Thursday, December 13, 2007

The Waiting Room

The hottest story blog in the neighbourhood

They sit and await the verdict
Heels click as others rush past
Everyone on their way to one of two places

Who can run faster than time?
All we do lives with us
In the halls of bright sterile light
Time moves slowly and we realize
If we sit still long enough;
Nothing is permanent or
Guaranteed

Rows are forgotten in the end
Only the love we stand to lose
One more breath, one more year,
More than that we cannot ask right now.

Pamela Chocho Okoro

Monday, December 3, 2007

EATING YOUR AGE

The hottest story blog in the neighbourhood


Health is something one has to work at maintaining. Pollutions of all types abound and we have a duty to care for ourselves. Regular baths, proper feeding and sleeping habits, exercise, all these and more are necessary for that great looking skin, bright eyesight and glossy hair you see on the models in the TV commercials and billboards. We’d like to believe these things are expensive to maintain, however they are not.

Ageing with grace seems a miracle that comes in a bottle and/or with much pain- night creams, make up, surgery, the list goes on.. However, one’s real age does not have to be more than a number or counted in the number of wrinkles crinkles or estimated by the dry scabby texture of the skin. While we can’t stop ourselves from getting older (you can ask Dorian Gray how his attempt went) we can make ourselves glow in maturity as well as we did in our youth. The trick is to begin early. The basic health steps when applied properly and consistently would make you as pretty and health as you’d like to be as you grow older.

Recently an article on msn listed 7 foods with high age-defying benefits, these are:

1) Olive Oil- Olive oil is believed to reduce heart diseases, cancer, and prevent age-related diseases.

2) Yogurt- this sweet yet sour meal is championed by nutritionists as very good for women as opposed to milk. It helps the gut and reduces the risk of age-related intestinal illness.

3) Fish- Fish, though harsh on the breadth when fried and not too sweet when boiled, is very healthy and is recommended for all ages as opposed to meat, the older we get the less meat we’re to consume. Fish helps prevent the build up of cholesterol in the arteries and protects against abnormal heart rhythms.

4) Chocolate- Goody! Something sinfully sweet that’s good for you. Cocoa is actually what’s good for you, and chocolate is made from cocoa, so the chocolate beverages are good for your blood vessels, and healthy blood vessels mean lower risk of high blood pressure, kidney diseases dementia and type 2 diabetes. But please, go easy on the Chocolate bars.

5) Nuts- Nuts offer benefits similar to those associated with olive oil. And Seventh-Day Adventists claim from studies that those who eat nuts gain an average of two and a half years. Nuts also contain antioxidants vitamins and minerals.

6) Wine- Alcohol in moderate amounts reduces chances of diabetes, heart disease and age-related memory loss. Red wine in particular apart from helping digestion, has been found to contain resveratol which may be able to activate genes that slow cellular aging.

7) Blueberries- Compounds in blueberries, and other berries, helps balance and coordination as one ages as they have compounds in them that mitigates against factors that cause age-related deficits in memory and motor functions.

So start eating and drinking now and watch yourself glow and blossom like an evergreen tree that does not get ugly or dull with age.