health and hands

Clean hands for good health

by Nickky Faustine De Guzman
January 21, 2014

Not washing one’s hands after going to a bath room is synonymous to touching genitals in public, graphic Japanese illustrations show. But unlike the hygiene-savvy Japanese, Filipinos seem to blissfully regret their sanitation.

“We lack the culture of safety. Besides, Filipino hygiene is not internationally-standard,” Department of Health Undersecretary Dr. Teodoro Herbosa says. Most Filipinos hardly wash their hands with soap and water from time to time. He further sites samples of men spitting anywhere and barrio midwives’ lack of hygiene, among others.

It turns out that even hospitals seemingly forgo hand washing, not because of lack of sanitary senses but because of lack of time and opportunity. This is where the recently concluded symposium on hand hygiene and patient safety comes in. Guest speaker and renowned Director of Infection Control Program Professor Diddier Pittet, MD says that every hospital bed and facility must have an alcohol near the patient zone.

According to him, doctors and healthcare workers should practice proper hand hygiene before touching a patient, before doing a procedure, after a procedure, after touching a patient, and after touching the patient’s surroundings.

Where is he coming from? Apparently, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) the failure to perform proper hand hygiene is still considered to be the leading cause of Healthcare Associated Infections (HIA) in both developed and developing countries. In fact, approximately 1.4 million patients get infected in hospitals. Hand hygiene has also been a significant contributor to the spread of multi-drug resistant organisms and other outbreaks in the hospital setting. Samples of HIA are malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, and measles. The reduction of the measles outbreak boils down to proper hand hygiene.

Philippines’ Department of Health Undersecretary Dr. Teodoro Herbosa (right) shakes hands with Director of Infection Control Program Professor Diddier Pittet, MD.

ALCOHOL 101

Pittet advocates the use of alcohol especially in hospitals because of its convenience and efficacy. Alcohol in addition, is much accessible and cause lesser skin irritation. He adds that alcohol in gel, foam, or spray type does not matter as long as the anti-bacterial property is high.

“If water and soap are not available use alcohol, but I am not telling you to replace it with alcohol,” Pittet says. What is important is one’s sense of hand hygiene regardless of what he or she prefers to use.

It turns out there are also different kinds of alcohol. Pittet says that alcohol must have a 75% or higher isopropyl concentration and 80% or higher ethyl concentration to be effective.

The problem seemingly boils down on our fluctuating hygiene regimens. Remember the alcogel-keychain that was once dangling on everybody’s bag? That was the fad back on the days. Now is the perfect time to resurrect it.

Herbosa aptly concludes that Filipino cleanliness must root on our conscious change of the system, culture, and behavior.

Oiliness is next to poverty?!

Oiliness is next to poverty! — or not, experts say dewy skin is in

by Nickky Faustine De Guzman
January 7, 2014

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Actress Valeen Montenegro gets a dewy look from makeup artist Pong Niu

According to experts, the next beauty trend is the “no-makeup” makeup look, which means well-groomed eyebrows, a hint of blush on and lip color, and a dewy finish. However, for the regular Pinay, the “dewy” look is synonymous to oiliness and ugliness.

“The majority of the Filipinas like the matte finish, which is the opposite of the dewy and glowing look. They think that it is hard to pull the look because they associate oiliness to ugliness. Oiliness is next to poverty!,” renowned makeup artist Pong Niu says in jest.

However, dewy skin is not oily skin. Some women are scared of the dewy and moist look because they have the tendency to end up like they ate a whole lechon and wiped off the excess grease on their faces and lips. But on the contrary, the dewy look means a healthy, radiant, glowing, smooth, and well-moisturized skin.

But the barely-there makeup can only enhance one’s beauty. The true foundation of beauty should begin from having a blemish-free skin just like those of the babies. And it all starts with having the right moisturizer.

THE QUEST FOR THE BEST MOISTURIZER

Moisturizing is one of the basic steps to achieve a flawless and glowing skin. However, not many know it, according to a survey, one out of three Filipinas are not moisturized.  Perhaps, owing to having sensitive skin, women and men would rather not slather products on their face. Furthermore, the dilemma of choosing the best and most effective moisturizer among the crowd gets in the way of having a stunning skin.

Honey, palm oil, shea butter, olive oil, and soy bean are some of the natural face moisturizer.

But if you are on the go, there is one moisturizer in a bottle that works wonders just as the natural and organic ingredients do—Physiogel. Unlike other moisturizers that work temporarily, Physiogel has the revolutionary Derma Membrane Structure (DMS) technology, which resembles the natural building blocks of the skin to effectively repair the skin and prevent the loss of moisture. Furthermore, Physiogel hydrates the skin by copying the natural lipid composition of the skin. The moisture lasts for up to three days even without washing or taking a bath.

Physiogel moisturizers and cleansers are lightweight, mild, and hypoallergenic.

BEAUTY TREND: GOOD SKIN

Aside from the “no-makeup” makeup look, beauty enthusiasts and makeup artists have also set the sensual look for the holiday season trend. The seductive look highlights the cherry lips and bold eyes.

But then again, the best beauty trend that would withstand all seasons is having a flawless and well-moisturized skin.

shamcey and her beauty secrets

Shamcey shares her beauty secret

by Nickky Faustine De Guzman
December 31, 2013 

 

Beauty queen and newly-wed  Shamcey Supsup admitted she was not always keen on skincare and makeup until she joined beauty contests. Then she had no choice but to be a tiis-ganda.

“When I started [on beauty pageants], sinabi nila na para akong monkey sa sobra kong balbon! So I would wax or shave everything as often as I can, whole body pa, including my face. Sobrang sakit!”

The 27-year old stunner admits that she was super conscious about her “super duper hairy” body. Hence, she religiously shaves and waxes to solve her problem. Little did she know that shaving has its perils. She said her skin became thick, rough, and had chicken skin. Her skin would also always break out.

Her makeup problem is another story.

“The makeup is different when you are a beauty queen. It’s heavier and people aren’t used to seeing us with fresh [and light] makeup,” she says.

There was a time when the makeup wouldn’t stick to her face because it became too overused and irritated. She had to do a series of pictorials and by the third layout, her makeup wouldn’t work anymore. “Ayaw na kumapit nung makeup because my skin was overused and tired. It was really mahapdi and irritated from all the retouching and brushing.”

But now, Shamcey isn’t tiis-ganda anymore. She has found a non-invasive and effective way of treating her skin and hair problems.

Shamcey is the newest face of Facial Care Center (FCC). She says she is a fan of the Laser Light Hair Removal, which makes her skin softer and her body hair finer, and the RevLite Total Rejuvenation. The Total Rejuvenation solution for the skin is FCC’s newest offering. Its sophisticated laser technology lightens uneven skin tone and hyperpigmentation, freckles, and melasma. Add to these is Revlite, which also improves skin texture such as the unwanted chicken skin.

The secret lies in the rapid pulse widths of the lasers, which need lesser heat and thus highly safer. Its Photo Acoustic Technology Pulse technology does not hit the healthy skin tissue and only focuses on the problem areas.

Now, Shamcey has been enjoying the fruits of her sessions and said that there’s no looking back to yesterday’s tiis-ganda moments.

Shamcey joins the roster of other beautiful women ambassadors like Bianca Gonzales, Dawn Zulueta, and Charlene Gonzalez, among others.

For more information, call Facial Care Center in 892-SKIN.

Salmon: Affordable luxury on your plate

by Nickky Faustine De Guzman
December 31, 2013

We may live in an archipelago surrounded by bodies of water that yield varieties of fish but majority of the Filipino foodies still prefer meat as their comfort food. From time to time, cheap and readily available varieties of fish like bangus, tilapia, and galunggong are served on our everyday plates.

Salmon is one of the most versatile foods. You can eat it raw, put some olive oil, or make a sandwich. The possibilities are endless.

But, one kind of fish that is not accessible in our local seas but available in the market today is salmon. It is one of the most popular fishes in the world thanks to its tender meat and rich taste. Yet it remains unfamiliar to the majority of Filipinos for it is often branded as a luxurious fish that is only available in posh restaurants and hotels.

Because of this thinking, we may lose out on the nutrients we can get from salmon. Just like tuna, salmon is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, which is good for people with heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. It is also good in preventing cancer, memory loss, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease. For pregnant women, Omega-3 helps in preventing premature birth and bearing children with hyperactivity.

Salmon for everybody
But things are definitely changing. Nowadays fresh salmon is relatively cheaper; at least one company is trying to lessen its retail selling price in the market by as much as 20-30 percent to fit in the budget of many.

“While salmon is not an everyday commodity, still many Filipinos think that it is very expensive. We want to change this thinking. We believe that salmon products need not be expensive, hence our mission is to make salmon as affordable as possible while maintaining the best quality taste-wise and health-wise,” Superfish and Domestic Market Business Unit Head Juan Paolo Araneta says.

This being said, the Philippine-based international processor and distributor Big Glory Bay Salmon & Seafood Company Inc. (BGB) wants to change this notion by the introduction of Superfish, its competitively-priced salmon brand. BGB is a fully-owned subsidiary of the Singapore-based Alliance Select Foods International (ASFI), which is a tuna export company publicly listed in the Philippines.

“Our salmon is especially high in Omega 3, having almost twice the levels of other salmon species. It only takes 150g of salmon per week to meet the weekly requirements of Omega 3. It also contains an essential trace element of Selenium, which plays a vital role in protecting against oxidative damage,” Araneta adds.

Each worker wears washed boots, coat, hair net, mask, and gloves to avoid contamination.

Clean and green plantation
Some media men were invited to personally witness the art of producing world class salmon. The facility is strategically located in the heart of the Tuna Capital of the Philippines: General Santos City. While BGB also produces tuna, our main goal was to learn more about their salmon production.

We were asked to wear hair net, mask, coat, and boots, which we personally wash from time to time. The entire area smells fresh and looks spic-and-span. We also had to sanitize our hands more often. The plant uses state-of-the-art equipment however, we were asked not to take photos of the machine. The seafood plantation holds the reputation of being the country’s most modern seafood processing plant that adheres to the highest international standards thus, promising the best quality seafood products.

The salmon are carefully deboned, salted, or smoked by skillfully practiced artisans. The seafood products are sold locally and overseas where there is a high and strict standard of food quality and sanitation like in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, and New Zealand. Given the strict standard, the company has gained international recognition for its freshness, taste, and optimal health benefits. The salmon are sustainably sourced from the waters of New Zealand.

All the products are mercury-free, MSG-free, and zero trans fat. Currently, Superfish is available in 46 stores in Metro Manila including Rustan’s Supermarket, Robinson’s Supermarket, Shopwise, and Unimart among others, and in Cebu, Davao, Pampanga, Palawan, and Cagayan de Oro.

 

The fight of lights

by Nickky Faustine De Guzman
November 27, 2013

Proper lighting makes or breaks the ambiance and look of a room, hence its importance. As in fashion rules, the warm yellow light mellows down a face and can hide someone’s imperfections; the white light on the other hand highlights one’s features. This golden canon is also applicable to styling homes. Apt lighting can downplay or upgrade the style of a space such as the living room.

This is where the key roles of layering lights come in the picture especially in the living room since it accommodates and plays different facets such as the entertainment, study area, and/or sometimes dining area, it should be properly lit. A well-designed and thought-of living room must include layered lights, meaning light fixtures that accommodate for the general lighting and for the accent lighting.

There are thousand lighting fixtures to choose from but the bigger problem lies on what are the best kind of lights to buy.

Here is a comprehensive breakdown of light types according to the Design Recycle (www.designrecycleinc.com):

Incandescent lights are cheap but die quickly because they use 90% of their energy to become light. The fluorescent lights on the other hand are more expensive than incandescent and they light 20-30 times more.  Obviously, the LED lights are the best given the factors in the table although they are the most expensive. On the plus side, LED lights are also environmentally friendly and can last for over 20 years.

General and Accent Lightings

As mentioned, a living room must have two kinds of light fixtures: the general and the accent lights. The general light as its term implies is used for the all-purpose illumination. The accent lighting on the other hand only complements your wallpapers, cabinets, coffee tables, and other living room accessories.

The classy and elegant chandeliers and pendants (the smaller ones) fall under the general lighting category. They are excellent sources of lights for the living room. Aside from that, they are good house accessories.

The chandeliers and pendants come in different designs, colors, and materials. Price starts at P50,000 depending on the materials.  Your favorite stores—SM Department Store, Robinson’s Department Store, Home Depot, Quiapo, Dapitan Arcade, Divisoria, Marks & Spencer, and online shops—offer them.

Lamps, candles, lanterns and scones (light fixtures affixed to the wall), meanwhile are the accent lights. Aside from giving accents, they can be used as aides for reading, surfing the net, or playing games.  The accent lights costs for as low as P5,000. Again, SM Department Store, Robinson’s Department Store, Home Depot, Quiapo, Dapitan Arcade, Divisoria, Marks & Spencer, and online shops offer them.

Here’s a quick tip, the color of a living room plays an important role on illumination. A pastel/light colored room reflects lights thus making it bigger, homier, and happier while a dark room absorbs light hence making it gloomier 

Femme fatale

Feeling tired and looking haggard? Perhaps you are lacking iron

by Nickky Faustine De Guzman
November 12, 2013

Dr. Corazon Gamilla, Chair UST OB GYNE Department

Everybody needs a supply of iron in the body to last through the day but women need it most especially. Why? To replenish their monthly blood loss, maintain health during pregnancy, and sustain their everyday roles as super women. Imagine juggling careers, love life, family, and other responsibilities all at once!

Iron is one of the most vital minerals we need because it carries oxygen from the lungs throughout the body. Thus, some of our bodily functions will suffer if we lack iron. It is also a major component of enzymes, which help the body digest food.

“In layman’s terms, iron contains oxygen, which we need to live and function accordingly. We cannot do without oxygen,” UST OB-GYNE Department Chairman Dr. Corazon Zaida Gamilla says.

However, despite its indispensable role, we tend to forget, or sometimes forgo eating iron-rich foods like red meat, eggs, liver, nuts, and oatmeal, among others.  Thus, low red blood cell count or anemia results to pallor, lack of concentration, tiredness, easy fatigability,  shortness of breath, unusual headache, and vertigo.

According to the 2008 National Statistics Office data, there is a prevalence of anemia among pregnant women, lactating women, and babies between six months to one year old because of malnutrition.

Treating anemia however is easy and seemingly manageable, Gamilla says. Aside from eating foods fortified with iron, daily exercise and enough sleep work wonders.

“Catnaps are powerhouses because they reinforce sleep but nothing compares to nocturnal sleep,” Gamilla says when asked if siestas and morning slumbers can replace the usual bed time routine.

An average eight hours of sleep restores our blood count/iron to its baseline. Pregnant women need a minimum of 12 mg while women in general need 1500 mcg of iron. Males meanwhile have an iron baseline of 14 mg, Gamilla says.

However, let us admit that maintaining the right amount of iron in our body can be as demanding and daunting as our daily activities. Good thing there are iron supplements we can all resort to. One of the available supplements in the market includes Sangobion. Unlike majority of the iron supplements, Sangobion does not contribute to constipation, thanks to Sorbitol, an anti-constipating agent. Moreover, it has chewy chocolate flavor hence, there’s no metallic smell. Moreover, Sangobion contains vitamins and minerals like Vitamin C, Vitamin B12, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, and folic acid.

Gamilla says that it is best to drink supplements and medicines with water before eating breakfast for better absorption.

Katrina Halili: better than before

Better than before

Actress Katrina Halili talks about her life as a new mom

by Nickky Faustine De Guzman
December 7, 2013

Katrina Halili with baby Katrence (Photos by Nice Print Photo)

Being a parent definitely changes people. For the young sultry actress Katrina Halili, the transformation goes beyond the physical.She has gone from sexy to wholesome to being a completely different person. Parenthood can do that to you but it does not come easy and no one knows that more than Katrina.

Prior to her pregnancy, Katrina could be seen gracing the covers of men’s magazines and heating up the screen with her sultry looks. She was definitely enjoying her single life and showbiz career then… until Katrence came.

Baby Katrence got her name from Katrina and her partner, singer Kris Lawrence. She came so unexpectedly that for a while Katrina didn’t know what she was going to do. “Having Katie is life-changing. I became more responsible with my actions. And my life has become more meaningful. Of course, as a first–time mom, I wasn’t ready yet and the pregnancy was unexpected. I had to think it over for two days. And then after that, I accepted the situation and I was happy with it,” she explains. “When you’ve learned to accept the baby wholeheartedly and when you can already sacrifice everything and be happy that you are now expecting her (Katrence) then, you will know that you are ready to become a mom.  Siguro motherly instinct na maging ready ka.”

With her one-year old baby girl Katrence, she is now taking on the challenges of being a mom head on. Her past life experiences and actions have definitely taught her a lot, which she is now applying to her new role as a mom.

Mama Katrina

Having a baby when you are still young, barely experienced, and unprepared for motherhood is hard. She had to adjust and sacrifice a lot of things. Her life definitely turned a full 360-degree since giving birth to Baby Katrence. Even her priorities in life changed.

For one thing, she has less me-time now since all her time is devoted to taking care of Katrence, which she jokingly calls “mommy duties.”  “Time for myself definitely lessened because Katie is now my priority.”

Aside from that, she also needs to adjust her schedule as well as change her food choices. “Even though I am really sleepy you have to wake up in the middle of the night to take care of her, especially when she is crying,” Katrina explains. But thanks to to Kris, her mom, and the internet, she believes that she is coping well.

Despite all the sacrifice, she has no regrets. She loves baby Katie so much, describing her as “happy, charming, and lovable.” She remembered being so happy the first time she saw Katrence. “I was amazed and very happy because I waited her arrival for nine months.”

Her best mom moment happens whenever they are together. Like any other mother, she enjoys waking up with her, taking her for a walk, and giving her a bath. These, she treasures the most because sometimes she needs to leave her for work.

Other than these, she has no problem with baby Katie since she is a “happy, charming, and lovable baby.”

How the internet helps

The cyberspace has actually been very helpful for Katrina. As an inexperienced mom, she had to read a lot on parenting. Self-help books and the internet gave her useful information and tips.

Although the internet has guided Katrina through this new journey, nothing beats first-hand experience. Thus, she advises first-time moms like her to just enjoy the pregnancy and being a parent and just learn from it.

“Do not be afraid. Everything is worth it the moment you lay your eyes on your baby and the first time you hold him or her. Also, follow your doctor’s advice and treasure family support,” she adds.

There are more life lessons to learn and Katrina is savoring each moment. Whatever the future holds, one thing’s for sure, motherhood changed her, for the better.

Baby Katrence in various layouts by Nice Print Photo