Ironing out your energy blues

Do you get shocked everytime you get your monthly electric bill? This may well be the lament of every Pinoy household who seems powerless vis-a-vis the ever-rising cost of power.

Now, here’s an electrifying fact: Ironing clothes contributes a significant one-third to your power consumption.

Now comes a Pinoy invention that promises to drastically reduce your electric consumption. Inventor Rodolfo Biescas says that his Ironmate – a unique, award-winning, energy-saving switching device – can cut down your power consumption by as much as 53 percent as you go about your cumbersome ironing chores. (Thank God for wrinkle-free clothes that iron out the need for ironing!)

Alternative LyfStyle writer Gene Romero describes this hot invention, thus: It is designed as a safety device to prevent the flat iron from burning when left unattended or plugged. Ironmate is patterned after the size and design of a regular electric flat iron, where you can rest the appliance on top. Voila, the electric flow stops, but the heat of the iron remains, guaranteeing significant energy savings.

For this Pinoy inventor who was consumed by the need to help his cash-strapped family, necessity is truly the mother of invention. Biescas’ invention has since been a multi-recipient of national and international awards, the latest being the 2000 National Inventors Week’s Tuklas Award for Outstanding Invention. Venturing the waters of world competitions, he was awarded a bronze medal at the I-TEX 2000 International Invention, Innovation, Industrial Design and Technology, Putra World Trade Center, Malaysia.

Already, this true-blue Pinoy has got six proudly Filipino inventions tucked under his belt, which include an air-cleaning device with air ionizer to purify the air we breathe. With support from the Department of Science and Technology, Biescas is currently working on his new invention, but you can’t pry the hot details out of him just yet. But for inquiries about the Ironmate, call 655-5674 or 0917-4777749.

Other hot attractions at the Samu’tsari para sa Inang Kalikasan eco trade fair staged recently at the National Ecology Center in Quezon City were the tahong chips (goodbye, Chips Ahoy?) dipped in spicy sukang tuba from Siargao, Mindanao; organic red rice and other organic, pesticide-free food produce; the Bioneem natural insecticide; green charcoal that stimulated the curiosity of chefs and resto owners; and a solar-powered handicap carrier that works like a regular motorcycle minus the toxic, air-polluting fumes.

Neem it, this eco fair seems to have it all!

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Mangosteen: A potent anti-inflammatory

Do you like mangosteen? If you don’t, you’re bound to like it after reading this. This tropical fruit (found predominantly in Southeast Asia like the Philippines) consists of the following segments:

• Pericarp (or pericarb) – a thick, dark purple, smooth rind that encloses the fruit segments.

• Pulp – four to eight triangular segments of snow-white, soft flesh.

For eons, the mangosteen has been highly esteemed for its medical properties. Traditional medical healers of India, China, Malaysia, Thailand and, yes, the Philippines, have used this prized fruit in treating inflammation, skin conditions, allergy, among others.

Says Dr. Kenneth Finsand, "This is probably the most famous use of all the qualities found in the mangosteen: It is by far the most powerful anti-inflammatory I have ever seen in 30 years of practice. Research has proven this to be true, along with folk medicine history."

Inflammation plays a major role in a wide range of common ailments, such as arthritis, back pain, heart attack, headache, multiple sclerosis, circulatory impairment, infection, and a lot more.

Truly nature’s best-kept secret, the secret is now out: Xanthones, a family of plant-derived nutrients or phytonutrients, are found in concentrated amounts in the pericarp of the mangosteen fruit. Xanthone is found only in trace amounts in certain fruits and vegetables – the mangosteen pericarp is its quintessential source.

"After drinking the mangosteen drink, Tita Mila shared that she is now free of arthritis after more than 10 years," writes Michael Ian Choa who, with his wife, discovered the antioxidant, anti-tumor properties of the mangosteen recently. "Early in March, Tita Violet fell and scratched her knee. The wound would not heal and became so infected she had to be hospitalized. Mom sent some of this mangosteen drink to her. After our last family reunion, I saw Tita Violet and saw how well her wound had healed."

For more fruitful revelations, you might want to sink your teeth into the these websites: www.researchmangosteen.com or www.choa.natureswellnessecret.com.

Coffee, tea, or a mangosteen drink?

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