Breakthroughs Today

There is more to Christmastime than the rejoicings, carols and the decorations. That something may also include some cursory look on what certain decorations can do to badly impact on your Yuletide health. This round; it is mistletoe and wine. Christmastime Although festive, Christmastime is best celebrated—unlike most festivities such as Pit Señor (although it is a feast of the Child Jesus) because of the mardigras dancing associated with Sinulog—that is, not so much with lots of dancing, but with more solemn times together with the family, talking about the events of the year; oftentimes with lola and lolo around. It is especially during Christmas that we finally have the time to renew our spirits, calm our nerves, and celebrate the blessing we receive the whole year round. It is where health supposed to be at its most pampered time. Mistletoe Viscum album is a tree parasitic plant that had medicinal properties only lately better documented. In 2006, the S

How could coincidence have something to do with presliced peppers? In life as well as in health, anything goes.  Our practices in food preparation may have been proven very risky somewhere else. CALL IT coincidence. When the family had supper in a food court somewhere in Talisay City, we opted for the more oily middle-eastern inspired rice treat (the first time I tasted one) instead of the familiar steamed rice. Topping that with a sunny fried egg makes the taste and texture superb. While the attendant prepared the food, I noticed his use of presliced raw spices—onion, tomato and all—and kept in the refrigerator, until fully used up, I supposed. Coincidentally, I earlier had a research report on a Salmonella infection outbreak in Texas, which involved the use of precubed spices, particularly raw jalapeño peppers. The good thing was I haven’t read the study beyond the abstract when I put the first spoon of the tasty dish into my mouth. I can imagine my reservatio

Unrequited love can be a bed of heartaches. But getting loved in return may not be that good an idea at all when we are talking of food. The stake is as bad as a brain tumor itself. WHILE Francis Bacon believed that “in charity there is no excess,” when we talk of food, there are always those who simply eat in excess. In an earlier article, a review on many toxicity studies on MSG gave us some reassuring news that sweetening our meat dishes may not be that unhealthy after all. But that’s for the average eater. We have to consider that Filipinos eat at least three times a day, and more in between. Someone who really loves food, and that food somehow loves in return, may still breach our toxicity threshold for the day for brain tumor of 500 mg... [ READ  MORE ] This article appears in SunStar Cebu on 7 December 2011.

Recent evidence that science obtained indicate that God may have placed in nature a biological clock when would certain people die and from what. But so far the indications are mere snipets that science managed to take a look. Science still have much work to do to keep up with the mysterious knowledge that God placed in all creations. OF COURSE, eventually we all die. English metaphysical poet and Anglican priest John Donne said: “God himself took a day to rest in, and a good man’s grave is his Sabbath.” But certain genetic makeup predisposes people to die in certain diseases. In a way of speaking, our genes can set us up to die from certain diseases. Believe it or not, it is a plausible way that nature can preset human death through the genes. Five researchers from the University of Utah, School of Medicine, confirmed this in a study... [ READ MORE ]