Five Health Benefits of Coconut Water

So much more than just a drink

In recent years, bottled water has become a popular drink. It’s tasty, refreshing and doesn’t contain any calories. Other than hydrating your body, water doesn’t offer additional nutrients. Health benefits of coconut water, on the other hand, count quite a few.

https://medium.com/writers-blokke/five-health-benefits-of-coconut-water-40c2fe9fc5c8

Day 27: Keto diet and other nonsense

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 27: Keto diet and other nonsense

It always amazes me how people are obsessed with their health. This is good for you and that is good for you, this is bad for you and that is bad for you. The various articles online don’t help either: healthy summer, exercise yourself to better health, lose weight and feel healthier … I get sick it!

These days it’s all about the Keto diet and how it can make you lose weight. Before trying this diet, one should read about the 7 dangers of the Keto diet. 

Those who want to lose weight should pay attention to what they eat, exercise on a regular basis or have their thyroid checked. Losing too much weight too fast can have a devastating effect on one’s health and physique.

As for staying healthy …

Many years ago I worked with a woman named Natalie. I didn’t know her well, I merely saw her every day in the company’s cafeteria. While the majority of the people were served soup and a main course and helped themselves to salad, fruit, and cheese, Natalie only ate the main course and salad.

She only drank water, she exercised regularly and a piece of candy never passed her lips. She looked great and stated that she felt great.

At the age of 37, she died. One morning she got up, got ready for work, collapsed and died.

Then there’s Mary. Mary didn’t feel well, went to the doctor and was diagnosed with diabetes. She came home, extremely upset. Mary loved candy, chocolate, ice cream, etc. and the prospect of never being able to enjoy these treats again had her very upset. While her mother made her a cup of tea Mary went to have a shower. She fell in the shower, her hair clogged up the drain and she drowned.

Next up, Margaret. After a hip replacement, Margaret still battled with walking and it was decided that she should go and live in a retirement community. Margaret wasn’t keen on it, she loved her house, her garden, and her freedom. Still, she saw the benefits of living with 24-hour assistance. 

When Margaret joined the retirement community, she was issued an alarm system that she was to wear around her neck at all times. She merely had to press the alarm button and a nurse would come running. One day Margaret fell, the alarm system got caught on something and Margaret was strangled.  

As for my family … they never paid attention to anything. They ate, drank and smoked whatever they wanted. Mom lived to be 84, dad died at 88. Their parents all lived to be 90+.

So tell me, who will live longer? Those who are obsessed with their health or those who enjoy life and all it has to offer?

  

Happy Easter + finches update

Happy Easter to all my faithful readers across the world.

Did the Easter bunny surprise you with any chocolate eggs? I certainly hope so.

A short while ago I saw a post on Facebook where a woman stated that she had received healthy snacks from the Easter bunny. Unless you’re a diabetic, which she is not, healthy snacks have no place at Easter. Not for adults and not for kids. Have you ever heard something so ridiculous? Healthy snacks for Easter … whatever next?

These health nuts are really pushing it too far. You can’t have this, you can’t have that, this is bad for you and that is bad for you and blah blah blah. Yet look at them … they are allergic to this and that, the wind blows and they get a cold and in general, their immune system is so weak that they get affected by all kinds of ailments.

Older generations in comparison are strong healthy individuals. They eat, drink and smoke and waltz through life without a care in the world. Just this morning I read that the oldest woman alive, born and raised in Italy, died at the age of 117. Do you think she ate healthy snacks? My guess is she never even heard of such a thing. And if she did, dismissed it with ‘queste sciocchezze’.

I remember back in my day, my brother and I used to stand in front of the window on Easter morning, peering into the garden to spot any eggs. Armed with a plastic pot we would venture out and look under shrubs and behind trees to collect the eggs. There usually was quite a selection of white, brown and black ones for us kids, and a big, beautiful cellophane wrapped one for mom.

This morning I found an egg myself. Not a chocolate egg but an egg laid by Mrs. Finch. Regular readers might remember that a couple of finches built a nest on my balcony. I promised that I would follow up on the story so here it is … so far one egg in the nest.

Charlotte - A Second Opinion

As many of you know, we had to take Charlotte to the emergency hospital last Sunday morning, where she was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection.

We gave her medication, she should have been noticeable better within three days, but she wasn’t. At first, she seemed fine, but in the night of Tuesday to Wednesday she started acting agitated again. Going from one litter box to another.

Around 3:00 a.m. I wondered if I should take her to the emergency hospital again, but just then she settled down and I was able to get some sleep.

Not wanting to leave things to chance, I called our regular vet the next day and got an appointment for 10:20 a.m. That was a relief.

Unfortunately, Charlotte was not very cooperative. She took one look at the cat carrier and decided to be difficult. I tried several times to get her in the carrier, but no, she wanted nothing to do with it.

I had no choice but to call in the troops. I asked my son to come home from work and he managed to get Charlotte in the carrier.

At the vet’s office, Charlotte was thoroughly examined, the urinary tract infection was confirmed, but when I showed the medication prescribed by the emergency hospital and mentioned the dosage, the vet didn’t agree. For a cat of Charlotte’s weight (6.5 kg) (14.50 lbs) she needed not 1 tablet, but 1 ½ tablets.

Now, two days later, Charlotte is really on the mend. She takes her medication twice a day and she is much, much better.

Goes to show, a second opinion, or a follow-up visit with an animal’s regular veterinarian is a good idea.

www.connymanero.weebly.com

Can you afford to grow old?

I noticed a headline this morning … A Reminder: Growing Old is Not the End of the World.  

And I agree, growing old is nothing to panic about, there are some definite advantages to growing old, unfortunately, there are also some disadvantages. Let’s start top to bottom.

Continue reading at:

http://connymanero.weebly.com/blog/can-you-afford-to-grow-old

Take a cold shower

A few years ago, the chiller in our condo building packed up, and as a result we had no air-conditioning during a heat wave that had Toronto sweltering in a temperature of 45 degrees C (113 degrees F).

Tempers flared, residents were fainting in their units and a woman with heart problems came close to dying. 

When the temperature dropped to 35 degrees C (95 degrees F) everyone heaved a sigh of relief.  It was still hot, but noticeably cooler than the past three days.

All in all, the building was without air-conditioning for 18 days and when the cool air was finally restored, everyone was so happy they almost organized a party.

For the past four days we’ve had another problem … now the boiler is temperamental.  We have heat in our units, but no hot water.

What comes out of the taps is at best tepid water.  Doing the dishes is not such a problem, we can boil water in a pot and transfer it to the sink to get everything clean and grease free.  

The real problem is showering in the morning.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of cold showers.  Especially not now, in winter.  When that blast of cold water hit me yesterday, I nearly jumped out of my skin and the scream that echoed through the bathroom would have made a soprano jealous.

Later on I looked up if there are any health benefits to a cold shower.  Apparently there are quite a few, but I’ll give you my take on them.

Strengthens Immunity – My immune system is just fine thank you.  And if I get a cold or the flu once a year, that’s beneficial to my body as it gives me antibodies.

Better blood circulation – No problem there.  My blood goes round and round without stopping or even pausing.

Regulates temperature – This makes me feel like I should come with a thermostat.

Promotes Weight Loss / Increases Metabolism – If I lose any more weight, I’m going to resemble an ATM card.

Alleviates Depression – I’m not depressed.  I might feel down from time to time, but not to the point that I would call it a depression.

Deepens Breathing – Just exactly how deep do you want me to breath, down to my toes?

Keeps Skin and Hair Healthy – Washing my hair with cold water gave me a headache, and my skin looked like I was about to sprout feathers. 

Increases Energy and Wellbeing – Please, I have so much energy I resemble a ball in a pinball machine. 

Increases Hormone Production – the writer of the website writes “Cold water showers have the ability to increase hormone production and activity by giving the body’s glands a boost. For example, cold showers can be of great benefit to the reproductive system when trying to conceive a child”.

That’s it, I want my hot water back.  Should I find myself pregnant, this pinball machine is going to go tilt. 

Vaseline linked to cancer

Some people never cease to amaze me.  On the one hand they are so concerned with their health that they almost turn neurotic and look down on others who don’t share their views, yet on the other they do their very best to sabotage their health.

Take the use of Vaseline also known as petroleum jelly for instance.  Some people happily smear it on their baby’s bottom, while others use it to treat dry skin, or add shine to their lips.  Did you know that women who use lip gloss regularly, eat about seven pounds of the Vaseline in a decade.

Little do they know that Vaseline does not moisturize, it draws moisture to the surface, as such robbing skin of what it so desperately needs, and they risk all kinds of cancers.

Vaseline is made of petroleum sludge, a type of wax that forms on oil rigs.  The wax interferes with the proper working of the rods on the rigs and has to be removed from time to time.  The wax contains hydrocarbons, a substance found in women with breast cancer. 

Still, people ignore advice given online and state that Vaseline has been around for years, that their grandma used it, and that only fools would believe that the greasy wax could be bad.  Not only that, some articles actually promote the use of Vaseline/petroleum jelly. 

Why anyone would do this is beyond me.  You only have to look at and touch Vaseline to know that something so greasy cannot be good for your skin.  It leads to acne, impurities, irritation and worst of all, certain cancers.  This possibility alone should be enough to scare people off.  Sadly, this is not the case.  The product is cheap, has been used by their mother and grandmother, so they figure it must be good.

What is even more mind boggling is why the Cancer Society hasn’t made it its business to warn the public about the use of Vaseline.  If the product has been linked to cancer, you would think this is right up their alley.  On the one hand they raise millions of dollars for cancer research and promote pink ribbons to make women aware of breast cancer, yet on the other hand they keep silent about the dangers of Vaseline. 

If you want to moisturize your skin or give shine to your lips, do it with something safe like an organic oil.  Oils such as olive oil, almond oil, cacao butter, shea butter and coconut oil will be more expensive than Vaseline, but at least they are risk free.

Before you buy your next beauty product READ THE LABEL.