Natural remedies for bad breath, body odor, skin and weight problems

By Cory Quirino
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Date

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QUICK REMEDIES for everyday living can easily form part of your wellness bible. Let’s go over some health and beauty challenges and look into natural approaches.

Bad breath

While most people afflicted with bad breath may not even have the slightest suspicion they have a problem, a sure sign that they do is the natural retreat of others when they are spoken to.

Bad breath may be caused by parasites in the gut, intestinal problems, indigestion, constipation, mouth and gum problems, tooth decay and yeast and fungus infection. A quick fix is to look into oral hygiene. But if this has been ruled out, you need to go deeper inside your body.

To do:

Consider visiting your dentist for a yearly check-up and cleaning.

Include in your regimen during mealtime two capsules of acidophilous, which is good bacteria. Taking yoghurt is not enough, since its bacterial content is insufficient.

Add niacin to your diet. From the Vitamin B family, it can deodorize your body easily. Natural sources include fish, liver, legumes, whole grains and meat.

Exercise to improve your detoxification through the sweat glands. And increase water intake to 10 glasses daily.

Body odor

Sometimes, taking three showers a day isn’t enough. Although keeping the body nice and clean is a must, over-active sweat glands could also cause this socially embarrassing situation.

The secret is to keep the body clean but dry at all times. The moist areas are the ones that attract bacteria.

To do:

Vitamin B12—Include this supplement in your daily vitamin regimen. Natural sources: Eggs, yeast, liver

Zinc—This mineral is a wonder treatment as an infection-preventive and fighter. Load up on vegetables, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, wheat germ.

Acidophilous capsules—to improve intestinal health; these should help restore balance to your stomach. In fact, whether you have a problem or not, it pays to take these capsules daily as a preventive measure.

Natural soaps, especially with anti-bacterial ingredients like virgin coconut oil and lemongrass, have tremendous deodorizing capabilities.

Skin problems

Whether you have sensitive skin or a pimple problem, all these skin challenges boil down to nutrition and your stress levels.

Rule out any allergies to chicken, seafood, peanuts, milk. Try a diet rich in vegetables and fish. Emergency remedies include megadoses of Vitamin C in sodium ascorbate or calcium ascorbate (ester C) form. Try 3,000 mg daily.

Water therapy—There is almost nothing that good old-fashioned clean water cannot fix. Cleanse by drinking 10-15 glasses daily.

Vit B complex—This can calm the senses, mind and body. Natural sources: Raisins, cantaloupe, beans.

Healthy food—If you have acne problems, cut out all iodized salt and any processed food with iodized salt. Iodine tends to worsen pimple problems.

Zinc—Try one capsule in chelated form so it will not irritate your stomach. And never take zinc on an empty stomach.

Vitamin E—In dry form, this is helpful to the skin.

Beta-carotene—10,000 iu daily for six days as an emergency treatment ought to improve your skin condition. Try Mega-A capsules, which have a combination of acai berries, pomegranate, blueberry and elderberry. (Call 5677577, 0918-4408560. This product from the US, imported by the Miracle Health Co., contains a super berry combination specifically for skin ailments).

Weight problems

Before starting any diet, please consult your physician.

Low-carb diets—While they make you lose weight fast, you may find yourself out of energy, too. Take your carbo during the day. Eat only complex carbs like weet potatoes, multi-grain breads, brown/red rice. Avoid carbs at night.

Zero carbs—This is a bad thing. The ideal diet is a moderate one. Good carbs are the source of your brain food. So, if you don’t want a sluggish brain, focus on the good carbs. Remember, the secret is in the portions. Focus on small servings, not generous ones.

Vegetarian or not, why not try this even for detox purposes? Go green for three days. Almost like magic, your waistline will get smaller. Promise.

Beauty bath

In a tub of warm water, mix a combination of fresh oranges, lemon and lime, complete with the peelings. Slice them up and mix with virgin olive and coconut oils. The result is a super skin revitalizer and moisturizer.

Water fast

Thats right, take no solids today. Instead, one glass of water every 30 minutes. Then end your day by 5 p.m. with a fresh bowl of salad drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Next morning, you will notice that your stomach is flatter.

Affirmation: “Everything good is mine today.”

When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.

Love and light !

New weight-loss diet supplement for men

Philippine Daily Inquirer

Date

EVERTRIMM IS a new starch-blocking diet supplement designed especially for men.

A clinically proven product approved by the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States FDA, and the Philippines Bureau of Foods and Drugs, Evertrimm is formulated with a unique combination of white kidney beans and veld grapes.

Made from white kidney beans and veld grapes standardized extracts, this all-natural diet supplement supports weightloss with its starch-blocking capability and intrinsic muscle toning quality.

“As a manager, I have a lot of reports to do, and sometimes miss some exercise,” says Robert Ordono. “With Evertrimm, my muscles stay firm, and I don’t worry about starch not building up into fat.”

“I meet clients over lunches and snacks, which is why I’m happy with Evertrimm,” says Rand Prince Panotes, an investment planning manager for an insurance agency. “I can eat heartily and not worry about starch building sugar into fat. Over a month with Evertrimm, I can see the changes.”

Even those who make a living keeping healthy praise Evertrimm for the results.

“Evertrimm really works,” says Melvin James, a personal trainer in one of the most successful gyms in the world. “As a practitioner in the fitness industry, I need all the carbohydrates from the food I eat. So I take Evertrimm before dinner instead, when I don’t need the sugar. After a month, my muscles look more defined.”

Evertrimm was on the green as a sponsor this past July at the Batch ’92 Veteran’s Annual Golf Tournament held at the Veteran’s Golf Club, Quezon City, and again on the waves at the San Juan Surf Resort in La Union for the Action & Fitness Magazine sponsored Surfing101 event.

Evertrimm was also a participant at the Health Beauty Fitness Lifestyle Asia 2010’s 5th International Exposition on Beauty & Wellness, at Cook Magazine’s World Food Expo-both conventions held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City this August, and at a well-publicized fashion show in Cebu.

Evertrimm is now available in all leading drugstores.

When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.

Visualization helped him top nursing exams

By Jaime Licauco
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Date

THE AUG. 28 ISSUE of Philippine Daily Inquirer carried an item on how a nursing student became the top graduate through visualization.

According to the feature story written by Inquirer reporter Juan Escandor, Jr. of Southern Tagalog and DJ Yap:

“Ryan Abogado Oliva, the topnotcher in the nursing board exams last July, had prayed every day that he would top all examinees and posted in his room the number 1 sign which greeted him every morning he woke up.

“Oliva, who graduated magna cum laude at the Ateneo de Naga University, said he was very specific with his request to God that he be the one on top…. He said he had read somewhere that if one had a dream, he had to write it down, place it on the wall and be motivated by it.”

Without perhaps realizing it, Oliva instinctively used an ancient and proven visualization method. Visualization is the key to achieving whatever goal we desire. It means forming a vivid mental picture of what it is we want to get whether it’s a new job, new house, or even an ideal partner in life.

Visualization or forming a clear mental image of what you want works because everything begins with the mind.

Before something becomes a physical reality it must first be thought of or conceived. There is no exception to this principle. The physical is the last to manifest in the order of creation. Before a painting becomes one, it must first exist in the mind of the artist. Before a table becomes a physical reality it must first exist in the mind of the carpenter. Before the sun, the moon and stars exist, they must first exist in the mind of God.

Modern quantum physics is now beginning to accept that thoughts are things, that they have an energy which can affect a material object. The mere act of observing a physical object, quantum physicists have discovered, already changes the object observed. This is essentially what the ancient Buddhists have been saying all along, namely, that “we create our own reality.”

But some individuals say, “I cannot visualize.” That’s not possible because the mind by its very nature visualizes or creates ideas and images. If we substitute the word “remember” for “visualize,” then the problem vanishes. Being told to remember the face of one’s mother or one’s favorite movie actor or actress, sounds a lot easier to do than being asked to “visualize” it.

The mind has many ways of forming pictures. Sometimes we get very clear, detailed images, often in full color. Other times it forms vague images and we merely supply the rest of the details with words or ideas. And in some cases we can’t even see anything in our minds, but merely know that something is there and describing it through feeling or shadowy flashes of ideas.

4 basic steps

According to Shakti Gawain, author of the best-selling book, “Creative Visualization,” there are four basic steps to effective visualization: First, set your goal. Decide on something you particularly want. It should be very specific—for example, a particular house with so many rooms located in such a place, or a particular job in such company.

Second, create a clear concrete picture of what you want. It is important to imagine it in the present tense as already existing the way you want it to be. Picture yourself in it. Include as many details as possible including color.

Third, focus on it often. See it every day. Ponder on the mental picture of your goal constantly. Integrate it in your daily routine. See it as if it is already yours.

Fourth, give it positive energy. Make strong positive statements about the goal or object you want. Imbue it with affirmative feelings of desire, belief and acceptance. Imagine yourself already possessing whatever goal you have established for yourself and have no doubt at all that you will attain it. Imagine the exhilaration or feeling of accomplishment you would experience once you have achieved your goal. Let this be your final vision or thought for the day and surely, what you desire will happen.

Without knowing these principles, the above steps are what Oliva actually followed in becoming the top examinee in the July nursing examinations.

Of course he must have also used his left brain by studying hard for the exams. He did not simply lie down and visualize his goal without doing anything else. He did not follow the legendary Juan Tamad who merely opened his mouth while lying down waiting for the guava to fall on his open mouth. Oliva used visualization and mental affirmation to ensure that his efforts at studying will not be in vain.

When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.

Baguio taps Japanese compost technology to end garbage crisis

Philippine Daily Inquirer

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines –In what may be the summer capital’s third attempt to end its garbage crisis, the newly formed City Development Council (CDC) approved on Wednesday the purchase of Japanese bio-composting technology to be used by November.

The CDC was formed to refine and approve the city’s proposed P1.9-billion budget for 2011, which would give the city a new fleet of garbage trucks.
80-88 tons of organic waste

Installing two units of the Environmental Recycling System (ERS) means that the city could process into compost 80 to 88 tons of organic waste each day, while residual trash would be collected by the ERS manufacturer as raw materials for back filling operations or for making hollow blocks, said Mayor Mauricio Domogan, who led the CDC meeting.
The ERS units are distributed by Protech Marketing, a subsidiary of the STG Corp. of Japan, said Cordelia Lacsamana, city environment officer.

The system runs on a special fermentation process that relies on microorganisms called “shimose,” according to a Protech video presentation that was shown at the assembly.

The machines have become the centerpiece of Domogan’s solid waste management program.
In 2008, the city started hauling 150 tons of garbage daily to a commercial landfill in Capas, Tarlac, when a group of villagers barricaded the city’s only dump, leaving heaps of uncollected garbage on major city streets.

The daily garbage trips to Capas preempted what could have been a public health hazard, and allowed city officials to begin exploring different sites for an ecological sanitary landfill.

Former Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. and other city officials persuaded former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to open up portions of national reservations in Baguio as sites of materials recovery facilities (MRFs) or recycling centers.
Both Malacañang and the city government shelled out funds to build MRFs that would have served a cluster of villages.
The purchase of ERS compels the government to shelve the MRF program, Domogan told the CDC.

He said the garbage collection system could be modified so all garbage trucks would be directed to the two ERS units, instead of to sorting areas set up before the garbage is shipped out to Capas, he said.
‘Long-term solution’

Each ERS unit costs P64 million, but the units come with guarantees, including a buy-back option for compost produced by the city government. Protech offered to buy each kilogram of compost for P6.
A feasibility study undertaken by the City Environment and Parks Management Office showed that the city’s return on investment could reach P20 million from the sale of compost alone.

Domogan said the government has not shelved plans to build a sanitary landfill although the ERS “is a long-term solution.”

Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon

US approves world's biggest solar energy project

Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON DC, United States—US approved on Monday a permit for the largest solar energy project in the world—four massive plants at the cost of one billion dollars each in southern California.

"The Blythe solar power plant will consist of four, 250-Megawatt plants, built on public lands in the sun-drenched Mojave desert," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.

"When completed the project is expected to generate up to 1,000 Megawatts of energy... That's enough electricity to power up to 750,000 average American homes and to make Blythe the largest solar power plant facility in the world."

The total capacity will be roughly equal to the turbine output of a nuclear power plant or a large modern coal-fired power plant, according to Solar Millennium, the company developing the facility.
Solar Millennium plans to begin construction on Blythe this year, the company says on its website. At the height of construction, the project is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.

The Blythe facility is one of a raft of renewable energy projects that have been approved in recent weeks by the Interior Department.

Earlier this month, Salazar approved the first five renewable energy projects on public lands, four in California and one in Nevada, both states that have been hard hit by the economic downturn.

Two weeks ago, Salazar inaugurated the world's largest wind tower manufacturing plant in the working class town of Pueblo, Colorado, which will be run by Danish company Vestas Wind Systems.
One week earlier he signed a lease for the first major offshore wind farm, off the coast of New Jersey

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

4 RP math whizzes among top placers in Aussie tilt

By Jerry E. Esplanada
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Four young Filipino math aces were among 65 students worldwide who topped the 2010 Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC), a contest carried out via correspondence that drew about 400,000 participants from at least 40 countries when it was held in August.

The good news came from the Australian Mathematics Trust (AMT), the University of Canberra-based group, which has been conducting the AMC since 1976.

Prof. Peter Taylor, AMT executive director, awarded the medals to the following top-performing Filipino students during simple rites at the Summit Ridge hotel in Tagaytay City on Friday: Nathaniel Ryan Ang, of Xavier School in San Juan, Metro Manila; and Seanne Daphne Ang, Mikaela Angelina Uy and Carmela Antoinette Lao, all of St. Jude Catholic School in Manila.

The other medalists came from Australia, 23; Singapore, 7; Taiwan, 5; Hong Kong and New Zealand, 4 each; Malaysia, Indonesia, Bulgaria, and South Africa, 3 each; Thailand and India, both with 2; and China and South Korea, 1 each, the organizers said.

Seven other Filipino students won Prize Awards, which are given to contestants within the top 1 percent of the AMC: Adrian Reginald Sy, of St. Jude Catholic School; Lorems Yrol Pedeglorio, of the Butuan City SPED Center; Philip Christian Gelera, of UP Integrated School; Miguel Lorenzo Ildesa, of PAREF-Westbridge School; Farell Eldrian Wu, of MGC New Life Christian Academy; Kaye Janelle Yao, of Grace Christian College; and Samuel Christian Ong, of UNO High School.

Fifty other Filipinos got certificates of high distinction for being within the top 2 percent of the AMC.
They were Andrew Lawrence Sy, Keefe Collin Tan, Janssen Lawrence Chan, Jinger Chong, Matthew Angelo Isidro, Andrea Jaba, Austin Eldrich Chua and Vince Benedict Say, all of St. Jude Catholic School; Jan Joshua Cruz, of Pasig Catholic College; John Thomas Chuatak, Gabriel Pua, Shamina Sharlyne Liao, Hans Markson Tan and Thomas Spencer Balete, all of St. Stephen’s High School; Bonn Leif Amalia and Lord Danly Mafe, both of Colegio San Agustin-Biñan;

Lance Christopher Lelis, of Blessed Lights International Christian Academy; Shaquille Wyan Que, Jeremy Vance Yap and Deany Hendrick Cheng, all of Grace Christian College; Clyde Wesley Ang, of Chiang Kai Shek College; Xavier Jefferson Go, of Zamboanga Chong Hua High School; Christopher Joseph Magno, of Falcon Learning Center; Errol John Suarez, of Bicol University-Integrated Laboratory School; Mark Christopher Uy, Mario Antonio Ongkiko and Ethan Zachary Chua, all of Xavier School;

Jason Joseph Fernandez, Niel Benjamin Kho, Amiel Sy, Dale Wilson Garcia II, Ma. Moper Donaleigh Nuñez and Reina Jiana Reynoso, all of the Philippine Science High School; Frederick Matthew Corpuz, of Colegio San Agustin-Makati; Gabriel Angelo Estampador, of San Beda College-Alabang; Andrew Brandon Ong, Henry Jefferson Morco, Geovin Dexter Uy, all of Chiang Kai Shek College; Edward Joseph Ofilada, of Ateneo de Manila University;

John Angel Aranas, of Makati Science High School; Raymart Caasi, of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila; Kevin Clyde Chu, of Sacred Heart School of Jesuits; Francis Daelo, of Malayan Colleges-Laguna; Kevin Christopher Catbagan and Steven Matthew Cheng, both of UP Diliman; Jasper John Segismundo, of Pasig Catholic College; Patrick Allen Tanada, of Pembo Elementary School; Francis Concepcion, of Philippine Cultural College-Main; and Christopher Rabi, of Cebu Eastern College.

Andrew Byrne, minister and deputy head of mission of the Australian Embassy in Makati City, cited Filipino math students for continuously performing “extremely well” in the AMC.

Taylor pointed out that “the number of AMC contestants from the Philippines continues to grow each year.”
This year, 2,300 primary and high-school students nationwide took the AMC, 300 more than those who competed in 2009.

Mathematics Trainers’ Guild co-founders Dr. Simon Chua and Prof. Rechilda Villame both cited the top-performing students for having “repeatedly made the country proud with their achievements.”
Most of the local AMC contestants are MTG wards.

Last year, Julius Vincent Sy, a student of St. Stephen’s High School, got a perfect score in the AMC.
Sy was one of only 20 students worldwide who scored 100 percent in the 2009 edition of the AMC, which is administered here by MTG and the Science Education Institute of the Department of Science and Technology.
According to the AMC website, the first AMC was limited to Australian students. In the late 1970s, students from New Zealand were allowed to join the contest.

Since the early 1990s, the correspondence-type competition has spread to at least 40 nations.

When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.


Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

Sorry Philippines

By Alexia Adizon Philippine Daily Inquirer “MAHAL KO ang bayan ko, ipinagmamalaki ko na ako’y Pilipino.” At the beginning of every Filipino class, our high school teacher would make us recite this line. But despite its clarity and brevity, it took me a while to realize that I was not living the lesson behind it. Filipino is my first language. I spent the early part of my childhood in Cavite City, surrounded by people who spoke Filipino. However, first grade came and my parents insisted on sending me to an all-girls private school in Alabang, where I would spend the rest of my elementary and high school education. On my first day in this thoroughly new environment, I found myself surrounded by people speaking an alien language, English. I felt extremely out of place, since I only knew a few words in English, and I was afraid I’d look like a total idiot if I spoke in Filipino. So I just kept silent. As the years passed, I learned the predominant language in this school. There seemed to be an unspoken rule that it was uncool to speak Filipino. I grew to believe this, so I sought to stamp out any hint of barok in my spoken English. I was introduced to cable television and English television shows on Nickelodeon and Disney Channel, which I watched religiously every weekend. I shunned local television, movies and music, regarding them as baduy. Soon I found myself thinking in English. By the fifth grade, I had developed my own “accent,” and I was secretly proud of it, as I felt so sophisticated and intelligent speaking English. Outside of our school, I flaunted the fact that I could speak straight English. In malls or on trips, I made sure I spoke loudly so others would hear me. At such a young age, I was already aware of the fact that those who could speak fluently in the “universal language” were looked up to. When I went home to visit the province, my relatives would wonder, “Mga balikbayan ba ’to?” as my siblings and I jabbered away. Looking back now, I realize I was afflicted by a severe case of colonial mentality which didn’t only manifest itself when I spoke. Whenever I’d receive gifts from our balikbayan relatives, I’d jump at the opportunity to flaunt the imported merchandise to my classmates. When I’d read the newspaper, I’d flip right away to the world news section. I harbored silly fantasies of auditioning for “American Idol” or getting discovered as “America’s Next Top Model.” Last 2008, I went to World Youth Day in Sydney, a gathering of Christian youth from all over the world to celebrate the faith. I went with a group of Filipina girls, mostly school mates. It was truly a life-changing experience, for aside from rekindling my faith, I noticed something that disillusioned me. There were different groups from different nations who came to this event. They spoke their own language among themselves. Koreans spoke Korean to other Koreans. The Spaniards spoke Spanish to their countrymen. However, our group didn’t speak Filipino; we spoke English to one another. These tan, Asian girls chattered in fluent English. The foreigners we interacted with had to ask what country we were from. If you look at me, I’m unmistakably Filipino. I don’t know if there is one drop of foreign blood in me. I never spent a significant part of my life overseas. All of which leaves me with no excuse for having lost the ability to speak fluently in the mother tongue, except that I had deliberately done so, because I thought speaking English would make me cooler and better. It took me a while to realize the truth in the saying that you can take the Filipino out of Pilipinas, but you can’t take Pilipinas out of the Filipino. No matter how high my proficiency in English is, how often I use whitening products to make my skin fairer, how long I live in the States, or how high end the labels of my clothes are, I will always be unmistakably Filipino. So why should I be ashamed to be one? I could go into discussing the heroes who have died for our country, the amount of blood they shed so that we could attain its independence. But the simple truth is that this is the country I was born in and where I was raised. Recently some Filipino young men and women have been trying to rekindle patriotism by wearing and promoting Philippine-made products and advertising merchandise bearing the lable “Proud to be Pinoy.” I jumped into this bandwagon, hoping to atone for my past apathy and total lack of nationalism. But then I realized building love for my country should go beyond wearing “Team Manila” shirts. I’m sorry, Philippines, my country. How can I say I’m “Proud to be Pinoy” when the thoughts that occupy my head are those of a foreign tongue? How dare I express disgust over the foreigners who belittle our countrymen abroad, when I kiss their ass when they are here on our soil? How is it possible that I seriously read and study Dostoyevsky when I hardly even know the works of Rizal? Why is it that I consistently get high grades in English but have Filipino essays full of red marks? I’m in college now. I’ve been exposed to different kinds of people from different walks of life, and most of them speak Filipino. I have realized it is useless to keep speaking English when everybody else is speaking in Filipino. I would just come across as a haughty know-it-all, and so with great difficulty, I am learning again to use the mother tongue. But more than the need to be understood by others, I hope the time will come when I can finally say truthfully, “Mahal ko ang bayan ko, ipinagmamalaki ko na ako’y Pilipino.” Alexia Adizon, 18, is a student at the University of Asia and the Pacific.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer