"Life Energy"

I was reading some articles on the net about new technologies used for cell imaging, and techniques used to measure a cells vibrational frequencies (Read these two really interesting articles from MIT if you are interested in the subject: (3D cell imaging, vibrating cells).

Anyway, I stumbled upon a more theoretical question in physics, "Are we seeing energy changing into matter on Earth?"

Basically the answer is yes. Take a coin, flip it, measure its weight. The flipping coin has more weight than the resting coin. No matter has been "added", it is just heavier because of the higher energy.

I was about to look at other articles when I made the connection with something I was told some years ago.

Apparently (but I do not know if the experiment has been replicated) a physician measured the weight of patients before and right after they died. The results indicated that on average a human loses 21 grams the second it dies.

I was wondering if this loss of weight could be due to a loss of energy??? Nothing else changes at the instant of death, so could the change in mass be simply due to less energy? Could this be called "life" energy? (the energy that differentiates a living tissue from a dead one?)

Health Benefits of Bananas

Yesterday my mom sent me an article in French about the health benefits of bananas. I didn't know bananas could be that healthy!

(picture)

Here are some health benefits of bananas:

1. For Students

First and foremost, what interests me as a student relates to having good grades. A study was done in England on 200 students who had to eat bananas for breakfast, lunch, and as a snack. Apparently, the grade average improved, and the research argues that the potassium contained in the bananas could be the explanation. Potassium improves concentration and alertness. (I tried to find the study, but wasn't able too...)

2. Bowel Movement

This part actually surprised me a lot. I grew up being taught that bananas can really make you constipated. So when I read about the students who had to eat at least 3 bananas a day, I was really worried about their bowel movements.

Well, it seems that contrary to what I had been taught, bananas actually promote smooth bowel movements!

After further research on the internet I found that bananas are very often used as a mild laxative.

(An Indian suspect in India was enven forced to eat 50 bananas as a laxative. See this article from BBC).

3. General Health

Potassium in bananas also help with muscle growth and lowers blood pressure, vitamin B6 regulates blood glucose levels, and iron contributes to a good anemic number.

4. Mental Health

Bananas have been shown to reduce depression symptoms as well as seasonal disorders.

With so many health and mental benefits, I think that eating bananas is sure way to stay healthy could be the highlight of the day for anyone on a diet :-)

PS: Never put the bananas in the refrigerator!

What Should I Do with my Life

I was reading a book I found at the UCLA bookstore: What Should I Do with My Life, by Po Bronson.

I would like to quote a passage that I liked in answer to the question, "What is the good life?"

"To so many of the students coming through here, the good life is a house with a detached garage big enough for a Land Rover that can cary their three kids to the mall."

"Not to Aristotle. The good life wasn't something you owned, it was the skills you mastered. The good life wasn't to own a big home, but to aspire to being a master builder. Not to have three kids and a fluffy dog, but to aspire to be a great parent."

For some reason, I feel that living in such a way brings integrity back to work, and back to life.

Get Back in Shape

I am enjoying Kendo practice, but I think I would enjoy it much more if I could get back in shape first. Right now I have difficulty completing the arm up exercises. And then I am muscle sore for the next 3 days. I was thinking that it would be nice to finish the warm ups, and still have some energy left :-)

So, my goal for a while is to train until I am able to finish the warm ups.

Drawing

This post is a flash back of when I was younger. If I remember well, it was a time before I had the responsibility to choose what I wanted to do with my life, and when I still had the time to indulge in doing what makes me happy.

When I was young I used to draw and make model kits. These were two of my favorite things to do. I would spend hours on a drawing/painting, or on a model kit. And then I would give them to my family or to friends. Sometimes friends asked me to make a drawing for them too. They always seemed really happy when I gave them a drawing I made.

Since I decided to go into the medical field, it seems that every moment of my waking hours was supposed to be spent on learning about the meaning of life or gaining knowledge into the workings of a part of the human body.

Somehow, "I" decided that spending time drawing or making model kits (or the money to buy models) was an insignificant way to spend time. That it was just a frivolous thing to do, when that time could be used to do "Really" important stuff.

For the past few days I've been really tired with studying. Studying at UCLA takes so much energy and time, and the pressure to keep my GPA competitive is not helping...

Anyway, it's the middle of the quarter, so it's "normal" to feel tired :-)

Circadian Rhythms: Sleep at Night

So, You took the plane, you arrived at destination, but your body is not quite adjusted to the local time yet. The first 2 days after arrival you felt pretty good about yourself, because even though you didn't sleep the whole night, you still felt like you were ok. But now it's the 3rd or 4th day,..... and you're really tired, feeling kinda blue, and you just can't seem to sleep enough!

What can you do to fall asleep and wake up at the appropriate time???

Let's go back to your biological clock. Like I said in a previous post, your biological clock regulates your metabolism (when to sleep, when to wake up, when to eat, when to realease testosterone, cortisol, melatonin.....) and it has a feedback mechanism from the environment. Which means that if the sunrise and sunset rhythms change, step-by-step your body is going to adjust. In the same manner, if your eating pattern changes, step-by-step your body is going to adjust its internal clock.

The following is a number of tricks you can do to help your body adjust more quickly:

1. In the morning, around 7 or 8 am, get out of bed, open the curtains and sit in the sun (or in a bright place with natural sunlight) for about 30 min. This should start your biological clock, stop the release of melatonin (the sleep hormone) and push your body to get ready for the day.

2. Make sure your body warms up during this time. (That's why sitting in the sun is a good idea). Usually, the body warms up at the end of the night. A rapid increase in body temperature (of about 1 degree celcius, or 1.8 fahrenheight), through biofeedback, will "tell" your brain that its time to wake up.

3. After the 30 min, eat what you usually have for breakfast. (For those who don't usually eat breakfast, still force yourself to eat something).

Try to eat what you usually have as, through habit, it has become cues for your body about breakfast and what time of the day it is supposed to be. ("new" foods do not carry the same meaning. They could be a snack, lunch, dinner, ... your body does not know).

4. Follow the local time for the rest of the day.

5. At night, eat your last meal at least 2 hours before sleeping. Digestion results in an increase in body temperature which can hinder the release of melatonin--the sleep hormone.

6. 1 hour before sleep time, take a warm shower or bath. There are two reasons for this. The first one is that a warm bath will relax your mind, and release some tension in your body. The second one is that after you leave the bathroom, your body will experience a sudden decrease in temperature. This will signal the brain to start releasing melatonin.

7. 10 min before sleep time, lightly stretch your fingers and toes for 5 min. Lightly stretching them results in more blood being sent to the extremities, where the blood will cool down more quickly, and lower your body temperature even more. As you might have guessed by now, being able to lower your body temperature by about 1 degree celcius (1.8 fahrenheight) is key here.

8. This is also a good time to take a sublingual form of melatonin supplement if you need it. The sublingual form works much faster and much better than any other form as the particles disolve under the tongue and get taken up by the blood stream right away.

9. Sleep :-)

Repeat these steps everyday, and it should speed up your adaptation time. Or general sleep if you have a trouble falling asleep in genereal.

Here are some of the sublingual Melatonin products I recommend. (Please consult with a physician if necessary).

Circadian Rhythms: How to overcome Jet Lag

Besides from a medical or psychological interest in circadian rhythms, another good application of the knowledge goes to overcoming jet lag.

(The plane picture comes from here.)

Let's say you travel to a place which has a time lag of an hour or more with where you live. You will probably experience jet lag. A set of syndromes from an inability to fall asleep or wake up when it's appropriate to fatigue, a blue mood, and a slight loss of memory.

To readjust your body clock to the new time, it takes on average one day per hour of time lag. So, if there is only one hour or two of time lag, it is probably not such a big deal. Your body will adjust itself in a day or two.

If, however, the time lag is of 5 hours, 10 hours or more, a full week or more without adequate sleep can take a toll on your body, and not be such a pleasant experience. (Specially if your vacation only lasts a week, and you have to go back after 7 days.... another week to get readjusted --> that gives at least 2 weeks without adequate sleep!)

What can you do to speed up the process??

There are two mechanisms that control your circadian rhythm: sunlight and food.

Here, I am only give you a step-by-step procedure. (If you are interested in how sunlight and food act together in controlling the body's biological clock, read the next article I am going to post.)

1. Some people recommend "getting used" to the new time before you take the plane. This is probably a bad idea! You are just going to make your body more tired and mess up you sleep pattern earlier than it should be. No, before your trip make sure you sleep well and are well relaxed and full of energy. You want to be able to be as healthy as possible on arrival.

2. This might be the hardest part, specially if you are on a 12 hour flight or more, but it is the most important! I'm serious. Do Not Eat Anything in the Plane!! The hunger and fast will kinda "reset your biological clock to 0." Afterwards, your "eating" clock will adjust to the time of the first meal you take.

3. If you can sleep in the plane, great! If you can't, just close your eyes and try to "keep in the dark." We also want the "sunlight clock" to be reset to 0.

4. Drink more water than usual in the plane. There is inherent stress with traveling, and the AC environment is pretty dry. So just drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated, and help your body get read of the stress' toxicity.

5. When you arrive at destination, follow the local rhythm right away. Do not sleep if it is day time, and only eat your first meal at the right time. (but don't eat breakfast if it's the afternoon, or vice versa. Eat a "real," full, local time, meal.)

6. If you really can't stay awake, take a 15~20 min nap... as many as you need, but make sure to stay awake at least one hour and a half between each nap.

This is for the "travel time" part of adjusting to jet lag. If you are still having some problems falling asleep at night, there are some other tricks you can do. Please come back to this blog and read the following posts.