Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Negros and Panay Islands here we come!

Your health blogger has been invited to visit Visayas from April 28 to May 1. My wife Emy, son Michael and I will be visiting Bacolod  in Negros and Iloilo in Panay. We will be there in connection with LifeMax.Net.  We will be helping promote the health benefits of LifeMax Mila and set up business opportunity presentations together with other Philippine distributors.


If you are residing in the area or will be there during that period, please contact me so we can get together and share the great health and business benefits of LifeMax Mila.

Everyone else who might be interested to learn about the LifeMax opportunity, please don't hesitate to contact me. You may also click here for my distributor page.

I will be posting pictures from this trip (and other similar trips) soon.


NEED TO REVITALIZE? TAKE A WALK…

The stress of modern living is believed to be the major cause of physiological changes in man. This lifestyle, in turn, produces all kinds of degenerative diseases like high blood pressure, hearts attacks, diabetes, ulcers, cancer and premature aging. Despite our vaunted medical and scientific discoveries, we are still far from totally eliminating these scourges of civilization.

Is it perhaps because our medical scientists concentrate more on the cure rather than in the prevention of such diseases that we still have them?

Who was it who said that "Prevention is better than cure"? 
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There is a sector led by nutritional experts who maintain that good health habits, correct diet, regular exercise, adequate sleep and mental equilibrium can, and do, extend man's life and retard the aging process.
 
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Physiologists and psychologists have observed for years that, in general, persons who exercise and are physically fit have a more positive mental attitude than unfit sedentary persons. Two common explanations for this phenomenon are that individuals free of tension and physically fit simply feel better---they have less reason to be depressed or mentally sluggish---and, persons who have self-discipline necessary to follow an exercise program are achievers and already possess high morale.

Studies suggest that exercise causes chemical changes in the brain which alters its thinking process. The changes in attitude and morale are therefore effects directly related to exercise.

To be effective, exercise must be regular and be continued over a long period of time. The length of time needed to attain good fitness varies: some effects may occur after a few weeks, or several years may be required depending on the initial level of fitness and the number of years of inactivity that have preceded the activity program.

It has been demonstrated that distributed involvement in exercise is better than massed involvement. Thus, it is better to exercise four times a week for half an hour each time, than to exercise for two consecutive hours in one day except, perhaps, when the exercise is very light.

In general, long frequent periods at low intensity are preferable to short periods at high intensity. Of course, the nature of the desired results of exercise will determine the distribution of work and of the program intensity.

Dr. Robert B. Taylor, author of Feeling Alive After 65, notes that we begin our physical aging process at birth, and it follows a fairly orderly course---or it would, if the body was not so greatly influenced by the mind.

Research suggests that 25 percent, or less, of the illnesses we suffer are of a purely organic origin, and our emotional behavior is the cause for or, at least, a contributing factor in all the other disorders. While this information is rather new to modern medicine, it has been the crux of primitive medicine since the dawn of history.

In other words, if you think you are sick, it won't be long until you are sick---the reality of health often breaks down to: "As a man thinketh, so is he."

If you think the human body is destined to become decrepit after 65 years and you are in your 66th summer, you won't be out jogging, or even walking, you'll be home rocking. And because you are not getting proper exercise, your heart will become less efficient, your muscles will wither, the capacity of your lungs will depreciate, and you will become decrepit.


Tuesday, April 20, 2010

STAYING YOUNG: THE LONGEVITY REVOLUTION

Biogerontology, the biology of aging, is today's most dramatic area of medical research.

There is a growing belief that efforts should be made to extend life as much as possible, provided that the quality of life is maintained.

Dr. Leonard Hayflick, the multi-awarded cell biologist, with thirty years of pioneering research in human aging, reveals some of his fascinating findings:

• Hearts do not naturally get weaker with age.
• Middle-aged people who are slightly overweight live longer than people who are very thin or very heavy.
• Short-term memory declines with age.
• Physical performance can improve as a result of lifestyle changes, such as doing daily exercises. Although physical performance may increase and some diseases might be delayed, eliminated or slowed, there is no evidence that the basic causes of aging are affected by increased exercise.
• Kidney and pulmonary functions decrease with age. In healthy men, the decline of pulmonary functions is a significant risk factor for coronary heart disease.
• Weight declines between age 55 and age 75, due to loss of lean tissue, muscle mass, water and bones. Bone loss is greater in women.
• Lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, have a diminished capacity to kill cancer cells beginning at age 40. Other white blood cells that fight infectious diseases, called neutrophils, also become less efficient with advancing age.
• Aging results from the interaction of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.
• Age changes are highly individualized.
• A sign of aging is the decline in reproductive capacity.
• If vascular diseases and cancer---the two leading causes of death in developed countries---were to be delayed or eliminated, it will directly increase our life- span.
• In 1900, the leading causes of death were infectious diseases; their virtual elimination in developed countries has since resulted in a 25-year gain in life expectancy.
• According to biogerontologist Jaime Miguel of Spain, the basic cause of age changes is not wear and tear but the more fundamental process of free radical formation.
(JP's note: "Free radicals" will be discussed in a future blog entry).


Tuesday, April 13, 2010

HEALTH and EXERCISE: THE REAL SCORE

Good health isn’t the result of coincidence or having good genes. Neither does it mean the absence of disease---although you may settle for that---it means fitness and vigor.

According to the US President’s Council on Physical Fitness, physical fitness “is a measure of the body’s strength, stamina and flexibility.”

In more meaningful personal terms, it is a reflection of your ability to work with vigor and pleasure, without undue fatigue, with energy left for enjoying hobbies and recreational activities, and for meeting unforeseen emergencies. Because the body is not a compartment separate from the mind, it relates to how you feel mentally and physically.

A basic element of fitness is physical activity. Without movement, the body deteriorates.

Whether you are fat or lean, daily exercise is vitally important to your health. Some doctors consider it the most important single factor for survival.

The simple act of walking, for example, brings more oxygen to the lungs. And oxygen is the energizing fuel for the nutrients to invigorate and sustain the body. Without it, life ceases within minutes. Life and death occur on the cellular level: the chemical reactions which take place in individual cells depend upon oxygen for combustion.

Metabolism is the sum total of all the processes related to the building up, and tearing down, of the cells incidental to life. Proper fuel and oxygen need to be circulated to reach the billions of cells that make up the various glands, organs, blood and lymph of the body.

At rest, all the blood in the body completes the circuit in one minute, but as many as five times during exercise. Oxygenation and waste removal all depend upon movement, activity, or exercise. It is these processes that allow cells to live and function; that permit the brain to think and reason; the memory to be quick and alert; and the elimination of wastes to be consistent and regular.

To achieve real fitness, treat yourself to brisk walking, aerobics, cycling, swimming and other sustained exercises. When walking, the pace must be brisk and continued for an hour daily, although some authorities would put a minimum of half an hour as acceptable.

A daily brisk walking (or jogging, if you are strong enough to withstand the heavy pounding brought upon your knees!) will eventually lower the pulse rate at rest by 10 points or more. This lowered pulse rate can save 10,000 extra heartbeats a day (equivalent to the heart having rested two to three hours daily).

Let’s give your heart a break: put on your walking shoes---and walk.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Our journey together towards the wonderful world of health, wellness and the good life

I am Juni Padua, your blogger.

Let your visit to my site be the start of our journey together towards the wonderful world of health, wellness and the good life.

Like you, I have my dreams. Sharing these dreams and vision with you is my greatest pleasure. And if I can touch your life — and make a difference — then mine would be more meaningful.

The gift of health is always a joy. Indeed, health is wealth as wealth is health. Both are two sides of the same coin.

I try to live the full life as best as I can from day to day. From moment to moment.

In my youth, as now, I have always been inquisitive — searching for the answers to life’s puzzles. I marvel at being alive, although our existence on Earth is short and enigmatic. Short, because time is just a tick of the clock compared to Eternity where “time is not.” “Timeless,” if you may call it that.

Nevertheless, despite the uncertainties that you and I encounter daily, the search for whatever vision we cherish, must continue. Towards that end, I have varied interests to help me reach “the final destination” — physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health, among others:

First, and foremost, is following a spiritual path. Daily meditation, a strict vegetarian diet, respect for the environment and other sentient forms of life, etc. are good starters.

Second, is keeping a healthy mind in a healthy body. Eating nutritious food is a must. So is regular physical exercise — followed by adequate sleep and rest. Stress management should also be prioritized if we are to live a longer and saner life.

Third, is reading books (and doing online research) to keep up with new knowledge and ideas. A variety of topics can be chosen, such as natural health, wellness, longevity, alternative/integrative/holistic medicine. To those who would like to venture into the less known and exotic subjects, here are a few: Quantum Physics, General Semantics, Parallel Universes, Fourth Dimension, Alien Civilizations, UFO, Karma & Reincarnation, and the like.

Fourth, listening to classical music, operatic arias, Broadway musicals, and New Age music are “food’ for the body and soul.

The birth of Health Wellness Gems


April 2010 is significant: April 2 was my 73rd birthday. It is also the symbolic "birth" of my blog.

"Health Wellness Gems," the title of my weekly blog, will become a regular reminder of your health needs, too often forgotten by busy men and women.

Because of the fast-changing world of nutritional science related to health, diet, fitness and longevity, I will be monitoring these changes as new research findings reach me.

I am confident that I can offer a consistently informative and dependable nutrition and health news that can give you a better quality of life…

I hope this will be a start of a long and fruitful relationship.