Activitybased Lifestyle

So today I am suffering from a cold. These are my steps for what I think would be fast recovery:

1. I am taking at least 3 days off
2. I am sleeping as much as I can (this will boost the immune system).
3. This morning, I went to the grocery early and bought : egg beaters (no cholesterol), mushrooms, blueberries, oranges, bananas, tomatoes, eggplants, dark chocolate, green tea, a big fillet of salmon, 3 pounds of fish nuggets, some cookies, lactose-free milk.
4, For breakfast, I made for myself an omelet consisting of tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and eggbeaters. Ate this with a small amount of rice. This was followed by cereals with milk and blueberries. After that I drank a multivitamin with C and B complex.I drank green tea also.
5. Went back to bed and did some surfing. Ate half of dark chocolate bar. Slept.
6. I woke before noon and decided to broil salmon, catfish nuggets and catfish ( a left over in the freezer). Peeled 2 oranges and mixed these up with blueberries in a blender. Boiled eggplants. Drank the juice concoction, ate my fish with rice and tomatoes and eggplants. Drank green tea. Went back to room to lay down on bed.
7. I woke up at 5 pm, I ate salmon, peeled 2 oranges and ate them, drank my green tea. Now I am surfing the web. I am avoiding any phone calls and I am not going anywhere. I am promising this to myself. I will also take an extra capsule of multi vitamins before I sleep tonight.

So far, I feel great. I am assuming I am taking as much antioxidants as I can.

Ok, I am frequenting this site right now because I am forcing myself to rest. I've pushed myself a little extra the last couple of weeks (2 half marathons, sleepless nights and occasional get together parties with friends, one 5k, and nearly everyday visit to the gym on top of busier work schedules since the holidays) and I am still looking for one last half marathon in two weeks. Right now I need all the recovery and rest.

It goes without saying that I am reading as much as I could about health. One of the components of good health is reduction of stress. The last couple of weeks I have stressed myself over possible exams I want to take, GRE, GMAT and LSAT. These exams are geared towards me returning back to school after all these years of supporting others for their school. I am not sure if this was the right move. I was questioning myself for a while now about this sudden wish to add more stress after all these years of stress. Why would I subject myself to exams at a time I am just easing out of the years of work-related stress? Am I really a sucker of pushing myself to the limits? Do I look around for stress because I am so used to it that I find my life is incomplete without it? I will for now, get away from it all. There is a time for challenge and there is a time for rest. Now, my body is telling me to rest.

So - the first order of the day is stay home, surf the net if needed and read a good book or watch a good movie. In fact, sleep is also a good option right now. I was scheduled to take an exam today but, oh forget it, I won't be able to think well anyway, and this exam is only a whim, not a must. I don't want to kill myself over it. But since yesterday, I have been reading Gupta's Chasing Life and earlier this morning I chanced upon some articles in NY TImes casting doubts on the gospel truths about vitamins minerals and herbal supplements.

What took me by surprise was the claim that there are no conclusive evidence about the effectiveness of vitamins. In fact, some theorists are suspecting vitamins to be 'protectors' of cancer cells. Wow. Studies after studies, tests after tests, do not show vitamins significantly altering health towards the positive. In fact, some people who took vitamins developed cancers more than those who did not. I say, "Wait a minute! Is this a sure conclusion?" Apparently not.

But the point is, I would at least personally expect my vitamins work for me. And I can tell they are working for me. I take B complex and I feel energized with it. And I feel miserable when I don't take it.I am not so sure about others such as A, C, D, E and antioxidants, I would hope they would boost my immune system. This is not the case apparently in tests done.

Let me point out antioxidants. The discovery of antioxidants is quite amazing. These are present in almost all living things except non-aerobic species. The work of antioxidants is to stabilize free radicals which are results of daily stresses and damages on the body as we get older. Free radicals multiply in our bodies increasingly as we get older. These are by-products of the physiological processes in the body. Every time we eat, drink, walk, think, exercise etcetera our bodily system goes though a process that results into some cell damages or changes with a by-product called free radical. Free radical are unstable compounds because they have an extra electrode running around looking for a partner to be stabilized. This is where antioxidants come to the rescue. They provide stability to free radicals.

It is logically concluded initially that antioxidants can reduce the cell damage caused by free radicals. It would be reasonable then to take as much antioxidants as possible right? Wrong! According to some experts, taking antioxidants the way we take vitamins or supplements does not lead into the results we expect. A bottle of antioxidants - ranging from vitamins A, C, and others were proven to be useless. The experts have difficulty explaining why this is so but according to some, antioxidants are better taken not as pure substances or processed pills but as parts of regular foods that we eat. And what are the best sources of antioxidants?

1. Fruits and vegetables
2. The discoverer of antioxidants have suggested powerful supplements that show good potential -- green tea, turmeric, milk thistle, ashwaganda and bacopa (most of these are at early stages of studies).
3. Any food rich in flavonoids - dark chocolate, red wine (because of a component called resveratrol which is found in red grapes, red grape juice, peanuts, blueberries and cranberries). Add tomatoes and oranges.
4. Green tea
5. Coffee (though coffee has side effets).

In finishing this blog, I want to remind ourselves about the pitfalls of herbal supplements. Supplements are unregulated and though natural can still have a deleterious effects. We all heard of ephedra before. Other dangerous supplements include --aristolochic acid which is derived from a Chinese herb and was found to be carcinogenic linked to kidney failure and death. Chaparral, comfrey,germander and kava were linked to liver damage and death.

Educate yourselves continually before taking supplements. (Source of my info: Sanjay Gupta's Chasing Life)

It seems that vitamins are losing their value -- check this out: News Keep Getting Worse For Vitamins(This is a link from New York Times)

And this one is not so good news either for back pains: Scans For Back Pain Ineffective (from NY Times)

I think I overdid it so now I am suffering from a cold. The weather in Florida had dropped so significantly that lots of people became ill. Anyway, I have put a hold of all my plans this week-end and I am now devouring books to keep myself updated. First off, Sanjay Gupta's Chasing Life:

It is a good read so long as you're seeking validation to what you already heard or have known as practitioner of health care profession. The book made concrete some of the things I've heard. For example, Okinawan's have a good secret about living up to a hundred. Besides eating the right kinds of food ( colorful vegetables, more fibers, lots of fish etc) they are also famous for stopping the meal when eighty percent full. It's called hara hachi bu. Studies have shown that minimizing calories without sarficing nutrients can increase one's lifespan by an average of thirty percent. There was a study conducted to test this and it was proven correct. Eating less means living longer. Gupta also gives a rundown of the vitamins and minerals we need with a scientific point of view. Some of them he promotes, some he doesn't. He is primarily a Physician and as such, he is empirical and scientific. So far -- this is all I cna say. I am halfway the book now.

It's cold...