Taking shot against the food items contamination

We know that laws are hardly followed in Pakistan for food items. Government has dedicated departments and authorities for this purpose but they are not doing well. As a mature citizen we should try at our end to give tough time to those who are involved in food items contamination as it is destroying us as a nation. 

I recently submitted the milk sample for testing in laboratory of UVAS. It has good testing facilities with very nominal charges. I daily buy milk from a shop who claim to have good quality of milk and i thought to test their claim for my satisfaction.

I got a sample of about 200 ML raw milk and submitted at UVAS lab. They took a day to perform tests for various contamination components in milk. Next day of submission i got the verified report and a good surprise that milk was free of contamination like urea, detergents and starch etc.

It was a good experience and just to mention that if contamination was positive then i was going to submit the report in Punjab Food Authority office. We should take interest and spend some time to deal such problems. It will mobilize the Govt authorities as well and  will have good impact.

15 Things You Should Know About Pigs

Pigs are not liked in Islamic Sharia. Their use as food, pet and in industrial items is strictly prohibited. Most of people only know that they have bad nature but many of their secrets are unveiled by science and some are yet to come. Read following points and you will thank Allah that He guided us to abstain from it. 

• A pig is a real garbage gut. It will eat anything including urine, excrement, dirt, decaying animal flesh, maggots, or decaying vegetables. They will even eat the cancerous growths off other pigs or animals. 
• The meat and fat of a pig absorbs toxins like a sponge. Their meat can be 30 times more toxic than beef or venison. 
• When eating beef or venison, it takes 8 to 9 hours to digest the meat so what little toxins are in the meat are slowly put into our system and can be filtered by the liver. But when pork is eaten, it takes only 4 hours to digest the meat. We thus get a much higher level of toxins within a shorter time. 
• Unlike other mammals, a pig does not sweat or perspire. Perspiration is a means by which toxins are removed from the body. Since a pig does not sweat, the toxins remain within its body and in the meat. 
• Pigs and swine are so poisonous that you can hardly kill them with strychnine or other poisons.
• Farmers will often pen up pigs within a rattlesnake nest because the pigs will eat the snakes, and if bitten they will not be harmed by the venom. 
• When a pig is butchered, worms and insects take to its flesh sooner and faster than to other animal's flesh. In a few days the swine flesh is full of worms. Swine and pigs have over a dozen parasites within them, such as tapeworms, flukes, worms, and trichinae. There is no safe temperature at which pork can be cooked to ensure that all these parasites, their cysts, and eggs will be killed. 
• Pig meat has twice as much fat as beef. A 3 oz T bone steak contains 8.5 grams of fat; a 3 oz pork chop contains 18 grams of fat. A 3 oz beef rib has 11.1 grams of fat; a 3 oz pork spare rib has 23.2 grams of fat. 
• Cows have a complex digestive system, having four stomachs. It thus takes over 24 hours to digest their vegetarian diet causing its food to be purified of toxins. In contrast, the swine's one stomach takes only about 4 hours to digest its foul diet, turning its toxic food into flesh. 
• The swine carries about 30 diseases which can be easily passed to humans. This is why God commanded that we are not even to touch their carcase. 
• The trichinae worm of the swine is microscopically small, and once ingested can lodge itself in our intestines, muscles, spinal cord or the brain. This results in the disease trichinosis. The symptoms are sometimes lacking, but when present they are mistaken for other diseases, such as typhoid, arthritis, rheumatism, gastritis, MS, meningitis, gall bladder trouble, or acute alcoholism. 
• The pig is so poisonous and filthy, that nature had to prepare him a sewer line or canal running down each leg with an outlet in the bottom of the foot. Out of this hole oozes pus and filth his body cannot pass into its system fast enough. Some of this pus gets into the meat of the pig.
• According to Jewish law, pork is one of a number of foods forbidden from consumption by Jews. These foods are known as "non-kosher" foods. In order for a meat to be kosher, it must first come from a kosher animal. A kosher animal must be a ruminant and have split hooves - therefore cows, sheep, goats and deer are all kosher, whereas camels and pigs (having each only one sign of kashrut) are not kosher. 
• Quran, Holy book of Muslims also prohibits consumption of pork. "He has made unlawful for you that which dies of itself and blood and the flesh of swine and that on which the name of any other than Allah has been invoked. But he who is driven by necessity, being neither disobedient nor exceeding the limit, then surely, Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful." Quran 2:173 I cannot understand why anyone would eat it. You might as well vacuum all day and then take the vacuum bag and make a nice soup out of it. " Of course our Creator has given us the health laws through the Holy Quran and not eating pigs is even CLEARLY mentioned in the Bible (Leviticus 11:07) But some humans think they are more intelligent than the Creator so they choose it.

Personality improvement handbook

At start of new year make sure to implement steps to improve your personality. Start with following tips

• Don ' t compare your life to others.
• Don ' t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

Health handbook

At start of new year every one have new priorities. It would be great if we give more priority to our health. Start with following tips

• Drink plenty of water.
• Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
• Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
• Live with the 3 E ' s -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
• Make time to pray.
• Play more physical games than computer games.
• Read more books than you did in 2009 .
• Sit in silence and alone for at least 10 minutes each day.
• Sleep for 6-7 hours.
• Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile.
  

PUT THE GLASS DOWN TODAY!

I read this small story, it has great impact. Hope same would be impact for you also.

Professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see & asked the students
How much do you think this glass weighs?
'50gms!' .... '100gms!' .....'125gms'. The students answered.

Interview with a doctor

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways. Most of doctors prohibit their patients from various type of foods but here is an interesting interview with a doctor, who have different opinion. I hope medical license of such doctor is going to be canceled at any moment

Challenge you

I came across an interesting situation when tried this simple task. I put this challenge to my blog readers.

• Sit down on seat
• Lift your right leg
• Start rotating your right foot clock-wise
• Also lift your right arm now
• And start drawing circle in anti clock-wise direction through your right hand
  

The challenge is that you can not rotate the right foot clock-wise and right hand anti clock-wise at the same time. Your foot will automatically change the direction to anti clock-wise. Its amazing and it is a proof that how much man is helpless in case of built-in instincts and restrictions.

Water drinking manners in Islam

Sleeping manners in Islam

Bed settings of prophet peace be upon him

Swimming appreciated by prophet peace be upon him

Sunnah of prophet peace be upon him for dress

Neck Exercises

The neck is given special attention by the yoga practitioners, since they realize that it plays a large role in health and vitality.

The neck is important for two main reasons. Firstly, since the nerves from the neck go to the eyes, ears and brain, a spinal misalignment in the neck can cause vision and hearing problems, as well as problems such as headaches and poor sleep. Secondly, since major blood vessels pass through the neck to the brain, a neck misalignment can put pressure on the blood vessels and reduce the blood flow to the brain. This is a very common cause of chronic fatigue.

Learning to Breathe Correctly

We do deep breathing while asleep. Hence a simple way to learn how to breath properly is to simulate sleep. Lie down, close your eyes, relax the whole body, drop the chin and imagine that you are asleep, thus letting your breathing become deeper and deeper.

In Yoga deep breathing, you start filling the lower part of the lungs first, then you fill the middle and upper part. When exhaling you first empty the upper part of the lungs, then the middle, and last of all the lower part.

This process, however, is not divided into three separate actions. Inhalation is done in one smooth continuous flow just as one might pour water in filling a glass. First the bottom is filled, then the middle, and finally the upper portion. But the process itself is an uninterrupted one. Inhalation should be done in one continuous operation both the inhalation and the exhalation. Do it slowly and in a most relaxed manner. No effort or strain should ever be exerted. This is very important. Keep mouth closed.

Eye Exercises

The yoga practitioners attach special importance to eye exercises, for two reasons.

Firstly, a lot of eye problems in later life are due to a loss of tone in the eye muscles. These muscles become rigid, and this loss of elasticity reduces the ability of the lens of the eye to focus at different distances. It also causes the eyesight to become weaker. These exercises tone the eye muscles up and keep them elastic. If you already have eye problems when you begin these exercises, you will find your eyesight improving after a few months.

Secondly, any eye tension present will tend to produce a general feeling of tension, due to the eye's connection to the brain via the optic nerve. What happens is that eye tension produces an increase in the nerve impulses in the eye muscles. This increase in nerve impulses travels along the optic nerve and bombards the brain, causing a general feeling of tension and anxiety. The eye exercises will reduce tension in the eye muscles, as well as reduce general tension.

Traditional Breathing Techniques

We will look at some traditional breathing techniques. The purpose is not to suggest rigid techniques that needed to be followed blindly. Knowledge of these methods may be more important than the explicit directions themselves. The methods are subject to some variations. These helps you to establish and practice healthful rhythms. You may also gain additional insights into the nature of the breathing processes, and how to attain additional relaxation through them.

The Complete Breath

Most of us use three or four kinds of breathing. These may be called high, low and middle breathing and complete breathing. The complete breath is a combination of high breathing, mid breathing and low breathing.

A Breathing Exercise for Good Posture

This is an excellent exercise for the waistline or a weak back, but even more for stooped shoulders. It should be taught to all children at home and at school to counteract their tendency to slouch, for slouching, in addition to being ugly, develops a bad and unhealthy posture as it prevents the lungs from expanding as they should. It is a great exercise for beginners along with alternate nostril breathing described below.

Stand straight with feet together. Put your hands behind your back and interlock the fingers, palms upward. Now turn the palms down. This will automatically give a twisting movement to your elbows.

Inhale deeply, then bend forward, while exhaling, at the same time raising the arms until they are stretched out. Do not bend the elbows, which should remain straight throughout. Keep your head down, trying all the while to swing your arms a bit higher and higher.

Remain a moment in this position, holding your breath; then slowly return to the standing position without unlocking your fingers. Repeat the whole exercise two or three times.

Another version is done in a kneeling position. The procedure is the same, except that here you bend over until your forehead touches the floor.

Herpes drug inhibits HIV in patients infected with both viruses

Researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), McGill University have discovered how a simple anti-viral drug developed decades ago suppresses HIV in patients who are also infected with herpes. According to Dr Gotte, HIV/herpes co-infection rates are very high and carry significant health burdens for those patients who are already coping with HIV. "In co-infected individuals, HIV disease progression is enhanced by the presence of herpes," he explained. The NIH team discovered that in the presence of herpes virus, acyclovir actually attacks HIV directly and is able to suppress its reproduction.

Sight as you age

The lens consists mostly of water and protein and when the protein clumps, it clouds the lens and reduces the light that reaches the retina. The clouding may become severe enough to cause blurred vision. Most age related cataracts develop from protein clumping.

A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision. Most cataracts are related to aging. Cataracts are very common in older people. A cataract can occur in either or both eyes. It cannot spread from one eye to the other. In a normal eye, light passes through the transparent lens to the retina. Once it reaches the retina, light is changed into nerve signals that are sent to the brain. The lens must be clear for the retina to receive a sharp image. If the lens is cloudy from a cataract, the image you see will be blurred.

Although most cataracts are related to aging, there are other types of cataract:

• Secondary cataract: Cataracts can form after surgery for other eye problems, such as glaucoma. They also can develop in people who have other health problems, such as diabetes. They are sometimes linked to steroid use. 

• Traumatic cataract: Cataracts can develop after an eye injury, sometimes years later.

• Congenital cataract: Some babies are born with cataracts or develop them in childhood, often in both eyes. These cataracts may be so small that they do not affect vision. If they do, the lenses may need to be removed.

• Radiation cataract: Cataracts can develop after exposure to some types of radiation.

As we age, some of the protein may clump together and start to cloud a small area of the lens, this is a cataract. Over time, the cataract may grow larger and may cloud more of the lens, making it harder to see.

Researchers suspect that there are several causes of cataract, such as smoking and diabetes. Or, it may be that the protein in the lens just changes from the wear and tear it takes over the years.

How can cataracts affect one's vision?

Age-related cataracts can affect one's vision in two ways:

One; clumps of protein reduce the sharpness of the image reaching the retina. The lens consists mostly of water and protein and when the protein clumps up, it clouds the lens and reduces the light that reaches the retina. The clouding may become severe enough to cause blurred vision. Most age related cataracts develop from protein clumping.

When a cataract is small, the cloudiness affects only a small part of the lens. You may not notice any changes in your vision. Cataracts tend to grow slowly, so vision gets worse gradually. Over time, the cloudy area in the lens may get larger, and the cataract may increase in size. Seeing may become more difficult. Your vision may get duller or blurrier.

Second, the clear lens slowly changes to a yellowish/brownish colour, adding a brownish tint to vision.

When are you most likely to have a cataract?

The term 'age related' is a little misleading. You don't have to be a senior citizen to get this type of cataract. In fact, people can have an age related cataract in their 40s and 50s. But during middle age, most cataracts are small and do not affect vision. It is after age 60 that most cataracts steal vision.

The risk of cataract increases as you get older. Other risk factors for cataract include:

• Certain diseases such as diabetes.

• Personal behaviour such as smoking and alcohol use.

• The environment such as prolonged exposure to sunlight.

What can one do to protect his vision?

Wearing sunglasses and a hat with a brim to block ultraviolet sunlight may help to delay cataract. If you smoke, quit it. Researchers also believe good nutrition can help reduce the risk of age related cataract. They recommend eating green leafy vegetables, fruits and other foods with antioxidants.

If you are age 60 or older, you should have a comprehensive dilated eye exam at least once every two years. In addition to cataract, your eye care professional can check for signs of age related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and other vision disorders. Early treatment for many eye diseases may save your sight.

The most common symptoms of a cataract are:

• Cloudy or blurry vision.

• Colours seem faded.

• Headlights, lamps, or sunlight may appear too bright. A halo may appear around lights.

• Poor night vision.

• Double vision or multiple images in one eye. (This symptom may clear as the cataract gets larger).

• Frequent prescription changes in your eyeglasses or contact lenses.

These symptoms can also be a sign of other eye problems.

The symptoms of early cataract may be improved with new eyeglasses, brighter lighting, anti-glare sunglasses, or magnifying lenses. If these measures do not help, surgery is the only effective treatment. Surgery involves removing the cloudy lens and replacing it with an artificial lens.

A cataract needs to be removed only when the vision loss interferes with your everyday activities, such as driving, reading or watching TV.

Sometimes a cataract should be removed even if it does not cause problems with your vision. For example, a cataract should be removed if it prevents examination or treatment of another eye problem, such as age related macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy. It is not as dangerous if it is been cared and treated well.

The debt-stress connection

Gas and food prices are sky-high, the stock market is down, and the housing market is in the doldrums. But can worrying about the health of your bank account really make you sick?

Graphic designer Joshua Lurie-Terrell, described himself as an easy going person. That is, he did until the market started tanking and he and his wife lost half of their retirement savings. "I never let stress run my life before. But ever since money got tight, I've found that I'm a prisoner to it," he says. He worries that if he fills up the gas tank, he won't be able to afford the movies on the weekend, or if he keeps paying for health insurance, he won't be able to get his wife the birthday present she wants.