Pro Health, Pro Garlic

I love garlic. As a Filipino who typically loves “ginisa” of anything, Garlic is part of every Filipino dishes along with red onions. But Garlic is considered not only as a cooking spice but also widely recognized as antibiotics and remedy for various diseases. 

First of all, Garlic has high nutritional value. It contains Vitamin A, B, and C, Niacin, Calcium, Iron and Phosphorus. It has Allicin, a substance that inhibits or destroys certain types of bacteria and fungi. It is believed to be more effective than penicillin and tetracycline. Garlic is also responsible for normalization of body functions such as blood pressure and stimulates the immune system. Garlic acts as a heart relaxant; regulates the cardiac rhythm, helping to avoid arrhythmia. This is beneficial for people who has accelerated heart rates and other heart diseases. It also acts as lung decongestant helping to loosen the harmful and infectious secretions in bronchial tubes. It has also iron which helps people with hyperthyroidism. The other benefits of garlic includes regulating the blood sugar for people with diabetes, helps against vaginal infections and even believed to cure HIV.

Garlic is also beneficial in combating cancer cells. Studies shows that in various places where people consumed much of garlic for traditional cuisine, there have been lower prevalence of cancer. It significantly removes toxins in the body. It has sulfuric substances which has a strong impact on liver’s detoxification enzymes; the enzymes that the liver reduces and removes toxins. 

Those are the health benefits of Garlic according to 4 different articles I’ve read from the internet. 

Did you know why I blogged about Garlic? Because I will post a delicious garlic-ky and yummy recipe later. I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed it about an hour ago during lunch. Stay tuned! 

Thanks to Chamomile Tea?

pix from http://www.sciencedaily.com

I thought I’ll end up in the hospital again. Pew!

I remember vividly the night my friend brought me to the hospital because of severe stomach pain. Well, it was not actually my tummy but my upper abdomen near my chest. In medical terms, they usually called this part as the xiphoid process or the metasternum or xiphisternum. But before I’ll squeeze out my few recollections of these terms, I want to say thank you to Chamomile Tea for saving me today.

I’ve been suffering from on and off heartburn since I was in high school. But because its ON and OFF, i didn’t give a damn about it. I thought, I was just eating fast that I swallowed a lot of air so I need to burp. It wasn’t a big deal until that night when I cannot stand the pain anymore and I even bid goodbye to the world because I thought I was food poisoned. Hah!

I took a lot of medical tests, heliobacter pylori and all, and my doctor prescribed 20 mg. of Omepradex a day. I stopped taking medications because I felt well and I tried to avoid the “bawal” and everything. It was a free-heartburn months until recently, I had some pain from time to time especially when I overate. I was at the mercy of Tums until it was not helpful anymore. Then I tried Chamomile Tea. I just thought it could help since I know it helps muscles to relax and they even use it to aid sleeping disorders. And yes, it did help.

Today, after coffee in the morning, I already felt my tummy acting up but I went on with my Monday “ngarag” and ignored the whole thing. It was 1pm when I felt the need to eat lunch with Fany and we both enjoyed Ciorba (to my beki friends, yes I’m not bluffing. Ciorba/Churba is a FOOD), a Romanian rice soup which taste like Sinigang. 3pm and I was still okay. I was busy designing my blog when I felt a sudden stabbing pain in my chest. I knew I was going to have heartburn but I didn’t expect it to be so intense. Like I had cold sweats, so pale and I cannot even talk. I vomited a lot but the pain was still killing me and I felt the need to go to the hospital. I got myself a cup of Chamomile Tea but I couldn’t even swallow a drop. I did my best to take a sip, slowly I was able to finish a quarter of it then I felt much better. I still want to go to the hospital but as soon as Fany called a cab, I was totally out of pain. The wonder of Chamomile Tea. Hallelujah! 

After dinner, I busied myself googling (–is this a verb?) everything about Chamomile Tea and I found several interesting facts about it that I wanna share. 

Sleeping Disorder — The most well-known benefit of the Chamomile Tea is as a sleep-aid. It has tranquilizer effect that combat anxiety and insomnia. So the next time you find yourself owling at the wee hours of the morning, all you need to do is drink Chamomile Tea. Just make sure it’s not Angry Birds that’s keeping you awake.

Stomach Upset — The most widely-accepted use of Chamomile Tea is as a digestive-aid. It is very useful in combating indigestion, colic, peptic ulcer, diarrhea, gastritis and many others. This I can really say is true because I have a first-hand experience on this. 

Menstrual Cramps — One study found that drinking Chamomile Tea increases the urine levels of glycin; a compound that calms muscles spasms. 

Diabetes — Study shows that Chamomile Tea was found to prevent the progression of diabetic complications and hyperglycemia.

Wound Healing and Reduce Imflammation — There are Chamomile oitments for external use that helps promote healing. Study shows that there are substances found in Chamomile flowers that are like antibiotics or some sort that helps to reduce inflammation of wounds and other skin problems.

But you have to consider some precautions in taking Chamomile Tea especially if you are allergic to some plants in the same family with Chamomile such as ragweed, daisy, aster, etc. 

Chamomile should also be avoided if you are pregnant because it may act as uterine stimulant that increase the chance of abortion.

People with bleeding disorders should avoid Chamomile too because it has coumarin and may increase the chance of bleeding.

But even if I am pretty sure Chamomile helps a lot with my current health problem, I still scheduled myself next week to see my doctor. Chamomile only took away the pain but never the acid. These symptoms may lead to something more serious if I will not seek an advice from my doctor. But for now, I am just happy that I didn’t spend the night in the hospital again because of Chamomile Tea. Thank You Lord!

Carrot-Apple Juice Craze

When I stumbled upon a replay video of Kris TV (a local morning show in the Philippines), one live caller asked Kris Aquino about her secrets to maintain her healthy skin and she answered carrot-apple juice. That was the beginning of my uncanny craze about drinking fresh juices. I normally buy bottled juice but I am aware of the sugar or sugar substitutes and preservatives that lurks inside these bottles. There’s nothing healthier than fresh fruits and vegetables.

According to studies, if you include fruits and vegetables to your diet, you decrease the risk of having chronic diseases. Apple and carrot has phytochemicals that reduced the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Carrots has antioxidant called beta-carotene which helps fight diseases by getting rid of free radical formation. Apples has antioxidants too that helps lower cholesterol level and prevent production of cancer cells. These two are rich in vitamins such as Vitamin A, C and B6.

When I started to hit the gym three weeks ago, I was thinking about fresh juices and vegetables that I could eat after every workout. For several days, I’ve been a constant customer of fresh juice store near my place spending 14 shekels for a glass of fresh carrot apple juice. Today, Fany (my employer) decided to buy a juicer for us to make fresh juices at home. We were both expecting that it will cost a lot of money but we were surprised that it was only half of our expected price. Yey!

499 shekels (approx. $120 USD) in Hamashbir inside Dizengoff Center

I was not a health buff until lately when I realized I have the potential to have serious health problems because I have a wide family history of chronic diseases. I didn’t expect that I will love going to the gym. Though I’m not so strict with my diet, I lost about 3 kilos for 3 weeks. These are my life’s simple pleasures. Trying to be happy and grateful even for a glass of carrot-apple juice. =)

The Fes!

I know!

I don’t have the prettiest face for you to take any advise about health and beauty but I just wanna share what I found a month ago. A facial wash and cream that suits my skin type. Honestly, I seldom get pimples in my face. Maybe because I don’t have oily skin which is prone to acne and pimples and I don’t even wear make-up or anything but I have… DRY SKIN! Yes, this kind of skin which easily peal off and get white spots and all. And the worst of all possible worsts is visible or enlarged PORES! Again Yes, pores which are often clogged with white heads or even blackheads.

How can you clean pores? As I read about skin pores, it usually soften or open if the temperature is high. I remember one interview with Kristine Hermosa and she said she usually put ice on her face to close the pores. And no doubt shes one of the prettiest face in local showbizness. I’m not dreaming to look like her but I think there is a logical explanation about temperature and skin pores.

I always start my day with washing my face. Last month, I decided to try Clean and Clear exfoliating daily wash. It has microbeads to help unblock pores. It’s not the cheapest facial wash in the market but it’s worth it. I can say that my skin became clearer and cleaner. Then I use Pond’s spot-less white cream (the yellow one) with UV protection. I really believe that the sun makes a lot of damage to skin and hair. If possible, put on some sun screen before you hit the road especially in the Philippines where its sunny all year round. I really don’t know which is which that helps my skin but I think these two is a good combination for girls with skin type like mine.

So my beauty regimen everyday is washing my face first with luke-warm water to open the pores. Clean it gently but thoroughly with Clean and Clear then rinse it with warm water. When I’m done with rinsing, I finish up with very cold water. The coldest I could possibly get from the faucet. I can feel that my skin is tight and dry but very clean. Then next is the Pond’s cream while massaging my face and let it absorb the cream. I usually wash my face 2-3x a day (and I wash my hands as often as I could). And that’s it. Simple as that. I’m not really a typical girl who’s obsessed with my skin, figure and fingernails. But I always want to feel clean and I’m happy I found the right product for me to use everyday.

Anyways, I’m using Neutrogena Cold Cream as body lotion. It’s unbelievably good for dry skin. It was on sale so I bought it. I hope it will be on sale again by the time I whip up the whole 200ml 🙂

PS: I cannot find a big tube of ponds spotless white here. Can somebody in the Philippines send me one please?