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Friday, December 17, 2010

Carbonated Beverages (Should I? or Should I not?)


Assalamu’alaikum to dear readers, this post is dedicated to everybody as a medium for me to share this knowledge I gained from my readings and few researches to be shared with everybody.

Firstly, I would like to apologize if there are any grammatical mistakes or any false statement or facts that I’ve written inside this post.

T



hese days, carbonated beverage becomes a popular drink especially to teenagers as it has this unique, one of a kind taste, with delightful flavoring, refreshing  and tangible sensation. It becomes almost everyone cup of tea, with its wowing effervescent, gassy appearance as it is exposed towards the normal atmospheric pressure. But… is that all there is or does it more than just a drink? And why does some parents prevent their kids from drinking this so called refreshing drinks?

What does it contains?
Carbonated  beverages are not more than a whole part of carbonated water (containing bicarbonate ions), added with sodium chloride, phosphoric acid, sodium citrate, caffeine  and some light flavouring – and of course, one of the most important ingredient: a whole lot of sugar (10 teaspoons to be exact).

The truth about it, once we drink it…

This is a study done by a Brazilian professor of Matto Grosso Federal University. These sequential-events take place inside our body after approximately 60 minutes after glugging the so-called refreshing can of soft drinks…

  • ·         After 10 minutes:  10 teaspoons of sugar starts to take an immediate action. At this rate, we should have vomit because of overwhelming with sweetness. But, fortunately, the sweet taste of it is cut by an immediate reaction of sugar with phosphate molecules, causes a decrease in sweetness than it should be.
* Notice that, normally, we need to consume only 10 teaspoons of sugar daily, and by drinking  a can of soft drink, we actually takes in 100% of sugar for our daily requirement.
  • ·         After 20 minutes: our body starts to react as the blood sugar level erupts, beta cells of pancreas are forced to produce a high amount of insulin and convert most of the sugar into fats (this is because of a high consumption of sugar).
  • ·         After 40 minutes: caffeine absorption is completed.  An immediate response of caffeine takes place such as our pupil will be dilated, blood pressure rises, and forces our liver to release more sugar into our blood. In the same time, caffeine is also known as 1 of the chemical that can crosses the blood-brain barrier. Once it enters the brain, it will compete with adenosine to bind to adenosine receptors of the brain’s cells, prevents drowsiness. All of these reactions will trigger an energy rush in our body.
  • ·         After 45 minutes: the body increases dopamine production thus, stimulating the pleasure centres.
  • ·         After 50 minutes: phosphate binds to calcium, magnesium and zinc in the intestine, and prevent these important minerals from being reuptake by our body. These minerals will then carried by the blood to our kidney to be filtered as waste products. Excess sugar and sweeteners also causes decrease in calcium reuptake. 
  • ·         After 60 minutes: caffeine’s diuretic properties play its role. We will urinate, excreting extra calcium, magnesium and zinc which are very essential for our bone development. As times passed by, we will also experience sugar crash.

So… does it REALLY that bad?

Well… some doctors recommend their patients to stop their habit of regular soda intake. Through some researches, regular habit of soda intake may cause numerous diseases such as:
1.       Decrease in bone density that may lead to osteoporosis especially in woman.

Phosphoric acid, which is the real culprit, says Katherine Tucker, Ph.D., lead author of the study. When this compound breaks down, the acidity (or concentration of free hydrogen ions) of the blood increases. To neutralize acidity, hydrogen ions bind with minerals, including calcium and magnesium. If they’re not available in the blood, the body draws calcium by decalcifying our bone.
2.       Increases oesophageal cancer risk.
        
study explains by drinking a quarter of a litre of water, our stomach distends by a quarter of a litre, but if it's a carbonated drink, our stomach may distend to maybe half a litre. This causes reflux - the acid of the stomach is thrown back into the food pipe.
 And recurring acid reflux is the most important risk factor for esophageal adenocarcinoma.
3.       Childhood obesity.

For children, soft drinks could be very addictive. Drinking soda all day long means they are consuming 1,000 calories a day in the form of liquid candy.
If this condition goes on day by days, week by weeks, without any preventive measure, it will cause obesity towards the children.

So…  “should I? or should I not drink it?” That is a question we should answer.

A study shows that consumption of carbonated soft drinks rose by more than 450 percent, from 10.8 gallons per year in 1946 to 49.2 gallons per year in 2000.

So…  are we one of those regular drinkers who contribute this much amount of data in this statistic?

Wallahu a’lam... may Allah always be with us… may we always make the  wise decisions…

Thursday, November 11, 2010

sLeeP aFteR subOh mewarisi kePaPaan, sLeeP aFteR aSaR mewarisi keGiLAan (the truth about melatonin and circadian rhythm)

assalamualaikum and a very warm greetings to evryone... 
note: i'll promise to make it easy 4 evryone to understand yerr... i'll try my best to use less scientific term, n more lay term...

soo.. this is the story: ehheemmm!! in islam, we r alwys advised by 3 things:
  1. dont sleep after suboh!!! nnt mewarisi kepapaan...
  2. dont sleep after asar (or before maghrib)!! nnt mewarisi kegilaan...
  3. n if possible, try to hv a short nap at noon... (the 3rd one i'm not so sure, but as a malay, it is one of our race's habit.)
i'm sure that many of us keep on questioning... y oh y??? y musnt we sleep afte suboh?? (sedangkn dats the rite time 4 sleep)... y musnt we sleep afte asar... penat ni weyy... study all day long.. y cannot tido2 4 awhile r?? n most probably y must we take a nap during the aftrnoon?? i'm busy lahhh!!! dont hv time lorrhh...

these may give u some reasons y must we obey these 3 advise... esp. as a muslim or maybe as a human itself...

this issue can be discussed in either the islamic perspective, or maybe scientific perspective. n this post is dedicated to study these 3 advice in a scientific perspective (briefly off coz)... so lets get started:

first, we hv to noe 2 things... what is MELATONIN... n wat is CIRCADIAN RHYTHM...

Melatonin 

in short, melatonin  is a hormone... known by the scientist as the "hormone of darkness" (mcam scarry smacam je kn??) in other words, this is a hormone responsible 4 our sleeping bhavior n also our sleep/wake cycle.. it is secreted by a gland noen as, pineal gland... the picture below show us where it is situated...
melatonin is noen to b light-dependence.. wat does it means??? it means dat increase or decrease of this hormone is mainly stimulated by light... in such way dat:
  1. during the day: it decreases... (bcoz of inhibited by the blue ray of the light spectrum, from our pglihtn off coz)
  2. during the nite: it increases... as the "darkness" increase... peaks in the middle of the nite, n slowly decrease during the 2nd half of the nite r 2/3 of the nite...
Circadian rhythm
also noen as "sleep/wake cycle" or the "biological clock of the body"... this circulation vary from 1 person to another, depending on our bhviour, habits, n bla bla bla... dis cycle is conducted by our central nervous system n also synchronize by melatonin... this unique cycle starts n end tepat-ly in 24 hours duration...

in circadian rhythm: 
  1. melatonin is secreted around 2100
  2. n it stops completely around 0730
we said dat melatonin n circadian rhythm stimulated by light... so how can dis thing happen??? it is as simple as: 

 
haaaaa... amazing isnt it??? (subhanallah...).. by just looking at the light... this will stimulate both melatonin n circadian rhythm.

sooo... now we noe wat is melatonin n wat is circadian rhythm... now lets go the main poit!!...

dont sleep after suboh!!! nnt mewarisi kepapaan...
soo.. lets look at this 1st case... during suboh, the level of melatonin is decreasing (but does not stop completely lagi...) so what will happen if we SLEEP afte suboh??? 
 
our melatonin level will INCREASES n delay the stoppage of melatonin secretion totally... dis is due to less "pendedahan" toward light...
effects: we will bcome more lazy, feel sleepy in the morning, makes our desire to sleep increases... this is due to our circadian rhythm is delayed  n the melatonin secretion stoppage is delayed...
n bcoz of this effects... we can conclude that:  sleep afte suboh mewarisi kepapaan...  we can say that this particular person will maybe: late 4 work, or worst malas nk kerja terus... (ish3... -__-!)

dont sleep after asar (or before maghrib)!! nnt mewarisi kegilaan...
ok now... the 2nd case of the day... what actually happen??? when we actually trigger the secretion of melatonin to be VERY EARLY!!!..
 
how cud this happen??? well, we noe that we need light to inhibit melatonin secretion... n when we sleep, we actually disable light to inhibit melatonin secretion... therefore, melatoni levl wud b VERY VERY high!!!...
effect: too much melatonin will coz drwsiness (kpeningn, ketidaksedaran, kemengantukan yg sgt melampau!!) n in this condition, we can evn fool or make fun this person wfout he/she realising it... wow... but please dot do it ok... we r good people... isnt it??
threfore: dont sleep afte asar!! bcoz ur really2 mewarisi kegilaan... 

a short nap at noon...
well, at 1st, back in the old days, this action is act. a habit of many people in this world... until recently, nobody wud nap a lil bit during the noon... they gv n xcuse such as: work3!!!... or naps r 4 babies... or gotta study n strive n etc....

but the truth is, scientific results shows that, taking a nap in the noon really boost ur energy, decrease stress, n it doesnt effect circadian rhythm at all!!... n due to this, scientist nick-named this nap as "power-nap"... (wow!!..)

in a nut shell, i hope that we can same2 follow these 3 advices:
  1. dont sleep after suboh!!! nnt mewarisi kepapaan...
  2. dont sleep after asar (or before maghrib)!! nnt mewarisi kegilaan...
  3. n if possible, try to hv a short nap at noon...
i apologize if theres any mistake in this post,.. like i said prev.ly,, it is juz a brief post,... not too long (i hope)
n not too short (koWt)

please tell me if theres anything wrong wif this post, or if theres anything at all... thanx soo much 4 reading n hv a happy eid al-adha!!! selamat ari raye sume!!






Thursday, October 7, 2010

A tWistEd so-cAllEd "fAiRy-tAiL" (part 1)

... as the moon shines in the night, the wolf howls unstoppably. suddenly the thunder bangs, as it fills the atmosphere with a loud sound... and bla bla bla.... 

ok fine!!!~~~~ aku rase malas nk bwat crite fancy-mancy.... so... i'll tell u a stroy with a bilingual-rojak-style  of story telling....

WARNING!!! whenever u read dis... please dont  expect the unexpected n jgn cpat2 trase ok~~.... njoy the story~~!!! n to those yg benig mentioned inside dis post... sile jgn
once upon a time....

in faraway place called "masakin fustat"... tggal lah 1 family of org kaye2... the centre of the story revolves around  a kind-hearted-cute-good-looking-neat-humble boy named LinguiniAfiqZhdeGlamorous a.k.a afiq... yg tggal bersame sorg mak-tiri-wannnabe named BoQueAfiqdeBususk a.k.a Mak Boq dan 2 org anknye yg undefined jantinanyerrr (koWt). 2 kakak/abg tiri afiq is: 1st, LahdeBunciti a.k.a kak Lah n 2nd NyahAdhadeErr a.k.a kak Adha.

ni lah muke mak Boq... she works s a model smentara kt tesco n pasaraya berdekatan anda... allaaaa~~ yg pompwan dok promote brg2 tuhh... nih larr orgnye....

nih lah muke kak Lah.... die nie currently bkerje sbg akauntan d sbuah syarikat pemprosesan n pmbersihan lji air sedunia... bru2 nih,.. company die brjaye invent n rawat air kotor smpai jd air minerl n die trpilih utk promosikn air nih kt majalah "the Vouge" edisi september 2010...

nih lah kak Adha.... die nih mmg rrrr..... hmmm.... ntah rrr...... x tau nk ckap ape.... gambo nih diiambil mase time pakwe die dtg rmh,.. time nih die pon bwat2 rajen,,.. sapu lantai konon gitu.... namun,... seswatu yg x diingini brlaku.... cube tgk pnyapu tuh btol2.....

ok lahhh... back to the story yerr...... evryday, afiq akn bgn pkol 3 pg.... kne masak air, basuh bju, bersihkn rumah yg beso gdabak mcam istana tuh, dll... u name it.... ok lahh... 4 full detail... dis is wat afiq's tentatif looks like:
  • 0300: wake up in the ERLY morning...
  • 0330: masak air, nk ganti air baru utk minum.... mak boq x suke mnum air lbey drpd 24 jam... katenye x sdap....
  • 0400: kutip baju n kain skliling rumah yg beso bak istana...
  • 0530: slesai kutip baju,.. (lame btoi nohh) pastuh stat basuh bju....
  • 0630: slesai basuh sume kaen n baju (hand-wash only sbb kak adha x prcaye pd keberkesanan mesin)
  • 0700: sdiakn srapan pg utk 3 eko mnusia laen tuhh...
  • 0715: 3 eko mnusia tuh mule mmbunyikn loceng maseng2.. utk pggil afiq.... nk srapan pon sbenonye...
  • 0720: sdiakn mknn ala2 hotel,,.. breakfast in bed gitu.... (nih sume sbb cdgn kak Lah yg gediks tue..)
  • *0800: sesi motivasi brsame mak boq... especially kalo ade TER-bwat slh.... contohnye.... tertinggal sampah sebesa 0.2 cm ats lantai atau lupe nk tutop pintu rpt2 sbb ade gap sbesa 1.37 cm lg sblom pntu btol22 rpt...
  • dll.... n etc...... (byk sgt koWt...)
soooo... nk jadikn citer.... satu ari,, rmh yg dorg dudok tuh.. dpt rr surat rasmi... drpd: "Fustat Next tOp moDeL" utk ujbkt sape yg layak utk menjd... "Fustat Next tOp moDeL".. time dpt jerr surat nihh... kak Lah ngn Kak Adha pon terlonjak2, terkinja2, tercirit2 gembire~~ dgn banggenye Kak Lah ckap: "aku rr yg mng nnt.. sbb aku cun,, dahi aku lawa... n aku pon SOPAn..." 
dgr je Kak Lah ckap camtuhh... Kak adha pon trus mnyampuk: " weyy~~ apal ko plak?? ko tuh da rr BunciT!! ko tgk tuhhh... tmpat lmk bkmpol tuhh... tgk aku... slim, montok, sexy,,... bru lah MoDel-material..."
make berlakulahhh sdikit prkelahian ntra meka brdua.... mlihatkn bgitu... mak Boq pon bersware: "gurls!! gurls!! ape gado2 nih~~ x elok lahhh~~ eeee... jgn camtuhh... ank mak dua2 cantik... 1 of u sure2 mng rr... mummy yakin gituuhh"

kmudian mreka pon trgelak2 manje-gediks-meluat bersame ank branak... afiq yg dri td dok mnyental2 lantai kotoq kt bwh tuh trdgr dorg bcrite... since dorg 3 brAnak tuh mmg species yg sume-bende-nk-citer-kat-dunia make afiq pon dgr rrr sgale mende yg dorg dok ckp tuh.... dlm ati kci afiq ponn.. trdetik gak... "aku pon nk jd "Fustat Next tOp moDeL"".... hmmm.... die pon trdiam....

stelah slesai 3 jam mnyental lantai.... (ats arhn mAk boq).. afiq pon trus pegi backyard.... tmpat fav die... tatkala suke n duke... die pon dudok kt ats bangku.... "aku pon kalo boley nk jd "Fustat Next tOp moDeL" gak"....

: "ko nk jd "Fustat Next tOp moDeL"??? hehehee... aku boley tolong kowt....". mndgrkn sware misteri tuhh... afiq pon trus bgun dri tmpat dudok.. trus pndg knn, pndag kri.. xde gak org....
"sa..sa..sape tuh??" trketar2 sware afiq.. kmudian dri 1 sdut.... 1 chye biru-ala2-pinky muncul.... chaye tuh pon brpusing2... kliling afiq... 

TIBE2!!!............. jeng jeng jeng!!!!!

TAMAT A tWistEd so-cAllEd "fAiRy-tAiL" (part 1)... c u nex time!!!