Glass of Water

Last Friday, right after my last class, I went to a mall with a friend. As we got inside a jeepney along Taft Ave., I immediately got a major headache, as if my head was being cracked open. Like I usually do, and since my companion told me to apply greater pain to my head, I hit my head against the "wall" of the PUJ and my hand against my head. Surprisingly, both personal techniques didn't work. I also tried diaphragm breathing to suffice myself with greater oxygen intake, but it didn't work, too.

So I thought, maybe inhaling too much polluted air from Metro Manila is killing my neurons; where all I can do is wait 'till I get to a "less polluted" place, like the mall. But getting inside the mall didn't help me with my suffering, but drinking water did a little magic with my brain-torturing, literally, headache.

On our way back home, I was again exposed to the air pollution haven, and so was my headache. During that time, I just didn't tell my friend, I really wanted to cry because of the unbearable pain, but it would just be too humiliating to do so. When we're about to take our dinner, I tried vomiting but nothing came out, and nothing good happened either. I lost my sense of taste, I can't even taste the soda I was drinking. But drinking the soda and my handy paracetamol made me so happy, it made the headache go bye-bye forever.

I did a little research and found out that dehydration is one of the biggest of the universal migraine triggers. The fact that more 70% of our body is composed of water, then we should have an idea how important water is for our body. Biological reactions also occur in aqueous medium, just so you know. So, by what mechanisms can dehydration or lack of water trigger migraine? The answer? Here you go:

1. Our nerves send signals to control every part of our body. This is via tiny water pathways. Lack of water thickens the fluid in these nerves, thus distorting the signals to be sent out. These distorted signals can be migraine triggers.

2. Toxins are carried away from cells via water. Lack of water cause toxins to build up, thus causing inflammation to nerves. These inflamed nerves can be migraine triggers.

3. Water, as a vital transport system, plays an active role in the biological processes. Lack of water may cause interference in these activities, thus may also cause lack of energy to power cell pumps. This may overwhelm neurons in the brain, which may be migraine triggers.

Scared of losin' all the time

He wrote it in a letter, he was a friend of mine

He heard you could see your future

Inside a glass of water with ripples and the lines

And he asked, "Will I see heaven in mine?"

-Glass of Water, Coldplay

Now, we all know the importance of drinking at least 6-8 glasses of water a day! Everyone needs to replace the water lost from their daily activities. Sounds simple, eh? Just a healthy way to keep that evil migraine away.

A glass of water a day, keeps the migraine away! The real thing, not the song, k?

To Be Uploaded!

Since I feel like getting the artist in me back into action (lol whut?), I'll be photoshop-ing a header image and a signature image for my dear lovey dovey readers. Two nights ago, I already thought of my online signature, and I am just waiting for the weekend to make it digital. However, I got no idea for the header yet.

Honestly, I'm kinda excited to get a touch of my mouse ('coz I use my desktop computer for photoshop-ing) and to get a sight of my PS interface. You may not see it, but can you imagine my face being excited for new-look updates for my online diary? Well, I can't. Ha ha. 'Coz it's just a poker face and all that.

Anyway, something just crossed my mind. Quite some time ago, I posted a blog, titled SOON, and it's almost the end of the world and I haven't posted that thing I was talking about. Anyway, hope I can get to it soon, real soon.

Keeps Me Alive

Lately, I'm having sleepless difficult nights thinking about things I cannot learn to forget. It is true that learning makes things easier to comprehend, but so does complexity is to set its pace along with the quantity of what we are to know. I think that knowing too much just makes your life more complicated as compared to how it was before. Sorry, but this is just for my point of view based on how I am feeling right now.

The thought of you alone keeps me awake, now everything else I am bound to know keeps me ecstatic. Just like a gallon of ecstasy flowing in my veins, keeping me alive from a comatose, with a score of 3 in a coma scale.

I wish I never knew some things from the start, 'coz in the end, it'll only keep me hurting knowing more about the things I think I should know, but I feel that I don't want to know. I hope this fucking world, so are us, can just shut up and make everyone live happily ever after. The end.

Self-Worth

Never gonna give you up,

Never gonna let you down

Never gonna run around

And desert you.

Never gonna make you cry,

Never gonna say goodbye

Never gonna tell a lie

And hurt you.

People cannot be always there for you, to help you stand up from downfalls and to suffice you with the strength you need. Even during the hardest times in your life, as much as people want to help you and as much as they love you, you just got to accept that there will always be times when you got to learn to stand up on your own and depend only on yourself because the greatest things your friends could offer you are support and guidance.

You can't be dependent on these people all the time, 'coz just like you, they're living their own lives, too, along with their own personal problems as well. So don't never let trivial things hinder you from living your life to the fullest. Instead, see it as a perfect chance for self-reflection, and to discover your strength and self-worth as well. Remember, not only you is suffering, everyone has their own sufferings, too, even greater than what you're experiencing. Just never give up!

P.S. This message is actually for a dear friend. I love you! Just want to let you know that I'll always be here for you, no matter what troubles you are facing (to face).

Opinions and Complexity

Hey! What do you think you're doing right now? Reading this piece of shit, eh? Well, this whole thing I own is really just some shit, plain and ordinary shit. Wanna know why? It's based on what a friend use to tell me.

A friend once told me, "Opinions don't matter," but why do you we take interest in reading blogs, even the status updates? Because I believe that opinions may be good references of facts. However, according to my Comm I professor, facts can either be true or false. Moreover, one needs great resources and references to come up with a good paper. Hence, I view opinions as somewhat words of importance, too, but not literally of influence. Rather, opinions are better to be heard but not to be totally affected of.

It is true that what people think and say about you do not matter, rather, it's a matter of self-reliability and self-reflection. You just got to know and discover things for yourself and for your own good as well. But then, opinions will always follow you, so be careful and mindful enough 'coz wrong facts may always be present to deceive you.

Just so you know, everything I wrote down here is only based on my opinion. Probably not worth reading, but still, hope you learned something from my blabbering.

Exposé

Say whatever you want to say. Call me names if that's what your mind tells you to. Bully me to your heart's content. But I'm enjoying things I do just as much as you enjoy whatever it is you like to do. What you'll be reading is something that you may be first time knowing about Ren. That is if you don't know me well. Blah blah blah.

Moe moe kyun~ - sorry, but I don't really know what it means. I just heard it somewhere. Feel free to use it if you desire to.

So, I just "finished" reading a manga, well, at least up to its updated chapter. Call me an otaku, I don't really care, I'll even take it as a compliment, even it literally stands for "loser". Anyway, the manga is titled Kaichou Wa Maid-Sama which means "President is a Maid!" (The otaku type of maid, that is.) The manga is still ongoing, what I meant by "finished reading it" is that I finished reading up to the latest chapter that is available online. I do not plan to give a review of the manga, but I am only here to express my heart's desire.

Since I have this burning desire for the male lead character, Usui Takumi, my friend told me to blog about it, since I'm always bugging him with my non-stop messages of "Kinikilig ako". And eventually, I really ended up in doing so. As much as I don't want to tolerate my otaku side anymore, but the pleasure of reading this thing as a waste of time, rather a past time - as a friend will tell me to, is really overwhelming. I must say, I cannot express how highly "motivated" I am to be reading this shit involving Usui. As much as I despise imagining myself as a fan-girl of the fast disseminating _-Pop epidemic, I couldn't resist from being a fan-girl of this manga, rather, of Usui.

You may now kill me as I will be revealing my greatest fantasies, as you may not be able to take everything as part of reality. I know he is only a fictional character, but he is just admirable all over. I am not judging this from how he looks (as anime characters mostly look like everyone of their kind), but I am saying this from how I see him through his character and actions. Keeping his cool at all times, being persistent with the "demon" girl he likes, sacrificing everything he has for his happiness, fighting for what he desires and feels right for himself and his love one, etc etc. I know things like those are to good to be a part of reality as we view reality in a shallow point of view. Long ago, I often thought of "I wish to meet the Usui of my life." But the truth is, everyone can be like how I view Usui, everyone of us may have or will have to experience such things as we live life as grown-ups. Being responsible of your actions is part of growing up anyway.

Estrogen Level-Up

Estrogen hormone

Estrogen is the mother of all female hormones, they say. Girls, it is the hormone responsible for your growing chest, just so you know. As a female approaches her menopausal stage, so as her estrogen level starts to decline. As young hippie females, we may still not feel the importance and function of this hormone, but low estrogen levels may cause risk for a host of unpleasant, even health-threatening, conditions. These conditions are:

-Osteoporosis and bone loss

-Increased LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) and decreased HDL (the "good" cholesterol)

-Hair loss

-Weight gain (So is that why most women are fat when they're aged 40 and above?)

-Low blood pressure

-Fatigue

-Sore joints and muscles

-Increase in allergies

-Gastrointestinal disturbances (including indigestion, flatulence, bloating)

-Depression

-Anxiety

-Irritability (So that's why most moms are naggers and easily irritated)

-Insomnia

-Memory loss

-Difficulty in concentrating

Luckily, there are natural ways to elevate, and to avoid the declining of, the estrogen levels in the body. There are artificial ways, too, such as capsules and dietary supplements, but I'd rather go for the healthy and safe living.

To start with, let's go to the proper diet first. Low-carb diet which is mineral-rich with good sources of protein and zinc is a perfect way to increase the estrogen levels.

Yum! It actually looks like grilled camote cue.

Here is a list of estrogen-rich foods you and your... would be happy to eat.

Beans/legumes: black-eyed peas (cow peas), lentils, lima beans, soybeans, soybean sprouts, red beans and split peas

Fruits: papaya, plums, apple, cherries, raspberries, dates and pomegranates

Grains: oats, brown rice and wheat

Herbs and spices: clover, garlic, licorice, parsley and sage

Seeds: alfalfa, anise, flax, fennel, pumpkin, sesame and sunflower

Veggies: beets, carrots, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, pepper, potatoes, tomatoes and yams

Milk, eggs, all dairy and non-organic meats should also be avoided.

But there are also foods which may reduce the estrogen levels. These foods may be good to those suffering from breast cancer and ovarian cysts, which can be exacerbated by the estrogen. These foods are:

Fruits: berries, citrus, figs, grapes, melons, pears and pineapple

Grains: buckwheat, tapioca, white rice and white flour

Veggies: broccoli, cabbage, corn, green beans, onions and squash

Aside from eating a healthy diet, a balance endocrine system (our body's system for regulating hormones) can be achieve through the help of yoga.

Yoga. Kim Chiu does this, but why... No comment.

As for those who aim to develop their chest, other exercises such as the push-up and inclined bench press can help in developing the pectoral muscles thus pushing your breasts forward. Doing push-ups, instead of wearing them, is a healthier way to give those breasts some boost.

I said Push-up not Push-up bras

Inclined Bench Press