Thursday, December 30, 2010

Shampoo with gloves- or your hands will age

Some wear gloves when shampooing hair.

WHY?

Because, shampoo is a detergent, which rinses away natural oils on the back of the hands. The more detergent you use, the more natural oils are rinsed away, to cause dry, wrinkled hands.

Hands show age!

Also, forget using hand soap after toilet. Just water washing is fine, unless you touch some very dirty stuff. Regular water is good enough to rinse away bacteria in toilet.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Kaatsu training

found interesting article Kaatsu training. (occlusion training" and "blood flow restricted exercise)


The Sri Lanka government is introducing this training to public in Sri Lanka.

I am doing this kaatsu training 2 times every week!



Monday, December 20, 2010

How well does that hat block dangerous UV rays?

Interesting chart about UV block methods! The bars show how much UV comes into eyes.

The chart shows which UV block method blocks the most harmful UV rays
(The left) If you are wearing nothing, you get 100% UV.
If you wear sun visor, UV is 90% blocked!
If you wear sun block clear hat, UV is 80% blocked.
If you wear ball cap, 70% is blocked.
If you wear bucket hat, 40% is blocked.
If you wear straw hat, only 10% is blocked.  The problem is it's the most stylish.


Thursday, December 16, 2010

Japanese plums on elbows (anti-aging)

If you do not care for your elbows, you might find wrinkled Japanese plums on there!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Wrinkled Ladies, Should seek Japanese Secrets for anti-aging

I found very, very funny movie. This is too funny to be true!


Thursday, December 9, 2010

Japanese high tech toilet!

Japanese toilet is also known as the high tech toilet.

Did you know that even hollywood stars enjoy TOTO's bidet (small shower)?

It measures
- glucose in urine
- blood pressure
- body fat %
- weight (BMI)
- urine temperature

AMAZING!!!

Check out this movie! (Please click the below URL instead of the screen.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH5U9rOWXeM

Monday, December 6, 2010

How to make SUKIYAKI



Ingredients for Sukiyaki (3 People)

- Sukiyaki Sauce -
100ml Sake (2/5 u.s. cup)
50ml Mirin - A Type Of Sweet Rice Wine (1/5 u.s. cup)
50ml Soy Sauce (1/5 u.s. cups)
2 tbsp Sugar

Beef
Eggs

Chinese Cabbage
Negi - Welsh Onion
Shungiku - Edible Chrysanthemum
Shiitake Mushrooms
Enokitake Mushrooms

Seared Firm Tofu
Ito Konnyaku - Konjac Cut Into Noodle-like Strips

Friday, December 3, 2010

Eating Order for Anti-aging

In addition to what you eat, the ORDER you eat it, is also important for anti-aging.


Too much sugar (carbs) increases insulin and cause it to spike. This is called glycation (Glycemic Index). Protein mixes with sugars to become glycated protein. This is one of the reasons of aging.

In order to reduce glycation, you should eat in this order.

1. Vegetables (ideally raw veggies) or seaweed

2. Proteins

3. Carbohydrates


Why is that?

- By eating vegetables first, the veggie's fiber becomes bigger with water in your stomach, making you feel full more quickly. This helps you eat less.

- Vegetables force you to chew more, which leads you feel full more quickly too.

- Raw vegetables, have a digestive enzyme, which aides in the digestion of proteins, which is a good reason to eat after the veggies.

- If your stomach has vegetable fiber already, carbohydrates, which you eat after veggies and proteins, gets covered with this fiber,and slows down speed of transportation of the sugar into blood. This helps slow down insulin spike.

- Protein is hard to digest in general, so if you eat protein first, the protein stays in stomach too long. This forces other food to stay in stomach too long too, and slows down digestion of all the food.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Seaweed Salad (Japanese Diet, secrets for healthy life)

Seaweed, Wakame in Japanese, has various types. These types of seaweed are in my kitchen, which are available in the US.










Today, I use dried seaweed. It is easily available at Asian super markets or even regular American super markets, like Whole Foods. 
Let's make seaweed salad which is very easy and healthy!




Prepare several vegetables, your choice.













Boil or steam vegetables as needed.


Put the dry seaweed in water for a few minutes.





Drain the vegetables & seaweed


Mix together.













Add more vegetables, as you like. 
That's it! 
Top with your favorite dressing or oil and enjoy it!


Thursday, November 25, 2010

Facts about Menopause

Natural Menopause can start anywhere from early 40’s to late 50’s, the average american starts at about age 50 and it lasts 4 years.

The variations we experience in menopause are great.  Nearly 50% of women report only mild symptoms.

Most frequent symptoms are hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings and vaginal dryness.

Less frequent in menopause are infections of  the urinary tract and sleeping problems.

Menopause has NO association with depression, anxiety or other psychological problems.

Depression, weight gain, joint problems like arthritis and fatigue are often problems for both men and women as they age.  These are caused by the aging process and are not a part of menopause.

Soy products may reduce symptoms of menopause as they contain substances similar in structure to female hormones.

Having a positive attitude actually decreases menopausal symptoms. 

Hormone replacement therapy carries small risks and should be used by women who have significant symptoms during menopause.

During menopause, the body odors can change as the breakdown products of our skin change. 

Monday, November 22, 2010

Sleeping Beauty doesn't text before bed

It's important to have good quality sleep every night for anti-aging benefits.

One of the tips for good sleep is:

DO NOT USE CELL PHONES BEFORE SLEEP!!! This wakes up your nerves and excites you too much.

Checking your email or using your cell phone right before bed equates to 2 cups of espressoooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Japanese Women in their 40's

Let me introduce some Japanese women in their 40's. Their lifestyle includes many choices that eliminate UV exposure. It is said that 90% of skin aging comes from UV exposure! Eating anti-oxidants and using an umbrella is a must.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Bath Time is good for you! (Increasing your circulation)

I know that you have probably heard that showering is healthier for women than bathing.

However, there are many benefits for women to soak in the tub.  Bathing is very important for warming your body. By warming body, your immune system gets stronger and blood circulation increases!
Especially if your lifestyle depends on the use of air conditioners too much, try to take bathes for deep warming.

In Japan, bath tub time is called beauty time. Lot's of women spend hours in there.  While bathing they also do many things other tasks. For example: massage, hair removal, esthetic therapy, facial and body scrubs, reading books, watching TV, talking on the phone, and EVEN EATING!!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Cute Bento (Healthy lunch options for kids)

Japanese love making CUTE bento boxes for kids! Bento is a healthy meal for kids, because it is nutritionally balanced and has no preservatives, unlike processed food or other junk food.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Menopause is not disease!

Ever since the women’s health initiative study in 2002 started getting data about women who were randomly selected to either take or not take hormone replacement therapy, our ideas on menopause have changed.  Menopause was treated like a disease until the study showed that in fact it is a stage of life.   Modern health professionals know that life style can be a significant aid as women pass though this stage of life.


Menopause occurs when a woman’s body changes from trying to prepare to accept and carry a pregnancy (a body that is growing or building) to a body that no longer needs to provide a procreative function (and has begun to start the process of decay).   Prior to menopause our hormones help protect us against things like heart disease and bone loss.  After menopause, the rates of bone loss in women doubles and we soon catch up to men who have already started experiencing heart disease.  

As our bodies go through this transition, it experiences symptoms.  More than half of women have hot flashes and mood swings.  When our blood vessels dilate,  warm blood comes to the surface of the body and we experience flushing and redness of the skin.  As part of that, sweating often increases and scientists at Shisedo cosmetic company discovered that a particular substance, noneal is produced which gives a characteristic odor when it is present.   Persimmon tannin has been shown to eliminate that substance and reduce the oror.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Sun block umbrella for men

In Japan, even men have started using umbrella for UV block!

Monday, November 1, 2010

SATC in Japan!

The fabulous 4 from The Sex And The City visited Tokyo for the movie opening! We Japanese also love them so much!! They are really good role models for women.

Friday, May 28, 2010

What is not in cosmetics

When you choose cosmetics, what is not in is important.

Basically, skin is supposed to to egest old stuff out, which is called skin's turn over.
In addition, skin has barrier so that foreign object does not penetrate in the skin.
Therefore, topical treatment by cosmetics is less important than balanced diet.
The best cosmetics for you is your natural blood which carries  necessary nutrition, which comes from your food intake.

Nowadays, there are so many cosmetics including synthetic stuff, which destroy the skin's natural barrier function. One of the worst ingredients is "Synthetic Surfactant". There are 2000-3000 kinds of this, so impossible to distinguish what is what? in ingredient list. So, the best thing you can do is to find trustworthy cosmetics brand.

These are demonstration about how bad synthetic stuff in cosmetics is.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Basal body temprature

Recently, people's basal body temperature has been becoming lower.
Ideal basal body temperature is around 36.5C, 97.7F.

If it rises by 1C, 33.8F, your immunity gets 6 times stronger!

BUT, if it gets lower by 1C, 33.8F,
immunity gets weaker by 40%.
basal metabolism gets lower by 12%.
enzyme function gets weaker by 50%.

If it is below 35C, 95F, cancer cell can be born.

Therefore, it is important to keep your body warm.
- Do not drink too much cold drink.
- Wear enough all the time.
- Do not eat sweet too much.
- Do not use air conditioner too much.
- Exercise enough.





Friday, May 21, 2010

Small Big eater's secret

In Japan, there are many small sized but big eaters.

One of the most famous food fighters in the US is Takeru Kobayahi, Japanese guy, a member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE). He held the world record for hot dog eating for nearly six years, and holds several other eating records, and is ranked second in the world for competitive eating according to the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

This gal is another food fighter. She is so skinny.

By the way, what is such food fighters' secret?

In regular people, after starting eating, satiety center is stimulated, and  blood sugar level is elevated.
But their satiety center is not stimulated, and blood sugar level is still low, which means they are still hungry.

Food taken goes into stomach, intestine, and taken out as feces, so quickly. She does feces 6-7 times per day!!!

In her feces, 2-4 times more bifidus than regular people was found. 


brown fat cell  is cell to burn energy. When you feel cold, your brown fat cell starts burning energy to increase heat. In her case, while eating, her brown fat cell increases very highly.


How can we copy such brown fat cell function?


Train your brown fat cell, by repeating cold and hot shower! 

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Genetics testing kit

I am interested in genetics testing kit for diet. By sending some small mucosa from mouth to laboratory, you will get to know

- What kind of body type you are.
- What kind of diet you are suitable for.

Apple type
You have too much fat on internal organ.
Big stomach
You might like carb, sugar, or alcohol.
Not good at digesting sugar.





Pear type
Your lower part is bigger than upper.
You might like fried stuff or creamy stuff.
Not good at digesting fat.



Banana Type
You may be slim, but one you gain fat, you have hard time losing it.

Adam & Eve type
Life style is more important more than genetic
s

I found US version of this kind too.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Kaatsu training


i just found some article about Kaatsu training in English. Let me introduce some here. (info about Kaatsu training.)


Muscle size and strength are increased following walk training with restricted venous blood flow from the leg muscle, KAATSU-walk training


Low-intensity resistance training with restricted muscular venous blood flow (KAATSU) causes muscle hypertrophy and strength gain. To investigate the effects of daily physical activity combined with KAATSU, we examined the acute and chronic effects of walk training with and without KAATSU on MRI-measured muscle size and maximum dynamic (1-RM) and isometric strength, along with blood hormonal parameters. Nine men performed KAATSU-walk training and 9 men performed walk training alone (Control-walk). Training was conducted 2 times/day, 6 days/week for 3 weeks using 5 sets of 2-min bout (treadmill speed at 50 m/min), with a 1-min rest between bouts. Mean oxygen uptake (VO2) during KAATSU-walk and Control-walk exercise were 19.5 ± 3.6% and 17.2 ± 3.1% of treadmill-determined VO2 max, respectively. Serum growth hormone was elevated (P<0.01) after acute KAATSU-walk exercise, but not in Control-walk exercise. MRI-measured thigh muscle cross-sectional area and muscle volume increased 4~7%, and 1-RM and maximum isometric strength increased 8~10% in the KAATSU-walk group. There was no change in muscle size and dynamic and isometric strength in the Control-walk group.Indicators of muscle damage (creatine kinase and myoglobin) and resting anabolic hormones did not change in both groups. The results suggest that the combination of leg muscle blood flow restriction with slow-walk training induces muscle hypertrophy and strength gain despite the minimal level of exercise intensity. KAATSU-walk training may be a potentially useful method for promoting muscle hypertrophy covering in a wide range of the population, including the frail and elderly.
http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/01267.2005v1

Monday, May 17, 2010

Good bye to Microwave?

Microwaves use a very high frequency electromagnetic wave called "microwave". Because of this high electromagnetic wave, each molecule gets friction from each other to increase temperature. Therefore, when it is done, the molecule is badly damaged and easy to get oxidized.
In addition, amino acid type changes after microwave. Amino acid in our food should be type L, but microwave change it from L to D. If you have type D amino acid in your body, you might have several disorders, for example, cataract, Alzheimer, hardened arteries.


Microwave is very convenient, but for long term health, it might be better to reduce the amount of the use.



Sunday, May 16, 2010

Original taste- MUST eliminate MSG

Since we are used to too many additives, our taste is now crazy.

In other words, if your original taste is natural, you can taste additives by eating MSG! But, I cannot, because I've had too many additives in my diet for too long.

However, if you eliminate MSG from your diet, you will recover original sense of taste.

Additive in processed food

Most free radicals are produced in liver, detox factory. So, it is better to give less burden to liver.

One of the free radical producers is excessive intake of food additive.

Processed food has lot's of additive because it helps lower price, easy process, and convenience.

How do you know what is additive? Additive is what you do not have in your kitchen.

Glycation reaction

It is important no to elevate blood glucose level. Glycation reaction accelerates aging by making inflammation which produces wrinkle, age spot, sagging skin.

It is better to reduce high GI food.

Instead of white sugar, use agave, or mirin.
Instead of bread, cookie, pizza, noodle, white rice of refined wheat, use those of whole wheat grain.

In addition,
- eat food of fiber, before eating a lot.
- eat vinegar before eating a lot or add vinegar on high GI food.
Fiber or vinegar retards sugar digestion, and keeps down blood glucose level.

Mixed millet as supplement- instead of brown rice

Lately, people are eating brown rice for health, but brown rice has hard bran which is hard to digest. When brown rice is digested poorly, the nutrition % absorbed is lower than white rice. Therefore, I recommend white rice with mixed millet.

Good Oil- benetits from Omega 3 for women

Female hormones are composed of oil. Oil is a component of the cell membrane. Cell membranes takes  in nutrients, detox unnecessary stuff, and protect you from virus.
Too much oil is not good, but you need to have oil to some extent. It has to be good oil though.
The best oil you should take every day is Omega 3, which comes from flaxseed, for example.