Monthly Archives: March 2011

Maple Syrup Health Benefits

My brother and sil returned from Canada recently and gave us a few bottles of maple syrup, maple butter and maple cookies. My mom did a google search on maple syrup and found out that this nice smelling syrup is more than just sweetness.

Maple syrup is one of the many wonders of the world. When you want to satisfy your sweet tooth, don’t forget to consider using maple syrup which contains fewer calories and a higher concentration of minerals than honey.

Food For Thought:

Cancer Prevention
Researchers have suggested that the compounds contained within pure maple syrup offer cancer prevention benefits. A study performed at Université du Québec à Chicoutimi in Canada revealed that the antioxidant capabilities of pure maple syrup were effective at inhibiting the damage that is caused by nitric oxide. The ability to inhibit overproduction of nitric oxide will also prevent the proliferation of cancer cells. This study also suggests the cancer fighting properties are greater if the syrup is of darker color rather than a clear color.

Diabetes
Recent studies also suggest that the consumption of pure maple syrup may also be effective in lowering blood glucose levels. According to United Press International, pure maple syrup contains a significant concentration of abscisic acid. Abscisic acid is a chemical that promotes insulin secretion of the pancreas and increases the insulin sensitivity of fat cells. The presence of abscisic acid and the qualities it possesses allow pure maple syrup to be an effective treatment against diabetes.

Cardiac Benefits
Pure maple syrup is very rich in many essential vitamins and minerals, especially zinc. A study performed by the Department of Medicine at the University of Turku in Finland suggests there is a direct relationship between low serum zinc levels and incidence of cardiovascular heart disease. The results of the study confirmed that low serum zinc levels is a risk factor for cardiovascular heart disease in diabetic and non-diabetic patients. The zinc concentration in pure maple syrup can regulate serum zinc levels and reduce the risk of cardiovascular heart disease.

Men Benefit From Maple Syrup
Maple syrup may help to support reproductive health and provides special benefits for men. Zinc is concentrated more highly in the prostate than in any other human tissue, and low levels of zinc in this gland relate to a higher risk for prostate cancer. In fact, zinc is a mineral used therapeutically by health care practitioners to help reduce prostate size. Manganese may also play a role in supporting mens health since, as a catalyst in the synthesis of fatty acids and cholesterol, it also participates in the production of sex hormones, thus helping to benefit reproductive health.

Here’s Baby enjoying maple butter spread on a slice of wholemeal bread, cut into strips.

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If everything goes well

As I was reading the newspapers in the gym whilst working out on the Air Walker this morning, an advertisement from a local budget Airlines caught my eye. A one-way air ticket to Korea only costs RM429 and that’s a steal! This means that if we were to go to Korea for a holiday, just the both of us, we only need to spend about RM2k on the air tickets. If only we could leave our 3 kids behind and go for a holiday in Korea, just the 2 of us, how nice that would be. If we were to bring the whole jing gang along to Korea this year, we may have to get a small personal loan to fund our expenses. If everything goes smoothly this year, hopefully we can have a holiday overseas next year, keeping my fingers crossed.

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Health Benefits Of Eggs

Babies loves eggs – chicken eggs and quail eggs. I started feeding my 3 girls eggs as soon as they turned 1 year old. Baby still eats an egg a day, most of the time she feasts on free range chicken eggs. Each week, we consume 2-3 crates of eggs. We love eggs cook in any style and shape – fried, boiled, half boiled, omelette, curried, scrambled, poached, steamed, chawan mushi style, added into pancakes, french toast and the list goes.

Baby enjoying her daily dose of free range chicken egg…

Food For Thought :
(article extracted from http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/10-health-benefits-of-eggs.html)

1. Eggs are great for the eyes. According to one study, an egg a day may prevent macular degeneraton due to the carotenoid content, specifically lutein and zeaxanthin. Both nutrients are more readily available to our bodies from eggs than from other sources.

2. In another study, researchers found that people who eat eggs every day lower their risk of developing cataracts, also because of the lutein and zeaxanthin in eggs.

3. One egg contains 6 grams of high-quality protein and all 9 essential amino acids.

4. According to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health, there is no significant link between egg consumption and heart disease. In fact, according to one study, regular consumption of eggs may help prevent blood clots, stroke, and heart attacks.

5. They are a good source of choline. One egg yolk has about 300 micrograms of choline. Choline is an important nutrient that helps regulate the brain, nervous system, and cardiovascular system.

6. They contain the right kind of fat. One egg contains just 5 grams of fat and only 1.5 grams of that is saturated fat.

7. New research shows that, contrary to previous belief, moderate consumption of eggs does not have a negative impact on cholesterol. In fact, recent studies have shown that regular consumption of two eggs per day does not affect a person’s lipid profile and may, in fact, improve it. Research suggests that it is saturated fat that raises cholesterol rather than dietary cholesterol.

8. Eggs are one of the only foods that contain naturally occurring vitamin D.

9. Eggs may prevent breast cancer. In one study, women who consumed at least 6 eggs per week lowered their risk of breast cancer by 44%.

10. Eggs promote healthy hair and nails because of their high sulphur content and wide array of vitamins and minerals. Many people find their hair growing faster after adding eggs to their diet, especially if they were previously deficient in foods containing sulphur or B12.

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Can Manage My Weight Well

Our 2-day 1 night stay in Westin KL last week was more like a food binging trip. My hubs had to utilize his free room-stay and dining voucher, so we had a food marathon at the hotel. I ate so much that I felt like my tummy was about to burst. When we came home that evening, I only ate watermelons and some green veggie for dinner. For the next 2 days, I still felt bloated and ate very little. I weighed myself yesterday and was really glad that the red needle pointed to the left again. Fortunately I know my body too well and can manage my weight really well. I don’t need to read oxyelite pro reviews to get diet products to stay slim, thank goodness!

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Cigars

I used to think that cigars were only for the poor. When I was little, there was this man on his bicycle who used to come to our house to collect money from my dad. He’s the ‘middle man’ who helped my dad buy ‘numbers’ (something like Jackpot). He was always puffing cigars and I hated how he smelled. I only found out how expensive cigars were when I worked for my previous boss. He had expensive taste and only bought Davidoff cigars and other branded cigars. He even had a special box with dehumidifier and moisturizer to store his cigars!

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Would You Leave Your Child In Such Hands?

While waiting for my friend to pick up Sherilyn for ballet class just now, I saw an old man walking from the lobby to a school van parked outside the lobby. He looked like he was in his late 70s and he was hobbling. As he walked towards the school van, I told Sherilyn “oh no, I hope he’s not the school van driver. Look at him! He’s old and he could hardly walk properly” We were both staring at him and when he opened the driver’s seat door of the bus van to get inside, my jaw almost dropped. When he drove the van and reversed it, he almost knocked onto a nearby teflon hose. I was really shocked that some parents actually trust such an old man who looked senile and could barely walk properly to drive their kids to school!! Would you have the peace of mind to leave your child everyday in the hands of such an old and helpless man?

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Sick Kitten

Sherilyn can hardly be coerced to take her nap in the afternoon. If this chatty rascal who can never stop yakking ever falls asleep in the afternoon, appears quiet, feels warm, tells me that she feels cold and lacks appetite even for junk food, I know for sure that she’s ill. I don’t even need to take her temperature for all these physical tell-tale signs will tell me that my baby is sick.

She spent the entire Sunday lying on the couch… with a cold pack on her body and a Cool Fever sticker on her forehead. I showered her each time her temperature shot up to 38 degrees Celsius.  Hubs who is very kan cheong and paranoia each time the girls have the slightest temperature insisted that I brought her to the paed’s office but I said no. I prefer to let their body heal naturally.  I fed her with lots of pandan-barley water, coconut water, plain water and fruits.

And oh yes, she was beaming when I let her finish off the tub of Haegan Daz ice cream!  She had no appetite to eat anything but ice cream!

After just 1 dose of PCM, the fever subsided the next day. This rascal has a very sensitive throat and a ‘heaty body’. It must be the deep fried squid rings and deep fried chicken that she ate at the pasar malam on Friday evening that caused the fever.  I had warned her not to eat anything that’s heaty but when I was buying fruits, this rascal pestered our friend who was with us to get her those forbidden food. I told her that the fever was a price she had to pay for disobeying mummy.


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Hectic Life For Another 15 Years?

It was a rainy and breezy morning today. It’s a perfect weather to lie in bed and to continue dreaming. I wished I could sleep longer and enjoy the warmth under my blanket but I pulled myself up from bed. As usual, I can hardly ever enjoy sleeping in until the skies turn bright. I had to complete a review on laminate flooring sale and had another bag of clothes to do perform QA check before I could ship them out to my customers today. I think it will be another 15 years (that’s when my youngest girl will finish secondary school) before I can have a more relaxed life and live life at a slower pace.

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Cold Therapy

Cold therapy / Ice therapy or Cryotherapy is one of the most widely used treatment for treating acute sport injuries. It is cheap, easy to apply and highly effective too. Using cold therapy immediately after an injury can help minimize the amount of swelling. While cold therapy is very effective in reducing swells and pains, it can also be dangerous. If cold therapy devices or Cryotherapy are used too long, or at too cold of a temperature, it can result in serious injuries such as nerve damage, chronic pain, or frost bite.

If anyone of you have been injured through the use of Cold Therapy through the negligence of your doctor, you can get initial consultations for a cold therapy lawsuit without any charge from O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath. Here’s their address:
O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath – Personal Injury Lawyers – 808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701 – 512-494-9949

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Bloody Scare

I was busy at work on my computer and when I turned back to look at Baby, I got a bloody scare of my life when I saw blood on her nose.

But it wasn’t anything serious. She had just scratched her nose! This fella is learning all the bad habits from her cheh cheh who likes to scratch, bite and peel the skin off her fingers and toes.  There always isn’t anything wrong with her fingers and toes but it’s just a bad habit that she has picked up and a self-inflicting pain one too. Gosh, I must help my eldest girl break this habit before all her fingers and toes turn into horribly awful ones, as if she was one abused kid!


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