369 Fishy stuff

EATing sashimi now gives the best value  , so i am loading up on the salmon belly sashimi whenever i can in a  j a p a n e s e restaurants these days. Why so ?? as with the newly implement GST system in our country since March this year , anything processed in a restaurant when you dine out will be charged additional 6% . Some people reading this would be saying we have GST ages ago, since i was born !!!!  yea i agree we are slow , we are developing country , Malaysia 2020 vision is still farrrrrrrr ain't it?

LET's not get distracted , i want to really really really stress that we need the OMEGA 3 fatty acids from the deep sea fishes a lot . About 5 years back, health professionals starts to go further looking at omega 6 & 9 too . OW OW this is the confusing part. There are supplements i the market named omega 369, been selling very well as most of my customers ask for that. So why omega 3? or 6 and 9 ? or All of it ???

Well let's go through each and everyone of them separately and then tell you what you should do. Then again, always the same point, no obligations to follow through. Make your own decision.

OMEGA 3 fatty acids are essential fatty acids that our body cannot make ourselves , therefore supplementation from diet and pills are important. This number 3 gives us good cholesterol and the antioxidant benefits. The Cholesterols in our body are divided into 3 types, the good and bad and the TG (the very bad ) . The good and bad cholesterol has to be maintain in a 3:1 ratio in order to gives us the healthy heart and arteries ( that are not clogged up ). Meaning 3 Bad over 1 good cholesterol, it might sound easy , but these good cholesterol (omega3 ) are not easily found in our diet and simply not enough. Anyone who are a bit more health conscious , that has done blood test regularly will know that the good cholesterol ratio is mostly NOT met in general . Those that usually meet this ratio are athletes , runs three times a week , eat lots and lots of fishes and salad…. and only deep sea fishes *aahem*

In our daily 9-5 white collar working lifestyle in Malaysia , where to find deep sea fishes in MAMAK (local hawker stalls -read previous posts ) ???? The MAMAK( a type of indian in our country) in the shop will be looking at you WEIRD when u ask do they have salmon or cod fish . Then you resolve with one NASI LEMAK (local specialties ) , boss !!  The Mamak gives you a thumbs up *whatsapp emoji* .  Nasi lemak is load up with bad cholesterol, there you go the vicious cycle starts again , not enough OMEGA 3 ( the good one )!!

Enough of Good one bad one , some of you look confused already . The OMEGA 6 is a bad one *silent * ……*pause* …….*people laugh * ….. SEE this is easy number 6 is BAD.

Then we move on to OMEGA 9 , this one is the odd one out. OUR body produces it !! The only one NOT an essential fatty acids . OK some look confuse again LOL

Well to sum it up 369 ( good .bad.good ) . Got it?

Omega 9 will be the same as omega 3 giving anti-inflammatory , anti oxidative and protecting your arteries . It is found abundance in olive oil so eat more of them in a unprocessed form as in for salad dressing and not after you cook it with your chicken. Then together with the bodies production, it is more than enough .

Summing up , number 3 is not enough , so supplement . Number 6 is too much , no supplement. Number 9 is self produce , optional to supplement (depends on financial status -supplements are expensive ) .

My advice is , stick to the basics.

Zero calorie sweeteners

Fighting sugar cravings can really really really really make me crazy during the time of the month on my diet plan , so I looked into sweeteners to help me pull through that few days , if not roomie would report me to the hospital, primary complain would be maniac disorder or bipolar ?? 

Diabetasol , Equal , Splenda and Stevia are a few popular ones . They come in powder, granule and tablets forms. Taste wise all pretty much the same except stevia as it is from a natural source , naturally derived from a plant . I prrsonally don't like the taste of Stevia as I prefer sweetness to be more intense and this one does not gives me that in my tea. No syiokkkkk LAH . But then again , it is proven to be safe for pregnancy , especially for mothers that develop diabetes during their preganacy ( discuss the maximum amount of stevia to take with your doctor or pharmacist ) .Equal has the finest powder finishing , very important if you need to mix it into your drinks , iceeeee coldddd drinks ! If you only have hot drinks then any would do as they dissolve in hot drinks in no time .For tablets forms , most economical in the long run as they are refillable and you save the environment by producing less waste/ trash .

For diabetic patients , here is some advice that you may want to know. Patients on insulin injections and anti-hyperglycaemic tablets to manage their diabetes usually are not totally abstain from sugars . Doctors usually will advise them to do lifestyle modifications and reduce carbohydrate intake , or change to low GI index food to avoid the heavy load of glucose at a time so they are still taking carbohydrate and some sugar daily. If diabetic patients add on using sweeteners in their drinks, they would find that they have higher cravings for carbohydrate , making controlling diabetes harder . The difference here is that I am on a strict diet, totally NOT taking carbohydrate, so it's OK to have them in my drinks . So unless you are a diabetic patient also on Atkins diet , then you are the same with me ( and my fellow Atkins ) , otherwise these zero calorie sweeteners are NOT for you . 

After all , the name Diabetasol should really be changed LOL 

Raspberry ketones

Still talking about weight loss , like I said this topic never seems to leave our girls talk . Raspberry ketones gain popularity in the recent years . In 2012, a rather popular TV talk show mentioned about it assisting in burning fat, and being from raspberry , everyone starts to relate it to antioxidant and probably good for the urinary tract , oh sorry , that was CRANberries .. WwwwOops 

Ended up after few years in the market and lost the popularity as it is really full of antioxidant properties , but very little known or proven to help in loosing fat . There were reported case of jerkiness , palpitation and increase in headache frequencies . So I guess it does what the prescription medication duromine does , except much milder . I suppose if you are looking for something to increase your metabolismn,  while you exercise to reduce weight , in the end loosing fat , this is not such a bad option . But just by taking it and expecting it to help you burn fat while u were sleeping I guess not .

Same goes for L-carnitine and safflower oil . The transporter brings out the fat from the stubborn layer into the blood stream and the other helps breaks down the fat into smaller molecule so that it is easier to be excreted by your body . But yet to be proven efficacy. Lots decided to hop on the bandwagon regardless of the evidence , and the pharmaceuticals company are making so much money from it . If things were that simple , there would not be any rich and fat people on the street , don't you think so ? 

There is no easy way out for weight loss , I believe no pain no gain and in this context money can't buy happiness ( as in your ideal body image - put aside surgery ) . 

My Atkin Diet

High tea with the girlies was just so fun with so much 'trash' to talk about . LOL. First we go about the 2 dollar bf jeans that was so cheap in which ever flea market and then we talk about the newest place to get our hair color done , which stylist is the talk of the town and then we will move on to DIET and weight loss . The weight and diet topic will never leave our conversation somehow , irregardless of what age group the female falls into (starting from puberty ). I think all ladies should just get a tattoo on their hips the word "DIET" , because it looks like it is a life long dedication to this issue !!

I have been putting hashtag ### on my IG account about my atkin diet and protein only, i think i should talk about it in my blog here too, to make everyone understand. Well i kind of did it my way , that's why i called it my akin diet . I still eat cheese and i c e c r e a m ……muahahha i can't seems to stop these two somehow .The real akin diet is totally protein base which these two is not allowed.

I tried many diets before this , they are all very effective , and i loose 2-3 kg in general but with this one i have lost 8kg , don't be too surprise wait for my next sentence, over a period of 9 months in another words, it is not a lot. If i am on a competition for the biggest looser i'll probably get disqualified long ago. I am down to the last 4kg , as i intended to loose 12 kg all up . What i figure out was sustainabilty mixing with a little rationality. Prior to this diet, i was on healthy eating diet with the help of occasional jogging in the park , soon i realize it is not possible to sustain as my lifestyle changed, i needed to dine out more and got so much social event to attend and it is just impossible to ask the restaurant to cook with less oil and salt can you ??  I think the chef would be offended , i would be if i was the chef . Then i tried this weight watcher diet, which everything i eat is weight watcher brand, so i eat before the social event and just drink water or diet coke during the dinner with my friends , which they don't mind , they claim they like my company any how , provided i split the bills too !! so i ended up really poor for a couple of months as i had to split the bill and buy my weight watcher food !! Can't go on like this i said.  

I went home and draw myself an action plan , and figure out what was my complain , how much time have i got (plenty !!) and is exercise with my busy schedule ? and i figure out i have no time to exercise, i eat out a lot and i am not in a hurry to loose the pounds. To sum up everything here , i figure i need the endurance , so i am looking at long term and not a short term diet . So i need to 'like' the diet i choose , for instance i can't pick vegetarian as i hate vegetables and starch , so no to cabbage diet or pumpkin diet that kinda crash diet, i will get bored with the food in no time. The food in the diet must be readily accessible in my work environment ( food chains in the mall ) and during those social dinners . So i found eggs, chicken , and cheese . So i went through the diets and found atkins (well closest to it) . There you go , work it out this way , that way you are not going all the way changing your whole life and everything to achieve your goals , at the end of the day , weight loss is 30% gym and 70% diet , so work on what you eat first. Do some research/reading and some thinking and you should be on your way to a successful weight loss.

Your diet may include medications .Some medication and supplements are available for assisting you to loose weight , but it's always recommended to talk to an expert before starting them . For instance if you would like to start on orlistat (read my previous blog ) , if you like sugary drinks and carbohydrates (meaning wholemeal bread , noodles and rice ) then this medication is not right for you and your dime will be wasted.  Duromine ( the appetite suppressant ) is ban in some countries as they are abuse by bulimics and causes death , as the medication is too strong and not suitable for them .  Discuss your options with the trained personnel and make the wisest choice , certainly not worth it to loose your life for a DIET .

IF i am a fairy god mother , i would grant all women a wish : To eat whatever they like without getting fat ! 

Grape Seeds Oil

WE had a high tea party , and the girls were pretty creative with the wine glass. Those wine glasses are beautiful crystal made, with the classic design, i feel like a queen using it . But because we had some friends who are muslims in the party , no alcohol is allowed . So instead of putting those beautiful glasses to waste as they are flown in from Switzerland , they place some red grapes in it to serve fruits as a dessert. Beautifully thought of i must say .

When my good friend was busily taking off the skin and seeds from the grapes to eat the remaining fruit, i scream and said : eat the seeds !! it's antioxidant ! She looked at me as if i am a crazy woman and said : i can just take tablets, buy from your pharmacy , got discount ahhhh??  The most common question my friend ask me every time they say they need medication . And then i will say public hospital is totally FREE !! *phew*

She then gave me the inspiration to write about grape seeds oil  . About 5 years back , the supplement gain some popularity among those ladies who wanted stay and look younger than their age, and they found grape seeds oil. The supplement was not exactly bad, but it is not to be taken !!

Grape seeds oil comes from the excess or say the by -product of winemaking, the left over grape seeds are then extracted with chemical solvent to give the oil . Has high content of vitamin E and omega 6 . Claims to be high in polyphenols and flavonoids , provided if the capsule or tablets are well coated and are not destroyed once it reaches our stomach acids. So the raw seeds is hard and when u bite and chew or swallow whole, your stomach acid destroy the hard outer seed, some polyphenol and flavonoids will be absorbed in the intestine. Which is why the tablets are useless. Omega 6 is all too much in the fat and cooking oil we eat daily , the additional will not benefit the heart or the arteries.

You will have to eat a lot of grapes together with the seeds to get anti-aging effect, so i am not telling you to buy tons of grapes to eat now, you probably end up with obstructions of bowel or diabetes from the sugar in the fruits, but what i am saying if you so happen to come across the seeds and skin, don't take them off and just eat them as a whole.

Skin care products like CAUDALIE uses grape seeds oil as their active ingredients for creams. When in creams , the oil gives perfect moisturisation to very dry skin , dehydrated skin needs extremely oily formulation but not too oily to give a greasy feel. Oil in water base is best. When the oil is applied according to the regimen, i believe it will be effective as high vitamin E means good for skin cells  regeneration and scarring and Omega 6 would fix very dry skin problems.

This isn't a crush , it's…...

He called and i blush…..OMGawwwwd.

WELL i am not talking about that kinda butterfly in your stomach whenever you meet him that kinda crush , saying that not all your tablets can be cut or crush.

When i was working in Australia , the government funded most of the essential prescription medications with what they call the PBS -pharmaceutical benefit scheme. I am sure it is also the same with most EU countries . But when i move back to work in Malaysia , it is not the same case, medications are not subsidize by the government for the average populations. The public hospital requires 'network'  to be able to access to expensive medications , and not to mention the condition of the hospital and waiting time in a public hospital, so most of the middle class citizens will opt for private hospitals, and the medication bill will take up 60% of your expenditure monthly . And the remaining of the money for you to eat at the hawker stalls  (no GST ) and mamak ( our local cafes ) which serves food extremely tasty  *big smile * and full of oil and sugar *big frown* , and there goes the vicious cycle that you need to increase your does of your medication because there is no way for lifestyle modification if you need to work your butt off to pay bills.

Welcome to our country !!

So what people or patients here do , they will try to save some cost and cut their tablets. AS it always more economical to buy the higher dose pack and cut them into half , that way you pay less and the medication last for 2 months. This was the most frequent question being ask in my training days in the public hospital in Malaysia. The doctors will ring up the out -patient pharmacy to ask  if so can so and so (eg.lipitor and norvasc and frusemide ) be cut into half ? and the government is already supplying the generics for these drugs *big sigh* .  And then i will have to dug up the information leaflet in the package to read whether if the tablets can be cut .

Here is what i concluded after reading about 100 over leaflets :

1. No Cut or CHEW when you see DR, XR , ER , SR, MR on the pack it should never be cut or half . They stand for      Delayed-release,  EXTENDed -release , slow -release and modified -release respectively.  The tablets are changed to overcome the acid destruction and meant to disintegrate only in the lower stomach or intestines . Once you cut them the protection from acid is gone.

2.  You see the word enteric coated, film coated or sugar coated …anything 'coated' means you are meant to swallow it whole. Never Chew. 

3. Tablets are scored ?? so what is scored you would ask . Look closer at a white tablet that has a line / dividing section in the middle, like being stamp on the tablet. If the tablet is scored , you can cut them.

4. Written MR on the box but the tablets are scored??? Your mind is going wild thinking isn't it ?? YEHHHHHH. i have seen such tablets, well i checked, the tablets are kind of made in separate / two compartment , when cut or split will still be OK *wink* . This is only applicable to reputable companies productions.

5. Capsules . Can you open them up and mix it with your drinks ? YESHHHH you may , especially for patients feeding on nasogastric tube , capsules are heaven to them . But look closer sometimes the content in the capsules are coating , that way you should not crush the content further into  a powder even if they don't dissolve too well with your drink (for example Nexium ) , drink the mixture as a whole without chewing on the granules.

6. Very confuse and still in dilemma ? ASK me or your pharmacist . Drop me a mail on druggqueen@gmail.com or comment on my IG @druggqueen.

Stretch mark away

NOT only pregnant woman get stretch marks, those who have been obese and lost weight gets them too *point me*  but was i not obese recently , i was an obese kid , weighing about 60kg when i was 12 years old . So my stretch mark stayed on with me after high school but not the English and Math i was taught LOL . Instead of getting it around the tummy , hips and buttocks area , i have it on my thigh , arms and some on the calves.
Stretch marks are divided into two types , define by their color and also how long the stretch mark been there . Red ones are usually easier to treat , and white ones are usually an older scar deep under the skin tissue therefore it is harder to treat .
I wish i knew better to apply Bio oil or cocoa butter lotion. But then again I was only 12 , all I care about was to be a nerd and get good grades.

Stretch marks are pretty much by luck . The factors contributing to it includes GENETIC , yeshhhhh it is , so ask your mum was she stretch markyyyy? Elasticity of the skin and also how big ( your tummy if pregnant ) you were . If you  were an obese XXXL , you will have a lot more stretch marks and also loose skin folds. Sometimes I look into the mirror and saw those stretch marks I wish I could just iron them away LOL  

Stretch marks are basically scars , a form of tissue tearing due to distention.  The treatment carried the same principle of treating scars. Your epidermis which is another words your skin , were well moisturize , water and collagen content were high , the healing process will be much easier to take place, then you won't develop too much scars. Which is why genetic plays a role, the skin basic condition is sort of in born, which is why some of us look more plump up ( i mean you skin ), and some of us has very oily skin ( very good for stretch marks prevention ) and some very dry skin ( hopeless for stretch marks ) . Well to some up the factors what i m actually saying is if you are dry skin , don't stretch too much (keep baby bump to the smallest ) and if you were ugly had a lot of pimple when u are teenager ( jus kidding ) then enjoy your pregnancy , it's your turn to glow and be pretty not needing to worry about stretch marks .

TWO years back there is a huge hooohaaa about Palmer's Cocoa Butter (for stretch marks ) is not good for the baby bump as it contains caffeine and absorption through the belly causing baby having palpitation and low birth weight, then everyone switches to Bio Oil (vitamin E oil ) . But personally id lower birth weight is better  for stretch mark as the distention is lesser and increase in heart rate just means the child is doing cardio inside you tummy LOL , no studies shows birth defect or brain damage to the baby. Well caffeine , if you say you are NO NO (totally clean ) caffeine drinker and you don't even eat white chocolate then i won't suggest you using cocoa butter, use avocado butter . But most things have caffeine now, chocolates, non- cola sodas , decaf coffee and even pain relievers !!! How can you say your body is not expose to caffeine before you are even pregnant?? so when you go totally cold turkey with no caffeine when you are pregnant , your body is going through a change perhaps even withdrawal that causes low birth weight ?? so which is which ?? you or cocoa butter. Go figure.

Vitamin E oil is lovely for stretch marks and scarring and very economical too, totally like it but not love as it is oily in texture, after you slap in on your tummy or buttocks or thigh, it will stains through your clothes, which i absolutely mind !

The bring home note is when you've decided to use any product , compliance is important , these creams surely work provided you out em on twice or thrice a day , twice a day is the minimum . 

If you are not born with smooth , firm and beautiful skin like Snow White , then you need to work extra hard for it , trust me you are not alone . There is not many in born snow whites out there.