Nurture Your Own

According to Ms Nehal Kamdar, Dietian with Raffles Hospital, a home made soup soup stock is an excellent way to enhance the flavour of dishes. The meat, bones and beans that you are using contain mainly minerals, protein and fat. None of these are destroyed by heat. However, there are some points to note when freezing home-made stock:

1. As the stock continues to heat, oil in the water rises to the surface, and combines with the proteins, creating a foam. You should let the soup chill completely and skim the fat from the top before freezing the stock. Fat spoils over time in the freezer and shortens the frozen stock shelf life.
2. Store Food in small servings to hasten freezing. This also allows you to defrost what you want.
3. The quicker food freezes, the better its quality once thawed. Arrange containers in a single layer to allow air to circulate for quicker freezing.
4. When defrosting, do so in the refrigerator or microwave, never in room temperature or you might run the risk of food contamination.
5. Do not freeze more than 4 months.

(Extracted from The Straits Times, Mind Your Body, 5 Feb 2009)

Additional Reading
Healthy Urban Kitchen Cookbook by Antonia Valladores and Jamie Larose

The longer I live the less confidence I have in drugs and the greater is my confidence in the regulation and administration of diet and regimen.

~John Redman Coxe, 1800

Parkinson’s disease

1. It is the 2nd most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimers.

2. There are about 4 millions PD sufferers worldwide.

3. Common for those above 65 years old. However, 15% of people with PD are below aged 50.

4. It affects more men then women. Reason unknown yet.

5. About 10% of PD cases are hereditary. The rest are sporadic.

6. The degeneration of dopanmine producing cells – neurotransmittters that control movement – in the brain results in PD.

7. Tremors, muscle rigidity, slowness of movement and poor balance and gait are common symptoms.

8. As the disease progresses, up to 40% of PD patients will suffer from depression, concentration problems, sleep disorder and eventually cognitive decline.

9. No real cure available. No proven treatment to slow process according to medical science.

10. 4 main treatments to manage PD: dopaminergic replacement drugs, rehabilitation, anti-cholinergic drugs and deep brain stimulation therapy

Additional Reading:
Parkinson Disease – Best Selling Book Online by Lianna Marie

Diseases of the soul are more dangerous and more numerous than those of the body.

~ Cicero

Should you choose to quit smoking on a special day – like Valentine’s Day, on a Friday, or the 4th July? There is honestly no hard and fast rule, but, if you had tried stopping on a special day like this, and failed, please reconsider.

The main problem with selecting a special day is that you may not really be ready to quit on that day or worse, not ready to stop at all. You know you should be quitting smoking, but deep insider you, you really don’t have the desire to stop. Because you know to kick the addictive habit is no stroll in a park. It is hard and we human beings always tend to avoid pain at all cost.

The truth is if you are not ready, then don’t bother because your chances of success will be slim.

Rather than stop smoking on a special day, select a day that’s going to workfor you.

To illustrate, there will be some days when you smoke more than other days. So, if you smoke excessively on Monday, don’t pick Monday as the starting point. If you usually don’t smoke during weekends, pick a Saturday to quit smoking.

Any time is a good time to quit smoking when you have the will. However, if you want the best chance of being successful, you;ll have to invest enough attention to your own requirement so that your chances to quit successful is higher. It is definitely not a good feeling nor a good start to stop a few days and then go back to smoke even more.

Additional reading if you need more help to quit:

Quit Smoking Right Now program by Rick Beneteau

Hypnosis To Change Your Life by Steve G Jones.

Quit Smoking Painlessly Now.

The… patient should be made to understand that he or she must take charge of his own life. Don’t take your body to the doctor as if he were a repair shop.
~ Quentin Regestein

If you smoke one pack a day, you will spend about $1192 a year.

If you puff 2.5 pack a day, the figure will rise to $2983 a year.

The research is done by Rick Beneteau.

Can you imagine what you can do with this money if you chose to stop smoking? However, many people also have to spend money to quit smoking.

Rick Beneteau said the following is the amount of money a smoker could spend on another attempt at “chemical” quitting:

1. Quit Smoking programs range from free to $1,000.00′s. Most fail. Miserably.

2. A Nicotrol Inhaler will cost you approx. $509.88.

3. Three months of chewing Nicorettes will cost you approx. $337.50.

4. Seven  weeks of swallowing Zyban pills will cost you anywhere from $160.08 to $300.00+ depending on where you purchase.

5. Three  months of “withdrawal munchies” (with other programs) will add at least $700.00 to your grocery bill.

Additional reading:

Quick Smoking Today

Hypnosis To Change Your Life by Steve G Jones.

Physical ills are the taxes laid upon this wretched life; some are taxed higher, and some lower, but all pay something.

~ Lord Chesterfield

Occasionally we have bad breath, most likely due to the food we just ate or due to a bad bout of flu that caused serious sinus congestion. Though are temporary but chronic bad breath bring forth much serious consequences.

Did you know these …

Chronic bad breath or halitosis is often a precursor to more serious oral and general health problems?

The American Medical Association (AMA) and American Dental Association (ADA) have linked even the mildest forms of gum disease such as gingivitis, to certain forms of cancer and even heart disease?

People with gingivitis and periodonitist have a mortality rate that is up to 46% higher than those who don’t?

The same plaque and germs that cause tooth decay and gum inflammation is found in the same plaque that builds up in your heart and arteries?

95% of products on the market today are ineffective at reducing and reversing bad breath and gum disease?

Mouth ulcers and canker sores are caused not by the food and drinks you consume, but by the very ingredients in toothpaste and rinses you are using?

For those with this health problem, you might find it interesting to check out Tomas O’Caomhanach’s claim that there is a $2 mix of common safe Ingredients that cure bad breath In 3 days.

Source: “How I Banished My Bad Breath and Gum Disease For Life!”