Age is an issue of mind over matter.
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
__ Mark Twain
Most of us have heard about vitamin D here and there. Although many of us do not know exactly what vitamin D does, we understand vitamin D is essential to life. In this article, we will examine the importance of vitamin D and its myths.
1) Our Body Must Have Vitamin D The epidermal layer of human skin synthesizes a form of vitamin D3 called cholecalciferol when exposed to UV radiation (sunlight). The liver converts cholecalciferol to calcidiol, which is then converted to calcitriol (the active chemical form of the vitamin) in the kidneys. Vitamin D is essential for normal absorption of calcium and phosphorous, which are required for healthy bones. In addition to its essential role in bone health, vitamin D is essential for general immunity against bacterial, viral, and fungal infections. Lacking vitamin D can cause conditions like misshapen bones in children , also known as rickets and softening bones in elderly, also known as osteomalacia. Recent studies are also finding a link between insufficient vitamin D and cancer. 2) Vitamin D Supplemental Does Not Work Well As you see the process of synthesizing vitamin D above, it is a very complicated process in our body. The problem with supplemental, including milk, is that these products isolate and forge vitamin D as a single component. When we input that "final product" vitamin D directly to our body, it is simply not the same because we've skipped the whole process. There are also valid studies proving that drinking milk leads to high chance of bone fracture. You can check out the full study by reading the book "The China Study" by Dr. Campbell. 3) It Does Not Require High Intensity and Long Period to Acquire Vitamin D Naturally A common misconception of getting vitamin D naturally is that it requires a lot of time time and effort. This is simply not true. For a typical human, it only requires twenty minutes per week of sunlight exposure. The word exposure does not mean you have to go to the beach and do a sunbath. You can simply take a walk or sit next to a window in the presence of sunlight. Remember, it only takes minutes per week. Conclusion Vitamin D is extremely important, but is commonly overlooked. Getting natural vitamin D is easy, convenient, and free. The next time you're tempted to get that vitamin D supplement bottle, I hope you can instead consider taking a walk, which not only gives you great natural vitamin D, but also offers you a closer connection with our Mother Nature. Happy Living, The Kid
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Weight control is one of the most common issues that many Western adults face. In the recent years, there has been an explosion on drinking juices and detox.
Proponents of juicing and detox claim that by drinking the detox products, consumers will be able to cleanse their body system; hence, consumers will lose weight and become healthier. In this article, we will crack down the truth behind juicing/detox: 1) Low Content of Nutrition. The problem with juicing/detox is not much about what it gives you, but rather about what it does not offer. The pulp your juicer leaves behind hold MOST of the nutrition content including vitamin, minerals, and fiber. If you rely on juicing alone (a.k.a. detox) for nutrition, you will run short on good protein and hence, you will drop muscle weight. In short, juicing/detox is a waste! 2) No Cleansing Effect. Human body is an evolved machine. It automatically cleanses out toxics by using liver, kidneys, and digestive tract, which is designed to slowly digest complex food (especially vegetable), not watery juices. Remember, our digestive enjoys whole food and it prefers to take time to process food. 3) Expensive Non-Essential. Juicing is a lot more expensive than you think. It is mainly because you have to buy a lot more vegetable to get decent amount of juice. You also have to buy a juicer (machine). It is even more expensive when you subscribe for convenient juicing (either at retail or subscribing service). It is incorrect to say that juicing offers zero benefit. However, compared to eating whole food, juicing does not make sense. If you want to be the best version of yourself, go eat whole food and skip juicing/detox. Happy Living, The Kid We go back to the elementary school, where most of us, adults, learn how to brush our teeth. Nowadays, children can also learn taking care of their mouth from the internet. Let's face it: most people at some points during life make mistakes in their mouth hygiene routine.
Brushing your teeth right is the most fundamental thing to do in order to ensure your teeth serve you well throughout your life. Below are the most common mistakes that we (me included) make in keeping mouth hygiene: 1) Not Flossing. For folks, who dislike flossing, please bear with me. It is a very common mistake to think/believe flossing is optional. The truth is flossing is not only recommended, but more like mandatory. Flossing helps remove critical food particles and plague in your teeth. It also helps strengthen and massage your gum (I used to have gum disease because of not flossing) . If we have to put flossing into percentage of mouth hygiene, it would account for 50%. Like most healthy habits, it is not easy to get used to flossing twice a day, or always after eating. However, a lot of people have succeeded building the flossing habit by starting small. You can start by flossing a couple of teeth and increase the volume overtime. 2) Brushing Teeth Too Soon After Eating/Drinking. Your tooth enamel is the hard outer coating covering your teeth, protecting them from decay and erosion. After eating/drinking, your mouth becomes acidic, and your enamel is vulnerable. Brushing teeth during its acidic state can damage/remove the enamel. Before brushing teeth, It is best to wait 30 minutes after eating/drinking for your mouth to go back to normal state. It is also not a bad idea to drink plain water after consuming food/drink, especially those with sugary, alcoholic, or acidic content. 3) Using Too Much Force of Brushing. Most people believe, the harder you brush, the more clean it gets. This is a wrong perception. Brushing harder does not only bring extra benefits, but also is harmful because it can damage your enamel and gum. Instead, try brushing with moderate force of each teeth, following clockwise/counter-clockwise circle. It is almost like brushing a sensitive pearl. 4) Brushing Too Fast. Not only kids, but also adults, usually rush through the brushing process. Rushed brushing cannot allow enough time for the brush to remove the food particles completely. Brushing correctly requires a minimum of two minutes (30 seconds for each jaw quadrants). Treat your teeth for your best friends visiting you, and take your time to brush them patiently! 5) Extra Point, Avoid Consuming Sugary Content. Sugar is the number one enemy for your mouth health. Avoiding sugar means avoiding a lot of problems, as well as unnecessary trips to and money spent on dentists. Recent archeological evidence shows that Roman corpse had perfect teeth with no cavity, and their diet had little/no sugary content. Now you're armed with the needed knowledge to treat your mouth health with care, respect, and love. It is up to you to take an action. It is up to you to choose yourself! Happy Living, The Kid People love hot shower. It's sexy; it's relaxing; it simply feels good. When I grew up in Vietnam, hot shower was a fancy thing. Not many households have the luxury of enjoying hot shower since the water heating machines were expensive. Cold shower was very common and it is now a very good practice due to the following reasons:
1) Better Skin. Taking hot shower makes your skin dryer. On the other hand, cold shower polishes your skin and makes it smoother. My father is 70 years old and was and is still working hard labor in extreme condition, but after years of taking cold shower, his skin is still so smooth and cool, literally. 2) More Energy. While taking cold shower, your brain releases dopamine (chemical stimulating excitement similar when you eat good food or have sex). Why bother caffeine or energy drinks when you can simply take a cold shower. 3) Weight Loss. Most people argue hot shower helps with weight loss since it's "hot" then it should help you burn calories. This is a very wrong assumption. Your body has two heat layer: outer and inner. Taking hot shower increase your outer layer, hence your inner layer does not have to produce much heat. On the other hand, cold shower cools your outer layer; hence, it forces your inner layer produces more heat; thus, your body is forced to burn more calories. 4) Muscle Recovery. For folks who works out or do hard labor, cold shower is the holy grail helps you recover faster from soreness or injuries. No wonder armies or Shaolin monks take cold shower to the extreme (water falls, ocean swim, etc.) Now you have discovered the power of cold shower. If you are all into it, take your cold shower 100% from A to Z. If you want to test the water (literally), then finish your hot shower with 30-60 seconds of cold water. Happy Living, The Kid If you ask a health expert for advice, he/she would tell me 100+ things to do in order to improve your health by a certain percentage (hopefully, it is high enough to go through the expert's to-do-list). In this post, I will share with you one single thing that you should not abuse using your smart phone excessively. Medical reasons are:
1) Reduces Sperm Count. Okay, this has to do more with men (but ladies can also take note and let your male folks know). As humans enter modern era, sperm count is reducing, confirmed by various studies. Within research, it is found that carrying your phone in your pants' pockets (or lay phones nearby the "twin" balls) would reduce your sperm count by 50%. Put your phone in backpack or buy a wave-proof cover will help out a lot. 2) Reduces Sleep Quality. Many people carry their phone into their bedroom (including me and my partner). This is a terrible thing to do with your brain. Blue light (gamma) emitting from phones prevent your brain to go into sleep mode; hence, you will have harder time sleeping. 3) Reduces Concentration. Using phone on the road is particularly dangerous, especially texting (I bet you have seen enough public warnings about texting/driving). Also, studies have shown speaking on phone while driving reduces focus 50% as well. Using smart phone also increases risk of memory loss. 4) Increases Germs. As humans, we touch our face around 2000 times per day and other things (including infectious items such as door knobs, elevator buttons, etc.). Phone is a great place germs and bacteria rests. The more you use your phone (especially without washing hands and cleaning your phone), the more chance you have carrying dangerous micro foes. By no mean, I am not arguing to throw your phone into trash can. We still need smart phones for checking emails, using GPS, staying connected on social media, etc. Nonetheless, using smart phone in the wrong place (bedroom) or at the wrong time (driving) is detrimental to your health. Note: Bills Gates and Steve Jobs raised their kids tech-free. Happy Living, The Kid Please accept my sincere apology that I've borrowed the book title "The Case Against Sugar" from Gary Taubes. The reason is simply because no other title could possibly be clear enough. Consuming sugar is very dangerous due to the following reasons:
1) It Increases Your Blood Sugar Level. Your body produces glucose to balance daily sugar input. If you consume too much sugar, your body will be forced to produce more glucose, which ultimately jacks up your sugar level. This will increase your heart rate, reduce your metabolism, and many other sequential negative health effects. 2) It's Linked with Fatal Deceases. More and more studies are confirming direct and indirect linkage between sugar and cancers, diabetes, gout, heart conditions, etc. You can find scientific explainations from books such as "Why We Get Fat" or "The Case Against Sugar" by Gary Taubes. 3) It's not as Bad as Fat. Conventional knowledge says that fat, especially saturated, is bad for you. High density lipoproteins (HDL), according to doctors, is always a good thing and low density lipoprotetins (LDL), is always a bad thing. These are not wrong assumptions. Nonetheless, doctor's incentive is to educate you the obvious evil of fat, not the hidden harms of sugar. New England Journal of Medicine in 1967 were written by Harvard scientists who got paid to focus their criticism on fat instead of sugar. This did not prove sugar industry to be 100% evil (although they likely are), but they did and may still have something to hide or at least defend for. In summation, if you want to improve your body composition, you ought to consider to consume less sugar (or ideally none since sugar technically has almost zero nutrition value). I have never seen any professional athlete binge eating sugar and is still able to maintain outstanding performance. If you know one, please let me know. Happy Living, The Kid If you ask an average person about being healthy, typical answer would be exercising and eating healthy. Then you turn around and ask yourself, how I eat green stuff and go to gyms 5 days per week, but still can't compete at Olympic, Crossfit, or simply stronger than some of your friends. The last element of immortality is: environment.
Take a classic debate between treadmill and outdoor run. Many ordinary people prefer treadmill because it's convenient. However, professional athletes choose outdoor because of the wind resistance, the air pressure putting into their lungs (which helps lungs expand and contract), the tougher road condition (which requires better adjustment and reaction). Take the example to extreme level, passionate people put themselves into freezing tank for brain boosts, swimming under water falls, staying on high mountain for air pressure, etc. The point is you don't have to be so extreme. There is no need for exploring Himalaya or Sahara. However, if you decide to drive two miles to the gym to run two miles on a treadmill, maybe it is a good decision to run around your neighborhood. If it is a warm summer and you have a habit of taking hot shower, give yourself a shot at cold water. If you decide to run outdoor and it suddenly rains, don't let the weather demoralize you. Put yourself in a bit of being uncomfortable, and you will be rewarded. Happy Living, The Kid I could not breath at night. I could not breath at work. I felt heavy. I felt sick 24/7. What was wrong with my body for 4 years? Did I have cancer or something? I went to my family doctor, she said put a tennis ball behind my back and it would help. I spent $700+ on a chiropractor, and it was a waste. There was one point I thought I would die after a night sleep due to lack of oxygen. Until 2016, when one of my thousand searches gave me a simple cure with NO cost: intermittent fasting.
The concept is simple. You simply stop consuming food and calorie drinks for an extended period of time (usually minimum 12 hours, but I usually do 16 - at least 5 days per week). My first meal usually start at 12 PM and my last meal would end of 8 PM same day. The logic is similar to exercising where you burn a particular body part. In fasting, you pretty much exhaust all cells in your body, forcing your body to consume reserve "fat" as alternative energy. When combined with other special diets and strategies, such as plant-based or slow-carb (which will be discussed in details in other posts), intermittent fasting excels and will give you a feeling "lightness". For me, I was able to breath 90% better, felt 50% lighter, and was able to fit in my 32-waist jeans instead of 34. As far as I know, 80%+ world-class performers do intermittent fasting from military generals, celebrities, trainers, etc. Try out 12-hour fasting a week or two, and see how it shapes your health. Happy Living, The Kid I used to stay up until 5 A.M. to study or work on personal projects. Frankly, that was very stupid because I caused insomnia to my healthy body. Since then, I've been searching for various methods to enhance my sleep quality. Below are few that worked for me and many other readers (except alcohol and sex), feel free to pick out what you like and disregard the rest: 1) 10 minutes of Tetris. Recent research has showed that Tetris or other puzzle games (Candy Crush or Bejeweled) can help overwrite negative visualization, including insomnia. The reason is these games offer visually intensive, problem-solving characteristics. 2) Minimize contact with electronics. Our eyes are very sensitive all most visible lights. Most electronics device including computers and smart phones emit massive amount of "blue" (gamma) light. Studies have proved that it is best to stay away from electronic devices at least one hour before bed. One small trick you can use (but don't abuse it) is to turn on "night mode" on your devices. This will help reduce the blue light, but not the most optimal solution. 3) Complex math problem solving. Counting sheep is no longer a viable method for most modern insomnia cases. Instead, try to do more complex math problem, such as: 27x3+4= ? sheep. This forces your brain to "sweat" and get exhausted in a healthy way faster. 4) Darkness. Most people's rooms are not dark enough to sleep. Simply turn off your sleep light if you have one; cover up windows; or get a sleeping mask. There was a study in which people are in dark rooms to sleep, and while they were sleeping, scientists pointed lazer light to their knees or elbows, they actually picked up these lights with their hands. Remember, your place has to be completely dark. 5) Sleep enhancing drinks (not alcohol). According to Tim Feriss (author of 4-hour books), there are a few drinks you try. The first is mixture of honey and apple cider vinegar. This drink's effect has been verified by Seth Roberts, PhD. If you want to avoid sugar, an alternative option is Yogi Soothing Caremel Bedtime Tea. I've personally tried it and it worked very well (about $10 for 16 bags on Amazon). Last option is for final-level patients, California Poppy Extract. Just put a few drops into warm water. 6) Decompress your spine. Likely, you sit for most of day. Simply stand up once every hour will help relieve pressure on your back. Also, when you get home, try to decompress your spine more with various exercises (some exercise is dangerous and need spotter such as Teeter EZ-Up Gravity Boots) or tools (such as Teeter P3 Back Stretcher). 7) Softer Mattress. Modern humans are not as active as we used to be. Hence, we need to sleep on a soft surface. If you cannot sleep well, maybe it is time to get a new mattress. Some tips 1) avoid buying ones with only memory foam, it locks you into extension 2) lie on a bed for 5 minutes, if you cross your feet, your bed is too hard 3) If you need a pillow under your leg to feel good, your bed is too hard. 8) Avoid dairy and heavy meals (especially high sodium). Your stomach needs at least 3 hours to process these types of food. 9) Taking supplements/medication (nerd alert!). Magnesium threonate is a GABA inducer, therefore it improves sleep. Simply take 2 g of it on last meal before bed. Another option is glutamine and Rx probiotics. Happy Living, The Kid |
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