Blood Type 'B'

In general, type `B' blood group of people may be classified as independant individuals. Type Bs will also experience exhaustion but after few weeks on regular exercise basis, one will feel well-conditioned and energized by the exercise.

Type Bs tend to be very emotionally centered. Consequently, they are far more sensitive to
stress-related imbalances, but they respond very quickly to stress-reducing techniques, and
recover from stress much more quickly than Type As. For Type Bs, they may benefit from the following diet and lifestyle strategies:

Lifestyle Strategies
• Visualization is a powerful technique for Type Bs. If you can visualize it, you can achieve it.
• Find healthy ways to express your non-conformist side.
• Spend at least twenty minutes a day in some creative task that requires your complete attention.
• Go to bed no later than 11.00pm and sleep for 8 hours or more.
• Use visualization to relax during breaks.
• Engage in a community, neighbourhood, or other group activity that gives you a meaningful connection to a group. Type Bs are natural born networkers.
• Be spontaneous.

Eat right for Strength and Balance
• Reduce carbohydrate cravings by eating six small meals a day instead of three larger meals.
• When you feel tired, eat some protein.
• Eat small to moderate portions of high-quality, lean, organic meat several times a week for strength, energy and efficient metabolism.
• Include regular portions of richly oiled cold-water fish. Fish oils can boost your metabolism.
• Don’t under-eat or skip meals, especially if you’re expending a lot of energy in exercise. Food deprivation is a huge stress.
• Plan ahead to have foods on hand for a quick energy snack. This is especially important if you’re on the go during the day. It is very difficult to find food on the road that isn’t high in sugar, wheat or corn.
• Cut back on sugar, this can promote insulin resistance.
• Cut down on consumption of wheat, corn, tomatoes, peanuts and especially chicken. Chicken contains a dangerous lectin that may agglutinate the blood, which may lead to long term health complications.

Stress: Emotional Equalizers
For emotional health and avoidance of Type B-related mind-body imbalances, incorporate the following behaviors into your daily life.
• Maintain physical and mental balance.
• Apply relaxation technique where visualization helps a lot.
• Apply breathing techniques.

Dearly departed

I was up in Genting for an off-site meeting when i heard about the news......"What! how? when?"

The festive and happy mood changed abruptly to a solemn one. My ex-director has passed on at a tender age of 52.

We weren't really that close but interacting with and working for him was really a privilege as most of us looked up to him as a mentor and father figure.

"Heard that it was due to a heart attack" replied my colleague.

Heart problem (CVD) is the number one killer in Malaysia. Genetics, ageing and certain diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure are common risk factors.

Modifiable risk factors (factors that you can control and change) such as stress, food intake and lifestyle changes could help reduce the risk. Many people have suffered from heart attack or stroke and survived it, only to face complications such as paralysis and lost of quality of life. Others, are not so lucky ..........they passed on.

Health tips on managing CVD:

1. Maintain ideal body weight (check your BMI from my last few posts)
2. Do not smoke
3. Limit alcohol consumption (as not to go overboard)
4. Exercise (helps lose weight, relieves stress and keeps the heart healthy)
5. Diet (go for more grains, vege and fruits...reduce intake of red meat, animal products and saturated fats)
6. Go for regular check-ups
7. If you noticed that you are having unexplained chest pains that radiate to the neck, shoulders and back, see a doctor immediately
8. Supplement your diet with Omega-3 fish oil (Omega-3 exerts anti-inflammatory actions and helps keep the circulatory system healthy by reducing blood pressure and blood lipids)
9. Manage stress wisely. Indulge in your favourite hobby such as listening to the music, yoga, reading, going for movies ...........(i am starting to enjoy more quiet activities such as fishing and my husband is into birding nowadays)
10. Be extra careful if you are suffering from high blood sugar, hypertension, obesity (esp around the waist), high cholesterol and TG levels which are collectively known as Syndrome X. Practising steps 1 to 9 may reduce your risks for CVD