Foods to Avoid and Food that are Good for Blood Pressure

 I recently found out that my BP is sky high. I had been experiencing migraines, tiredness and body aches, and I suspected it, as I had been diagnosed with high BP a few years back. However, I stopped taking medicine after a few weeks and was able to control it. However, I have gone back to my bad habits – sleeping late, eating junk food and a lot of stress, and here we are. 

Have been researching a lot and according to most sources, there is not a cure for BP, and you have to take medicines. I have relented and started as well, as I do not want to have a stroke or heart attack.

Anyway, I don't want it to get worse. I found out that the worst foods for BP are the ones I love – savoury snacks and others listed below. I don't smoke or consume alcohol, and I am vegetarian.

Food to avoid for people with high blood pressure

• Saturated fats
• Crisps and salty snacks
• Sugary drinks
• Bread
• Canned tomato products
• Soup
• Cheese
• Pizza
• Caffeine
• Pickles
• Condiments

 The Best Foods for High Blood Pressure

• Citrus
• chokeberries
• blueberries
• raspberries
• strawberries
• grapes
• Kiwifruit
• Leafy greens
• Nuts and seeds
• pumpkin seeds
• flaxseed
• chia seed
• pistachios
• walnuts
• almonds
• Legumes
• cranberries
• Amaranth
• whole oats
• quinoa
• brown rice
• corn
• whole grain bread
• whole wheat pasta
• Olive oil
• Carrots
• Eggs
• Tomatoes
• Broccoli
• Yogurt
• Herbs
• Potatoes

Let me know if there is any food I should add to the lists. 

Pavements and cycling paths in Malaysia

Pavements are non-existent near my current house and we have to watch out for cars and motorbikes as our gate opens up to a busy main road. Where there are pavements, they are full of obstacles - utility poles, uneven and cracked paving and some wise guy has even planted trees right in the middle of the paths at the side of his house. There is no way I am going to allow my kids to cycle around the neighbourhood with their friends like they did back in the UK.

However, this is a very old locality and I expected the new developments to be better planned considering the growing ageing population, moving towards a developed nation status, etc. but was left disappointed after looking at some of the new property developments in Malaysia. Apart from a few upmarket projects, most seem to have done away with pavements (or sidewalks as the Americans call it) - forget about cycling paths. So I guess these developers expect people to walk on the roads or not walk at all - only use cars and vehicles. What about cyclists, elderly and handicapped people on wheelchairs?

Putrajaya and Cyberjaya are probably the only places in Malaysia which have taken these issues into account. Recently the Government has been talking about healthy lifestyles - about the need to encourage people to walk more and cycle but these new developments indicate otherwise. I seriously think that the Government needs to put in some kind of regulation in place that new developments need to have pavements and pedestrian friendly housing areas. Any thoughts?

Healthy recipes

We rarely eat outside and today afternoon I had to cook as my wife was busy with her research work. I am an ovo-lacto-vegeteraian and I didn't want to cook too many dishes. I had a look in the fridge and quickly came up with something with what was available - fried rice with vegetables and eggs.

My daughter was complaining that she was tired of eating the same things and wanted something different. That made me realise that she was right and thought that would make an effort to do some research myself - for vegetarian recipes.

This led me to the Phytolife.com, a new online source that should appeal to health-conscious consumers or to anyone looking for some great healthy recipes. I found out that the name of the site comes from the word 'Phytonutrients', which refer to plant-based nutrients. This site also carries a number of articles on healthy lifestyles as well. I love their green nature themed template.

Phytonutrients are naturally occurring compounds found in fruits and vegetables. According to this site, they are probably the most important part of your diet and are required for the proper functioning of our body. They might help in preventing diseases. According to Phytolife.com, 90% of Americans aren’t getting enough Phytonutrients. I suspect it's the same here in the UK as well.

I am going to try out their Warm Wedding Soup. Sounds delicious and perfect for the cold weather.

Online grocery shopping - Tesco vs Sainsbury's

Both my wife and I shop a lot online. I guess we are what marketers refer to as a "innovator" especially in relation to stuff online. However, I never imagined that I would be shopping for groceries online one day.

As compared to books, software, electronics or even clothes, shopping for groceries is totally different. I like to look, feel and sometimes smell the food I buy. My wife wanted to try out some of the online grocery stores here. She gave a couple of resasons why buying groceries online was a good idea. According to her:
1. These stores would ensure the quality of stuff sold online.
2. We could shop at leisure.
3. We could avoid the crowd at the stores.
4. We could save on petrol.
5. We could avoid the temptations of the "spur-of-the-moment" buys.
6. It would give her a better insight into service quality of online stores, which is somewhat related to her PhD research.

We tried out Sainsbury's Online Groceries first of all. We bought products worth £77.41 - mostly organic food. I also earned two Nectar points for every £1 spent online.

The groceries were delivered on the appointed date and we were satisfied with the quality of the products.

A few days later we decided to take a look at Tesco's online grocery store. We had one coupon which enabled us to get a discount of £10 on orders over £50. The final amount came to £64.32. The stuff will be delivered to our house this Monday.

Here are some of our observations:

Website Navigation: We found Sainsbury's store to be more user friendly. Easier to find items.

Product Choice: We were looking for organic food and Tesco definitely has a wider choice.

Pricing: Tesco products were cheaper. As for delivery charges, Sainsbury's was comparatively cheaper but as I mentioned earlier, we had a discount coupon for Tesco.

Conclusion: I would have to give a thumbs up to Tesco's online grocery store because of the overall savings. Plus I get points on my Tesco card.

Health insurance from BUPA

Like a new comers to the UK, we had the misconception that health care is totally free in the UK. It isn't. Sometimes you may find that you want to go to private specialists and the costs can be prohibitive. I am not saying that the service provided by the NHS is bad, it's just that you may want more exclusive treatment rather that those offered by your GP and if you have problem, do not want to be in queue and wait for months to get an appointment in the local hospital.

That's one of the main reasons that you may want to take out Health insurance here in the UK. BUPA is a global health and care organisation that has been operating for over half a century. They are one of UK's leading provider of private health care insurance and health care services. There are many other companies out there offering cheap health insurance but most of these are "one size fits all" deals that may not be a very good idea as different people have different needs and requirements. Obtain a free health insurance quote by contacting them today. You can choose from five different levels of health insurance cover.

Do check out their Health factsheet which has info on almost every medical condition.

What most males dread

My fate one day

Apart from impotence, I think the other thing that most males dread is the upward creep of their hairline as they get older. Some men lose it later, others much earlier. There are various reasons we lose our hair including medical conditions as well as bad diet and stress. However, the main reason appears to be androgenetic, also known as male-pattern baldness, caused by hormones called androgens and genetics.

I would be lying if I said that I wasn't concerned as well. It's in my blood. A guest who was invited to one of our family reunions remarked that most of the men in our family - from grandfather, to uncles and sons, looked similar. I pointed out that it probably might be their shiny heads. Some had even shaved it to a fashionable bald look. Even though I still have a thick tuft of hair in place, I know it will be gone one day or the other.

Anyway, it's kind of comforting as I look around my classroom to find out that I am actually doing quite well in that area as compared to some of my colleagues. I guess a PhD does that to people. The topic did come up once in a while and the issue of treatment was often discussed. It was clear that some had even tried various potions and so called miracle drugs without any success. I guess we sort of agreed that hair transplant might be a more effective solution.

Is there any hope?

Rock stars likely to die young

According to a recent study published in the Journal of Epidemial Community Health, Rock stars in the US and the UK are two to three times more likely to die young than the rest of the population. The reason - drug and alcohol abuse.

This comprehensive study was carried out by the Researchers at the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University who analysed the survival statistics of 1,064 pop and rock stars who became famous between 1956 (Elvis Presley) and 1999 (Eminem) (Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com).

It comes as no surprise considering the fact that there will be at least one or two accidents in the news every month, involving a celebrity who was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. However, those who do go into rehab are those who realise that they have a problem and need to do something about it. I wonder how many are there who are addicted but simply refuse to accept the fact.

Silly accident

I had an accident recently. It was a stupid accident and I didn't want anyone to know about it at first. I also didn't want to scare my family members, especially my parents who also read this blog. Later on I thought that it might serve as a warning for others.

On the night of the 11th (Saturday), I was blogging as usual. My left ear was feeling a bit itchy and so I took a cotton bud. I was cleaning my ear with my left hand and surfing the net at the same time. Then that's when it happened. I am not sure how but I accidentally pushed in the bud a bit too hard into my ear.

I felt a sharp pain and quickly pulled the bud out. It had a little bit of blood on it. I was really scared that I might have punctured my ear drum but I realised that I could still hear with my left ear. I said a silent prayer to God!

Suddenly I felt something warm running out of my ear and lightly touched it with a finger. It was red.

I panicked a bit and went up to my wife who was half asleep. I didn't want to scare her and told that I was OK and she went back to sleep. That night I slept with cotton wool plugged into my ear.

Next day, I found dried blood on the cotton but it seemed that there was no more bleeding. However, I found out that I couldn't hear properly. Probably due to the fact that there was a lot of dried blood inside my ear and I didn't want to poke around. I was also a bit dizzy when I walked around - a little disorientated. We went to Birmingham and had a nice time at Nana and Mozard's house and apart from the fact that I was half deaf - I almost forgot about it.

Again found blood was still coming out of my ear when I woke up in the morning the next day. I went for the job interview and I was really feeling horrible. I could hear from only one ear and felt nauseous.

I could only get an appointment with our GP on Tuesday morning. When he saw inside my ear, he gave me a shock by saying "Whoa! That's a lot of stuff in there." I thought doctors were supposed to be diplomatic and not scare their patients. He wrote me an antibiotic and asked me to come and see him again on Friday.

When I saw him last Friday, he told me that it looked OK but wants to see me in 2 weeks time again. I can hear OK but not as clearly as before. I am just hoping that I don't suffer from any long term problems.

New hope for people suffering from Myopia

I have been wearing glasses for a long long time since I was in high school. I suffer from myopia or Nearsightedness, which means that I can see nearby objects clearly but distant objects are blurred. Wore contact lenses while I was in University but after stopped using them after I developed some complications.

I have thought of going for LASIK treatment after seeing a lot of my friend enjoying a life free from glasses. However, there might be a cure without going for laser treatment. According to this AP report, we might be able to get a 20-20 vision by wearing special contact lenses to bed.

Drink your vegetables

I have been a vegetarian (ovo-lacto) for most of my life and I have no regrets even though a lot of people always say "Pity, you are missing out on all the tasty food". Actually I am not missing out on anything.

I find it quite strange that some people hate vegetables. This natural food contains different vitamins, minerals and others, which has so many health benefits. There are so many studies that have shown that a regular vegetable intake can prevent diseases and help in controlling your weight.

If you are one of those guys who hate eating vegetables but want the good benefits of vegetables, why not try drinking them. That's the idea behind a daily dietary supplement called "My Daily Veggies" brought out by a company called Lane Labs, LLC. This company is giving away thousands of free trial packets to promote this daily nutritional supplement. You can also get 7 day My Daily Veggies Free Sample containing a total of 14 USDA servings of whole vegetables($10.00 value). They will only charge $1.00 on your credit card for shipping and handling.

If you don't want to drink it, you can easily incorporate it into one of the recipes given on the site or your own. I might try it out too.

Trip to Cambridge cancelled

We were planning a trip to Cambridge and had even booked the hotel rooms but had to cancel it at the last minute.

A few days back we noticed some red rashes on our son. The next day, water filled blisters developed on the skin. Checking on the Internet led us to a distinct possibility - chicken pox. However, the sites mentioned that the kids would suffer from fever but Imaan was normal. We decided to take him to our GP and she confirmed it as chicken pox.

I guess we have to take that trip to Cambridge some other time. Anyway, it's just one and a half hours away from here.

Revolutionary brain tumour treatment

One of my close relatives passed away after fighting with brain tumor for quite sometime. An operation was never considered because the illness was detected unfortunately at quite a late stage.

Was really intrigued with this relatively new method of brain tumor treatment, which involves the gamma knife. This revolutionary medical equipment allows neurosurgeons to perform brain surgery without invasive surgery, that is, without having to cut into a patient skull. It involves using highly targeted radiation to destroy brain tumors.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that this is a relatively new technology, a lot of people including doctors as well as patients are not aware of this non-invasive surgery option.

Using dogs to detect molds

Was quite shocked when we noticed mold on the wall in between the bed and just below our bedroom window. Fortunately it is not that serious and I just wiped it with a old rag using a cleaning fluid.

Not many people realize the ill effects of mold on our health. Molds produce tiny spores to reproduce and exposure to it can result in allergic reactions, asthma, and other respiratory complaints. In our case, the mold was in the initial stages and probably caused by water leaking. The more serious mold problem are those where it is hidden inside walls and not visible to the eye.

While searching for more information on mold and Mold Removal, came across the site of this company in New Jersey.

It was quite interesting because this New Jersey Mold Company uses mold detection dogs to find hidden mold inside walls. Unique and quite cost effective it seems.

Alcoholism and drug addiction treatment

Nobody needs to talk to me about the horrors of drug addiction or alcoholism because I have seen the ill effects with my own eyes. I have seen families torn apart and even people dying because of these two diseases.

The problem with many addicts is the denial. They refuse to accept that they are addicts and will give excuses like "I am only a social drinker".

I was going through Watershed.com's and found this interesting article titled "The Signs & Symptoms of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction". If you have the symptoms listed, you better seek some professional help.

Drug rehab centres

Have had a few members of my family fall prey into the jaws of drug addiction and alcoholism. And let me tell you, these are diseases as bad as cancer or other life threatening diseases, maybe worse because they can effect people around them in a very very bad way.

I have no research data to support it but I personally feel that people suffering from drug addiction and alcoholism who want to get better should go into a rehabilitation centre rather than getting treatment at home.

When we talk about drug rehabilitation centres in Malaysia, the first thing that comes to mind are jail like conditions where the patients are treated like prisoners.

I am not sure but that might not be the right way to treat any form of addiction. Forcing them to stop will only be a temporary situation. Once they get out, they will most likely get back into the habit again.

Instead of jailers, they should have qualified nursing and medical staff on premises includes members who have actually graduated from the very program. They would be able to relate and understand each and every person that joins their program.

Dealing with hair loss

Almost all the males in my father's side of the family suffer from baldness. Of course, the degree of severity varies but when we have a family gathering and we are outside and it happens to be sunny, you can see a lot of shining patches, especially on top of those 40+ guys. It is clearly genetic and I am going to find out soon whether I by some freak of nature, happen to be one of those guys who didn't have that particular gene.

I am happy that I still have luxuriant hair growth and in fact I have to go to the barber quite regularly, but it is still worrying. There are many ways to deal with hair loss and on way is to just genetics and/or old age take it's natural path. However, if there is an easy solution, I would definitely take it. A comb over is a definite no no. Sorry Samy.

Procerin is a relatively new all-natural supplement produced by Speedwinds Nutrition Inc. As you might have guessed, it is targeted at people suffering from hair loss.

Procerin comes in both a tablet form and topical solution. The manufacturers claim that it is specially effective in reversing hair loss in men caused by androgenetic alopecia, the most common cause of male hair loss. Guys with androgenetic alopecia have elevated levels of a chemical called dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in their scalp and it is the main cause of thinning hair and receding hairline in men. Procerin is a DHT inhibitor (blocks the production). The company actually offers a 90 Day money back guarantee.

It is an available without a prescription. However, I would suggest that you discuss it with your doctor before starting on a course.
Tags: hair loss procerin supplement

Yoga is good for you

During my younger days in University, I was a yoga fanatic and I could do complex poses like the "Mayurasana" or the peacock pose with ease. I don't know why, but with time I got sucked into the corporate world and slowly lost Interest in yoga when it would have benefited me the most.

A few days back, me and my wife were talking about Yoga and I tried to show off some of the simple poses. I was shocked to find how stiff I had become - I couldn't even touch the tips of my hands behind my back, one arm above and other reaching from below.

It's quite funny that the growth of interest in this ancient Indian philosophy in recent years has renewed my Interest. I say philosophy because it is more than just bending your body into strange shapes. It about self control, meditation and much more.

I just came across this site. To illustrate that fact that, Yoga is not all about poses, this is a page about Pranayama, Breathing Exercises explained.

Go over to Yogawiz.com site and learn about the various health benefits and how to use yoga to heal various ailments. Believe me Yoga is good for you.