Sunny Health

Singaporeans love cold weather. We know this when we walk into our shopping malls where our air conditioners are turned on at full blast as if we want to recreate an all year round winter season in them . However, there are still those who, unsatisfied with the rainy weather in Singapore choose to flock to colder regions and experience what a truly White Christmas feels like.

However, when it comes to truly cold, Christmas time weather, many of us fall prey to bone chilling cold. We’re talking about a freezing minus five degrees temperature here. It is the kind of weather that will send you running for shelter as soon as you see one. Just talking about it makes me want to put on an extra shawl. Brr..

Under these circumstances, it becomes even more important to have a stronger emphasis on a proper, healthy regime. As the weather becomes colder, viruses are in a better place to breed. A proper daily health regime is one that ensures a balanced, nutritious diet. It is also one where you maintain good hygiene practices such as washing your hands before you eat or whenever you finish you business in the toilet. Also one should remember to have lots of rest to prepare the body to fight off viruses.

Many online health websites suggest getting the flu shot. There are many opinions about the H1N1 jab, but I personally feel a flu jab is necessary, especially if you are one who foregoes a proper health regime. (Tips on staying healthy, having a proper health regime are scattered throughout this blog…)

There are also those that suggest taking multi vitamins. My mother, if she were to read this, would strongly disagree. In her opinion, proper nutrition should be taken from the source itself. Say you need a dosage of Vitamin C, she would suggest you drop that Vitamin C pill and eat some oranges instead. However, a traveler has to contemplate the availability of certain food sources overseas. They may not be as easily available, or in great abundance, as those in Singapore. In such a case, I think that vitamins are a great source. They are easily portable and have a small chance of being subjected to query at airports.

The air in colder climates can be pretty dry. What you need is a good bottle of moisturizer to prevent your skin from drying up tearing. Dry skin is especially apparent in older people, but any young person from these tropic parts are at risk of dry skin as well. Dry skin can become irritating and if inflamed will cause much discomfort and your White Christmas holiday will probably not be an enjoyable one.

(For tips on skin care do visit http://facegood.blogspot.com/, where author Lydia shares her tips on skin care.)

Personally I like a hot bowl of soup when I’m in a wintry place. Nothing warms your body and soul better than a good delicious bowl of soup. Well, nothing except maybe a hot cup of Milo. No, not hot chocolate, but Singapore’s favourite morning drink, Milo. The taste and warmth reminds me of home and really, when wrapped under those blankets in your miserably cold room, sneezing while watching the rerun of yet another CNN program, don’t you just miss Sunny Singapore?

LONDON : Men who bottle up frustrations about unfair treatment at work are twice as likely to have a heart attack, a study published in Britain on Tuesday suggests.

Those who express their feelings openly, for example by getting angry, have no increased risk of heart problems, said the study which warned of the dangers of "covert coping."

"Covert coping is strongly related to increased risk of hard-endpoint cardiovascular disease," said the study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The research, led by experts at the Stress Research Unit at Stockholm University, grouped men according to how they react to conflict, including by saying nothing, walking away, or taking their anger out at home later.

Men who sometimes or always walked away from conflict had three times the risk of a heart attack or dying from heart disease, while overall those who avoided conflict had twice as high a risk.

In contrast those who reacted to unfair treatment in an open way, such as talking directly to the person with whom they were in conflict or getting angry, had no increased risk of heart attack, it said.

"We all find different things stressful and symptoms of stress can vary," said Judy O'Sullivan, senior cardiac nurse for the British Heart Foundation, responding to the study.

"But the important thing is that we need to find ways of coping with it in our lives in a positive way, whether at work or home," she added.

The average age of the more than 2,700 participants was 41 at the start of the study. None had had a heart attack when screening started in 1992. But by 2003, 47 had suffered a heart attack or died from heart disease.

- AFP/il
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/health/view/1020389/1/.html

I am speculating a link between depression and unhealthy eating in these cases. Picture this; unhappy man comes home to nagging wife, gets more stressed and starts drowning in alcohol and potato chips. There could be many other factors of course.

Culturally speaking, it seems hard for Asian men to show true emotions. The Chinese saying ‘Men bleeds but does not cry’ says this too well. Asian society has drawn out the roles for men and women. These are roles that, despite the huge wave of modernization, refuse to be washed away and stand stubbornly in many corners of many Asian societies.

Another factor of stress is the increasing amount of pressure put upon working adults in today’s offices. As time progresses, people’s lives become faster and there is an expectancy for people to work faster and create better results. There are more who become increasingly stressed, and a horrifying pattern of suicide cases start to add on.


Anger and sadness are strong emotions that can affect the mind and body. These emotions can not just lead to heart problems as presented in this article, but depression, which can lead to equally disastrous consequences.

It has also been shown in other research that laughter, and expressing your true emotions can give you a longer life. Also, being happier also means having a healthier quality of life.

Moral of the story: Emotional management is an important skill we all need to learn.

In time to come, we see ourselves learning to adapt better and as men evolve, perhaps they begin to see the significance of expressing oneself. Hopefully, in time to come, we will all learn to be more expressive in our emotions

Learning to laugh can help alot. Confront the problems that bother you and try and share it with a friend, remember not to keep these feelings to yourself. Laughing and enjoying humorous entertainment never seemed to hurt either.

Confronting your emotions does not mean having to shed your manly image, it could mean to just take things at a slower pace and not let yourself be burdened by your workload. You can choose to lead a stress free lifestyle.

It should be a God given right that humans are able to eat well, but eat cheap. Here’s how:

1. Cut out the junk
Stop buying snacks you know are going to make you put on those pounds. If you know they are artery clotting, why waste your money on them? Instead put your money to good use and buy useful ingredients

2. Cook in
By cooking at home, you can be sure of the nutrition that you put in your food. Rather than paying a stranger to cook you up a dish in an overpriced restaurant where you wont even know what goes into the food.

3. Write a grocery List
By writing a grocery list, you can plan out what you will be buying and stick to it. This will lessen the temptation to buy unwanted groceries.

4. Buy the important healthy foods first
If you buy the necessary ingredients, you will be less tempted to fill up an empty shopping trolley

5. Cook large portions ahead
This will allow you to not only save costs, but save time. By cooking ahead of time, you are planning of what to eat in the following days ahead. By planning ahead, you will be therefore planning your nutrition in advance, and you can cut costs and plan your daily nutrition with much more ease.

6. Try going meatless on certain days
Certain vegetables such as beans are a cheaper alternative to meat but do not discount you of your daily protein source.

7. Reuse and recycle
Just like new water, you can reuse your food, but not in a gross way. You can find recipes that can turn leftovers from previous nights into delicious meals. In American online websites, they suggest that people make burritos out of their meals. The thing is, American meals, unlike Asian ones contain meat for the most part of their meals. A typical Asian dish, however, would probably contain more carbohydrates such as rice. The best thing to do probably is to eat your dishes with different carbs such as noodles, if you had rice the night before. Or if you cooked too much rice, you could always use it for fried rice.

8. Make your own snacks
Fruits juices can not just be drank but poured into popsicle makers to make fruit popsicles – a cheap, healthy and delicious snack. You can also make your own yoghurt by buying a huge tub of yoghurt, you can add in your own fruits and create your own tasty desert sans extra calories.

9. Borrow/Search for healthy and cheap recipes
There are some very tasty and healthy recipes out there that won’t burn a hole in your pocket

Another reason to eat cheap ? Keeping in shape is also one of the best ways to stay away from an expensive visit to the doctor’s.