Someone once asked me this question. “Why do I always see you smiling all the time? You are always so happy whenever I see you. It’s pretty obvious that you have something that I don’t! Don’t get me wrong though, I love catching up with you and being around you as the joyful aura around you never fails to lift up my spirits.”

After hearing what was said, my reply was another polite smile. In my mind I was thinking how to share with this acquaintance I have known for some time. However, I decided not to take the risk in case I offend him because I was like him before I came to know the Lord, my savior. I guess I needed more wisdom and confidence back then to share. Oh well!

Going back to my story, things were never the same again after I accepted Christ. Please don’t get me wrong! I was happy before I accepted Christ, but there were so much more downs in my life that the happiness were short lived. I used to let my hair down and “buy” happiness with money and time. I was clearly living in a false illusion of glamor back then which brought along much attention because of the “in” look from the clothing,hairstyle and grooming i splurge on myself.

This soon led to a few once “fairytale” love that brought nothing but disillusion, lies and tremendous hurt that left scars on me for life. Those memories are still there but have faded into history.

Little that I know what He has prepared for me. The moment I accepted Christ, the past was erased by the salvation I have received from Him. Slowly through time reading the bible, I started feeling happier and happier day by day. My heart is being flooded with immerse joy inside out.

The feeling of immerse joy from within is very difficult to pin down in words. It is more than being on top of the world. If I were to explain, it is true liberation from everything. I can feel a huge burden lifted off my chest. In the bible, a verse: Nehemiah 8 says this “The Joy of the Lord is your strength”. I can finally relate to that. Even though I am still struggling with the day to day affairs of the cruel life, I can now face it with confidence and joy. Everything becomes clearer whenever I read the bible of truth.

If you are a christian like me struggling with life, you can be assured that everyone of us will go through this phase. However, He will from time to time comfort you and give you unexplainable joy that appear out of no where. Be strong, read the bible and be happy!

Once in a while, most people love to chill with a glass of wine to relax themselves. This alcoholic drink is gaining popularity over the years due to its anti-ageing properties and not to mention on the other added health related benefits. However, when people are just starting out tasting wine and making it a part of their drinking routine, most people generally end completely clueless when it comes to choosing a good wine.

There are clearly no governing rules when it comes to buying and choosing a good wine. Though wine reviews and recommendations certainly do not hurt, most people would simply purchase anything that they feel they will like. But again ask yourself these couple of questions, how many times have you shied away from buying a particular brand of wine just because a friend told you that you most probably wouldn’t like it? And, have you ever tasted a wine which you didn’t fancy only to find out later that it actually have a number of rave reviews under its belt?

One thing you can be sure of is that choosing and buying a wine is all about personal taste. A particular brand of wine can cost as little as ten bucks, but if you like it, you like it. Likewise, you could have tried another brand of wine that cost a hundred bucks and completely not be swayed by it at all. Taste is subjective. Everyone’s taste bud is different. To tell you to drink a particular wine would be equivalent to telling you what food to eat specifically. The only way to figure out what you will really fancy, is to try as many wines as you can. Make a note of your favourites while wine tasting. Tasting is the most fun part when it comes to choosing a wine.

There are 4 main pointers to aid you in choosing a good wine. They are:

Pointer #1 – Colour of the wine

Use the colour of the wine as an indicator to determine its body and robustness. The darker the colour, the fuller the body and the more fragrant it gets while its vice versa for a lighter colour.

Pointer #2 – Texture of the wine

Look at the wine opacity, is it clear, cloudy or somewhere in between? Are there any sediments or specks of cork floating in it?

Pointer #3 – Aroma of the wine

Take a quick whiff of the wine and take a deeper breath of the wine through your nose. What do your fancy about the aroma?

Pointer #4 – Taste of the wine

Swirl a little wine in your mouth and take note of the initial taste. Next let a bit of air through your lips and swirl the wine into your mouth again using your tongue. Swallow the wine next and note the wine’s finishing taste or the aftertaste.

Wine tasting is an art itself. Choosing a good wine requires your sense of sight, taste and smell. The process is very straightforward and can be summarized into the 4 main pointers above. It’s that simple.

“Ouch! Arghh! Finally you heave a sign of relief! However, you felt a sharp pain while you were trying to release your stool. The next thing you noticed, there were tiny traces of reddish substance believed to be blood, that could be seen in the faeces you had excreted. Recalling the food you ate for the day, you couldn’t seem to remember any that provides clues to the existence of  the substance. However, you could feel the burning sensation and acute pain when cleaning yourself. You suspected tears around your anus. Those were the details you gave to your doctor during your visit to the clinic. One of the most common questions normally asked by the doctor would be, “do you consume fruits?” The model answer given by most people would be “yes” since everyone of us know that fruits are healthy and known for their rich anti-oxidants in fighting against deadly diseases such as cancer, preventing cell damage and anti-aging properties. But again some people may think that drinking fruit juice everyday is the same as consuming fruits. This assumption has caused misinformation and many people are confused between facts and myths. Are you one of them?

Let’s briefly describe the above scenario first. This scenario is one of the more common conditions that happen when one does not consume enough fiber. Constipation will definitely happen and your body will complain about the lack of fiber in your digestive system by using pain as a warning signal when you are doing your business in the toilet.

*3 Myths and Facts

Myth #1

I drink fruit juice daily. I think i am getting enough nutrients and anti-oxidants from the juices i drink everyday. I think there is no difference between consuming fruits and drinking fruit juices.

Fact

Drinking fruit juice is definitely not the same as consuming fruits. Why? This is because most of the fruit juices on the shelves of supermarkets, if not all, are pasteurised. This will mean that they possess lesser nutrients. Any fresh product, no matter how healthy it is that gets canned or packed, will lose vitamin b and potassium. When the product is exposed to air, it will start to lose its anti-oxidant qualities after about 20 minutes. You be better off eating the physical fruit instead.

Myth #2

I heard that fruit juices are high in carbohydrates and bad for health.

Fact

This is definitely misleading. Drinking fruit juice have beneficial qualities for your health. It will depend on when you drink the juices and whether the juices contains any added sugar. For example, drinking fruit juice after your workout will aid in replenishing body fluids and blood sugar, and also providing nutrients for your body. However, be careful of when you consume them as fruits contain high levels of sugar known as fructose, fruit juices contain even higher sugar due to the addition of sugar by manufacturers. This will quickly add up the calories and also causes insulin spikes detrimental to your health and weight management due to the high sugar content present. It is a sure fire way to put on weight if you consume fruit juice before bed time.

Myth #3

Since fruits are healthy, i can take medication with fruit juices instead of water.

Fact

Taking medication with any other fluids other than water is disastrous! Fruits are healthy, so are fruit juices depending on the sugar level. However, consuming medication with fruit juices is a totally different story. Certain fruit juices such as grapefruit juice can cause normal doses of medication to become toxic overdose as it causes the rate of absorption of specific medication to be absorbed quickly, while fruit juices such as orange juice may result in decreasing the effects of certain medication wiping out the beneficial effects from them.

*What you need to know when choosing fruit juices.

After clarifying some of the myths and facts about the difference between eating fruits and drinking“juices that appeared to be healthy”, the following are what you need to know when choosing fruit juices. Look out for any added sugar. Choose 100% pasturised juices without any added sugar only as they are healthier. Juice concentrates contain a lot of sugar and it will definitely contribute to a higher probability of diabetes and obesity. A easy way to know how much sugar is present in the product is to look at the amount of sugar per serving. Compare the serving with this measurement, one teaspoon of sugar or one sugar cube is roughly 4 grams. You should now have a rough idea of how much sugar you will be consuming per serving.

“Arrrgghhh” there i go again, waking up in the middle of the night and feeling wide awake in my bed at 2 a.m. I keep tossing and turning in my bed for the next one hour feeling so alert and yet helpless about not being able to enter my dream world again. It’s been almost a week ever since i returned from my major trip to London and Italy this year. I am still not adjusting back to my usual sleeping patterns. I have started working out at the gym, but my strength level has dropped a lot, i am not lifting the usual weights i used to be, my endurance level was not what it used to be when i attended my favorite cardio class. I even tried sleeping early and as far as possible, i cannot help but feel more exhausted than ever. Does this sound familiar to you? If the answer is yes, read on to find out more!

The earth is divided into 24 time zones.  Time changes by one hour for every 150 degrees of travel east or west of the Greenwich meridian. Most people who are frequent travelers would have already experienced by what we called “Jet lag” or “desynchronosis”. This is especially so if they travel longer distances across the globe. Depending on the direction of flight you are going, flying eastwards tend to result in difficulty in sleeping, while flying westwards, tend to result in early awakenings in the morning. The symptoms of jet lag are in general more severe when you cross more time zones and usually more for eastward flights than westward flights.

Jet lag is a physiological condition where your body clock becomes out of sync with the destination time when traveling across time zones. This is a temporary disorder where most people may feel fatigue, suffer from insomnia, anxiety, dehydration, headache, nausea, sweating, irritability, constipation, coordination problems, diarrhea, memory loss. Some people may suffer from additional symptoms such as increased susceptibility to illness and heartbeat irregularities. Jet lag affects everybody. Statistics show that millions of people are affected by jet lag every year. People who are over the age of 50 will more likely experience jet lag when compared with individuals under the age of 30. Jet lag is classified as one of the 80 plus known sleeping disorders.

Here are 10 tips to combating jet lag:

Tip #1 – Hydrate yourself with lots of water, it is one of the keys of life!

Tip #2 – Plan your trips ahead and rest well before and after each trip.

Tip #3 – Prepare sleeping aids such as ear plugs, blindfolds …etc to aid in having quality sleep when flying.

Tip #4 – Set your watch to the new time zone and start adjusting your sleeping patterns accordingly.

Tip #5 – Move around on the air craft and do stretching exercises to reduce discomfort.

Tip #6 – Drink lesser alcohol to prevent dehydration.

Tip #7 – Eat lighter on board the air craft to prevent bloating due to the cabin pressure.

Tip #8 – Lesser stimulants such as caffeine before bed time.

Tip #9 – Head for the sunshine when you arrived at your destination.

Tip #10 – Try to sleep when its night time and awake when its day time.

Stave off the adverse effects of jet lag with these tips. Traveling doesn’t have to be ruined by jet lag.

For further information, visit the following sites:

* Aviation Health Institute

* Flight Health