Annyeong to halitosis

Ann-nyeong haseyo !!! Been using this and hearing it a lot these days , be it in the drama series or anywhere you go and eat , Korean cuisine of course . Even the narrow palate roomie decided to give it a go to celebrate my birthday with some friends in a Korean Bbq restaurant . 

Those flowers boys are absolutely conquering the world with their flawless skin and chinky eyes ( oh I am in love ) . And their ladies are powerful in a way conquering every corner of the world being the owner of a Korean restaurant in a foreign country. So.. Wait what was I suppose to blog about again ?? Oh sorry , I have short term memory , I day dream too much LOL

Garlic . 

That's it I am talking about garlic supplements and how it is medicinal since ages ago .

The distinctive herbs has so much health benefit to offer so maybe despite the bad breath it gives them , the Korean still adores them and eat them three times a day ( sounds like a drug ) LOL 

Allicin is the active ingredient of garlic . They gives it the pungent odour and also the health benefit , therefore if your garlic supplement does not give you the terrible smell from reflux you are not quite getting the benefit it offers . Enteric costed garlic tablets or capsule are great as they protect the Allicin being destroyed by the stomach acids and gets break down in the intestine , now the enteric coated ones should not give you the reflux as it is suppose to get break down in the intestine , so if u could burrrrp a garlicky breath , your enteric coated pills are not good ones ! 

Papers proven that garlic is great to combat cold and flu . But as always I am skeptical about all these things unless I have seen it with my own eyes . My gf is a pretty hot Korean hair stylist , and there is where I would go to for my hair cut and perms . We recently went on a trip to Bali for her hens party and with all the excessive drinking and party , and bikini wearing we all got a little below the weather after 2 nights . But this hot stuff Korean doll is absolutely fine and she went on wearing her sexy clothes in clubs while I freeze my butt off and the next day I am overdosing on nasal spray !!! So believe it or not , I think she had the garlic since young and her immunity is definitely 100x horse power . 

So really if you do fall sick and often needs to see a doctor for your cold And flu and I highly recommend garlic supplements . Take it for long term and not like echinacea tablets and take them when you catch a cold . Prevention is better than cure . 

Forever Flawless (for men)

WELL for years and years we focus on ladies looking fabulous whenever they head out the street. Legs and underarms shaved . Checked . Skincare and make up . Checked . Hair washed , set with a strawberry scented hair spray . Checked. Vanilla butter cup lip balm for kissable lips . Checked .

Out you go to kill all the boys on the street.

But these days we get more and more men ring beauty conscious. Few days back i 've just learnt about the word boyzillian when i went for my brazillian waxing . Apparently boyzillian is the same except that is for men. WHAATTTTT ??!!! so u mean i have men in my waxing salon ? would they peek into the tiny window at the door by accident and coincidently saw me in an awkward pose ????

Let's not think too much.

Men's grooming & health is what i needed to talk about . Well razors is something they should really be careful of, you would think they use it everyday it should not be a huge problems . Guys if you do dispose your disposable razors every 3 days perfectly fine , but what if you don't ??  The bumps that grow more and more usually is the outbreak of e.coli on your skin , they look like pimples but they grow more and more but with no puss head and unrelated to your diet intake (spicy food and chocolates) , and also late nights. You should really get some BACTROBAN from the pharmacy counter. Keep them in your drawer you will find them handy . FUCIDIN  (or FOBAN) is another one that you could keep for that too but rotating between the two is recommended . Your skin can get tolerant to one if you keep using the same thing overtime .

Lip balms are really important , nobody likes to kiss dry chapped lips. The best is to get carmex if possible as they have anti-cold sores ingredient in it. Guys usually find the jar messy as they get into their hands and they normally don't have tissue with them (unless the guy is particularly fussy) , so go for the stick and packaging look absolutely fine , not GIRLY PINKY or things like that.

Stick to the basic for skin care . Get some pharmacy brands like AVENE and EUCERIN for better results . They are really good for sensitive skin . You will probably go no i don't have sensitive skin. But men usually like their skin care light and no residue after use , so these pharmacy brands gives that finishing as they are for sensitive skin !! The rest of the skincare range from LOREAL , GARDNIER are mainly marketing and they contains many strong ingredient to give that ICE, COOL finishing after use. Those things will dry out your skin after long term use and they normally are not best for men that are active in sports that sweats a lot . Wash , Tone and then Moisture. Keep doing these 3 steps repeatedly and don't be shy to approach promoter trust me they would be more than happy to know you more !! because these promoters are usually women and we tend to get attracted to men that care about their own skin .

That much for now guys , do your basic grooming if you want to look like that prince in Cinderella .

Bling Bling skincare

SOME of you might ask why is this related to my field of job? Well, there are many skincare products in Malaysia's pharmacies, and really we would be the first they turn to for advice and not the sales promoters of the skincare products, so yes it is my duty and interest to know and explain to my patients and customers.

Diamonds , are officially girls' best friend . They not only look good on your ring finger apparently they can make you look years younger too. Been attending some talk and updates by dermatologist lately and learnt that diamond dusts are good for our skin .

Diamond dusts are incorporated into the high end skincare products, it's probably better to avoid brand names, just type in diamond and skincare these keywords on your search engines and you will find many familiar names pop up together with some famous celebrities LOL . I was skeptical at first about the whole high end skincare , i believe it is all marketing gimmicks until i have seen it with my own naked eyes that the eye bags and wrinkle lines disappear on the [model] 's face.  It certainly looks like a magic show.

Diamonds are really effective exfoliators , according to the dermatologist, unlike other abrasive peeling agents, it does not damage the skin . Its objective is to to a microdermabrasion on the outer tough skin layer then allows the skincare to penetrates deeper into the stratum corneum , leaving the skin brighter and softer in the end.  Diamond dusts were used by cosmetic dentist for tooth whitening process too , to open up the pores of the enamel ,teeth has pores too * OHEMGEEEE* prior to the whitening process .

On the other hand , gold another glittering substance are also really good for the skin (but in the creams) . 24 carat pure gold when incorporated into the face cream , it is strengtening and rejuvenating. Gold increase blood flow on the area and activates cellular processes and promotes regeneration , slows down the breakdown of collagen , so it is important if you are taking the collagen supplement before bedtime and to use the gold infuse serum and cream. They work hand in hand . Melanin which is the culprit for skin pigmentation can be improve by the use of gold as gold slows the production of melanin.

Cleopatra the Egyptian queen uses gold mask every night, so that explains why she never aged , i guess. 

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 !