Hypokalemia caused by too much cola intake?

I was reading on the internet when I came across the Yahoo Health article "Too Much Cola Can Cause Muscle Problems". It talks about experiencing weak muscles or even paralysis when a person's potassium level drops due to too much (between 2 to 9 liters) intake of cola per day.

Having read it made me think about my cola drinking habits. I listed some of the occasions when I excessively (but not reach the 2 to 9 L threshold) drink cola. I identified the following:

1. When we dine out or when we are in a place where we are not sure about the safety of the available water. (Should we start bringing a bottle of clean water every time we go out?)

2. When we eat fried and junk food. (Cola is the best match that I know for these but maybe I should cut on the junk to avoid its match.)

3. When it's too hot or when I'm tired or I feel down. (I realized that I won't have this on the list if I don't put cola in the fridge in the first place! LOL.)

Whether Hypokalemia or diabetes or high blood pressure or any other health issues, I think the cause is mainly the decision that we take when it comes to the food and the amount of it that we intake. As the old saying goes, anything in excess is bad.

Potato with mushroom and cheese?

I cooked something yummy last night. I don’t know how to call it. I just thought that I wanted to eat young potatoes with cheese and mushroom. Here’s the ingredients and how I prepared it.

1 tsp butter
3 tsps chopped garlic
1 medium sized white onion, chopped
¼ bar quick melt cheese
½ can cream of mushroom soup
½ cup water

¼ kilo young potatoes

1. Boil the young potatoes.
2. Saute the garlic and onion on the melted butter.
3. Add cream of mushroom soup and water. Leave for a couple of minutes.
4. Add potatoes and cheese.
5. Leave for a few more minutes until mushroom soup is thick.

I served it with fried chicken, rice and iced tea. It was really lip-smacking.... healthy... and not at all expensive.

P.S. Maybe this is not an original recipe. Perhaps someone has already prepared this before. But as I said, I don’t know how to call it. I just imagined the flavour and decided to cook. If anyone knows how this recipe is called, please let me know. So that next time my husband asks, I will not answer potatoes with mushroom and cheese. :-)

change.. it always comes

a lot of things will change during the next few weeks. change, as many people would say, is very painful. it entails a lot of guts to face the differences. it becomes very stressful to some... and for others, change simply becomes a challenge that they have to beat.

i can't say now how i'm actually going to face it (i have some plans that i hope will work). but sure it will hit some part of me. and sure as i am, i'll deal with it in the best way that i could.

yes i agree, change is painful... but we just have to live with it... it always comes.

heart attack

just finished chatting with a friend and found out that his mom was rushed to the hospital few days ago due to a heart attack. it was not a long chat but i felt how sad and stressed and tired my friend was. he told me he's been on leave for a few days now attending to her mom/family's needs. i've known this person very well and i'm sure he's been sleepless since that day. having this kind of situation is really emotionally, physically and financially stressful.

sometimes, when i hear news like this, i also get scared. i want to be as healthy as i could for myself and my family. and i want my family to be healthy too.

i know that to prevent conditions like this, one should have healthy diet and enough exercise. maybe i should start looking for better recipes to cook. i'm afraid our diet now is not really that healthy. i should be searching for more recipes with vegies and beef and white meat.

can you help? :-)

and perhaps i should also start walking.... with my family.. for fun and for health.

if it's the truth, you'll naturally remember it

i was checking for online friends on my messenger list when a status message caught my attention. it says, "always tell the truth so that you don't have to remember what you've said."

makes sense, right? you don't have to worry and recall what you've said and how you've said it if it's the truth. because if it's the truth, you'll naturally remember it.

nice one... she's brilliant. i found her status message very realistic.

just in time

I went to the dentist yesterday. I had oral prophylaxis.

I used to live with an aunt who always dips her mouth piece (ehehehe) in a glass of water every night. That led me to think that maybe, just maybe, if I cared for my teeth enough, then I can avoid having to do what she does every night.

Since I started working, it has always been the dental benefits that I consume first when our health cards renew. Since I stopped working and got a card from my husband’s employer, it’s still the dental benefits that I always consume first. And since he resigned from his work, and they just got the card renewed last month, I decided to use up the dental benefits before our cards get cancelled.

The dentist told me that they’ve covered all the teeth that need to be restored. Thank God I had them covered just in time. I hope that later, I won’t have to dip something in a glass of water. =)

God really gives us what we need just in time. =)

true friends are friends for life

two of my best friends visited us last weekend. since i stopped doing a full time office work, i learned to appreciate visitors more. =) it's always as if you're a very important person that even if your house is some few hours away from them, they still will go there to see you.

we spent long hours of updating and telling stories and eating and joking. and it's as if i did not stop seeing them for more than half a year. true friends are really a treasure. you don't have to see them often to feel the warmth and closeness...

true friends are friends for life. :-)