Archive for the 'Health' Category

Feeding patients Bacteria for Better Health

[Nairobi, Kenya]
MOST people who know me all too well can attest that I am a health freak. Well, what do you expect? I was raised by 4 strong-minded women (grandmother, aunt, mother, stepmother) when I grew up in Barbados, Canada and the USA. Heck, they were always cleaning, and I had regular chores (vacuuming, doing dishes, cleaning the bathroom, etc.) to do around the house. It wasn’t that bad though. Now, I kind of like doing dishes. To me, it’s very therapeutic. Go figure!

Prevention: the secret to good health
Furthermore, I like to take care of myself by going to the gym, rollerblading, playing pick-up basketball, running or any other enjoyable form of exercising. My motto when it comes to health is “pay me now or pay me later.” In other words, I prefer to exercise, eat healthy, etc. in order to prevent or delay health problems. Why? Because I absolutely hate hospitals and the toxic drugs that doctors like to push on their unsuspecting patients – usually at the request of unscrupulous drug companies.

I figure that if I take preventive measures today (pay now), then I shouldn’t expect any nasty surprises in the future (pay later). Right? Anyhow, the following Wired article brought back some wonderful memories because I have fed my body probiotics (good bacteria) after undergoing a colon hydrotherapy courtesy of an amazing Naturopathic Doctor in Canada. In short, it’s an excellent remedy for detoxing your body of years of unwanted, undigested stuff, which means that your body will be thanking you for years to come.


Here’s some good food for thought courtesy of the above link:

Modern humans are bacteria-killing machines. We assassinate microbes with hand soap, mouthwash and bathroom cleaners. It feels clean and right.

But some scientists say we’re overdoing it. All this killing may actually cause diseases like eczema, irritable bowel syndrome and even diabetes. The answer, they say, is counterintuitive: Feed patients bacteria.

Probiotics (pills containing bacteria) have resulted in complete elimination of eczema in 80 percent of the people we’ve treated,” says Dr. Joseph E. Pizzorno Jr., a practicing physician and former member of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. Pizzorno says he’s used probiotics to treat irritable bowel disease, acne and even premenstrual syndrome. “It’s unusual for me to see a patient with a chronic disease that doesn’t respond to probiotics.”

Clinical trial data on probiotics is incomplete, but there are many indications that hacking the body’s bacteria is beneficial. {source}

Conclusion
As you can see, we’re able to control our health to a certain degree if we take prevention seriously. Probiotics, if used wisely, can provide your body with a resilient health insurance package if you get with the program today. And try to remember this quote by Dr. Tim O’Shea who happens to be my favourite Naturopathic Doctor on the planet:

How do the friendly bacteria, called probiotics, keep the bad bacteria in check? Well, think of a crowded theatre. You walk in, and there’s no place to sit; all the seats are taken. So you can’t stay. Same thing with bacteria. There’s only a certain number of “seats” in the colon. If they’re all taken by friendly bacteria, then there’s no chance for the bad bacteria to set up shop and start to duplicate themselves. According to most researchers, like Simon Martin, normal probiotics should be more numerous than the cells of the intestinal lining itself.

Here’s why probiotics are so important. Normal people generally have some cancer cells, Candida yeast, E. coli, staphylococcus, strep, and any number of other potentially bad organisms you can think of in their tract most of the time. But they don’t get any disease. Researchers know, for example, that 50% of men over age 75 actually have prostate cancer, found on autopsy, but only 2% die from it. Why? The body encapsulated the cancer: limited and controlled its growth, walled it off. The discoverer of the HIV virus himself, Dr. Luc Montagnier, said that HIV alone cannot cause AIDS. (The Coming Plague) Depressed immune environment is also necessary. Same with Candida or most other bacteria; normally they’ll be held in check by sufficient friendly bacteria. E. coli is actually a probiotic when held in check by normal friendly flora. It’s only when the friendly probiotic bacteria get killed off that the potentially bad organisms get a chance to get a foothold and take over. The bad bugs are then called opportunists.

So probiotics (friendly bacteria) are extremely important. The whole key is balance. Problem is, our friendly bacteria are constantly being killed off. How? Same culprits as cited in the ALLERGIES chapter: {source: Journey to the Center of Your Colon }

Here’s to your good health.

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The world is seeing RED

[Dar es Salaam, Tanzania]
RED alert: Do your part to help prevent the spread of AIDS. I don’t say this enough, but I looove Oprah Winfrey. She has such a big, sincere heart and she always uses her super star profile to do a lot of good in this world. Heck, I wish she’d run for president. She’d kick Hilary Clinton’s ass in the polls any day of the week. In reality, she’d also get more accomplished while on the job. Clinton is a damn bureaucrat. Oh, I also have mad respect for U2’s Bono. He’s a class act.

What’s this RED stuff all about?
I thought you’d never ask. Just take a peek at this:

(RED)™ is a revolutionary program designed to eliminate AIDS in Africa.
“Lots of people here in the United States have been trying to deal with the
problems of Africa in a very serious way,” Bono says. “But not everybody has the
time to be an activist or put on their marching boots. So we said, ‘How are we
going to get the shopping malls involved? How are we going to get to where
people live and shop…?’”

By buying a (RED) brand T-shirt, a pair of jeans or even a cell phone, you
can help save lives. Part of your purchase will be donated to The Global Fund to
help those who need it most. Just the T-shirts that the audience is wearing
today will provide enough medication to prevent transmission of HIV from mother
to child for over 14,000 pregnant women. {source}

My thoughts:
Well, if you’re out at the mall and you see one of these RED products, then buy em all. Okay? Otherwise President Oprah is gonna hunt you down. :-) On a serious note, this is an excellent Go Africa go! story because it highlights that a little money at the cash register can go a long way in fighting AIDS at the prevention stage. Remember, the T-shirts Oprah’s audience was wearing provided enough ca$h to purchase medication for about 14,000 pregnant women in order to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child. That’s amazing!

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My Web Hosting Nightmare: Part 2 of 2

I’m back!
Well I woke up at 9 AM after I went to bed at 4 AM this morning. You’d think I’d sleep for 7 or 8 hours, but I didn’t. You see, when I’m in a country with amazingly nice weather, I just can’t seem to stay in bed for too long. Ditto when I was growing up in Barbados. Now in Canada, I’m quite capable of sleeping for 8 hours when it’s (gasp!) Winter time.

Take a hike
Anyhow, I went for a nice 1 hour jog – to clear my head – through Parklands, downtown Nairobi, and 2 nearby campuses of the University of Nairobi (U of N). Boy did I need that! My body and mind are “one” once again. I actually feel very relieved and calm. One thing though…keep your eyes on the road when you’re attemping to take a recreational jog in this city lest you end up on a one-way trip to the mythical land of Hades.

A stroll down memory lane & some “pleasant” distractions
Oh, I didn’t notice the cute skirts up at “U of N” either on my jog. Come to think of it…do I ever miss campus life (see here | here | here | here | here) at the University of Western Ontario (aka UWO). I knew I should’ve tried out for the cheerleading team since I don’t recall seeing too many women in my CompSci classes. BTW, I forgot we had a “Beaver” Hall residence on campus. The sheer irony…well, for those who know what I mean. LOL. :-)

Medicinal shrooms – how I love thee
On another note, too bad I didn’t bring down some of my medicinal mushrooms (Reishi , Shiitaki, Cordyceps, Maitake , etc.) from Canada, which I usually purchase from Ottawa’s Rainbow Natural Foods. Truly powerful (almost “magical”) stuff that’ll change your outlook on life – forever.

Ya don’t believe me? Read for yourself.

The study of medicinal mushrooms through the last three decades has proved its many beneficial outcomes and has been followed by the rapid development of manufacturing businesses dealing with commercial cultivation of mushrooms. In 1999, world production of mushrooms amounted to US$18 billion, roughly equal to the value of coffee sales.3,4

Medicinal mycology has deep and firm roots in fungi’s traditional uses in the medicine of the Far East. For centuries, Chinese and other healthcare practitioners employed mushrooms to treat various diseases. They valued the power of some mushrooms as divine (e.g., a special goddess was associated with the reishi mushroom). Reishi is also considered a symbol of happy augury and good future, good health, longevity, and even life with the immortals. The use of medicinal mushrooms has gone beyond medicine itself: different schools of Taoism employed reishi and other mushrooms as purifiers and promoters of mind and spirit.5 {source: Review of Medicinal Mushrooms Advances: Good News from Old Allies by Solomon P. Wasser, Ph.D., Dr.Sci. (Biol.)}

In addition, this short blurb is also an eye opener. But I wish they’d mention Cordyceps , which are my favorite natural adaptogens as they’re simply amazing for those who are into athletic pursuits and good all-around health – like me. {get more info: here | here | here | here | here}


In fact, an estimated 38,000 species of mushrooms, most provide a wealth of protein, fiber, B vitamins, and vitamin C, as well as calcium and other minerals. And at least three species have demonstrated phenomenal healing potential: maitake, shiitake, and reishi. These medicinal mushrooms have been shown to boost heart health; lower the risk of cancer; promote immune function; ward off viruses, bacteria, and fungi; reduce inflammation; combat allergies; help balance blood sugar levels; and support the body’s detoxification mechanisms. {source: Healthcastle.com }


Okay, enough of the lovely (and healthy) distractions. Remember, I’m still going through a web hosting nightmare, and no amount of cute skirts are going to make me lose my focus (ponders for a while). Go ahead, try me! Make your day! :-)

Customer dis-service continued
So, as I was saying at the end of my previous blog entry, my pal called the owner (Michael) from Afrohosting (see Whois). He in turns tells us that his host, Rackforce , shut him down because “one of his customers was sending spam from their account.” Now, I refuse to believe that a reputable company like Rackforce would throw out the baby with the bath water. It just doesn’t make sense.

After about 2 or 3 days, Michael did the most incredible disappearing act I’ve ever seen. Not even David Copperfield could match this. Incidentally, the web developer for our new site told us that Afrohosting had a lot of business with some NGOs based here in Kenya, and that they are all pissed. Again, Michael has fallen off the face of the earth. I presume he’s entered the 4th dimension. “Earth to Michael – come home!”

Cut your losses
Now, our new EBusiness web portal needed a reliable web hosting company to deliver the goods. Since Michael must’ve went into the Federal Witness Protection Program , we decided to cut our losses and find an alternative – pronto. Why?

Well, it’s sort of embarrassing when you’ve got interested investors, potential web partners, and web affiliates trying profusely to access your site only to get a blank screen. Actually, the pic to your above left is what appears when I “tried” to access Afrohosting.com on April 1/2006 at 5:18 PM. Oh, the suspended.page link you see in that JPEG image takes you to the screen which is captured in the next pic right below. How professional – not!

A shocking discovery
Now, it turns out that Michael’s Afrohosting.com company is NOT even hosted by Rackforce. What a bloody liar! The only speculation we’re going on right now is that he fu#ked up royally, and now his business is a goner. Perhaps he didn’t pay his bills? No one will ever know. Oh, if any of you guys see him, please tell him to send us a credit for our remaining web hosting plan. Also, if your hands are near his neck, please deny him some air. Where’s Lord Vader from Star Wars when you need him? :-)

Afrohosting.com goes incognito”
This is almost too funny folks. But according to a Whois lookup for Afrohosting.com, it appears that their DNS servers are being hosted by (laugh) Incognito Networks. See the 3rd screenshot on this page below this text. What an ironic twist, eh? How very fitting since Michael has gone incognito on his alleged clientele.

Oh well, ya live and learn. Right?

What’s with the healthy stuff BTW?
So why the heck did I mention medicinal mushrooms in my IT blog? Well, IT, if approached from a negative perspective, is a very stressful profession when you take the following into account: Missed delivery dates, unrealistic expectations, security vulnerabilities, bugs, viruses, in-experienced users screwing things up, creeping featuritis in new apps, pointy-haired bosses {also see here|here } who don’t know jack squat about real IT, and the sheer increased complexity of today’s systems.
On the other hand, medicinal mushrooms have a calming Zen-like effect on the entire body, which is a possitive thing. They actually aid in reducing stress on your system – guaranteed. And you can take the bank.

The best things in life are FREE
Look, I’ve always made healthy living my firstpriority in life. Yes, even over a damn computer loaded with all of my favorite geeky stuff! Why? Well, if your health takes a serious nose dive, it doesn’t really matter how successfull you are, or how many material possessions you own. You see, I find that most of my IT colleagues have become slaves to their profession, and it’s come back to bite them right in the ass – in the form of BAD HEALTH and habits. Two to 4 large cups of coffee per day – with 3 sugars? Yikes, that’s a recipe for disaster! Better them than I.

All I’m trying to say is to learn from your experiences. In this case, I will make sure that my associates understand the need to truly scrutinize who they select to host their precious commercial “data” cargo (websites) next time.

But here’s the thing. After almost a week of being offline, and looking through the window from the outside, I realise that, “Hey, it’s NOT the end of the world.” This BTW is also my 1st sacred principle in life. In other words, the site was backed up, and no data was lost, so “chill dudes.” :-)

Ultimately, your health is the most important thing you have going in life. And it’s free when you enter this world. If your body gets a virus or encounters a serious malfunction, then it doesn’t really matter what happened to your data yesterday. Right?

And that’s my point.

BTW, don’t forget to follow the advise for choosing a web hosting company which is in the conclusion section of Part 1 of this blog. It’ll save you a ton of time. Trust me!

Happy computing.

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