Health & Home (September-October 2014)

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September-October 2014

CONTENTS 6 Cup Fillers From God’s Word

By Kay Kuzma

Start loading your heart with the powerful Word

8 Settle Debts Before Investing?

By Rose Fres Fausto Climb up and be free from the depths of debts

10 Staying Motivated This Rainy Season

By Andrew Cate Don’t hibernate! Keep going with these five strategies of action this rainy season

14 Excelling for the Master Teacher

By Marlou D. Borlasa An extraordinary dedication and service of an ordinary teacher

16 Health & Home Recognizes Loyal Subscribers in Pangasinan

By Lucile B. Tañalas A special day dedicated to Health & Home subscribers

18 Work at It!

By Roger and Peggy Dudley A blessed couple in a marital bliss is a work in progress

22 Blueprint for Retirement

By Peelbar F. Salarda Make your retirement hassle-free through right planning and preparation

24 Placing a Premium on Kindness

By Lucile B. Tañalas Finding kindness is a triple treat for today’s society

28 Spirituality of Money

By Victor M. Parachin Giving is a way of growing spiritually

32 Tiesa’s Amazing Surprises for Our Health

By Arlene May G. Corpus Transforming a disfavored fruit into something flavorful

34 Someone Passing You By?

By J. Grant Swank, Jr. Kindness may save a life

35 The Health Risks of Energy Drinks

By Sue Radd Despite their popularity, are energy drinks safe to drink?

36 Improve Your Study Habits

By Nylvie Loire A. Collamat Upgrade your grade through positive study habits

38 Pebble Pet

By Johanna C. Gallermo Make toy pets from plain pebbles

40 Oroquieta: The City of Good Life

By Maria Lynn Toledo-Sobong Discover the modest lifestyle this city offers

45 Legaspi Family: Environmental Education Stewards

By Lucile B. Tañalas Protecting planet earth is a family matter for Zoren and Carmina

26 Brains and Bents

By Arlene R. Taylor and W. Eugene Brewer Discover your prowess and succeed

Coming Up...

Selfie and the Balance Sheet • Reduce AGEs in Foods • Brain Dent: Biochemical Advantage • Patola: Delightfully Delicious • Sensible Ways to Celebrate the Holidays • Why Baptism Matters

Photos in this issue are by rogeRGSabio unless credited otherwise.

Cover photo by Gregg Yan

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COLUMNS 2 icontact 5 Toward the Mark

By Mamerto M. Guingguing II

Chance or Choice 13 Dear Doctor

By Linda L. Varona

Thyroid Storm 20 Consult Your Lawyer

By Silvino L. Sumagaysay, Jr.

E-mail Messages and Right to Privacy of Communication 21 Personal Answers

By Arnold C. Serra

Animation Addiction 31 Share a Thought

By Roger G. Sabio

A Life of a Working Student 37 Subscribers Section

By Ryan J. Martinez

Health & Home Salutes the Educators 39 Food for the Family

By Miriam R. Estrada

Spinach at Its Best!

42 Children’s Corner

By Lucile B. Tañalas

Thunder Trust 44 Word for the World

By Ryan J. Martinez

Stephen: The Man of Courage and Victory ABOUT THE COVER

Celebrity family Zoren, Carmina, Mavy, and Cassy unite in their mission to involve others in caring for Mother Earth. Read more about them on page 45.

Money Matters

Settle Debts

Before Investing?

By ROSE FRES FAUSTO

H

i Rose. I enjoy reading your Financial Intelligence Quotient and parenting articles. I also want to start investing now but I think I have to settle my debts first.

What do you think?—J.N. via email Hi J.N. Yes, I agree with you. If you have been carrying debts, which cost you money, the first step is to pay them off. Think of it this way, if you’re able to pay off your credit card debts that charge 3.5 percent per month, you just “earned” yourself an annual return of 42 percent! Where can you find an investment return like that?

Sometimes people are also afraid to touch their Emergency Fund to pay off their credit card debts because they want the security of having ready cash for emergency. However, please remember that while your credit card charges you 42 percent per annum (yearly), your Emergency Fund, even if kept in money

8 Health & Home September-October 2014

market placements, only gives you around 2-3 percent per annum So pay those loans, then start building your Emergency Fund again. If you have an existing home mortgage with a decent interest rate of 5-5.5 percent per annum, then I think you don’t have to wait to fully pay that before you can start investing. Just make sure that you pay your mortgage on time so you don’t incur penalties and other charges.

When I held a half-day workshop for the employees of a government agency, the Human Resources Director asked me to tackle the issue on debt management because she knows that a lot of their employees have debt problems.

She shared with me that their salaries are still given in cash instead of direct credit to employee ATM accounts. When I suggested that they shift to direct credit system in order to nudge their employees to save, she said, “We’re concerned that they might pawn their ATM cards!” I was surprised to hear this and learn that this

Placing a Premium on

Kindness

By LUCILE B. TAÑALAS

A

When you show kindne ss to others, you bring out the best in yourse lf, and a side-ef fect of brighte ning up somebo dy else’s life is to feel happie r in yours.

—Rashida Rowe, writer

Kin d n e ss is th e la n g u a g e w h ic h th e de af c a n h e a r a n d th e bli n d c a n se e.

—Mark Twai

au th or

n,

malnourished stray kitten rubs itself against the leg of a street child eating bread. He shares his bread with the hungry creature. When the kitten is full, it meows its thanks then walks away.

As the light rail transit moves forward, a matronly woman grasps a hanging handrail to steady herself. The “sleeping” man seating in front of her opens one eye then continues his pretense. Without any hesitation, the female passenger sitting beside him stands up and offers her seat.

The woman thanks her then adds, “Pagpalain ka nawa ng Panginoon”(“God bless you”).

Researches show that a kind act, freely given, is a health booster. Both the giver of the kind act and its recipient experience improvement in the functioning of the immune system and increased production of serotonin. What’s more amazing is that, even the person observing the act of kindness experiences the same health benefits. Indeed, kindness is a winwin-win scenario.* Even in the face of hostility and selfishness, we can choose to be kind. We have nothing to lose only possible gains—a smile, a hand of friendship, good vibes.

More importantly, when we are kind, we leave a legacy of good deeds for our children and others to follow.

Each day is an opportunity to show kindness. Let’s do ourselves a favor every day. Let’s make it a habit to do at least one random act of kindness to others. As Anthony Douglas Williams, researcher and author, said, “Do one act of kindness each day of the year and you have changed 365 lives.” *http://undergroundhealthreporter.com/act-of-kindness/#axzz35595B8lq

One of the most bea utif ul thin gs we can do is to help anothe r.

Kind nes s doe sn’t cost a thin g.

—Unkn own

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op le wh o In a wo rld fu ll of pe so m eo ne wh o be s, co uld n't ca re les Un kn ow n co uld n't ca re m ore—

Pebble Pet

By JOHANNA C. GALLERMO

I

have a collection of pebbles and stones. The smooth round ones always amaze me that I often ask myself, “How did nature shape these stones?” The odd-shaped ones are also fascinating. If you have a rich imagination, you can create different figures from these stones.

According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, a pebble is a small stone made smooth and round by the action of water or sand. Can you imagine pebbles being shaped by water that is in itself without definite shape or form? That is truly amazing!

Wikipedia depicts that pebbles form gradually over time as the water washes over loose rock particles. The constant contact of water and loose rock particles makes the pebbles smooth.

However, pebbles on the riverbanks are not as smooth as the pebbles on the beach because the river has gentler current than the ocean.

My fascination for pebbles and stones makes my backpack heavy every time I come home from a camping trip or an adventure in the beach. A friend even joked, “Ano, pwede na ba magpatayo ng bahay sa naipon mo?” (Can a house be built out of your collection now?)

No, I can’t build a house out of my collection, but I can make cute animal figures for my collection display or toys for kids to play with.

WHAT YOU NEED Pebbles/stones Hot glue Acrylic paint/tube paint (optional) Googly eyes (optional)

HOW TO DO IT • Find the perfect pebbles or stones for your design. For example, if you want to form a duck figure, find one big stone the shape of a duck’s body and a smaller elongated stone that looks like a beak. Or, the other way around.

Think of what animal or figure you can make out of the pebbles or stones you have. Be creative.

• Paint your design. For a colorful creation, clean and dry the stones for better paint adherence and paint as desired. However, leaving the stones in their natural color for a natural effect would just be fine.

• Glue the parts of your creation accordingly. When paint is dried, using glue gun, carefully apply hot glue to hold the pieces together. Paint the eyes or stick googly eyes.

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Johanna C. Gallermo is art director of Health & Home.

FOOD for the Family

By Miriam R. Estrada

Spinach at Its Best!

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ealth bloggers and associations have ranked the most nutritious and most widely eaten plant food in the world—green leafy vegetables. Numerous studies claim that leafy greens are the number one food to boost and improve one’s health. They are bursting with vitamins, minerals, fibers, and functional food properties such as phytochemicals and antioxidants that are good against cancer, diabetes, heart disease, to mention a few. The green color gives us the go signal to consume leafy greens more.

One of the healthiest green leafy vegetables is spinach. And I am grateful to my husband and mother-in-law who added two spinach varieties in our garden: (1) the thorny one called kulitis, known in Tagalog as espinaka, and (2) the wide-leaf Taiwanese spinach. Daily consumption of fresh spinach straight from the garden plot to the cooking pot makes me confident that I am disease-protected.

What is exceptional about spinach? It has always topped the list of leafy vegetables and been tagged as a power food in many food articles. The creator of Popeye might have exerted a great influence in this power claim. How come spinach became Popeye’s source of muscle strength and made him “strong to the finish”?

Credit that to history’s mathematical error. A 100-gram spinach was analyzed to contain 3.5 milligrams of iron. A German chemist, however, misplaced the decimal point making it 35.0 milligrams, comparable to munching a small paper clip. This caused the misconception that spinach is loaded with iron that makes the body extraordinarily strong.

To enjoy spinach—its mellow flavor, delicate texture, vibrant color, and versatility—it has to be prepared and cooked in a variety of ways, and presented in eye-appealing arrangements. I'll share my knack in cooking spinach.

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PRECOOKING REMINDERS • Choose spinach that has crisp and dark green leaves. Never buy the wilted, limp, yellowish, and slimy ones.

• Use the tender, smaller leaves and stems for salads and the larger, thicker leaves and mature stems for cooking.

• A bulk of spinach is deceiving. It reduces dramatically in volume when cooked.

• Store unwashed spinach in an airtight plastic. Storing washed spinach will make it soggy.

• Wash spinach thoroughly only before cooking. Do not soak, as water-soluble vitamins will leach out in the water.

 COOKING BASICS • Microwave. Place washed spinach in a microwave-safe bowl. Don’t add water because washed spinach has already absorbed water. Cover with microwavesafe plastic but leave a little gap for the steam to escape. Cook for a minute.

• Stovetop. Lower steamer or colander with spinach to a pot of boiling water.

Steam and remove when leaves start to wilt. If you don’t have a steamer or colander, put spinach to a pot of boiling water just enough to blanch it. Remove after 30 seconds or when leaves start to wilt.

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COOKING UPGRADES • Spinach in sesame oil. Toss steamed spinach in sesame oil. Season with salt.

Spread in a platter and top with fried, golden brown garlic flakes or roasted sesame seeds.

• Spinach in soy sauce. Put together chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, calamansi juice, and soy sauce. Mix over steamed spinach.

• Spinach in vegetarian oyster sauce.

Stir-fry garlic, onions, sliced mushrooms, red and green bell pepper, and vegetarian oyster sauce. Pour over steamed spinach.

• Spinach in mushroom sauce. Boil cream of mushroom. Pour over steamed spinach.

Garnish with cooked frozen green peas and/or boiled quail eggs.

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COOKING EXTRAS • Chopped. Add coarsely chopped spinach to pasta, eggs, noodles, soups, lentils, pizzas, and sandwiches.

• Blended. Drop a handful of spinach to your morning smoothie for an added boost of phytonutrients and fiber.

O

n the final note, canned spinach isn’t the healthiest option but the least nutritious way to eat spinach. Eat your spinach raw or steamed. They are the best!

*Recipe prepared by Johanna C. Gallermo, Health & Home art director.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––---------– Miriam Razon-Estrada, RND, MPH, Dr.PH, is dean of the College of Health at the Adventist University of the Philippines in Silang, Cavite.

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Photo/Gregg Yan

Legaspi Family Environmental Education Stewards

By LUCILE B. TAÑALAS

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ool refreshing rivers.

Teeming marine life.

Thundering waterfalls.

Dew-bathed meadows. Majestic mountains. Fresh air.

Fruit-laden trees. Picturesque gardens. Lovely, blooming flowers.

Clean streets and sidewalks.

Garbage-free canals. Eco-friendly parks.

Healthy and happy animals.

Flittering butterflies. Chirping birds.

These are just a few of the innumerable beauties and wonders of Mother Nature that we can continue to enjoy when we take care of our planet.

One of the most active earth conservation organizations in the world is the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Its mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which

Sea turtles help maintain the health of sea grass beds and coral reefs, resulting to a more productive marine ecosystem.

However, due to human activities, nearly all species of sea turtle are classified as endangered! (Photo: Lory Tan) Tubbataha’s twin isles form the final refuge for the world’s last remaining Philippine black noddies. About 8,000 live and breed on the two small islets. (Photo: Gregg Yan)

Known as Parola, the South Islet got its name from the lighthouse erected by the Philippine Coast Guard in 1980. It is one of the bastions of Tubbataha’s seabirds. (Photo: Lory Tan)

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