Healthy Meal - Tuna Pasta

Tuna is loaded with vitamins and nutrients, low in saturated fat and is an amazing source of protein.

 

10 facts about Tuna:

 

1. Protein

You always hear about eggs and various meats being a high source of protein, but did you know that fish is also high in protein? One of the nutritional highlights of tuna is its high protein content.  23 grams of protein in a serving size of three and a half ounces. Protein is good for the blood, skin, hair and nails.

 

2. Stroke

Tuna can help you avoid the risk of having a stroke. A recent study has shown that adults who include one to four servings of fish as a part of their regular diet had a 27 percent lower risk of having an ischemic stroke. Five or more servings of fish per week reduced the risk of stroke to 30 percent.

3. Blood Pressure

Tuna has omega-3 fatty acid, which helps prevent high blood pressure. Studies have shown that foods, like tuna, that contain omega-3 fatty acids helped test subjects maintain healthy blood pressure. Those who have yet to develop high blood pressure experience an even stronger beneficial effect from omega-3 fatty acids.

 

4. Lower Triglycerides

With just two servings of tuna a week, you can lower your triglyceride levels. Why is that a good thing? Triglyceride in the bloodstream indicates the amount of fat being carried. If you have a high level of triglyceride, you are probably also experiencing high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad cholesterol," and low levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL), or "good protein." To make things simple, you basically want more HDL and less LDL, and eating tuna to lower your triglyceride level is one way to accomplish this.

 

5. Good for the Heart

A measure of heart rate function known as heart rate variability (HRV), can be increased by eating tuna. Again, the omega-3 fatty acids of tuna help improve cardiovascular health by increasing HRV. Omega-3 fatty acids also protect your heart from developing abnormal heart rhythms that can be fatal.

 

6. Heart Disease

A good and healthy consumption of tuna can lower the risk of coronary heart disease. The fact that tuna can help improve the ratio of HDL to LDL in the body allows it ward off an increased risk of heart disease, especially when substituted for foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol content.

 

7. Obesity

Another benefit of the omega-3 fatty acid found in tuna is its ability to reduce the risk of obesity while improving the body's insulin response. Omega-3 fatty acid is able to stimulate a hormone called leptin, which helps the body's metabolism while regulating the body's weight and food intake. Tuna is also low on the glycemic index (GI) with a GI rating of 0, and is low in both calories and fat, making it a good food choice for those struggling with obesity.

 

8. Immune System

Tuna is a good source of selenium, an antioxidant that helps improve the body's immune system. The immune system is a vital part of the body that is integral for fighting off sickness, diseases and infections.

 

9. B Vitamins

The B vitamins present in tuna help to build and maintain red blood cells and increase energy. These water-soluble vitamins increase the rate of metabolism, strengthen the immune system and help keep the skin healthy.

 

10. Cancer

Tuna, and other fatty fish, have been shown in studies to reduce the risk of breast cancer in test subjects who ate it regularly. Other studies have shown that fatty fish, like tuna, have helped reduce the risk of kidney cancer.

 

When looking for a source of lean protein, tuna is an excellent choice. The fact that it is low in both fat and calories makes it an excellent substitute for dairy products and meats that have a higher fat content.

 

 

Warning:

One thing to keep in mind when eating tuna, aside from the mercury content, is a high sodium intake. A three and a half ounce serving of tuna contains 37 milligrams of sodium. High sodium intake can negate the health benefits of tuna by causing high blood pressure, stroke, kidney problems and heart disease. Keep this in mind when seasoning your tuna to avoid an excess of sodium intake.

 

Too much of anything is always bad.

Driving and Cellphone Use

Probability and statistics can help a person be more informed about situations they usually neglect. Probability and statistics can be enough to save a life, a child, a family, or even a nation. Let’s use statistics and probability to help us take a better look at what really happens to people when they text while they drive.

The Truth

Texting while driving has become one of the most dangerous habits that has turned into a national epidemic. It quickly became one of the country’s top killers. Drivers assume they can handle texting while driving and remain safe, but the numbers don’t lie.

 Texting While Driving Causes:

1. 1,600,000 accidents per year – National Safety Council

 2. 330,000 injuries per year – Harvard Center for Risk Analysis Study

 3. 11 teen deaths EVERY DAY – Ins. Institute for Hwy Safety Fatality Facts

 4. Nearly 25% of ALL car accidents

 

Texting While Driving Is:

1. About 6 times more likely to cause an accident than driving intoxicated

 2. The same as driving after 4 beers – National Hwy Transportation Safety Admin.

 3. The number one driving distraction reported by teen drivers

 

Texting While Driving:

1. Makes you 23X more likely to crash – National Hwy Transportation Safety Admin.

 2. Is the same as driving blind for 5 seconds at a time – VA. Tech Transportation Institute

 3. Takes place by 800,000 drivers at any given time across the country

 4. Slows your brake reaction speed by 18% – Human Factors & Ergonomics Society

 5. Leads to a 400% increase with eyes off the road

Deaths caused by people texting while driving has become dangerously high, especially now that this world is consumed with gadgets, smart phones, and cell phones.

Cell phone use - especially texting - has become so ingrained in society that far too many people ignore laws banning the practice. A 2008 study by the mobile industry’s trade association CTIA found that among teens ages 13-19, 57% view their cell phones as key to their social life, and most view texting as a vital feature.

But teens are not the only ones to be blamed doing this act. According to a Pew Research study, adult drivers are text messaging while driving too. Compare the following statistics for teenage drivers and adult drivers:

 

Teens and Cell Phones:

75% of American teenagers own cellphones and 66% of these teens text message.

82% of teens between 16 and 17 have a cell phone.

34% of teens who text message admit to texting while driving.

48% of teens say they have been a passenger in a car whose driver was texting.

 

Adults and Cell Phones:

 82% of adults have cell phones.

47% of adult cell phone users report texting while driving.

27% of all adults report texting while driving.

49% of adults report they have been a passenger in a car when the driver was texting.

44% of adult report they have used a cell phone in a car in a manner that puts themselves or others at danger.

17% of adults report bumping into something while driving when using a cell phone.

 

But even without the statistics and the facts, driving while texting has always and will always be a risk made that can cost permanent situations; that includes death.

Patrols showing that talking on a cell phone while behind the wheel is the leading factor contributing to crashes blamed on inattentive drivers. Furthermore, in the US, there are reports that distracted driving played a role in nearly 6,000 deaths and 500,000 injuries in 2009.

Physiologically, there are three different kinds of distraction, say experts: visual (taking eyes off the road), manual (taking one or more hands off the wheel), and cognitive (mental attention.) Texting involves all three, which a July 2009 study from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute shows increases the risk of a crash 23.2 times higher than non-distracted driving – higher than driving while intoxicated.

 

How Do We Solve This?

 One of the key of reversing this horrible trend is awareness. Statistics, probabilities, and facts are used for further awareness and education about the situation. The more people knows what’s really happening, the more they’ll be able to think twice about the habits they’ve accustomed to do.

Statistics and probabilities can change and even save lives for the better. Information is important and should be used for the greater good of this country and the next.

Health - p198

1.       What is health consumerism?
Health consumerism is a factor that improves the life of the people. It’s about consumers and what they know about health education.

2.       Why is information about products and services related to health becoming a problem for consumers?

One of the main problems about this is the lack of information consumers have about health products. People lacking information about what they consume or buy can directly affect their health negatively. It can and may even cause death.

3.       Explain the meanings of the following terms:

a. Quackery – the promotion of ignorant, unsafe, and unproven medical practices.
b. Fraud – a fake or a person to pretend to be someone he’s not.
c. Faddism – a nonmedical method of treating the sick. This treatment makes us of unknown and non-scientific diagnosis and treatment of disease.
d. Fallacy – a mistaken belief based on unproved information
e. Fake healers – is similar to a quack doctor. He/she uses his superstitions, beliefs, and methods to heal his/her clients.

4.       Explain the system of evaluating the choice and purchase of health products.

The system usually starts with the consumer deciding if he trusts the product he’s about to buy. To evaluate thoroughly, the consumer must have enough information to prove that the product is safe, at the right price, has been made from good resources, good quality, and has a trustworthy brand.

5.       What is the importance of the agencies that take care of the safety of the consumers?

They are important for these agencies help protect the health of consumers against dangerous and incorrect information of products.

6.       In your opinion, what may happen if these organizations do not exist? Why?

In my opinion, if these organizations cease to exist, more and more people are either dead, overdosed, unhealthy, or sick because of lack of information about products and its proper usage or intake.

7.       What are the responsibilities of the consumer?

It is a consumer’s responsibility to be alert and critical about the prices of goods and services they use to create them. It is also a responsibility to be aware of the impact of consumption on other citizens. It is also important to understand the environment consequences that are consumed to make the products consumers use.

8.       Why should citizens be concerned about the environment?

They should be concerned because it is a human being responsibility to preserve his source of life for his generation and the next.

9.       What are the rights of the consumers?

It is their right to basic products and services with a guarantee of safety, sufficient food, dwelling place, care for health, education, and cleanliness. It is the right of the consumer to be protected against deceptive advertisements. It is also their right to choose the products and services at fair prices and of high qualities.

10.   As a young citizen, why should your rights as a consumer be given importance?

My rights as a consumer should be given importance because young citizens are what make a country’s future. If young citizens perish because of lack of rights, responsibilities, and information as a consumer, this country and even the world will fall into chaos.

Review - Magnifico

Magnifico is a 2003 Filipino FAMAS Award-winning drama film directed by Maryo J. De los Reyes, written by Michiko Yamamoto, and starring Jiro Manio, Lorna Tolentino, Albert Martinez, Gloria Romero. The film was shot in the province of Laguna and is based on the grand prize-winning piece from a 2001 national screenplay writing contest sponsored by the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

 

Plot

A couple begins to lose hope and courage when faced with life's adversities - a daughter who suffers from cerebral palsy, a son who loses his scholarship, and a young boy named Magnifico or Ikoy, who is not so good in school.

But Ikoy has a good heart and a large spirit that allows him to give joy to hopeless people in their community and magically transforms their lives for the better. When Ikoy's grandmother is discovered to have stomach cancer, which has reached the last stage, he sets out to provide her with a proper funeral when the time comes for her passing. However, hardships arise to accomplish his task and he is ultimately left with an ironic fate.

 

Review

Magnifico is a film where a viewer falls in love with the characters and the way they fight just to live. Magnifico or Ikoy, is a boy who’s heart is big beyond measure and who’s thoughts are nothing but kind. The movie truly changes the way a person looks at life.

Something as small as a carousel ride, or the smile of a sibling, or even an embrace of a grandmother begin to feel more important than the regular concerns of life. The viewers get to really see the realistic life conditions people face and how they face it.

The story's plot is complicated but simple enough for people to relate to it. It's heartwarming but at the same time heart wrenching. It's a movie that provides a sense of deep sadness yet fill each viewer with the same hope Magnifico has.

It's an amazing film of  kindness, generosity, death, chance, forgiveness, and love.

 

Dragon's End - Game

Dragon's End is a game that can be played by participants from ages 10 and up. It's a small card game with basic rules. It can be played among 3-5 people.

 

The objective of this card game is to form a short story. Each player picks a card during his/her turn and uses the word on the card in a sentence to start or keep the story going. The main rule is, a player is allowed only one sentence each turn.

 

There should be a mediator on this game, dictating where the story is located, the genre, and the situation of the story. The mediator can say things like: "It's a cold winter morning and there's a fire in the neighborhood..." or "Three friends see ghosts on an alleyway and began to scream..."

Once that is said, players can start the game and pick a plot card once it is his/her turn. A plot card cannot be reused.

These are plot cards. There are 32 plot cards each with a unique word that can either be a noun, a name, a verb, or an adjective. Per turn, a player picks up one plot card and starts up or continues  the story using the word on the card. The player's main objective is to form a sentence within 10 seconds to continue the story or the sentence the player before him/her said.

The mediator is in charge of "assisting" or making sure the story will still make sense especially when players start adding their own twists to the story.

There are 6-7 plot cards that have a star marked at their backs. When a player picks up a plot card with a star, they get to pick one plot twist.

 

 

There are seven existing plot twists in the came. These cards are sentences with blanks on them. If a player is to pick a plot twist, it means they have to use the sentence during their turn.

There's always a 10 second time limit. If a player hasn't formed a sentence to continue the story within 10 seconds, he/she is eliminated from the game.

The story only stops when a player picks up an "End" Card or if the game runs out of cards.

 

 

 

There are four End Cards that are mixed with the plot cards. The person who gets the End Card has to think of the ending of the story. If he/she could think of a good ending of the story, he/she wins the game.

 

You cannot end or form a new story until the story that has started is over.

Dragon's End is a game that will test your wits, creativity, and story telling. :)

Have fun!

Health - Fast Food Restaurants

 

 

The Bacon Clubhouse Burger (also available as a Bacon Clubhouse Chicken Sandwich) features a Quarter Pounder beef patty, lettuce, tomato, pasteurized white cheddar, bacon strips, caramelized onions, and Big Mac sauce all on a new artisan roll.

Nutrition Facts:  Calories: 720 / Calories from Fat: 360 / Total Fat: 40g / Sat. Fat: 15g / Trans Fat: 1.5g /Cholesterol: 115mg / Sodium: 1470mg / Carbs: 51g / Dietary Fiber: 4g / Sugars: 14g / Protein: 39g

Assuming it has your regular burger, it was probably made with the use of a lot of preservatives, chemicals, and artificial flavors. The bacon steams and sizzles with oil enough to make your throat sore. The lettuce and tomato look fairly fresh and the mayonnaise and cheese are seasoned just right for it to match the burger patty.

 

The Fillet-O-Fish is a similar to a regular hamburger, only the burger  is replaced with a deep fried fish fillet with  enough pickles and mayonnaise to overflow and drip slightly at the sides of the buns.

Nutrition Facts:  Serving size: 142 g / Calories: 390 / Calories from Fat: 170 / Total fat: 29g / Saturated Fat: 9g / Trans Fat: 0g / Cholesterol: 40mg / Sodium: 590 mg / Carbohydrates: 39g / Dietary Fiber: 2g / Sugars: 5g / Protein: 15g

It tastes fairly good and the fillet isn’t as drenched in oil as one would imagine. The fish fillet is crispy and dry enough that the mayonnaise and pickles complement it perfectly. It’s a light snack that one can eat in between meals.

 

The Big Mac has both patties topped with iceberg lettuce, finely chopped onions, pickles, and special sauce. The bottom patty gets a slice of golden American cheese that wilts around the lower bun.

 

Nutrition Facts:  Serving size: 212 g / Calories: 540 / Calories from Fat: 250 / Total fat: 28g / Saturated Fat: 10g / Trans Fat: 1g / Cholesterol: 80mg / Sodium: 970 mg / Carbohydrates: 47g / Dietary Fiber: 3g / Sugars: 9g / Protein: 25g

It’s a McDonald’s classic and almost everyone has ordered at least on Big Mac in the life. There’s nothing really special about the burger except the fact that it has this familiar taste of beef and sandwich mixed together.

 

Research

The websites of McDonald’s worldwide do provide nutritional facts but it’s still not enough to trust the food they serve.

In 2008 in a McDonald’s  branch in Massachusetts, a fourteen year old girl found a vaccination needle in her cheeseburger. Investigators soon hypothesized that it came from a slaughterhouse.

Soon more cases where people found peculiar items in meals served at McDonald’s emerged. Other “complementary” items people have found in their  meals include a condom, a band-aid, maggots, and chards of glass.

Research has shown that eating McDonald’s more than twice a week increases people’s risk in developing Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity by 70%.

Unfortunately, unhealthy contents and side-effects are not the only problems with meals from McDonald’s. One of the major problems it poses is that fact that it is addicting.

Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute of California have confirmed that McDonald’s is as addictive as cocaine. The high sugar content of their fast food over stimulates the production of dopamine, which unlocks the brain’s reward pathway in the same way that hard drugs do. Excessive fast food consumption has now even led to the creation of rehabilitation courses for people with binge eating disorders and fast food addictions.

Consuming fast food meals constantly is far from healthy and can lead to diseases, sicknesses, addiction, obesity, and in worse cases death.

Now think about what you eat.