Jessica’s Notes

Being one of the oldest and most common surgical procedures known, perhaps the term Male Circumcision (surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis) is not uncommon to us. Normally this procedure was undertaken due to cultural, religious and social reasons. But with the advancement of the medical studies, male circumcision is now strongly encouraged by WHO as scientific evidence have tied the benefits of this procedure to the reducing possibility of sexually transmitted disease including the most serious type of STD: HIV.

HOWEVER, do you know that while male circumcision is strongly encouraged, female circumcision on the other hand is strictly opposed?

Female Circumcision, is also known as female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) (surgical removal of all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs). Similar to male circumcision, this practice is conducted in regards to traditional, cultural, and religious procedures.

Unfortunately, on the contrary to male circumcision, female circumcision practice that happens frequently in Africa, is extremely controversial due to 2 reasons: (a) issue of consent and (b) safety and consequences of the procedure.

(a) Issue of Consent - Most of the time, the procedure is normally carried out when child is between the ages of 4 to 8, in which it means that the child are still at innocent age to determine if they want the procedure or not. Decisions were being made merely by parents.

(b) Safety and consequences of the procedure - Due to the banned of this procedure, superstitions that persist have led to illegal/underground circumcision practices. Female circumcision performed by under the lack of medical training, anesthetics, sterilization and use of proper medical instruments have caused: death through shock from immense pain, excessive bleeding, infections, urinary and reproductive tract infections, menstrual flow blocked, scarring, infertility, infibulated women, increase risk of infant death during delivery, and many more side effects.

Horror of Female Circumcision

The issue of female circumcision is therefore still hot debate as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has stated that [the] practice violates the basic rights of women and girls, […]” and “[…] female genital mutilation or cutting is not required by any religion.”

References:

http://www.unaids.org/en/PolicyAndPractice/Prevention/MaleCircumcision/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_genital_cutting

I think enjoying my 1 cup of coffee or tea everyday is one of the most pleasurable moments of the day (I limit myself to only 1 cup a day). However, having heard of medical experts encouraging us to have less coffee and tea due to it’s’ caffeine nature, I think the below caffeine information can guide us in selecting the best type of caffeinated beverage.

Caffeine is found in varying quantities in beans, leaves, and fruits where it acts as a natural pesticide. It is commonly found in coffee plant and leaves of the tea bush. Caffeine in human act as a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant, used to temporarily ward off drowsiness as well as restoring alertness. You can normally find caffeine in beverages such as COFEE, TEA, CHOCOLATES, SOFT DRINKS and ENERGY DRINKS.

Double espresso (2oz) 45-100 mg
Brewed coffee (8 oz) 60-120 mg
Instant coffee (8 oz) 70 mg
Decaf coffee (8 oz) 1-5 mg
Tea – Ceylon/black (8 oz) 45 mg
Tea - green (8 oz) 20 mg
Tea - white (8 oz) 15 mg
Coca Cola (12 oz can) 34 mg
Pepsi (12 oz can) 38 mg
7-up (12 oz) 0 mg
Chocolate milk (8 oz) 4 mg
Dark chocolate (1 oz) 20 mg
Milk chocolate (1 oz) 6 mg

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine
http://coffeetea.about.com/library/blcaffeine.htm

Cord Blood Stem Cell Preservation is a more and more common topic of discussion among expecting parents. A lot of people however are not very sure of what is the actual usage of cord blood stem cell, why are stem cells stored, and how are cord blood stem cells collected?:

What are cord blood stem cells? Cord blood is blood collected from the umblical cord and placenta after the birth of a baby. It is rich in stem cells, the special cells of the body that have the ability to develop into any cell types in the body (eg. body organs, blood elements, nerves and muscle cells).

Why are stem cells stored? The storage of stem cells from cord blood can be potentially life-saving for your child, as his stem cells can be accessed at a later date when needed to provide therapeutic treatments available currently and in the future. In addition, brothers and sisters can possibly share the use of each other’s stem cells. Stem cells have been used in therapy of various disease such as: Cancers, Leukemias, Stem Cell Disorders, Inherited/Cogenital Disorders (Thalassaemia, Severe combined immunodeficiency), etc.

How to collect cord blood stem cells?

Nowadays, some stem cells preservation providers also bundles their services together with insurance for the stem cells preservation. So you can also check out about it from your own insurance agents before you deliver your child.

Eggs are an excellent nutrient-dense food that packs six grams of protein, a bit of vitamin B-12, vitamin E, riboflavin, folic acid, calcium, zinc, iron, and essential fatty acids into a mere 75 calories. Second to the lactalbumin protein in human milk, eggs have the highest quality protein of any food.

People always say that having too much eggs are not good as eggs contain large amount of cholesterol. The concerns about unhealthy eggs which contributes to cholesterol has lead to the innovation of OMEGA EGGs.

Omega eggs are a type of “designer egg,” in which the yolk’s fatty acid profile has been modified by altering the hens’ diet. This egg is an excellent model for the saying, “you are what you eat.” Specific lipids — fatty acids and fat soluble vitamins — can be modified in the egg yolk by feeding the hen increased proportions of “good” fatty acids and increased amounts of fat soluble vitamins from dietary sources such as flax seed, fish oil or bioengineered algae. Check out the below nutritive comparison between Omega Eggs and Standard Egg.

Table I. Nutritive Value of Omega Eggs - Compared to Standard Eggs

For more reading about eggs:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T041100.asp
http://www.northland.cc.mn.us/biology/Biology1111/Bioreadings/Omega%20Eggs.htm

As mentioned in the earlier post, an acidic environment encourages growth and multiplication of cancer cells causing tumors. Here are some easy tips (suggested by John Hopkins) that you can do everyday to neutralize the acidic environments:

a) Fruits and Vegetables Diets: A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells, try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 to 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperature of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

b) Exercise: Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

c) Supplements: Supplements such as IP6, Flor ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFA’s and etc enable the body’s own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted or unneeded cells.

d) Positive mindset: Cancer is a disease of mind, body and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

Cancer cells is inside every human being. It is whether we have activated those cells to multiply enormously and turn into tumors.I received a forwarded powerpoint slides (summarized from John Hopkins - 20/Oct 2007) about cancer and it’s prevention today. I think it’s a simple guide that we all can follow:

a. Avoid Sugar: Sugar is a cancer feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to cancer cells. Sugar substitutes made of Aspartame is harmful. A better natural substitute would be honey or molasses but only in very small amount. Table salt that has chemical added to make it white in color should be substituted with sea salt.

b. Cut Milk: Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. But cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened Soya milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cut meat: Meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become purified and leads to more toxic buildup. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells. In addition to that, meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. Say no to high caffeine food: Avoid coffee, tea and chocolate which contain high caffeine. You can use green tea as a substitute. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

e. Reduce plastics: Make sure there are no plastic containers/wrappers in microwave. Bottle water in freezer should also be avoided. According to John Hopkins recent newsletter, dioxin chemical causes cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to cells of our bodies. Don’t freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from plastic. We should not reheat our food in microwave using plastic containers. This applies to food that contain fat. The combination of fat, high heat and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Replacing with glass such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers are highly recommended.

There are three types of fat: monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated.

Monounsaturated fats — including olive oil, sesame oil, canola oil, almond oil, flax oil, and fish oil — are good fats. These contain essential fatty acids such as omega-3 and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) that are critical in brain development and function, skin health, vascular health, proper immune function, fertility, and normal physical development.

Polyunsaturated fats, such as margarine, corn oil, hydrogenated safflower oil, and sunflower oil, also contain essential fatty acids. Unfortunately, these fats are highly refined and contain large amounts of trans fat. Trans fat, created by hydrogenating vegetable oil to make it spreadable, is implicated in both cancer and heart disease.

Saturated fats are the bad kind of fat. Included in this category is butter, peanut oil, coconut oil, palm kernel oil, and lard. These saturated fats elevate cholesterol and triglyceride levels, leading to an increased chance of heart attack and stroke. These oils are best avoided.

by Dr. Mao

For more information =>                                http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/1165/health-tips-about-oil-pros-and-cons

It really wasn’t easy to cook the pack of brown rice that I bought. Tried a few times but it still tasted like burned rice (most of the time —> too hard (just like eating those burned rice leftover sticking on the claypot chicken rice).

After searching for a while, i think this is one of the best article I found so far about Brown Rice. Check out the summary:

Cooking Brown Rice.

• The basics is more or less the same with cooking white rice.
  
• Make sure you allow the rice to soak in water for about 30 minutes before turning on the heat (Soaking in water helps soften the grains).
• Water to grain proportion: 2:1 ratio. (2 cups of water to 1 cup of brown rice). Complete the brown rice cooking and check the texture of the rice by eating a few cooked grains. This will give you a starting parameter to work with and you can then make subtle changes to the time that the rice is soaked (before cooking) and also the proportion of water and brown rice.

Suggestions For Eating Brown Rice.

• If you have not eaten brown rice before, it would be a good idea for you to mix one portion of white rice and one portion of brown rice.
• Gradually reduce the proportion of white rice and allow the brown rice to be the major portion.
• You will soon love brown rice and go on with this as your choice of rice.

Source: http://www.health.food-recipe-cooking.com/brown-rice-health-benefit.htm

Having heard of the some healthcare professionals’ advices to consume of unpolished rice (also known as Brown rice) vs. polished rice, me and my fiancé bought a packet of it to try. As we have predicted, I was difficult to cook and not very pleasant to eat. That’s why I have actually browsed the net for certain cooking methods when I come across the below info:

Only till now that I realized how much good stuffs have been scraped away when we eat the softly textured and the beautifully presented whitish polished rice. Just check out the protien, fats, carbo, fibre, calcium, iron and vitamins lots.

Well, of course it’s not to say that we should avoid having polished rice from now on, it’s just that, if would be better if you can consume more unpolished rice. Bear in mind though that unpolished rice is a little more costly compared to the polished rice due to reasons related to economics of production. For more info about unpolished rice, check out my next episode of posting.

Source: http://www.helium.com/tm/37259/depends-whether-polished-unpolishedpolished