Feed Your Mind

After giving birth four times, and now at the still young age of thirty, I now find it hard to study and remember my readings. What used to take me an hour to memorize perfectly, it now takes me five hours to memorize, with so much errors. So I researched for ways to improve my memory.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are always a staple, but these are a few of what stood out.

1. Eat grapes. A friend’s friend eats at least a kilo of grapes in one sitting, and she can read a book fast and retain what she has read. Ok, I can’t explain but scientific studies show the good effects of grapes in our brain.

2. Drink coffee. I read once that coffee has beneficial effects on our short term memory. It’s probably true. My friend who’s so into coffee, has a great mind.

3. Ginkgo Biloba supplements. I took this one, particularly the one of GNC. It felt that it really works. I believe my brain went back to its old self fast and sharp.

Oh, don’t forget your vitamins and mineral supplements.

Some would say that it’s all in the mind. They work because I think they work. Psychological or not, I’ll take it - as long as it works!

When my child has fever

It is not uncommon for toddlers and growing kids to have fever from time to time.  After all, a fever means the body is fighting of the infection.  With four kids, I have had my shares of battles with fever.

As much as possible, I refrain from using medications, including paracetamol.  It has been medically proven that medications are not always good, especially on toddlers below two years old.

If the fever is mild, I just encourage my kid to drink lots and lots of water.  I hold off the sweater, so as to allow the body to emit off its extra heat.  If the fever gets a little higher, I sponge bath my kid.  Don’t use alcohol because alcohol is quite toxic this way.  Just use warm water.  I soak a towel into it, squeeze out the water, then I wipe my kid from head to too.  Still hold off too much body cover.

But, please, always remember to go to your pediatricians.

Kid’s Breakfast

It is always said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  So, trying to be a good mom to my kids, I ought to give them a good breakfast.

Problem is, the school service fetches them so early, and they tend to wake up late.  Plus, they tend to finish their food so slowly, either because they are still sleepy or they are distracted by playing with each other so early.  Thus, I had to think of breakfast that they can easily swallow, that I can prepare fast in the morning, and that will still give them the nutrients needed to start their day.

Every morning, I would give them a cup of Milo chocolate drink (that’s with milk, of course).  Their actual meal would consist of any of the following:

1.  Cereals with fresh milk

2.  Champorado (similar to chocolate oatmeal, but it comprises of a rice variety

called malagkit)

3.  Instant Oatmeal - chocolate or strawberry flavor

4.  Pandesal (bread) with peanut butter

I also pair these with fruits, either banana or mango.

Tadaaa, a complete and healthy breakfast that is easy to prepare.

LAUGHING OUT LOUD (lol)

Beauty specialists say than when we laugh, we should control it by just mouthing “ho ho ho!” This is to prevent laugh lines on our face when we laugh ourselves out, lines which become wrinkles in the long run. It is true but, hey, it takes the fun out of laughing.
So, what you say, we embrace the laugh lines because it is far outweighed by other benefits of laughing?

So what do we get in laughing? (It could just be smiling.)

It relieves us of stress. It relaxes our body, allowing it to function better and release toxins more efficiently. So laughter keeps us young and healthy. As they say, laughter is the best medicine.

Ginger.. fact or fiction?

I was first introduced to ginger at the age of eight.  I was one of the two youngest members of the school choir.  Before each practice session, we would be asked to drink ’salabat,’ also known as ginger ale.  Boy was it hard to swallow, but they say it improves one’s singing voice.  So, off we drink before our vocalization.  Before each performance, we would be asked to chew on a small piece of ginger.  This ones even harder to do.  I usually just tossed it around my mouth though.

In high school, I was suffering from heavy coughing.  My sister, who was working in Manila, came home with a friend who wanted to visit Baguio City.  She could have been so disturbed by my incessant coughing the night before that the following night, she taught me a home remedy for cough.  She pounded on a piece of ginger, until it was into itsy bitsy pieces and its juice was oozing.  She made me lay down face down, spread the ginger on my back and covered it with a handkerchief, sealed on my back with a scotchtape.  I couldn’t sleep that night.  Not necessarily because I was coughing, but because the ginger on me felt itchy and I was afraid it would spread to my bed and make a mess.  Lo and behold, the following day, my cough became a has been.

After giving birth to my first born, my father prepared me ‘tinola’ or chicken soup to you.  It was cooked with lots of ginger.  They say ginger helps a lot in milk production for a lactating mother.

These are my personal experiences on benefits of ginger.  I think the benefits of ginger have all been true to me.  It could also be true to you.

LAUGHING OUT LOUD (lol)

Beauty specialists say than when we laugh, we should control it by just mouthing “ho ho ho!” This is to prevent laugh lines on our face when we laugh ourselves out, lines which become wrinkles in the long run. It is true but, hey, it takes the fun out of laughing. So, what you say, we embrace the laugh lines because it is far outweighed by other benefits of laughing?

So what do we get in laughing? (It could just be smiling.)

It relieves us of stress. It relaxes our body, allowing it to function better and release toxins more efficiently. So laughter keeps us young and healthy. As they say, laughter is the best medicine.

WATER anyone?

The human body consists of 2/3 water.  It is therefore logical that water does wonders to our health.  Studies vary as to how much we should consume daily, from six to eight glasses.  They say six glasses is fine because we source out our water needs from others like juices and vegetables or other food we eat.  I think it is alright to consume eight glasses,  this is one case where over consumption does not really harm (except of course in water torture).

So what happens if we lack water intake?  We get dehydrated!  In beauty parlance, we get dry skin, chapped and pale lips, sunken eyes - we get ugly and older.  Internally, toxins are not flushed out. Toxins are poison to our body, causing damage to our system.  That is why many do the “water therapy.”  That is, they set aside a certain day when day take in nothing but water.
Water is also medicinal in some sense.  When my kids get cough and colds, I would ask my cousin, who is a doctor, for some medicine.  Each time, he would refuse to prescribe any drug and he’d go “Just give him/her lots of water.”  True enough, they get over the cough or colds.  The same is true to adults.  I would overdose myself with water each time I get sick with cough or colds, and I’d feel better in a day or two.

We could go on and on about the benefits of water.  So, do you drink enough?

Live Beyond 70

My father is in his late 70’s and my mother in her early 70’s. So what is, rather are, their secrets?

(Warning, these entail much sacrifice and discipline.)

VICES.  They don’t drink (alcohol that is), they don’t smoke.  My father stopped drinking alcohol in his 20’s because of his ulcer, which he got because of poverty (read: irregular food) during his growing years.  No other women for dad, no other men for mama (at least we don’t know of any, hehe).  No gambling.  Besides direct effects to our body, these vices could do us in due to stress.

SLEEP.  It’s lights off in our home at 9 PM, then they wake up at 5AM.  They take a power-nap after lunch for about 30 minutes.

FOOD.   They always eat three times a day.  For breakfast, they usually have eggs or what was left the day before for viand, rice and a cup of chocolate drink.  They are not coffee drinkers.  For lunch, it is usually fish, boiled with leafy vegetables.  For dinner, one batchbox sized meat (each), boiled with leafy vegetables.  They admit that meat should be eaten for lunch and fish for dinner for easy digestion when they sleep, but it is hard for them to separate the fish bones due to poor eyesight.

Banana is a staple on the dining table.  They eat it after meals and as snacks.  They didn’t eat frozen foods and cold cuts much in their life.  It is only lately, anyway, that such foods became abundant.  Still, they rarely eat that.

EXERCISE.  As teachers, they would walk their way to and from the school.  Even when we already moved in the city, they would refrain from riding the jeepney if it is just a kilometer or less away.  My father also maintained a small garden in our backyard (he maintains one up to now).  Gardening is exercise!!!  Now that they are both retired, I would see them brisk walking to and fro right after they wake up in the morning.

REGULAR DOCTOR’S VISIT.  I don’t remember having regular check-ups during their 50’s, but boy do they visit their doctors today.

These are just a few of their commendable health daily habbits.  I just wish i can do as they practice.