We received a lot of donation stuffs from UNICEF a few days ago. They donated household and personal items like bath soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, detergent bars, pail and dipper and so much more. They also gave a water jug with these drinking water disinfectant. I was actually curious about this kind of disinfectant so I followed the instructions on how to put it in a tap water. I also want to know how it tastes like. 

This sodium hypochorite or commonly known as chlorine has  been the trusted and reliable disinfectant  in killing off most microorganisms in the water. Without chlorine or some other form of water disinfection treatment, millions of people would die from devastating infections such as cholera, salmonella and others.

The only bad thing about chlorine treatment is that it does not absolutely ensure that by the time our drinking water comes out of our home faucet it is free of unhealthy microorganisms.Dangerous bacteria are still found in chlorinated tap water on occasion specially here in our place where we are severely affected by the flood.  Even if we are using chlorine,  we are not sure of its effectiveness. Relying on chlorine disinfection alone is a false guarantee that the water from our tap is safe to drink so I still prefer to buy bottled water in a water refilling station.

According to the news, the Department of Health in Northern Mindanao declared an outbreak of leptospirosis after eight persons here in the city of Cagayan de Oro and seven in Iligan City died of leptospirosis while around 300 were confined in different hospitals. Several pharmacies also declared a shortage of the generic brand of Doxycycline, a prophylactic medicine and antibiotic against leptospirosis.

It was spurred by flash floods that ravaged villages here in our city due to Tropical Storm Sendong. I thanked God that my family and I were able to bought lots of Doyxycline medicine a few days after the storm hits our place. We also got vaccinated from anti tetanus and also from this deadly disease. We are still busy cleaning up our house until today but we always think of our health first. It is better to be safe than sorry, right?

Leptospirosis is acquired not only from absorbing contaminated floodwaters through cuts in the skin but by swallowing the bacteria directly through food or water.Although the disease is commonly associated with rat urine, infection can also come from cattle, pigs, horses, dogs and wild animals.The disease’s wide range of symptoms begin with fever, chills, muscle pain, intense headache and may end up in meningitis and liver damage.

Our church music team is currently having their 3 days fasting in preparation for our upcoming concert. I also fast but I only did it for one day. I have tried fasting before for 3 days and we just stayed in the church. My fasting diet is only water and juice but I thanked God that I was able to survive it. For some people,they fast as a way to lose weight or to cleanse the body. Some fasting diets involve drinking nothing but water or eating only raw foods for a period of one or more days, while others restrict food on alternate days. Certain fasting diets only allow liquids like water, juice or tea and that’s what I usually do.

When you fast, your body is actually forced to dip into energy stores to get the fuel it needs to keep going, so you will lose weight. The big question is how long you will keep that weight off?  you will probably gain back the weight you lost and possibly even put on more weight when eating the same calories you did before the fast. Research has shown that fasting on alternate days can help people lose weight, but not for long. I think this one will one work out for me because people who followed an alternate day fasting diet shed weight, even when they ate all they wanted on the non-fasting days.

Did you know that people who meditate everyday are many times happier than those who don’t? They’re also healthier and their sense of well-being is much greater . I have a meditator friend who shared to me her experience on how she live a life that’s stress free! She told me that with the help of meditation, she dramatically had a better mental health.

She has less anxiety, anger, depression and fear and she also has better human relationships,  made more friends and feel much more fulfilled in her life.  I think its also time for me spend some time for myself, be alone and meditate.  I want to get the overall sense of well being and get benefited from it in order to continue having that positive outlook in life. Perhaps a meditation program could help me on it.

Most of us wanted to have that perfect body right? women wants to have a flat stomach while men wants to have that six-pack abs. There’s no doubt that people are learning how to live better as they watch their diet and do some exercise.

Health related fitness is another thing altogether and it is the origin of the quest for the perfect body. It’s a good thing to see that there are some efforts to return to this. The perfect body is not one that can be found on a billboard but it actually reflects you at your healthiest. It’s not one that can be attained, but is rather maintained through healthy diet and plenty of exercise.

In doing exercise for our health, one  should work for flexibility, strength, stamina as well as cardio-vascular fitness. Health related fitness  takes the best that exercise can offer and puts it to proper use for a longer and happier life.