Searching Good Food to Eat

Note: When we buy milk, margarine, can foods, and everything to eat made by manufacturers,, we can find label in their packages that post nutritional facts of the food. However, the facts are that not only people in most developed country like US do not comprehend with those facts. Moreover, many people in small country like Indonesia even don't understand at all about the facts. Whereas, the amount of nutrition in those food is very important for us to determine precisely what kind of food we need at that time. By reading this article, we hope that we can choose better about the food we consume everyday in order to make ourselves healthier.

Good Luck If You're Searching for Good-for-You Eats

By SIRI NILSSON

Most packaged foods in the United States are required to post nutrition facts and figures on their labels — but Americans cannot understand what those facts and figures mean, according to new research published in today's issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The study finds that many people can't understand the nutrition labels on food packages. Researchers gave a nutrition-label survey to 200 patients in their family doctors' office. The survey had been drawn up with input from doctors and dietitians — and was designed to measure whether patients could understand those labels.

Even though the patients surveyed were reasonably well-educated, most of them couldn't understand much, the researchers found. Of those surveyed, 77 percent had at least ninth-grade reading abilities and more than two-thirds had at least some college.

Overall, patients answered close to 70 percent of the survey questions correctly. But only 22 patients could calculate the number of carbohydrates in two slices of low-carbohydrate bread. And only 60 percent of patients could figure out how many carbohydrates were in half a bagel when the serving size on the package was a whole bagel.

Basic Math Issues.

Patients had a hard time with basic math calculations, such as how many calories are in a 20-ounce soda bottle if a single serving size is 8 ounces? Some experts say that consumers don't always know what to do with the information on a food label. "When most people look at a food label, their eye goes right to the number of carbohydrates — the grams of fiber or sugar," said Felicia Stoler, a nutritionist and exercise physiologist in New Jersey.

"But most people don't understand how many carbs are in a single serving, or how many carbs they should eat in a day."

If patients can't rely on nutrition labels to guide their food choices, how can anybody ever know how to eat right?

"Poor understanding of nutrition labels can make it difficult for patients to follow a good diet," said Dr. Russell Rothman, study author and professor at the Vanderbilt Center for Health Services Research in Nashville, Tenn. And a good diet is something that everyone should probably follow.

In this study, roughly 40 percent of the patients surveyed suffered from a chronic illness and needed to keep a close eye on their diets.

Rothman said that doctors should "improve how they talk to patients about using food labels and following diets."

"There are also opportunities for the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] to improve how food labels are designed in order to improve how patients take care of their nutrition." In the meantime, patients can pay attention to the number of serving sizes in their packaged foods, for example, to keep a good handle on good nutrition.

Many government organizations offer healthy food shopping tips for consumers on their Web sites. Ultimately, eating right might be everybody's own personal challenge. "Everyone is different and has different nutritional needs," Stoler said. "We have to learn what our individual bodies need. That's not too hard to do."

Original Source: http://abcnews.go.com

ASTHMA AND COLDS

When rainy season comes, many person catch colds. Sometimes colds can cause asthma. Below are the advices and explanation of a doctor how to avoid colds and asthma and how to manage it when we are struck by them.

What causes colds?
Over 90% of common colds (upper respiratory infections, ‘URI’s) are caused by cold viruses. These viruses are easily transmitted from person to person, at home, work, school, and in the child-care setting. People typically start with a runny nose, a scratchy throat, and can feel run down with an occasional low grade fever. Cough usually develops later, and symptoms typically last 5-10 days, after which things clear up. Very few URIs are caused by bacteria. This is also true of sore throats without runny nose (‘pharyngitis’). Only about 15% of pharyngitis is caused by bacteria (‘strep throat’), which does require antibiotics.

Avoiding getting colds
We were always taught to cover our mouths when we cough or sneeze, especially when we have a cold. While this is certainly good manners, most colds are not caught by breathing in infected cough or sneeze droplets of others, but rather by direct contact. Since we are always (and unconsciously) touching our mouth and nose, small amounts of these secretions are almost always on our hands. Since cold viruses can live happily outside our bodies for several hours, we inadvertently pass them onto things we touch as part of daily living - door handles, faucets, kitchen items, among others. When someone else opens the same door a few minutes later, for example, they come into contact with virus. When they next touch their nose or mouth, they are probably exposing themselves to virus. This is why we can easily catch a cold without remembering being around someone who was coughing or sneezing.

While it is a good idea to cover our mouths when we cough or sneeze, we can go a long way to limiting the spread of colds by frequent hand washing with water or mild soap. For obvious reasons, this is hard to do with kids - and part of the reason why kids are more susceptible to catching colds.

Colds and asthma
For reasons that are still being carefully studied by scientists, URIs, especially those caused by viruses, account for the majority of asthma exacerbations in adults and children. Some patients with asthma can feel a cold coming on because they feel chest tightness and wheeze before they have a sore throat and runny nose. Worsening of asthma control should be treated the same as other asthma triggers - continuing your controller medicine (or increasing it as recommended by your doctor) and using quick relief medication as needed. Of course, the best way to avoid a flare from a URI is using the precautions mentioned above to not get a cold in the first place - though not always as easy as it sounds.

Final thoughts
A brief word about antibiotics and colds… Many people, both with and without asthma, are concerned when cold symptoms last longer than 3-4 days and have persistent cough: “This cold has settled down in my chest.” Cold symptoms and cough can last for 10 days in some individuals. Often this will lead patients to feel that they need antibiotics to help ‘clear it up.’ Since over 90% of colds are caused by viruses, antibiotics are rarely indicated, and are of little value in this setting. Unnecessary antibiotics can upset the normal balance of healthy bacteria that live without causing problems both in our intestines and on our skin. Antibiotics should be reserved for when symptoms clearly suggest a bacterial infection. With a little patience, you should be over your cold without medication that does little to help your body’s natural defenses. Of course, your primary care physician can help you navigate your specific situation.

original source: http://blogs.healthcentral.com

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Lies Behind Detox Business

In majority of big cities in Indonesia, there are many clinics open offering detoxification therapy. Detoxification means exhausting toxic subtances in the body. Whereas research shows that the tool used for detoxification does not really suck toxic material in the body, but just changes the water color used in the treatment.

This therapy claims that it has adobted Chinese tradition which believe that toxic substance in human body can be released by putting foot in water, just in half a hour. The therapy can also make the body feel healthier and bolster immune system.

In medical world detoxification is the process of safely getting dangerous substance out of human system. But in Indonesia, many common people build detox clinics freely by using untested machines. The SIGI team find that such clinics spread at malls, supermarket, even at

urban residences. It can happen because people can buy the machine easily in open markets. "To draw toxic out of my body, we just pay as cheap as $5," Said a woman who exercise the therapy in a mall at Kelapa Gading area, North Jakarta. She hopes her skin will softer and her fat disappear after the treatment.

The process of detoxification does not take a long time. First the patient puts off all his adornments, especially everything made from metal. Then he should put his foot in hot water at the ankle level. The water afterwards is charged by electricity at the lowest level using tool connected with the machine. In some minutes the water in the pail changes its color. if the color is red, it means the toxic has came out from articulating link. If the water is green, it means kidney and liver toxic. But if it is black, it means there are heavy metal sucked from the body.

These therapy is popular among the people. Fifthy thousand people use the machine everyday. The attraction of the machine can influence doctor to use it. Even a doctor, work for outstanding hospital in Jakarta, become one of consultant of a brand of detox machine. Whereas the machines are clinically not recommended by Health Department. Some people even make the machine traditionally. One of them is with the brand name Resik.

Not only the clinics is full of patients, the seller of detox machine also gains high profit. One distributor said he ever sells two hundred machines. As we know, One machine can prize twelve million rupiahs.

Profesor Suhariningsih from Airlangga University, who teaches physics faculty, said that the color in the water is not a poison or wasteful subtance of human body. She assumed the machines just disperse metal ions of electrolytic capacitor put in the water. Even the machine can be dangerous because it release chlorin gas. The gas is very dangerous if it is inhalled by a human.

Profesor Iwan Darmawan from Indonesian University has the similar opinion with profesor Suhariningsih. He said the theory of sucking toxic from the body is unknown in medical world. "If the tool is really powerful, then this great discovery shall gain Nobel price." he said.

But dr. Aminuddin, a conslutant of E-Plus detox machine, has different opinion. He said that the machine really could transfer negative ions which belive can make body feel good. Some detox machines claims they have international certificates. But the SIGI team found a letter that the government refused one of detox machines. Dr. Farid W Husain from health department said that the machine could categorize as a health tool. "Most of the clinics do not have legal letter," he said.

However, the therapies in Jakarta are still booming. On the other side, in Surabaya, one of big cities in Indonesia, the therapies are no longer operate. It is because the provisional government banned these practices. The polices in Surabaya area also closed some of the clinics. Not only in Surabaya, the police also forbid the owners of the clinics in Lamongan. Although in some cities these practices were prohibited, Health Department said that they did not have authority to close the clinics which spreading in the capital.

Translated from www.liputan6.com

SUNSHINE, CAN BE USEFUL OR HARMFUL TO HUMAN

When we live in big cities, where there are so many skycrapers limit sunlight reach our bodies, we agree that how valuable is the sun for our living. People from those cities spend their vacation time to go to the places where there are a lot of open sunlight. Beaches in tropical countries is their main destination. However, the sunlight can be harmful if we are exposed too long in the open field. The article below perhaps is valuable to read for whom loving going to open field in tropical countries.

SUNSCREENS
by Lynn_Willis
 
Without the sun, there would be no life on Earth. It keeps our planet warm. Plants need the sun's radiant energy for photosynthesis. People need small amounts of exposure to activate vitamin D in their bodies, a substance important to bone-building and other biological processes.

You can have too much of a good thing though. Too much sun can cause sunburn. Over time, too much sun can age the skin, making it leathery and inelastic. Researchers have also noticed a strong correlation between too much sun when you are young and skin cancer when you are older.

Sunlight is made of many different kinds of light. These kinds of light have different energies and their properties are a result of these energies. Not all kinds of light cause sunburn. Only ultraviolet (UV) light damages skin.

Light energy is measured in wavelengths?the smaller the wavelength, the greater the energy. UV light is usually broken down into three subtypes:

UVA, 320 >> 400 nm wavelength 
UVB, 290 >> 320 nm wavelength 
UVC, 200 >> 290 nm wavelength 

UVC light will do the most damage to your skin. Fortunately, this kind of light is completely absorbed by the atmosphere. Too much UVB light is responsible for sunburns. UVA light can damage your eyes over time. UVB and UVA go right through the air and clouds, which is why you can still get sunburned on a overcast day.

Sunscreens work by absorbing some of the UV light before it reaches your skin. Compounds such as cinnimate, oxybenzone, salicylates, and dibenzoylmethanes absorb UV light at different wavelengths, so many manufacturers put more than one UV-absorbing compound in their spray or lotion to give better protection from the sun. Most sunscreens block UVB rays.

Scientists aren't sure which type of UV light "UVA or UVB" causes the increased likelihood of skin cancer. To be sure you are protecting yourself from damaging rays, sunscreen should be one part of an overall strategy to keep your skin healthy. In Australia, the country that has the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, people are urged to "slip, slop, slap". That is, slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen, and slap on a hat when you need to spend time in the sun. Staying out of the sun during peak hours (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) is also recommended.
 
original source: www.chemistry.org