Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The main causes of liver damage

This message has been circulated in the internet for quite some time. If you are health conscious, read on and you may have to change your eating habits and adopt a good daily lifestyle. Do not over-burden your liver! Take good care of it. Stay healthy, my friends.

1. Sleeping too late and waking up too late are main cause.

2. Not urinating in the morning.

3. Too much eating.

4.. Skipping breakfast.

5. Consuming too much medication.

6. Consuming too much preservatives, additives, food coloring, and artificial sweetener.

7. Consuming unhealthy cooking oil. As much as possible reduce cooking oil use when frying, which includes even the best cooking oils like olive oil. Do not consume fried foods when you are tired, except if the body is very fit.

8. Consuming raw (overly done) foods also add to the burden of liver. Veggies should be eaten raw or cooked 3-5 parts. Fried veggies should be finished in one sitting, do not store.

Something2Share:

Planters used to sleep early in order to wake up early for conducting “Muster Call” so that plantation workers are sent to the fields in early morning, A good habit is to drink a glass of warm water after wake up and surely after that will have to urinate in the morning. I think no planters ever skip breakfast for they need to eat like a king in the morning to have more energy walking in the fields.

Beside olive oil, planters should support and consume Carotino (red palm oil), a healthy cooking oil. Although it appears red in colour, but after cooking, it’s golden in colour. Oil palm is a golden crop afterall !

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Healthy Foods for a Healthy Body !



The following healthy foods have been recommended for a healthy body.

Just want to share with you hoping that you will also have something to share.

BROCCOLI – CANCER

Close-up, the tiny green tips on a broccoli head look like hundreds of cancer cells. Now scientists know this disease-busting veg can play a crucial role in preventing the disease. Last year, a team of researchers at the US National Cancer Institute found just a weekly serving of broccoli was enough to reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 45 per cent. In Britain, prostate cancer kills one man every hour.

MUSHROOM – EAR

Slice a mushroom in half and it resembles the shape of the human ear.And guess what?Adding it to your cooking could actually improve your hearing. That’s because mushrooms are one of the few foods in our diet that contain vitamin D. This particular vitamin is important for healthy bones, even the tiny ones in the ear that transmit sound to the brain.

GINGER – STOMACH

Root ginger, commonly sold in supermarkets, often looks just like the stomach. So it’s interesting that one of its biggest benefits is aiding digestion. The Chinese have been using it for over 2,000 years to calm the stomach and cure nausea, while it is also a popular remedy for motion sickness. But the benefits could go much further.Tests on mice at the University of Minnesota found injecting the chemical that gives ginger its flavour slowed down the growth rate of bowel tumours.

BANANA (SMILE) – DEPRESSION

Cheer yourself up and put a smile on your face by eating a banana. The popular fruit contains a protein called tryptophan. Once it has been digested, tryptophan then gets converted in a chemical neurotransmitter called serotonin. This is one of the most important mood-regulating chemicals in the brain and most anti-depressant drugs work by adjusting levels of serotonin production. Higher levels are associated with better moods.

CHEESE – BONES

A nice ‘holey’ cheese, like Emmenthal, is not just good for your bones, it even resembles their internal structure. And like most cheeses, it is a rich source of calcium, a vital ingredient for strong bones and reducing the risk of osteoporosis later in life. Together with another mineral called phosphate, it provides the main strength in bones but also helps to ‘power’ muscles. Getting enough calcium in the diet during childhood is crucial for strong bones. A study at Columbia University in New York showed teens who increased calcium intake from 800mg a day to 1200mg – equal to an extra two slices of cheddar - boosted their bone density by six per cent.

BEANSPROUTS – SPERM

The stir-fry favourite bears an uncanny resemblance to the images we see of ‘swimming’ sperm trying to fertilise an egg. And research from the US suggests they could play an important part in boosting male fertility. A study at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio showed that to make healthy sperm in large quantities, the body needs a good supply of vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant that protects cells against damage by harmful molecules called free radicals. Just half a cup of bean sprouts provides 16 per cent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C for a man. It’s not just dad but baby too who could benefit. Bean sprouts are packed with folate, a vitamin that prevents neural tube defects, where the baby is born with a damaged brain or spine.

GRAPES – LUNGS

OUR lungs are made up of branches of ever-smaller airways that finish up with tiny bunches of tissue called alveoli. These structures, which resemble bunches of grapes, allow oxygen to pass from the lungs to the blood stream. One reason that very premature babies struggle to survive is that these alveoli do not begin to form until week 23 or 24 of pregnancy. A diet high in fresh fruit, such as grapes, has been shown to reduce the risk of lung cancer and emphysema. Grape seeds also contain a chemical called proanthocyanidin, which appears to reduce the severity of asthma triggered by allergy.

TOMATO – HEART

A TOMATO is red and usually has four chambers, just like our heart. Tomatoes are also a great source of lycopene, a plant chemical that reduces the risk of heart disease and several cancers. The Women’s Health Study — an American research programme which tracks the health of 40,000 women — found women with the highest blood levels of lycopene had 30 per cent less heart disease than women who had very little lycopene. Lab experiments have also shown that lycopene helps counter the effect of unhealthy LDL cholesterol. One Canadian study, published in the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine, said there was “convincing evidence’ that lycopene prevented coronary heart disease.

WALNUT – BRAIN

THE gnarled folds of a walnut mimic the appearance of a human brain - and provide a clue to the benefits. Walnuts are the only nuts which contain significant amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. They may also help head off dementia. An American study found that walnut extract broke down the protein-based plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers at Tufts University in Boston found walnuts reversed some signs of brain ageing in rats.



Friday, July 10, 2009

Buah Kedondong


Kedondong or kedongdong, one of tropical fruits, is a kind of greenish yellow, fibrous, sour, plum like fruit also known as Hog plum but also called as Tahitian apple. It’s scientific name is Spondias dulcis. In Sinhalese it is called Ambarella, and it is simplified and commonly called as Ampula or Ambra in Panang. In Sabah, it is of course also known as Kedondong.

Interestingly, Kedondong belongs to the same family as the mangoes. Apparently, it was introduced from the Pacific Island to Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka. It is fairly common but grown mainly as individual tree in the rural areas. It grows mainly to a height of 10-20 meters, and fruits all the year round. The flowers are tiny and greenish white in colour, grouped together as a panicle.

The fruits are bright green, on ripening turning yellowish with a lot of grayish brown freckles. Each fruits is about 7.5-10 cm long by 2.5-3.7 cm wide. It is eaten as and a fresh fruit or pickled. The flesh is white and crunchy when immature, becomes fibrous on ripening.

Kedondong has a single seed and contents of lots of fiber with many stiff filaments . The fruit can be eaten raw; the flesh is crunchy and a little sour.

In Indonesia and Malaysia, the fruit is cut into few piece and often eaten with sticky black prawn paste or “hay-ko” in Hokkien. It is also used as an ingredient in rojak (mixed fruits with sweet and hot sauce) and it is sometimes eaten cooked. It may also be juiced, and goes then under the popular name “Ampula” juice in Malaysia, particularly in Penang and the northern states. Penang is famous for its pickled nutmeg, mangoes, guava and papaya pickles. Kedondong is also equally delicious as pickles.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

EATING BY YOUR BLOOD TYPE


Introduced by Peter D'Adamo, the Blood Type Diet is based on the assumption that everyone is an individual. And who are we to argue? Logically, just because we share the same row and column in the BMI chart, it shouldn't define the way our dietary habits are. The Blood Type Diet makes interesting claims that people fare better (which includes weight management) when their diet is tailored to their specific blood type.

TYPE A: Individuals who fall under the Type A blood group should basically stick to fruits and vegetable. Their blood types is generally thicker than other blood types, and possess a sensitive immune system. These individuals should not consume (or should reduce intake) dairy products, animal fats and meats. They are also at a heightened risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.

TYPE B
: Type B blood groupers should consumer a balanced diet of fruits and vegetables, grains, dairy and meat. However, they should try to refrain from chicken, and increase intake of red meat such as duck and beef. Unlike the other blood types, Type B individuals have the best chance of bypassing or overcoming everyday types of diseases, as well as heart disease and cancer.

TYPE AB:
For Type AB individuals, intake of a mostly vegetarian diet is recommended. And only on rare occasions should they indulge in some fish, meat (not chicken) and dairy.

TYPE O:
Those that fall under the Type O blood type should basically stick to a high protein diet, low carbs, as well as a balanced intake of fruits and vegetables. However, food foes for Type Os include most grain food such as corn and wheat germ. They should also try to avoid dairy products. Type O types are commonly affected with hypothyroidism, high stomach acid (leading to ulcers), and thinner blood with greater resistance to blood clotting.

Something2sgare:

Useful information. No harm in trying. Eat right to stay healthy.

I am of Type B blood group. So now I know chicken is no good for me.

I and Nara used to stop by Skudai to eat our lunch with duck meat almost every Saturdays after office hour on our way back to Segamat many years ago. I was then with JCC in JB.

Beef noodle is also my favourite. Never missed beef rendang and beef curry whenever having meal in a hotel cafe.

Cheese is also my favourite but not butter and milk. Now I may have to drink more milk. I like fruits and vegetables too. Will stick to more balanced diet as suggested.

How about you, my friends?