Thursday, May 21, 2009

Fit FactorY : Healthy Junk Food

Fit FactorY - Popchips
Okay, so I'm almost 100% sure that this post is the first (hopefully not the only!) post in my blog that really caught your eye. I must say that when I saw that headline while surfing around Yahoo! a few days ago, I also had to click on the link.

One of the products the Yahoo! article pimped was something called "Popchips!" which has this extremely creative and catchy tag line that is a perfect fit for what the product stands for: "Love. Without the handles." How is it such a guilt-free snack?

1. As the name implies, these taters aren't fried, nor baked. They're popped through a correct application of heat and pressure!

2. The product can come in single serving portions so that even if you can't stop once you pop, the small bag will stop you too.

They look rather tasty and I'm going to scour my grocery store to see if the Pop factory have already shipped their goodies to my neighborhood grocery shop.

I was kinda iffy on the flavored varieties though. Somehow, they didn't t look and sound as healthy once you pepper them with those orange flavorings. HOWEVER, surprisingly enough, I looked at the nutrition facts and realized that the nutrition facts of Barbecue were even better than the original's! (Less 10mg of sodium for barbecue).

Go get your Popchips now! :P

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Fit FactorY: Of Sore Throats, Strepsils, Natural Remedies

I got the sore throat bug yesterday and I've been sucking on Strepsils like they were candy, when it dawned on me that Strepsils lozenges are considered medicines! So I did a bit of researching and realized that you can only take 1 of them every 2 to 3 hours, and that you should only take a total of 6 of these lozenges per day.

I also went on a hunt for good home remedies for sore throat, and found the following natural remedies (half of which I'm already doing hahaha):

1. Gurgle warm salt water and/or Listerine
2. Drink Hot Tea or Hot Lemonade. Green tea is good!
3. Suck on garlic. Crush your teeth against the garlic
4. Drink lots of agua. Make sure you don't overdo it though because overbloating is bad.
5. Create an old-fashioned steam tent by draping your head with a towel and placing your head over a steamer or bowl of hot water.
6. If the sore throat persists too long, you should definitely go to the doctor because it might get worse and lead to further complications.

Hopefully, these will help me expedite the healing process because I still have a ton of work to do :P

~ Fit FactorY

Friday, May 1, 2009

Fit FactorY: Always in front of the PC? Drink tea! + Other health benefits of tea

Tea is a good source of antioxidants, and I just learned last week that it can help ward off UV rays (thus preventing skin cancer) or radiation from being in front of the computer too long (Which is why I immediately rushed to the grocery to buy me some tea boxes)

If you're going down with flu or cough, tea will also help tame the sickness by cooling down your system.

Aside from that, tea will help you with your blood pressure, and clears out your lungs, etc.

Tea can also aid in your digestion - this is why the Chinese love to drink tea after/during their meals, esp. when you're eating oily food.

Some teas have special abilities, too. For example:
Chamomile Tea helps you relax, relieves women of menstrual cramps, and cures insomnia.
Lavender Tea also helps you relax, and takes care of your headaches.
Rosehip Tea is a good tea to drink for headaches and vertigo.
Echinacea combats colds and flu.
Peppermint Tea is the tea to drink when you get heartburn.
Green Tea is a very good tea to drink - it helps combat arthritis, lowers cholesterol levels, heals infections, and improves immune functions