My Family Health Blog

Committed Family Healer's Research

I discover and try for the first time raw ocean shrimp and raw ocean clams

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Saturday market day and today was a time for discovery.  With my trusty cook we went to Farmer’s Market in Cubao and bought many new things for me to taste.  This time I had clams in mind… the halaan variety.  Then we chanced upon ocean caught shrimps.

The nice lady vendor said that her clams were already dipped in salty water so they are now clean.  They have expunged their sand.  They are ready to eat.  I asked where they came from, she said this batch came from the ocean waters at Bataan province.  The other kind of clams came from ocean waters of Bicol.  That’s comforting to hear because I don’t trust Cavite waters.

I asked for a taste of the clams.  I thought she was going to get a knife to open one up.  Instead she just took one clam and smashed its shell in a corner of her stall.  I was surprised it was that easy.  And she gave me the smashed shell to eat.  It was pretty obvious that my cook and this lady vendor are used to eating raw clams.  And to my surprise these clams were tasty and slightly sweet.  For those who still cook, there is absolutely no need to cook these babies.  Now I realize those theories about humans may have evolved and thrived near the sea.  With abundant small fish and shellfish, you have an easy and delicious life.  Picking up a clam and smashing it on a stone is so easy a 4 year old child can do it.

Among the many other things we bought I chanced upon ocean caught shrimps. Maybe 6 inches long curved. If you remove the head it is just 4 inches long.  At home I first had a bowl with some natural coconut vinegar to dip the shrimps in.  I tasted the shrimps first and it tasted heavenly plain.  I returned the vinegar to its bottle.  I greedily ate all the shrimps without dipping them in vinegar.

After the shrimps I ate my freshly killed organic yellow never frozen raw bone marrow and raw sirloin.  Then I had dipped in vinegar some tiny ocean shrimp called alamang.  And to cap off lunch I chomped on some sea weed, lato variety, some small and some bigger bubbles.

We put the clams in water.  They are still alive.  Waiting to be eaten at dinner time.

Train safety and a close call with my 7 year old in the LRT 1 line

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A week ago my 7 year old boy wanted to come with me to my customer in far away Taft avenue.  Our transportation of choice was the train, it does not make any sense to bring the car with all the traffic and no parking.  So there were three of us, me, my girl editor and my 7 year old boy.

It was so much fun going there, having a little boy makes it all fun.  We did have a close call on our way home.  We were rushing to catch the LRT 1 parked and leaving the station.  The 3 of us rushed in my boy first, then me, then my girl editor.  The doors were closing but my boy got in, then I got in, then I had the idea of using my body to stop the door from closing so my employee could get in too.  Not possible, the LRT 1 doors are set to squeeze the life out of anyone trying that stunt.  It’s not like the safety devices in the elevators.  So we got separated from my girl editor.  We met her at the connecting station at Doroteo Jose to our next train the LRT2.

What dawned on me afterwards was the possibility that what if it was my child that got separated from me?  What if he was the one who got on the train and I and my employee were shut out?  Where o where would we pick up my boy?  That is one absolutely scary possibility.

Maybe if that happened, my girl employee and I should split up.  We have cell phones so we can talk.  We would notify the train staff, tell them my boy is on that train we just missed.  And… I need your ideas folks.  What to do in case your child gets separated from you on a train.

Prevention is the first thing in mind.  Don’t rush to ride on a train when you are with a minor.

10 Day Dandruff Cure with Clove Oil and Virgin Coconut Oil completed

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Last night was my 10th and last straight day of putting on clove oil and virgin coconut oil.  I had spent 170 pesos per day in the barber shop.  By the 7th day I was clear of all dandruff.  Today I have absolutely no dandruff.  Until when?  We will see.

I used to have dandruff since the time I can remember.  It never went away.  Until now.  How does it feel?  A loss of itch.

The clove oil smell is powerful.  Sometimes it is difficult to breath with that power.  So I use a towel to remove the excess oil on my hair.  What is important is it stays in my scalp.

The cure protocol I followed was 5% clove oil in virgin coconut oil on the first day, then escalating to 10, 15, up to 50% in proportion to the 10th day.  Massage deeply into scalp… all areas.  Massage and see all flakes of dandruff come out and stay out.

I hope this lasts.  I’ll dream it lasts a few months.  I will report.

Is the common Bagoong the Probiotics of the masses?

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I just finished consuming the high meat that I made in our refrigerator.  This is beef I age in the refrigerator for 1 month or more.  Every day I air it out and put it back.  This makes good bacteria and when you eat the aged beef this is potent probiotics.  Probiotics are good bacterial strains in our gut helps us digest better and makes vitamins for us.

Now I look at native Filipino traditions and I see the common bagoong is also made raw.  That is raw fish or raw shrimp in salt and aged.  The older the better they say.  Although the provincial folk know exactly when that is.  The point is, in the provinces, bagoong is an industry.  Many are home made.  Ah, aged meat in salt.  Does this mean it is probiotic?

Lately I discovered I liked whole fish aged this way dilis or padas bagoong.  I tasted dilis bagoong and it gave me a smile.  I took home green unripe mangoes home but found out the dilis bagoong had been consumed by the maids.  Yesterday my cook and I went to market at Tiendesitas and bought padas bagoong.  I used the padas fish with cucumbers.  Yummy combination.  Very salty though.  I tried the padas fish with my raw beef.  Good combination too.

I’m relying on my taste buds to tell me I’ve had enough salty food.  Is bagoong probiotic?  I’m not sure.  Maybe.

Constipated 5 year old now pooping daily with more fat and fruit in her diet

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Success to the little 5 year old girl and her father for making some adjustments to her diet and she now poops every single day effortlessly. She used to poop every 5 days or at the most 2x per week. She took a vacation with us and her father learned that his little girl needed fat in her diet and fruits.

This little girl used to take exotic drugs to cure her of some allergies or environmental concerns or germs… but the root cause was just mere constipation. And her majority food is still cooked rice and cooked animal food, but her animal food now has fat. She now eats fruits.

I think this was a case of watching television and follow the dictates of mass media / politically correct idiocy regarding low fat diets and cholesterol scares. Now they know TV tells you what the advertisers want to sell. Please, do not look to television as a source of facts. It is the most manipulated medium there is due to profit motives.

Computer Vision Syndrome bothering me? Most probably.

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Some 2 or more weeks ago I woke up with suddenly wobbly, blurred vision. I found it hard to drive. I thought it was extreme astigmatism. I thought maybe I’ve had too much vitamin A with raw liver and raw pancreas. Then I thought it must be computer vision fatigue. Now I think maybe a blood vessel in my eye ruptured and caused that temporary problem… the astigmatism went away. But there was the nagging negative feedback spot in my right eye at the lower right field of view. This is my quest for that cure.

I’m maybe suspecting computer vision syndrome which might lead to retinal detachment. But when I asked a customer who is an opthalmologist he says retinal detachments are idiopathic… aka western medicine does not know why… but they can always offer surgery… ah business.

Then I noticed my right eye is not flowing as much tears as my left eye when I was cutting onions for lunch. Maybe my tear ducts, blood vessels or nerves are blocked. I went to the neighborhood “hilot” Aling Betty and sought her massage. Seemed to help.

I also ordered eyebright formula from Dr. Schulze’s website to cleanse and increase circulation in my eye. While waiting for that, I’m using Quantum Mineral Drops to cleanse my right eye from time to time.

Seems the negative feedback is still there or my brain has started to ignore it by compensating. I only see the negative feedback part if I’m consciously looking at it when I blink.

An article for eye care was nicely made by Dr. Sanjay in New Delhi:

Computers have become an integral part of everyone’s life. They have made things so much fast and simple but have brought with them new problems related to the eyes. These problems affect all those who spend a significant time working on the computers everyday. However, these computer related eye problems are mostly due to our own wrong habits. I call this cluster of problems e-Pain (which may mean electronic / eye pain) which is also called Computer Vision Syndrome.

What are the problems?

* Pain
* Redness
* Watering
* Headache
* Fatigue
* Irritability
* Poor Concentration

Pain and eye strain being so common among the computer users that it would be appropriate to call this cluster of computer related eye problems: e-Pain.

What causes these problems?

An understanding of what causes these symptoms can help us take appropriate preventive steps.

eyes@computer.pain

It is important to know that computer monitors do not emit any harmful rays or radiations (monochrome or color).

The causes of the trouble are:

1. Constantly gazing at a near distance (at the monitor)
2. Decreased rate of blinking

Convergence Fatigue

When we look at a near object both our eyes move towards each other (converge) to fixate at the target. Prolonged viewing of the monitor at close distance leads to fatigue of convergence and its weakness / insufficiency. This consequently leads to eye strain, pain and headache.

Infrequent Blinking

Decreased rate of blinking while working on computers leads to instability of the tear film of the eyes. This leads to feeling of dryness, irritation, redness and a reflex watering from the eyes.

What is the solution?

There is no single magic remedy for this problem. Following set of measures can be undertaken together to get relief:

1. Proper Visual Hygiene

* Monitor should be placed about 2-3 feet from the eyes (or at the farthest comfortable distance).
* Do not gaze constantly at the monitor for long duration. Take your eyes off the screen every 5-10 minutes.
* Every half an hour or so close your eyes for 1-2 minutes to give them rest.
* Every hour or so take a 5 minutes break (go for a stroll or run some errand).
* Make a conscious effort to blink more frequently. Avoid sitting in front of an air conditioner facing its air draft while working on computer.

2. Convergence Exercises

Regular eye exercise can help prevent the problems caused by working on comuters or even heavy reading or writing work. These exercises are advised for all copmuter professionals, students, office workers, etc.

Sit on a chair upright and look at a far off samll object.

Then hold out a pen at level with your eyes at an arm’s lenght and look at its tip.

Gradually bring the pen close to your eyes to a point where you feel a mild strain on your eyes. The tip of the pen should remain clear and single in appearance. Hold the pen in this position for about half a minute and then again gradually take it back to an arms length. Hold it here again for about half a minute, and then again bring the pen close to your eyes.

Repeat above step 10 times and then again look the far off small object. Again repeat the whole sequence.

In the begining this exercise should be done for 5-10 minutes just once a day in the morning at a time when you are fresh and rested. After one week it should be increased to twice daily and after two weeks thrice a day. Avoid doing the exercise when you are tired or are having pain in eyes or headache. In the initial period when you begin exercising the pain in the eyes and headache may increase, but this should not discourage you. As you continue the exercise you will gradually feel relief from the sypmtoms over 2-3 weeks.

Continue the excercise for 2 months to build good eye muscle strength and reserves power.

3. Lubricant Eye Drops

Lubricant eye drops instilled 3-4 times a day help in soothing the eyes and relieving irritation and redness. Many preparations are available in the market e.g. Tears Plus, Hypotears Plus, Moss, Moisol, etc. Although allergy or reactions to these eye drops are uncommon yet one should be careful in using them, and if they cause any irritation, redness or swelling of the eyes they should be immediately discontinued. It is advisable to consult an ophthalmologist before using any eye medicines.

I hope that this article will help you reap the benefit of e-Commerce, and not suffer the misery of e-Pain.

Author – Dr. Sanjay Dhawan

See his article at http://sdhawan.com/e-pain.htm