Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Poster Day!



It was a normal day for everyone but to me it isn't so because i had to wake up early in the morning. When i reached my university, some of the Food Processing & Preservative student already busying decorating thier booth and some voluntary student helped to carry the sound system, notice board and decorating the stage. The notice board that they prepared is actually occupied for Nutrition & Metabolism together with Food Microbiology student to show thier piece of work in a form of poster. After a short while, i found a notice board to pinned my poster. Unfortunately on that day,i forgot to bring the pin that i was suppost to used it t pin the poster. Buthen i was lucky to meet henry and i asked him for some pin. After that i pinned my poster in one of the notice board together with a flier holder which was made by Alice. At around 10.30am, the foodfair was officially started by Dr.Hon with her short speeches. There was not much people until the mement it reaches 12pm when everyone came to get their lunch by purchasing the food in the foodfair. There was also alot of lecturers and students from other faculty who view our poster which is display over in the center of the foodfair. I remember when i was distributing those flier, then suddenly a student stood infront of our poster and read it. After that,she asked me a few question regarding the poster as she wanted to know more about it. She also asked me how was this poster being prepared. After she left, it came another student who ask me several question ragarding the poster we wrote. Some of the question were tough as i was not clear to answer them. After the student left, i decided to ask backup from alice because during that time some the lecturer came to each of every's poster to give evaulution for the poster. I was not as ready as i thought so because i was afriad i couldn't answer the question that the lecturer might as me. At around 12.30pm, Alice came and on the same time, few lecturer stood in front of our poster to give evaluation. Alice was well prepared and asnwer them quite well and after the lecturer left, another lecturer came. I was beside Alice and listen to her explaination. At around 2pm, the crowd was not as many during the lunch time. Alice went for her Food Processing & Preservation booth and i continue standing beside the poster. During the time from 2pm until 3.30 pm, there wasnn't much people viewing the poster. There are a few of them and i manage to handle it. At around 3.30pm, i was told to remove the poster as the foodfair is ending in few minutes time. I took it off and kept it. At around 4pm, i passed the poster to Dhwanni before i left UCSI. It was a tiring day but yet enjoyable.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

HOW TRUE IS IT?

SPINACH AND MILK CAUSES KIDNEY STONE?

People believe thay eating spinach and drinking milk together can cause kidney stone formation in a long run. In theory, the combination of calcium from milk and the oxalic acid from spinach forms calcium oxalate crystals that will lead to blockage of urinary tract and formation of kidney stone.


How could this possibly be?

Spinach

Is a source of green leafy vegetable which is rich in beta carotene, 13 types of flavonoid and vitamin C, K, and magnesium. All this properties plays an important role in anti inflammatory such as asthma, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis and gout. The most important element found in spinach is that it contain anti nutrient called oxalic acid that binds to calcium, preventing 95% of calcium absorption into the body. Oxalic acid is a dangerous poison at a high concentration thus when this oxalic acid is processed, it combines with other substances to form various salts, called oxalates. If this concentration is high enuogh in the body then it will precipitate out in crystalline form causing kidney and bladder stone in long run time.

Milk

Is one of the complete food in the world. It contain nutrients such as water, milk fat, protein, lactose, mineral(Ca, P, Mg, K, Na, Zn, Cl, Fe, Cu, sulfate, bicarbonate and citrate), vitamin (A, C, D, thiamine and riboflavin). The most important source of mineral that is found in milk is the calcium. Based on 1 liters of milk, it provide about 1100-1300mg of calcium. The purpose of calcium is for bone building and remodeling, muscle contraction, central nervous function and hormone secretion. However bone mass tends to get weak and porous when there is an inadequate supply of calcium. This is termed as osteoporosis which increase the risk of bone fracture in the hip, swine, swrist, ribs and pelvis. High intake of calcium in a short-term will produce constipation and increase the risk of kidney stones.


Where and how kidney stone is formed?

Kidney stones are formed from crystals in the urinary tract that separate from the urine and form a hard mass. If the crystals are large, they cause excruciating pain as it blocks the passage of urine, a burning sensation during urination and bloody urine. Kidney stone may form from combination of chemicals such as calcium combined with either oxalate or phosphate.

Crystals are formed in calcium oxalate which resulted in 70% occurrence.

Other than that, crystal formation is caused by :

-an increase of concentration above the supersaturation capacity of calcium or oxalic acid.

-a decrease in inhibitors concentration.

-genetic susceptibility.

IS THIS MYTH TRUE?

Based on the assumption above, the myth is not true. Although dietary oxalate plays a very important role in the formation of calcium oxalate stones, but taking high oxalic acid food together with high calcium food will actually decreases the risk of kidney stone formation. In a case study by (New England Journal of Medicine, 1993), it was concluded that high calcium intake is associated with a decreased risk of kidney stones. And in another case study, calcium restriction caused an increase in absorption and excretion of oxalate in the urine. As a result of the finding, calcium actually has a protective effect by binding to oxalate and phosphorus in the gut, preventing its absorption and lowering both urinary oxalate and urinary phosphorous that can contribute to the formation of kidney stones.
On the other hand, when calcium intake is low, more oxalate can be absorbed into the body, leading to higher urinary excretion of oxalates which binds to normal urinary calcium and precipitate to from kidney stones. When calcium intake is moderate to high, then some of it are being combined to oxalic acid and lost, while an adequate amount is still absorbed for the body.


References:

GlaxoSmithKline, 2009. Kidney Stones. Available from: http://www.calciuminfo.com/calciumquestions/kidneystones.aspx


Alexa P, 2008. Spinach. Available from: http://www.friedchillies.com/index.php/articles/detail/the-wonders-of-spinach/


Environmental Health & Safety, 2008. Available from: http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/o6044.htm


Richard Dion, 1997. Crystal Formation. Available from: http://www.agora.crosemont.qc.ca/urinesediments/doceng/doc_024.htm#Intéret