Su Salud : Your Health >>

"Without teeth there can be no chewing. Without chewing there can be no nourishment. Without..."

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 08:28:00 -0800

““Without teeth there can be no chewing.
Without chewing there can be no nourishment.
Without nourishment there can be no health.
Without health, what is life?””

-

- Origin Unknown

How does your air compare?

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:36:01 -0800

Clean air is essential for health. Breathing yucky air can really harm your health and even shorten your life.

Two sites that can tell you how your city and county stack up are:

1. The American Lung Association’s http://www.stateoftheair.org
2. The Federal Government’s http://www.epa.gov/aircompare/compare.htm

8 tips about coffee & your health

Tue, 24 May 2011 04:00:06 -0700

1. Long-term coffee drinkers may be at lesser risk of onset of Type 2 diabetes.

2. Coffee does not have a harmful effect on heart disease or stroke.

3. Caffeinated beverages may reduce your risk for Parkinson’s disease.

4. Caffeinated coffee may help prevent symptomatic gallstone disease.

5. Coffee could lower your risk of hepatic injury and liver cancer.

6. Pregnant women who consume large amounts of caffeine may be at increased risk of late miscarriage and stillbirth.

7. Some people may crave coffee more due to a particular genetic variation.

8. People who drink a lot of coffee also consume more sugar, cream, syrups (ie more calories).

—-

Manteca Dentist Dr Masood Cajee is proud to be a public health advocate. He blogs & tweets about healthy mouths, bodies, and communities. Access his website at www.smilesahead.us.

The 10 passwords you must avoid

Thu, 19 May 2011 12:51:00 -0700

The 10 most common passwords people use for ATMs and online accounts, according to Mark Burnett, security expert. Avoid these like the plague for the sake of your own online safety and security.

1. 123456

2. password

3. 12345678

4. 1234

5. **** (curseword)

6. 12345

7. dragon

8. qwerty

9. 696969

10. mustang

——-

Manteca Dentist Dr Masood Cajee is proud to be a public health advocate. He blogs & tweets about healthy mouths, bodies, and communities. Access his website at www.smilesahead.us.

The future of cigarette packaging? In Australia, the government...

Thu, 19 May 2011 12:14:55 -0700

The future of cigarette packaging? In Australia, the government is seriously considering giving cigarette boxes a makeover. They want to move beyond labels and show the yuck & pain upfront. Each carton will feature a large photo of a smoking-related disease. The government will allow the brand name in very small print on the bottom set against a dark olive background. Research has shown that dark olive is the least attractive color for any smokers and in particular for young people. The idea is that in-your-face packaging may deter, or at least educate and warn, smokers. Perhaps we should do the same.

Manteca Dentist Dr Masood Cajee is proud to be a public health advocate. He blogs & tweets about healthy mouths, bodies, and communities. Access his website at www.smilesahead.us.

"Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean."

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 04:08:26 -0700

““Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.””

- Ryunosuke Satoro, Japanese poet.

5 sleep tips for school kids

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 21:25:00 -0800

MANTECA, CA — Our kids aren’t getting enough sleep. And it’s not just making them tired at school. It might be making them fat.

A new study in the February issue of Pediatrics found that obese kids usually don’t get enough weekend sleep. Kids who are obese don’t seem to have a good weekend sleep routine. They don’t get enough “catch-up” sleep.

Kids need at least 10 hours of sleep a night. Kids need good sleep on the weekends too, not just school nights.

The combination of less sleep and and random sleep patterns is apparently linked to slower metabolism. Slower metabolism means more chubsiness. More fat.

Here are 5 health tips to help school kids sleep better (and preserve parents’ sanity):

1. Be sure your kids are getting enough sleep. Kids in elementary school need 10-11 hours of sleep per day. High schoolers need less: about 8-9 hours a day.
2. Have a a cutoff time for screentime and snacking. Staying up to watch TV, go on the internet, and play video games overstimulates the brain. Eating snacks filled with sugar or caffeine can also disrupt sleep. For at least one hour before bedtime, avoid these things to ensure good sleep for kids and adults alike.
3. Make sure homework gets done early. Don’t put it off until late.
4. Try to keep to a regular sleep routine even on the weekends.
5 And parents, let the kids sleep in on the weekends. They’re not being lazy slobs. Their bodies actually need the ZZZZZZZZZZZZs!

Manteca Dentist Dr Masood Cajee is proud to be a public health advocate. He blogs & tweets about healthy mouths, bodies, and communities. Access his website at www.smilesahead.us.

What is your cellphone doing to your brain?

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 05:11:00 -0800

MANTECA, CA — Many have long suspected that cellphones may be linked to brain cancer. The latest research from the National Institutes of Health has some clues for us.

The good news: no link to brain cancer or any other other health problems has been proven yet.

The bad news: cellphones do affect our brains.

We just don’t know what the long-term effects are yet.

The latest study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, shows for the first time a direct link between cell-phone radiation and brain-cell activity.

50 minutes of cell phone usage (with the phone muted to avoid any effect from sound stimulation) raised brain glucose levels in the parts of the brain closest to the phone’s antenna.

“Although we cannot determine the clinical significance, our results give evidence that the human brain is sensitive to the effects of radiofrequency-electromagnetic fields from acute cell phone exposures,” said Nora Volkow, the study’s lead author.

Researchers say we need to further study the impact of cellphones on our brains.

Until we know more, we have another reason to keep within the minutes on our plans.

And don’t ditch our land-lines just yet.

Dr Masood Cajee is a Manteca dentist and public health advocate. Access his website at www.smilesahead.us. He blogs & tweets about healthy mouths, bodies, and communities.

"Eat food. Mostly Plants. Not too much."

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 01:01:00 -0800

“Eat food. Mostly Plants. Not too much.”

-

Michael Pollan, in his book, “In Defense of Food.”

"The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t..."

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:12:53 -0800

“The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.”

- Mark Twain (1835-1910); American writer and humorist. Twain loved California, especially Calaveras County and the Angels Camp area. He used to come from San Francisco to Stockton by steamboat, then hop on a wagon to get to his cabin near Angels Camp.

12 tips to healthy eating

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 21:56:00 -0800

Manteca, California — Every 5 years, the government updates Dietary Guidelines. Uncle Sam has just updated the guidelines again, based on all the latest in nutrition research.

Here are 12 gems, made simple by your friends at Su Salud/Your Health :

1. Eat less. Especially if you’re overweight.

2. Get active. Reduce time spent on the couch, in front of a screen, or at a desk.

3. Eat less salt.

4. Eat less fatty acids, trans fatty acids, dietary cholesterol, solid fats, and added sugars.

5. Limit or eliminate alcohol.

6. Eat lots of fruits & veggies.

7. Eat a variety of vegetables. Darkgreen, red, and orange veggies are great. Beans and peas are also good.

8. Eat more whole grains.

9. Drink or eat more fat-free or low-fat milk products, such as milk, yogurt, and cheese.

10. Eat a variety of protein foods. Examples: seafood, lean meat and poultry, eggs, beans and peas, soy products, and unsalted nuts and seeds.

11. Eat more seafood. Eat less chicken and beef.

12. Eat more foods with potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin D and calcium. Examples: veggies, fruits, whole grains, and dairy products.

This was just a brief overview of the latest guidelines. The full dietary guidelines can be accessed at http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/. Bon apetit!

Masood Cajee is a dentist in Manteca. His website is www.smilesahead.us.

Your toothbrush & your toilet

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 20:56:52 -0800

Just remember this:

Six feet.

Thats the recommended distance to keep your toothbrush from your toilet to avoid airborne particles from the flush.

4 ways happiness can make you healthier

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 20:37:00 -0800

Certain personality traits can help you become physically healthier.

Thats the word from researchers in the latest issue of the Harvard Public Health Review (Winter 2011).

Just being happy might help you avoid or beat heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and depression.

Here are the 4 key ways to a healthier, happier life that the researchers identified:

1. EMOTIONAL VITALITY
Being enthusiastic about things. Having a sense of hopefulness. Getting angry and worrying about every little thing can be bad for your heart. Anger and stress can change the heart’s electric stability, lead to atherosclerosis, and worsen inflammation all around the body.

2. OPTIMISM
Feeling that good things will happen no matter what. Feeling that you can be an agent of change for the better. Optimism can lower the risk of coronary heart disease by half.

3. SUPPORT NETWORKS
Having family and friends that you trust and that support you. Being married helps. Support networks can also come from groups you belong to, such as churches, mosques, synagogues, sports teams, volunteer organizations, etc.

4. BEING GOOD AT “SELF-REGULATION”
Bouncing back from bad times. Choosing healthy behaviors like eating well and exercising. Staying away from risky sex, alcohol and drugs, and overeating.

Good Snack, Bad Snack. Parents and Kids need to watch out for...

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:59:00 -0800

Good Snack, Bad Snack. Parents and Kids need to watch out for chips, soda, and cookies as much as candy and chocolate. “A bag of Cheetos and a Mountain Dew can be worse
than a chocolate bar for your teeth,” says Dr Cajee.
Snacking is important for a healthy mouth and a healthy body.
Advice: Limit the number of snack times. Choose nutritious snacks.

"Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make..."

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 14:13:15 -0700

“

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

…

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma–which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

”

- Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, Stanford University commencement address, June 12, 2005

How to lower your cholesterol

Tue, 11 May 2010 04:48:33 -0700

We often hear about lowering our cholesterol. Why? Because its important for heart health. My dad is über-careful about his. He reports that he asked a leading researcher at a major medical conference what the best way to lower cholesterol was.

The answer? Eliminate soda from your diet. Eliminate all carbonated beverages. Eliminate all fizzy drinks. No Coke. No Pepsi. No Dr Pepper. No Diet Coke. No Cherry Coke. No Fanta. No Sprite. No Mountain Dew.

Cutting soda will also be very good for your dental health and your waistline.

The sad story of bottled water. In intensively agricultural...

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:19:00 -0700

The sad story of bottled water. In intensively agricultural areas like Manteca or Modesto or Stockton or Lathrop or Tracy, experts recommend some kind of filtration and purification of tap water. And, one day, we’ll hopefully be fluoridated.

"My Alma mater was books, a good library…I could spend the rest of my life reading, just..."

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:26:54 -0700

“My Alma mater was books, a good library…I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.
Mi Alma Mater fue libros, una buena biblioteca … pude pasar el resto de mi vida sólo lectura, sólo satisfacer mi curiosidad.”

- Malcolm X (1925-1965)

"The library is the temple of learning, and learning has liberated more people than all the wars in..."

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:25:00 -0700

““The library is the temple of learning, and learning has liberated more people than all the wars in history.
La biblioteca es el templo de aprendizaje, y el aprendizaje ha liberado a más personas que todas las guerras en la historia.”

- Carl T. Rowan (American Journalist, 1925-2000)

"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library. Siempre imaginé que el Paraíso sería..."

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:22:07 -0700

““I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
Siempre imaginé que el Paraíso sería algún tipo de biblioteca.”

- Jorge Luis Borges (Argentinian Poet and Essayist, 1899-1986)