health – Page 4 – HEALTH FREAK MOMMY

Awesome Rawsome Lunch – 2 April 2015

Yesterday was awesome rawsome lunch day for me. I do that twice or thrice a week, for lunch. Today is yet another day of going raw for lunch, well almost, but I will be adding an egg to increase my hemoglobin levels. I am anemic, caused by heavy menses, which in turn is contributed by a tiny fibroid in my uterus.

My awesome rawsome lunch yesterday was Pesto Salad. The salad composed of alfalfa and onion sprouts, walnut, almond, pecan, sesame seeds, organic Japanese kyuri, organic cherry tomatoes, green grapes, seasoned seaweed, fried shallots, Japanese Yuzu plum dressing and homemade Pesto paste.

Before lunch, I downed 2 glasses of raw smoothie, consisting of orange, apple, green grapes and alfalfa and onion sprouts. The kids and the hubs had orange and apple smoothie, sans the raw sprouts.

**BURP**!! That was so so filling and enough to sustain me till dinner while giving me the fuel to slave for the kids and household 😀

Can anyone eat such healthy stuff just for a day? Tell me you can! They are good stuff you’re pumping into your body alright! 😉

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Chia Seeds Goodness

This is my latest health freak food for the kids and myself – chia seeds!

I add a teaspoon of chia seeds to my drink everyday — then wait for 15 minutes for the seeds to bloat up after the seeds soak up the water like a sponge, before I chew on them. The texture and taste are similar to that of the seeds in kiwi and strawberry, which is very refreshing and ‘crunchy’. Rascal #2 requested that I add a teaspoon of the chia seeds into her tumbler of plain water to be brought to school. I’ll bet the social butterfly had a fun time showing the ‘tadpoles’ drink to her friends in school 😀

Goodness of Chia Seeds:

Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Chia seeds are rich in polyunsaturated fats, especially omega-3 fatty acids. Chia seeds’ lipid profile is composed of 60 percent omega-3s, making them one of the richest plant-based sources of these fatty acids — specifically, of alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA. The omega-3s in chia seeds can help reduce inflammation, enhance cognitive performance and reduce high cholesterol.

Fiber
Fiber is associated with reducing inflammation, lowering cholesterol and regulating bowel function. Chia seeds are an excellent source of fiber, with a whopping 10 grams in only 2 tablespoons. That is one-third of the daily recommended intake of fiber per day.

Antioxidants
Chia seeds are rich in antioxidants that help protect the body from free radicals, aging and cancer. The high antioxidant profile also helps them have a long shelf life. They last almost two years without refrigeration.

Minerals
Two tablespoons of chia seeds contain 18 percent of the DRI for calcium, 35 percent for phosphorus, 24 percent for magnesium and about 50 percent for manganese. These nutrients help you prevent hypertension and maintain a healthy weight, and are important for energy metabolism and a part of DNA synthesis.

Satiety
Satiety is the feeling of being full and satisfied, which helps lower food cravings between meals. The combination of protein, fiber and the gelling action of chia seeds when mixed with liquids all contribute to their satiating effects.

Gluten-Free
Chia seeds contain no gluten or grains. Therefore, all of the nutritional benefits of chia seeds can be obtained on a gluten-free diet.

Egg Replacer
The outer layer of chia seeds swells when mixed with liquids to form a gel. This can used in place of eggs to lower cholesterol and increase the nutrient content of foods and baked goods. To make the egg replacement, mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water and let sit for 15 minutes.

Can Be Digested Whole
Unlike flaxseeds, which are also high in omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and minerals, chia seeds do not need to be ground in order to obtain their nutrient or egg- replacement benefits.

Dyslipidemia
A study published in the “British Journal of Nutrition” showed that chia seeds as a dietary fat source can lower triglycerides and cholesterol levels while increasing HDL or “good” cholesterol. The study also found that when substituting chia seeds for other fat sources, such as corn oil, the ALA was able to prevent high triglyceride levels and reduce central obesity.

Blood Sugar Regulation
Chia seeds can play an important role in regulating insulin levels. They can reduce insulin resistance and decrease abnormally high levels of insulin in the blood.

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Do You Detoxify Your Body?

Many years back when I first started working, I felt that my immune system was going downhill. I was very prone to throat infections and colds. I was always making trips to the company’s panel of clinics. A colleague of mine then advised me to go on a fruit and vegetables diet. In this program, she ate fruits only on an empty stomach in the morning. She also made juices from fruits and vegetables several times a week. She lent me a book on this program and I read it with great interest. I found out that by eating fruits, vegetables and fresh juices at the right time, this can aid in detoxifying our body as well as treat a whole range of disorders. Very soon, I followed the program too. Since then, I have been eating fruits only on an empty stomach or half an hour after food. The results were amazing. I felt better, slimmed down, had better complexion and the constant monthly throat infections no longer came to bug me.

All of us need detoxification to remove toxins, heavy metal and accumulated poisons from our body. We are exposed to these through the food that we eat and air that we breathe in. If your body is weighed down with toxins, you will notice such symptoms as fatigue, constipation, weight gain, bloating, digestion problem, among others. If you have never detoxified your body and don’t consume enough fruits and vegetables, it’s time you look for a detoxification program to cleanse your body.

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Lots Of Salmon

Everyone in our family loves salmon fish. We love it eaten in any form – raw (we have never let our gals try it though), steamed, pan fried, grilled, toasted (wrapped in aluminium foil and toasted in the oven) and BBQed. We normally pan fry the salmon head and then boil it to make a pot of nutritious and yummy soup. Even Baby C loves salmon.

Hubby bought one whole salmon fish from Lee’s Frozen last week and had it cut into slices and put into take-away plastic boxes:

I love the deep orangy color of the salmon… which means that the fish is fresh.

We had so much salmon fish that Baby C has been eating salmon porridge for the past 1 week. This is Baby C’s bowl of salmon-beet root-pork-veggie porridge and she loved it.

I know salmon fish is full of goodness, Omega Fatty Acids and nutrients, but I still feel wary each time I eat it. In fact I feel wary each time I eat big, deep sea fish as I wouldn’t know if I’m reaping the benefits of the fish or slowly poisoning my body with the consumption of these fish as big, deep sea fish have been notorious for being tainted with mercury.

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The Magic Bullet

Ever since I found out about psyllium husk and have been consuming it, I hardly suffer from constipation (knock on wood!). Before psyllium husks came into my life, I had tried several products to stimulate my bowel movements, including using laxatives which caused terrible tummy aches. I now gulp down a tablespoon of psyllium husk together with a glass of water and apple cider vinegar the first thing in the morning and it’s really effective in keeping the constipation at bay. However, on rare occasions, I still suffer from constipation, especially when under stress or when there’s a disruption in my usual daily routine. That’s when my body system is ‘confused’ when there’s a change in the regime. In times like these, even psyllium husks would not work. Today I discovered the magic bullet suppository which helps to stimulate bowel movements gently. If ever I suffer from constipation again, I think I would not mind giving this magic bullet a try.

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Going To Get Another Flu And Throat Infection

My immune system is at an all-time low lately. When anyone in the house falls sick, I’ll be the first to be bitten by the bug. This has never happened to me in the past, not until Baby C was born. All the sleepless nights and worries have taken a toll on my immune system. Recently my sil, her son and my mil had the sniffles. Alycia caught the bug and now it’s me. I’ve just recovered from my chronic cough, strep throat and runny nose and now, I’m getting them again. I’ve been gargling salt water, drinking water like a camel, popping loads of supplements and sleeping early for 2 days. I hope I won’t fall sick again. Bummer, this is really a vicious cycle that goes round and round without an end to it!

Anyway I’ve found a good home remedy for cough, that has healed me from my chronic productive cough. Check out my health blog to find out.

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Shingles Or Herpes Zoster

Did you know that after you have had an attack of chickenpox, the virus falls asleep or dormant in certain nerves in the body? When the virus becomes active again in these nerves of a person after many years, the person will get Herpes Zoster Infection or Shingles. Often, only one attack occurs. If an adult or child is exposed to the herpes zoster virus and has not had chickenpox as a child or received the chickenpox vaccine, a severe case of chickenpox may develop, rather than shingles. When Sherilyn got bitten by the chickenpox virus about a month ago, she had a very mild case of attack. She appeared well, ate well and was just as active as before. I guess that’s because she has had a chickenpox vaccine when she was 1 year+ of age. Anti-viral medication such as Acyclovir is normally used to treat patients. This medication can stop the virus from replicating.

This announcement was paid for by Epocrates.

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Ask A Gynecologist Online

Would you agree with me that most females have at least one gynecological problem at least once in their lifetime? I would say almost all my girlfriends have at least a gynecological problem now or in the past. These problems range from infertility to Endometriosis, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), fibroids in the uterus, cysts in the ovaries, vaginal yeast infection, Cystitis, breast lumps and the list goes. I am not spared too and I once had problems with infertility, PCOS, blocked ovarian tube, vaginal yeast infections, Cystitis and fibroid in my uterus. Some of these problems are recurring too. Consulting an Ob&Gyn is quite costly here and some of these well-known doctors have so many patients that they often rush their patients off during the consultation. That is the reason why I always surf the internet to read up more on my medical condition before I consult my Ob&Gyn. I have even tried to self-treat myself by using the information that I had gathered from the internet.

Today I discovered askmygyn.com, a medical resource site that enables anyone to ask questions and get answers related to gynecological problems. All the gynecologists that will answer the questions are American trained and board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. There is free information in the extensive database but if you do not get the answers that you are looking for, all you have to do is to type in your question and pay a small processing fee to get high quality, personalized answers. There will be no charge for follow-up questions, so once you ask the doctor, you can continue to speak with the doctor until you are satisfied. There is even a refund should you not be satisfied with the answers provided to you.

So what are you waiting for? If you have a nagging gynecological problem that’s been troubling you, just log on to askmygyn.com and get your answers from the experts there. Just write in your question today and you will receive an answer by e-mail by midnight the following day.

But remember, never, ever, use the information provided by AskMyGyn.com or any internet source as a replacement for a visit to your health care provider.

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Alcohol Addiction Destroys Lives

I think a person who is addicted to alcohol will not take the effort to stay sober and to stay away from alcohol until her addiction has taken a toll on her own health. This is true for a friend of mine. It all began when she had a drink or two of beer with friends during parties after our graduation from high school. She was a party animal and would go clubbing at least twice a week. During these clubbing sessions, she would drink like a fish till she puked all over herself. She was obviously very addicted to clubbing and boozing. Her friends and I had advised her to stop drinking but she wouldn’t listen. Her boozing went on for many years until a blood test revealed that she has Hepatitis B, a disease that will cause liver damage. Her doctor advised her to go cold turkey on alcohol or risk losing her liver and her health.

If you, your friends or your loved ones are addicted to alcohol, the best thing to do now is to try and stay clean from it. If checking yourself into an Alcohol Rehab sounds too terrifying, you can read more about it at alcohol-rehab.mobi, a site dedicated to drug and alcohol addicts. This site aims to communicate and educate people about drug and alcohol addiction, treatment and rehabilitation. Don’t wait any further, alcohol addiction destroys lives. Do something good for yourself and your loved ones now.

This post is brought to you by alcohol-rehab.mobi.

If you’re troubled by a serious drug addiction or suffer from alcohol abuse, there are alcohol treatment centers that dedicate to helping you in rehabilitation. If you are involved with both drugs and alcohol, there is dual diagnosis rehab to help also.

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Air Purifier Cum Humidifier

Last week, hubby bought the latest Sharp air purifier cum humidifier. Alycia has been having colds and throat infections too often and hopefully, with this air purifier placed in the gals’ bedroom, it will help to reduce her nose allergy and colds.

This air purifier has a clean Plasmacluster ion shower mode with humidification, where it acts to remove airborne dust, pollen, mold and allergens from the air. There is even a water tank built inside the air purifier. I don’t know how effective this air purifier is but I really hope it will help to reduce Alycia’s allergy and frequent colds. It better be good coz it cost over RM1,600.

Do you use an air purifier too? Do you see any improvement in your kids’ health after using it?

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Find Out More Before You Pop Your Pills

Being a health freak, I have a habit of checking almost all the medication prescribed to me and my kids before we pop those drugs. I normally surf the internet to check on the ingredients of the drugs, which company manufactured the drugs and what side effects they will cause. I also have a book as thick as the Yellow Pages on all the Vitamins and Minerals. I love poring books like this. I really don’t like the idea of popping drugs and supplements not knowing what they are made of and what side effects they will cause.

If you are just as cautious as I am with drugs and supplements, you will be glad to know that you can now get information on a comprehensive list of pharmaceutical companies and drugs databases of over 75,000 approved drugs and health products from drugs-about.com. These include generic drugs, prescription drugs, nutritional supplements, veterinary products, pet meds, cosmetics, drugs active ingredients, pharmaceutical companies, medical catalogs and much more. Drugs-about.com provide full prescription information about drugs registered in the USA, Canada, EU, Japan and other countries for consumers and healthcare professionals. You can search by medical condition or by drug, and get the answer you need right away for FREE.

The next time your kids’ pediatrician prescribes your kids with some medication, do find out what you are actually feeding your kids at Drugs-about.com. At least you know what goes into your kids’ body and what side effects you may be expecting.

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Check Out This Health Site

Being a heath freak, I just love reading magazines, books and articles that are health related. It all started many years ago when I constantly fell ill and had all types of ailments from head to toe from headache to heartburn, gastric, persistent throat infection, nose allergy, PCOS, infertility, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and many more ailments. My ailments were mostly contributed by work-related stress. I did a lot of research and reading from the internet to get information on my ailments and the treatments and remedies available. This has spurred my interest in reading health related articles up until today. I have just discovered a health site that provides free health information on many types of ailments. There are also very informative articles on healthy foods, living healthily, obesity and weight loss, health 2.0 and much more articles that you would find really interesting and beneficial for your reading.

If you or your loved ones are suffering from ailments like diabetes, asthma, snoring, hemorrhoids, eczema, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or just about any other common disorders or if you’d like to get some really handy tips on healthy living, I strongly recommend you to check out FurtherHealth.com and bookmark this informative health site.

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Drug-Free Relief For Constipation

Every now and then, I’d suffer from constipation. I’ve got a handful of real handy tips from my ‘Alternative Cures’ book by Reader’s Digest which I’d like to share. Here’re a few drug-free alternatives, as recommended in the book, tried & tested by myself:

1. Mixing 1 tbs of psyllium husk in a glass of water on an empty stomach. I do that on most mornings. You can easily get psyllium husk from pharmacies or organic shops, they are not very expensive.

2. Getting a daily minimum of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, 3 servings of whole-grain foods and 1 serving of beans. I normally eat almonds, pumpkin & sunflower seeds, lots of fruits and vege. I also make my own multi-grain and seeds bread every week.

3. Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of plain water a day. I drink way more than that.

4. Squeeze the juice of lemon into an 8-ounce glass of warm or hot water and drinking it first thing in the morning to help stimulate a bowel movement.

5. At least 30 mins of exercise daily.

6. Maintaining a regular routine & consistent time for elimination.

7. Break up the jam with colon massage. This is one new found method which really works for me. I do it almost everyday to break up the jam.
Method:
Lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor and your knees bent.

Beginning in the abdominal area on the right side just above your hip, use the fingertips of both hands to press as deeply as is comfy, then move your fingertips in a circular, massaging motion.

Continue upward just below your ribs. Then using the same pressing, circular motion, move across your abcomen just above your belly button. Continue to massage down to your left hip.

The book recommends doing the massage for 5 – 20 mins a day.

If there is bowel in your intestines, you can actually feel something hard inside while doing the massage. Normally when I can already feel them, within 5 – 10 mins, the bowel will get eliminated smoothly,without any pain or discomfort.

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The Benefits of Green Tea

What is my favourite beverage? It has got to be green tea. Not a day goes by without me drinking my cuppa decaffeinated coffee in the morning and…. green tea of course, after my lunch. After I weaned Sherilyn off breastfeeding, I drank green tea to shed some pounds. It is known to help in curbing appetite.

The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since ancient times, using it to treat everything from headaches to depression. Today, scientific research in both Asia and the west is providing hard evidence for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea. For example, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent. University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.

To sum up, here are just a few medical conditions in which drinking green tea is reputed to be helpful:

cancer
rheumatoid arthritis
high cholesterol levels
cariovascular disease
infection
impaired immune function

So instead of heading for another cuppa cappuchino or kopi-o, why not try green tea, a much healthier altrnative.

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Natural Remedy For Flu And Throat Infection

During my recent bout of flu and throat infection, infected to me by my 2 little gals and DH, I’ve decided that I will cure myself naturally and vowed not to take antibiotics again, if necessary, coz antibiotics destroy all the bacteria in my body, whether good or bad bacteria and each time I’d taken antibiotics, I’d develop Vaginal Yeast Infection, something which I really really hate. So I surfed the net to find the best remedy for my ailment and pored thru my Natural Remedy book by Readers’ Digest. The result? I was completely cured WITHOUT having to visit the dr., yay! Here’s what I ate :

1. Popped garlic pills 2-3 times a day.

2. Popped Echinacea pills 2 times a day.

3. Drank raw Manuka honey. Method – either mix it with lemon juice or swallow a teaspoon of the honey without any water. Do not drink water thereafter for at least 15 minutes. Manuka honey is well-known for its antibacterial properties.

4. Popped probiotics pills.

5. Drank Redoxon Zinc + Vit C effervescent

6. Popped Vit ACE

7. To alleviate pain in throat, sucked Difflam anti-inflammatory & anti-bacterial lozenges. This really helped to alleviate the pain in the throat for a few hours but I had to bear with the side effect of a slightly numb tongue.

7. Popped Nurofen caplet to reduce fever & alleviate flu symptoms.

8. Gargle salt water throughout the day.

9. Asked maid to cook me ‘Sick People Soup’. Check out recipe here.

Well, this concoction worked for me. Hope it will also work for whoever who is keen to try it.

Disclaimer : This article is not intended to be a medical advice. It is purely based on my own experience.

No. of times viewed = 427

Dress to Heal Anyone?

My 2 gals had always been very healthy and rarely fell sick. Even when everyone else in the house were down with flu, my gals almost never caught the flu bug. However, things took to a turn when Alycia (who turned 3 yo in Dec 06) attended pre-school in January this year. After 1 week of attending class, she started developing a mild cough which eventually got into a full- blown flu with fever. Each time she recovered, she caught the flu again when she went back to school. I was shocked when one day, I stepped into her class and noticed that out of the approximate 20 kids or so in her class, more than half of them had the sniffles and goo dribbling down their little noses. Yikes, no wonder ler, Alycia is always sick but what to do, I can’t wrap her up in a clean suit with an oxygen tank attached to her and keep her at home forever. She needs to expose her body to some virus to get immuned to them.

My nightmare soon began. Each time Alycia fell sick, she would passed on the bug to Sherilyn coz they eat, play and sleep together and when I wasn’t around for just a few seconds, Sherilyn would conveniently drink from Aly’s cup or use her eating utensils or I would catch Aly wiping some of her goo onto Sher, eewwww!. Needless to say, I also fell sick inescapably due to the loss of beauty sleep and had 2 little brats spitting at me, coughing at me, spewing phelgm and vomit at me and sleeping with me. Next in turn was DH. This went on impeccably twice a month for 4 months. DH burnt a BIG hole in his pocket to bring the gals to the paed. Each consultation cost an average of RM100, so you go calculate how much DH spent on the gal’s medical bills. I really felt the pinch now coz when I was still working, all the medical bills were covered by my company. On top of the choking medical bills, DH also bought Lo Hong Kar birds’ nest, ‘pau sum’ (some kind of expensive ginseng) and took the gals to see a Chinese Sinseh from a chinese medicine hall to have their ‘pulse read’ and then bought chinese herbs for the gals. I told DH that our gals are really expensive from the time before their conception (coz Aly is a product of artificial insemination) through toddlerhood. Oh, sustaining both pregnancies is another long story which I will write about later. I was just terrified of checking their temperature each time their little bodies felt warm. I was really really terrified of going through the whole sick process of them getting sick.

Recently, I read from an online friend that her DD was also in a similar situation as my gals and after she tried this product called Teviron, her DD’s condition improved. It’s a kind of clothing made from special material that can electrically charge ions to electrostatic energy. When I saw the price list for the clothings, my jaw almost dropped off. One medium sized singlet cost RM310 and the blankets cost more. The products have to be worn consistently all the time to gain real effects from them. When I proposed to DH to buy this item, got criticized by him pulak. He said I was so gullible as to believe in such a thing, plus there is no guarantee that it will work on the gals. He said even with a RM1k+ Sharp brand Ion Plasmacluster air purifier in the gals’ room, their immune system is still so vulnerable, so how can some so-called miracle clothing help. Part of me still wants to try out this product coz I hate to see my gals gulping down so much medicine every month without fail. So should I or should I not continue to pursue this idea with DH and get him to give this product a try? Has anyone used this Teviron before?

No. of times viewed = 293