Do you really have to drink 8 glasses of water per day?

I am sure you have heard the phrase many times before that drinking eight glasses of water a day will do good for you.However,according to a new study,there is no evidence whatsoever that support that notion and in fact,drinking enough to quench your thirst is already sufficient for the body's needs.

"Just drink when you are thirsty," was the advice from a study published Thursday in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.Doctors from the University of Pennsylvania said "there is simply a lack of evidence in general" that everyone should drink the recommended 1.5 litres of water a day.The researchers there had examined the theory that drinking more water helped the kidneys flush more toxins from the body and they found out that it is not really true,but instead,drinking more water "tends to reduce the ability of the kidney to function as a filter." Another misconception that people have on drinking more water is that it is an ideal aid to those who want to lose weight.There is however no clinical study that proves it really works.There is no denial though that it help dieters feel full.

For me,I don't really believe that our body needs at least eight glasses of water per day.So there is no limitation on how many glasses of water I drink each day.I drink it when I feel like drinking.Thankfully this research has proven that we does not neccessarily need to drink eight glasses of water per day.I also find it interesting about the kidneys part.I didn't know that drinking too much water could reduce the ability of the kidney to funtion as a filter.That is not good definitely.I also dont know anything about how drinking too much water can help you lose weight.I think it is because of the perception that when you drink too much water,you feel full easily instead of having to eat all kinds of mostly unhealthy food which makes you fat,but if you just drink the water,it does not really have a damaging impact on your body as compared to eating unhealthy food.I am sure you know that drinking more water will make you feel you are full easily,I always have this problem when I am eating spicy food.It will come to a point when I can no longer continue eating.You also have to take into consideration that if you drink too much,you will pee more as well,but that is your own business I dont really want to know.

Anyway,back to the topic,now that you know you only need to drink water when neccessary,you don't have to stick to your normal eight glasses per day routine anymore,which is good because you can save the water too.

What is causing the delay in Zimbabwe?

That is the question that has been going on in everyone's mind since the African country went to the polls last weekend.The election is being contested by current Zimbabwe President,Robert Mugabe of ZANU-PF who has been ruling the country for 28 long years,against opposition party MDC leader,Morgan Tsvangirai as well as Mugabe's former finance minister.It has almost been a week now but no official winner as been name yet.

The MDC party however has declared on Wednesday,that Morgan Tsvangirai is the outright winner,saying he took 50.3 percent of the almost 2.4 million votes.Well,that seems to be the general view of the Zimbabwean currently.The state-run newspaper reported Wednesday that Mugabe and Tsvangirai will compete in a presidential runoff because neither candidate garnered more than 50 percent of the vote.According to another state-run newspaper,The Herald,the elections for parliament's lower house came down to a "photo finish," with MDC taking 99 seats and ZANU-PF 97.Now in the last election,it only took less than 24 hours to announce a winner,but the result was of course being suspected of being rigged by the Mugabe's people.Many are saying that the delays in annoucing the result is because Mugabe is once again trying to change things to suit him better,but the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said Thursday it has postponed releasing results from elections for the Senate,parliament's upper house. The government blames the delays in announcing results on logistics,noting that four elections were held simultaneously.Their Deputy Information Minister however,Bright Matonga has said the law gives the government until Friday to release the results.

Lets look at the current situation.Mugabe who was prime minister before taking the presidential post in 1987,has been in power since Zimbabwe's independence from Britain 28 years ago.But being the President for a very long time does not mean that he is doing a good job.The country is suffering.Many of the people are living on the streets and suffering from poverty and many of them are trying to run away from the country in search for a better living.A lot of past election was also suspected of being rigged to be in Mugabe's favor.A year after the last presidential election,which the MDC alleges was stolen,,the government charged Tsvangirai with treason.He was acquitted.The MDC accused Mugabe of trying to eliminate him as a challenger.But he has come back again this time to show that he is not giving up so easily.So what happens now? If both Mugabe and Tsvangirai are unable to get the majority vote to be the next president,they might face each other this time in the presidential run-off.I honestly think that Tsvangirai has won the election and Mugabe is just trying to delay the announcement of the result so that he could plan something to change the situation.In fact yesterday,Zimbabwean government forces has began cracking down on the main opposition party.Four journalists unaccredited by the Zimbabwean government were taken away.Tendai Biti, secretary-general for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change,said his party's offices in another Harare hotel,were also raided by Zimbabwean forces.

I understand if the Zimbabwean forces is going to raid the journalists hotels,but the government has clearly stated that foreign journalists are ban from reporting in the country.But to raid the opposition party hotels will only raise more suspicion that Mugabe is trying to do anything he can to stay in power despite what the result is.I just hope that the election result will be announced as soon as possible and in a fair manner.The Zimbabwean has suffered too much under Mugabe's rule.If they want to have a change,then Mugabe should listen to them and step down as the President.If he still wants to stay in power everytime,then I do not think there is a need for an election anymore.I would expect more developments in the next few days to come,and hopefully positive developments.

*The report is taken from CNN.

More S'porean youths unaware of smoking risks: HPB

A recent survey by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) has shown that nearly one in five youths in Singapore agree smoking is not harmful.What is more worrying is the fact that 71 per cent of those surveyed also feel they can stop smoking anytime they want.That is a shocking result as far as I am concern.

The survey also indicated while just nine per cent of young people aged 13 to 16 smoked,another common misconception is that lighting up is a cool act that "a lot of young people are doing".Analyses also found out that social network plays a huge role in advocating youths to pick up their first cigarette.59 per cent of youth smokers polled have at least one parent who smokes,while only 34 per cent of non-smokers have smoking parents.95 per cent of youth smokers have close friends who smoke,while only 34 per cent of non-smokers could say the same.All of this statistics is very worrying.Frankly speaking,I dont smoke and will never smoke,I also do not have a smoking parents,but I have a smoking brother unfortunately.I think the fact that more youths today are thinking that smoking is harmless is due more to them being ignorant to the dangers instead of the reason that they do not know the harmful effect of smoking.If anti-smoking messages through the media,or anti-smoking activities in schools do not work,then the only way that will stop them from smoking is when they get some disease or something as a result from smoking.

Anyway,for the sake of you who are smoking but claim that you do not know the harmful effect of it,I am going to tell you some of them now.If you smoke,you may be struck by lung cancer.Smoking is involved in 85% of all lung cancer deaths,and it is incurable.You may also get heart disease.Cigarette smoking accounts for 30% of all heart disease deaths.The carbon monoxide in the cigarette smoke increases the amount of cholesterol clogging the arteries.Cigarette smoking is also the major cause of cancer of the lips,tongue,salivary glands and mouth,among others.If that does not scares you,then I have nothing else to say.I am not forcing you to stop smoking,you may smoke all you want,its your life afterall.But try not to smoke when there are people around you.Do you know that for non-smokers who are exposed regularly to second hand smoke,their risk of getting lung cancer are increased? And if smoke near to infant and children,they may get an increased frequency of respiratory infections.So I will leave the decision for you to make.

Lastly for all of you who wants to quit smoking,you may want to call the HPB Smoking Quitline at 1800-438-2000.It provides smokers and their loved ones with advice on how to quit smoking and how to help someone quit.I know it is not an easy process,it takes time.But good things will come to those who are patient enough.As for those who are planning to smoke,I encourage you not to.I have nothing agaisnt smokers,I know some of my friend smoke,but I am in no position to tell them to stop it.I just want to give some useful advice that might help you thats all.So please dont take what I said to heart.Till next time,take care and stay healthy.

*The report is taken from ChannelNewsAsia.

Are you getting enough sleep?

According to a recent study,teens nowadays might not be getting enough sleep.The study concluded that most teens probably don't get enough sleep and suffer in their school work because their internal clocks make them night owls.It means that your school work is affected because you usually stay awake till late at night,which should not be happening.

Researchers in Australia showed the average teenager misses more than an hour of sleep each night and is forced to wake up 2.5 hours earlier than his or her natural rhythms would dictate.In fact,high school students with a late-night "circadian preference," as the biologically driven cycle is called,reported doing more poorly in school,and feeling more frequently depressed and unhappy.The study also said that the hormonal changes that kick in at the start of adolescence is another reason why young people start to stay up later and given the chance wake up later too.Teenagers are found to be most alert in the evening and do not feel sleepy until later,and so find it difficult to get enough sleep during school term.This is mainly due to a hormone called,melatonin,that signals to the body that it needs rest and sleep.In teenagers entering puberty,it is released later and later in the evening.Another interesting finding that could explain why this trend is happening is due to environmental factors.Ambient light tends to minimize the amount of melatonin secreted,and the constant use of computers could keep adolescents up past their natural bedtime,even after lights are turned out.So what parents can do is to dim down the lights,and switch off the computers or televisions an hour before bedtime.

So you may wonder then,what exactly is the optimal amount of sleep time for us teenagers? Well,previous research has shown that nine hours of sleep should be enough.So if you have to wake up at 6am,then you go to bed at 9pm,and so on you do the maths yourself.I honestly do not know that there is actually a hormone is our body that help to control our sleeping and resting time.I agree with the fact that if we do not get enough time to sleep,we wake up the next day feeling more unhappy and depressed,it has happened to me before.And I could not agree more that the environment plays a huge role in deciding whether we are getting enough sleep time or not.I do not exactly have a specific bedtime,my parents do not decide it for me,I decide it for myself,so I can sleep anytime I want which is kind of dangerous I guess because I always go to sleep around 12 to 1 in the morning because I always like to play the games on my PlayStation before I go to sleep.Im sure some of you have the same problem too,maybe not with PS but with your computers or television.But the good thing for me,I manage to wake up early at around 8.30am,so I slept around for roughly 8 hours,just nice.

I also know some of you have other reason for sleeping late,because you are suffering from problems such as insomnia,which is term call for trouble of falling or staying asleep.The most common cause of insomnia is stress.But all sorts of things can lead to insomnia,including physical discomfort (a cold for example),emotional troubles (like family problems or relationship difficulties),and even an uncomfortable sleeping environment (a room that is too hot/cold).It's common for everyone to have insomnia from time to time.I have experienced it before.But if insomnia lasts for a month or longer with no relief,then doctors consider it chronic.You should then meet up with the doctor or counselor for further advice.I do not have any advice for you to fall asleep.I dont believe in the counting of sheeps.If I cannot fall asleep,I would usually close my eyes and free my mind of everything.It takes time but the next time you open your eyes,its morning already.So there you go.Some reason why teenagers nowadays are getting less bedtime and why they are going to bed late.Our brains need to function well if we want to do our work well the next day and you can do that by having enough time to sleep.So remember,try not to sleep late at night unless it is really neccessary of course,and if you cant sleep,please dont take the sleeping pills,just try to do something that really bores you,it might help.And if you can,try not to fall asleep in class.

Today marks World Autism Awareness Day..

While some of you might be planning to pull up a prank on your friends to commemorate April Fools,today marks a far more important event,which is the first ever,World Autism Awareness Day.You might ask then what exactly is autism all about and why there is a need to celebrate it.

I am sure most of you have heard the word autism before,but do you actually know what it means.Well,autism basically is a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate and develop social relationships and is often accompanied by extreme behavioral challenges.It typically appears during the first three years of life.Unfortunately,there is no known single cause for autism but there it is treatable.Children do not "outgrow" autism,but studies show that early diagnosis and intervention lead to significantly improved outcomes.In fact,screening methods for detection of at risk children are available for toddlers as young as 18 months of age.Such screening can occur during a regular well baby check-up.In fact in Singapore,we have two organisations dedicated to help those with autism,which is the Autism Resource Centre (Singapore) as well as Autism Association of Singapore and both of them offers services such as training classes and therapy services to those who might want to know more about autism and for those who are affected with autism.In fact,if you are interested to become a volunteer,you may also do so by registering at their website.You can visit both their website here for more information. http://www.autism.org.sg/main/ or http://web.singnet.com.sg/~autism/


So back to autism,there are many signs to look for in the children if you think they are affected with autism,and such signs includes lack of interest in peer relationships,lack of or delay in spoken language and little or no eye contact among others.You might want to know some interesting facts about autism which is as follow:

• Autism affects as many as 1 in 150 children and 1 in 94 boys
• Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the world
• More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with diabetes,cancer,& AIDS combined
• Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism
• There is no medical detection or cure for autism, but early diagnosis and intervention improve outcomes
• Autism does not discriminate by geography,class,or ethnicity
• There are estimated 35 million people affected by it globally,most of them are children

Source: WorldAustismAwarenessDay.Org

Like I have said earlier,this is the first ever World Autism Awareness Day.The United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution,tabled by the State of Qatar,which declares April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day on December 18, 2007.It is one of only three official disease-specific United Nations Days and will bring the world's attention to autism,a pervasive disorder that affects tens of millions.The World Autism Awareness Day resolution also encourages all Member States to take measures to raise awareness about autism throughout society and to encourage early diagnosis and early intervention.I think its good that autism is finally receiving global attention.It might not be deadly as other diseases but it is one of the most common yet unknown disease in the world.It is time that the people understand the nature of autism and the problems that those who are affected might be suffering from.Each and everyone of them deserve to lead a normal life like us as well.Your number one news channel CNN will be airing a special presentation on autism later today at 12am called 'We Have Autism' where they will try to unravel the mystery behind autism.If you want to know more about the disease,then dont miss it.I hope this post has help you in someway or another in understanding autism better.

My three unhappy incidents today...

Today I went out to Tampines Mall and I saw 3 things that I am really not happy of.The first thing that I am not happy about was I saw an old lady,probably in her mid 70s,going around and asking people for donations.No its not the normal tissue paper aunties or anything,she had a small plastic bag to collect the money and a sticker to give away to those who donated,the one you normally see school children doing or Red Cross doing.There is a logo on the plastic bag but I could not recognise it.

I dont know whether it is the same case for you,but for me,it was the first time I saw an old lady asking around for donations while working for a chairty group.Usually you see old lady going around selling tissues or something else,but I never seen an old lady doing donation drive for a chairty group and I am not happy about that.Firstly it is because the lady is very old,and I think whichever charity group she is doing it for,should not ask her to do it unless of course she voluntarily offer her service,which is a different case all together.But if it was the charity group tactics to hire the service of old lady to collect donation,then I dont think that is right.She can do other kind of job but not asking for donations.I mean she is old already,so she probably cant stand very long and I feel pity for her.The other thing that I saw today that made me unhappy is female cleaners working in males toilet.Im sure it has happened to you before,it has happened to me many many times,this is not the first time.How could the cleaning company let the female cleaners to clean the male toilet I dont understand.She was cleaning around the sink area by the way,the place where you want to wash your hand after doing your business.

Other instances where such case has happened to me was that the female cleaner was mopping the floor.I think this should stop.Its not that there is no male cleaners around.Just hire them to clean the male toilet and the female cleaners can clean the female toilet.It is as simple as that! I dont know if the same thing is happening to the females as well.Do you see male cleaners cleaning the female toilet when there are people using it? Tell me because I want to know.The last and final thing that I was unhappy about today was during my way home,there was this group of boys who boarded the bus,went to the second floor and started to play the music on their handphones very loudly it got me really angry but of course I did not confront them to avoid any serious problem.Do they think they own the bus? They only care about their interest and not the interest of the other passengers.Why do you need to play the songs so loud unless you are deaf of course which Im sure they wasnt.There was also other times when such nuisance happened to me.The group of boys was talking and laughing loudly as if the bus was their house.This kind of people makes me sick.They should be taught on some manners.

So I saw a lot of things today,all that I am not happy of.Have you experience the same thing before? If yes,I would love to listen to you and what you think can be done to improve the situation.Just post a comment and I will get back to you soon.Till then,have a nice day.

My review of the movie 'An Empress And The Warriors'...

So today I went out to catch the movie call 'An Empress And The Warriors'.I dont know if you have heard it before.It is a chinese movie starring Donnie Yen,Leon Lai and Kelly Chen.It is kind of a Chinese ancient war movie,like the one in 'The Warlords' but with a different plot.My main reason why I went to watch this movie is because first,I am a big fan of Donnie Yen and secondly,I am also a big fan of this old Chinese ancient war movie.

Basically,the story is set in ancient China before its unification,during which countless kingdoms battle for supremacy.Yen Feier (played by Kelly Chen) is thrust onto the throne when her father is killed in battle.Feier and her loyal Muyonh Xuehu (played by Donnie Yen) unite to defend the kingdom.But her ambitious cousin Wu Ba (played by Guo Xiao-dong) sends assassins to kill her because,well you have to watch the movie if you want to know why.Then there is the mysterious man Duan Lan-Quan (played by Leon Lai) who saves her.Feier then falls in love with Duan who offers her another life. With the fate of her kingdom in the balance,Feier then must choose which is more important to her.What happen in the end,is for you to find out.

As a Donnie Yen fan,I was disappointed not to see more on screen action of him.If you are expecting a lot of fighting action,dont bother.This is not the movie.Yes there is fighting but not much,you have to wait till the end to see it.The story has a good plot,greed,romance but it gets kind of boring at times with Kelly Chen and Leon Lai when they are starring in their love scenes.I wanted to see more of the bad guys but that didnt happen either.If you think this movie is the same as the Warlords,then I think you are wrong.Both are completely different movies.I prefer the Warlords for their visuals and battle scenes,but for the costume set,I prefer this movie.If you are a Donnie Yen fan,then I think its better if you wait for the DVDs,but if youre a Kelly Chen or Leon Lai fan,then this movie is a must watch.Usually I had to pay $8 but there is a special student pass going on,so you just have to pay $6 for any movie before 5 pm.Promotion is valid till 30th April.Just remember to bring your student card,like EzLink.Anyway back to the movie,I give it 3/5 stars.My next movie is going to be another chinese war movie too,called the 'Three Kingdom: Ressurection of the Dragon' starring Andy Lau and Maggie Q.It is coming out this Thursday. Here is the link to the trailer if you are interested. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xL7mIJaKL0 Till then,take care.