Health, Hygiene, Fitness & Nigerians

Health, Hygiene, Fitness & Nigerians Author: Paul I. Adujie | Good hygiene, physical fitness and good health should be seen as a matter of life and death. These are particularly more so for Nigerians and other Africans abroad as we tend to have very healthy appetite to indulgent levels. It is crucial that we are alert to the attendant perils of what and how much and when we eat. And bearing in mind that a great deal of the foods consumed by Nigerians nay Africans in the Diaspora are over-processed foods. Over-processed foods are frequently stripped of their natural roughage or fiber, those natural regularity inducing particles or elements in foods. Most foods abroad, unlike in Nigeria, are laden with artificial preservatives, and sweeteners in order to prolong food shelf-life through the rigors of manufacture, distribution, sale and kitchen table end journey with consumers. Food is plentiful and cheap in the Diaspora, at least in America. Foods are also gradually, but steadily, getting genetically engineered or modified as well; more care is needed in our consumption pattern. Even food items as simple as apples, peaches and pears, are often laden with and coated with an assortments and combinations of chemicals; from bee-wax to Alar, and as a result, discerning consumers must thoroughly was, even fresh fruits before ingesting them. Life abroad, is, or can be very sedentary. From riding escalators to elevators to the car to the train or public buses and airplanes etc. It is therefore a matter of a particular effort and discipline on all our parts to maintain physical fitness through regular exercise or physically vigorous activities. Fitness and good health in the circumstances should be actively sought after. Time is frequently unavailable to engage in extra curricular activities, after long hours of daily schlepping, which is what life in the Diaspora entails. Imagine then that Nigerians who are having to compete with myriad factors of life abroad, must then have to be alert to quality and quantity of foods which could induce adverse heart conditions. There are over-sweetened over-sugared foods in their abundance in America, and the sweeter the foods, the cheaper they tend to be too, and there is a correlation between sugar-added foods and the amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol such foods contain. Fattening foods are so cheap and available, whereas whole-foods or organic foods comes at premium prices. It is a double whamming for anyone who eats mounds of these sweetened foods, and then, worse, if such persons are averse to physical exertion, coupled with the relative ease of life in America without physical efforts requiring sweats or perspirations, the risks of fattening foods is therefore heightened by physical hassles-free life. Mental stress may result from adjustments to new life in a new land, but sweat generating muscle movement are frequently unnecessary around here. Considering all these aforementioned issues, it is of little surprise to me therefore, that a preponderance of Nigerians in America tend to almost invariably become overweight Nigerians at home and particularly abroad, need to be very attentive and become more particular about good health through consumption of good food and healthy serving size. We need to watch the quantity and types of foods that we pile on our plates. I am always amazed at the size of the mountain of food on some plates at Nigerian parties! Overeating is no favors to yourself. As a matter of fact, you should deliberately share your foods, that is a better favor to yourself, you will avoid unnecessary calories in the process. Engage in calories and fat avoidance program-policy, give some of your lunch to your colleague or friend or family or save some of it for the homeless guy at the train station, he will be glad to see you, on your way home from work! Nigerians need to be particular about good health through fitness, which in turn enhances longevity. We need a more physically active lifestyles. Enroll at gyms, we need to move; engage in long walks and whatever else it takes. Exercising can be fun. I thoroughly enjoy my exercise time, I create the fun out of it, by listening to my favorite songs. I take the chore out of my workouts by listening to songs that moves and uplift my heart and spirit. We need to pay detail attention to quality and quantity of foods we eat, this is the most delicate way for me to say that we need to eat less, no more gobbling. We should probably ease up on the oils, fats and salt, all of which are a source of and are contributing factors to why too many Nigerians in America have become super-sized and extra-large persons! As the cliché goes, we are certainly what we eat, and how much we eat! Nigerians abroad may need to consider changing some old social habits, such as eating of foods that can feed more than one person. We must unlearn eating late in the evening or at night and shortly before going to bed. It is advisable to eat last meal of the day before bedtime, several hours before night rest. The old advice of eating breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper remains a wise counsel. We must unlearn such aspects of our culture which suggests or presupposed a fat man to be a man who is living-well; we do not have to literarily live-large, that is not living-well at all, it instead, courting adverse heart events or even sudden death. There are old habit which are in dire need of changing, for instance, I recently came across a debate on the Internet by some Nigerians in which foul body odor was the culprit. And, the need to use deodorants and the necessity of shaving under-arm hairs or arm-pit hair that is. It is equally important to add other items such as shaving or waxing genital area hairs or pubic hairs, for it will give you, that smooth-all-over-cleanliness feeling! Men should shave their facial hairs daily, as a matter of course. But shave under-arm and between-thighs hairs weekly, or bi-monthly. We should cultivate the habit of using dental floss at minimum, once a day, it rids in-between teeth of food particles or residues which result is foul smell of some mouths, when food residues are allowed to reside for several hours or even overnight without flossing. Personal hygiene through dental floss and use of deodorants would get rid of unnecessary odors, which our friends, family and professional colleague will not have to endure any further. My late father used to tell us kids that it took a good, a true friend to mention your bad breathe to you, but, it is still, a delicate matter, even at that. Shaving or waxing unnecessary hairs in visible and in concealed regions of the body complete the body�s sweet smell efforts. Nigerian guys must lose the beer belly and the so-called love-handless and thick-back of neck; Nigerian women must trim down and lose weight before fussing about 100 percent human hair-extensions imported from China or is it Hong Kong! There is a need to be more physically active, for instance, by joining gymnasiums, by participating in physical exertions and sundry physicality. Regular long walks with your spouse, girl or boy friend, would suffice. It may actually lead to closer familial relationships amongst our people. In the interest of our good health and physical fitness, we must exercise and be active. Just move! Regular exercise is a proven and reliable fountain of youth, without ingestion of chemicals, botulism or some other concoctions. Regular exercise has been established as capable of regenerating brain cells, for better memory and sharper mental focus. You will feel a better mental attitude, and people around you would notice the difference in your uplift. Regular exercise has spectacular benefits that are at once tangible and intangible as well. Regular exercise cure for lethargic morning awakenings, and it can reduce our feel of fatigue considerably. It has enhanced my physical and mental endurance or stamina; reduces stress and anxiety of modern day work and life. Regular exercise has cured some persons of irritability and even insomnia. Regular vigorous exercise regimen can improve your sex life, with prolonged foreplay, and stems premature ejaculations. Winter is not my favorite season of the four seasons, but, I have been able to reduce my winter-blues or through regular exercise. I lost 40 pounds and moved from my size 40inches to size 36inches trouser waist requiring the re-tailoring or refitting of most of my wardrobe. I have a permanent better mood. But of course, I mind what I eat, it is a lifestyle change and work in progress! We must eat less. Eat better quality foods, eat less fats, use less salt and oils. We must eat more fruits and consume more vegetables. And when possible, eat less of over-processed foods, and avoid junk foods like the plague! I personally favor foods from the earth, whole foods, whole grains and prefer fresh over their refrigerated cousins etc Personally, I make deliberate efforts at avoiding or excluding certain staples and condiments such as cheese, butter, mayonnaise, sugar, I let the fruits and vegetables in my salad do the flavoring of my salads, no salad dressings or creams for me. I might use a tinge of extra virgin olive oil; I eat spinach steamed, no cream. When I eat cereal at all, I use banana, or strawberry or some other fruit to season instead of using sugar. We may not become vainglorious or become anorexic, but, we must watch our weights, size and body mass. Fitness and good health is amply helped by good personal hygiene, fitness and good health is a matter of life or death. Here is to fitness and good health! Our lives and our longevity depend on these! Written by Paul I. Adujie Paul I. Adujie is a Nigerian lawyer resident in New York, United States and a member of the International Bar Association

Grieving in Gaza and Jubilations in Jerusalem! Are Palestinian Lives Worthless?

Grieving in Gaza and Jubilation in Jerusalem! Are Palestinian Lives Worthless? Written by Paul I. Adujie Esq. Palestinians are being slaughtered like birds by the Israeli military. Israeli military occupation has been captured on video as gleefully using Palestinians for target practice as sitting ducks! Our collective humanity is being demeaned and devalued daily with the unchecked murders of Palestinians by the Israelis. The world appears to have made peace with the unsanctioned and uncensored murders of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers as the United States enjoys and basks in scuttling every effort to check Israeli military excesses, extra judicial killings and war crimes. In effect, efforts at the United Nations and elsewhere to restrain Israel have been blocked by American vetoes. On May 14, 2018 over 60 Palestinians were killed by Israel in one day - these Palestinians were civilians without guns! What other nation on earth would kill 60 civilians engaged in peaceful protests and no eyebrows are raised? But, a slap on the wrist as always, is what Israel gets? Palestinian lives are taken as valueless, worthless and meaningless, while President Trump, as the rabble rouser in-chief, has now added accelerants to a raging inferno with his relocation of the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14, 2018. Last month, Israel also killed 31 Palestinians and the world prevaricated. The United Nations toothless wimpy bulldog could not even establish a Committee to investigate the unwarranted killings of Palestinians! In 2014, according to the United Nations, Israel killed 2,104 Palestinians but the Palestinian leaders put the killing at over 2,500 Palestinians and the world has looked on impishly and sheepishly. At the United Nations and elsewhere, the current mantra is clearly that power or might is right. As such, Israel is allowed to constantly use its Sledge hammer to kill mosquitoes, with winks and nods from America and some other Western powers. There is also the elaborate handwringing, such as when the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, on Tuesday May 15, 2018, gave a convoluted public statement in which, in a tongue twisted process, she blamed the killing of 60 unarmed Palestinians on Palestinian political troublemaking! The world is however aware that, it is the case that, if any nation on earth kills 60 British citizens in one day, if any nation kills 60 Americans in one day, or if any nation kills 60 Israeli in one day, these Nations will invade such a Nation with full scale war and occupation. Yet, Israel routinely , repeatedly and incessantly kills Palestinians in record numbers without any consequences or accountability! Israel has created systems of endless sufferings and dehumanization which have been described by former President Jimmy Carter of the United States, as apartheid ; the walls of separations erected in order to segregate Israelis from Palestinians into separate communities. Israel has been operating an apartheid system which is similar to what obtained in South Africa during its apartheid years, with natives confined to Bantustans, Soweto and other dehumanizing shanties. Israel has maintained a trenchant, obstinate and obdurate stance because America supports Israel's illogical and illegal behavior. This is despite criticisms from the United Nations over Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and the unabated continued expansions and economic, territorial, political, complete usurpation of Palestine's sovereignty. Israel repeatedly annexes lands in Palestine, with illegal expansions in complete disregard of the timid and tepid United Nations resolutions and nary condemnations which have become worse than useless platitudinous inanities! Israel has acquired illegal territories upon illegal territories, lands recognized by International law as properties of Palestine in a would be, should be, two-nations solution between Palestine and Israel, the predicate for lasting ,enduring peace between the two peoples. Israel has amassed Palestinian lands through arbitrary military actions and illegal confiscations. Israel now also has Jerusalem as conferred on it by the king of the jungle, President Donald Trump of America! Why will Israel listen to anyone or negotiate with Palestinians? Israel has through a pyrrhic victory, conferred on itself Palestinian land and the award of Jerusalem as its potentate capital as declared by Mr. Donald Trump! Why would Israel be humble or negotiate peace with Palestine? Israel has all it wants and all the aces! Mr. Donald Trump has given Israel a poison chalice and temporary peace, a toxic peace, an acidic victory! The current status between Palestine and Israel is contrary to logic, common sense, International law and internal order. Endless conflicts or recurring wars between Palestine and Israel are being essentially guaranteed, with the current stalemate, in which Israel has been given all she wants through the backdoor, and at the expense of Palestine, with the unreasonable expectation that Palestinians should accept these injustices as a fait accompli. Should the Palestinians just smile and bear their fate at the hands of Israel while the world looks askance and helpless? In the meantime, and in the middle of all of these, Saudi Arabia is more interested in wars of attrition against fellow Arabs and Persians, in Yemen, and Syria. I wish that the Arabs and Persians would unite with one voice in advocating Sovereignty and National Independence for Palestine. The time is now - Palestine, the Arabs, Persians and others worldwide do not need the United Nations , United States or Israel's permission to declare Palestine a free independent nation! Tenants have the right to exist. Tenants must recognize and respect a landlord's identical rights as well and they may not act in diminution of the landlord's identical rights. So much for the rights of rights and interests of the tenants, let's also consider the rights of the landlords! He who comes to equity must come with clean hands. This is a legal mantra and maxim! Email at : lawplusjustice@gmail.com Please Google these related articles on the checkered history between Palestine and Israel : 1. Israel is an Outlaw and Lawless Nation by Paul I. Adujie Esq. 2. Palestinian Lives Are Meaningless & Valueless? 3. Palestine Nationhood Imperative As Israel Meets the World 4. Israel in Lawlessness, Defies the World, Murders Innocent Humanitarians 5. Iran Regime Change, Invasion, Occupation and Re-colonization Is Imminent?