that kids these days grow up so quickly, some they mature easily. Well if some food growers can cut the growth rate of our favorite chicken, cows and pigs into more than half the normal rate , they must be doing something that affects us or our children in a way that we don’t know.
- And what striked me most was when he asked me if I was aware of the many cases happening around us where we’ve heard stories of our friends, with no family history, suddenly are diagnosed with stage 2,3 or even 4 of cancer. Children who are diagnosed with leukemia at an early age, or people who have no family history of diabetes are suddenly told that they have one.
After that meeting, now convinced that everyone’s vulnerable and at the same time capable of preventing these from happening, I looked at the meaning of diet in a whole new meaning. And of course I lost almost 30 lbs off my weight without depriving myself of the different dishes that I love. And as they say, the rest is history. I never looked back in living a healthy but definitely not deprived life. What’s the point of earning a lot of money, when that money will be spent just for the treatment of these cancers, leukemia, etc. After all, we owe it to ourselves to live a healthy life or just be able to tie easily our shoelaces on and just by sitting down instead of needing help from a chair or stairs. :)