The Day The World Changed Forever - 1

It was a beautiful Thursday morning in one of the ember months, Kunle woke up feeling dizzy and gasping for breath, his face was covered with his perspration. He has just awaken from a nightmare, he sat at the edge of his bed for a while trying to recall what the bad dream was all about but he couldn’t. He tried harder to probe into his memory but the only thing he could remember was him falling freely into an abyss, what happened before or after this fragment of his dream was inaccessible to him and any attempt to probe further was met with a pounding in his head in protest. He could hear the heavy pounds in his chest now. He closed his eyes trying to calm himself and concentrate, but there was still nothing, everything remained completely blank.

Kunle was overcome by a sudden instinctive sense of danger he could not explain, he has never felt this way before, this strange feeling made him squeamish. He made an attempt to get up on his feet but failed, his body felt like cement, his feet were numb. He was left with no other choice than to lie on his back for a while. With his head on a pillow he fixed his gaze on a portrait of Jesus Christ in his room. His father had decorated his room with different wallpapers of Jesus Christ and few art paintings when they moved to their new apartment few years ago. The room was partly illuminated by rays of light peering through the window frame. He doesn’t know whether to share his dream with his mother who was just a door away or to wait for his father to return from work at nightfall; the duo has different interpretations and opinions about dreams. He contemplated on this for a while and finally made up his mind to go with the latter.

He made a conscious effort to take his mind off the present and its unpleasant feelings. He was soon lost in his thoughts. He remembered the time they were living in a two room apartment. A moderate size living room and a bedroom, their living room was sparsely adorned with old but neat furniture and earth color curtains, an old black and white television sat on a stool close to the window. On one side is a large portrait of his parents and his baby picture on the other side. There is a recliner in the corner of the living room where his father loved to sit and relax in the evening before retiring to bed and sometimes on weekends when he’s at home and not busy.

He remembered the day his father slipped and fell off the chair while trying to adjust his position; his mother busted into laughter and sheepishly apologised later. A lot of memories are tied to that chair, he chuckled. His father had told him a myriad of stories on that chair; his childhood stories, Yoruba origin and the legend of Oduduwa, the mythical creatures in Ooni’s palace among others. He had recreated a number of the stories in his mind, he even dreamt about some.

Kunle! Are you still sleeping at 9 o clock? his mother’s voice from her room brought him out of his reverie, his head throbbed but he was alert now and the numbness was gone, he got up from his bed with a response to her mother’s call.
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To be continued...

AN APPLE A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY

   “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, to me it sounds like just a rhyme, this phrase is said to be about 150 years old, in old English apple is used to describe any fruit that is round and grow on trees, even the Bible referred to the fruit that Adam and Eve ate as an apple, so what now made apple to be that special to keep the doctor away, when I was growing up I used to think it’s because apple is very expensive to an average Nigerian as just fruit on a regular basis that is why the saying was made popular to get more people to buy it, but as I grew older I became more curious to find out if this saying is true or it’s just a rhyme.

Now to the question, does an apple a day really keeps the doctor away? According to a study by BMJ Dec 2013 “An apple a day would prevent or delay around 8,500 vascular deaths such as heart attacks and strokes every year in the UK -- similar to giving statins to everyone over 50 years who is not already taking them.”

   Apples have a good claim to promote health. They contain Vitamin C, which aids the immune system, and phenols, which reduce cholesterol. They also reduce tooth decay by cleaning one's teeth and killing off bacteria. It has also been suggested by Cornell University researchers that the quercetin found in apples protects brain cells against neuro-degenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease.

In a study of healthy, middle-aged adults, consumption of one apple a day for four weeks lowered by 40 percent blood levels of a substance known as LDL -- low-density lipoprotein, linked to hardening of the arteries.

   Here's another reason why "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." New research shows oral ingestion of apple polyphenols suppresses T cell activation to prevent colitis in mice. This study is the first demonstrating a role for T cells in polyphenol-mediated protection against autoimmune disease possibly leading to treatments for people with disorders from bowel inflammation, such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and colitis-associated colorectal cancer.

   Additionally, when eating apple, make sure you consume it with the skin, Eating apples with skin enables you to get all the nutrients in it, many of the nutrients are in the skin or just under the skin (most of the vitamin C and vitamin A are in the skin).

   The Cornell researchers suggest that a combination of plant chemicals, collectively known as phytochemicals, found mainly in the skin of apples, provide the bulk of the fruit's anticancer and antioxidant properties. The cooperative activity of these phytochemicals, they argue, has health benefits that are superior to those found in single compounds like vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene, which have been widely studied for their antioxidant activities.

   Using colon cancer cells treated with apple extract, Liu and colleagues found that 50 milligrams of apple extracted from the skins decreased the cancer cell growth by 43%, while the same amount of extract from the flesh of the apple decreased cancer cell growth by 29%. Likewise, 50 milligrams of extract from apples with the skin on decreased liver cancer cell growth by 57%, compared to 40% for samples extracted from apples without the skin.

   In conclusion, make an habit of eating an apple a day or regularly, not just apple alone, other fruits and vegetables also, this will not only keep the doctor away but will alsom make you to live a longer and healthier and happier life.

   Interesting apple facts:

• There are more than 7,500 varieties of apples. When I lived in England I tasted many different and delicious apples that I never see in Canada.
• The apple tree is a member of the rose family.
• When you eat an apple you are consuming a lot of air; 25 percent of their volume is air!
• Apples have 5 percent protein.
• Apple trees can live to be 100 years old!
• The largest apple weighed three pounds.
• In ancient Greece when a man proposed to a woman he would toss her an apple and if she decided to catch it, it meant she accepted.
• The original proverb about eating an apple a day, which came about in 1866, was: "Eat an apple on going to bed, and you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread."
• It takes the energy from 50 leaves to produce one apple.
• As apple seeds are toxic when eaten in high doses, they should be avoided by pregnant or breastfeeding women and children.

REFERENCES

• ·         Mother Nature network, MNN Wed, Oct 12, 2011 

               http://www.care2.com/greenliving/10-reasons-to-eat-an-apple-a-day.html#ixzz35rbWdPYv    

• ·         Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

• ·         ScienceDaily

                http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131217210549.htm 

THE UNSUNG HEROES

With every great warrior in ancient history there is always a side kick who seems to be insignificant and dispensable but in so many occasions they are the one who save the warrior from iminent danger or death. A lot of legends out there validates this.
Similarly, there are some group of people in present day history that deserves to be celebrated and appreciated but aren’t even noticed. So i decided to write my lilliputian piece about them. These group of people are the ones i called the “unsung heroes” without these people we might not have the so called heroes, discoverers, inventors etc of today.
For instance, the person or group of people that provided the manpower and support that enabled Wilbur and Orville Wright to build the first aeroplane.
The person that encouraged and also provided moral and other form of support that enabled a formerly dumb kid in school to believe in himself and eventually become one of the most brilliant, famous and successful paediatric nerosurgeons in the world. Dr ben carson.
The person that encouraged Van beethoven who was formerly an underperforming student in music class to eventually become a relevant name in the history of classical music.
The original owner of the idea of facebook that Mark Zuckerberg developed and eventually became famous for today.
The rookies that sacrificed their lives to protect their king on the battle field. The list goes on and on
The truth is that there are a lot of famous stars or celebrities today who wouldn’t have gotten to such positions without the significant support of one person or the other in the their life history that enabled them to hit stardom. It could be their parents, siblings,spouse, friends, personal assistant etc. Without these people we might not have the so called heroes in existence today, life might even be miserable for its inhabitants. So the bottom line is; these group of people deserves to be celebrated, appreciated and recognized too, so that parents, wives, husbands, wards can learn from such people, Dont you think so?

APPRECIATE WHAT U’VE GOT

If you have never been hungry you won’t appreciate food, if you have never been in darkness you won’t value light well enough, if you have never been sick you won’t know the immense value of sound health, if you have never lacked you won’t cherish abundance, if you have never failed you won’t prize good success, if you have never lost a loved one you won’t treasure having them around, if you have never tasted death and survived you might not regard the gift of life as inestimable. so, appreciate whatever you’ve got while you still have it don't wait until you lose it before you know its value. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.