Health Blog by YinTeing

How many times a day or per week that you visit the loo to perform the ‘big business’/pass motion?

I’ll admit not many would talk about this topic. But constipation is a real problem faced by many people. The post that I wrote on holistic cures for stomach pains and spasms is one of my most read post since it was first published in October 07. That gives me the impression that many people outside are suffering in silence.

Possible causes of constipation are:

• the obvious- not taking enough raffage (fibre) like vegetables and fruits (overcooked vege and fruits do not really count)
• not drinking enough water- so the stool is not lubricated
• never visit the loo when the ‘urge’ strikes- normally the excuse given is because too busy. When you hold on to stool, it will harden because your large intestine will absorb the water from it. It makes passing it out very difficult

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In my opinion, there must be something wrong about taking strong doses of caffeine. It may not apply to others. But if you suffer from these symptoms each time you have your daily caffeine fix, you may want to seriously rethink about gradually reducing the dosages:

• tendency to develop sinus or running nose when taking strong doses of latte from San Francisco or Starbucks. On bad days, rashes or skin irritation happens. It is as if the body develops and allergy to it
• more incidents of gastric, gas and acid reflux. Strong doses of coffee are very acidic and if taken on empty stomach over long term, it may lead to stomach ulcers- an extremely painful condition
• pain on the lower back, around the kidney areas- sometimes when getting up from sleep
• weak bladder- inconvenience because always need to do to the washroom due to the caffeine’s diuretic effect
• knee pain or joint discomfort
• numbness of the limbs- legs or joints- sometimes occurring even though you only sat down for a while
• feeling very tired and drained out at the end of the day (because after the effect of that latte wears off, both the body and mind can be very exhausted)

To test out, try to cut down the intake and gradually stop taking. See if any of the signs goes off.

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May used to be my mentor when I was starting out in the working world. By the time, she had already worked for many years, coming in at entry level and rising to managerial position. She always emphasized on work ethics and how we must do our best. She also shared lots of her own personal experience and given me lots of advise on how to deal with different colleagues, office politics, etc.

Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, undergone treatment and then, passed away when there were secondaries to her lungs (that time she did not complete the prescribed 6 course of chemo treatment). She was such a wonderful person.

Then, few years later, her younger sister Ling also contracted breast cancer. That was a few years ago. Ling took a very different approach compared to what her sister had taken after she recovered from the treatment (operation, chemo and radiotherapy):

• she chose not to go organic like May did.
• but she cut down on processed food- even till this day. This means, only once a few months, she will eat KFC or McDonalds. She also does not take sausages, ham or other type of processed meat
• she ate meat but in reduced amount- she did not become a vegetarian
• she took up exercising- joined the gym, did cardio and weights. Her fitness level is impressive- she was able to maintain a heart rate of about 150+ beats per min.
• she joined Qi Gong- she felt Qi Gong exercises are beneficial as it increases oxygen flow to the body and improves circulation. She also sleep better at night after practicing Qi Gong twice a week (she told me sometimes, she gets lazy to practice at home but she makes it to the classes)
• she learn to take things easy- no longer become too obsessed with work. Her mental and physical health is what matters. She does her best to eliminate all the stressors that goes on in her life
• she devotes herself to God, prays often and goes to church

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The April 2008 of Runners World featured an inspiring story on an obese principal who turned into a fit 48 year old marathon runner. To read the entire story, click HERE.

In the physical magazine, his ‘before’ photo is featured and it is totally different from the ‘after’ photo.
Before:

• Weight= 397 pounds
• Cholesterol= 440
• Blood pressure= 220/110
• On medication for hypertension, high cholesterol and anxiety. He also had to sleep with an oxygen mask supplying 2 litres of oxygen to avoid sleep apnea

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Do you have bunions and cracked heels at your feet? Most of the time, we dismissed as dry skin or the fact that we may have stepped on something without knowing (for bunions and blisters).

But strange enough, after we remove the bunion, it comes back a few weeks later- on the SAME spot. Or after we treat the cracked heel with special creams, it comes back again. We dismissed it as due to dry skin but gets annoyed at the cracked heel, as it can be quite inconvenient and even painful when walking out in the sand (the pain is terrible if something like a grain of sand or a small pebble gets stuck).

Possible cause of Reoccurring Bunions and Cracked Heels.

Would you believe that it can be due to your posture and muscle weakness?
When certain part of your leg muscles are weak, it causes uneven pressure each time you land on your feet while walking or running. As the result, bunions and cracked heels developed due to the stress and pressure placed at a certain part of the feet that is not meant for that function.

For instance, if you have bunions at the balls of the foot close to the toes, it could indicate weak leg extensors or the lateral muscles of your calf. As the result, when you land on your feet, your muscles are not able to absorb the pressure, thus more pressure are placed on the balls of the feet.

People with flat feet (no arch on their legs) are especially vulnerable and would require proper sole inserts (orthondics) to correct the pressure placed on their feet.

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Diabetes, relatively unknown 100 years ago, is now becoming so common. In 2005, it is estimated that 7% of the American population (20.8 million people) have diabetes. Diabetes used to occur in older adults but now is getting common in teenagers and people in their 20s.

The main cause of it is due to sedentary lifestyle and/or high refined sugar consumption:

• Type 1- lack of insulin. The pancreas cannot produce enough insulin, resulting elevated glucose levels in blood. Those who suffer from type 1 diabetes requires regular insulin injections. At the moment, there is no identified cure if all the beta cells in the pancreas have been destroyed.
• Type 2- insulin insensitivity. A sedentary person who have a uncontrollable sweet tooth is very susceptible to Type 2. What happens is that the person constantly take too much of sugar. This triggers the insulin to try to bring down the blood sugar levels and pushing it to the muscles and organs. After a while, the muscles no longer respond to the insulin and thus does not take in the sugar, causing elevated levels of sugar.

Many people, at least those I know, resigned to the fact that they will have to live with this condition for life.

It does not have to be that way for Type 2.

Do you know that there have been cases of people reversing the diabetes type 2 due to exercise and a change in diet? But please be careful if you are surfing for these stories in the net, because some could be selling certain type of product/ fad diet book that is out in the market without any conclusive/ adequate research. If it is really as effective as it claims, then our local government hospitals will be stocking that in their pharmacies- but these so-called miracle pills or herbs never make it to the local hospital’s pharmacies.

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When I first started developing interest in fitness, health and proper eating, I came across so many conflicting information. The same magazine can say conflicting things- one month they say a diet is bad, then few issues later, they say that research had found that taking that diet is good. There are so many books- just walk into a big bookstore and you will find so many different books with different information and ideas about what works and what doesn’t.

You’ll probably see books or title in magazines like:

• just 8 minutes a day to flat abs and greater looking you
• easy workouts that help you to lose weight
• mind power to lose weight
• easy exercises you can do for fabulous abs
• etc, etc

If what that is mentioned actually worked, then the publisher can close down because everyone will be happy because they are at their ideal body weight.

And yet, month after month, these magazines sell so well.

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Yesterday morning to afternoon, I had to sit for an external paper. In the morning, I took coffee and a sandwich made from Gardenia’s Toast ‘Em bread. It’s high in G.I.

Halfway through the exam I made myself a cup of Milo (mixed with coffee) because I was getting hungry and a bit tired (as the first part of the exam was 4.5 hrs). Then, we only had a short break for lunch (about 20 min) which me and another candidate quickly packed the white toast bread with kaya and marjerin. I drank another cup of Milo with added coffee powder.

All candidates were careful not to take any food such as nasi lemak or curry mee- these ‘heavy’ food will cause blood to flow straight to the stomach and less to the brain.

Finally the exams was over. I went with my friend (who is also another candidate) and we had ‘teh tarik‘ (Ceylonese tea with sugar and condensed milk). That was about 4pm.

Not long after I reached home, I started feeling hungry and weak. I was thinking to eat at a restaurant later but as my limbs started shaking a little, I know I am having a mild hypoglycemia attack due to a sudden drop in blood sugar. I had to eat immediately. continue reading…