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Meow Meow猫猫之家 - Home of a Purring Meow 10月8日 How does corruption affect us? Let me count the waysBut PAS does not declare war on corruption. PAS declares war on beer and sexy women. PAS does not understand that corruption and poverty is the real enemy. Poverty enslaves us. Corruption makes us even poorer.
This article can be found on Malaysia Today website, it's written by RPK.
Most Malaysians don’t think twice about the level of corruption in this country. Some even welcome it. How many times have you illegally parked your car or dashed through a red light and paid the policeman a bribe of RM50 or RM100 to save paying a RM300 fine if you are issued a summons?
And that is cheap, mind you. In the police lockup, we have to pay the policemen RM100 for a three-minute local phone call and RM10 for a stick of cigarette. So that comes to RM200 per packet. I paid RM200 for one night’s ‘protection’. For RM200 I was placed in a ‘special’ lockup where a detainee awaiting trial for murder took me under his wing so that the others could not get at me. He even threw in a cigarette as part of the ‘package’.
And it costs RM250,000 for a drug dealer to escape the gallows.
My wife, who in 2001 was detained overnight in the women’s section of the police lockup, the same night I was arrested, spoke to one Indonesian woman who was on her second drug dealing arrest. The first time she and her husband were arrested they had to pay RM500,000 for both of them to get released. They were trying to arrange another RM500,000 to get out of this second arrest. So that came to RM1 million for two arrests. Imagine how much they must be making dealing in drugs. More importantly, imagine how much the police are making each time they get arrested.
I spoke to many of my Chinese businessmen friends and they admitted that it is easier to do business when corruption is involved. This saves time since you can bypass the normal requirements and get your applications approved much faster by just bribing the government officers. Sometimes, when you are not ‘eligible’, you can become eligible by paying bribes. So bribes actually help when faced with certain obstacles -- and there are definitely many 'obstacles' when dealing with governments in third world countries like Malaysia.
When corruption does not affect you directly you are not too concerned about it. It is like crime. As long as the robbers do not break into your home to rob you and rape your wife or daughter then who bothers too much about the high level of crime? It is when it is you that is hit that you become outraged about the high crime rate and the low level of police enforcement and lack of effort to combat crime.
Is it not those who suffer or suffered from cancer, or have lost a loved one to cancer, who gets involved in anti-cancer movements or associations? How many of us who never had to face cancer would want to donate generously to the anti-cancer effort? We never bother about something that does not affect us. And the same goes for other things as well, such as corruption and whatnot.
But corruption does affect us, contrary to what many may be thinking. Sometimes it affects us directly. Most times, indirectly.
An average of ten people die each day on Malaysian roads. Many more are seriously injured or maimed, sometimes resulting in them no longer being able to work and earn a living. The main reason for this is that Malaysians do not know how to drive.
Now, let there not be any confusion over this statement. Malaysians may have a valid driving licence. But Malaysians do not know how to drive. Do you know that in some European countries you can exchange your Singapore driving licence for a driving licence of your host country? But they will not accept a Malaysian driving licence. Malaysian driving licences tak laku (have no value).
I know someone, now deceased, who had a driving licence but could not even reverse her car out of the driveway. How in heaven’s name did she pass her driving test and get a licence if she can’t even reverse her car? And for sure she can’t drive.
Well, she told me. The driving school has two schemes. One is the ‘guaranteed to pass your driving test’ scheme -- which means you will pass your driving test and get a driving licence even if you can’t drive. The other scheme involves you taking the driving test and passing it all on your own.
The trouble with this legitimate scheme, though, is that even if you know how to drive they will still fail you as ‘punishment’ for refusing to participate in the ‘guaranteed to pass’ scheme. So it is better to pay, even if you can drive, and especially if you can’t, to be assured off a driving licence.
So, about ten people a day die on Malaysian roads because most of them have a driving licence but do not know how to drive. And those who die could be you, a family member, an office colleague, or a close friend. In short, that person who died in the traffic accident could be someone you know or someone close to you.
Therefore, corruption does affect you when you lose someone because of corruption -- or if it is you who dies. If this person were forced to learn how to drive properly before being given a licence then maybe he or she would still be alive today. I have personally lost scores of friends and relatives due to traffic accidents over the last 50 years or so. Sometimes it is their fault. The sad part is when the accident is someone else’s fault and you are a victim of reckless or inconsiderate drivers who have absolutely no road sense whatsoever.
I have also lost people dear to me due to poor medical facilities. There are not enough hospital beds in the intensive care unit or not enough dialysis machines or whatever, which results in poor medical facilities. And these people had to die because of this.
It is not that Malaysia does not have enough money to improve its medical facilities. It is that Malaysia spends the money for the wrong reasons -- and spends too much on top of that because there are kickbacks and commissions involved in every project and procurement. So medical facilities take a back seat and many of us have lost friends, colleagues and relatives because they were denied prompt or proper medical treatment.
If the money had not been wasted and had instead been spent for the right purposes -- medical and education being the two most important -- then Malaysia would be a much better place. As it is, our medical and educational facilities are below the so-called first world infrastructure that we are so proud of.
We have the best weapons. We have fantastic bridges, buildings and roads. Heck, we even have submarines now. But we are extremely lacking when it comes to medical and educational facilities. And health and education are far more important than all those white elephants and monuments that swallow billions but bring no income to the country, as would most white elephants and monuments.
Cars cost a lot in Malaysia. That, again, is due to corruption. If the government allowed a free-for-all in the car industry then cars would cost much cheaper than they do now. But they can’t allow a free-for-all. They can’t because cronies of those who walk in the corridors of power are making a lot of money from the car import permits and whatnot. So Malaysians have to pay double what they should actually be paying for their cars. But their salaries are not double what they should be.
So you end up a slave of your car instead of the car being your slave. You work for your car when your car should instead be working for you. And because of the sorry state of public transport you have no choice but to own a car. You just can’t get around without a car like you can in so many other countries.
After paying for your car what do you have left at the end of the day? Most times, because of your car, you can’t afford a decent home. Malaysians are actually very poor. The cost of living is so high while the salaries are very low. And corruption keeps Malaysians poor.
So perish the thought if you thought corruption does not affect you. It does, in more ways than you realise. And only naïve people would believe that corruption does not personally affect them or is actually beneficial to business. Malaysians are paying a heavy price for corruption. And the worse thing is we do not even realise we are paying.
Malaysians pay billions in all forms of taxes. But a lot of this money does not come back to us. It gets flushed down the toilet. Billions are lost -- RM30 billion by some estimates. And this is our money. Imagine if we had to pay only RM0.30 for a litre of petrol or RM1.80 for a packet of cigarette or RM50,000 for a Honda Civic. Would you not have more money left in your pocket? Nowadays, your money is finished by the tenth day of the month and you have to wait another 20 days for your next paycheque.
Don’t even start talking about saving money for a rainy day. This is just not possible. Corruption has taken away all your money whereas considering how rich this country is we should not even be asked to pay taxes or, even if we are, it could be a very minimum level that hardly hurts us.
For decades, the opposition has been fighting for the government to set a fair minimum wage appropriate to the cost of living. But the government does not agree to the RM900 per month minimum wage proposal.
In fact, even RM900 is still too low. Countries like the UK have announced that the minimum wage will now be adjusted to about RM35 per hour. That is what some Malaysians earn in a day. Yet the price of cigarettes in the UK is almost the same as in Malaysia. And so goes for many other things as well -- while cars are half the price or less compared to Malaysia.
No, Malaysians are poor. You earn so much less and have to pay so much more. Then corruption takes away what little you have left. And Malaysians still believe that corruption does not affect them directly.
And that is why I am of the opinion that PAS is not focused. They should be addressing the core issues. And the core issue here is corruption and how it affects us. Banning beer or sexy singers from appearing on stage does not offer Malaysians a better life. Even if beer and sexy singers are banned Malaysians will still remain poor. And we will remain poor because our money is being plundered and our low salaries and high taxes do not allow us a decent life.
Prophet Muhammad declared war on riba’ (usury). Riba’ basically means making money from no effort of your own. And, according to Sheikh Imran Hossein, there are 80 levels of riba’, corruption being one of them (since corruption involves making money in a dishonest manner and from no effort of your own).
But PAS does not declare war on corruption. PAS declares war on beer and sexy women. PAS does not understand that corruption and poverty is the real enemy. Poverty enslaves us. Corruption makes us even poorer.
PAS should take up the Prophet’s real fight, the fight against corruption and poverty. And poverty is the breeding ground of corruption. When you are broke one week after receiving your salary you need to resort to corruption to survive. 10月7日 55 Interesting Facts about Racism In MalaysiaReceived this on emails .... interesting indeed ...
This is the definition of 1Malaysia? 1Region and 1World???
Updated March 31, 2006
9月6日 EATING FRUIT and how to cope with heart attack symptomsEATING FRUIT and how to cope with heart attack symptoms If you eat fruit like that, it will play a major role to detoxify your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities. FRUIT I S THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD. But eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice. If you should drink the juice, drink it mouthful by mouthful slowly, because you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it. You can go on a 3-day fruit fast to cleanse your body.. Just eat fruits and drink fruit juice throughout the 3 days and you will be surprised when your friends tell you how radiant you look! Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. 7月20日 五种水千万不能喝水是人类赖以生存的、不可缺少的重要物质，人可一日无食但不可一日无水，但是并非所有的水都可以饮用，以下五种水某种程度会形成亚硝酸盐及其他有毒有害物质，会对人体产生一定的危害，因此应引起注意。 老化水：俗称“死水”，也就是长时间贮存不动的水。常饮用这种水，对未成年人来说，会使细胞新陈代谢明显减慢，影响身体生长发育；中老年人则会加速衰老；许多地方食道癌、胃癌发病率日益增高，据医学家们研究，可能与长期饮用老化水有关。有关资料表明，老化水中的有毒物质也随着水贮存时间的增加而增加。 千滚水：千滚水就是在炉上沸腾了一夜或很长时间的水，还有电热水器中反复煮沸的水。这种水因煮得过久，水中不挥发性物质，如钙、镁等重金属成分和亚硝酸盐含量很高。久饮这种水，会干扰人的胃肠功能，出现暂时腹泻、腹胀；有毒的亚硝酸盐还会造成机体缺氧，严重者会昏迷惊厥，甚至死亡。 蒸锅水：蒸锅水就是蒸馒头等剩下的水，特别是经过多次反复使用的蒸锅水，亚硝酸盐浓度很高。常饮这种水或用这种水熬稀饭，会引起亚硝酸盐中毒；水垢经常随水进入人体，还会引起消化、神经、泌尿和造血系统病变，甚至引起早衰。 不开的水：人们饮用的自来水都是经氯化消毒灭菌处理过的，处理过的水中可分离出13种有害物质，其中卤代烃、氯仿还具有致癌、致畸作用。当水温达到90℃时，卤化烃含量由原来的每公斤53微克上升到177微克，超过国家饮用水卫生标准的2倍。专家指出，饮用未煮沸的水，患膀胱癌、直肠癌的可能性增加21％~38％。当水温达到100℃，这两种有害物质会随蒸气蒸发而大大减少，如继续沸腾3分钟，则饮用安全。 重新煮开的水：有人习惯把热水瓶中的剩余温开水重新烧开再饮，目的是节水、节煤（气）、节时。但这种“节约”不足取。因为水烧了又烧，使水分再次蒸发，亚硝酸盐会升高，常喝这种水，亚硝酸盐会在体内积聚，引起中毒。 什么东西不能一起吃?狗肉+绿豆 同食会胀破肚皮，吃空心菜三两颗可以治愈。 6月3日 Chronic StressDo you have stress—or does stress have you?
Chronic stress is described by the American Psychological Association (APA) as “the stress of unrelenting demands and pressures for seemingly interminable periods of time.” It’s the ever-mounting, everyday tension that has become of symptom of modern life. The APA further notes that “stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide.” Stress correlates with these and dozens of additional medical conditions—from a ringing in the ears to ulcers, stroke and even AIDS—because it compromises the immune system, increasing susceptibility to illness. Among the most compelling evidence of this is a landmark study from 1991 by Sheldon Cohen, a psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University, who exposed subjects to viruses that cause the common cold. He found that the frequency and severity of colds were directly related to the amount of stress the subjects reported. Read the APA’s description of different kinds of stress here.
It is well known that an acutely stressful situation can precipitate a brief spike in blood pressure. However, the assumed link between job stress and chronic high blood pressure, or hypertension, has been called into question. In an article published in the May 2006 issue of Current Hypertension Reviews, Dr. Samuel J. Mann of Cornell University stated that “after decades of research, the evidence for a relationship between job stress and blood pressure is weak.” Mann reviewed 48 studies involving more than 100,000 subjects and found the results too inconsistent to identify job stress as a dominant and direct cause of sustained high blood pressure. Now, stress at work may lead to problems such as overeating, weight gain, or alcohol abuse — all of which increase the risk of high blood pressure. But these are indirect causes, whereas Mann addressed the direct relationship between pressure in the office and pressure in the bloodstream.
“There’s nothing you can say about stress that’s generic or applies to everybody,” says Dr. Paul J. Rosch, president of the American Institute of Stress. For instance, deadlines at work may be daunting for one person while the pressure spurs creativity in another. One mother may regard a baby’s cry as beautiful and life affirming while the sound literally drives another to drink. Dr. Rosch explains that people manage identical situations differently using the analogy of a roller coaster ride. “Some of the people are in the back seats with their eyes shut, jaws clenched, and they can’t wait for the ride to end. But up front you have the wide-eyed thrill-seekers yelling and relishing every steep plunge—they race to get on the very next ride. And in between you might find a group for whom the ride was just boring. So, was the roller coaster ride stressful?”
As described in the roller coaster scenario, stress is perception. What distinguished the people in the back from the people in the front was the sense of control they perceived. Stress is all about the subjective response to loss of control. That’s not to say a mortgage payment, a traffic jam or Thanksgiving dinner with the extended family doesn’t present a real problem. The way stressful circumstances are ultimately perceived and managed determines whether they adversely affect your health.
There’s no sure-fire exercise that reduces stress in everyone. When seeking any stress-reduction technique, pay attention to what promotes the therapeutic response you seek. A physiological result of healthy exercise is the release of endorphins, which reduce pain in the body and counter the effects of hormones identified with stress. But while one person benefits from the endorphin release following an aerobic workout, another may be soothed by the rhythmic movement of a rowing machine, and another may simply enjoy the escapism of wearing headphones while walking around the block. Others engage in group sports and activities, supporting the widely held theory that social interaction is an excellent stress buffer. 5月26日 FOODSTUFFS THAT KEEP YOU YOUNGFOODSTUFFS THAT KEEP YOU YOUNG Spinach contains the pigment lutein, present in the retina, which helps maintain the health of the eye. Tomatoes contain the anti-oxidant lycopene, which can protect the skin from UV damage from the sun. Purple or red berries - such as blueberries, raspberries and strawberries - are full of anthocyanins which can help protect against diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and help maintain strong arteries. Oily fish, such as fresh water salmon, herring, mackerel and sardines, and also flax seeds and linseeds, are the main source of omega-3 fatty acids, which can delay the ageing process of the skin. Water: drinking more aids digestion and elimination; drinking too little can harm the complexion. ...AND SOME THAT AGE YOU Carbonated drinks - along with tea, coffee, sugar, red meat and alcohol - can push the body's balance towards the acidic, meaning that alkaline minerals (such as calcium) are removed from bone stores to balance it, weakening the bones. Restricting them may help you keep stronger bones. Nightshade vegetables - potatoes, tomatoes, chillies, aubergine and peppers - while often healthy in other respects, contain a chemical that studies suggest can activate pain and inflammation associated with arthritis. Avoiding these foods may help reduce it. Refined carbohydrates - such as white bread, white rice, sugary cereals, pasta and noodles - contribute to the development of type II diabetes, which accelerates the ageing process and, if not controlled, can lead to a wide range of other health problems. Pigs' feet: the new superfoodAs Britain's spending on cosmetic surgery soars, Fiona MacDonald Smith suggests it's time that we chopped and changed our diet instead The latest anti-ageing food? Pigs' trotters. That's right, you heard it here first. In New York, the most talked-about new opening of the past couple of months has been a Japanese restaurant called Hakata Tonton, where 33 out of the 39 dishes contain pigs' feet.
The reason for this, according to its owner, Himi Okajima, is that they are rich in collagen, the protein responsible for skin and muscle tone, more recognisable to beauty addicts in the form of face creams and fillers. "Collagen helps your body retain moisture," says Okajima, who has introduced a chain of restaurants specialising in collagen cuisine in Japan. "Your hair and skin will look better, but it's not just for looking beautiful now. If you begin eating collagen in your thirties, you will look younger in your forties." Maybe this sounds a little improbable ("It's news to me," sniffs Lisa Miles of the British Nutrition Foundation. "I've certainly never heard of eating collagen") but Okajima believes he is on to something. Figures published last month show that British spending on cosmetic surgery is the highest in Europe, hitting nearly £500 million in 2006, four times more than in 2001. Isn't there a cheaper solution? Couldn't eating the right foods, in the right way, be a simpler, and ultimately more long-term way to stay looking and feeling younger? "You are what you eat," says nutritional therapist Ian Marber, aka The Food Doctor. "You can't turn the clock back but you can slow things down. Every cell replicates from RNA and DNA. In order to keep the DNA in good condition, you want to protect cells from harmful free radicals. And for this you need to eat fruit and vegetables, which contain vital anti-oxidants like vitamins A, C, E and zinc. "It doesn't have to be expensive," he adds. "I know people go on about so-called 'superfoods' which have a greater concentration of anti-oxidants, but two apples a day will give you plenty of vitamins and fibre. You just need to ensure a varied diet." "The key is to remember we're omnivorous," agrees nutritionist Christian Lee, who is the national trainer for the Dr Nicholas Perricone cosmetics and nutrition empire. "Have you ever noticed how women age more rapidly than men? That's because they don't eat enough protein. The days you don't eat protein are the days you age. The body can't store protein, but it needs it for cellular production and function. "At each meal you should be able to hold up three fingers and say 'I've got a good source of protein (lean fish or poultry, nuts, seeds or tofu); an essential fatty acid (Omega 3 or 6, so that's coldwater oily fish, flaxseeds, linseeds) and a low glycaemic carbohydrate (fruit, vegetables, and wholegrains like quinoa, buckwheat and oatmeal)'. If you can say that, you're on the right road." Perricone, a dermatologist, became America's most famous anti-ageing specialist with his "Three-Day Nutritional Face Lift", which extolled the virtues of eating wild Alaskan salmon twice a day, claiming its essential fatty acids would banish puffiness and tighten the skin. Uma Thurman, Heidi Klum and J-Lo are all fans. In his new book Ageless Face, Ageless Mind, which has yet to reach the UK, Dr Perricone's team assert that up to 40 per cent of wrinkles are caused by dietary sugar. "When you eat high glycaemic carbohydrates like bread, cakes and pasta, they turn into sugar in the blood so fast that the pancreas can't respond with enough insulin and the blood becomes saturated with sugar," argues Christian Lee. "The sugar needs to go somewhere so it attaches itself to the cell membranes. When it does this to collagen molecules in the skin, it causes the collagen to become stiff and immobile and that's the birth of the wrinkle. The bad news is that it doesn't end there - the sugar then pumps out free radicals, causing a double whammy of damage. The good news is you can prevent it - either by cutting out sugar or by taking a supplement of alpha lipoic acid, which is 400 times stronger than vitamin C and E combined." So ditch the sugar, but don't forget the pigs' trotters.
10月11日 Warmth makes the world more humidThe atmosphere is becoming more humid in a pattern consistent with man-made climate change, researchers have found.
Their study, reported in the journal Nature, confirms the global increase in humidity found in previous studies. They say that the pattern of humidity increases in various parts of the world resembles that projected by computer models of man-made global warming. Water vapour is a greenhouse gas, and it is thought that having more of it in the air could amplify temperature rise. The major report released earlier this year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that this amplification was the largest "positive feedback" mechanism they had identified. Previous research has shown that humidity increases in Europe, a response to higher temperatures, were amplifying the temperature rise by about a factor of two. Stormy waters In the new study, researchers from the University of East Anglia and the UK Met Office's Hadley Centre analysed a dataset of humidity measurements made across the world. Data came from weather stations, ships and buoys, painting a global picture.
The scientists compared the global and regional trends with the projections of a computer model developed by the Hadley Centre, which estimates the relative influences of natural cycles and increased concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Human-induced changes, they calculate, have been the bigger factor behind the global humidity increase seen since 1975. "This confirmation that humidity and temperature are increasing as expected has important implications for future human health and comfort," observed the Hadley Centre's Peter Thorne, one of the research team. It could also have important implications for extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones and rainstorms. Some of the scientific team were involved in another study, reported in July, which showed that human-induced climate change was behind trends of increasing and decreasing rainfall noted in various parts of the world. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7038278.stm Published: 2007/10/10 17:34:54 GMT 10月10日 Cest La VieWhenever I find the key to success, someone changes the lock.
The road to success??.. Is always under construction.
Alcohol doesn't solve any problems, but if you think again, neither does Milk.
In order to get a Loan, you first need to prove that you don't need it.
All the desirable things in life are either illegal, expensive or fattening.
Since Light travels faster than Sound, people appear brighter before you hear them speak.
Everyone has a scheme of getting rich?.. Which never works.
If at first you don't succeed?. Destroy all evidence that you ever tried.
You can never determine which side of the bread to butter. If it falls down, it will always land on the buttered side.
Anything dropped on the floor will roll over to the most inaccessible corner.
As soon as you mention something?? if it is good, it is taken?. If it is bad, it happens.
He who has the gold, makes the rules ---- Murphy's golden rule.
If you come early, the bus is late. If you come late?? the bus is still late.
Once you have bought something, you will find the same item being sold somewhere else at a cheaper rate.
When in a queue, the other line always moves faster and the person in front of you will always have the most complex of transactions.
If you have paper, you don't have a pen??. If you have a pen, you don't have paper?? if you have both, no one calls.
Especially for engg. Students----
You will pick up maximum wrong numbers when on roaming.
The door bell or your mobile will always ring when you are in the bathroom.
After a long wait for bus no.20, two 20 number buses will always pull in together and the bus which you get in will be crowded than the other.
If your exam is tomorrow, there will be a power cut tonight.
Irrespective of the direction of the wind, the smoke from the cigarette will always tend to go to the non-smoker.
9月28日 How men change (Just for Laugh, might be extremely true though)depending on case to case basis though
The gradual change in men after they get married…. The Love Word: Back from Work:! Phone Ringing: Cooking: New Dress: TV: Making Love:
4月13日 What's making us so sleepy? Experts debate the causes and cures of fatigue.Having trouble getting out of bed? Wish you could put your head down on your desk for some shut-eye after lunch? You're certainly not alone ‑- "energy" is at the top of the list of frequently used search words at iVillage.com. In this roundtable discussion, four experts from four distinct disciplines share their views on why Americans are suffering an energy crisis, and what we can do to relax, rejuvenate and renew. In your experience, what is the number-one cause of fatigue? Joan Borysenko, PhD, Psychologist: People are so busy they don't sleep enough. We are an incredibly sleep deprived nation. And we're losing out on sleep because we shortchange ourselves to give to others. Then we end up exhausted and trying to do for others from a depleted place. Elizabeth Somer, MS, RD, Registered Dietician: Several things contribute to fatigue, but the first thing is eating erratically. By that I mean skipping meals, especially breakfast, and taking in too much sugar and caffeine. When you skip breakfast, you are much more likely to battle physical and mental fatigue during the day. If you grab a doughnut, a Pop Tart or a cup of coffee, you feel good temporarily, but then your energy takes a nosedive. I have also learned that people who are tired all the time are often just dehydrated. The first symptom of dehydration is fatigue.
Kenneth Cohen, Qigong Scholar and Teacher: A lack of downtime. Society today believes that people need to be constantly productive. Our bodies are in overdrive. Our stress response has become chronic. Our ancestors would have brief periods of nervous-system overdrive when they encountered danger. Today, the stresses never seem to disappear. The residual effects of stress ‑- low energy, nonrestorative sleep, libido that's too high or too low and anxiety disorders ‑- are epidemic in the U.S. Mark Hyman, MD, Holistic Doctor: People don't realize that food and energy are connected. I recommend people look carefully at how they nourish themselves on a physical and a spiritual level. Caffeine, sugar, alcohol, trans fats and processed foods are all energy depleting. Sugar particularly depletes your energy because it raises insulin levels, and blood sugar goes up and down, causing fluctuation of energy. It creates insulin resistance, a big problem that affects conservatively 50 to 100 million Americans. The symptoms are feeling hungry all the time, craving carbs or sweets, gaining weight around the middle and experiencing hypoglycemic symptoms ‑- shaking when you haven't eaten for a while and irritability. It can lead to panic attacks, cognitive problems, memory deficit, risk of heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's.
Are the causes different for women? Joan Borysenko: For women, the biggest cause of fatigue is the inability to stay no. When we say yes to ourselves we feel guilty because we're going to have to say no to someone else. Out of compassion, we tend to give ourselves away to everybody else. You have to really learn to discern when you need to say no, because if you give any more of yourself away, you're going to start losing energy, losing focus and making yourself crazy. Women need to understand clearly the difference between compassion and codependence. You can't solve other people's life problems by continuing to give to them. If they can't stand on their own two feet, your picking up the pieces for them is going to disempower them. That distinction is not pre-wired. It has to be learned. Elizabeth Somer: Women tend to battle sugar cravings more than men. Women are also more tuned in to their bodies' feelings and energy levels. Men can eat junk ‑- they just don't realize it's affecting them as much. Men also eat more so they are less likely to have deficiencies.
Depending on what study you read, anywhere from 20 to 80 percent of women in their menstrual years are iron deficient. They may not be anemic, but they're tired, they can't think, they're not sleeping well and they're more susceptible to colds. They reach for coffee but what they need is iron. Kenneth Cohen: Just by virtue of their biology, women have always been more attuned to slower and more natural cycles, so I think women are even more adversely affected by the pace of life today. Mark Hyman: Women tend to have more carb problems, more thyroid problems and tend to be more sensitive to adrenal stresses. It's partly biological, but partly psychological. Women are more sensitive to their bodies, and when something's not working they tend to pay attention, whereas men will ignore symptoms until they're almost dead. What simple things do you recommend for getting your energy back? Joan Borysenko: From a spiritual point of view, we have to do more of what makes us feel connected and less of what makes us feel disconnected. My prescription is being out in nature. It's why I live on top of a mountain. We can't all live in a gorgeous place, but we can bring nature inside. Being close to natural beauty, even if it's a vase of flowers, has a way of restoring our energy.
You also have to be clear with your boundaries. What you hear on my answering machine is that you may hear back from me and you may not, it could take months and please don't take it personally. You have to tell people the truth about your life and let them deal with that accordingly. Elizabeth Somer: Start eating breakfast, even if you're not hungry. You should be hungry in the morning ‑- it's been 8 to 12 hours since you ate. Eat every four or five hours throughout the day. Bring food with you so you don't end up at the vending machine. Combine quality carbs with a little bit of protein at every meal ‑- whole grain cereal with milk for breakfast, a bowl of vegetable soup and half a turkey sandwich at lunch, salmon, brown rice and a vegetable for dinner. Drink your water earlier in the day rather than later so you're not up all night running to the bathroom. Make sure that you get several sources of iron rich foods throughout the day, such as lean red meat, chicken, fish, cooked beans and peas. Satisfy your sweet tooth with fruit and other real foods ‑- for example, a dried, pitted prune with an almond inside tastes like a sweet, chewy candy bar. Quit drinking coffee after about one in the afternoon, because it may be interfering with your sleep, making you tired before you even get started. And try a solid, moderate-dose multivitamin and mineral supplement to fill the gaps on those days when you don't eat perfectly.
Kenneth Cohen: We can't control some things, like the pace of our life and the needs of our job, but we can change our reaction to them. I teach people how to relax. It sounds like a cliché, but it's not simple. In Chinese medicine there's a concept called "sinking and relaxing" that I teach my patients. When you are sitting at work or standing in line at the movies, imagine all tension in your body is flowing downstream like water on a hillside. Imagine the tension in your face and neck sinking down and out through the feet. Then focus on the tension in the shoulders, back, organs, hips, buttocks and thighs until you reach the feet. Something else we can do to change our response to stress and make us feel more in control is to slow down our breathing. The average resting respiratory rate in the United States is 17 breaths per minute. The optimal rate of resting respiration is about seven breaths per minute. The best way to slow down the breath is with something called belly breathing. When you inhale, let the diaphragm drop and the belly move out as the air flows in. Allow it to happen very gently ‑ it's not something to force. When we let the belly expand, it may not look as good as our flat-belly-obsessed society would like, but our breathing is much deeper and slower. When our breathing slows, our pace slows, our stress hormones drop, and we eventually become more intuitive, creative and aware.
Mark Hyman: Change your diet. Cut out sugar, alcohol, caffeine and trans fats. Eat protein in the morning to reduce cravings for carbs later in the day. Eat more fiber, more omega-three fats, more whole foods and stop eating three hours before bed. You can see huge changes really quickly in terms of energy and weight loss. It's often dramatic. Regular exercise is critical ‑- even just taking a walk ‑- and so is sleep. I can't tell you how many people who come to see me tell me they're tired. When I ask them how much they sleep, they say six hours. Take a good multivitamin to get over being nutritionally stressed. And finally, find ways to deal with stress, such as yoga, meditation or other mind-body therapies. But the most important thing for people to realize is they need to listen to their body, even when they don't like what it is saying. When you're tired, pay attention and do whatever you need to feel better. We have a biological need for periods of rest and restoration. I encourage people not to see it as a lack of productivity but as essential to their productivity.
What do you do when your own energy is flagging? Joan Borysenko: I go for a walk outside. If it's in the middle of a busy workday, you will often find me taking a five-minute break, doing laps up and down my driveway. I also drink a bunch of water. Elizabeth Somer: I eat regularly. There is also a type of fatigue I feel that's a bone-draining fatigue. When I feel that way I know I'm dehydrated. I drink three or four glasses of water and wait an hour. Kenneth Cohen: I do tai chi. It doesn't take a lot of energy to do, but it gives you a lot of energy back. I also like to go out into nature. If my energy gets low, just being outside in natural sunlight is wonderful for restoring energy. I also listen to music that I feel is uplifting. I'm a Mozart fanatic. Mark Hyman: I have a secret treatment I give myself that's phenomenally effective. I take a steam shower, very hot, for 10 minutes. Then I fill the tub with really cold water and sit in the tub. It brings me right back to where I was first thing in the morning. The process takes 15 minutes and I get about three or four hours of energy from it. Energy Booster DietIf you drag yourself out of bed in the morning, can't function without gallons of coffee and run out of gas every afternoon, then an energy-boosting food plan is right for you. Instead of relying on caffeine or a trip to the candy machine for a fleeting burst of artificial energy, choose healthy foods to rev up your engine. Here's how the Energy Booster Diet will keep you energized all day long: • The right combination of carbohydrates, protein and fat eaten at regular intervals will help keep energy levels high. This diet includes balanced meals designed to boost your energy throughout the day. • Eating healthy snacks will help keep your blood-sugar levels even so that you don't have energy "highs" and "lows." This meal plan includes tasty food suggestions to eat every three to four hours to keep your energy level from falling. • Not drinking enough liquids can cause you to feel fatigued due to dehydration. That's why this diet includes fruit juices and skim milk with every meal choice, rather than ultra-sugary sodas or sweetened beverages that can cause energy lows. • Eating fried or fatty foods can make you feel sluggish. This food plan emphasizes natural, unprocessed foods like fruits and vegetables that won't slow you down.
BREAKFAST option two option three LUNCH option two option three DINNER option two option three SNACKS: Eat one of these snacks mid-morning, mid-afternoon and in the evening if you're still hungry and active. Remember to eat every three to four hours throughout the day to keep energy levels high. • 1/2 cup dried fruit mixed with 1/4 cup nuts Healthy Dos and Don'ts: Do: Don't:
Weighing Your Well-BeingHow happy are you? Lots of people—economists, sociologists, politicians, scientists, and advertisers, among others—wish they had some way to measure happiness, both public and private. Is it true that money won’t buy happiness? Are executives happier than their employees, or is it the other way around? Does happiness go with good health? The National Institute on Aging has funded a project that tried to devise a “National Well-Being Account,” which would supplement the GNP, the great statistical machine that counts up goods and services. A group of researchers, whose findings have just been published in Science, came up with a tool called the DRM, or Day Reconstruction Method. They simply asked people to reconstruct in detail what they had done the previous day. The subjects were 909 working women in Texas with varying ethnic backgrounds, an average age of 38, and average household in-come of $54,700. (They had some reason to feel positive—they had jobs, and they weren’t poor, though not rich either.) The researchers did not ask the women general questions—how happy they were, whether they loved their children or their jobs, or whether they were reaching their goals—just what they had done the previous day and how they had felt while doing it.
What made them happy, hour by hour? At the top of the list were interactions with friends, relatives, and spouses (or significant others). Interactions with their kids came in fourth, and being with the boss was way down on the list. The activities that made them happiest included sex, relaxing with friends, watching TV, and praying or meditating. Cooking and housekeeping scored low, but not at the bottom. What could ruin their day? Poor sleep was a big culprit. And having to commute to work alone. The researchers concluded that big measurements of health and wealth don’t tell the whole story about how happy people are. Indeed, Americans may be battling something known as the “hedonic treadmill.” That’s a phenomenon observed in the developed world, and it means, roughly, that the more you have, the more you want, and that even a huge increase in income may not increase life satisfaction. Indeed, in the study of the Texas women, those at the high end of the income scale were not notably different, in well-being quotients, from those at the low end.
If there’s a lesson here for anybody but social scientists, it may be that rather than concentrating on the big picture (“Am I healthy, wealthy, successful, good-looking?”), it may be helpful to look at yesterday, all by itself. Reconstruct what you did and how you felt about it. Try to analyze what you enjoyed. And didn’t. You may discover that little things (such as not sleeping well, having a hard commute, or not liking your boss) may adversely affect your happiness more than you thought. And perhaps you can do something about one or more of these problems. Or you may discover that even if you have huge problems, you can still achieve happiness on a daily basis.
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