Living With It Sweetly: Healthy Ways to Control Your Diabetes

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Diabetes has been a bitter pill to swallow, particularly for countries affected by the rising number of cases every year. In 2019, approximately 463 million adults (20-79 years) were living with this chronic metabolic disease, characterized by an increase in blood sugar levels; by 2045, this will rise to 700 million, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). 

 

A similar trend is also happening in the Philippines. In 2020, deaths due to Type 2 diabetes mellitus or adult diabetes ranked fourth at 37,265 after heart disease (99,680), cancer (62,289), and cerebrovascular diseases (59,736), as revealed by Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data. 

However, having diabetes does not mean you can never have a healthy, everyday life.  

 

Working closely with your doctor can help you manage diabetes, and you can also start focusing on some critical changes in your daily life. Here are some ways to manage your blood sugar levels, as listed by the Department of Health (DOH).  

 

Keep yourself active. Despite being inside your home most of the time due to existing lockdowns and community quarantines, staying active is crucial to help control your blood sugar levels. A little cardio can be a big help, no need to push yourself to do hardcore workouts. 

 

Workout at least three times a week for at least 30 minutes each session. Not only can it help you bring down your blood sugar levels, but it can also help you lose some extra pounds, increase your endorphins (happy hormones) and ease stress.  

 

Manage your stress. Getting stressed when you have diabetes will do you no good. When you’re stressed, your blood sugar levels go up. That is why it pays to relieve your stress by doing hobbies that relax you and doing some breathing exercises or yoga. 

 

Quit Smoking. Smoking is harmful to your health, especially if you have diabetes. In addition, it may trigger other health problems, such as heart disease, eye disease, stroke, and kidney disease. Smoking also can make it harder to exercise. If you’re a smoker, consult with your doctor about the ways to quit. 

 

Maintain normal blood pressure. Since hypertension puts a person at high risk of cardiovascular disease, primarily associated with diabetes, reliable blood pressure monitoring and control is highly advised. Seek your doctor’s advice on proper management. 

 

Eat healthy. Eating healthy food is crucial when you have diabetes. Do not skip or delay meals since it causes fluctuations in blood sugar levels. It also pays to eat more fiber-rich foods like vegetables and cut down on salt. Drinking alcohol, on the other hand, must be avoided. Dietary guidelines recommend no more than two drinks for men and not more than one drink per day for women. 

 

‘Eating Sweets? Still Possible’ 

When it comes to eating sweets, it is advised to avoid simple sugars like cakes and chocolates. But it does not mean that you can’t let anything sweet pass your lips again. Instead, have complex carbohydrates like rice, pasta, cereals, and fresh fruits.  

 

You can use some alternative sweeteners now available in nearby drugstores nationwide. For instance, Santé, a premier natural and organic health and wellness product and services provider,  offers Sweet Via, a sweetener from a natural source with amazing health benefits. 

 

Sweet Via is made with stevia, a natural substitute for sugar, derived from the leaves of a small perennial green shrub. Anyone who suffers from blood sugar disorders or who needs to limit their caloric intake should know about the remarkable properties of stevia. It is an accepted sugar substitute that can contribute to weight management and improved caloric control.[1] 

 

Aside from stevia, Sweet Via contains Inulin, a natural soluble dietary fiber from a chicory plant that promotes digestive health. It acts as food for good bacteria in the colon. Studies also suggest that Inulin aids in keeping blood sugar levels low.[2] 

 

Free from artificial additives, Sweet Via turns sweets into a treat without the guilt. It is also a perfect sweetener for not only for people with diabetes but also perfect for weight watchers and those who want to cut down on their sugar or calorie intake.  

 

Sweet Via is now available in leading drugstores nationwide and online shopping platforms, such as Shopee and Lazada. This product comes in a box containing 10 sachets. Each sachet contains 1g of the sweetener, equivalent to 2 teaspoons of sugar. It instantly sweetens any beverage and food recipe minus the guilt and harmful effects of too much sugar. 

 

This product is just one of the many other organic health and wellness products offered by Santé, known for developing a comprehensive selection of everyday barley-based products. They are designed to improve people’s quality of life so they can live more and do more. 

 

To learn more about Santé, visit its website at santebarley.com.   

1] Elkins, R. Stevia, Nature’s Sweetener. Woodland Publishing, Inc., Pleasant Grove, UT, 1997 

[2] Gibson, G.R. and Delzenne, N. Inulin and Oligofructose, New Scientific Developments.Nutrition Today, Volume 43, Number 2, March/April 2008 

Toughest Sports Watches For Men In 2021

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Watches have a long history throughout the world. Timepieces proved themselves more than useful by establishing a reputation of being a handy device and a fashion accessory. Today, watchmakers persist in being a prominent part of society by creating innovative wristwatches for both sexes.

Nowadays, you can purchase watches tailored to your hobbies. For people into physical activities, there are plenty of sports watches available on the market. A sports watch is usually highly functional, durable, and water-resistant.

The word durable is often associated with sports watches because they need to be just that. With all the other features put in a watch, durability is always emphasized by many, especially for sports watches. If you’re searching for one, you can read about the toughest sports watches for men in 2021 here.

Seiko 5 Sports SRPC59 Men’s Rubber Band Watch

Arguably the best diving or sports watch in the Seiko 5 sports line, SRPC59 is an excellent choice for durability and overall functionality. If you’re specifically looking for a diving watch, this one’s one of the best choices out there.

It has an automatic mechanism with 24 exposed jewels, giving it the shine that an ordinary sports watch doesn’t have. Aside from its elegance, it has a generous 45mm stainless steel case. It also has a transparent case back and a rubber band.

At first glance, you may think that Seiko cheaped out consumers because of the rubber band, but that’s not the case. The silicone rubber band supplies more durability to the SRPC59. It also makes the watch lighter because of the lightweight silicone it’s made from, countering its large case.

This analog sports watch is also equipped with a unidirectional diving bezel surrounding the dial with luminous hands and markings to make it easier to use in dark places. It boasts a 100-meter water resistance making it an appealing option for deep diving.

Casio G-Shock

If you want toughness in a watch, one of the classic sports watches that emphasizes durability is the G-Shock. It’s also on the bulkier side of wristwatches with a 48.5-millimeter case size. From its various designs, you’ll see that this watch is made for heavy duties.

G-Shock’s case and bezel are both made from durable materials, namely resin and carbon. It features both analog and digital displays, with the former more prominent than the latter. It also all the other essential functions of a wristwatch, including a stopwatch and a daylight saving function.

What makes the G-Shock even more appealing is its affordable prices. You can cop a G-Shock for as low as $99, which is way cheaper than other sports watches today. Durable and inexpensive is enough to attract many interested in a watch at any time or era, making the G-Shock a timeless option.

Garmin Fenix 6 Sapphire

The Fenix 6 is one of the best recently made watches for outdoor junkies. The entire Fenix 6 series has everything you need for adventure tracking and outdoor fitness activities. It’s not the most stylish to pass for a dress watch, but it’s definitely rugged enough to withstand outdoor elements.

Although it looks bulkier than the previous Fenix 5, Fenix 6 is slimmer compared to other sports watches, sporting a 47mm case. It’s also much lighter than the typical smartwatch since it weighs 7g less than its predecessor. Besides that, it also has a broader display which is more intuitive than before because it can show extra customizable data fields.

Aside from advanced fitness metrics, it can also store music so you can listen to your favorite training or workout playlist. You can also use it under the bright sun or in the evening with its AMOLED display. It uses transflective memory-in-pixel technology for well-lit conditions and has a LED backlight for darker ones.

Luminox Navy Seal Magnifying Glass 3603

Navy Seal Magnifying Glass 3603 is another rugged watch that lives up to its looks. It’s designed to resist chemicals, temperature, and expansion. It’s highly durable and can withstand water up to 200 meters deep, making it an excellent choice for diving.

It also has a hardcore Carbonox shell which ups its defense against falling on hard surfaces. A double gasket shields the side dial, and its rubber strap is resistant to abrasion and breakage. If it does break, changing the band is a breeze.

The 3603 also has top-quality lighting with a sapphire crystal anti-reflective coating and Luminox Light Technology lighting. The coating makes the watch face viewable in any lighting, regardless of the angle. Luminox’s Light tech constantly sustains the watch hand’s brightness, making it easy to see the time during the day and night. It also powers itself, removing the need for solar energy or charging.

Wrapping up

Sports watches are supposed to be durable because they’re used for engaging in physical activities and the outdoors. These are the toughest ones for men who are looking for a trusty companion in adventures and training. Make sure to get one of these this year to make the best out of your sports endeavors.

Author’s Bio:

Luther Abrams is quite a jack of all trades type of guy. He loves exploring new things and cultivating his knowledge every now and then. Today, he grows more and more interested in jewelry and watches and even writes about such things in his free time.

Societal cost of plastics produced in 2019 found to be US$ 3.7 trillion; nearly 10 times the 2019 GDP of the Philippines

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Societal cost of plastics produced in 2019 found to be US$ 3.7 trillion; nearly 10 times the 2019 GDP of the Philippines

The lifetime cost to society, the environment and the economy of plastics produced in 2019 alone has been revealed at US$3.7 trillion,¹ according to the “Cost of Plastics” report published by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in September 2021.

“The gigantic cost of plastics on society, environment, and the economy is hard to comprehend even if we imagine it as being nearly 10 times the total GDP of the Philippines in 2019,” Atty. Ina Guingona, WWF-Philippines’ No Plastics in Nature Policy Officer said.

(“Ang mala-higanteng gastos ng plastik sa lipunan, kalikasan, at ekonomiya ay mahirap maintindihan kahit pa isipin ito na parang sampung beses mas malaki sa GDP ng Pilipinas.”)

“Plastic pollution is more than just a littering problem and it has real, tangible, and as the report has shown, quantifiable cost to our society. And for countries like the Philippines, this is not an expense that we can afford to have,” she added.

(“Higit pa na problema sa pagtatapon ang plastic pollution dahil ito ay mga totoo at nasusukat na gastos sa lipunan base sa report. Para sa mga maliliit na bansa tulad ng Pilipinas, ito ay gastos na hindi natin kaya bayaran.”)

The biggest portion of the cost indicated in the report is marine plastic pollution estimated at US$ 3.1 trillion. Greenhouse gas emissions from across the plastic lifecycle amounts to more than US$ 171 billion, while the management of plastic waste costs more than US$ 32 billion, to collect, sort, dispose and recycle the huge quantities of plastic waste generated in 2019.

“Plastic takes hundreds to thousands of years to fully degrade and as it degrades, it breaks down into smaller and smaller particles making it hard to recover and remove plastic from the environment,” the report said.

“Plastic will therefore remain in the environment to incur further costs. It is estimated that the plastic produced in 2019 that becomes marine plastic pollution will incur a cost of US$ 3.1 trillion (+/-US$1 trillion) over its lifetime,” it added.

Unless action is taken, these costs are set to double for the plastics produced in 2040 at US$7.1 trillion², equivalent to 85% of global spending on health in 2018 and greater than the GDP of Germany, Canada, and Australia in 2019 combined. 

The report demonstrates that governments and citizens are unknowingly subsiding a plastic system that is imposing countless negative impacts on people and the environment.

The report “Plastics: The cost to society, environment and the economy” highlights how fragmented regulatory approaches, misplaced incentives as well as lack of coordinated technical resources, financial support and consistent data on plastic leakage are currently costing us the Earth. 

Failure to understand and remediate the real costs of plastic will cost even more in the future, as under a business as usual scenario it is estimated that by 2040 there will be a doubling of plastic production and a tripling of plastic pollution entering the ocean to 29 million tonnes, increasing the total stock of plastic in the ocean to 600 million tonnes. 

To address this crisis on a systemic level and reduce the cost that plastic imposes on society, WWF is calling on governments to start the negotiation of a legally binding global treaty on marine plastic pollution at the fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly in February 2022.  

The new figures, released September 6, Monday as discussions take place at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, highlight the importance of a global solution to tackle the plastic pollution crisis in response to escalating concern about a lack of global coordination in plastic action. 

The number of governments expressing their strong support for the establishment of a new global agreement to address plastic pollution  has reached nearly 120, a majority of the UN Member States, following the first ever Global Ministerial Meeting on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution which took place last Sept 1-2, 2021.

More than 20 global financial institutions have already announced their support for a global treaty that aims to address plastic pollution including Achmea Investment Management, Aviva Investors, BMO Global Asset Management, BNP Paribas Asset Management, Fidelity International, and the international business of Federated Hermes. 

Rogier Krens, Chief Investment Officer of Achmea Investment Management in the Netherlands said: “We need better global policy to solve the plastic pollution crisis. As signatories of the business manifesto, we want to send a strong signal to global policymakers that adequate regulation is needed to set a global and reliable regulatory level playing field. This is crucial to enable leading industries to develop and market alternatives to fossil fuel based plastics and end plastic pollution.” 

The finance organizations join over 50 other businesses that have endorsed the call for a global treaty on marine plastic pollution and more than two million people have signed a petition adding to the increasing chorus of concern about the spiraling plastic pollution crisis causing environmental and societal harm.

Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International said: “This is the first time we have seen such a clear assessment of some of the unaccounted costs being imposed by plastic pollution on society and they are a burden that is too high to bear - both for people and the environment.”

“Tragically, the plastic pollution crisis is showing no signs of slowing down, but the commitment to tackle it has reached an unprecedented level. We need a UN treaty on plastic pollution that unites governments, companies and consumers around clear targets for reduction, collection, recycling and sustainable alternatives to stop plastic leakage into the environment by 2030,” he added.

In the Philippines, WWF is calling for the enactment of House Bill 9147 or the Single-use Plastic Products Regulation Act which was passed at the House of Representatives on third reading last July 28, 2021.

The bill includes the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme that holds plastic producers accountable for the plastic packaging they put into the market throughout the whole life cycle of the product. You can read more about it here.