Techno Stress: How to deal with it?

Computers, smartphones, and other technology gadgets consume our time. Office works nowadays cannot be done without involving computers. Logging in to our social network using smartphones during the supposed time to rest or recess adds up our time of being exposed to radiation. Smartphones produce more radiation, thus contribute a lot of technostress in us. Using personal computers of course, also contribute technostress. 

John Kupersmith (1992) stated that "Technostress" (computer-related stress) is a combination of performance anxiety, information overload, role conflicts, and organizational factors. It is a stress or psychosomatic illness caused by working with computer technology on a daily basis (Oxford University Press, 2015). Too much exposure to computer radiation makes our body becomes weak. Computer programmers, graphic designers, multimedia professionals, and other IT professionals usually encounter technostress. For me, it is a combination of body and brain stress. But how we could handle it? Below are the suggested do's and don'ts in handling technostress:

1. Avoid too much exposure to the unfiltered computer monitors.
2. For computer users, if possible to take a break every fifteen minutes and try to look at the nature with plants or tress (or any green colored objects) to rest our eyes.
3. During breaktime, take a rest (no social network if possible, just allocate small time for it).
4. If gaming cannot be avoided, at least you spare time to rest. I don't believe that playing computer games does not cause body stress even technostress.
5. Playing games on your smartphones and other radiation-exposed gadgets may contribute more body stress, thus, must be avoided or minimized (or set it to flight mode if you are addicted to it).
6. For programmers and other IT professionals who are very exposed to computers, do the brainstorming technique during idle times. Do not put more stress on your mind in front of your computer.
7. For social media addicts (sorry for the term), limit your time in logging in to your social network.
8. Eating more fruits and veggies help us rejuvenate. Avoid more meats (see my previous blog about it). 
9. Do a lot of exercise to eliminate body stress (i'm guilty of it. lol!).
10. Socialize a lot in person than just meeting friends online (you know what I mean).

Suffering from Sinusitis?

Sinusitis is the cavity that is filled with air around the nose. When it is infected with a virus, it leads to sinus infection. Some of the common sinusitis symptoms include:

1. A running nose.
2. Blockage of one or both nostrils.
3. Headaches and pressure around the head, eyes and face.
4. Headache in the forehead and in the face just below the eyes.
5. Low grade fever.
6. Lack of appetite.
7. Difficulty in breathing.
8. Ear or tooth pain.
9. Feeling fatigue.

Here are some tips so that you may no longer suffer too much from sinusitis:

1. Avoid eating too much “sticky” foods such as breads, cakes, cookies, and biscuits and other carbo-rich foods such as macaroni, spaghetti, and other pastas.
2. Refrain from taking cold drinks especially iced-tea (black tea), cola or other caffeine-rich drinks or even too much cold water.
3. Do not use colognes or perfumes with intense smell.
4. Avoid smelling bad odors.
5. Do not use inhalers during clogged nose. You may inhale steam of boiling water instead.
6. Elevate your head when sleeping.
7. Eat fruits that are rich in Vitamins C such as oranges, pomelos, guava, and pineapple.
8. Have enough sleep at night.
9. Drink plenty of water. (Refer to my previous blog on Water Therapy.
10.  Refrain yourself from exposing to smoke and dust.
11.  Consider taking of medicines such as nasal decongestants the last option.
12.  Consult to your physician if symptoms persist.

The Right Time to Eat Fruits

Fruits are good source of fibers. Fibers help our stomach and intestine wash out our solid waste-our stool. Usually people eat fruits after their meals as replacement of desserts. But the very essence of eating fruits is to gain essential nutrients for the body not just for satisfaction. The fact is that when fruits are eaten after meals will be mixed with other solid foods and fermented, and possibly will develop hyper-acidity. The right time to eat fruit is at least an hour before meals. The nutrients in fruits will be absorbed faster as the stomach will prioritize digesting what comes in first. Our small intestine is the in-charge of the absorption of nutrients from the food we ate and our large intestine will receive all the waste and produce stools. Fibers in fruits play the vital role of cleaning our intestines and stomach. So, let’s eat fruits at the right time.

Constipation: A Digestion Problem

Are you suffering from constipation? If your answer is “yes”, then you must read this post.

Constipation is one of the symptoms that your digestive system is in trouble. This can be attributed to a poor-in-fiber diet. It means that you probably had eaten more meats rather than veggies or fruits. The right ratio of meat over veggies and fruits is 3:7. That means that you have to eat utmost 30% meats on your single meal and 70% percent must be veggies and fruits. Veggies and fruits can produce natural fibers that can help digest foods that we ate.

For people whose metabolism is low, I suggest that you follow the correct ratio on meats over fruits and veggies. If the ratio is reversed, you will most likely to suffer from arthritis or rheumatism due to increased uric acid and might experience fever and flu. If you are experiencing these illnesses more often, it means you need to change your diet. Meats usually take 3 to 5 days before they can come out from our body if taken without any fiber-rich foods.

The people in alternative medicine believes that after 8 to 12 hours without discharging our bowels, we are already poisoning our own body. Stools are toxic waste and therefore should not stay longer in the body. So eat more fruits and vegetables for good digestion and to stay healthy.

Synthetic Medicines and Food Supplements

Health is wealth. Nowadays, many people are very dependent to synthetic medicines. Synthetic medicines are made of the formulations of chemical components. They are usually prescribed by the physicians to cure illnesses, alleviate pain or as part of the maintenance medicines for the people with illnesses especially those who are suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure, and other hereditary or non-hereditary diseases.

The big question is, "are these people really cured"? Yeah, many people are cured. But how about those who are not? Synthetic medicines such as those are marked with 'antibacterial' can kill bad bacteria and the good bacteria as well. Bad bacteria can cause many of illnesses in the body and the good bacteria helped boost our self doctor which is our immune system. What will happen when our friendly bacteria are eliminated? Of course, we will be likely to acquire more illnesses because our immune system is so weak. If a person becomes dependent to these medicines, he might be cured with his illness but he will probably become susceptible to other diseases due to his weak immune system. And the most affected part of the body when taking synthetic medicines is the liver. The liver plays a vital role in maintaining the wellness of the body. It is considered as the poison control center of the body. It filters all the toxic materials found in the food we eat and the medicines we take.

What about the herbal medicines? Well, herbal medicines are good as they are derived from the nature’s finest herbs. But there is still doubt that may arise in taking herbal medicines. How about the level of toxicity? Some herbal plants can accumulate the level of toxicity when taken up to several months, which in turn can also affect our liver.

What about how these herbal medicines are prepared or manufactured? How about the residue of some components used in manufacturing these medicines? We know that anything will have chemical reactions when heated, so as the ingredients in making these herbal medicines. Some herbal medicines are manufactured using the cold processing method which is good. But still the question is on how they are prepared.

So, let us be careful in choosing the type of medicines. Food supplements are commonly available in drugstores and alternative medicine clinics. Herbal medicines, natural multivitamins and minerals, shark oil, bee pollen products, and so on are commonly called food supplements. Be careful in choosing them. Synthetic medicines are still necessary for some cases, but as much as possible let's not be dependent on them. A simple headache for example may be cured when getting more rest and water therapy. What about eating more fruits and veggies? I suggest. This is the cheapest way to prevent illnesses. Stay healthy!

Water Therapy and Its Benefits

What is Water Therapy?

Water is essential to life. A person may survive in forty days without food but only three days if without water. Water therapy is a natural way of fighting against illnesses by keeping ourselves hydrated. It is also known as hydrotheraphy. 

There is a lot of people who really wonder how it should be done. Others may find it difficult to do and found themselves easily get vomited after drinking a lot of it. In the US, the recommended daily intake (RDI) is 3.7 liters.

These are the simple things to do in order for us to  benefit from the water we drink:

1. Practice drinking a lot of water as you wake up in the morning. As suggested you should consume at least 1.5 liters of water or 5 to 6 glasses. It may be difficult at first but you can start with 4 glasses.


2. Drink 2 to 3 glasses of water 2 hours before meals and every 2 hours after meals. Do not drink more than 1/4 glass of water right after meals. Drinking plenty of it may lead you to a bloated stomach and may cause indigestion. A simple analogy: we could hardly grab a small fish in a large bowl with full of water unless the water is removed first. Thus, our stomach cannot squeeze and digest food easily if it has a lot of water.


3. Drink water before bedtime. This will help your body store those nutrient and minerals we need to stay healthy and strong. But, too much is bad. Drinking a lot water before sleep may cause uneasy and frequent urination and hampers our regular sleep.

 The following are the benefits of water therapy ^[1] 

1. Helps detoxify your body through sweat and urine
2. Helps you get glowing and healthy skin
3. Helps maintain body temperature
4. Help expelling waste products from the body
5. Water therapy helps to control anemia, rheumatism, general paralysis, obesity, arthritis, sinusitis, tachycardia, giddiness, cough, leukemia, bronchitis, meningitis, hyper acidity, dysentery, gastroenteritis, uterus cancer, rectal piodapse, eye-disease, ophthalmic hemorrhage, irregular menstruation, laryngitis, headache and many other diseases
6. Helps control constipation in 1 day, acidity in 2 days, diabetes in 7 days, cancer in 4 weeks, pulmonary TB in 3 months,gastric in 10 days and BP & hypertension in 4 weeks

Reference:
[1] www.indiaparenting.com, "The Benefits of Water Therapy"
 

Our Stomach and Digestive System

In our day-to-day lives, we strive, we work, or we do business. The bottom line is that we need to earn in order to sustain our basic needs. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, food belongs to the first level. Thus, we need to eat at least three times a day for us to survive and stay alive.

Our stomach plays a vital role in maintaining our health. If it is not functioning well, it will lead us to several diseases. According to Michael McEvoy (2011) on his site entitled Metabolic Healing, stated that a healthy digestive system is largely defined by the health of your stomach. Hydrochloric acid (HCL) is the primary gastric acid secreted by your stomach. Its role in digestion and the regulation of pH in the stomach is critical for maintaining your health in a number of ways.

Taking care of our stomach is taking care our whole body. Our digestive system which includes our stomach are working hand in hand to maintain our body wellness as possible. Choosing what we eat and time when we eat is very necessary if we want to stay healthy. 

"We are what we eat" is a famous line from most nutritionists and dieticians. It means that if we look like 10 years older than what we are now may be attributed to our poor diet. A person who prefers to eat more meats rather than being a vegetarian is more likely to suffer from diseases. Meats usually take 2 to 3 days before they can thoroughly come out from the body as waste compared to just 8 to 12 hours for fruits and veggies. Thus, meats once stayed longer in the body may cause health problems. Hyper-acidity, heartburn, stomachache, headache, and flu are some of the health problems that may be encountered. Based on my experience, I always feel drowsy and suffer from flu and arthritis due to successive eating of meats. I have a low metabolism. Thus, it always take time for my body to digest the food. Colon cancer usually caused by unclean intestines. Let the fibers in green leafy vegetables and other fiber-rich food (definitely meat doesn't have fibers) do the cleansing job in our intestines. A good digestive system prevents illnesses.