A simple recipe to restore gut health

Purple Dream
-- gut friendly smoothie

Very often,
we hear complaints about
gastro-intestinal problems
from stomach upset, stomach flu,
to heartburn, indigestion,
to loose stools, constipation etc...

These conditions actually
could be healed naturally
without medication sometimes.

Simple foods like
. pineapples (for indigestion),
. white radish (for constipation)
. chamomile (for bloatedness)
. cabbage (for gastric ulcer)
do the healing for us naturally
without the side-effects of drugs :)

Here, I would like to share
one simple yet delightful recipe
for friends with poor GI tract.
It's a recipe taught by a friend, Mei Er,
with whom I recently did "food research" together ^^


Purple Dream Smoothie
Purple/Red Cabbage     --  2 medium leaves
Ripen Banana        --  120g
Cold filtered water --  200mL

-- Blend the above ingredients, and serve fresh ^^


Cabbage is a superfood
which is high in glutamine
-- an amino acid which promote the repair
of gatro-instestinal track lining.
With that,
cabbage juice is capable of healing gastric ulcers.

Cabbage, like other Brassicas (e.g. brocolli, cauliflowers),
also contains organosulfurs
which could be converted in our body
into anti-bacterial, anti-oxidative and anti-cancer metabolites.
Hence, regular intake of cabbage juice or cabbage soup
will improve the general wellbeing of our gut :)

Hope you enjoy this colourful health drink!!

Toast to good health,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

#cabbage

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Just how do you resist that craving for coffee? (6)

Roasted Barley as
Coffee Substitute

There is definitely a cure for coffee "addiction",
as the root has been identified,
and the methods have been pin-pointed ^^

However, there exists a group of
coffee lovers out there
who drink coffee
as a means of enjoyment/indulgent/relaxation...

For these group of coffee lovers,
in order to reduce the harm of coffee,
as suggested in earlier posts,
it's good to take coffee once every week or every fortnight.
And, the coffee must be organic! :P

For these coffee lovers who
don't rely on caffeine to perk up their everyday life,
the following strategy is recommended :)


Strategy C:
Cheat yourself!

Yes! Cheat yourself with
coffee substitutes!!

There are a lot of
fantastic and healthy "mock" coffee out there
which mimics quite well the taste, the texture, the acidity, the aroma
of coffee, such as:

i. Roasted Barley Grains
ii. Roasted Cassia Seeds (决明子)
iii. Roasted Chicory Roots
iv. Roasted Dandeloin Roots
... and many many caffeine-free herbal formula.

Here, I introduce to you an great recipe
of coffee substitute
invented by a good friend of mine, Jennee
-- which is very healthy, nourishing, satisfying, aromatic, thick body, low acidity......


Healthy Coffee Substitute Recipe

Nourishing Ingredients:
1 tbs Roasted Barley Powder (to mimic the fragrance/aroma of coffee)
2 tbs Walnut Powder (to give the drink some thickness and satiety)
2 tbs Amaranth Powder (as creamer, to give more creaminess)
1 tsp (or to taste)  Agave nectar (as sweetener, optional)
250mL boiling hot water

Method:
Stir all in and brew until the essence is out. Sieve and serve fresh and hot!
arhhh...!!!

-- The original recipe taught by Jennee 
used instant powders of roasted barley, walnut and amaranth, 
so there was no need to do sieving and to add sweetener 
as the instant amaranth and walnut powders were already lightly sweetened. 
If you can't access to these exotic instant powders at your local organic mart, 
doing it in a traditional way suggested above could be fun too :)

-- also, try add small amount (1/2 tsp) of molasses, 
that will also the enhance the mocking of coffee aroma!


Hope this series of posts on coffee
is of some help to readers
who would like to bring their health to a higher level
as these write-ups pointed out
the balanced way of herbal administration,
the inconvenient truth behind coffee and
the root cause of coffee cravings
as well as the respective natural "remedies" ^^


Many blessings!
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com


#coffee

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Just how do you resist that craving for coffee? (5)

Humble lemon can save people
from coffee intoxication

Curing craving for coffee
is long a process,
especially when  it is
coffee-holic's relatively low life force to start with.

Before one's life force foundation is revived,
one can try the following temporary quick fixes
which in principle recommend alternatives
that boost one's energy level and alertness =)

This is very suitable for people
who truly want to quit coffee
but haven't yet the foundation of life force.

Strategy B:
Quick energy boost

Try:
(i) Lemon-Molasses Drink (click on link for recipe)  
    which contains citric acid and minerals
    that stimulate the metabolism of liver.

    Liver is an major organ that store and control blood flows.
    When fed with citric acid (liver's favourite food)
    and minerals (from molasses),
    our liver will increase blood circulation volume,
    giving a temporary boost of energy and alertness.

    Sour juices like orange juice, pineapples will
    have similar effect ^^

(ii) Cold pressed oils
     which provided a decent amount of
     short chain saturated fats (SCSF)
     to increase the metabolism of liver.
   
     Same drill, SCSF which is easily combustible fuel
     is another favourite food of the liver.
     Given the nourishment,
     we will also experience a temporary boost
     of vitality and alertness

      Any type of first cold pressed oil will work
      as SCSF always appear exclusively
      in first cold pressed oils.

      Some examples are
      cold pressed olive oil,
      cold pressed coconut oil,
      cold pressed grapeseed oil etc

Some people who are determined to quit coffee
may mistakenly tempted into
eating high sugar, high proteins, (bad) fatty/oily foods
to also temporarily boost alertness.

But the side effects of taking those macronutrients
as a temporary boost of energy
can be harmful in long term,
as we all already know,
excess of macronutrients cause body acidity
and eventually all kind of degenerative diseases!

Next, we will look into one more strategy
to resolve coffee craving problem.
This will be a strategy for those
who drink coffee for
the aroma, fragrance and gastronomical indulgement =)


Blessings,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

#coffee

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Just how do you resist that craving for coffee? (4)

Sprouty Mighty Life Force
to tackle coffee cravings ^^

Now that we understand
the potential adverse effects of coffee,
justification of reduced coffee intake in our daily diet
is now easier.

There are a few strategies
that we may adopt
to put what we have learnt into real action:

Strategy A:
Building Life Force

A lot of people has problems of
craving for certain foods
is because the lack of life force.

Life force is a collective term
for energies required by the body
to coordinate metabolism of the body.

One can be well nourished
by proteins, carbohydrates and fats
which are all macronutrients;
but
at the same time,
be mal-nourished in
vitamins and minerals (micronutrients)
which are key elements to life force.

In other words,
when a person could not get enough of
vitamins (especially Vit-B) and minerals,
due to multiple reasons
(mainly due to non-organic foods, refined foods and selective diet)
he/she will be deprived of life force.

Lacking of life force
leads to fatique, lethargic, depression and low spirit
which in turn demands the body
to crave for quick and temporary boost of energy
from high fat, high protein, high sugar content food
as well as stimulants like
coffee, chocolates and even drugs...

So in order to resist cravings
for coffee, chocolates and many other junk foods,
the most thorough solution
is to take in foods rich in vitamin B and minerals
to render cravings totally irrelevant!

Foods which are rich
in Vit Bs and minerals (high in life force) includes:

All root vegetables
e.g. sweet potato, sengkuang, huai-shan, yam, tapioca, beetroot, carrots....

All whole grains
e.g. brown rice, millet, quinoa, amaranth seeds, buckwheat..

All sprouts
e.g. mung bean sprouts, sunflower sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, dow-miao..

If we incorporate those Life Force foods
in our diet daily,
when our body gradually strengthens,
we will not be carried away by
junk foods, stimulants and drugs
especially coffee ^.^

The above strategy is
the fundamental and reliable approach
to cure coffee cravings.
But it may take some time to bring back the life force.

In the next blog post,
we shall look into some
short term remedies to
trick ourselves away from coffee cravings =)


Cheers!!
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

#coffee

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Just how do you resist that craving for coffee? (3)

Weaning off or reducing coffee intake
isn't an easy thing indeed.

But with in-depth analysis of the properties of
a coffee drink will help one to better juggle
in between temporary sensual satisfaction
and long term health detrimental effects...

Here, we take a look at coffee
from even a more holistic view,
putting the economy in consideration.

Perspective 3:
Coffee as a trading commodity

Coffee nowadays is no longer just an edible seed,
but also a kind of highly demanded commodity
that help people make money through trading activities.

The world trade coffee
just like how precious metals, oils and gas are traded.

But the problem is
coffee being a perishable agricultural produce
is susceptible to attacks by mould, insects and other small animals
and cannot be stored permanently like metals, oils and gas.

In order to ensure that this "live" commodity
could be shuffled around without losses during trading
or stored in warehouses without deterioration,
fumigation, pesticides and preservatives are heavily used
to lengthen their lifespan.

In other words,
because coffee is a popular produce in commercial trading,
it has become one of the most toxic produce in the world.

Bearing those toxins and additives in mind,
even though coffee has many healing properties,
we know, logically,
it's not recommendable to ingest on a faithfully daily basis.

The tremendous amount of toxins applied on coffee beans
simply outweigh any natural benefit.

Moreover, coffee is also one of the most
unfairly traded produce.

Coffee although is a lucrative market,
coffee farmers who put in the most effort,
reap the least share of the profit
and often have to bear with the price instability.

During bad weathers,
coffee farmers suffer loss in harvest;
during good time,
over-production leads to falling of coffee price
and loss in revenue for the coffee farmer.

But coffee traders will always
make big bucks, be it good time or bad time...


So, coffee is toxic, coffee is demineralising, coffee is unfair....
but how do we cut down on the consumption?

Next, we will talk about some tricks
to help a coffee-holic slowly wake up from
the coffee spell *.*

Tune in!


Well regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

#coffee



{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Just how do you resist that craving for coffee? (2)

The idea of this series of blog posts is not
to talk against the people's beloved beverage.

Instead, it's hoped that
through a bigger picture analysis,
we will learn how to manage just any type of food,
not just coffee,
and consume in a moderate manner.

Exactly how moderate is moderate,
the parameters are indicated in what perspectives
we are are looking at it.


Perspective 2:
Coffee as a source of anti-nutrient

Anti-nutrients are compounds, natural or synthetic,
that prevent/slow down the absorption of essential nutrients.

Caffeine in coffee does exactly that by
inhibiting the uptake of B vitamins, vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron etc
which are all required for vitality, ironically!

Worse, is that caffeine helps drain away those essential nutrients
on top of hindering absorption....

While caffeine seems to be able
to boost one's vigour when one is sleepy or tired,
it actually first gives an illusion of helping our overall vigour
and then quietly and gradually do away the life force in the backstage...

If we are to consume coffee for some of the benefits it may bring,
it's important to factor in the risk of long term loss of life force
or long term dependency on the herbal extract to temporarily boost alertness.

Incidentally, coffee also dehydrates our body.
Many of my students may not be unfamiliar with
that fact that water is actually one of the three elements of life force,
along with oxygen and minerals.

When our body is dehydrated,
our body becomes acidic and
rendered prone to all kind of degenerative disease.

According to scientific observations,
many cancer, diabetic and cardiovascular patients
segregate in the sect of population who
don't drink enough water or being under-hydrated for long term.

Excessive drinking of coffee is
likely to drive us towards that statistics of the sick.

Next, we will further discuss
yet another important perspective of coffee
on how coffee can harm our health when it becomes popular worldwide.


Sincere regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com




{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Just how do you resist that craving for coffee? (1)

As usual, when I teach diet and nutrition,
wherever, whenever it is,
I would often ask my students
to try cut down or wean off caffeinated drinks, especially coffee,
in the mind of holistic well-being.

Obviously I will always get a lot of objections!
-- simply, coffee has become a culture nowadays
deep rooted in many people's day-to-day life,
be it to sustain their long days,
to perk up in the morning,
or simply just to enjoy the taste and aroma...

Coffee is no longer just a beverage.
It's an item that cross-links
in between our health, lifestyle and economy.
Hence it's not an easy issue to resolve.

Let's analyse coffee from a few perspectives
to get a bigger picture of what we are putting into our gut,
before we talk about weaning off or reducing coffee intake.


Perspective 1:
Coffee drink as a herbal extract

Coffee drink though brewed from roasted seeds of a plant,
it is, strictly speaking, an extract from a very potent herb.

Herb is defined as any plant part that contains
certain potent compounds that will
interfere/influence with the balance of the bodily system.

If administered adequately,
it restores the balance of one's bodily system,
by giving the drinker alertness boosting, anti-oxidative benefits, liver protection etc

If abused,
it can upset the balance of the bodily system,
by giving the drinker osteoporosis, insomnia, dehydration etc..

As I often teach in my nutrition class,
there is nothing bad or good about a herb.
It's always the person who administer and manage the herb
that is the issue
-- due to the lack of nutrition management knowledge/skill...

Because coffee is a kind of herb,
it should be administered intermittently in low dosage.

I personally didn't do precise dosage titration research for coffee
but in a casual conversation with a senior TCM healer,
we came to a general agreement that,
with such a high potency in coffee,
it is recommended to be taken one cup every 7-10 days
to achieve favourable benefits without side effects.

I remember when I mentioned that in classes..
students were almost "traumatized"!!  (LOL)

This is only one perspective to convince coffee-holics or daily coffee drinkers
to reduce coffee intake.

In the next post, we will analyse coffee
from the perspective of anti-nutrient.


Well regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

#coffee

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Slimming Down The Vegan Way 瘦身有素

Recently, I was invited by Channel 8, Singapore
to participate in a talk show "Ladies' Nite".

It was quite a surprise,
by just a random search online,
they bumped into The Veg School's website
and thought The Veg School would be a good candidate
to offer dietetic advice for healthy slimming!

I couldn't be happier
as it was a great opportunity
to subtly propagate organic and wholesome vegan concept! :D

I embed below the entire show I appeared on 29 July 2013
for your reference.

For the benefits of those who can't understand Mandarin
the core of the slimming advice is as below:

To slim down, there are two aspects to observe:

(1) Reduction of calorie intake
This means taking a balanced diet
with overall calorie intake of around 1500~2000cal

A lot of people, when they think of low calorie diet,
they will go for low carb, low fat vegetable based diet.
That is very imbalanced and hence not very sustainable.

The trick is to follow the following rules,
but adjust the portions to fit into 1500-2000cal range intake.
ie
40% Whole Grain
30% Vegetables
15% Fruits
10% Legumes
5% Nuts and Seeds

For more info on a balanced diet,
visit http://thevegschool.net/Veg-Pyramid.pdf

(2) Increase of metabolism

This can be done by doing adequate exercise
to sweat light everyday;
say 15-25min rebounding on a trampoline.

From nutrition perspective,
metabolism can be lifted via wholesome foods
with the following 4 properties:

a. high in minerals 
~ minerals is a life force element, that brings vitality,
hence higher metabolic rate.

b. cold pressed oils
~ cold pressed oil activate the liver
to function at a higher metabolic rate
and cold pressed oil can also
be converted into hormones that burns fats.

c. fibre
~ fibre will control the rate of nutrients/calorie release
into the blood stream, preventing glycemic shock
that lead to fat formation more easily;
also, fibre fills the stomach faster,
hence reducing the chance of calorie overdosing.

d. enzyme
~ enzyme helps the body reduce burden during digestion
conserving more energy for
doing more calorie burning work,
motivating one to do more exercise.

Hope this posting is of some benefits to you!

Enjoy the show ^^





Cheers,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

#slimming

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Building A Sweet Home With Soaps

Sweet Home Soap Social Entreprise
Petaling Jaya SS2, Malaysia 

I was leading a Holistic Living Meetup event in PJ/KL
last Friday evening
by inviting some 14 charitable souls
to attend a soap making workshop.

This soap making workshop
is not only just a back-to-kindy type of
therapeutic sessions for the adults,
but also a heart-warming sessions
to contribute to Sweet Home Soap Social Entreprise
in their course of fund raising
to build a self-sustaining Home for the mentally disabled children :)

The event started in a cordial and relaxed atmosphere,
with detailed instructions
by one of the Sweet Home Soap's Founder, Ms Teng.

We started by measuring 150g of soap base
and subject to melting in hot water bath.

Soon, participants were mixing in
natural colourings,
almond oils (moiturising purpose) and
essential oils (for therapeutic purposes),
before pouring into cutie assorted molds that
brought us back to childhood!

This love shape soap is
naturally pigmented and enriched
by a type of mineral powder
that gives it not only a charming feel
but also nourishing properties ^^

Ms Teng shared more on the benefits of natural soaps
while we are waiting for soaps to set in their molds.

According to Ms Teng,
Natural soaps contain very precious and moisturising glycerol
which is usually removed from commercial soaps
to make into expensive skincare products.

Making own soap, not only gives us a peace of mind
but also ensures the natural goodness are not tempered with ^^

This piggy-in-the-bathtub soap
is made with lemongrass essential oils
which is later given as a gift to my mum
(her zodiac sign is pig in case you ask! :P)

These few soaps are made of tea tree oil
and mineral powder,
now in my bathroom at home :B






The soap making session
altogether took some 2.5hours
from melting of soap base, to ingredients mixing,
to molding, to packing..

During the workshop,
there was laughter, new knowledge, relaxation
and most importantly,
that we all did our parts to support Ms Teng's dream
to take care of the unfortunate kids.

Ms Teng is also a mum of a mentally disabled child,
and she told us that one of the biggest worries in her life
(like all other disabled kids' mothers)
is what would happen to her child when she is not around one day.

The only answer to her concern is to spend her next 10years
to raise funds by selling natural soaps and conducting soap-making workshops
in order to build a "Sweet Home"
where mentally disabled children like hers could be entrusted to
when one day she leaves the world...
(I nearly sobbed when she said that)

That evening, I was seriously touched
by the deep motherly love
and I hope I could create another opportunity to
support her Sweet Home Project
so that she could release her burden sooner... :)


Warm regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

#soap

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

GMO -- The Real Food Crisis 转基因危机

The Prevalence of GMO

All along, I have been longing for an opportunity to

elaborate on the critical issues about our food supply nowadays,

especially on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) crops.

-- Generally, the public understanding on GMO is lacking.

GMO crops is one big hazard,

not only to our health, the survival of mankind and the biodiversity,

but also to the economy and social culture.

On 16th June 2013, I gave an seminar,

exclusive to Vegetarian Wellness Course students at Sagamudra Buddhist Society,

on the in and out of GMO crops, explaining in details

what GMO is,

when GMO started,

why GMO is created,

how GMO bring irreversible consequences

and

the fundamental solutions.

[this seminar was delivered in Mandarin]

一直以来, 我都很想有个机会

细细道来我们现今社会的粮食危机,

尤其是转基因农作物的过患。

-- 一般大众对基改作物依然是贫乏的。

基改作物不但会危害健康、人类的生存和多元生态，

同时也为经济和人文带来困境。

2013年6月16日，

我在新加坡海印学佛会，给素食营养课的同学，

讲演基改作物(GMO)的相关课题，

阐述GMO的来由、技术、历史、副作用

和解决对策等等。

Discussion is welcome :)

欢迎共同讨论课题！

Well regards,

Kee Yew

pureland2012-at-gmail.com

#GMO

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}