Nutrition and Health Care

It’s sooo hot outside! I think the surrounding’s temperature already reached 37-38 degrees. Fortunately I’m working in an air-conditioned room right now.

When the weather is hot we need to regularly hydrate ourselves. It is necessary to stay hydrated especially in the season where the temperature is extremely high. How to stay cool and hydrated? Here are some tips:

• Drink lots of water to keep hydrated. Increase your fluid intake especially if you feel very exhausted due to the extreme heat.

• Dress comfortably. Wear light-colored and lightweight clothes, such as sleeveless or short sleeved top; shorts, hats, etc. avoid too much exposure on sun.

• Monitor your health. Extreme heat is dangerous especially for people with health problems because they have a great risk for stroke and other heat related illness. Take vitamins and medications and do not expose yourself to the heat especially with children and older adults.

• Avoid strenuous activity. Stop what you are doing if you feel that you are very exhausted. Drink water during break and rest for a while.

• If possible, it is better to stay indoor. Exposing yourself to sun may lead to heat stroke or skin cancer.  Stay in a cool, ventilated room.

In times like this i prefer to stay in a nipa hut than in a concrete house or metal building unless they are fully air-conditioned. ^_^

I feel sorry for my friend’s daughter because she had an asthma attack yesterday. Her parents had to rush her to the hospital because she can hardly breathe. She’s now confined in the hospital.

I’ve learned that fatigue and stress caused the asthma attack. And was triggered when she inhaled cigarette smoke from a group of smokers she encountered at a waiting shed while waiting for a passenger jeepney.

It’s really important nowadays to keep our body strong and healthy, by eating the right kind of foods and having a healthy lifestyle. The air we breathe is no longer safe like we used to have before and the best defense to its harmful effect is to keep our body fit and healthy.

My friend was confined in the hospital because she was diagnosed having gallstone. What is a gallstone or gallbladder stone? according to Wikipedia:

A gallstone is a crystalline concretion formed within the gallbladder by accretion of bile components. These calculi are formed in the gallbladder, but may pass distally into other parts of the biliary tract such as the cystic duct, common bile duct, pancreatic duct, or the ampulla of Vater.

Presence of gallstones in the gallbladder may lead to acute cholecystitis, an inflammatory condition characterized by retention of bile in the gallbladder and often secondary infection by intestinal microorganisms, predominantly Escherichia coli and Bacteroides species. Presence of gallstones in other parts of the biliary tract can cause obstruction of the bile ducts, which can lead to serious conditions such as ascending cholangitis or pancreatitis. Either of these two conditions can be life-threatening, and are therefore considered to be medical emergencies.

Because of what happened to her, i became conscious with my gall bladder’s health and condition. Another friend posted in her blog that it is hard to tell the the presence of gallstone because it has no symptoms. A person may only experience intense pain in the upper-right side of the abdomen when it is already in advanced stage.

What causes gallstone? Is it because of poor diet? Well according to Wikipedia, there’s no clear relationship has been proven between diet and gallstone formation; however, low-fiber, high-cholesterol diets and diets high in starchy foods have been suggested as contributing to gallstone formation.

Other nutritional factors that may increase risk of gallstones include rapid weight loss, constipation, eating fewer meals per day, eating less fish, and low intakes of the nutrients folate, magnesium, calcium, and vitamin C. On the other hand, wine and whole-grain bread may decrease the risk of gallstones.

I’m planning to have a gallbladder cleansing, I’ve undergone a lot of surgical operations and i don’t want to encounter another one. A friend shared her cleansing recipe with me. She tried it on herself and the gallstones were successfully flushed out.