The longevity factor: happiness from self-satisfaction!

Rich people do not always live longer than  un-rich people.
Eating nutrients-rich food does not always end up longevity.
Living in clean environment does not always guarantee the longevity.
Well-educated people do not always live longer than the illiterate people.
Excising well doe not always results in longevity.
So what can lead to the longevity?
I would say: happiness from self-satisfaction.


If you are never satisfied with what you have, you are often under pressure or stress, causing irreversible changes in your physical body and psychological minds.


So, be simple, be natural, be real, and be happy, then likely live longer!

My own energy drinks

The argument and debate on whether energy drink is healthy or risky is not new and may become hotter and hotter. Before any conclusions are drawn, I prefer not drinking them, neither my family. Sometimes it is hard to see the effect immediately. When you see it, it is too late. We each person has only one life, there already have been enough healthy risky factors around us that is hard to escape. If we can, why not avoid as much as possible.

If I really need energy drink,  I will make it by myself from natural products. The easiest way is to make ginseng tea, or jujube tea, Chinese Wolfberry tea, or a combination of the two or three. The way to make it is simple: Put them into boiled cool water and soak for at least half hour, drink the tea and eat the ginseng or the fruit at the end.

Note: This is my personal experience and not recommendation for any body.

Be away from those food and drinks that potentially contain artificial hormones and antibiotics

Believe or not, many modern diseases have a lot to do with the food and/drinks we eat/take every day. To feed the people with enough food, farmers start using artificial fertilizers to increase food productions or genetically modified transgenic crops. Animals are fed with synthesized feeds that contain hormone and antibiotics, which is under the limit set by FDA, but obviously exist and precipitate in the animal meat or carry over to the milks.  Of course, a standard testing will tell you no risk for eating them because they "meet" the requirements from FDA. Unfortunately, when we eat them every day, the accumulation will be huge, which may reach the limit to cause any health problems.

Recently, there are so many examples around us like a friend of mine who has very good life style and habits with very positive attitude toward work/life. She is a Yoga coach and certainly looks very healthy. To everyone surprise, one day she was diagnosed with a cancer. And no body believe it and really do not understand she has a cancer.  But this is true! After a discussion, she told us that she drank milk every day like drinking water.  Here I do not want to link her cancer to the milk, but the milk from the cow that eat cloned crop feeds is definitely a food my family try to avoid.

I prefer to cooking food with the raw materials for my family; the more natural and simpler, the better. Taste may be not as good as the "delicious" food from restaurant, but I know what I put during cooking.

We may be lack of Vitamin D

Feel muscle pain? Hard to loss weight? Easy to get sick? We may be lack of Vitamin D (VD).

Looking around, it is not hard to find many people, especially ladies, have sickness related to VD deficiency. Here are a list of some scientiicr esearch studies and reports published on VD:


1.Vitamin D2 Is Much Less Effective than Vitamin D3 in Humans.
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Vol. 89, No. 11 5387-5391
Laura A. G. Armas, Bruce W. Hollis and Robert P. Heaney

ABSTRACT: Vitamins D2 and D3 are generally considered to be equivalent in humans. Nevertheless, physicians commonly report equivocal responses to seemingly large doses of the only high-dose calciferol (vitamin D2) available in the U.S. market.
The relative potencies of vitamins D2 and D3 were evaluated by administering single doses of 50,000 IU of the respective calciferols to 20 healthy male volunteers, following the time course of serum vitamin D and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) over a period of 28 d and measuring the area under the curve of the rise in 25OHD above baseline.

The two calciferols produced similar rises in serum concentration of the administered vitamin, indicating equivalent absorption. Both produced similar initial rises in serum 25OHD over the first 3 d, but 25OHD continued to rise in the D3-treated subjects, peaking at 14 d, whereas serum 25OHD fell rapidly in the D2-treated subjects and was not different from baseline at 14 d. Area under the curve (AUC) to d 28 was 60.2 ng•d/ml (150.5 nmol•d/liter) for vitamin D2 and 204.7 (511.8) for vitamin D3

2.Low Levels of Vitamin D Linked to Muscle Fat, Decreased Strength in Young People

ScienceDaily (Mar. 6, 2010) — A ground-breaking study published in the March 2010 Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found an astonishing 59 per cent of study subjects had too little Vitamin D in their blood. Nearly a quarter of the group had serious deficiencies (less than 20 ng/ml) of this important vitamin. Since Vitamin D insufficiency is linked to increased body fat, decreased muscle strength and a range of disorders, this is a serious health issue.

3.Lack Of Vitamin D Causes Weight Gain And Stunts Growth In Girls

ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2008) — Insufficient vitamin D can stunt growth and foster weight gain during puberty, according to a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Even in sun-drenched California, where scientists from the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and the University of Southern California conducted their study, vitamin D deficiency was found to cause higher body mass and shorter stature in girls at the peak of their growing spurt.

4.Successful Weight Loss With Dieting Is Linked To Vitamin D Levels

ScienceDaily (June 12, 2009) — Vitamin D levels in the body at the start of a low-calorie diet predict weight loss success, a new study found. The results, which suggest a possible role for vitamin D in weight loss, were presented at The Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
"Vitamin D deficiency is associated with obesity, but it is not clear if inadequate vitamin D causes obesity or the other way around," said the study's lead author, Shalamar Sibley, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota.

5.High Levels of Vitamin D in Older People Can Reduce Heart Disease and Diabetes

ScienceDaily (Feb. 22, 2010) — Middle aged and elderly people with high levels of vitamin D could reduce their chances of developing heart disease or diabetes by 43%, according to researchers at the University of Warwick.

6.Vitamin D Insufficiency Linked To Bacterial Vaginosis In Pregnant Women

ScienceDaily (May 21, 2009) — Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal infection in US women of childbearing age, and is common in pregnant women. BV occurs when the normal balance of bacteria in the vagina is disrupted and replaced by an overgrowth of certain bacteria. Because having BV puts a woman at increased risk for a variety of complications, such as preterm delivery, there is great interest in understanding how it can be prevented.

7. Understanding The Anticancer Effects Of Vitamin D3
ScienceDaily (July 7, 2009) — The active form of vitamin D3 seems to have anticancer effects. To try and understand the mechanisms underlying these effects, researchers previously set out to identify genes whose expression in a human colon cancer cell line was altered by the active form of vitamin D3.

8. Vitamin D Levels Are Too Low In Millions Of US Children, Latest Analysis Confirms
ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2009) — Millions of children in the United States between the ages of 1 and 11 may suffer from suboptimal levels of vitamin D, according to a large nationally representative study published in the November issue of Pediatrics, accompanied by an editorial.

9. Women With Breast Cancer Have Low Vitamin D Levels
ScienceDaily (Oct. 10, 2009) — Women with breast cancer should be given high doses of vitamin D because a majority of them are likely to have low levels of vitamin D, which could contribute to decreased bone mass and greater risk of fractures, according to scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

10. Vitamin D Supplements Could Fight Crohn's Disease
ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2010) — A new study has found that Vitamin D, readily available in supplements or cod liver oil, can counter the effects of Crohn's disease. John White, an endocrinologist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, led a team of scientists from McGill University and the Université de Montréal who present their findings about the inflammatory bowel disease in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

11. Vitamin D Deficiency Related To Increased Inflammation In Healthy Women
ScienceDaily (Apr. 14, 2009) — According to a recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, 75 percent of Americans do not get enough Vitamin D. Researchers have found that the deficiency may negatively impact immune function and cardiovascular health and increase cancer risk. Now, a University of Missouri nutritional sciences researcher has found that vitamin D deficiency is associated with inflammation, a negative response of the immune system, in healthy women.

12. Vitamin D Crucial to Activating Immune Defenses
ScienceDaily (Mar. 8, 2010) — Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have discovered that Vitamin D is crucial to activating our immune defenses and that without sufficient intake of the vitamin, the killer cells of the immune system -- T cells -- will not be able to react to and fight off serious infections in the body.

13. Vitamin D, Curcumin May Help Clear Amyloid Plaques Found In Alzheimer's Disease
ScienceDaily (July 16, 2009) — UCLA scientists and colleagues from UC Riverside and the Human BioMolecular Research Institute have found that a form of vitamin D, together with a chemical found in turmeric spice called curcumin, may help stimulate the immune system to clear the brain of amyloid beta, which forms the plaques considered the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

14. One In Seven U.S. Teens Is Vitamin D Deficient
ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2009) — One in seven American adolescents is vitamin D deficient, according to a new study by researchers in the Department of Public Health at Weill Cornell Medical College. The findings are published in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics and were presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies' Annual Meeting in May 2008.

15. Vitamin D Is The 'It' Nutrient Of The Moment
ScienceDaily (Jan. 14, 2009) — Vitamin D is quickly becoming the "it" nutrient with health benefits for diseases, including cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease and now diabetes.
"Vitamin D has widespread benefits for our health and certain chronic diseases in particular," said Sue Penckofer, Ph.D., R.N., study co-author and professor, Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing. "This article further substantiates the role of this nutrient in the prevention and management of glucose intolerance and diabetes."

16. New Guidelines Double Amount Of Recommended Vitamin D For Young
ScienceDaily (Oct. 14, 2008) — The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is doubling the amount of vitamin D it recommends for infants, children and adolescents. The new clinical report, "Prevention of Rickets and Vitamin D Deficiency in Infants, Children, and Adolescents, " recommends all children receive 400 IU a day of vitamin D, beginning in the first few days of life.

Key points:
• Low levels of circulating vitamin D are associated with increased risk and mortality from cancer.
• Vitamin D plays an important role in activating the immune system, fostering the "innate" immune response and controlling over-reaction of adaptive immunity, and as such may help control autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Cathelicidin can profoundly boost the innate immune system, and could form the basis for new therapies to combat pathogenic infections.
• The regulation of cathelicidin by vitamin D, a unique biological pathway for the function of vitamin D that could help explain its multiple roles in proper immune function, is so important that it's only known to exist in two groups of animals -- humans and non-human primates -- and has been conserved in them through millions of years of evolution.
• Vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for tuberculosis, was historically used to treat it, and analogs of it may provide the basis for new therapeutic approaches not only to that disease but also HIV infection.
• Epidemiological studies show a link between vitamin D deficiency and increased rates of respiratory infection and influenza, and it has been hypothesized that flu epidemics may be the result of vitamin D deficiency.
• Higher levels of a protein linked to vitamin D have been associated with reduced infections and longer survival of dialysis patients.
• Vitamin D has important roles in reducing inflammation, blood pressure and helping to protect against heart disease.

17. Inadequate Levels of Vitamin D May Significantly Increase Risk of Stroke, Heart Disease and Death
ScienceDaily (Nov. 16, 2009) — While mothers have known that feeding their kids milk builds strong bones, a new study by researchers at the Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City suggests that Vitamin D contributes to a strong and healthy heart as well -- and that inadequate levels of the vitamin may significantly increase a person's risk of stroke, heart disease, and death, even among people who've never had heart disease.

18. Vitamin D Deficiency Is Widespread And On The Increase
ScienceDaily (July 6, 2009) — A new report issued by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and published in the scientific journal Osteoporosis International1, shows that populations across the globe are suffering from the impact of low levels of vitamin D. The problem is widespread and on the increase, with potentially severe repercussions for overall health and fracture rates.

19. Vitamin D Deficiency In Younger Women Is Associated With Increased Risk Of High Blood Pressure
ScienceDaily (Sep. 25, 2009) — Vitamin D deficiency in premenopausal women may increase the risk of developing systolic hypertension 15 years later, according to research reported at the American Heart Association’s 63rd High Blood Pressure Research Conference.

Health from food: Cholesterol level in food

Name	Cholesterol	Name	Cholesterol
pork	126mg	Tripe	150mg
Lard	110mg	Butter	110mg
pork ribs	105mg	cheese	140mg
Cream	300mg	Fish liver oil	500mg
goat	61mg	Shrimp	154mg
lamb	70mg	Crab	164mg
Rabbit meat	61mg	Jelly fish	24mg
Veal	140mg	Flat fish	87mg
Milk	24mg	Carp fish	90mg
Egg-yolk	2000mg	Crucian	90mg
Yellow Croaker	98mg	Pigeon	110mg
Quail egg	3640mg	Eel	186mg
Sepia	348mg	Shrimp	154mg

Note: Cholesterol level: mg per 100 g or 3.5 oz food.

Generally,no more than 300 mg of cholesterol is taken from food each day.

Health from food: The pumpkin

Pumpkin includes a good source of protein, zinc, vitamins and is a good food with lower cholesterol.

Pumpkin, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
	Energy	56 kJ (13 kcal)
	Carbohydrates	6.5 g
	Sugars	1.36 g
	Dietary fiber	0.5 g
	Fat	0.1 g
	saturated	0.05 g
	monounsaturated	0.01 g
	polyunsaturated	0.01 g
	Protein	1.0 g
	Vitamin A equiv.	369 μg (41%)
	- beta-carotene	3100 μg (29%)
	Thiamine (Vit. B1)	0.05 mg (4%)
	Riboflavin (Vit. B2)	0.110 mg (7%)
	Niacin (Vit. B3)	0.6 mg (4%)
	Pantothenic acid (B5)	0.298 mg (6%)
	Vitamin B6	0.061 mg (5%)
	Folate (Vit. B9)	16 μg (4%)
	Vitamin C	9 mg (15%)
	Vitamin E	1.06 mg (7%)
	Calcium	21 mg (2%)
	Iron	0.8 mg (6%)
	Magnesium	12 mg (3%
	Phosphorus	44 mg (6%)
	Potassium	340 mg (7%)
	Sodium	1 mg (0%)
	Zinc	0.32 mg (3%)
	Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.
	Source: USDA Nutrient database

It has been shown to have many health benefits as follows:

1. Detoxify: Pumpkin contains various vitamins and pectin; with very good absorbability, the pectin can detoxify by absorbing and eliminating bacteriotoxin and other deleterious substances such as heavy metal lead, mercury, and some radioactive elements in vivo

2. Protect gastric mucosa and promote digestion: the pectin in pumpkin can protect stomach rubber mucous membrane from damage by rough food, help heal ulcer, which is especially helpful for patients with gastric diseases; The ingredients in pumpkin are also able to promote choler secretion, strengthen the movement of stomach and intestine creeping, resulting in the promotion of food digestion.

3. Reduce blood sugar and prevent diabetes: The pumpkin contains rich cobalt that can enliven the human body metabolism, promote hemopoiesis, and participate in Vitamin B12 synthesis in human body. It is also a trace element that is necessary for pancreatic cells in human body and to reduce blood sugar.

4. Elimination carcinogen: The ingredients in pumpkin can eliminate the sudden change of carcinogen nitrosamine to cause cancer, restore and maintain the function of liver and the kidney function, and strengthen liver and kidney cell reproduction.

5. Promote growth: Pumpkin contains rich zinc that participates in the synthesis of essence acids and proteins that human body need. It is also one of the adrenal cortex hormone inherent ingredients for human body growth.

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