Skip to main content

Christmastime, Mistletoe and Wine

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 SeƱor (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 Serin study, published in Clinical Chemistry journal, confirmed that mistletoe can inhibit intestinal peristalsis (movement of the intestines), making it a valuable treatment against colic. It has been used to treat prostate cancer, according to the Auerbach study in the same year (results published in the Journal of Men’s Health and Gender).

Studies on mice show that... [READ MORE

This article appears in SunStar Cebu on 21 December 2011.

Comments

Popular Posts

Sex Industry Weathers Financial Crises

Varmus Christopher Forbes.com 12/29/08 14:00:05 GMT The sex industry traces back to 500 B.C., when traders from the Greek port of Miletus sold olisbos, an early version of the dildo. Today, the business of sex (including pornography) now runs into the tens of billions of dollars. (No official estimates are available; Wall Street analysts don't tend to track this stuff.) And while print and video sales are ebbing, as more free adult content has become available online, sales of un-reproducible sexual aids are still healthy. "Of course, there's concern about the economy, but right now our sales are growing," says Michael Trygstad, founder of Wet, a lubricant manufacturer in Van Nuys, Calif. "We've grown 30% this year alone. We've had to completely automate our factories to meet the tremendous demand. People are deciding to stay at home and engage in inexpensive entertainment.'' Slick marketing--and the ability to shop anonymously online--helps, too...

The "Lungs" of Our Homes

As trees slowly disappear with growing urbanization, the Rooseveltian lungs are replaced with more dangerous electrical lungs at home, many of which can damage the genetic materials of the human lungs. FRANKLIN Roosevelt said: “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” In Cebu today, however, people may have given up “fresh strength” for the material conveniences of an urbanized province. Even the more far-flung towns in the province of Cebu have already shown signs of urbanization. And it will not be long when even forests will cease to be. Nonetheless, the “lungs” have been replaced with electric air fresheners, with all the varied approaches to freshen the air—at least in the cities and the suburbs. But four Japanese researchers—three from the Iwate University (Ueda, Morioka, Iwate) Department of Veterinary Medicine and one from the National Institute of Health Services (K...

Death By Heat Stroke in the Philippines

The hotter and earlier-onset El NiƱo phenomenon this year 2010 poses a threat to the Filipino lives. How much life it took? See incidence that reached the news. UPDATE  On 19 May 2010, candidate army soldier Ericson Pascua (22) came on his first day of training in Isabela when he collapsed after a series of strenous exercise. Although rushed to the hospital immediately, he died shortly afterwards (around 11 a.m.) due to heat stroke. That day Isabela peaked at 38.2 degrees Celsius. Sixteen others were rushed to the hospital for dehydration and heat exhaustion. (Check report ) On 28 April 2010, a veteran Cavite cop, PO3 Florencio Gamana Alivio (48),  succumbed to cardiac arrest as a result to heatstroke while having tae bo with his colleagues at the Cavite Police Provincial Office (CPPO) grounds in Camp General Pantaleon. He reached the Imus MEdical Center but pronounced dead at 5:15 PM. (Check report ) In Batangas, former governor Amando Sanchez (57)di...