Christmas 2008

Happy Christmas folks! sorry couldnt find any great deal coz im on vaccation.

Christmas Shopping

We finally planned for a vaccation after about 5 years , to the west coast for a week. So trying to find some good deals for shopping. But honestly i couldnt find a good deal for outfits and cosmetics. hope to find one soon.

Calcium & Bones -Part 2

If your daily diet alone does not provide adequate Calcium, it is recommended to take a multi-vitamin supplement that contains Calcium and Vitamin-D. At the same time, latest research suggests that food items that are rich in calcium help to strengthen bone better than supplements taken in the form of pills.

As i said earlier, Vitamin D is essential for Calcium absorption in the body. The amount of Vitamin D required for Calcium absorption grows with age. If you get adequate sunlight, taking a walk out in the sun with light clothing for about 30 minutes gives you enough Vitamin D for the day.

The vitamin D is measured in terms of international unit called IU. Daily recommended intake quantity of vitamin D is shown in the picture below.

To be continued............................

Source courtesy NY department of health.

Image courtesy Internet

Calcium & Bones Part - 1

I used to think that women don’t have to worry about frail bones until they get older. I was wrong! I found out too late that women of all ages need to take steps to keep their bones strong. Unfortunately, like me, many more women already are at risk for bone weakness. Bone strength in later life depends on the development of bones earlier in life. Adequate calcium intake during youth is essential to achieve peak bone mass.

Everyone knows that calcium is essential for building strong bones and teeth. But did you know that it is also important for maintaining a normal heartbeat and regulating blood pressure – and it even helps with the healthy functioning of your nerve system

There are many diseases that is associated with bone weakness, but to name a few which is very commonly found in women (especially in old age, but not necessarily) are osteoporosis , osteopenia etc.

How can I find out if I have weak bones?
There are tests you can get to find out your bone strength, also called bone density. There are also other types of bone strength tests too. Talk with your doctor about which type of test is best for you. Don’t wait until age 65. You have a higher chance for breaks.

How can I prevent weak bones?
The best way to prevent weak bones is easy―start by building strong ones.
No matter how old you are, it is never too late to start! Although building strong bones during childhood and adolescence is the best. But there are steps you can take to stop your bones from becoming weak and brittle.

1. Get enough calcium each day (Just a rough estimate) - about 1000 mg till age 50. After which it may need to be increased to 1200 mg.



2. Get enough vitamin D each day - which helps your body to absorb the calcium.



3. Healthy diet



4. Be active



5. Avoid smoking/alcohol/caffeine

Examples of Calcium-rich Foods
Dairy Foods
(for overall health, choose fat-free or low fat products)
Milk
Yogurt
Cheese (5 grams fat or less per ounce)
Non-dairy foods
Chinese cabbage (bok choy), cooked
Figs, dried
Greens (dandelion, kale, mustard, turnip), cooked
Salmon, Sardines, canned with bones
Soy nuts
Fortified foods
(be sure to select foods with calcium added)
Breakfast bars, Granola bars, Cereal bars
Cereal
Juices
Soymilk
Rice milk
Tofu
Waffles

To know more varieties of food that contains different amount of calcium content in it you may visit / click this link in blue color.

Reading food labels for calcium content

The food label does not list calcium in milligrams. Instead, the label lists % Daily Value (%DV) for calcium in each serving. 100% of the DV for calcium is equal to 1000 mg of calcium per day.
To find the calcium content (mg per serving) from %Daily Value:
Read the %DV for calcium per serving.For example: 1 serving (1 ounce) lowfat cheese contains 20% Calcium.
Determine the calcium in each serving (mg/serving): Simply replace the % from the DV with a "0."For example: 20% Calcium = 200 mg calcium.

Terminology & Definitions

A "Calcium-fortified" or "Calcium enriched" food has 10% or more of the calcium DV added (100mg or more of calcium is added when compared to the same serving of a similar type of non-fortified food).
An "Excellent source" of calcium contains 20% or more of the calcium DV (200mg or more).
A "Good source" of calcium contains 10% to 19% of the calcium DV (100 to 190mg).

NOTE: At the same time excess of calcium intake may be unwise too. It may result in kidney stones, cardiovascular disease, prostate cancer and so on. So it is advisable to stay within the range of daily calcium intake quantity.

To be continued .........................................

Source courtetsy - NY state department of health

Image sourcee - Internet

Happy Happenings!

1st Place Winner: Srinidhi Suresh - Middle.

What could make you more happier than your child's achievements?!! That which makes you far happier than the enormity..... Yes , I would like to share one such incident with you all. I'm sure everyone is aware of the competition called Spelling Bee. I love spelling competitions and have always had a feeling that they should have had a competition for it, during my school days. Unfortunately they did not have one in my school (during my school days, back in India).

Anyways, the movie 'Akeelah and the Bee' is one of my favourite movies. If you like spellings, English grammar/vocabulary and origin of words, you’ll really love that movie.

Coming to the point, I got an email from my Cousin Sister today, that her daughter Srinidhi( 5th Grade), has won the first place, in Spelling Bee contest at her school . Immediately i called my sister and congratulated her. I could sense her voice starting to streak with tears that contains a mixture of happiness, proud and humble emotions. Ah! There's great satisfaction in experiencing a daughter's success. I have normally seen parents to be too pushy to make their kids study well and score good grades, but some kids could only make it up to a certain point. Where as in some case, the parents might be ignorant or less educated to even teach their kids, but the kids will study so well on their own. It is so rare to happen that a super smart kid could get a super coach Mom like my Sister & her daughter. Good luck to Srinidhi and the other kids. And thanks to my Sister for sharing her daughter's pictures.

Naming the natural calamities :

I was pretty unhappy during the long weekend becoz of two major incidents that happened in India. 1. Mumbai terror attack 2. Cyclone Nisha in Tamilnad.
The name of the cyclone, sounded funny to me at first. But later i was thinking about it and realised that there should be a reason behind it. And then did some research on it, and here comes the result. Presenting with humble, the few bits of knowledge that i read out of curiosity.


What is a tropical cyclone?
A tropical cyclone is the generic term for something like a thunderstorm activity.The terms hurricane and typhoon are regionally-specific names for a strong tropical cyclone.

Tropical cyclones are categorised below based on their intensity:

Hurricane - in the North Atlantic Ocean and the north-east Pacific Ocean regions
Typhoon - in the north-west Pacific Ocean region
Tropical cyclone - in other regions, including the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean.

How do they get their names?
Tropical cyclones are named to provide ease of communication between forecasters and the general public, regarding forecasts, watches and warnings. Since the storms can often last a week or even longer, and more than one can be occurring in the same region at the same time, names can reduce the confusion about what storm is being described.

Who name them ?
The lists are decided on, depending on the regions, either by committees of the World Meteorological Organization (called primarily to discuss many other issues), or by national weather offices involved in the forecasting of the storms. Each year, the names of particularly destructive storms (if there are any) are "retired" and new names are chosen to take their place.







Source courtesy : world wide tropical cyclone center.
Image Courtesy : Internet