The Chinese dairy companies knew for months the melamine contamination

I love milk even if I am lactose intolerant. Lately, I have been hearing about this melamine thing in milk products, another dairy thing and news about this exploded like a bomb. I had just read the report from the Associated Press that the number of sick children in China had already jumped to nearly 53, 000 (May-August records). 

AP Photo

I do not know what melamine is. The report explained it to me:

Melamine, used to make plastics and fertilizer, has been found in infant formula and other milk products from 22 of China's dairy companies. Suppliers trying to cut costs are believed to have added it to watered-down milk because its high nitrogen content masks the resulting protein deficiency.

Li Changjiang, head of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine since 2001, had resigned a year after he and the government promised to overhaul the system in response to a series of product safety scares. He stepped down when investigators revealed that the Sanlu Group Co., the biggest producer of powdered milk in China, had received complaints regarding the illnesses in babies being blamed on its infant formula as early as December 2007! Months later, tests show that the milk was indeed tainted with the industrial chemical melamine which causes kidney stones and can lead to kidney failure. The report also read

Even then, Sanlu delayed ordering a product recall until Sept. 11, after the close of the Beijing Summer Olympics and in the face of rising concern from New Zealand partner Fonterra, which owns a 43 percent share in Sanlu.

Note that Sanlu received complaints since December 2007 but it won an industry award in January and featured on state TV last fall as a domestic company with tight quality controls!

According to The Huffington Post, there are at least 3 children who have died and more than 1,300 are in hospitals dozens of them are suffering from acute kidney failure.

Where can I get those good fats?

I find it not surprising that fruits are excellent sources of good fats. There are other foods the article Fats and Cholesterol: Out with the Bad, In with the Good has enumerated but I am looking for something that I could easily get my hands on. I settled with fish. Fishes high in omega-3 fats have become a charmer because of its good taste. I don't know why omega-3 is so essential until I read another of their article Omega-3 Fats: An Essential Contribution that says my body cannot make them and so I have to get them from food. According to that (latter) article, omega-3 fats are needed by  my cell membranes and influence the function of those membrane's cell receptors. They actually provide the starting point for creating hormones that regulate blood clotting, contraction and relaxation of the artery walls and inflammation. I can now see how they help reduce the risk of heart diseases and strokes, cancer and so on. Salmon is a good source of omega-3 fats. 

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They even posted a recipe for that. See here.  I sometimes love fresh fishes like salmon and tuna cooked in vinegar. Well, I don't really cook it because there is no heat involved. Just soaked in vinegar with onions and ginger then I let it stay in the refrigerator for hours. But sometimes I love to fry fish. So another question sprouted in my mind. Will omega-3 fats be destroyed if I fry the fish? Fortunately, Harvard University's School of Public Health is very kind they had another article Ask the Expert: Omega-3 Fatty Acids which gives a direct answer to my question. Dr. Frank Sacks said, "Not if the oil is fresh. In fact, even in frying oil that is used for days, you can still find ALA (alpha-linoleic acid, one major type of omega-3 fatty acids) in it. Hmmm..I'm craving for fish :).

Where can I get those bad fats?

I find fatty foods delicious but eversince I had read about cholesterol clogging heart veins, I feel guilty everytime I would eat something especially if I tasted something oily in it. It was a good thing that the Harvard University's School of Public Health has given a very good list of both good and bad fats sources. The 'Bad Fats' category in their e-article surprised me when I read that saturated fats are considered bad because my body can make all the saturated fat I need. Sources of saturated fats are meat, seafood, and whole-milk dairy products like cheese, ice cream and milk. It's hard for me to avoid this because most of the basic needs for cooking like vegetable oils, though it is mainly unsaturated fats, still contains saturated fats. Since I cannot avoid this, the best way that I can do is to keep my daily intake of these bad fats as low as possible. Another bad fats, the trans fats, are created by heating liquid vegetable oils in the presence of hydrogen gas (hydrogenation). Most trans fats come from commercially baked goods (like bread?), margarines, snack foods and processed foods and other fried foods served in restaurants and fast foods. Oh, it includes the delicious french fries :(. 

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According to that article entitled Fats and Cholesterol, Out with the Bad, In with the Good, trans fats are worse than saturated fats, and so the risk of having diabetes, heart disease, stroke and other fatal conditions is much greater. Visit their site for more details on bad fats.

What's the difference between fats and cholesterol?

When I read about eggs having significant amount of cholesterol relative to daily dietary cholesterol intake, I asked myself what is cholesterol? Can I use the terms 'fats' and 'cholesterol' interchangeably? I am used to eating cheeseburgers and fries (which I find so greasy) because they are 'fast foods', able to keep up with my time. So I got so concerned on this one. I tried searching for a reliable site which could explain to me what cholesterol is. And here's what I found. According to the KidsHealth site of Nemours Foundation, cholesterol is a waxy substance created by the liver and found in certain foods. Cholesterol is actually helping my body to make vitamin D and some hormones, build cell walls and produce bile salts needed to help digest fat! This is my first time to read a thing known to be bad as cholesterol doing me good. So the body produces just enough cholesterol to do these functions even if I don't take foods with cholesterol.

I searched again for academic sites that can help me in this. According to Harvard University School of Public Health, it is not the amount of fat I eat that causes certain fatal disease(s) but the type of fat I eat. This brought me back to that saturated and trans-fats I mentioned in my previous post. These two are actually bad fats, meaning they increase the risk of getting such diseases as atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries because cholesterol is deposited on the walls of arteries and forms a hard substance called plaque. Now over time this plaque narrows the arteries. That will cause complications that eventually lead to having a heart attack or a stroke (grabbed that one from KidsHealth). On the other hand, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are good fats which are fats that lower the chances of getting diseases.

This image is from ABC Health and Wellbeing site.

So where's the connection between fats and cholesterol? I went back to that Harvard University's article and it said that the biggest thing that could influence the cholesterol level in my blood is the mix of fats in my diet and not the amount of cholesterol I take. Their recommendation is to substitute good fats for bad fats. Also, avoid trans fats. Those are the keys to a healthy diet!

What really is the truth about eggs?

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I got so baffled by this 'egg' thing. All the while I thought eating lots of eggs can do you good. I have a friend undergoing body building whose trainor adviced him to take 7 eggs a day to help him build muscles. So I tried googling for 'truth about eggs'  from university sites and one article hit the nail right on the head. I come across a pdf version of the August 2004 issue of NOAHNET Wellness (Nutrition for Older Adults' Health) from The University of Georgia, Athens.  It directly answered my question 'What is the truth about eggs?' I learned that eggs are excellent sources of B vitamins, iron, protein and other nutrients. Egg yolks are very high cholesterol! Well, eggs are not the only source of cholesterol. There are foods without cholesterol that can increase our blood cholesterol like those with saturated and trans-fats. The American Heart Association recommends a daily dietary cholesterol intake to 300mg. Here's the big blow: one large egg has approximately 213mg of cholesterol! This means that if I eat an egg in a day, I must skip meats in other meals and go for a vegan dish. This way, I could keep my intake of cholesterol in a day well below 300mg. I can also constrain myself to 3 to 4 eggs per week. 

Are eggs good food gone bad?

I love the face of Ashley Judd. She emits that radiance and freshness everytime she smiles and her eyes get chinky -- that's what I like most! So I tried searching for an image that really shows those eyes. Here I found one.

Click here for the image source

One thing that interested me is the heading that says, "The 5'7'' actress owes her youthful glow to a dairy-free diet and morning meditation." The word dairy reminds me of only butter. So should I avoid butter? I tried googling for "bad effects of dairy". The first three scholarly article abstracts that I saw all mentioned eggs and their harmful effects if taken excessively. All mentioned cholesterol. I tried searching for the cholesterol content of eggs. According to the study done by the University of Michigan Integrative Medicine, unlike what you see in most dairy products packages or commercials, there is no established daily serving recommendation for eggs. The reason behind is the controversy eggs has gone through because of high cholesterol content of the yolk. But recent studies imply that dietary cholesterol has less effect on blood levels of cholesterol compared to intake of saturated or hydrogenated fat. Eggs are good sources of nutrients and can be considered a healthy choice if eaten appropriately. See the UMIM site for more academic details on eggs.

How do I convince my friend to drink water

Instead of giving her the good points of drinking water, I plan to tell her the negative sides of not doing it. What is thirst? According to [Rolls and Rolls, 1982, Thirst, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge], thirst is a subjective sensation that is aroused by lack of water, and usually people experiencing it report a dry feeling in the mouth and find that water tastes pleasant. That 'dry feeling in the mouth' is already an indicator of the body that it is dehydrated. They even stated that, "there is no doubt that salivary flow correlates well with the need for water." Deborah Boardly said, "waiting to drink until you're parched is a big mistake because that means your blood level is so low you are now drawing water from your salivary glands which in turn cues thirst." Therefore, we should not wait till we are thirsty before we drink water. One good way to pamper your body from the inside is to drink a glass of water with every meal and then take cups between meals. We can also bring water bottle whenever we go out so that in trips, they will always come in handy.

Why my friend (and some people) don't drink water

I can consume 1 glass to 1 liter per meal, depending on the food. If the food is spicy, my water intake is higher than normal. On the average, I consume 2 glasses of water per meal. That's how I love drinking water.

Not so with my close friend. She takes only half glass per meal, worst, she sometimes go lower than that. When I asked her why she drinks (water) so little, she curtly replied, "That's all I can take." I was trying to get her to my side cause I know water is beneficial to her. But she won't. I wonder why is it that some people are too resistive to drink. So I did a little study so that somehow I could convince my friends to do their bodies a favor and drink lots of water. Here's what I found according to study done by the New York and the iNternational Bottled Water Association.

Excuses why people don't drink water:

(1) not enough time (27%)

(2) don't feel thirsty (11%)

(3) don't like the taste of water (8%)

(4) forget to drink it (7%)

A researcher by the name of Barbra Levine suspects that they are really concerned about being able to go to bathroom (yes folks, just like in the movie Pursuit of Happiness).

Don't wait until you are thirsty. I found out the body is already dehydrated when it alarms thirst.

The Best Time of the Day to Exfoliate

Here, I am not referring to using chemicals to exfoliate my face. I mean exfoliating during bath. There are times when I can't really get rid of pimples. So I just let it be and let it dry. This takes sometime but no matter how I respect its growth on my face it will still leave a scar eventually turning into a dark mark. So how do I speed up the disappearance of these blemishes? There is nothing magical here that I have a scar today and the next day it's gone. No. One thing I noticed is that it takes much time for a pimple scar to disappear. Sometimes a year or more. So I just try to cut it down. One thing I do is scrub my face with a wash towel during bath. There's nothing special about the wash towel I am using. Below is the kind of wash towel I am using (that's white, just seemed discolored due to reflections).

What I do is I put soap (I use a liquid milk soap) on my face and then the rest of my skin. After that I will scrub my face with the wash towel. It is better when I do this at the end of the bath. That time, much loose skin is taken off compared to doing it at the first moment I wet my face. I do this only once a day. The skin needs some time to rejuvenate so I must be kind with it. I avoid scrubing it too much to the point that I feel pain. To do that is crazy. I exfoliate to clean my skin, not to open it to more dirts.. It feels sooo good after that natural exfoliation!

This is your new cube

DUE TO COST CUTTING, THIS IS YOUR NEW CUBE

EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 1, 2008  

NEW OFFICE POLICY

Dress Code:
1) You are advised to come to work dressed according to your salary.
2) If we see you wearing Prada shoes and carrying a Gucci bag, we will assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a raise.
3) If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore you do not need a raise.
4) If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a raise.

Sick Days:
We will no longer accept a doctor's statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

Bereavement Leave:
This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend the funeral arrangements in your place. In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early.
 
Bathroom Breaks:
Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet. There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the stalls.. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the stall door will open, and a picture will be taken. After your second offense, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under the 'Chronic Offenders' category. Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sectioned under the company's mental health policy.

Lunch Break:
* Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch, as they need to eat more, so that they can look healthy.
* Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure.
* Chubby people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that's all the time needed to drink a Slim-Fast.

Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints,
frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplations, consternation and input should be directed elsewhere.

The Management