Category: lifestyle

Many health issues develop later in life and it’s difficult to change any “bad habits” when you’re older, so it’s a good idea to start implementing healthy habits as early as possible.
So what are the health issues we’re talking about?  

• Men are at risk of developing prostate cancer after the age of 40. You can read more about the prevention of this cancer.

• Men are more prone to heart disease after the age of 40.  Hypertension (high blood pressure) and diabetes can lead to heart disease and therefore need to be well controlled in order to prevent it.

• One of the major causes of health issues is simply being overweight. The “beerboep” puts you at major risk, because this abdominal weight has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease.  

We don’t all have personal shoppers, chefs and gym trainers, so how do you go about improving your health?

Here are some practical tips:

• Get into the habit of EATING REGULARLY. This helps to provide regular energy during the day, thereby controlling your appetite and your weight.  This means having breakfast, lunch and supper, and if needed, a few small snacks in between.

• Take a new look at VEGETABLES. It’s now hip to be seen eating a huge healthy salad with chicken or steak strips, so tuck into a colourful salad with some delicious avo when you do a business lunch. Try out some interesting new flavours such as butternut, baby spinach and red onions baked with a little oil and pumpkin seeds.

• PLAN YOUR MEALS. If you’re not sure where to start, involve your partner in helping you to plan what to buy in order to prepare healthier meals and have the right kind of food to take along to work. The more prepared you are, the less likely you are to rush off to your local store for an emergency pie and chocolate at 5pm in the afternoon, shortly followed by your dinner at home – this will not do your waistline any good! We’d rather you shop for lean proteins, high fibre bread and fresh produce for your healthy sandwich and fruit snacks.

Here are some simple ideas for meal options.

• BREAKFAST: a smoothie with fruit, yoghurt and peanut butter if you need to “eat on the run”; wholegrain toast with poached egg; a tub of yoghurt and a banana, apple or naartjie.
• LUNCH: high fibre bread sandwich or baguette with lettuce, tomato and a choice of lean protein, e.g. smoked gammon or roast beef slices, chicken breast or tuna with a little low oil mayo.
• DINNER: keep it low carb if you aren’t exercising in the afternoon, with a choice of lean protein, e.g. fish in foil/skinless chicken breast/pork fillet or lean beef steak with a colourful mix of stir-fried or steamed vegetables. Liven things up with the flavours of fresh garlic, ginger, chillies, and some olive oil.

• Be aware of what you DRINK. Avoid sugar-laden cold drinks and opt for some sparkling mineral water with lemon slices, or a sugar-free fizzy drink as the occasional option. Try and “wean” yourself off sugar in your tea and coffee. You’ll get used to using less sugar quicker than you think! When it comes to alcohol, we don’t want to take away your time with the boys, but we’d suggest moving onto something “lighter” if you’re worried about your waistline.  Whiskey and water or soda is a good option. If you prefer brandy or vodka, pair it with a sugar-free mix.

• VISIT YOUR DOCTOR. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot by being too proud to visit your doctor for any issue! If you have a pain or lump that should not be there, it’s a good idea to have it checked out. You should have an annual visit to your doctor to check blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood fat levels, especially if you have a history of heart disease and diabetes in your family. If you’re over 40, you do need to consider screening tests for prostate health. Any issue can be dealt with if you become aware of it at an early stage. 

Nobody really understands love.
Not the scientists, and certainly not the poets. Love defies understanding because it is never the same for any of us. It seems to be Universal. It seems to be Timeless. But, those are just illusions because, even though it’s something we all experience, it’s also something we all experience differently .

Love is an individual experience, filtered by our own lives and expectations. No one truly understands it because it’s invariably a very different thing for each of us.
People define love differently in a way you may even get confused. That’s life.

In conclusion,I’ll say,nobody really understands love.

by: AKIN ONADEKO

The night was filled with shouts and cries from McGriffin hostel. The jock boys were at it again,they were always the ones disturbing the peace of the hostel. Craig opened the door of his room to see other boys rushing past, they were going to see the jock boys pound one another to a pulp.

The jock boys provided entertainment for the McGriffin hostel with their nightly fights and quarrels. “What’s going on this time with those jocks?”,asked Max, Craig’s roommate. The noise generated from the fight happening in one of the rooms below had disrupted them from their video game. Seating next to Max was Lance who seemed in a hurry to get back to playing the game. Laying on one of the beds in the room was the fourth and last roommate, Ryan. He was reading a book and he seemed unperturbed by the noise. He was used to them, the jerks who always felt as if they owned the school. They disturbed the hostel with their loud and stupid music, quarreled every now and then but nobody ever disturbed or confronted them.

The hall keepers never bothered to check in on them as one of them had ended up in the hospital with a broken nose three weeks earlier. A fight had ensued between two of the jock boys and the hall keeper earned himself a broken nose, two fractured ribs and a battered face for trying to separate both boys. Of course, both boys were expelled from the school but no other hall keeper wanted to be a martyr. Everyone just seemed to mind his business whenever the jock boys were around.

Just the other day, a quarrel had broken out  between some second year students and some jock boys. The jock boys were severely beaten by these second year students but later those students were found bloody and beaten to a pulp. The beaten boys refused to disclose the people responsible for the beating but everyone knew it was the jock boys but they kept mute.
The shouts and cries at the hostel intensified as many onlookers gathered to see the jock boys batter each other’s faces. The occupants of Room 42 however remained in their room. Max and Lance resumed their video game but their minds weren’t in the game anymore ,they wanted to go and see the fight down below.It looked like people were gathering but no one bothered to separate them.”Who could blame them anyways?”,thought Lance to himself. Craig suddenly stood up from his bed saying “I have to see this fight,the noise is deafening”. Having said that,he walked to the door, opened it and walked out. Max and Lance soon followed suit,dropping their game pads on the floor. They all left the room except for Ryan who seemed preoccupied with his novel in hand.

The crowd surrounding the fighters egged and cheered them on. The jock boys who were involved in the fight kept battering and ramming into each other. The first jock held his opponent in a tight neck grip and pummelled the living daylight out of his face. The second jock suddenly found the first jock’s foot and twisted it hard. A sharp cry of pain tore through the night air as the first jock went down in a heap. He hurriedly let go of the second jock who instantly landed a swift kick on the face of the first. Blood erupted out of the face of the first jock as the second jock added two more kicks to his abdomen. The crowd was now chanting for the first jock to get up and continue the fight as the second jock continued to throw blows and land kicks. The first jock suddenly rushed and grabbed the second jock by the torso,lifted him up in the air and with a loud cry,threw him on the floor. Loud cheers and whoops emanated from the crowd as they celebrated with the first jock. Max and Lance were shouting and screaming themselves hoarse. Craig stood at a corner, watching the whole fight. He wondered what people enjoyed in watching these fights. The guys fighting could get themselves killed but yet people enjoyed it.

He soon felt that he had seen enough and decided to head back to his room. Max and Lance would return when they have had their fill. He got to his room, opened the door and was greeted with a cold, dark silence. The lights in the room were off. They had all left Ryan in the room with the lights on. Maybe, Ryan had decided to go to bed after all and had put off the lights. He had better turn them on. His fingers groped along the wall, looking for the light switch. “Ryan,Ryan”,he called out but Ryan didn’t answer. Alas, he found the light switch and turned it on. What he saw, he wasn’t prepared for. Ryan laid on his bed,his throat slashed and his face stabbed multiple times.

The book he was reading laid on top of his chest soaked in his blood.A part of his cheek had been cut off and his nose bashed in. Blood dripped from the bed and pooled all over the floor.

You can also reach him here:

Fb: Akinwande Toby Onadeko
Twitter: @Wyldkat95
Email: akinonadeko@gmail.com

My most cringeworthy interview ever, where I wish I had fallen into black hole, happened a few years ago. And this for a job I really, really wanted.
It turned out that the person doing the interview was the same person who I had turned down in person numerous times for a date.

Talk about awkward!
Well, I didn’t get the job though.

Ever experienced such?
Share your story!

Dreams occur almost exclusively during very deep sleep or REM sleep. Scientists can still only guess why we dream. What’s clear however is we all spend about two hours a night dreaming even though we may remember only five per cent of our dreams.

A dream’s journey through the brain begins in the midbrain – specifically the pons – and ends in the cerebrum, the part of the brain where learning, organisation, memory and thought processes occur.

This route has caused scientists to speculate that dreams are important for the healthy functioning of these processes. It would also explain why REM sleep is essential for the development of the brain in children, and why babies need so much of this type of sleep.

There are several explanations for the intimate connection between dreams and memory, and especially the question of why we find it so difficult to remember our dreams. Some biologists say dreams are the brain’s way of sorting and deleting unimportant information so it doesn’t become overwhelmed and stop working.

Dr Hugo emphasises research into the reasons for REM sleep and dreams hasn’t yet delivered any hard scientific facts. ‘‘We do know REM sleep and dreams are essential for memory. Without REM sleep the electrical currents in the brain that make up our memory literally collapse. During dreams in REM sleep the memory currents are reactivated and more firmly fixed.’’

During dreams, Dr Hugo explains, memory networks contact other networks, starting a chain reaction. This could explain why, during the same dream, different themes occur that are apparently completely unrelated. Dream events also last as long as real-life ones and are experienced in colour.

Whether you remember your dreams depends on which sleep phase you’re in when you wake up, he adds. If you wake up during REM sleep you’ll remember your dream.

Compiled by Mari Hudson and Elise-Marie Tancred