Enhancing Memory and Mental Acuity

The old as well as the younger ones are very prone to mental lapses these days. Basing on
my experience, there are situations that affect the functions of the brain. I believe though that I am still far from belonging to the age group that more or less experience “age-related memory loss. However, conditions like headaches and anxiety are not quite good in maintaining healthy memory and a sharp mind.

I need to keep up with my daily activities without missing a single detail. With the many things that are going on in my mind, my brain cannot process everything and I certainly need vitamins and supplements to help me. These days, the more natural we go, the healthier we become.

If you notice that you are starting to slip on many areas, it’s time to turn to natural extracts and foods that can help you maintain a sharp mind. Some of the natural supplements for the brain that I add in to my daily intake are Coenzyme Q10, vitamins B, C and E, iron and zinc, and antioxidants like some berries.

It’s easy to find foods that have Coenzyme Q10. This natural element is found in bran cereals, green leafy food, soybeans and peanuts. I am a peanut-monster. I always have it in front of me whenever I work with my computer. This element is good for those with Alzheimer’s disease.

Decrease in the intake of B vitamins will greatly affect your memory. Vitamin B deficiency has been found to be directly related to depression, insomnia and headaches. For your need of this vitamin, you may take B-vitamin complex. Vitamin C is vital in making sure you absorb other vitamins properly. This vitamin along with vitamin E makes you younger-looking because they are powerful antioxidants. I have been taking Fern C for many years already and it never failed me in boosting my energy.

When Memory Fails

Being in my forty’s is a big challenge for me. There are many positive as well as negative sides to it, but it is generally a stage cramped with colourful and memorable events. This is the stage when I begin to be more “other” people conscious. My heightened interest in doing more worthy causes for the underprivileged is an expected event in my age-group. This awareness of the concern for others is one positive side to being forty plus. Life becomes more challenging when the negative things set in. One of these downsides is the beginning of memory deterioration or I want to call it “old-timers’disease.”

I read that memory doesn’t really deteriorate with age. It’s just that when we were younger, we didn’t have as many concerns and responsibilities than we have in our older years. When memory starts to fail me, I devise plans or systems so as not to jeopardize my activities for the day. I maximize the use of my mobile phone. If you are using an Android phone, there are lots of free software that are very useful in keeping track of your daily activities.

You may use both Springpad and Evernote for your agenda, notes, calendar of activities
and other task-oriented programs. These and other tools can even be shared via the internet because most of these programs are also social networking tools. All these can be downloaded from your Android mobile phones using the Play Store application.

My most interesting and capable solution to my memory problems is my mobile phone because I always carry it with me. I can customize the programs according to my need. Another solution which is very common is to use post-it notes that are pasted where I can readily see the notes from my work area. Moreover, having a partner in life who is very organized and systematic is also my biggest asset to combat troubles with memory.

When memory fails, be not discouraged because there are many things that you could do about it. Proper diet and supplements that combat weakening of memory are good. You may also use supplements like garlic and ginseng for memory and mental acuity. The best thing to do, however, is to maintain a system that can fit your active life.

Something For My "Hypo"

The term “hypo” is becoming a by-word even for the non-diabetics these days. The hyperactive individuals would always express their “hypo” moments after a very exhausting activity even if they really don’t have a clear understanding of what the term means aside of course from knowing that those extremely tired ones can go “hypo”.

I am a diabetic who now has controlled blood sugar for many years already, and I intend to stay healthy for the rest of my active life. Diabetes runs in my family, the reason why I find it very necessary to get complete knowledge of the disease process myself. Staying healthy with normal body functioning is such a challenge for me. I have experienced hypoglycemia (hypo) quite a number of times when I was just newly diagnosed with diabetes. The symptoms include body weakness which seemed to almost knock me down. This condition is life-threatening and being a biker, it is vital for me to really understand this illness.

Whenever I plan to go out on a long ride, I make sure I go out with my other biker friends. Many diabetics treat hypoglycemic attacks easily with a can of regular coke. Diet coke can only aggravate the health condition. I don’t go for a coca cola as a solution for this health challenge because in the first place, it was the culprit for my acquiring diabetes early in my life. What I always bring with me when I go biking is a chocolate bar and hydrating fluid like Gatorade.

To consistently stay out of trouble, my wife would always have candies in her bag especially when we need to travel long distance. Any health conditions can be challenging but having complete knowledge, self-discipline and self-control will give you a more productive and healthy life span.

The Solution: Stationary Biking

These are the days when I can no longer ascertain the regularity of seasons. The weather has become so erratic. The turn of events has made even the weather forecasters inconsistent and unreliable with their forecast. For many like me who depend on good weather to carry out my needed physical outdoor exercise, the best solution should match the program that I set for me to keep my blood sugar and blood pressure consistently controlled.

I chose mountain biking as my regular activity for my health and wellness needs and when my program is continually disrupted, all of my day’s activities follow suit. The best solution that I got that could equal the intensity of my outdoor activity was to buy programs in CD that I could play while doing indoor biking. I acquired a “tool” where I attach my bike so I could use it as a stationary bike. I turn on the TV, play the program that monitors the duration of my activity, the necessary stops, the hydration process I need to do. I make sure I have the proper ventilation as well, which is just like what I get when I am biking outdoors.

There are just people who could not do activities without an agenda to guide them. I always want things in order and with system to follow. I need consistency and a lot of convenience even if it means spending for necessary equipment or tools. But for others who may not have the finances to satisfy their mild “obsessive compulsiveness”, the internet offers a wide array of information on “how to’s”.

A Falling Out That Needs Patching Up

No one ever existed on earth without a relationship. A relationship may either last or lose its meaning depending on how warm or cold a person is. I have a wonderful relationship with my family. I attribute this to having the most wonderful relationship I’ve been into for more than fifteen years already and that is my relationship with the Lord. My relationship with my wife and other members of my family may not be perfect but they are God’s gift.

Disagreements are hard to avoid. There will always be falling outs and patching ups to do to keep the relationship. These are life’s challenges that strengthen me. The following are the solutions I have tried whenever I couldn’t voice out my reasons during family disagreements:

Write a letter. There are many ways to do this in this modernized world we live in and I can always be creative.

Send a text message with my sincerity in it.

Use gifts or simple tokens that symbolize a purpose or a message. Wait for the right time to talk. This is the best when both parties are still very angry.


I did some other things that were effective in patching up a broken relationship. Through the years, I realized that a person’s worth will not diminish when you take the first step to convey a sorry message. Instead, you become more valuable and well-loved when you show humility and expressed your appreciation for a loved one. A complete understanding that no person can survive without a meaningful relationship is what makes me a content and happier person.

When My Laptop Crashed

A laptop has been one of the most useful technologies of all time. When my laptop of more than five years crashed, there was no way it could still function the way it did the first time I obtained it. Buying a new one would be more advisable than having it repaired cost-wise.

Having much knowledge about parts of a computer and how it operates, I knew I could still salvage some of the important parts of my laptop and use it somewhere. One of my greatest needs when it comes to computing is memory. I would always upgrade because there are many programs and software that I need to install. There are many files to be saved.

My busted laptop still did wonders to me. I was having trouble saving the movies I downloaded from the internet and my need for additional storage was urgent. I opened up the laptop, saved some files to a disk and reformatted the laptop’s hard drive. It’s now very convenient to watch those TV series and movies I collected with the hard drive attached to my flat screen TV.

There are indeed a lot of things you could still do to maximize the worth of your busted gadget. A little research and consistent acquisition of knowledge from the internet is important if you want to get the most out of your investment in any gadget.

There are people like me who would not settle at just letting go of something you bought and expired.

When you think that you haven’t maximized the worth of your investment, know therefore that there will always be parts that you can still re-use.

Unusual Birthday Celebration

Celebrating my birthday is one way I re-connect to the closest friends I got. This particular month of October seems to be extra-ordinarily unusual because I celebrated my birthday way too early – more than two weeks before my actual day of days. These people are physically present with us and having them as part of my celebration is awesome. But what if I wanted to celebrate my birthday with loved ones who are miles away?

All of my sisters and brother live very far from where I live. It’s been ages since we all gathered together. At my age, I am beginning to really miss the good old days. Modernization is such a wonderful phenomenon that gave me the best opportunities to be with my loved ones. Although there can be no substitute for the physical encounters with family, the best solution for me to at least regularly connect with them is by way of the internet.

There are many ways and many options for me whenever I want to reconnect with friends and relatives.

I use the mobile phones to text and call. With the many promos available, this has become less
expensive. The electronic mail is much better than the snail mail especially with people like me who don’t have the luxury to go to the post office.

The best solution I have whenever I miss my family abroad is to use communication programs online. I find Skype very helpful although with Android phones, I couldn’t really depend on Skype.

These days, the resurgence of tons of useful technology can always make one’s birthday celebration memorable even when loved ones are living far away from home. Technological advances have made living very convenient and everyone can find a means of communication that is convenient for a particular situation.

Coffee Is My Thing

Coffee is one of my wonderful partners in life. There is not a single day that passed by, as far as I remember, that I did not drink a cup of steaming coffee. Coffee is my thing and it will be for the rest of my computer-rich, techy life here on earth.

I’m not very fancy when it comes to coffee. Just a teaspoon each of coffee, creamer and sugar in hot water will always make my day.

Do I consider myself addicted to it? Caffeine is addictive, whether we like to accept it or not. However, I certainly can say that I am still a normal guy when it comes to my coffee habit.

Coffee-drinking is also an excellent vehicle for bonding with friends. During occasions when alcoholic drinks are popular, I stick with my coffee.

I do not drink alcohol, not even once in my forty plus existence. In the past, it could have gotten me into so much trouble. This is particularly true because of the fact that Filipinos are known for placing so much value on camaraderie thing.

When friends and acquaintances opt for alcohol in those gatherings that I also attended, I stuck with my “non-alcoholic beverage for me” rule firmly. This is the only solution I’ve known of that has become all-time effective because I was able to let people know who I am and they accepted and respected me for that.

It’s just a matter of making them understand why I don’t drink.

I would always explain that I have nothing against alcohol and those who drink. It’s just that I really don’t like the taste. Thankfully, they never exclude me during gatherings around the table.

They would have alcoholic drinks and I would have my coffee. That simple..and I eat the food they partner with their drinks! Coffee is really my thing!

Sleeping Can Be Dangerous

Daytime sleepiness is a disease that is also called sleep apnea. I have it since childhood and it has caused me a lot of troubles in the past and occasionally these days. When I was a medical clerk, I was assisting in the operating room and my responsibility was to retract the skull. I made the surgeon very furious when he caught me sleeping while doing an operation that could kill a patient with just a slight mistake.

I was scolded naturally and thrown out of the OR.

Sleeping is good only when you have a good sleeping pattern. It can restore strength, heal some disease and makes a person’s mood nice the following day. But if you are like me who couldn’t but sleep anytime, anywhere and whatever the occasion is, that spells trouble.

According to research, this particular situation can lead to increased risk of high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack. Furthermore, it can obviously lead to car accident.

My failure to finish my medical school could be a blessing in disguise. Imagine how many people could have died in my hands while operating on them and I slept! Of course this should not be considered a genuine solution.

The first thing that helped me manage this disorder is the humble and honest acceptance that I suffer from this. Acceptance made me into a better person and enabled me to face daily challenges with some practical solutions.

For example, whenever I need to drive long distance, my wife prepares coffee that I could drink along the way and she stays beside me to watch any signs of impending slumber. She would slap me in the face from time to time.

The most important thing that I did (which I find very difficult to do even up to now because of the nature of my business and hobby) is to have a healthy, regular and consistent sleeping pattern.

Nevertheless, I find this solution the best so far. With perseverance, patience, self-control and self-discipline along with the most important thing – prayer, I am able to face day-to-day challenges victoriously so far.

I Have the Best C

Food is everyone’s weakness. I can say that with full conviction having been around different kinds of people from different backgrounds. We can eat anything. Problem is, not everything is beneficial to health and longevity. Although food keeps us going, it can also shorten our life span because of the many diseases associated with having unhealthy food choices.

Many years ago, I would eat without any regard to the consequences of my wrong choices of food and manner of eating them. My wife and I attributed my early acquisition of diabetes to my huge consumption of soft drinks. I was also a pork enthusiast! Had I not disciplined myself to take appropriate actions to solve my health problems, I would have been among the most miserable group of people who are powerless over some diseases.

It’s good to know I have the best vitamin C that I pair with my maintenance medicine. Vitamin C is one of the tools that I used to combat further complications of diabetes and even reverse the effects on my body. My wife and I and my entire family have been using Fern C which is non-acidic.

Fern C is vitamin C in sodium ascorbate form, meaning it is not acidic, hence I can take it in mega dosage. The wonderful effects on my over-all health status of this one-of-a-kind vitamin C have helped me get back to the right track and enabled me to lead a more productive life.

Fern C has become my home remedy for almost every health issue I encounter. Besides the health benefits this vitamin gives, it also gave me another source of income which is networking. This is the reason for my honest expression that “I have the best C”.

How I Coped With Diabetes

Diabetes runs in the family. When I was in my teens, I involved myself in a lot of physical sports and I had the slightest idea I would have the same illness most of my adult loved ones failed to avoid acquiring - diabetes. My active life came to a halt when I started being involved in non-vigorous activities such as sitting in front of my computers almost the whole day. These much more sluggish acts became mostly my day-to-day events which I so enjoyed eventually.

When my mother died of complications of diabetes five years ago, I was into a lot of stressful situations which manifested into the physical – I looked different. Someone checked my blood pressure and it was way too high I needed immediate medical attention. My laboratory results indicated positive for high blood sugar – I had the disease! I needed to act if I wanted to have a more productive life with my family.

Diabetes is a disease that will linger for life, nevertheless, it is very manageable with the right attitude and self-discipline. People who are more advanced in years can be candidate for this illness although these days, younger ones are already diabetic due to life style choices. I managed to live like I don’t have the disease by doing the following:

• Having a regular visit to my doctor (can become lesser when the disease is fully managed)
• Taking maintenance medicine (which can totally be eliminated if you do the next steps)
• Sticking to the right diet (the internet can offer enough information on what diet to take)
• Doing a regimen of appropriate exercises (my mountain bike has become my health partner)

Being diabetic did not hinder me from living my life to the fullest. I acted upon my situation responsibly and now, I can say that there is life after discovering I inherited the disease, something which nobody would ever want for an inheritance.

5 Things That Really Matter

My life had been a cycle of frustrations. I took up a course that I was not interested in and it changed my life forever! I needed focus and all the help I could muster. Just like any ordinary person, I needed help and the one thing that really helped me was prayer coupled with positive attitude.

Through the years, I have made up my mind to value the things that really matter to me. What I consider important may just be insignificant to others - that I also started to understand as I lived more than forty years of my life now. There are 5 things that really matter today as far as “myself” is concerned. These five have become central to how I live my life now.

1. Relationships - My relationship to God as my Saviour put to order every earthly relationships I have. With God at the center of my marriage, I have become the happiest husband. I learned to nurture my blood ties and the various friendships I developed in my lifetime.

2. Health – My desire to make the people around me happy has made me health conscious. Being healthy would give me longer life span to be with the people I love.

3. Business – Business has become mainly dependent on how I view my relationships, health and the other things that really matter to me. Productivity in business is achieved with the right attitude, great health and good relationships.

4. Purpose – My purpose is to glorify God who is the source of everything I now enjoy and He is still in the business of blessing me more which will result to praise.

5. Hope – Everything has an end. My greatest hope is to enjoy eternity with Him.

However hard I hide my spirituality, I just could not. This is me. Everything I do, I need to consult with the highest authority who is God. Life’s challenges can become easy when we seek Him who is the source of all wisdom.