The Fats of Life (1)

I was reading a book about fats, written by a cardio surgeon
sometimes ago.

In this book, the cardio surgeon repeatedly stressed that,
by his years of observation,
many modern degenerative diseases
from cardio vascular to diabetes, to cancer,
are highly related to the increasing incidence of
damaged oil consumption.

The book reinforced my understanding about oil and fats,
amidst the confusing information out there.

Combining the doctor's latest finding on edible oil,
with that taught by my other teachers,
I finally got one step further in clarifying the sticky oil issues.

From what I gather along my continuous learning path:

(I) The most ideal way of consuming oil is
via raw consumption of whole plant food
e.g. raw/sprouted seeds/nuts, raw coconut and raw avocado etc
~ By this way, the body gets all types
of undamaged fatty acids (SFA, PUFA, MUFA etc)
in the most balanced and controlled manner.

(II) The suboptimal way of consuming oil is
via raw consumption of cold pressed oils
e.g. extra virgin olive oil, cold pressed flaxseed oil etc
~ Cold pressed oils maintained most of
the benefits and nutrients oil, undamaged,
but it's easily oxidised if kept too long or in improper manners.
~ The ratio of different types of fatty acids within
is also slightly skewed (ie not optimally balanced).

(III) The most unpreferred way of consuming oil is
via conventional cooking cooking oils (even tho' it's plant oil)
e..g. any oil that allows high heat treatment
~ This type of oil confers almost no nutritional values (besides calories and taste).
~ The ratio of different types of fatty acids is totally out of balanced.
~ For safety, this type of oil should contain the least amount of
Poly-Unsaturated and Mono-Unsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA, MUFA).
~ Once PUFA, MUFA are heated,
they will be transformed into health damaging elements.
-- While PUFA and MUFA are meant to be healthy,
once damaged, they become one of the big culprits in modern health diseases.
~ It's very difficult to get safe cooking oil (with little MUFA and PUFA),
so, minimise or avoid this type of oil.

(IV) The not-so-wise-way is via
animal fats
~ animal fats contains high percentage of saturated fats that
lead to many cardiovascular conditions
~ the ratios of different type of fatty acids are also not balanced
~ animals fats carry over
residual antibiotics, compounded pesticides, artificial hormones and stress hormones
which will bring about detrimental effects to health in long term
-- this is another big culprit of modern health problems

(V) The fat to be avoided at all cost is
transfats i.e. chemically transformed fats (even tho' it's from plant)
e.g. margarine
~ transfats has totally no value and it's absolutely health damaging,
because the body does not recognise transfats
which is a kind of chemical that looks like fat.
~ our body, when can't get rid of transfats,
will prefer to store it away and this later lead to
clogging of our cardiovascular systems and other health conditions.

Hope the sharing will help raise awareness of good oil and bad oil :)


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

p/s: my students at Vegetarian Wellness Course also did a comprehensive report on healthy oils (which benefited me a lot too!). Once, I have finished reviewing, it will be released for free public access online :)

The-Fats-of-Life

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Fats of Life (4)

So, is there any way out?

We are not supposed to take animal oil;
and now, we can't even use plant oil for cooking!?

The core of the whole story lies in
the proper methods of consumption,
not exactly
the types of oil to avoid,
as mentioned in The Fats of Life (1)

Some tips on healthier ways of fat intake:

1. Consume fats naturally from
raw nuts/seeds/fruits
(e.g. soaked raw almond, raw sunflower seeds,
fresh coconut milk, avocado spread etc..
-- also check out this good fat/hi protein recipe )
or
raw cold pressed oils
(e.g. olive oil+herbs for breadspread, flaxseed oil for salad)

2. When cooking at home, use only plant-based cooking oil which
has the highest [saturated fats: unsaturated fats] ratio
(e.g. certain brands of naturally processed coconut oil).
-- BUT only for quick and low heat cooking
(never deep fry)
-- AND, buy cooking oil from health food shops, not from supermarket
(as the conventional brands are usually chemically processed)

3. When eating out, avoid or minimise on just any type of cooking oil
-- because there is a high chance that the oils used are cheap and bad oil...
(i.e. eat out less or order food with no/little oil)
Try go for dishes
like fresh salad, sushi, steamed dim sum, noodle soup, porridge etc
that lend little chance to the abuse of cooking oils.

It sounds like a great misery
that we have to exert on ourselves such restrictions.

But the good news is our taste buds
can adapt very quickly (in just 2weeks!).

Once we switch into the habit of
having less oily content in our hot meals,
our body will like it and carry on the habit
naturally and effortlessly ;)

Now, we are given 3 choices:
Kicking the bad habit of taking bad cooking oil for only 2 weeks
and enjoy a revitalised life happily ever after
or
Suffer for 5.5yrs of detox after taking bad fat
or
Suffer entire life (if one don't even bother to detox!)
having leaky and malfunctioning fats in our every single cells

We know what we should do obviously =)

Happy life-transforming,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

p/s: in my students' project report on healthy oils , there are indications on how to choose a safer cooking oil :)

The-Fats-of-Life
{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Fats of Life (3)

It may be difficult to believe that

the plant based cooking oil is intoxicating us day by day.

We were educated since day one that
plant oils containing unsaturated fatty acids
(c.f. artery-clogging saturated fats from animals)
are good for health,
and now,
it's the otherwise!
So is there something wrong with the science?
-- or the scientists?

The fact is,
if it's true science, it will never fail.

The contradictive remarks could be attributed to
dishonest and biased presentation of scientific facts
(by certain organisations, due to vested interests)
and food politics
(that purposely twist the interpretation of scientific facts).

The unsaturated fatty acids (comprising of Omega-3,6,9)
in plant oils are indeed great stuff!
They are raw ingredients for cell membrane, nervous system,
certain hormones and cellular receptors
which are all vital for basic physiological functions and daily metabolism.

However, unsaturated fats are also very unstable and
easily damaged by heat/light/oxygen/humidity.

If these unstaurated fats are used inappropriately
(ie subject to high heat treatment e.g. grilling/baking/stir fry/deep fry),
the structure/conformation of the unsaturated fats molecules will alter.

These altered/deformed unsaturated fats molecules
when assimilated into our body
to become part of the cell membrane, nervous system, hormonal system etc,
these systems will become leaky/malfunctioned.
(simply, when the basic units are 'looking funny',
the bigger system is not going to work properly too!)

What's worse is that
any fat molecule once assimilated into our bodily system,
is not going to be expelled from the body easily.

The average half life of a fat molecule is 500 days.
In other words, if one were to have assimilated 100g of bad fat today,
no matter what, one will still retain 50g of bad fat ~1.5yrs later.
To get rid of 93.75% of bad fat,
one needs to wait for 2000 days (~5.5yrs).

This is where the concept of responsible eating comes in
and why detox is not an overnight or even over-the-year affair!

Actually, the science of fats is quite established nowadays.
It's more like an issue of lacking good will or hidden conscience,
rather than a matter of bad science..

Hence, ultimately, it's good will that heals..



With loving kindness,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

The-Fats-of-Life

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Life Force Recipes - Explanatory Notes (1)

In the past few days,
I have been posting a special series of Life Force Recipes.

This series of Life Force Recipes
will slowly expand in long term,
so that they will continue to guide people on taking the right food =)

Something I missed out from the beginning of this blog series
is the explanation on the essence of life force recipes.
Hence, there is a need of supplementary note here.

Probably one may already guess,
The essence of Life Force recipes
is to give longevity, vitality and energy?

Yes, but here are the principles behind:

(i) the food must have meant to give birth to life
(ii) the food must have comprehensive nutrients content to support a new life
to signify the presence of robust vitality.

Often in my vegetarian wellness classes,
I half-jokingly told my students that
there is one fool proof way to identify good nutritious food
-- that is to eat whatever babies eat!

In nature, babies are vulnerables and demand meticulous care
(especially in the quality and nutrition of their feed),
to ensure they grow up strong and healhty (reflection of life force).

If we have observed carefully,
it's not hard to notice that
eggs give life force to newborn chick
milk give life force to newborn cattle
seeds give life force to newborn seedling.

In vegan context, in order to harvest the life force from nature,
seeds is a very logical means for us to sustain life with vitality.

Seeds is a compact package of complete nutrients
(from proteins to minerals to carbo to fats to vitamins etc)
that ensure that a seedlings will germinate and grow up into a seedling
before it can nourish from the sun.

Therefore, in the entire series of Life Force Recipes,
one will always see the hallmark of
seeds, cereals, grains, nuts, legumes
among the major ingredients ;)

That's because life force recipes is virtually baby food :P

-- However, are all seeds created equal?
Are all seeds-packed recipes Life Force Recipes?
We will discuss about this next...



Toast to vitality,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

Life-force-notes

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}
Life-Force-Recipes-Explanatory-Notes

Interpreting the good will of an Ex-Vegan (1)

Albert Einstein became
a vegetarian two years before
he passed away.

I have a friend whom I have known for quite a while
and who has been a vegetarian for 4-5 years and 
recently became a vegan.

This friend of mine is a special one,
as he started his veg path since secondary school days
and with that type of supposedly-less-supportive environment
during school days,
he persisted his ideal; -- that is very admirable.

We had  some email communication recently
and he told me that he had been reading a book from a former vegan
advising against 100% full veg.
And hence he became a bit confused
especially when he felt a bit weak after going vegan for a few months,
suspecting if his condition corresponds with the ex-vegs' experience.

He pointed out a few issues raised by the ex-vegan author
to convince that some components from the plant-based diet could be bad:

E.g.1. Unsaturated fats (from plants) are bad,  because is more reactive than saturated fats (from animals), causing cancer and damages blood vessels.

-- base on the statement above, vegetarians/vegans would have naturally and constantly
been exposed to high amount of bad fats.
>> This hold some truth to some extent. But it's not a complete story.

>> Many people nowadays have been serious mistakened
that all plant fats are good and all animal fats are bad.
Now there are some people who go to the other extreme
to twist the whole story around claiming animal fats is healthier than plant fats.
Both are not completely correct.

>> As mentioned in previous blog series "The Fats of Life",
Plant fat is not always good fat, because once high-temperature-heated,
the unsaturated fats in plant will become damaged and cause health problems.
Most of the plant-based cooking oils sold out there
are already deep-fried before packaging (to preserve for a longer time).
Hence, it seems like taking plant oil nowadays is worse than
consuming animal fats (if moderately heated).

>> The point the ex-vegan author was trying to advise was
to remind vegetarians/vegans to choose quality plant oil and avoid high-heat treatment.

>>When plant fats are consumed in natural form (ie direct from food) or cold pressed form,
plant fats are definitely better than animal fats (Why? Please see "The Fats of Life").

>>The whole issue lies on the correct way of consuming fats,
nothing to do with a vegetarian diet.


With metta,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com




{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Fats of Life (2)

Along the years of learning about fats,
it's not difficult to see
some widespread misconceptions about fats:

Misconception 1:
Fatty food is bad for health
>While this statement holds true for most of the time,
knowing the average person's intake of fats nowadays
easily exceeds 20% (recommended) of our diet,
fat is actually important for health.
Fat, in physiological perspective, is vital for:
- cell membrane building (ie cellular division)
- brain cells development
- making of hormones
Fatty food (e.g. avocado & coconut) is not necessarily bad,
provided that:
~the total percentage fat intake is controlled at 20%
and
~the fats are from whole plant food and undamaged
(ie no artificial refinement and no heat treatment).


Misconception 2:
All plant oils are healthy
>Depending on the method of consumption,
plant oil can be very bad,
when it is subject to
chemical processing
(e.g. hydrogenation to generate trans-fats)
or
high temperature treatment
(e.g. for preservation of oil during manufacturing
and deep frying)



Misconception 3:
Saturated fats are bad for cardiovascular health
> This is also an over-generalised statement.
Long chain saturated fats
which are relatively prominent in animal fats
are bad indeed,
as it's less easily combusted and our body prefer to store it.
Medium chain and short chain saturated fats
which are easily found in some plants
(e.g. coconut milk)
are good for our health,
as they are easily combusted or assimilated
(hence no clogging problem).
These plant-based saturated fats, when taken raw,
also confer medicinal benefits
(if administered appropriately).

Fat, just like cholesterol, comes in both bad and good forms.
So, the solution to fat-related health conditions nowadays
doesn't lie in avoiding fats blindly;
but relies on our ability to differentiate the good and bad oils.

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

p/s: I have finished reviewing my students' project report on Fats.. looking forward sharing their great work online =)

The-Fats-of-Life


{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Yin and Yang of Food (4)

Veg Pyramid which is based on
Yin and Yang balance

In modern nutritional science,
people talk about balancing their diet
by calculating the amount of
carbohydrates, proteins, fats,
minerals, vitamins, fibres and water intake.

While such calculations are scientifically founded,
it's not comprehensive enough
to offer insight into the mutual interaction
among the nutrients.

In Yin and Yang perspectives,
foods are understood
in term of their roles and functions.

From there, we know what foods
are mutually antagonistic or synergistic
(opposing behavior or supportive behavior)
and therefore categorized into Yin and Yang.

In The Veg School's advance course
"Life Force Management",
we talk about two opposing functions of foods:

1. Life Force Building (a.k.a. tonic)
~ foods that directly enhance the coordination of life,
involving the inward aggregation of energies, in general.
~ We could label these foods being Yang,
in the specific context of life coordination.
~ Generally, root, underground stem and seed parts of plants
offers such a function,
due to their life sustaining roles in the plant.

2. Interference Elimination (a.k.a. detoxifying)
~ foods that defend the sustaining of life from being interfered,
involving the outward expulsion of energies, in general.
~ We could label these foods being Yin,
in the same context of life coordination.
~ General, above-ground stem, leaf, flower and fruit parts of plants
offers such a function,
due to their life long combat against heat, UV, germs and pests.

In normal/ideal situation,
we should take foods with equal strength of
Life Force Building and
Interference Elimination functions.
- because both are equally important to sustaining life.

Therefore, by ancient Chinese wisdom,
we are advised to balance our diet via:

40% whole grains (moderately Yang)
30% vegetables of all 6 plant parts (moderately Yin)
15% fruits (strongly Yin)
10% legumes (strongly Yang)
5%   nuts and seed (strongly Yang)
[see http://thevegschool.net/Veg-Pyramid.pdf for more details]

Upsetting the ratios above,

may attract health problems like:

## system clogging (e.g. atherosclerosis) 

-- an outcome of over nourishment or lack of detoxification, 

-- overwhelmed by Yang energies

-- commonly seen among people who eats too much meat or oily food; 

   neglecting fruits and veggies in overall diet

## system dis-coordination (e.g. hormonal imbalance) 

-- an outcome of under nourishment or over detoxification, 

-- predominated by Yin energies

-- commonly seen among people who go on dietetic control or 

   overly frequent detoxification;

   consuming too much fruits and leafy veggies; 

   avoiding grains and nuts.

Now, we may start to realize,

knowing the Yin and Yang of food

is different from

practising it in daily life.

Practising Yin and Yang

requires discipline to abide to the ratios,

on top of awareness and mindfulness. 

Next, we discuss about some simple techniques 

to adjust our dietetic pattern

according to the Yin/Yang oscillation throughout a day :)

Happy reading,

Kee Yew

pureland2012-at-gmail.com

#Yin Yang
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.
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{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Trilogy of Diabetes (2)

Many of us may still find it puzzling,
to claim that sugar doesn't (directly) cause diabetes.

Question arises here:
-- if sugar is ok, then why are we constantly hearing advice not to take too much sugar/carbohydrates?

A simplified answer:
>> When sugar is taken in refined form (e.g. in soft drinks, sweets, white flour and processed foods)
they shock the blood sugar level and quickly get converted into fats, ultimately contritbuting to obesity issue (which may indirectly evolve into a diabetic issue as explained later).

However, if sugar is taken in whole food manner (e.g. brown rice, wholemeal bread and whole grains), with the presence of fibre, the blood sugar level rises gently, and doesn't contribute to obesity easily.

Also, because whole food are usually loaded with high fibre, one gets satisfied more quickly and doesn't get overboard in sugar consumption easily.

If we are choosing the right form of sugar/carbo, it's even harder to convince that sugar causes diabetes.

Episode 2: Fat is one of the cultprits

Those who are in tuned with diabetic medicine,
probably won't be too unfamiliar with the remark
that waist line of a person is tightly correlated to
the risk of diabetes.

One may get the hint now that it's
fat that actually plays crucial roles inducing diabetes.

There are two ways fat causes diabetes
by failing the insulin to control blood sugar level:

(I) Hindrance of insulin signal :
When blood sugar rises, insulin secreted from the pancreas
will be circulated thoughout the body to inform the necessary tissues/cells
to do the necessary actions to reduce sugar in the blood stream immediately.

However, if there are too many fat molecules in the cells/tissue,
the insulin signals will get retarded and faded away,
consequently leading to inefficient signalling.

As long as the blood sugar level doesn't get normalised,
the feedback system in our body will keep informing the pancreas to
work harder and to release more insulin
until the desireable blood sugar level is reached.

In long term, the pancreas gets overworked
and eventually fails to produce matching level of insulin.
This is a classical case where diabetes arises.

(II) Defective insulin signal reception:
This pathway of diabetes is getting more prominent day by day,
when under-informed public, uncounsciously
take in molecularly impaired fats (ie bad fat).

As mentioned in The Fats of Life series,
any fat/oil which is treated with high heat
will render the fat molecular structure deformed.
Little that the general public knows that
the common cooking oils sold in the market
are treated with extreme high heat before bottling
to prolong their shelf-lives.

These deformed fat molecules
once assimilated into our body,
part of them will be used to make defective insulin receptor,
ultimately blocking partially the initiation of insulin signaling.

In the end, it doesn't seem that the pancreas
will ever be able to produce sufficient insulin to compensate
the blockage of insulin system.

Scary as it sounds,
but many people still prefer not to change their habit
in the choosing the right type of cooking oil
(which are not high heat treated).
-- good cooking oil are easily accessible at many Health Food Shops

More to come in the next blog,
as we still have one more culprit of diabetes to unveil.
Also, we will be discussing on how to devise
our food intake to mitigate the severity of existing diabetic condition.


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


{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Yin and Yang of Food (1)

Yin or Yang, it's context dependent

I have always been tempted
to discuss about the Yin and Yang of our diet
on my blog,
but in the past ten years,
I have been delaying it.

Simply, it's a not an easy topic to clarify everything
over a few articles
and
it's difficult to simplify many 'bulky' concepts on blog series
for the ease of digestion by readers...

But I think I should try and see what happens here.

Should this series of blog posts do not make enough sense,
please do attend The Veg Nutrition Courses in Singapore or in Kuala Lumpur
where Yin and Yang Concept of Food is discussed in great depth :)

Now,

What is Yin and Yang?
Most people reckon that
Yin and Yang are
to label things
in accordance to their traits/behaviors/functions
by the philosophy of duality.

In other words,
by Yin and Yang concept,
we categorize entities into 2 exclusive categories
which are of opposite traits/behaviors/functions.

For example,
Animals could be categorized into males and females;
Ions into Cations and Anions
pH into Alkaline and Acidic
Time into Day and Night
etc.

Up till this point,
it's very simple to comprehend,
but exactly the over-simplification of
the Yin and Yang concept,
a lot of misinformation comes by...

Misinformation I:
Static view of Yin and Yang

Yin and Yang labeling is dynamic
i.e. one thing can be Yin in one situation, but Yang in another situation,
depending on the context and the perspective we are assessing.
The labeling changes.

For example,
Durian is labeled Yang when we assess it under the context of calorie,
because it produces a lot of heat after consumption.
But, it is labeled Yin when we assess it under the context of texture
because it is soft and moist (and helps to relieve constipation).

Or

A carrot is labelled Yin when we assess it under the context of exposure to the Sun,
because it is hidden under the ground, and never get exposed to sunlight.
But it is labelled Yang when we assess it under the context of mineral content,
because it stocks up a lot minerals which are responsible for life sustaining functions.

So, it's extremely dangerous,
if we call a thing being Yin and
decide to label it a Yin entity forever.

This misinformation causes a lot of troubles
when one decides on what to eat to balance their own body constitution.

If the Yin and Yang is assessed wrongly,
because of adopting an irrelevant context/perspective,
it will make the body condition become worse.

For instance,
a lady thinks she has a Yin body constitution,
because she always feel the lack of energy
(she can't carry heavy things, she always feels cold etc),
and would like to consume more Yang food.

She decides on eating more flowers and leaves because
she was told that flowers and leaves vegetables are Yang entities
after being exposed to the Sun.

Unfortunately, her decision will make her even more weak after consuming
the flowers and leaves vegetables,
because she assessed Yin and Yang by the irrelevant context/perspective.

What she needs to improve her body condition,
is food that will increase her life force,
food that provides the life force nutrients e.g. minerals and good fats.

Under such context, the relevant Yang foods that are high in life force,
would be grains, seeds and roots vegetables!
-- whether they are exposed to the Sun or not, is not relevant in this situation.

Many a time,
people like to debate whether a food should be labeled Yin or Yang
and persist that they are right with their labels.

They will always be right,
given their own perspectives.

But what truly matters,
is whether they adopt the relevant context/perspective when they do the labeling.


Next, we will explore another piece of misinformation of Yin and Yang concept,
and it is going to get messier! -.-


Happy digesting,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

I# Yin Yang
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{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}

Simple Veg-enabling Tips (4)

The first time I came across Avocado in my life
was when I was studying in Adelaide
some 16 years ago.

When avocado season came,
avocado was basically ubiquitious
all over the Central Market (a wet market).

That time, the only way I learnt how to eat avocado
was to eat it on its own (probably the best way)
as taught by the fruit grocers!

I didn't have problem choosing the "right" avocado then
as they were so abundant,
and the grocers were always kind enough to pick the
ripen and nice ones for me..hehe..

However, when I relocated to Singapore
after my studies in Adelaide,
choosing a nice avocado became a challege!

Many would feel the same:
often, when we cut open an avocado,
it's either not ripen enough
or over ripen to the extent of having black bruises all over
or already infected by mould...

Due to my crave for avocado,
I gradually learn a way to guarantee a perfect avocado ;)


(D) How to choose a perfect avocado?

## a perfect avocado actually cannot be chosen,
but the good news is, it can be "nutured"! (LOL)

- firstly, get a totally green and hard avocado
(prefer the Hass species, with coarse skin, as they are creamier)

- when you get home,
quickly take the avocado out of your shopping bag
and wipe off all the moisture
(usually avocado are stored in fridge in the supermarket,
hence there are always condensation.
This condesation if sieve through the pedicel 
or the interface between fruit and stalk,
mould will grow)   <= critical step

- leave the avocado in airy corner of the kitchen,
away from direct sunlight, at room temperature.
(do not put in the fridge, as the ripening will slow;
and mould may grow.) <= critical step

- wait for a few days, and observe the colour change daily.

- when the skin turns completely black
(totally black, without any green patches or green tone),
leave it in room temperature for another 2 days. <= critical step

- lightly press the upper part of the avocado,
if it's soft, then it's ready to eat. Otherwise, wait for 1 more day.

- The next day, the avocado should be ready to eat.
If you can't finish all the avocado on the ripen day,
store them in the fridge up to 5 days.
Do not squeeze, otherwise bruise will form easily.


* extra tips: avoid getting non-green and non-hard avocado from the market,
as you do not know whether the storage has been properly done
to avoid moisture that may lead to internal moulding.
Also, many buyers may have been squeezing the semi-soft ones, creating a lot of bruises.

^ suggestion: blend 1/2 avocado, with 1 cup of coconut water + coconut flesh
to make vegan coconut milk.. It's very yummy!!
-- Don't worry about the fats, as they are all good fats when consumed raw.
In fact this drink will rejuvenate your skin and balance your hormones :D


That's all for this series, hope those simple tips will improve your quality of life :)


Happy experimenting,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com


. Veg-enabling Tips
{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Pitfalls in Vegetarian Nutrition(2) - Carbohydrates

Brown rice helps manage weight
in contrary to white rice

Carbohydrates is another nutrient 

which is commonly misunderstood. 

At dining tables, 

often we would overhear remark like these: 

“Please don’t serve me rice, I will put on weight if I take carbohydrates. ” 

Or 

“Potato has got too much carbohydrates, it will cause diabetes.” 

Actually, carbohydrates, like other nutrients, 

will always cause diseases 

when consumed in the wrong way. 

Carbohydrate has never been the culprit, 

it is the methods of consumption that cause troubles. 

How do we consume carbohydrates appropriately? 

Below are some rules to observe: 

(1) Prefer unpolished grains: 

Unpolished whole grains 

containing complex carbohydrates and dietary fibres, 

require a bit more time to digest. 

This in turn reduces the chance 

of spiking the blood sugar level. 

When blood sugar level is not upset, 

there will not be excess sugars to be converted into fats, 

eventually causing issues of weight gain. 

In contrary, 

when we consume refined polished grains, 

as there is no dietary fibre 

to slow down the absorption of sugars, 

the blood sugar level spikes up, 

eventually leading to fat accumulation. 

(2) Prefer mineral rich foods: 

Generally, minerals facilitate the cellular intake of sugar, 

and in turn reduces blood sugar level, 

avoiding conversion of excess carbohydrates into fats, hence diabetes. 

Mineral rich foods 

include non-refined root vegetables, 

e.g. carrots, sweet potatoes, tapioca, beetroot etc. 

These root vegetables, 

although contain high amount of carbohydrates, 

do not cause weight gain issue, 

due to their rich minerals on top of fair amount fibres in them. 

(3) Avoid processed foods: 

Processed foods 

such as biscuits, cakes, noodles and canned beverages, 

are usually deprived of fibres (to improve mouth feel), 

and minerals (less mineral content will prolong shelf life). 

Hence, if there are high amount of carbohydrates 

(especially simple sugars) in the processed foods, 

it will cause harm to the body. 

(4) Learn how to appreciate the innate flavour: 

Some individuals have got higher affinity to sweet food, 

in order to please their palate. 

Hence, they habitually add extra sugar in food, 

leading to excess calories. 

Every type of food contains its own unique flavour. 

With careful tasting, 

the innate essence could offers a different enjoyment. 

(5) Doing adequate exercise: 

The suitable amount of carbohydrate 

correlates the amount of exercise one does. 

A daily exercise routine of 30min, 

with light sweating, 

will prevent excess sugar accumulation that 

may lead to metabolic syndromes 

(commonly seen modern world, 

including diabtetes, obesity and high blood pressure). 

Vegetarian diet is often perceived as a diet 

deficient in proteins and excessive in carbohydrates, 

but the problem has never lied in the vegetarian philosophy. 

It's root cause is the inappropriate methods of eating and living, 

due to blind pursuance of 

convenient fast food, 

indulgence in taste, as well as 

the lack of exercise. 

In the next article, we will discuss about the pitfalls of fat consumption in a vegetarian diet. 

The Veg School’s new courses in 2014H2 will be commencing very soon. 

The calendar of the courses could be viewed in The Veg School’s latest mobile application, downloadable at http://m.TheVegSchool.net

or 

http://TheVegSchool.net/TVS-VNC-HY.pdf

Many blessings,

Kee Yew

pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Reviewing past content @ Learning Holistic Wellness (May 2009 - Mar 2011)

It's has almost been two years
since I first started to do blogging.
And before I realise,
there have already been almost 200 posts.

Hence, I thought it would be useful to
consolidate some special blog postings that
are worth re-visiting.
This content page will also provide convenience
for readers to access to some important wellness information :)

Happy reading!


********************************************



Vegetarian Wellness:

Appreciating the intrinsic ingredient of life -- Water
Awareness on the Rice
The Fats of Life
The Healing Power of Juices
The critical veg issue of Vitamin B12



Organic Living:

When is organic food truly organic?
How to kick start with Organic Living




Biogenic Living:

Raw Food with the OMMH!
Super Whole Food: Raw Sprouted Beans
The true life force behind Biogenic Cuisine
Life Force Recipes - Explanatory Notes



Holistic Science:

Stories Untold Behind Cancer
The humble truth of genes



Holistic support:

Vegehub.Org: A new landmark for vegetarian landscape
Enhanced Search Engine for Organic Living!
Putting Vegetarian Theories into Practice (Comparative listing of good water systems, edible oils and veg outlets)
The stories behind Simple Vegetarian



********************************************


Should there be any questions about the topics discussed above,
please do email pureland2012-at-gmail.com :-)



********************************************


You may also subscribe to Learning Holistic Wellness by Email,
if you would like timely notice of future blog posting.






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


{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

How real are food nowadays...

Last weekend,
I was at Organic Living meetup
at Real Food Cafe @ Central.

The cafe was a cozy cafe with homely ambience
that serves good quality organic food!

And, a dozen of us, the organic goers,
had a good chat about what really are
Real Food.

Human beings nowadays have led lives
where indulgence and money come the foremost,
to the extent that,
even food can be compromised.
-- I mean, the real value or the intrinsic quality of food.

There are so many TV shows these days
that glorify the taste and creativity of food
which is just the surface.

That's exactly how we live our lives in this era:
we put so much emphasis on
appearance and sensual stimulation
that we forgot about the core or the original intention.

Real food is meant for sustaining lives
and maintain a healthy body.
However, when civilisation evolves,
people consciously and subcousciously sacrifice
the real meaning of food,
under the name of taste, art, cost and convenience...

In many food preparation out there,
in order to make food taste tantalising,
sugars, salts, fats, artificial flavours etc are abused
like they should.

To pursue artistic display and crafting of 'beautiful' food,
incompatible ingredients are blindly mixed,
nutritional parts are discarded during processing,
and some foods are even served in unsafe ways.

In order to maximize profits and minimize effort,
the modern agriculture utilises
harmful hormones, toxic pesticides, artificial fertilizers
and many "funny" chemicals...

Foods today are
foods with just the form
but without the soul.
These 'frankeinstein' foods
are not only deprived of life force, nutrients and natural taste
they are also foods without sincerity.

Like I mentioned in my recent class, Vegetarian Healing,
we have been, in the past few decades eating lot of soul-less foods
no wonder we are all sick (be it cancer, diabetes, cardio-diseases etc..)

Seriously,
we should wake up from the illusion that
we think have abundance of food.

We are actually eating matters
that look like food,
that fill our stomach;
but provide toxins,
deprive life force and
give little nourishment.

There is no better time to go real,
start organic today!


Sincerely,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com



{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Healing Power of Juices (2)

Another amazing juice story happened
on a 9-year-old mentally retarded girl.

The retarded girl's mum was one of Ms Sim's detox clients.

Out of good will, as always,
Ms Sim advised that the mum to feed her girl
with 6 glasses of juices too,
for the benefit of the girl's overall well being.

The mum tried to heed Ms Sim's advice but
eventually only fed  her girl with 2 glasses of fresh juices daily.

Then, something happened...

One fine day, the girl suddenly dissappeared from the house.
For her entire life, the retarded girl had never left her home
without the company of her family members.
Simply, she could never recognise her way home.
She had to hang a name tag with home address whenever she went out.

Her family was obviously worried,
and did everything they could to search for her.
But just before they could lodge a police report,
the retarded girl came home with some candies in her hands
by her own goodself!

Apparently, they girl went off to nearby grocery shop
to buy candy and found her way home all by herself,
for the 1st time in her life!

Her mum could only claim the only difference she did to her
was the 2 glasses of fresh juices daily over two months =)

Fresh juices are everywhere,
why not grab a glass today? :D


Well wishes,
Kee Yew

Extra:
Juice recipe of the Day
ACE Juice
~~ This juice is creamy and tastes better than carrot milk! (what's more, it's vegan!)
Why organic carrot? because it's sweeter and has higher beta-carotene content.


Blend 350mL of organic carrot juice with 1/2 fully-ripen avocado pulp. Serve chilled.


Benefits: High in Vit A, Vit E and good fats, good for liver, skin, eyes and brain ;)

The-Healing-Power-of-Juices

{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}

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}

Some Basics About Healthy Oil

In 2009, I was interviewed on Channel U,
to comment about some simple facts on
good healthy oils.

Below is a short video clip below (Mandarin),
extracted from the TV series "Essential 7".

In the video clip it was mentioned that:

- oil is best consumed in form of natural food
(ie seeds, grains and fatty fruits)

- good healthy oil should not be heated
to avoid structural damage and generation of carcinogens

- when heating is needed,
specific type of oils are required,
and it should not be overly heated still.

- one way to minimise oil damage during stir-fry
is to simmer thin layer of water on the wok,
put in the veggies and sprinkle oil on top of the veggies

Hope you enjoy the clip =)
Happy watching!!





Well regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012@gmail.com

p/s: more details on fats and oils in previous blog series: The Fats of Life :)


{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Awareness on the Rice (1)

It's has been very encouraging to see

that brown rice is getting more and more common at vegetarain outlets
and more people are switching from white rice to brown rice.

I was teaching a cooking class
at Buddhist Life Mission Assoc a few days ago.
A quick survey among the ~40 students,
revealed that brown rice was acceptable in 90% of the crowd.

It's not significant statistics with such a small pool size of 40 people,
but it's definitely a good indicator.
Multiple years back, when I talked about brown rice,
many of my students outright complained about
its taste, difficulty to cook, the price, accessibility etc..

Consistently in the past 7 years,
I make effort to emphasize the importance of
brown rice in our diet;
raising the awareness
that brown rice is a critical switch into a healthy diet.

Often, I tell people that
brown rice is the solid foundation of
a nutritionally balanced vegetarian diet,
because:

i) brown rice is 10x more nutritious than
polished white rice
(potentially 20-30x more nutritious
if soaked before cooking)

ii) on top of complex carbohydrates, essential fats,
phytonutrients, vitamins etc,
brown rice also contains a lot of minerals
which supply us with vital life force

iii) brown rice provides stable energy
in a sustainable manner over longer period of time
(due to low GI)

iv) brown rice is high in fibre which cleanses
our gastro-intestinal tract

v) brown rice is rich in VitB which
helps in making blood and
maintaining a good nervous system

vi) brown rice balances the Yin elements from
some veggies and fruits.

vii) brown rice is loaded with IP6, a kind of
plant-specific nutrients that is highly potent in
battling cancer and mitigating diabetic condition.

...

There are a lot more reasons to go brown rice,
but talking alone does not change our lives,
so, start taking brown rice today! =)



With metta,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

Awareness-on-the-Rice


aotr.
{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Unleash The Power Within (4)

The 50-hr enriching workshop
with Anthony Robbins ended with
very elaborated description on
the Master Principles of A Vital Life
from body wellness perspective.

In the 9hrs last day session,
Robbins pointed out the 12 Steps
to gather PURE ENERGY to work towards
an outstanding life we all set out to achieve.

The 12 steps are:

(I) The 8 Gifts for our body:
1. Proper Breathing and Lymphasizing
2. Live Water & Live Foods
3. Essential Oils
4. Go Green for Alkalinity
5. Aerobic exercises
6. Maximum Nourishment
7. Structural Alignment and Max. Strength
8. Power of a directed mind and heart

(II) The Poisons to eliminate from our body:
9. Processed Fats
10. Animal Flesh
11. Dairy Products
12. Acid Addictions (e.g. caffeine, alcohol, sugar etc)

On top of all those great enlightening info,
at the end of the day,
Anthony Robbins also challenged participants
to go for a plant based diet for 10-30 days!!

I was totally impressed by this great soul
who is truly a leader
for not only guiding the participants
towards positive mindset, better relationship,
financial abundance and optimal body wellness,
but also encouraging millions of people
to protect the Earth
by going on a plant based diet!!

Just a few days before this workshop started,
I was still thinking of giving up my seat
as I had a lot to take care for
the Holistic Wellness Symposium 11-12 Sep.
Since nobody wanted my ticket,
I decided to attend with my best capacity,
and now I have no regret and am absolutely appreciative
that the universe has arranged such a great opportunity
for my continuous Holistic Wellness Learning =)

More on Anthony Robbins workshop to come!

Many well wishes,
Kee Yew