how to have a HEALTHY DIGESTION

When we're younger we eat whatever we please whether it's another cup of extra rice, another round of beer, another slice of our favorite cheesecake or another stick of that exotic street food. Suddenly, something's amiss, we feel bloated and uneasy. We now have the same sentiment as our folks when they used to say they were having a hard time digesting food ("mahina na panunaw") that's why they eat slowly now. Oh well, life happens...

10 TIPS FOR A HEALTHY DIGESTION by Willie Ong MD

1) Eat more slowly. Take your time and don’t rush.

2) Chew your food. For the elderly, you can cut your food into little pieces.

3) Eat more fiber, like vegetables, fruits, and cereals. Vegetables and fruits contain healthy fiber, which is good for digestion. Fiber promotes bowel movement and helps prevent bowel cancer. A common bowel disease called diverticulosis results from eating too little fiber. Vegetables like okra, kangkong, and cabbage are rich in fiber. Fruits rich in fiber are apples with the skin, and oranges with the membrane in between.

4) Eat five or six small meals a day. Eat regularly and on time.

5) Sit down when eating. Eat in a relaxed and peaceful environment.

6) Don’t believe in fad diets and avoid binge eating. Choose healthy foods over junk foods.

7) Drink eight to 10 glasses of water a day. The correct way to drink water is to sip it little by little throughout the day. Don’t gulp down two glasses at once.

8) Take a stroll after eating. It’s good for your digestion. After a full meal, take a 15-minute leisurely walk. By staying upright and helping gravity push the food down, you are helping in your digestion. You’ll also avoid becoming a victim of the bangungot syndrome, which is probably due to acute pancreatitis.

9) Do regular exercise to help promote the movement of food in the digestive system.

10) Finally, be careful with what you eat. Know who prepared your food and check whether it’s clean or not.

(Source: http://www.philstar.com/author/Willie%20T.%20Ong,%20MD)

how to be Healthy

NUGGETS OF WISDOM I LEARNED FROM BUM D. TENORIO, JR.

1.    Fast facts on gallstones: 90 percent of people have them, 80 percent of the people don’t know they have gallstones.
2.   Too much toxin buildup can disrupt the body’s pH balance, lower the immune system and increase the chances of diseases to set in. The liver/gallbladder flush helps eliminate years of unprocessed fats, particularly gallstones, caused by bad cholesterol.
3.    “You become what you eat.”
4.    If one has acid reflux or indigestion, it is best to give one an ounce of raw cabbage juice.
5.    Muscovado or stevia is the best sugar, especially for diabetic patients.
6.    Lagundi and banaba herb are tops for urinary tract infection.
7.    Eat less meat to lessen the arthritis pain.
8.    The best way to lose weight is to take complex carbs, e.g. wheat bread, potato, camote, saba, gabi.
9.  What causes hypertension? Consider these: stress, dried fish, table salt or iodized salt. (the first hypertensive attack of Mr. Tenorio’s father was caused by sautéed bagoong na pula.)
10.  Cancer thrives in acidic and sweet environment.
11.  It’s not only the lungs and heart that get affected when one smokes. The mouth, gallbladder and liver, too, are at risk.
12.  Monosodium glutamate (MSG) contains excitotoxin that lifts your mood while eating then kills your brain cells from over excitation.
13.  The methanol in aspartame is grouped in the same class of drugs as cyanide and arsenic.
14.  You need 32 glasses of alkaline water to neutralize one can of soda drink. And alkaline water can be very expensive when bought. But don’t worry; it can also be very cheap. “Put three drops of calamansi in clean water and there you have alkaline water”
15.  Cucumber and avocado are alkaline-high. (And you should always have cucumber every time you eat inihaw or grilled food.)
16.   What menopause is to women, andropause is to men. Here are some of the symptoms according to Dr. Gonzales and Dr. Peneranda: decrease in sex drive, decrease in bone mass, increase in body fats, erectile dysfunction, low energy, loss of lean muscle, thinning hair.
17.   The bangus belly contains one of the best sources of fatty acids. It contains Omega 3 and Omega 6. But those good acids are destroyed once you fry the bangus.
18.   The lowly malunggay is tops among vegetables. Malunggay has three times more calcium than milk. It has four times more potassium than banana. It has seven times more Vitamin C than orange.
19.   Chances are, the perfect fruits have the most pesticides.
20.   Bitter is better when it comes to chocolate.
21.   Mongo beans and other legumes are sources of uric acid, soak the beans in cold water for three hours then rinse twice before cooking.
22.   The best healer on earth is you. (aside of course from God) Because you are the only one who really knows what you put inside your mouth, who really knows what pains you, who really knows yourself.

The road to wellness is easy. All we have to do is to choose well.

(Source: Bum Tenorio’s New Beginnings. 27 January 2008. The Philstar – Allure Section)

Otomycosis

Definition from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com:

 
o·to·my·co·sis (ō'tō-mī-kō'sis) An infection due to a fungus in the external auditory canal, usually unilateral, with scaling, itching, and pain as the primary symptoms. 

this was the mold found inside my ear! ewww!

It all started with me profusely cleaning my right ear because I've felt there was just too much ear wax for the last 3 consecutive days. On the 4th day I knew something was wrong and I made it all the worse when I steamed my face with warm water and salt. Few days came by when my right ear was just painful I couldn't even touch it, it felt like I had the worst tooth ache and my gums were swelling terribly bad. I was scared it might have affected my ear drums which would have been the worst. I went to an ENT doctor and I learned that there's mold or "amag" growing inside my ear. I asked him the cause and he said it was just how I cleaned it. He prescribed me a solution to be dropped inside the infected ear thrice a day for a week and had to be back for follow-up check-up. I didn't get back because for one I got hurt when he was cleaning or scraping my ear and for another he wasn't explaining much about the things I wanted to know. So I changed doctor that week and I was just lucky and happy I've consulted with someone who not only has "magaan na kamay" but someone who answered every question I have in mind. These are what I learned from him:

Earwax isn't really that bad at all. They are actually antiseptic and antimicrobial. The wax is there for a reason and the moment they're totally gone nothing will protect your ear from foreign intrusions like water. The moment it got wet and didn't dry up, mold will start to build up and I tell you it is very uncomfortable and painful. Anyways earwax will naturally fall off so just let it be.

Do not use cotton buds to clean your ear, it will just push back the earwax inside. Use clean cloth and your pinky finger to clean it instead. Whatever that little finger of yours reaches that's where it's meant and safe to be cleaned.

When the ENT doctor requested for auditory cleaning because it was full of mold, it felt like he pumped water inside, so hard that I felt dizzy or I felt my brain were shaken when in actuality the molds were just being vacuumed out to totally free it. It's better that the doctor tells you what's going on instead of just putting any instrument you don't know what it's even called. My doctor got me involved in every step that's why I'm at ease with him.

After putting ear solutions to your ear, let it stand for a few minutes then just let the liquid get out. I mistakenly put cotton inside my ear so as to hold the solution inside when a few minutes is already enough and then have to air it out. One night I woke up to a wet pillow because I slept on the right side (where the infected ear was) and the cotton I placed inside my ear got all soaked up. My bad. It just aggravated it.

If your ear is under medication resist the urge to self-clean it. That's why I have to get back for check up every week because the doctor should be the one cleaning it.

Otomycosis will take 2-5 weeks of treatment. It actually depends. And while it's going on, I had to make sure the infected ear's dry all the time. My treatment took 4 weeks and it happened summer time so you've an idea how swimming/outing went out for me.

After I graduated from the treatment I was just happy everything went back to normal and all the more in glee when I felt there's earwax again inside my right ear. Ah earwax, I never thought I'd miss and welcome you this much. :)