Greenmax Golden Germ Vegetables Flavors E

Bought a box of Greenmax Golden Germ Vegetables Flavors E, yet another Greenmax produced flavored & health soup mix.

If you like the savoury soup from Heinz or Campbell, bet you will like this one too. I reckon that besides having it on its own, we can also prepare it as one of the dish (soup) for our meals. If your are the adventurous type, you may want to treat this as soup base, simply add on other vegetable of your choice.

The ingredients are more or less like the rest of Greenmax savoury drink/soup. This one consists of : Yam, Tomato, Pumpkin Seeds, Green Tea, Job's Tear, Wild Rice, Flat Red Bean, Black Bean, Black Sesame, White Sesame, Wheat Germ, Oat, Buck Wheat, Wheat (Cereals containing Gluten), Sea Weed, Pea, Carrot, Cabbage, Celery, and Sea Salt.

It provides Vitamins B1, B2, B12, B6, C & E, niacin, Folic Acid, Calcium Phosphorous & iron and it is Trans Fat Free. No mention of whether the ingredients are organic, so I guess it is not.

No cooking is needed, simply pour boiling water, stir and let it stands for 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Some facts about Sunflower Oil

Sunflower oil is a very commonly used type of oil in our daily cooking, just how much we know about Sunflower oil?

The main producers of Sunflower oil are from Argentina and European Union, 50% of the world’s productions are come from these two areas.

The usages of Sunflower seeds depend highly on their quality. Those with high oil content are used to process into cooking oil. The lower grade ones are the food for birds. Sunflower seeds oil also used in cosmetics products too.

Sunflower oil is pretty stable and able to sustain to high heat, it is well liked by food industries, especially by potatoes chips and snacks food manufacturers.

These are some of the characterisctics of Sunflower oil:

1. It has a very mild taste;
2. Contain high vitamin E and low in saturated fat, a combination of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats;
3. The smoke point is high (able to sustain under high heat);
4. Suitable for deep frying and pan frying;
5. Longer shelf lives as compared to other vegetable oil;

There are the two common types of Sunflower oil being sold in the markets, it depends highly on the genetic and climate of the place where they are produced, check on the labeling before decide which type to buy :

a. High linoleic acid (high in polyunsaturated fat) – Omega 6, low oleic – Omega 9;
b. High oleic (high in monounsaturated fat) , low linoleic.

Generally, high oleic is ideal to keep a good ratio of Omega 6 : Omega 3 in our body. High oleic or mid oleic possess the properties of lowering the LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol). Researches suggested that a high consumption of Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid increases the likelihood of developing breast cancer and prostate cancer.

Some findings on Flax seed or linseed

picture from wikipedia

Flax seed oil is known to be one of the best oil among many other oil. Human has been consuming flax seed since 7000 year ago, it was one of the health products in the ancient times.

Here are some findings about of Flax seed.

Flax seed is very tiny and hard, it is either yellow and dark brown in colour, both types of Flax seeds contains more or less the same nutrients. A whole flax seed can not be digested by our human body, it will be discarded out in one whole piece after we consumed it.

To ripe the nutrition from the flax seed, we will have to consume it in powder form or oil. Flax seed powder can sustain high heat, suitable for baking bread and biscuits while flax seed oil is very unstable, it is easily oxidized and has to be stored in non transparent bottle (usually in dark bottle) and place in the fridge, therefore, Flax seed oil is highly unsuitable for cooking. The best way to consume Flax seed oil is to add into salad and sandwiches, or eat together with yogurt or smoothies. I usually spread over bread or mix with plain yogurt.

Flax seed has higher contain of lignan as compared to wheat bran, buckwheat, rye, and oats. Lignan is a type of phytoestrogen. Lignan possesses anti-fungus and anti bacteria properties, is a good source of anti cancer agent to fight against breast cancer, colon cancer as well as lowering blood pressure.

Flax seed oil does not contain any lignan. However, it provides good source of omega 3. 1.5 teaspoons a day of flax seed oil is sufficient for our daily need.

Pregnant women are discouraged to consume Flax seed because of its phytoestrogen content which interferes the body’s hormone. In order to obtain omega 3, fish oil is a better choice for pregnant women.

Besides making bread and biscuits, Flax seed powder can also be added to fruits yogurt, oatmeal, cereal, it is more versatile as compared to Flax seed oil. The shelf life is much longer too.

Greenmax Fine Multi Grains

I found this multi grain at our local hypermarket last night. As it says on the packet, it provides a good source of dietary fiber, iron, vitamins and carotene to nourish your life, and keep you vigorous. It is another Greenmax product I would like to try.

There are 11 types of natural grains and seeds in this packet : Brown rice, Job's Tear, Sorghum Rice, Barley, Buckwheat, Pearl Rice, Gordon Euryale seeds, millet, Wheat, Oat, Black glutinous rice.

You can cook it into rice, porridge or dessert depending whether you like it savoury or sweet.

Health hazard of consuming Canola Oil

What type of cooking oil are you consuming? Vegetable oil, olive oil, coconut oil, peanuts oil or animal fats? Most of us know that olive oil is a better choice but not everyone of us can afford it because it is quite pricey comparatively. So we usually opt for vegetable oil rather than coconut oil.

If one were to read about the facts, coconut oil is the best choice, however due to the high saturated fats content in coconut oil, we were being brainwashed not to consume it and some do not like the strong coconut essence in their cooking. Hence, not many household using coconut oil in their cooking nowadays.

Whatever cooking oil that your are currently or have been consuming, by all means avoid Canola oil, it is a highly toxic genetically engineered oil. Proceed to read this article - Canola Oil, Health Hazard for more information.

Coconut oil still the best choice

Good Sleep Good Health

A good sleep is the best medicine. Therefore, developing good sleeping patterns are utmost important to all of us.

Have you heard of people say nothing better than a good night sleep? Our body can not rest unless we have a good sleep, it is the best way for restoration after a day of school, hours of work, and other activities. Our body and mind are refreshed and restored to face a fresh new day of challenge after a good night sleep.

Besides having to settle our mind to prepare for a good sleep, there are certain sleeping habits or patterns that we need to observe. Improper sleeping habits or patterns will cause much danger to our health.

1. Beadroom environment : The bedding materials, ligthing, smell, noise level, and temperature in the bedroom have great effect on our sleep. Ensure our bedrooms are condusive and comfortable.

2. Remove makeup before going to bed would allow our skin to breathe, thus our skin are healthier.

3. Avoid covering our head during sleep. There are negative effects with head covered with blanket. We tend to inhale more carbon dioxide which is trapped inside the blanket, resulting insufficient oxygen circulated to the brain as well as to the rest of the organs, this will cause headache, drowsiness. At the same time, the dirt and dust that accumulated under the blanket is detrimental to our airways in a long run.

4. Small kid sleeping in between the adults. The kid in between tends to be in an insufficient oxygen position. This will affect the growth of his/her physical health.

5. Use bra to sleep deters blood circulation. Studies show that those who use bras more than 12 hours a day are 21 times higher in developing breast cancer as compare to those seldom or not using bra. So it is best to change into comfortable clothing at home and avoid using bra to sleep.

6. Go to bed right after meal will lower blood pressure thus lower blood flow to the brain, the possibility of having stroke is higher. It would be good to have a short stroll after meal, a good blood circulation will prevent stroke.

7. Sharing a piece of blanket is definitely not a good idea, because any movements will disturb each other’s sleep.

8. Sleeping outdoor is surely more comfortable to many especially during warm humid weather, however, the temperature will turn lower after midnight, accordingly to Chinese theory, the cool breeze after midnight to dawn is cold in nature, sleeping in this environment will cause cough & flu, headache, stomach upset, joint pain and rheumatism.

10. Sleep before 11pm. Our body is in the state of detoxification from 11pm to 2pm. If we are still awake at these hours, our body will not be able to carry out the detoxification function to eliminate the toxin from our body.

11. Avoid going to bed with anger, try to settle any disagreements with other(s). Having a big heart to forgive other(s) and ourselves will help.

12. Say a little bedtime prayer before sleep. Count our blessings and be thankful for what we have.

Have a good night sleep every one!!

Bioglo Pure Aloe Skin Care

After a trial of a month of using the Bioglo Pure Aloe Skin Perfecting Moisturiser that I bought from Cosway, I love it so much that I bought a set of 3 of its products under promotion this month which consists of Skin Perfecting Cleanser (120ml), Skin Perfecting Moisturiser (50g) and White Radiance Facial Mask (3 sachets).

This set of skin care only cost me RM46.90, super cheap.I can feel the freshness, smoothness and supple of my face on the first application of the Perfecting Moisturiser, and I love it instantly.

These products are made in Malaysia. The content of the Aloe Barbadensis in Skin Perfecting Cleanser is 40%, While the Moisturiser contents concentrated 200% pure aloe gel and 200% Active Aloe in the facial mask. Not that I know the measurement of the aloe contents but the result of using the Skin Perfecting Moisturiser is very satisfying, even my daughter noticed and commented on the smoothness of my face and like to touch my face more.


*this is purely my personal testimonial after using this products, not a paid post.

Sea Salt

I once read an article about the benefits of sea salt.  It says that the calcium content in sea salt is much lower than the refined salt.

To avoid consuming to much salt I usually control on the salt in my cooking that result a lot of complains from my family because they find the food are tasteless.  

Since knowing sea salt is a better alternative to the normal salt, I started to look for it in the supermakets, surprisingly I could not find any even in the major hypermarkets.  I was happy to see this sea salt in the cosway shopping catalogue.  I bought one bottle for a try and it tastes as good. 

Fresh fruit juice

I always make it a point to prepare fresh fruit juices for my family everyday. We consume the juice immediately when it's out from the juicer, this way we could have all the nutrients from the fruits and vegetable.

In order to have sufficient fruits and vegetable for my juices, I stock up the basic ingredients, apple and carrot are the must have in my juices, simply because my girls prefer apple juice over the rest.

With apple and carrot juice as base, I add in green vegetable, like celery, and any organic vegetable that I could buy from the shop. I like to have green in my juices especially for my hubby who do not like to take vegetable in his meal.

It is also a good idea to include green leafy vegetable in the juices for the kids just like what I do for my daughters who do not like to eat vegetable at all, but in a much lesser portion.

cut them up into small pieces for ease to pass through the juicer even though my juicer can squeeze the whole piece of carrot, I won't want to over work my expensive juicer. :)

A glass of freshly squeeze juice. Sometimes I add in some potassium salt or a packet of green food for extra nutrients, but not for the kids.