And the unhealthiest places are .

Do you believe in feng shui (pronounced as fung shway)? Translated literally as wind and water, feng shui aims to maximize the uninterrupted movement of chi, the universal life force present in all things, through the environment. While healthy food and clean water nourish our bodies, fresh chi nurtures our spirits. Like a gentle breeze, chi flows gracefully through space. But when this is blocked or misdirected, our health can suffer. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Besides, 1.4 billion Chinese can’t be wrong, can they?

Now, here are nuggets of commonsensical, down-to-earth healthy wisdom from MSNBC (June 8, 2010), which lists some “surprisingly bad” locations for your health and the best places to optimize it. So, here’s a surprise quiz — and you’d really be surprised at the answers!

• Worst place to keep your toothbrush? Answer: The bathroom sink. Bet you’re guilty of this! But did you know that there are 3.2 million microbes per square inch of an average toilet bowl, and all of those germs come to the fore every time you flush, landing smack on the floor and the sink? Let that thought sink in every time you flush the toilet.

So, where’s the best place to keep your toothbrush? Try keeping it behind the closed doors of the medicine cabinet or a nearby cupboard.

• Worst place to stash your sneakers and flip-flops? Answer: The bedroom closet. Did you know that shoes track in allergens and contaminants? So, be shoe smart and leave your shoes by the front door.

• Worst place to fall asleep? Answer: Under a heavy pile of blankets. Did you know that being overheated can make you lose sleep? So, lighten up, let your feet stick out from under those blankets, and sleep tight!

• Worst place to cool leftovers? Answer: Believe it or not, in the refrigerator! Did you know that putting hot leftovers directly in the fridge can cause uneven cooling and possibly food poisoning? So, take this cool tip: Leave food to cool on the counter for up to an hour after cooking or divide it into smaller containers so it can cool faster before refrigerating.

• Worst place to sit on an airplane? Answer: Of course, you wouldn’t want to be caught sitting in the lavatory when the plane hits an air pocket. But the worst place to be during the flight is the rear! Did you know that the tail of the plane (or the bus for that matter) is where you’ll get the bumpiest ride? I guess you already know that. So, next time you fly, try to get a seat as close as possible to the wing if you can.

• Worst place to put your handbag? Answer: The kitchen counter. Did you know that according to tests, there are 10,000 bacteria per square inch of purse bottoms? So, take this handy tip: Put your bag anywhere except where food is prepared or eaten.

• Worst place to use a public bathroom? Answer: The stall in the middle. Did you know that the center stall has more bacteria? So pick a stall all the way left or right. (Unless you can no longer hold it — so much for piss on earth.)

• Worst place to keep your medicine? Answer: Would you believe, the medicine cabinet? Did you know that the temperature in a bathroom (where you usually have your medicine cabinet) can get well above the recommended storage temperatures for many common drugs? So, take this prescription: Keep your medicine somewhere where it’s cool and dry — like, uh, the pantry!

• Worst place to use headphones? Answer: On an airplane, train or subway. Chances are, you’re turning the volume up too high if you’re listening to headphones in a noisy environment. Hear this suggestion: Use your headphone somewhere where you don’t have to blast your music (and bust your eardrums) or consider using a noise-canceling headphone.

Hope you heard that loud and clear.

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And now, a word from the eggspert

Dear Consumerline,

Please enlighten us on raw egg and cooked egg with regard to nutrients, cholesterol, and potency.

— Leon Limsico

Our eggspert, Dr. Jun Respicio, a nutritionist based in Hawaii, shares these words of nutrition wisdom:

Now it can be told:  When the composition of human aortic plaques (fat clogs) was analyzed, it was mostly polyunsaturated fatty acids from corn, canola, cottonseed, safflower, sunflower, and soybean oils. No saturated fatty acid from animal fat, coconut oil, and palm oil was found. (Felton CV et. al., Lancet, 1994, vol. 344, pp 1195-1196).

 Second, egg, especially the yolk, does not cause a stroke. Now, this may jolt you and you might grab some eggs without guilt, for good nutrition (yung cooked ha?). But this you must know: The cholesterol molecule is a very large molecule such that it cannot pass through the blood brain barrier. I think most health educators don’t know this fact — like me, until I read about it five years ago. The brain makes its own cholesterol and the liver makes 90-95 percent for all the body parts outside the head. The trans fats (partially hydrogenated oil, margarine, and vegetable oils) that we consume enter the brain freely to either clog or injure the blood vessels, making us vulnerable to stroke.

 Going back to the question to eat or not to eat raw egg, the answer is no for the egg white and yes for the egg yolk. Chris Masterjohn says it best in his article “To Cook, or Not to Cook? The Benefits of Raw Egg Yolks”: Many people believe that the health benefits of egg yolks are greater when the yolks are consumed raw. Heat destroys enzymes, reduces the amounts of certain nutrients, and may make the amino acid cysteine less available, which is needed to synthesize the master antioxidant of the cell, glutathione.

Those who eat raw egg yolks report easier digestion, increased stamina, and resistance to illness — not to mention a quicker snack if they’re on the go.

There is little evidence beyond such anecdotes that egg yolks are truly more beneficial when consumed raw.

Raw egg whites should not be consumed. They contain inhibitors of the digestive enzyme trypsin, which are destroyed by heat. Consuming 100 grams of raw egg white with one egg yolk compared to consuming the same food cooked was shown in one study to reduce protein digestion from 90 percent down to 50 percent.

Raw egg whites also contain an anti-nutrient called avidin. Avidin is a glycoprotein that binds to the B vitamin biotin, preventing its absorption. Biotin is necessary for fatty acid synthesis and the maintenance of blood sugar, and is especially important during pregnancy when biotin status declines. Please read the full article through this link: http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/Egg_Yolk.html.

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We’d love to hear from you. E-mail us at ching_alano@yahoo.com.