Healthy Me - At Home and Away

🥗From Garden to Table: Is Homegrown Food More Nutritious?

2026-10-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

🥗From Garden to Table: Is Homegrown Food More Nutritious?

...and the Science Behind It.

One of the joys of gardening is harvesting food you've grown yourself.

Whether it's a ripe tomato, a handful of lettuce, a sweet strawberry or a freshly picked sprig of mint, homegrown produce often feels more satisfying than anything bought from a store.

But does that mean it's actually more nutritious?

It's a question many gardeners ask, and the scientific answer is both encouraging and surprisingly balanced.

Nutrition Starts Long Before Harvest

The nutritional value of fruits and vegetables depends on many factors, including:

The plant variety.
Soil or growing system.
Weather and sunlight.
Water availability.
Stage of ripeness.
Harvest timing.
Storage conditions.

Because so many factors are involved, it's difficult to say that one source of produce is always more nutritious than another.

The Freshness Advantage

Where homegrown produce often shines is freshness.

Many fruits and vegetables begin losing small amounts of certain nutrients after harvest. Delicate vitamins, such as vitamin C, gradually decline during storage and transport.

When you harvest vegetables just before preparing a meal, there is very little time for those natural changes to occur.

That freshness is one genuine advantage of growing food at home.

Ripening on the Plant

Home gardeners also have the freedom to let many fruits ripen naturally.

Tomatoes, strawberries and mulberries can remain on the plant until they develop their fullest colour, flavour and aroma.

Commercial growers often harvest some crops earlier so they can better withstand transport and storage.

Natural ripening doesn't automatically make every fruit dramatically more nutritious, but it can improve flavour and may influence the development of certain beneficial plant compounds.

The Biggest Benefit May Surprise You

Perhaps the greatest health advantage of home gardening isn't found in laboratory tests.

It's found in everyday habits.

People who grow fruits and vegetables often:

Eat more fresh produce.
Try a wider variety of foods.
Cook more meals at home.
Waste less food because they value what they've grown.

Those lifestyle changes can have a much greater impact on long-term health than small differences in nutrient content.

Myth vs. Fact

Myth: Homegrown vegetables are always much more nutritious than store-bought vegetables.

Fact: Homegrown produce isn't automatically more nutritious. However, harvesting at peak ripeness and eating produce soon after picking can help preserve freshness, flavour and some nutrients.

Just as importantly, growing your own food often encourages healthier eating habits.

Growing Something Else

Gardening grows more than vegetables.

It grows patience.

It teaches observation.

It reminds us that healthy food doesn't appear overnight—it develops one leaf, one flower and one fruit at a time.

Those lessons may be just as valuable as the harvest itself.

My Takeaway

My balcony garden hasn't convinced me that every homegrown vegetable is nutritionally superior.

What it has done is encourage me to eat more fresh produce, appreciate seasonal harvests and understand where my food comes from.

For me, that's one of the greatest rewards of gardening.

From Garden to Table

Every fruit and vegetable I harvest carries a story of seed sowing, watering, pruning, waiting and learning. Those experiences have changed not only what I eat, but also how I think about food.

If you'd like to follow that journey, I invite you to visit Lechaim Farm, where I share the successes, challenges and everyday discoveries of growing food in a tropical balcony garden.

A Note for Readers

This article is intended for general educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. A balanced diet, regular physical activity and other healthy lifestyle habits remain the foundation of good health.

🥗From Garden to Table: Fresh vs. Frozen — Which Is Really Better?

2026-10-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

🥗From Garden to Table: Fresh vs. Frozen — Which Is Really Better?

...and the Science Behind It.

Standing in front of the supermarket freezer, it's easy to think that fresh vegetables must always be the healthier choice.

After all, "fresh" sounds healthier than "frozen."

But is that actually true?

Surprisingly, the answer isn't always.

In many cases, frozen fruits and vegetables can be just as nutritious as fresh ones—and sometimes even more so.

What Happens Before Food Reaches the Store?

Fresh produce begins changing the moment it is harvested.

Although fruits and vegetables remain alive for a while after picking, they continue to breathe, lose moisture and slowly break down certain nutrients.

How much nutrition is lost depends on many factors:

How ripe the produce was when harvested.
How long it was stored.
Transportation time.
Temperature during storage.
Time spent on supermarket shelves.

By the time some produce reaches our kitchens, several days—or even weeks—may have passed since harvest.

Why Frozen Produce Can Be Surprisingly Nutritious

Frozen fruits and vegetables are usually harvested close to their peak ripeness.

Soon after harvest, they are briefly blanched (for most vegetables) and then rapidly frozen.

Freezing slows the natural processes that cause food to age, helping preserve many vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

Although blanching may reduce some heat-sensitive vitamins, the rapid freezing process helps retain much of the food's overall nutritional value.

When Fresh Has the Advantage

Fresh produce shines when it is truly fresh.

Vegetables picked from a home garden, farmers' market or local grower and eaten soon afterward often provide outstanding flavour, texture and nutritional quality.

The shorter the time between harvest and your plate, the better.

This is one reason many home gardeners appreciate harvesting vegetables just before cooking or serving them.

Convenience Matters Too

One advantage of frozen produce is convenience.

Because it is already cleaned, trimmed and stored for longer periods, frozen vegetables make it easier to include more vegetables in everyday meals.

And that's an important point.

The healthiest vegetables are often the ones we actually eat.

If keeping frozen vegetables in the freezer helps you prepare balanced meals more often, that's a meaningful benefit.

Myth vs. Fact

Myth: Frozen vegetables are much less nutritious than fresh vegetables.

Fact: Frozen vegetables often retain nutritional value very well. In some situations, they may even contain more of certain nutrients than "fresh" produce that has spent many days in storage and transport.

Fresh and frozen vegetables can both be excellent choices.

What About Homegrown Produce?

Growing food at home adds another dimension.

Homegrown fruits and vegetables can often be harvested at peak ripeness and eaten within minutes or hours.

That freshness doesn't automatically make them dramatically more nutritious than all other produce, but it does reduce the time available for delicate nutrients to decline after harvest.

Perhaps just as importantly, growing your own food often encourages eating more fruits and vegetables in the first place.

My Takeaway

I've learned that nutrition isn't simply about choosing between "fresh" and "frozen."

It's about making fruits and vegetables a regular part of everyday meals.

Sometimes that means harvesting lettuce from the garden.

Sometimes it means reaching into the freezer for vegetables on a busy day.

Both choices can support a healthy lifestyle.

From Garden to Table

One of the greatest pleasures of growing food is walking into the garden and picking exactly what I need for a meal. That experience has given me a greater appreciation for freshness, but it has also reminded me that good nutrition comes from consistent habits, not perfection.

If you'd like to follow my gardening journey—from sowing seeds to harvesting fresh produce—I invite you to visit Lechaim Farm, where I share the stories behind the food that inspires these articles.

A Note for Readers

This article is intended for general educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. A healthy diet includes a variety of fruits and vegetables, whether they are fresh, frozen or preserved in other nutritious forms.

Super El Niño Explained: The Facts, the Health Risks, and How to Prepare

2026-10-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Super El Niño Explained: The Facts, the Health Risks, and How to Prepare

A serious forecast deserves a sensible response. Understanding the evidence helps us protect our health while keeping the future in perspective.

Information checked: 1 October 2026. The forecast section reflects the official bulletins available on that date. Seasonal forecasts change; check the linked agencies for updates.

When the headlines sound frightening

“Super El Niño.” “Record-breaking heat.” “Severe drought.” When these phrases appear repeatedly in news reports and social-media videos, it is understandable to feel worried. A dramatic headline can make a developing climate event sound like a single disaster heading toward everyone at once.

The actual picture is more complex—and more useful. El Niño is real. It can have serious consequences. Scientists can monitor its development and provide advance warning. But its effects vary across countries, seasons, and communities. A global outlook cannot tell us exactly what will happen outside our own front door.

We can take the warning seriously and still continue living with confidence. The purpose of understanding El Niño is to make better decisions: when to exercise, how to manage heat, what to do during haze, and how to protect people who need extra help.

Understanding El Niño helps us prepare calmly and protect our health.

What is El Niño?

El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, usually shortened to ENSO. This is a naturally occurring interaction between the tropical Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere. Its other phases are La Niña, the cool phase, and ENSO-neutral. [1]

Normally, trade winds push warm surface water westward across the equatorial Pacific. During El Niño, those winds weaken and warmer water extends into the central and eastern Pacific. Cloud formation and rainfall shift, influencing atmospheric circulation beyond the ocean itself. ENSO cycles are irregular, generally occurring every two to seven years. [22]

El Niño is a climate pattern that develops over months. It is not a storm that makes landfall on a particular date. That difference explains why an El Niño outlook and tomorrow’s weather forecast answer different questions.

What does “super” actually mean?

“Super El Niño” is an informal description of an exceptionally strong event. The World Meteorological Organization does not use “super” as an ENSO classification. [1]

Scientists use measurements from defined regions of the Pacific, together with atmospheric evidence. NOAA’s current strength probabilities use the Relative Oceanic Niño Index, or RONI, with a “very strong” category beginning at a three-month value of +2°C. RONI accounts for broader tropical-ocean warming. Different agencies can use different criteria. [2, 3]

An index value is not a direct forecast of local air temperature. A +2°C Pacific ocean anomaly does not mean every city will become exactly 2°C hotter. Nor should a weekly reading from one ocean region be compared directly with a three-month average from another.

When a video claims “the strongest ever,” ask: strongest by which measurement, over what period, and according to which agency?

The current outlook: observations and forecasts are different

As of 1 October 2026, the official information supports concern about a very strong event:

NOAA, 10 September: El Niño was strengthening, with a greater than 90% chance of a very strong event during Northern Hemisphere autumn and winter 2026–27. Its October–December outlook gave a 75% chance of a three-month RONI value of at least +2.5°C, described as exceeding earlier events in the record beginning in 1950. [4]
WMO, 3 September: El Niño was firmly established, with nearly 100% likelihood of persistence through February 2027 and further strengthening expected before a peak toward the end of 2026. [5]
Meteorological Service Singapore, 18 September: Strong El Niño conditions were observed in August. Conditions were expected to strengthen into October–November and continue into early 2027. [3]

The distinction matters: an established El Niño is an observation; its future peak is a forecast. A high probability of persistence is also different from certainty about drought, haze, or extreme heat in a particular neighbourhood.

NOAA explicitly notes that impacts consistent with El Niño become more likely with a large event, but are not guaranteed. Its next monthly discussion is scheduled for 8 October 2026. [4]

A short history of major El Niño events

The name originated with Peruvian fishermen and sailors who noticed a warm current around Christmas. El Niño refers to the Christ Child. Its modern scientific meaning encompasses the broader ocean-and-atmosphere pattern. [1]

Several events help put today’s headlines in context:

1982–83: One of the major historical events used to compare unusually strong El Niños.
1997–98: Another exceptionally strong event. El Niño-related drought worsened conditions for forest fires in parts of Southeast Asia and elsewhere.
2015–16: Among the strongest events by the historical Oceanic Niño Index. In 2015, drought aggravated fires whose smoke affected air quality across six Southeast Asian countries.
2023–24: A recent strong event, occurring against a warmer global climate.
2026–27: The event now being monitored. Its completed history cannot yet be written.

NOAA’s historical explanation identifies 1982–83, 1997–98 and 2015–16 among the largest ONI events. WHO documents the drought and fire consequences of 1997 and 2015. WMO describes 2023–24 as strong. These examples demonstrate the seriousness of the pattern, but they do not imply identical outcomes each time. [1, 6, 7]

How climate change fits into the picture

El Niño occurs naturally, but it now operates against a warmer climate. Background warming can amplify associated heat and other extremes. This does not justify the blanket claim that climate change makes every El Niño stronger. [1]

For readers, the practical implication is that past experience is useful without being a perfect guide to present risk. A household that managed comfortably during an earlier hot period may still need to adjust when indoor conditions, health, or local temperatures change.

Why Singapore and the Philippines need local guidance

MSS finds a strong relationship between ENSO and Singapore’s rainfall during the June–September Southwest Monsoon, while also noting considerable monthly variability. El Niño can favour drier conditions, but showers and heavy rain can still occur. A wet week does not disprove an established El Niño. [3]

For the Philippines, PAGASA’s September 2026 announcement warns of intensification into a very strong event and persistence into the first half of 2027. Its guidance also explains that above-normal rainfall can occur during Habagat, especially when tropical cyclones enhance the monsoon. El Niño does not eliminate flood or typhoon risk. [8, 9]

Use global outlooks to understand the larger picture. Use national and local advisories to decide what to do today. The same principle applies to readers in other countries: follow your own meteorological, health, water, and emergency-management agencies.

How El Niño can affect health

The health risks arise through environmental changes and disruptions to everyday essentials. They depend on exposure, existing health conditions, housing, services, and preparedness.

Heat and the body

High temperatures, humidity, physical exertion, and direct sunlight can make it harder to shed body heat. Heat can cause exhaustion and heatstroke, stress the heart and kidneys, and worsen existing conditions. Being accustomed to tropical weather does not remove the risk. [10]

Outdoor workers, older adults, children, and people with chronic illnesses deserve particular attention. A hot room can also pose a problem: shelter from sunlight is useful, but indoor conditions still matter. [10, 11]

Haze and breathing

Drought can worsen conditions for fires. Smoke can travel across borders, depending on winds, and affect respiratory health. WHO documents this pathway in earlier El Niño events. The ENSO label alone does not predict the air quality on a particular day. [7]

Singapore’s Ministry of Health advises adjusting outdoor activity to air quality, health status, and exposure. People with chronic heart or lung conditions should keep prescribed medication available. [12]

Water, food, and mosquitoes

Droughts and floods can affect food production and access to safe water. Changes in rainfall and temperature can alter mosquito habitats and disease-transmission conditions. These relationships vary; an outbreak is not inevitable simply because El Niño is present. [7]

Household water storage also deserves attention. Uncovered containers, plant saucers, and other stagnant-water sites can support mosquito breeding. NEA recommends checking and removing such habitats, with guidance specifically for plant lovers. [13]

We have faced serious challenges before

Since the turn of the century, people have lived through the dot-com crash, the 2008 global financial crisis, SARS, COVID-19, and damaging weather and climate events. These crises differed greatly, but each brought uncertainty about livelihoods, health, or the future.

Their consequences were real. Recovery was uneven, and some families still carry lasting losses. Yet people also adapted, communities supported one another, and institutions learned lessons that helped improve their responses.

That history offers perspective when we encounter alarming El Niño headlines. It does not promise an easy outcome, but it reminds us that a serious warning is a reason to prepare—not a declaration that our future is lost.

We cannot control every crisis. We can seek reliable information, take sensible precautions, and help those around us. Hope and caution can work together.

El Niño is not the first event to make people anxious about the future. Since the turn of the century, communities have faced financial shocks, infectious-disease emergencies, and damaging climate events.

The dot-com crash around 2000: The collapse of the technology-stock boom was followed by the 2001 US recession. [14]
SARS in 2002–03: The initial international outbreak was contained in July 2003 through public-health action. [15]
The financial crisis of 2007–09, especially 2008: A housing and financial-system crisis produced a deep economic downturn and an extended recovery. [16]
The 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic: WHO announced the post-pandemic period in August 2010, while explaining that the virus had not disappeared. [17]
COVID-19: WHO ended its international emergency designation in May 2023, describing COVID-19 as an established and ongoing health issue. [18]

These events are not interchangeable. A financial crash calls for economic responses, an infectious disease requires disease-specific measures, and El Niño preparation depends on local climate and environmental risks.

Their shared lesson is our capacity to respond. People adapted routines, scientific understanding improved, communities supported one another, and institutions took action. Life continued, although recovery was uneven and many people experienced lasting loss.

That last point deserves respect. “We survived” should never erase those who died, lost livelihoods, or continue to live with illness. Past survival also cannot guarantee that everyone will be safe in a future crisis.

It can, however, give us perspective. A serious warning is not a declaration that our future is lost. We have knowledge, services, and practical steps available. Hope becomes more useful when it is connected to action.

Practical preparation that protects health

1. Check conditions before prolonged activity

In Singapore, use myENV or the MSS website to check heat stress. The advisory uses Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, which considers humidity, wind, sunlight, and air temperature. Checking only the thermometer misses part of the risk. [19]

Plan gardening, walking, and other demanding activities for cooler periods. Take breaks, reduce intensity when needed, and stop if you feel unwell. Indoor workouts can be a useful option when the room is comfortably cooled; exertion still generates heat. WHO recommends avoiding strenuous activity during the hottest hours. [11]

2. Drink regularly and keep cool

Keep drinking water accessible. Wear light, loose clothing, use shade, take cool showers, and spend time in a cool room when needed. Hydration supports cooling, but it does not make prolonged heat exposure harmless. [11]

Fluid needs differ. People with heart failure, kidney disease, or prescribed fluid restrictions should ask their clinician for a hot-weather plan. Do not independently change medicines or fluid limits. Some medicines affect sweating, hydration, blood pressure, or heat tolerance; medication storage may also require attention. [20]

For substantial sweat losses or heat cramps, appropriate electrolyte replacement can be helpful. CDC advises against salt tablets. A special “detox” drink should never replace cooling or medical care. [21]

3. Make the home a place to cool down

Block direct sunlight and use cooling appropriate to the conditions. Open windows when outdoor air is cooler and air quality permits. If the home cannot be kept cool, arrange access to a cooler location. Fans can offer relief, but may be inadequate during extreme heat. [11]

Never leave children or animals in parked vehicles. Check on relatives or neighbours who may have difficulty recognising heat stress or reaching a cool place. [11]

4. Respond sensibly to haze

Follow local health advisories. Reduce prolonged or strenuous outdoor exertion when advised, and use a cleaner indoor space. The guidance for a healthy adult may differ from that for an older person or someone with heart or lung disease. [12]

A properly fitted N95 can reduce particle exposure in circumstances covered by official guidance, but it is not a substitute for limiting exposure. Anyone with breathing difficulty or worsening symptoms should seek medical advice. [12]

5. Keep water containers safe

Follow local water-supply and drinking-water advisories. Check stored-water containers and regularly remove stagnant water from the home. For gardeners, inspect buckets, saucers, reservoirs, and unused containers; keep storage openings protected from mosquito entry. [13]

Preparation can be modest and practical: accessible water, prescribed medicines, reliable information, and a household plan. Buying large quantities of unnecessary supplies is not a requirement for being responsible.

Know when heat becomes a medical emergency

Heat exhaustion can include headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, thirst, heavy sweating, and reduced urine output. Stop activity, move to a cool place, begin cooling, and seek medical evaluation. An alert person who can swallow safely can take sips of cool water. [21]

Confusion, slurred speech, seizures, or loss of consciousness during heat exposure can indicate heatstroke. Call emergency medical services and start cooling immediately while help is on the way. Move the person to a cool area, remove unnecessary outer clothing, wet the skin, and use cold wet cloths and moving air. Stay with them. [11, 21]

Heatstroke can occur with profuse sweating as well as hot, dry skin. Do not wait for sweating to stop before acting. [21]

How to judge alarming news and videos

Before sharing a claim, take a moment to check:

The date: Old footage can be presented as a new warning.
The source: Does it link to an actual scientific or official bulletin?
The measurement: Is it discussing an observation, a forecast, a weekly value, or a seasonal average?
The location: Does a global statement apply to your country and season?
The wording: Has “possible” become “certain,” or “some regions” become “everywhere”?
The action: Does it provide practical advice, or mainly encourage fear?

An extraordinary claim about deaths, temperatures, or disasters needs a traceable source and clear context. You do not have to dismiss a worrying report immediately; you can pause and verify it.

Common claims that need correction

“Super El Niño is a new kind of disaster.” It is an informal label for an unusually strong El Niño. [1]

“A +2°C ocean index means my city will be exactly 2°C hotter.” The index measures conditions in a defined Pacific region; local impacts require local forecasts. [2, 3]

“Rain means El Niño has ended.” Rainfall varies within an ENSO event. Seasonal tendencies do not determine every day’s weather. [3, 9]

“If it is very strong, everyone will face the same outcome.” Impacts differ across locations and seasons, and depend on preparedness. [4, 7]

“We survived earlier crises, so precautions are unnecessary.” Survival is a reason to value what helped people cope: information, protective action, medical care, and mutual support.

Living with awareness and confidence

We can keep working, exercising, gardening, and enjoying time with family while adapting to conditions. Some days call for a shorter workout, a cooler room, an earlier gardening session, or a change in outdoor plans.

The most useful response to a very strong El Niño forecast is to understand the risks where we live and prepare for them. That includes recognising emergencies and caring for people who have fewer resources or greater vulnerability.

We have faced difficult chapters before. Our ability to continue has depended on more than endurance: we learned, organised, and helped one another. That remains a sound approach today.

Take the evidence seriously. Let reliable guidance shape your actions. Leave room for hope.

References and reliable resources

Sources accessed or checked for this draft on 1 October 2026. Live outlook pages may change after publication.

WMO: El Niño / La Niña phenomena.
NOAA CPC: Official ENSO strength probabilities.
Meteorological Service Singapore: El Niño / La Niña status, updated 18 September 2026.
NOAA CPC: ENSO Diagnostic Discussion, issued 10 September 2026.
WMO: El Niño set to become very strong, raising risks into 2027, 3 September 2026.
NOAA Climate.gov: December 2023 El Niño update. Historical ONI comparisons; archived educational material.
WHO: El Niño Southern Oscillation and health.
PAGASA: Press releases, including the 23 September 2026 very strong El Niño announcement; see also the live advisories.
PAGASA: El Niño Advisory announcement, June 2026; discussion of Habagat and tropical-cyclone rainfall.
WHO: Heat and health.
WHO: Heatwaves—how to stay cool.
Singapore Ministry of Health: Haze health advice.
NEA: Prevent Aedes mosquito breeding.
Federal Reserve Board: Monetary Policy and the Housing Bubble, 3 January 2010; discussion of the dot-com bust and 2001 recession.
WHO: SARS outbreak contained worldwide, 5 July 2003.
Federal Reserve History: The Great Recession and its aftermath.
WHO: H1N1 in the post-pandemic period, 10 August 2010.
WHO: COVID-19 Emergency Committee statement, 5 May 2023.
NEA: Heat Stress Advisory.
CDC: Heat and medications—guidance for clinicians; heat and cardiovascular disease.
CDC/NIOSH: Heat-related illnesses, symptoms, and first aid.

NOAA Climate.gov: El Niño and La Niña frequently asked questions. Archived educational material.

🥗From Garden to Table: Does Cooking Destroy Nutrients?

2026-09-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

🥗From Garden to Table: Does Cooking Destroy Nutrients?

...and the Science Behind It.

One of the most common pieces of nutrition advice is this:

"Raw vegetables are always healthier because cooking destroys nutrients."

At first glance, that sounds logical. Heat can indeed change the nutritional composition of food.

But that's only part of the story.

In reality, cooking can both reduce and improve the availability of different nutrients. Understanding how this works helps us make better food choices without worrying unnecessarily.

What Happens During Cooking?

Heat changes the structure of plant cells.

As vegetables soften, some nutrients become easier for our bodies to digest and absorb. At the same time, certain vitamins are sensitive to heat and may decrease during cooking.

This means cooking doesn't simply make food "better" or "worse." It changes it.

Which Nutrients Are Sensitive to Heat?

Water-soluble vitamins are generally the most affected.

These include:

Vitamin C
Folate
Some B vitamins

Long cooking times, especially boiling in large amounts of water, can cause some of these vitamins to break down or leach into the cooking water.

That's one reason lightly steaming or stir-frying vegetables often preserves more of these nutrients.

When Cooking Improves Nutrition

Here's where the story becomes more interesting.

Some nutrients actually become more available after cooking.

One well-known example is lycopene in tomatoes. Cooking breaks down the plant's cell walls, making lycopene easier for the body to absorb.

Another example is beta-carotene, found in orange sweet potatoes and carrots. Gentle cooking softens plant tissues, helping release this important nutrient.

Adding a small amount of healthy fat, such as olive oil, can further improve the absorption of these fat-soluble compounds.

Different Cooking Methods, Different Results

Not all cooking methods affect food in the same way.

Generally speaking:

Steaming helps retain many vitamins because little water is used.
Stir-frying cooks food quickly while preserving texture and colour.
Roasting develops flavour with relatively little nutrient loss.
Boiling may cause some water-soluble vitamins to move into the cooking water.

If you use the cooking liquid in soups or stews, many of those nutrients remain part of the meal.

Myth vs. Fact

Myth: Cooking destroys all the nutrients in vegetables.

Fact: Cooking changes nutrients—it doesn't eliminate them. Some vitamins decrease, while other beneficial compounds become easier for the body to absorb.

Both raw and cooked vegetables have an important place in a healthy diet.

Variety Is the Best Strategy

Instead of asking whether vegetables should always be eaten raw or always cooked, a better question is:

Why not enjoy both?

A fresh salad provides crisp texture and heat-sensitive vitamins.

A bowl of vegetable soup or a tomato-based sauce offers nutrients that become more available through cooking.

Each preparation brings something valuable to the table.

My Takeaway

Growing my own vegetables has changed the way I think about cooking.

Sometimes I enjoy freshly picked lettuce straight from the garden. Other days, tomatoes become a homemade sauce, or sweet potato leaves find their way into a stir-fry.

I've come to realise that healthy eating isn't about finding the one perfect cooking method.

It's about enjoying a variety of fresh foods prepared in different ways.

From Garden to Table

Every harvest from my balcony garden eventually reaches the kitchen, where another journey begins. Some vegetables are enjoyed fresh, while others are lightly cooked to bring out different flavours and textures.

If you'd like to follow the stories behind those harvests, I invite you to visit Lechaim Farm, where I share the experiences of growing food in a tropical balcony garden.

A Note for Readers

This article is intended for general educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Individual nutritional needs vary, and a balanced diet should include a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other nutritious foods.

❤️From Garden to Table: Organic vs. Conventional — Is One Really More Nutritious?

2026-09-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

❤️From Garden to Table: Organic vs. Conventional — Is One Really More Nutritious?

...and the Science Behind It.

Walk through the produce section of almost any supermarket and you'll probably see two choices for some fruits and vegetables: organic and conventional.

Organic produce often costs more, and many people assume that means it must also be healthier or more nutritious.

But is that what scientific research actually tells us?

The answer is more nuanced than many people expect.

What Do "Organic" and "Conventional" Mean?

Organic and conventional farming are two different approaches to growing food.

Organic farming follows standards that limit the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers while emphasizing practices such as composting, crop rotation and maintaining healthy soil.

Conventional farming may use synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, along with modern farming techniques that help improve yields, manage pests and reduce crop losses.

Both systems are subject to regulations designed to produce safe food for consumers.

Is Organic Produce More Nutritious?

This is perhaps the most common question.

After decades of research, scientists have found that both organic and conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are nutritious.

Some studies have reported small differences in certain vitamins, minerals or antioxidant compounds. However, those differences are generally inconsistent and vary depending on factors such as:

The plant variety.
Soil conditions.
Weather.
Harvest timing.
Storage.
Farming practices.

No consistent evidence shows that organic produce is universally more nutritious than conventional produce.

What About Pesticides?

Organic farming does not mean "pesticide-free."

Instead, it follows different rules about which pest-control products may be used.

Conventional farming can use synthetic pesticides, but these are regulated, and food sold to consumers is monitored to help ensure that residues remain within established safety limits.

Regardless of how produce is grown, washing fruits and vegetables before eating is a sensible habit.

Freshness Matters More Than Many People Realize

Nutrition doesn't depend only on how a crop is grown.

Freshness also matters.

Some nutrients, such as vitamin C, gradually decline after harvest. Produce that spends days or weeks in storage and transport may contain lower amounts of certain heat- and oxygen-sensitive vitamins than produce eaten soon after it is picked.

That's one reason many home gardeners enjoy harvesting vegetables just before preparing a meal.

The Advantage of Growing Your Own

Growing food at home offers something that neither the organic nor the conventional label can guarantee:

You know your own garden.

You know:

How the plants were cared for.
What fertilizers or compost were used.
How pests were managed.
When the fruit or vegetables were harvested.
How quickly they reached your table.

That knowledge creates confidence—not because homegrown food is automatically superior, but because you understand its journey from plant to plate.

Myth vs. Fact

Myth: Organic food is always more nutritious than conventional food.

Fact: Both organic and conventionally grown fruits and vegetables can be highly nutritious. Research has not shown that one method consistently produces food with superior nutritional value across all crops.

The most important message is simple:

Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables matters far more than choosing one growing method over another.

My Takeaway

As a home gardener, I've come to appreciate the work involved in growing healthy plants, whether they begin in soil or hydroponics.

Healthy food starts with healthy growing practices, careful harvesting and enjoying a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.

For me, the greatest reward isn't proving that one growing method is better than another.

It's knowing exactly how the food on my plate was grown—and enjoying it while it's at its freshest.

From Garden to Table

Growing fruits and vegetables on my balcony has taught me that every harvest tells a story. From sowing seeds and nurturing seedlings to protecting ripe fruit from birds and harvesting vegetables at their peak, the journey has deepened my appreciation for the food we eat.

If you'd like to follow those experiences, I invite you to visit Lechaim Farm, where I share the successes, setbacks and lessons learned from growing food in a tropical balcony garden.

A Note for Readers

This article is intended for general educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Nutrition and food safety recommendations continue to evolve as new evidence emerges. For personalised advice, consult a qualified healthcare professional.

🍠From Garden to Table: Sweet Potatoes — Does the Colour Matter?

2026-09-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

🍠From Garden to Table: Sweet Potatoes — Does the Colour Matter?

...and the Science Behind It.

Sweet potatoes are one of the world's most widely grown root crops.

Walk through a market, however, and you'll quickly notice they don't all look alike. Some have orange flesh, others are white, yellow or deep purple. It raises an interesting question:

Does the colour of a sweet potato tell us anything about its nutritional value?

The short answer is yes—but perhaps not in the way many people expect.

More Than Just a Root Vegetable

Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are rich in complex carbohydrates, making them an excellent source of long-lasting energy.

They also provide:

Dietary fibre
Vitamin C
Potassium
Manganese
Vitamin B6

Because they are naturally filling, sweet potatoes can fit well into a balanced diet when prepared with minimal added sugar or fat.

Why Orange Sweet Potatoes Stand Out

Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are especially rich in beta-carotene, the pigment responsible for their bright colour.

Our bodies convert beta-carotene into vitamin A, which supports:

Normal vision
Immune function
Healthy skin
Growth and development

In fact, orange sweet potatoes are among the richest natural food sources of beta-carotene.

The Story Behind Purple Sweet Potatoes

Purple sweet potatoes owe their vibrant colour to anthocyanins, the same family of antioxidant compounds found in blueberries, blackberries and purple cabbage.

Researchers continue to investigate how diets rich in anthocyanin-containing foods may support heart health and healthy ageing.

While the findings are encouraging, they do not mean purple sweet potatoes are a miracle food. Their greatest value comes as part of a varied, colourful diet.

What About White Sweet Potatoes?

White- and cream-fleshed sweet potatoes contain much less beta-carotene than orange varieties.

That doesn't make them "less healthy."

They still provide fibre, vitamins, minerals and energy, while offering a milder flavour that many people enjoy.

Each colour brings something different to the table.

Myth vs. Fact

Myth: Purple sweet potatoes are always healthier than orange ones.

Fact: Neither colour is universally better.

Orange varieties are outstanding sources of beta-carotene, while purple varieties provide anthocyanins. White varieties contribute valuable nutrients as well. The healthiest choice is to enjoy a variety of colourful fruits and vegetables over time.

Leaves Worth Eating Too

One feature of sweet potatoes that often surprises people is that the plant offers more than just edible roots.

In many parts of the world, the young leaves and tender vine tips are cooked as leafy vegetables. They provide fibre, vitamins and minerals, making the plant remarkably versatile.

Growing sweet potatoes can therefore offer two harvests: nutritious greens during the growing season and storage roots later on.

My Takeaway

Growing sweet potatoes has reminded me that patience is rewarded.

Whether propagated from tubers or vine cuttings, they spend months quietly developing beneath the soil, unseen. Yet above the surface, the vines continue producing fresh leaves that hint at the harvest still to come.

Healthy eating isn't about finding the "best" coloured sweet potato.

It's about enjoying a wide variety of nutritious foods, each contributing something unique.

From Garden to Table

In my balcony garden, I've experimented with growing sweet potatoes from both tubers and stem cuttings. Watching the vines spread, root and produce fresh growth has shown me just how resilient this remarkable plant can be.

If you'd like to follow those experiments and see how they develop over time, I invite you to visit Lechaim Farm, where I share the successes, challenges and discoveries of growing food in a tropical balcony garden.

A Note for Readers

This article is intended for general educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have specific dietary or medical concerns, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.

🍲 Can Organ-Meat Broth Trigger Gout?

2026-09-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

🍲 Can Organ-Meat Broth Trigger Gout?

When purines leave the meat, where do they go?

People with gout are often advised to avoid organ meats such as liver, kidney and sweetbreads because these foods contain high levels of purines. But this raises another question:

If organ meat is boiled, is the broth more likely to trigger gout than the meat itself?

There is some truth behind this concern. Purines can move from meat into the cooking water during boiling. However, this does not necessarily mean that the broth always contains more purines than the meat. The answer depends on what was cooked, how much water was used, how long it simmered and whether the broth was concentrated.

Let us look at what actually happens inside the cooking pot.

First, What Does Gout Have to Do With Purines?

Gout is a form of inflammatory arthritis caused by the accumulation of uric acid crystals in and around a joint.

Purines are natural substances found in our bodies and in many foods. When the body breaks them down, uric acid is produced. The kidneys normally remove much of this uric acid through the urine.

However, uric acid can accumulate when the body produces too much or when the kidneys cannot remove enough of it. Crystals may then form in the joints, resulting in the sudden pain, redness, heat and swelling associated with a gout attack.

Food is not the only factor involved. Genetics, kidney function, body weight, certain medicines, alcohol consumption and other health conditions can all influence a person’s uric-acid level.

Nevertheless, regularly eating foods that are exceptionally high in purines may add to the problem—particularly when gout is not well controlled.

Why Are Organ Meats a Concern?

Organ and glandular meats generally contain considerably more purines than most ordinary cuts of meat.

These include:

Liver
Kidney
Sweetbreads
Heart
Certain internal organs and offal
Meat extracts made from these tissues

The Mayo Clinic and National Kidney Foundation both advise people with gout to avoid or strongly limit organ meats because of their high purine content.

This is different from the outdated idea that every food containing purines must be eliminated. Beans, lentils, peas and many vegetables also contain purines, but plant-derived purines have not shown the same relationship with gout risk as organ meats and some other animal foods.

What Happens When Organ Meat Is Boiled?

Purines are water-soluble. When meat is boiled, some of its purines can move out of the meat and into the cooking liquid.

As cooking continues:

The purine content of the boiled meat may decrease.
The purine content of the cooking water may increase.
Reducing the liquid can make the remaining broth more concentrated.
Eating both the meat and its broth can return much of the original purine load to the same meal.

The broth does not manufacture additional purines. It collects some of the purines released by the meat.

This means that boiling meat and discarding the cooking water may reduce the purine content of the meat. But if the water is turned into soup, gravy or sauce and consumed, the transferred purines are consumed as well.

Is the Broth More of a Trigger Than the Meat?

Not automatically.

It is more accurate to say that broth made from a high-purine ingredient can also become a significant source of purines.

Whether the broth contains more purines per serving than the remaining meat depends on several variables:

The kind of meat or organ used
The original amount of purines in it
The ratio of meat to water
Cooking time
The final volume of the broth
Whether the liquid was reduced
The serving size of both meat and broth

For example, a small piece of organ meat simmered in a large pot of water may produce a relatively diluted broth. The same amount simmered for hours and reduced into a small quantity of gravy or concentrated stock may deliver more purines in each spoonful.

Appearance is not a reliable guide. A clear broth is not necessarily low in purines, and a dark broth is not automatically high in them.

Is There a Safe Serving Size?

There is no scientifically established number of cups that can be described as a universally safe serving of organ-meat broth for people with gout.

Even “half a cup” does not tell us much unless we know how the broth was prepared. Half a cup of concentrated stock may contain more extracted material than a full bowl of lightly flavoured soup.

Individual circumstances also differ. A person’s response may be influenced by:

Current serum uric-acid level
Kidney function
Use of uric-acid-lowering medication
Frequency of previous gout attacks
Amount and concentration of the broth
Other foods and drinks consumed with the meal
Alcohol intake
Hydration
Other medical conditions and medicines

Because there is no dependable serving threshold, advising someone with gout to drink “only one cup” or “only half a cup” would create a precision that the evidence does not support.

For organ-meat broth, avoiding it—particularly during a flare or when uric acid remains high—is more reliable advice than trying to calculate a safe number of spoonfuls.

What About Ordinary Meat Broth?

Broth made from ordinary lean meat is not necessarily equivalent to broth made from liver, kidney or other organs.

Someone whose gout is well controlled may tolerate an occasional, lightly prepared meat soup. However, concentrated meat extracts, rich gravies and long-reduced stocks may contain more of the substances released from the meat.

Portion and frequency still matter, but the underlying ingredient matters too.

A practical distinction would be:

Organ-meat broth: Best avoided or strongly limited by people with gout.
Concentrated meat stock or gravy: Use cautiously because extraction and reduction can concentrate purines.
Light broth made from a modest amount of ordinary lean meat: May be tolerated occasionally when gout is well controlled.
Vegetable-based soup without meat extract: Generally a more gout-friendly choice.
During an active gout attack: Avoiding meat-based and organ-meat broths is the cautious approach.

Packaged stock cubes and instant soup mixes also deserve attention, although not solely because of purines. Some contain meat extracts and may also be very high in sodium. The ingredient list and nutrition label are therefore important.

Does Personal Tolerance Determine the Portion?

Individual response matters, but it should not be interpreted too simply.

If joint pain begins after a particular meal, the last food eaten may receive all the blame. However, gout crystals usually form because uric acid has been elevated over time. A flare may be influenced by several factors rather than by one bowl of soup alone.

A food-and-symptom diary may help identify repeated patterns, but laboratory testing provides more useful information about whether uric acid is adequately controlled.

Someone who experiences recurring attacks should not depend entirely on dietary restriction. Diet can support gout management, but it may not lower uric acid enough by itself. Medical evaluation and uric-acid-lowering treatment may still be necessary.

Practical Tips for Soup Lovers With Gout

If you have gout or persistently elevated uric acid:

Avoid using organ meats to make soup or stock.
Do not assume that boiling makes organ meat safe.
Remember that purines released from meat may remain in the cooking liquid.
Avoid heavily reduced meat stock and rich meat gravy.
Choose vegetable-based soups more often.
Replace some animal protein with beans, lentils, chickpeas or tofu.
Limit beer, spirits and sugar-sweetened drinks, which are recognised gout risks.
Drink sufficient water unless a healthcare professional has prescribed fluid restriction.
Ask for a serum uric-acid test if attacks continue.
Follow prescribed medication rather than attempting to manage recurrent gout through food alone.

The Bottom Line

Yes, broth made from organ meat can contribute to gout risk because some of the meat’s purines dissolve into the cooking water.

However, saying that the broth is always worse than the meat is too simplistic. The purines are redistributed between the meat and liquid, and the final concentration depends on the ingredients, water volume, cooking time and degree of reduction.

There is no standard safe portion of organ-meat broth for everyone with gout. Individual health and uric-acid control matter, but the purine concentration of homemade broth is also unknown.

For people with gout—especially those experiencing frequent attacks or poorly controlled uric acid—the most dependable advice is to avoid organ meats and the broth, stock or gravy made from them.

Boiling can move the purines. It does not make them disappear.

Quick Reference

Does boiling remove purines from meat?
It can reduce the purine content of the meat by transferring some purines into the cooking water.

Does that make the broth high in purines?
It can. The amount depends on the ingredients, water volume, cooking time and concentration.

Is the broth always worse than the meat?
No. The purines are divided between the meat and liquid. Either portion may be significant.

Is half a cup safe?
There is no scientifically established safe serving of organ-meat broth.

Can someone with gout eat the boiled organ meat after discarding the broth?
Discarding the broth may remove some purines, but organ meat remains a high-purine food and is still generally discouraged.

Are beans and lentils also a problem because they contain purines?
Current evidence does not associate plant-derived purines with gout risk in the same way as organ meats and certain other animal foods. Legumes can be useful alternatives to meat.

References

Mayo Clinic. Gout diet: What’s allowed, what’s not.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/gout-diet/art-20048524
National Kidney Foundation. What to Eat—and Avoid—If You Have Gout.
https://www.kidney.org/news-stories/what-to-eat-and-avoid-if-you-have-gout
Arthritis Foundation. Gout Diet Dos and Don’ts.
https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/healthy-living/nutrition/healthy-eating/gout-diet-dos-and-donts
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gout.
https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/gout/index.html
Wu M, et al. Simultaneous Determination of Purines and Uric Acid in Soup by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography. Published research available through the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8624923/

Medical note: This article provides general health information and is not a substitute for individual medical advice. People with gout, kidney disease or recurrent joint inflammation should consult a doctor or registered dietitian for guidance appropriate to their condition.

Ox-Horn Gua Sha Massage Tools: Real Beauty Aid or Clever Marketing?

2026-08-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Ox-Horn Gua Sha Massage Tools: Real Beauty Aid or Clever Marketing?

You may have seen one advertised online under a long and impressive name:

Ox horn face, neck, and body massage spa beauty tool.

Some sellers present it as an ancient health instrument. Others say that it promotes lymphatic drainage, removes toxins, improves circulation, lifts the face, reduces wrinkles, releases blocked energy, or even helps break down body fat.

A German flag, European-sounding description, or phrase such as “German technology” may also appear in the advertisement, making the product sound more scientifically advanced.

But what exactly is this tool? Does it really work—or are we simply looking at an ordinary massage scraper surrounded by extraordinary claims?

The tool can provide a real massage—but do its larger beauty and health claims withstand examination?

What Is an Ox-Horn Massage Tool?

An ox-horn massage tool is usually a shaped, polished piece of animal horn intended for gua sha, scraping massage, or acupressure.

Natural horn is made mainly of keratin, the same type of structural protein found in human hair and fingernails. Once polished, it can form a smooth surface that glides over the skin.

Traditional gua sha is a Chinese practice in which a smooth-edged implement is repeatedly stroked across lubricated skin. Older and more vigorous forms of gua sha may deliberately produce red or purple marks known as sha. Modern facial gua sha is usually much gentler and resembles an ordinary facial massage more than traditional forceful scraping.

The tools may be made from:

Animal horn
Jade
Rose quartz
Other stones
Stainless steel
Wood
Resin or plastic

The material changes the tool’s texture, weight, temperature, durability, and appearance. It does not automatically give the tool a special medical power.

Is the Massage Itself Fake?

No. Massage is a real physical action.

Moving a smooth tool across the skin can temporarily increase local blood flow, relax tense muscles, and create a pleasant feeling. A person who clenches the jaw, for example, may enjoy gentle massage around the jaw and cheeks. Light massage may also move some superficial fluid and temporarily make a puffy face appear less swollen.

A small study involving 11 healthy people found that traditional gua sha temporarily increased microcirculation in the treated area. However, the treatment was performed on the back, not the face, and the study did not prove lasting cosmetic improvement.

A more recent study published in 2025 compared facial rollers and gua sha massage in 34 women. After eight weeks, the researchers measured some changes in facial contours and muscle tone. However, there were only 17 women in each group, and there was no untreated control group. We therefore cannot conclude from this one small study that gua sha permanently lifts or remodels the face.

In other words, something physical does happen during massage—but that does not validate every claim printed in an advertisement.

What Benefits Are Reasonable to Expect?

When used gently, an ox-horn tool may:

Help someone enjoy a relaxing facial or body massage
Temporarily increase blood flow near the skin
Temporarily reduce mild facial puffiness
Relax tight facial, jaw, neck, or shoulder muscles
Spread facial oil, moisturizer, or massage lotion across the skin
Create a short-lived flushed or “glowing” appearance

None of these effects requires ox horn specifically. Similar massage can be performed using clean fingers or tools made from other smooth materials.

The benefit comes mainly from the mechanical massage, not from a mysterious property hidden inside the horn.

Where Does the Marketing Become Misleading?

The problem begins when modest, temporary massage effects are transformed into large medical or cosmetic promises.

“It removes toxins”

There is no identified toxin that an ox-horn scraper pulls through the skin.

The body already processes and removes waste through organs including the liver and kidneys. Massage may move superficial fluid, but that is not the same as extracting toxins.

If the seller cannot name the alleged toxin, explain how it was measured, and provide credible clinical evidence showing its removal, “detox” is probably being used as a marketing word.

“It melts facial or body fat”

Rubbing or scraping the skin does not selectively burn the fat underneath it.

Massage may temporarily redistribute fluid or compress soft tissue. This can create a short-lived change in appearance, especially when before-and-after photographs are taken immediately. It does not mean that fat cells have been dissolved.

“It permanently sculpts the jawline”

A less puffy face may look more defined after massage. Relaxing tense jaw muscles can also slightly alter how the face appears.

These effects should not be confused with permanent bone, fat, or skin remodeling. A massage tool cannot reshape the jawbone.

“It stimulates collagen and erases wrinkles”

Mechanical stimulation can affect tissue, but strong claims that home gua sha produces meaningful new collagen or erases wrinkles have not been established by good clinical evidence.

Temporary redness, hydration from the massage product, flattering lighting, facial positioning, and reduced puffiness can all make the skin look smoother immediately after treatment.

That immediate appearance does not prove long-term collagen production.

“Ox horn has healing energy”

This is a traditional or spiritual belief, not a scientifically demonstrated property of keratin.

People are free to value a traditional ritual, but the belief should not be presented as proven medical physiology.

“The red marks show toxins leaving”

The red dots or purple streaks produced by forceful gua sha are caused by physical pressure and injury to tiny blood vessels near the skin.

They are not visible toxins. More redness does not mean that the treatment worked better.

Is Ox Horn Better Than Jade, Quartz, or Metal?

There is no convincing evidence that genuine ox horn gives better medical or cosmetic results than another clean, smooth tool used with the same pressure and technique.

Horn may feel warmer than stone or metal. Some users may prefer its lightness, curved shape, or traditional appearance. Those are reasonable personal preferences.

But “natural” does not mean “medically superior.”

There is also an ethical consideration: genuine horn is an animal-derived material. A buyer who wishes to avoid animal products may choose stainless steel, stone, resin, or another reusable alternative.

Is It Really Made in Germany?

“Ox horn” tells us what the product is supposedly made from. It does not tell us where it was manufactured.

A German flag, German-sounding brand name, European-style packaging, or phrases such as the following do not necessarily mean that the tool was made in Germany:

German design
German quality
German technology
German standard
Designed for Germany
Imported technology

A genuine country-of-origin statement should clearly say “Made in Germany.” Ideally, the packaging should also identify the manufacturer and provide a verifiable German business address.

Even then, buyers should examine the complete label rather than relying on the seller’s title or promotional graphics. The tool itself may have been manufactured elsewhere, packaged by another company, and advertised using German imagery.

Unless a particular brand and its supply chain have been verified, we should not assume that a generic online ox-horn massage tool is German-made.

Could “Ox Horn” Be Only a Description of the Colour?

Yes. Some inexpensive products may be horn-patterned resin or plastic rather than genuine animal horn.

Descriptions such as “ox-horn type,” “horn colour,” “horn style,” or “natural horn texture” can easily be mistaken for a material declaration.

A very low price, perfectly identical colour patterns across every unit, visible mould seams, or vague wording may suggest that the product is manufactured material. However, appearance alone cannot conclusively authenticate horn.

The buyer should ask:

Is this genuine animal horn or imitation horn?
What is the complete material composition?
Where was it manufactured?
Who is the manufacturer?
Is the country of origin printed on the packaging?
What evidence supports the advertised health claims?

If the seller cannot answer clearly, it is safest to treat the claims cautiously.

Can the Tool Cause Harm?

Gentle facial massage is generally low-risk for many people, but gua sha is not harmless when performed forcefully.

Possible problems include:

Redness and skin irritation
Tenderness
Bruising
Broken capillaries
Worsening of inflamed acne, eczema, rosacea, or other sensitive skin conditions
Infection when an unclean or shared tool contacts damaged skin
Pain or tissue injury from excessive pressure

The tool should not be used over open wounds, skin infections, sunburn, active rashes, or recently injected or medically treated areas.

People who take anticoagulant or antiplatelet medicines, have a bleeding disorder, bruise easily, or have very fragile skin should obtain medical advice before trying forceful gua sha.

Be Especially Gentle Around the Neck

The neck is not an area for aggressive scraping.

Avoid strong pressure over the front of the throat, thyroid gland, enlarged lymph nodes, and the carotid arteries on either side of the neck. Never attempt to press a lump, “break up” a swollen node, or treat unexplained neck pain with a scraping tool.

Persistent swelling, a neck lump, severe pain, difficulty swallowing, numbness, weakness, dizziness, or other unusual symptoms require proper medical evaluation—not stronger massage.

How to Use It More Safely

If you enjoy the tool as a massage aid:

Wash the tool before and after every use.
Do not share it unless it can be properly disinfected.
Apply a suitable moisturizer, facial oil, or massage product to reduce friction.
Use light pressure on the face.
Keep strokes slow and comfortable.
Stop if the skin becomes painful, damaged, or unusually irritated.
Do not chase dramatic redness or bruising.
Do not use the tool as a substitute for diagnosis or treatment.

A facial session does not need to hurt to be effective as a relaxing massage.

The Honest Verdict

An ox-horn gua sha tool is not automatically a hoax. It is a real object capable of providing a real massage.

But the material does not give it magical detoxifying, fat-melting, wrinkle-erasing, or disease-treating powers. Any reduction in puffiness, increase in circulation, or change in facial appearance is likely to be modest and at least partly temporary.

Nor should a German flag or German-sounding description be accepted as proof that a product was manufactured in Germany.

If you enjoy the feel and ritual of gua sha, use it gently and regard it as a massage accessory. Buy it for its shape, comfort, and usability—not because a seller promises that a piece of polished horn can detoxify your body or permanently reshape your face.

The massage may be real.

The miracle is where we should become skeptical.

References

Nielsen A, Knoblauch NTM, Dobos GJ, Michalsen A, Kaptchuk TJ. “The Effect of Gua Sha Treatment on the Microcirculation of Surface Tissue: A Pilot Study in Healthy Subjects.” Explore, 2007.
Hamp A, et al. “Gua-sha, Jade Roller, and Facial Massage: Are There Benefits Within Dermatology?” Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2023.
Ahn SH, et al. “Comparative Effects of Facial Roller and Gua Sha Massage on Facial Contour, Muscle Tone, and Skin Elasticity.” Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2025.
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. “Traditional Chinese Medicine: What You Need to Know.”

🌿From Garden to Table: Mint — More Than Just a Garnish?

2026-08-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

🌿From Garden to Table: Mint — More Than Just a Garnish?

...and the Science Behind It.

When most people think of mint, they imagine a garnish on a dessert, a refreshing cup of tea or the cool flavour in toothpaste and chewing gum.

In my balcony garden, however, mint has become much more than that. With regular trimming, it grows back quickly, producing fresh leaves that are always within reach for the kitchen.

That made me wonder:

Is mint simply a flavourful herb, or does it offer genuine health benefits?

What Is Mint?

The name "mint" refers to a group of aromatic herbs in the Mentha genus. Among the most commonly grown are spearmint (Mentha spicata) and peppermint (Mentha × piperita).

Their leaves contain natural compounds that produce the familiar cooling sensation we associate with mint. In peppermint, this cooling effect comes largely from menthol, while spearmint has a milder flavour with less menthol.

A Small Herb with Useful Nutrients

Although mint is usually eaten in small amounts, its leaves contain a variety of nutrients, including:

Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Folate
Iron (small amounts)
Manganese

Like many herbs, mint also contains natural plant compounds known as polyphenols, which contribute to its antioxidant properties.

Because herbs are generally used as seasonings rather than as main vegetables, their biggest nutritional contribution often comes from encouraging meals rich in fresh ingredients.

Does Mint Help Digestion?

This is probably the most common claim about mint.

Research suggests that peppermint oil may help relieve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in some people when used under medical guidance.

However, this should not be confused with simply drinking mint tea or eating fresh mint leaves. While many people find mint tea soothing after a meal, scientific evidence for fresh mint relieving everyday digestive discomfort is still limited.

Enjoy it because you like it—but don't expect it to be a cure.

Fresh Breath... for a Reason

Mint's refreshing aroma explains why it appears in many toothpastes, mouthwashes and chewing gums.

It can temporarily freshen the breath, but it doesn't treat the underlying causes of bad breath, such as poor oral hygiene, gum disease or certain medical conditions.

Good brushing, flossing and regular dental care remain essential.

Myth vs. Fact

Myth: Mint tea cures digestive problems.

Fact: Many people enjoy mint tea after meals, and peppermint oil has shown benefits for some digestive conditions in clinical studies. However, ordinary mint tea should be viewed as a pleasant beverage rather than a proven treatment.

Why I Enjoy Growing Mint

Mint is one of the easiest herbs to harvest.

Instead of picking individual leaves, I regularly trim the stems. Before long, fresh shoots emerge, creating an even bushier plant.

That cycle of harvest and regrowth means there's almost always a fresh supply available whenever it's needed.

For a home gardener, that's a wonderful combination of convenience and productivity.

My Takeaway

Mint reminds me that healthy eating isn't only about major ingredients.

Fresh herbs add flavour, aroma and variety to everyday meals, often making it easier to reduce excess salt or heavy sauces without sacrificing taste.

Sometimes the smallest plants make the biggest difference in the kitchen.

From Garden to Table

My mint plants have responded beautifully to regular trimming, producing fresh growth again and again. Watching them recover after each harvest has shown me how productive a simple herb can be in a small balcony garden.

If you'd like to follow that gardening journey, I invite you to visit Lechaim Farm, where I share the stories behind the plants that inspire these articles.

A Note for Readers

This article is intended for general educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have persistent digestive symptoms or other health concerns, seek advice from a qualified healthcare professional.

🌳From Garden to Table: Malabar Spinach — Is It Really Spinach?

2026-08-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

🌳From Garden to Table: Malabar Spinach — Is It Really Spinach?

...and the Science Behind It.

One of the most productive plants in my balcony garden isn't lettuce, kale or traditional spinach.

It's Malabar spinach.

With regular harvesting, the vines continue producing fresh leaves and tender shoots, making it one of the easiest leafy vegetables I've grown. But despite its common name, Malabar spinach isn't actually spinach at all.

So what is it—and is it good for you?

Not a True Spinach

Malabar spinach (Basella alba and Basella rubra) is a tropical climbing vine grown for its edible leaves and tender stems.

Unlike true spinach (Spinacia oleracea), which prefers cool weather, Malabar spinach thrives in warm, humid climates. That makes it especially well suited to tropical regions, where traditional spinach often struggles.

Its leaves are thicker, slightly glossy and have a mild flavour with a pleasant, slightly succulent texture.

A Nutritious Leafy Green

Like many leafy vegetables, Malabar spinach is naturally low in calories while providing valuable nutrients.

Its leaves contain:

Vitamin A (from beta-carotene)
Vitamin C
Vitamin K
Folate
Magnesium
Potassium

It also contains dietary fibre, making it a nutritious addition to soups, stir-fries and other vegetable dishes.

Colour That Tells a Story

The red-stemmed variety, Basella rubra, owes its striking colour to natural plant pigments called betalains and other antioxidant compounds.

These pigments help protect the plant and contribute to the colourful variety of phytonutrients found in plant-based foods.

Scientists continue to study how diets rich in colourful fruits and vegetables support long-term health. While no single vegetable is a cure-all, eating a wide range of colourful produce is widely recommended as part of a healthy eating pattern.

What About the Flowers?

As my own plants matured, I noticed something interesting.

The green variety focused on producing more leaves, while the red variety produced abundant flowers. Those tiny flowers eventually develop into dark purple berries.

The flowers are edible, although they are usually valued more for the colourful berries they produce than as a vegetable themselves.

Traditionally, the berries have also been used as a natural food colouring because of their deep purple juice.

Myth vs. Fact

Myth: Malabar spinach is simply another type of ordinary spinach.

Fact: Despite the name, it belongs to a completely different plant family. It grows as a climbing vine rather than a leafy rosette and is much better adapted to hot, tropical climates.

Why It Deserves More Attention

One of the reasons I enjoy growing Malabar spinach is its generosity.

Instead of harvesting the entire plant, I simply remove the tender tips and larger leaves. Before long, new shoots appear and the cycle begins again.

That steady production makes it an excellent choice for home gardeners who want a continuous supply of fresh greens without repeatedly sowing new seeds.

My Takeaway

Malabar spinach reminds me that some of the best vegetables are the ones that receive the least attention.

It grows vigorously in tropical weather, produces generous harvests and provides valuable vitamins and minerals as part of a balanced diet.

Sometimes healthy eating isn't about discovering a new superfood from the other side of the world.

Sometimes it's about appreciating the plants that already thrive in our own gardens.

From Garden to Table

In my balcony garden, Malabar spinach has become one of the most reliable producers. Regular harvesting encourages fresh growth, and the contrast between the green and red varieties has added both colour and abundance to the garden.

If you'd like to follow that journey—from propagation and harvests to flowering and everyday observations—I invite you to visit Lechaim Farm, where I share the experiences of growing edible plants in a tropical balcony garden.

A Note for Readers

This article is intended for general educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.

🫐From Garden to Table: Mulberries — Tiny Fruits, Big Nutrition?

2026-08-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

🫐From Garden to Table: Mulberries — Tiny Fruits, Big Nutrition?

...and the Science Behind It.

The first time I picked a fully ripe mulberry from my own plant, I understood why they rarely appear in supermarkets.

The fruit was soft, juicy and naturally sweet. It was nothing like the firm berries that need to survive days of transport and storage. Before I could enjoy too many of them, however, I discovered that I wasn't the only one waiting for the fruit to ripen. The birds had been watching too!

That little competition made me curious about another question.

Are mulberries as nutritious as their reputation suggests?

What Makes Mulberries Special?

Mulberries are small fruits produced by trees in the Morus genus. Depending on the variety, ripe fruits may be white, red or deep purple to almost black.

Despite their size, they provide several important nutrients, including:

Vitamin C
Dietary fibre
Iron (in modest amounts)
Potassium
Vitamin K

Like many deeply coloured fruits, dark mulberries are also rich in natural plant compounds called anthocyanins, which give them their rich colour.

The Power of Colour

Those dark purple pigments are more than just attractive.

Anthocyanins are antioxidants that help protect plant tissues and, when eaten as part of a balanced diet, contribute to the body's overall antioxidant intake.

Researchers continue to study whether diets rich in anthocyanin-containing foods may support heart health and healthy ageing. While the findings are encouraging, it is important to remember that these benefits come from an overall healthy eating pattern rather than from any single fruit.

A Good Source of Fibre

Mulberries also contain dietary fibre.

Fibre supports normal digestion and helps promote fullness after meals. Most adults do not eat enough fibre, so regularly including fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains is a simple way to improve overall diet quality.

Mulberries can be one delicious part of that approach.

Fresh Is Best... If You Can Get Them

One reason mulberries are uncommon in supermarkets is that they are extremely delicate.

Once fully ripe, they bruise easily and have a relatively short shelf life. That makes them difficult to transport over long distances.

Growing your own—or buying them fresh from a local grower during the season—offers a chance to enjoy them at their sweetest.

Myth vs. Fact

Myth: Mulberries are a miracle "superfruit" that can prevent disease.

Fact: Mulberries are certainly nutritious, providing vitamins, fibre and antioxidant compounds. However, no single fruit can prevent disease on its own. Good health depends on an overall balanced diet, regular physical activity, adequate sleep and other healthy lifestyle habits.

My Takeaway

Growing mulberries has taught me that some of the best fruits are the ones you rarely see on supermarket shelves.

Their sweetness, delicate texture and nutritional value make every successful harvest feel special—even if I have to outsmart a few hungry birds to enjoy it.

Sometimes the freshest food is also the hardest to buy, which makes growing it yourself all the more rewarding.

From Garden to Table

My mulberry journey has included new leaf growth, continuous fruiting, experiments with air-layering and even a friendly rivalry with visiting birds that seemed to know exactly when the berries were ready.

If you'd like to follow that journey, along with the lessons I've learned from growing edible plants in a tropical balcony garden, I invite you to visit Lechaim Farm.

A Note for Readers

This article is intended for general educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have questions about your diet or health, consult a qualified healthcare professional.

🧄From Garden to Table: Garlic — Separating Health Facts from Popular Myths

2026-07-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

🧄From Garden to Table: Garlic — Separating Health Facts from Popular Myths

...and the Science Behind It.

Garlic has been part of kitchens around the world for thousands of years.

It adds flavour to countless dishes and has long been used in traditional medicine. Walk into any supermarket or pharmacy today and you'll find garlic in many forms—fresh cloves, powders, oils and supplements—often accompanied by impressive health claims.

But how much of that reputation is supported by scientific research?

Let's separate the facts from the myths.

Why Garlic Has Attracted So Much Attention

When a garlic clove is crushed or chopped, it produces natural sulfur-containing compounds, the most well-known being allicin.

Allicin gives fresh garlic its distinctive aroma and is one of the compounds researchers believe contributes to many of garlic's biological effects.

However, allicin is unstable and changes quickly after garlic is cut or cooked. This is one reason why studying garlic in scientific research can be challenging.

Myth vs. Fact

Myth: Garlic can cure the common cold.

Fact: There is no convincing evidence that garlic cures a cold once you have one.

Some studies suggest that regular garlic consumption may slightly reduce the frequency of colds or shorten their duration, but the evidence remains limited. Good hand hygiene, adequate rest and appropriate medical care remain the best ways to reduce the impact of respiratory infections.

Myth: The more garlic you eat, the healthier you become.

Fact: More is not always better.

Garlic is a healthy food, but eating excessive amounts may cause stomach discomfort, bad breath or digestive irritation. Garlic can also interact with certain medications, particularly blood-thinning medicines.

As with most foods, moderation is the better approach.

Myth: Garlic lowers blood pressure enough to replace medication.

Fact: Some research suggests that garlic supplements may have a modest effect on blood pressure in certain people.

However, the effect varies, and garlic should never replace medication prescribed by a healthcare professional.

Lifestyle changes, regular medical follow-up and prescribed treatment remain the foundation of managing high blood pressure.

What Garlic Does Offer

Garlic is more than just a seasoning.

It contributes flavour without adding significant calories and contains small amounts of vitamin C, vitamin B6, manganese and other nutrients.

More importantly, using garlic often encourages home cooking, which generally makes it easier to prepare balanced meals using fresh ingredients.

Sometimes the biggest health benefit comes not from one ingredient, but from the healthier eating habits it supports.

Fresh Garlic in the Kitchen

Whether minced into stir-fries, added to soups, roasted with vegetables or mixed into sauces, garlic brings both flavour and aroma to everyday cooking.

One simple tip is to let chopped garlic rest for about 10 minutes before cooking. This allows more allicin to form before heat begins to break it down.

There's no need to overthink it, though. Garlic remains a wonderful ingredient whether eaten raw, lightly cooked or fully cooked.

My Takeaway

Garlic has earned its place as a healthy ingredient, but not because it performs miracles.

Its greatest strength may simply be that it helps us prepare delicious meals using fresh ingredients while contributing beneficial plant compounds as part of an overall balanced diet.

Good health is rarely built on one food.

It is built on many good choices, repeated over time.

From Garden to Table

Although my own garlic plants have had their ups and downs, growing them has given me a deeper appreciation for every clove that reaches the kitchen.

Following their journey—from planting and growth to harvest—has reminded me that every ingredient has a story long before it reaches the cutting board.

If you'd like to follow that gardening journey, I invite you to visit Lechaim Farm, where I share both the successes and the lessons learned from growing garlic and other edible plants on my tropical balcony.

A Note for Readers

This article is intended for general educational purposes only. It should not replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you have an existing medical condition or take prescription medications, consult your healthcare professional before making significant dietary changes or using garlic supplements.

🍅From Garden to Table: Tomatoes and Lycopene — Is the Red Color Really That Good for You?

2026-07-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

🍅From Garden to Table: Tomatoes and Lycopene — Is the Red Color Really That Good for You?

...and the Science Behind It.

Few things are as satisfying as picking a ripe tomato from the plant.

Over the past several months, I have watched my tomato plants grow from tiny seedlings into productive vines. Some branches broke, some cuttings survived, others did not. There were successes, disappointments and unexpected lessons along the way.

But every time I harvested a ripe tomato, I found myself asking another question.

What makes tomatoes such a popular health food?

The answer often begins with the bright red colour.

Why Are Tomatoes Red?

The rich red colour of ripe tomatoes comes mainly from a natural plant pigment called lycopene.

Lycopene belongs to a group of compounds known as carotenoids. These are naturally occurring pigments found in many red, orange and pink fruits and vegetables.

Besides giving tomatoes their colour, lycopene has antioxidant properties, meaning it can help protect cells from damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals.

What Does Research Say About Lycopene?

Lycopene has been the subject of many scientific studies over the years.

Current research suggests that diets rich in lycopene-containing foods may support:

Heart health.
Healthy blood vessel function.
Protection against oxidative stress.
An overall healthy dietary pattern rich in fruits and vegetables.

Researchers have also explored possible links between lycopene and certain types of cancer. While some findings are encouraging, the evidence is not yet strong enough to conclude that lycopene alone prevents cancer or other diseases.

This is an important reminder that good health comes from an overall healthy lifestyle rather than from any single nutrient.

Raw or Cooked?

Here's something that surprises many people.

Cooking tomatoes actually makes lycopene easier for the body to absorb.

When tomatoes are heated—such as in soups, sauces or stews—the structure of the lycopene changes, allowing more of it to become available during digestion.

Adding a small amount of healthy fat, such as olive oil, can further improve lycopene absorption because it is a fat-soluble compound.

On the other hand, fresh tomatoes provide more vitamin C, which is sensitive to heat.

So rather than asking which is healthier, it may be better to enjoy tomatoes in both forms.

Myth vs. Fact

Myth: Raw tomatoes are always healthier than cooked tomatoes.

Fact: Both have their advantages. Fresh tomatoes retain more vitamin C, while cooked tomatoes provide lycopene in a form that is generally easier for the body to absorb.

Why Growing Your Own Makes a Difference

One of the greatest pleasures of growing tomatoes at home is harvesting them when they are fully ripe.

Commercial tomatoes are often picked before they reach full ripeness so they can better withstand transport and storage.

Homegrown tomatoes can remain on the vine until they develop their fullest colour, flavour and aroma.

For me, that's one of the greatest rewards of gardening. Every harvest reminds me that freshness is something you simply cannot package.

My Takeaway

Tomatoes deserve their reputation as a nutritious food—not because they contain a miracle ingredient, but because they combine flavour with valuable nutrients that fit naturally into a healthy eating pattern.

Whether eaten fresh in a salad, cooked into a sauce or added to a favourite family recipe, tomatoes are one more reminder that healthy eating does not have to be complicated.

Sometimes, it begins with a single ripe tomato picked from the garden.

From Garden to Table

The tomatoes featured in this article were grown on my own balcony as part of my ongoing gardening journey.

If you'd like to follow the story—from seedlings and propagation experiments to harvests and lessons learned—I invite you to visit Lechaim Farm, where I share the successes, setbacks and discoveries from growing tomatoes in a tropical balcony garden.

A Note for Readers

This article is intended for general educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have a medical condition or specific dietary concerns, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.

🍓From Garden to Health: Are Strawberries Really a Superfruit?

2026-07-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

🍓From Garden to Health: Are Strawberries Really a Superfruit?

Every strawberry I harvest from my balcony feels like a small reward.

Growing strawberries in tropical Singapore has taught me patience. There are flowers that never become fruit, fruits that birds discover before I do, and long periods when the plants seem to be doing nothing—only to surprise me later with fresh leaves, new crowns, or another flush of flowers.

As I enjoyed another freshly picked berry, I began wondering about a claim that appears everywhere: Are strawberries really a "superfruit"?

The answer, as with many nutrition questions, is both simple and interesting.

What Makes Strawberries Nutritious?

Strawberries are naturally low in calories and contain a variety of nutrients that contribute to a healthy diet.

A typical serving provides:

Vitamin C, which supports normal immune function and helps maintain healthy skin.
Dietary fibre, which supports digestive health and helps you feel full.
Manganese, an essential mineral involved in many normal body processes.
Folate, an important B vitamin, especially during periods of rapid growth such as pregnancy.
Potassium, which helps support normal muscle and nerve function.

Strawberries also contain natural plant compounds called polyphenols, including anthocyanins—the pigments responsible for their bright red colour. These compounds have antioxidant properties.

Are Strawberries Really a Superfruit?

The word "superfruit" is not a scientific term.

It is mainly a marketing expression used to describe fruits that are rich in nutrients or antioxidants.

Strawberries certainly deserve recognition as a nutritious fruit, but they are not magical, nor are they necessarily healthier than every other fruit.

Blueberries, oranges, kiwifruit, guava, papaya and many other fruits also provide valuable nutrients.

Rather than searching for one "super" fruit, most nutrition experts encourage eating a variety of fruits and vegetables as part of a balanced diet.

What Does Research Suggest?

Researchers have studied strawberries for many years.

Current evidence suggests that including strawberries as part of a healthy dietary pattern may support:

Heart health.
Healthy blood vessel function.
A balanced intake of antioxidants.
Overall fruit and fibre consumption.

Some studies have also explored their potential role in supporting healthy blood sugar regulation and reducing markers of inflammation.

However, these findings should be viewed in context. Strawberries are one part of an overall healthy eating pattern, not a cure or treatment for any disease.

No single fruit can replace regular physical activity, adequate sleep, or appropriate medical care.

Fresh From the Garden

One advantage of growing strawberries at home is being able to harvest them fully ripe.

Commercial strawberries are often picked before they reach peak ripeness so they can better withstand transport.

Homegrown strawberries, by contrast, can remain on the plant until they develop their best flavour and aroma.

For me, that has been one of the greatest rewards of gardening—not necessarily growing bigger strawberries, but enjoying berries picked at just the right moment.

My Takeaway

After months of growing strawberries, I have come to appreciate them for what they are.

Not a miracle food.

Not a cure-all.

Simply a delicious fruit that provides valuable nutrients and encourages me to eat fresh produce more often.

Sometimes the healthiest habits begin with growing something yourself.

From Garden to Health

The strawberries featured in this article were grown on my own balcony as part of an ongoing gardening project.

If you'd like to see how they developed—from tiny runners and seedlings to flowers and harvests—I invite you to visit Lechaim Farm, where I share the successes, challenges and lessons from growing strawberries in a tropical balcony garden.

A Note for Readers

This article is intended for general educational purposes and should not be taken as medical advice. If you have a medical condition or specific dietary needs, consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance.

🫛Does Okra Really Help with Blood Sugar? What the Science Says

2026-07-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

🫛 Does Okra Really Help with Blood Sugar? What the Science Says

A few days ago, I harvested another two young okra pods from the three plants growing on my balcony.

As I prepared them for a meal, I remembered a claim I had heard countless times: okra is good for blood sugar.

Like many popular health claims, it sounded reasonable. But was it actually supported by scientific evidence?

I decided to find out.

Why Okra Is Worth Eating

Okra is a nutritious vegetable that is naturally low in calories while providing several important nutrients.

A serving of okra contains dietary fibre, vitamin C, vitamin K, folate and small amounts of minerals such as magnesium and potassium. It also contains beneficial plant compounds, including polyphenols, which have antioxidant properties.

For most people, these are already excellent reasons to include okra as part of a balanced diet.

The Blood Sugar Question

Much of the interest surrounding okra comes from its fibre and its natural gel-like substance, known as mucilage.

Because soluble fibre slows the movement of food through the digestive system, researchers have explored whether okra might help reduce the rise in blood sugar after meals.

Laboratory studies and animal research have produced encouraging findings.

Human studies have also reported promising results in some cases.

However, the overall evidence is still limited. Current research is not strong enough to conclude that okra alone can prevent, treat or reverse diabetes.

In other words, okra is a healthy vegetable—but it should not be viewed as a substitute for prescribed medication, medical advice or an overall healthy lifestyle.

Myth vs Fact

Myth: Drinking okra water cures diabetes.

Fact: There is currently no strong scientific evidence showing that okra water can cure diabetes. While okra contains fibre and beneficial plant compounds, managing diabetes involves many factors, including diet, physical activity, regular medical care and, when necessary, prescribed medication.

Simple Ways to Enjoy Okra

One of the pleasures of growing okra at home is harvesting the pods while they are still young and tender.

Fresh okra can be:

Added to soups and stews.
Stir-fried with garlic and other vegetables.
Grilled or roasted.
Steamed as a simple side dish.
Included in curries.

Young pods are generally more tender than older ones and are less likely to become fibrous.

My Personal Takeaway

Growing my own vegetables has taught me something unexpected.

The greatest health benefit may not come from a single vegetable.

Instead, it comes from building the habit of eating fresh vegetables more often.

Harvesting food that I have grown myself makes it much more likely that those vegetables will end up on my plate instead of staying in the refrigerator.

Sometimes, healthy living begins with small habits rather than dramatic changes.

From Garden to Table

The three okra plants on my balcony inspired me to look beyond gardening and explore the science behind the food I grow.

If you're interested in how these plants developed—from seedlings to flowers to harvests—I invite you to visit my companion gardening blog, Lechaim Farm, where I share the complete journey of my three "Okra-teers."

A note for readers: This article is intended for general educational purposes. If you have diabetes or another medical condition, always follow the advice of your healthcare professional regarding your treatment and diet.

What’s that white coating on your tongue? How to tell if you’re healthy or not

2020-05-11T00:30:00.000-07:00

When it comes to oral health, most people don’t go beyond brushing and flossing their teeth. But it may be a good idea to, once in a while, take a good look at your tongue.

Other than giving you an idea why your breath stinks (if it does), in some rare cases, changes in your tongue’s appearance may be telling you something about your health – such as mouth or tongue cancer, or syphilis.

The tongue's appearance can tell a lot about one's health. Does it look like raw meat or have “hair”? Experts tell CNA Lifestyle what these all mean. Fair warning: Graphic images ahead.

For starters, a healthy tongue is pink and covered with small, short, bristly nodules known as papillae, according to Cleveland Clinic, a non-profit academic medical centre in the US. Any deviation from this appearance or any pain may be a cause for concern.

IS IT NORMAL TO HAVE A WHITE COATING ON THE TONGUE?

What about the thin white coating on the tongue? Does that count as a deviation? In most cases, they are harmless and transient, said Dr Lim Keng Hua, an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist at Mount Elizabeth Hospital’s Dr Lim Keng Hua Ear Nose Throat Head & Neck Surgery.

“The white coating is caused by the accumulation of debris, bacteria and dead cells between the enlarged and sometimes, inflamed papillae on the surface of the tongue,” he said, adding that bleeding is rare but if it does occur, you’ll need to see a doctor to rule out cancerous growths.

The coating “may be removed by brushing your tongue with a soft toothbrush or using a scraper,” said Dr Lim, who also advised keeping yourself hydrated.

Other ways of lessening the coating is to simply avoid tobacco and alcohol, added Dr Anna See, an associate consultant in otorhinolaryngology with Singapore General Hospital’s Head & Neck Surgery department.

She also pointed out that a thick coating is “not normal.” The causes can include fungal infection, syphilis infection, lichen planus, the early stages of mouth and/or tongue cancer, or HIV. “A thick white coat, which is sometimes associated with chronic ulcers, mouth bleeding and odorous breath, should be investigated by a specialist doctor to rule out underlying causes,” said Dr See.

OTHER APPEARANCES OF THE TONGUE

Other than the usual white coating, your tongue can also take on other appearances. Here’s a look at the various ways it may present itself, and whether you need to seek medical attention.

My tongue looks like it has grown hair

The build-up of food debris and dead cells – along with poor oral hygiene – can create these brown or black hair-like protrusions on the surface of your tongue, said Dr See.

Dr Lim added: “Other than its appearance, it may result in a metallic taste, bad breath or a tingling sensation”.

A toothbrush or tongue scraper would remove the “hairs”. However, oral hairy leukoplakia, a condition where the brown or black patches cannot be scraped off, is due to Epstein Barr viral infection, which is commonly associated with HIV infection, said Dr See. If the hairiness cannot be eliminated or keep recurring, see a doctor.

My tongue looks like raw meat

If your tongue feels tender, and looks red and swollen, you may have glossitis. It’s an inflammation of the tongue that causes the papillae to disappear, making your tongue look like raw beef, said Dr See, who associates it with nutritional deficiencies in Vitamin B12 and iron.

According to Healthline, certain hypertension medications, eating spicy food and even toothpaste may also bring about this allergic reaction.

Topping up on iron and Vitamin B12, as well as avoiding the triggers that cause the reaction should help. But if the swelling and tenderness don’t improve or they keep recurring, see a doctor.

There are bumps/sores/ulcers on my tongue

Bumps on the tongue can be caused by general inflammation, said Dr See, which can be due to medication use, nutritional deficiencies or constant irritation of the mouth.

But a small, painless sore on the tongue may be a sign of syphilis, said Dr Lim. “When untreated, it becomes syphilitic leukoplakia. Other symptoms may include headache, joint pain and fever.”

When it comes to sores and ulcers, these can be painful or painless. “Painful sores may be due to viral infections. They should resolve in a couple of weeks. If ulcers or sores persist beyond two weeks, medical attention should be sought,” said Dr See.

White patches on my tongue look strangely like the world map

You have geographic tongue, said Dr Lim. Yes, that’s what it’s called. The appearance is caused by the tongue’s patchy cell turnover. “No treatment is needed and there is no cancer risk,” he said. Just avoid food and drinks that cause discomfort, he added.

My tongue is cracked but there’s no pain

There may be a single or multiple painless cracks in your tongue. Should you worry? “This is a benign condition where deep grooves or fissures form on the tongue’s surface,” said Dr See. “It is usually painless and harmless.”

Dr Lim noted that no treatment is needed but beef up your oral hygiene to remove food debris trapped within the furrows.

My tongue looks like it's covered in cottage cheese

These creamy, white and slightly raised lesions on the tongue or inner cheeks can be a sign of oral thrush, which is an infection caused by candida yeast, said Dr Lim.

“The overgrowth of yeast occurs from the overuse of antibiotics, diabetes, iron and Vitamin B12 deficiencies, poor oral hygiene, weak immune system, smoking, hypothyroidism and cancer treatment.”

Although oral thrush is a common condition, it is less likely to occur in adults than in babies, according to Mayo Clinic. Adults who are infected do not report major problems in most instances. But if you have a weakened immune system, it is best that you see a doctor about the oral thrush.

Taken from this article:
What’s that white coating on your tongue? How to tell if you’re healthy or not

Weight-loss expert: 'We advocate moderation, we’re anti-dieting'

2020-05-08T00:30:00.000-07:00

Many people who have struggled for years with excess weight know that the hardest and often the most frustrating job is not getting it off but keeping it off.

Recent decades have seen countless popular diet schemes that promised to help people shed unwanted pounds, and as each of these diets failed in the long run, they spawned their successors.

New research identifies the keys to success for long-term weight management.

A diet, after all, is something people go on to go off. Most people think of a diet as a means to an end, and few who go on a food-restricted diet to lose weight expect to have to eat that way indefinitely. And therein lies the rub, with the current unchecked epidemic of obesity as the sorry result.

We live in a land of incredible excess. Rich or poor, most of us are surrounded by calorie-rich vittles, many of them tasty but deficient in ingredients that nourish healthy bodies. “We can’t go two minutes without being assaulted by a food cue,” said Suzanne Phelan, lead author of an encouraging new study in the journal Obesity.

Even the most diligent dieters can find it hard to constantly resist temptation. And once people fall off the diet wagon, they often stay off, and their hard-lost pounds reappear a lot faster than it took to shed them.

But these facts need not discourage anyone from achieving lasting weight loss. Researchers have identified the strategies and thought processes that have enabled many thousands of people to lose a significant amount of weight and keep it off for many years, myself among them.

The new study led by Phelan, professor of kinesiology and public health at California Polytechnic State University, identified habits and strategies that can be keys to success for millions. Yes, like most sensible weight-loss plans, they involve healthful eating and regular physical activity. But they also include important self-monitoring practices and non-punitive coping measures that can be the crucial to long-term weight management.

The study, supported by a grant from WW, the current name for Weight Watchers, was conducted among nearly 5,000 of its members who reported losing an average of about 50 pounds and keeping all or nearly all the weight off for more than three years. Their habits and thought processes were compared with a control group of more than 500 obese people who reported neither gaining nor losing more than 5 pounds over more than five years.

Healthy choices become more automatic the longer people continue to make them.

Phelan recognizes the emotional challenges involved with achieving lasting weight loss. She said, “Weight loss itself is a very rewarding process. People notice and offer encouragement. But that all goes away with maintenance.”

However, she quickly added, “Maintaining weight loss can get easier over time. Over time, less intentional effort, though not no effort, is needed to be successful. After about two years, healthy eating habits become part of the routine. Healthy choices become more automatic the longer people continue to make them. They feel weird when they don’t.”

On the other hand, perfection is not realistic and can be self-defeating, Phelan said. “Successful maintainers know there will be lapses. But they also know they can recover from lapses and how to get back on track. They accept slips and don’t engage in black-and-white thinking like ‘I was bad,’ an attitude that is self-defeating. Rather, they know there will be ups and downs, and they have a plan for coping with lapses that’s empowering.”

Rather than constant deprivation and self-denial, I practice moderation.

A personal example from one who lost a third of her body weight and kept it off for half a century: I anticipate and plan for the times when I expect to be confronted with culinary largesse. I’m a little more abstemious beforehand, enjoy the indulgence and get back to normal the next day.

Rather than constant deprivation and self-denial, I practice moderation. The study’s co-author, Gary Foster, who is chief scientific officer for WW, explained that in the WW program, “Everything is on the menu. Fad diets are overly restrictive, which dooms them from the onset. We advocate moderation, we’re anti-dieting. People have to find habits and routines that make long-term weight loss sustainable.”

And as many of the successful weight maintainers in the study reported, time and practice have permanently modified what I find appealing, so I rarely feel deprived and have less need to exercise self-denial all the time. I do admit, though, that I’m less good at ignoring cravings than many in the new study are. I’m more likely to give in but control the amount I consume.

What’s on your mind is as important as what’s on your plate.

What I may be best at is monitoring my weight. I weigh myself every day and keep within a range of 2 or 3 pounds. Nearly all the successful maintainers in the study weigh themselves weekly or more often, which makes it easier to self-correct before the numbers on the scale rise significantly.

Foster said, “What’s on your mind is as important as what’s on your plate. Weight management is something you do for yourself because you’re valuable, you’re worth taking care of.”

People must abandon the notion that “they can’t like themselves until they lose weight,” he said. “Rather, they have to start with a sense of self-worth and compassion. Weight management is a positive process, not a punitive one. Beating yourself up is not helpful, it’s de-motivating.”

Among the useful strategies identified in the new study is to keep lower calorie foods like fruits and vegetables more accessible. “We eat what we see,” Phelan noted. The corollary is equally important: Keep high-calorie, less nourishing foods relatively inaccessible and out of sight if not out of the house entirely.

A good friend who struggles with his weight gets furious with his wife for bringing cookies into the house. “She knows I can’t resist them, and I’ve asked her repeatedly not to buy them.”

Foster’s suggestion: “Be very clear about what you want the person to do and not do. Say, ‘I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t bring cookies home. I want to live a long life with you and that’s not helping,’ and be sure to thank the person for following through.”

Other helpful tactics used by the successful maintainers in the study are setting daily calorie goals and keeping a food diary, recording everything eaten each day. This has helped another friend of mine sustain a loss of about 30 pounds for decades. “It keeps me honest,” she told me.

Although physical activity is not by itself very helpful with weight loss, adopting an exercise routine can give weight maintainers more leeway and help to keep lost pounds from creeping back. As Foster told me, “Calories in must balance calories out if you don’t want to gain.”

By Jane E. Brody © The New York Times

Taken from this article:
Weight-loss expert: 'We advocate moderation, we’re anti-dieting'

Hangry people listen up, here are the benefits of intermittent fasting

2020-05-04T00:30:00.000-07:00

I’ve long thought the human body was not meant to run on empty, that fasting was done primarily for religious reasons or political protest. Otherwise we needed a reliably renewed source of fuel to function optimally, mentally and emotionally as well as physically.

Personal experience reinforced that concept; I’m not pleasant to be around when I’m hungry. There’s even an official name for that state of mind, confirmed by research: Hangry!

I was skeptical, but it turns out there is something to be said for a daily fast, preferably one lasting at least 16 hours.

But prompted by recent enthusiasm for fasting among people concerned about their health, weight or longevity, I looked into the evidence for possible benefits – and risks – of what researchers call intermittent fasting. Popular regimens range from ingesting few if any calories all day every other day or several times a week to fasting for 16 hours or more every day.

A man I know in his early 50s said he had lost 12 pounds in about two months on what he calls the 7-11 diet: He eats nothing from 7 pm until 11 am the next morning, every day.

I was skeptical, but it turns out there is something to be said for practicing a rather prolonged diurnal fast, preferably one lasting at least 16 hours. Mark P. Mattson, neuroscientist at the National Institute on Ageing and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, explained that the liver stores glucose, which the body uses preferentially for energy before it turns to burning body fat.

The 7-11 diet: He eats nothing from 7 pm until 11 am the next morning, every day.

“It takes 10 to 12 hours to use up the calories in the liver before a metabolic shift occurs to using stored fat,” Mattson told me. After meals, glucose is used for energy and fat is stored in fat tissue, but during fasts, once glucose is depleted, fat is broken down and used for energy.

Most people trying to lose weight should strive for 16 calorie-free hours, he said, adding that “the easiest way to do this is to stop eating by 8 pm, skip breakfast the next morning and then eat again at noon the next day.” (Caffeine-dependent people can have sugar-free black coffee or tea before lunch.) But don’t expect to see results immediately; it can take up to four weeks to notice an effect, he said.

Mattson and his colleague Rafael de Cabo at the ageing institute recently reviewed the effects of intermittent fasting on health, aging and disease in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Their article was prompted by frequent questions patients are asking their doctors about the health effects of fasting. Given their limited knowledge of nutrition, doctors are often unable to advise their patients, Mattson said.

Although there have been a number of recent studies assessing the effects of intermittent fasting on people, none are long-term, and the vast majority of disease-related findings stem from research on laboratory animals. For example, in an animal model of stroke, those fed only intermittently suffered less brain damage because they were better able to resist the stress of oxygen and energy deprivation.

Other animal studies have shown a “robust disease-modifying” benefit of intermittent fasting on “a wide range of chronic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers and neurodegenerative brain diseases,” the researchers reported. Their review of both animal and human studies found improvements in a variety of health indicators and a slowing or reversing of aging and disease processes.

For example, human studies of intermittent fasting found that it improved such disease indicators as insulin resistance, blood fat abnormalities, high blood pressure and inflammation, even independently of weight loss. In patients with multiple sclerosis, intermittent fasting reduced symptoms in just two months, a research team in Baltimore reported in 2018.

If you think evolutionarily, Mattson said, predators in the wild fight for prey in the fasting state and are better at recovering from inevitable injuries. The human counterpart – people who evolved in feast-or-famine environments – would not have survived unless somehow protected by fasting.

Human studies of intermittent fasting found that it improved such disease indicators as insulin resistance, blood fat abnormalities, high blood pressure and inflammation, even independently of weight loss.

“Our human ancestors did not consume three regularly spaced large meals, plus snacks, every day, nor did they live a sedentary life,” the researchers wrote. The studies they analyzed showed that “most if not all organ systems respond to intermittent fasting in ways that enable the organism to tolerate or overcome the challenge” and then return to normal.

Mattson explained that during a fast, the body produces few new proteins, prompting cells to take protein from non-essential sources, break them down and use the amino acids to make new proteins that are essential for survival. Then, after eating, a lot of new proteins are produced in the brain and elsewhere.

A reasonable question might be “How safe is intermittent fasting?” When fats are used for energy, they produce substances called ketone bodies that “regulate the expression and activity of many proteins and molecules that are known to influence health and aging,” the researchers reported. Ketosis, a buildup of acidic ketones in the blood, is a state that the Atkins diet, the ketogenic diet and other carbohydrate-restricted diets aim to achieve. Taken to extremes, however, ketosis can damage the liver, kidneys and brain and is especially dangerous to people with various chronic disorders like diabetes and heart disease.

Another important question: “How practical is intermittent fasting?” Not very, especially in its early weeks or for people with limited control over their mealtimes.

“Many people will experience hunger, irritability and a reduced ability to concentrate during periods of food restrictions,” the researchers wrote. They added, however, that these side effects usually disappear within a month.

Socially, eating restrictions like intermittent fasting can be very limiting. How do you respond to a 7 pm dinner invitation if that’s the start of your fasting window?

For people with a known or hidden tendency to develop an eating disorder, fasting can be the perfect trigger, which I discovered in my early 20s. In trying to control my weight, I consumed little or nothing all day, but once I ate in the evening, I couldn’t stop and ended up with a binge eating disorder.

How well this diet might work for you may depend largely on your usual pre-diet snacking and drinking habits and the kinds and amounts of foods you consume during the non-fasting hours. Knowing you cannot eat at all for a prescribed period may prompt some people to cram in whatever they want during the eating window, regardless of its nutritional value.

Mattson cautioned that intermittent dieters should “eat healthy foods, including whole grains, healthy fats and protein, limit saturated fats and avoid sugar and refined carbohydrates. And on fasting days, be sure to stay well-hydrated.” He also suggested a gradual decrease over a period of four months in the hours and days of restricted eating and in the amount of calories consumed on fasting days.

By Jane Brody © The New York Times

Taken from this article:
Hangry people listen up, here are the benefits of intermittent fasting

Why diets don't work: The reason that weight you lost comes back with a vengeance

2020-05-01T00:30:00.000-07:00

Hands up, if you’re on a diet. Hands up, too, if you have tried everything, from slimming centres to the Ketogenic Diet, and haven’t nudged a gram. Nope, the 2kg loss from losing water doesn’t count. And neither does the 5kg drop that comes back a year later as an 8kg gain.

The Ketogenic Diet, intermittent fasting and the various forms of high-protein, low-carb diets may be the rage now but experts say don't get your hopes up.

The comfort you can take from this is, you’re not alone. There’s always someone in the office who is dieting. Even in your circle of friends, there’s bound to be one or two individuals who have bandied around the D word from time to time.

On average, Singaporeans go through at least two diets in their lifetimes, said Pamela Er, senior dietitian at National University Hospital. Other experts such as dietitian Jaclyn Reutens from Aptima Nutrition And Sports Consultants say it could be at least three diets. “They try one diet, they fail. Then, they try again. The third failure could be the final try,” said Reutens.

DIET AND THE CITY

In fact, according to Er, the local diet scene has hit its peak scene right about now. “It’s been gradually building up over the last five years and gaining more traction in the last two years,” she said. The surge could, in part, be caused by technology. “Food is now easily accessible with just an app,” she said.

The weight can come back as quickly as two days. A 3kg weight gain in two days is not unheard of if someone just binges for a few meals.

While food-ordering apps create the supply, social media platforms create the demand. “Instagram and Facebook often push food content to users. They can be surfing these platforms in the middle of the night and they see such content, which triggers ghrelin, the hunger hormone that controls both eating behaviour and the physical processes involved in food metabolism,” said Er.

The proof is in the amount of calories Singaporeans consume daily: Six in 10 Singaporeans ate more than the recommended 2,200 calories for men and more than 1,800 calories for women a day, according to the Health Promotion Board. As of 2017, 32.8 per cent of our population is overweight, making Singapore the second-fattest kid in the Southeast Asian class.

There’s also the pressure to be seen as trendy, noted Er. Health food companies have been increasingly using marketing and advertising tools on social media to cash in on the health trend, and promote products such as juices or ketogenic diet meal plans, she said.

On the other hand, Reutens believed that the number of Singaporeans who diet isn’t as high as we think it is. “I believe that the number of people who are on a diet make up a small percentage,” said Reutens.

“And of these people, the majority is on a fad diet, which means that there are no results or the results are not lasting. The weight rebound effect is even greater. You can lose 3kg in two months but put on 4kg in a month.”

THE HISTORY OF DIETING

If you think dieting to look good and be healthier is a modern concept, it actually goes a long way back. All the way to 1863, to be exact. Back in the 1800s, an obese English undertaker by the name of William Banting was frustrated that he was losing the battle of the bulge. At 165cm tall, the 64-year-old weighed 91kg and had to go down the stairs backwards to avoid hurting his knees. He was also losing his hearing.

And of these people, the majority is on a fad diet, which means that there are no results or the results are not lasting.

Nothing budged the weighing scale’s needle for Banting despite walking, horse riding and boat rowing for a few hours each day as well as undergoing numerous slimming treatments, consuming weight-loss drinks and being put through low-calorie diets (Sounds familiar?).

He was almost at wits’ end when his ear, nose and throat specialist, whom he saw for his hearing loss, wrote him a diet plan: No potatoes, bread, sugar, milk and beer. Instead, eat four meals a day consisting of meat, vegetables and wine at almost every meal. And it worked. So elated was Banting with the results – he apparently lost 16kg in nine-and-a-half months – that he wrote and published Letter On Corpulence, Addressed To The Public to share his diet plan.

It was the genesis of the world’s first diet plan – and probably the beginning of the many forms of low-carb diets that you see today. In fact, Banting’s diet became so popular that people used to ask, “Are you banting?” instead of, “Are you dieting?”. And his book was still being published as recently as 2007.

The word “diet” isn’t a modern construct, either. It was invented in ancient Greece but it didn’t mean eating less of certain foods to lose weight. In its original context, “diaita” represented a way of life that encompasses food, drink, lifestyle, and exercise. “They didn’t get everything right but they did know that a healthy mind and a healthy body made for a healthy society,” said Louise Foxcroft, author of Calories And Corsets: A History Of Dieting Over 2,000 Years.

HOW DIETING HAS EVOLVED

If “diet” was already a word in your lexicon in the 90s, you’d already have swung from associating fat as the ultimate diet saboteur to a delicious weight-loss ally. You’d have heard of names such as Atkins Diet (thanks to Jennifer Aniston), Zone Diet, South Beach Diet and macrobiotic diet (that would be Gwyneth Paltrow).

“The first few diets that really stood out were the Atkins Diet, Hay Diet, Blood-type Diet, Cabbage Soup Diet, and the grapefruit diet,” said Reutens. However, those diets focused on single nutrients, single foods or some unsubstantiated theory on how your body works, she said.

Then, the new millennium came and with it, the age of reality TV. Nothing was private anymore, much less the sweaty, unglamorous and very real struggles of obese people trying to lose weight on TV shows such as The Biggest Loser.

In Singapore, the more popular diets used to be the vegan, Atkins and Mediterranean Diets, whereas in the last two years, it’s becoming the Ketogenic Diet, Paleolithic Diet, intermittent fasting and juicing detox diet.

While such shows might have motivated those with weight issues to get off the couch, critics have argued that the quick and sudden weight loss – as much as 15kg in a week – isn’t healthy. The biggest gripe though: Contestants often regained the weight they’d lost, according to the medical journal Obesity Biology And Integrated Physiological, which followed 14 The Biggest Loser contestants for six years after completing the show.

The early 2000s saw a revival in meal replacement products such as shakes, food packs and bars. “Some people found this easier than having to think about purchasing or preparing low-caloric, healthy meals,” said Er. However, Reutens said that you still needed to be monitored by a dietitian to ensure you are using them correctly to see the best results.

In Singapore, “the more popular diets used to be the vegan, Atkins and Mediterranean Diets, whereas in the last two years, it’s becoming the Ketogenic Diet, Paleolithic Diet, intermittent fasting and juicing detox diet,” said Reutens.

Another trend in dieting that she sees is not so much to lose weight but to improve health. “Juice-cleanse diet, vegan diet, gluten-free diet ... eating organic food is not really a diet per se but the demand for it has surged,” she said.

WHY DIETS DON’T WORK – LARGELY

While the diets of today have generally moved away from severely limiting the number of calories you consume, they still require willpower to keep to them. And therein lies the problem. “As the saying goes, old habits die hard. Any weight management diet plan can achieve some sort of weight loss if you’re able to stick to it. However, people get tired of being on the same plan daily,” said Er.

It’s not surprising that the one thing that has consistently stood out in the various dieting methods over the years is that of keeping the weight off for good. The number on the weighing scale’s counter just doesn’t seem to stay down in the long run. “Typically, 5 per cent and up to 20 per cent of body weight loss can be achieved over six to 12 months, depending on their compliance levels, physical activity and consistency in keeping to a diet,” said Er.

She added: “Most, like intermittent fasting, may be able to yield weight loss within days of commencement, but this is usually from the loss of fluids. Research has shown that 70 per cent to 80 per cent of people who have lost weight almost regain them all or even more after two years. The real work starts when you’re trying to maintain the weight you’ve lost”.

Dieters often find themselves being socially distant because they are unable to find the foods they are supposed to consume when they eat out.

Reutens noted that the lost kilos can be regained even quicker. “The weight can come back as quickly as two days. A 3kg weight gain in two days is not unheard of if someone just binges for a few meals.”

And there’s the rub – you have to keep at your diet. There’s no day off, no weekends, no holidays. “As weight-loss programmes, diets don't work,” said Meg Selig, author of Changepower! 37 Secrets To Habit Change Success on Psychology Today. “Yes, you lose weight, but about 95 per cent of people who lose weight by dieting will regain it in one to five years. Since dieting, by definition, is a temporary food plan, it won't work in the long run.”

That aside, diets also “fail from a practical point of view,” said Reutens. “Dieters often find themselves being socially distant because they are unable to find the foods they are supposed to consume when they eat out,” she said. “Imagine you are on an intermittent fasting diet and your 4/8 hours end at 6pm; you will be unable to go for a dinner gathering at 8pm.”

It doesn’t help that your body is constantly conspiring against you. Those on a high-protein, low-carb diet would be familiar with the mood swings that come with it. “It is common for those on such a diet to be angsty, grumpy and short-tempered. This is because of the lack of serotonin being produced,” said Reutens. “Other side effects include hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar), constipation, nausea and headaches.”

Furthermore, your body goes into compensatory mode when it senses that it’s not getting the amount of fuel it used to. You feel lethargic. Your metabolic rate gets tuned down, so that your body doesn’t burn as many calories as it used to when it’s at rest, said Er. And when that happens, the weight loss plateaus.

A heightened sensitivity to insulin is another way your body is telling you that it wants to go back to its original weight. “This means the uptake of glucose back into the cells for fat storage leaves you vulnerable to weight regain,” said Er.

WHY DO YOU STILL DIET IF IT DOESN’T WORK?

A big part of the answer lies in our love for novelty and the need to be seen as “in”, said Reutens. “It seems almost trendy to say you are on this or that diet,” she said. “I have numerous queries on the latest ones such as keto and intermittent fasting.”

If weight loss sounds like an impossibility, there is hope yet. “Weight loss is not difficult once you understand the logic,” said Reutens. “It’s a misconception that all diets are difficult to follow. Yes, the fad diets are but a well-planned, sensible diet with a wide variety of foods is actually easy and enjoyable to follow. Going on a diet is not about eating or limiting one food; it is about having a healthier attitude toward food.”

So, forget gimmicky diets. They are a waste of not just your money but your time and more so, psychological well-being, said Reutens.

Taken from this article:
Why diets don't work: The reason that weight you lost comes back with a vengeance

Scientists reveal 'ideal diet' for peoples' and planet's health

2020-04-27T00:30:00.000-07:00

LONDON: Scientists have unveiled what they say is an ideal diet for the health of the planet and its populations: including a doubling of consumption of nuts, fruits, vegetables and legumes, and a halving of meat and sugar intake.

Scientists have unveiled what they say is an ideal diet for the health of the planet and its people - including a doubling of consumption of nuts, fruits, vegetables and legumes, and a halving of meat and sugar intake.

If the world followed the "Planetary Health" diet, the researchers said, more than 11 million premature deaths could be prevented each year, while greenhouse gas emissions would be cut and more land, water and biodiversity would be preserved.

"The food we eat and how we produce it determines the health of people and the planet, and we are currently getting this seriously wrong," said Tim Lang, a professor at Britain's University of London who co-led the research.

Feeding a growing population of 10 billion people by 2050 with a healthy, sustainable diet will be impossible without transforming eating habits, improving food production and reducing food waste, he said. "We need a significant overhaul, changing the global food system on a scale not seen before."

Many life-threatening chronic diseases are linked to poor diets, including obesity, diabetes, malnutrition and several types of cancer. The researchers said unhealthy diets currently cause more death and disease worldwide than unsafe sex, alcohol, drug and tobacco use combined.

The proposed planetary diet is the result of a three-year project commissioned by The Lancet health journal and involving 37 specialists from 16 countries.

(For a graphic, click here)

It says global average consumption of foods such as red meat and sugar should be cut by 50 percent, while consumption of nuts, fruits, vegetables and legumes should double.

For individual regions, this could mean even more dramatic changes: People in North America, for example, eat almost 6.5 times the recommended amount of red meat, while people in South Asia eat only half the amount suggested by the planetary diet.

Meeting the targets for starchy vegetables such as potatoes and cassava would need big changes in sub-Saharan Africa, where people on average eat 7.5 times the suggested amount.

Presenting the diet at a briefing on Wednesday, the researchers said they acknowledged it was very ambitious to hope to get everyone in the world to adopt it, not least because there is vast global inequality of access to food.

"More than 800 million people have insufficient food, while many more consume an unhealthy diet that contributes to premature death and disease," said Walter Willett of Harvard University in the United States.

"If we can't quite make it, it's better to try and get as close as we can," he said.

(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Taken from this article:
Scientists reveal 'ideal diet' for peoples' and planet's health

How cutting carbs – not fat – might be key to maintaining a healthy weight

2020-04-24T00:30:00.000-07:00

It has been a fundamental tenet of nutrition: When it comes to weight loss, all calories are created equal. Regardless of what you eat, the key is to track your calories and burn more than you consume.

A new US study shows that adults who cut carbohydrates from their diets and replaced them with fat sharply increased their metabolisms.

But a large new study published on Nov 14 in the journal BMJ challenges the conventional wisdom. It found that overweight adults who cut carbohydrates from their diets and replaced them with fat sharply increased their metabolisms.

After five months on the diet, their bodies burned roughly 250 calories more per day than people who ate a high-carb, low-fat diet, suggesting that restricting carb intake could help people maintain their weight loss more easily.

The new research is unlikely to end the decades-long debate over the best diet for weight loss. But it provides strong new evidence that all calories are not metabolically alike to the body. And it suggests that the popular advice on weight loss promoted by health authorities – count calories, reduce portion sizes and lower your fat intake – might be outdated.

“This study confirms that, remarkably, diets higher in starch and sugar change the body’s burn rate after weight loss, lowering metabolism,” said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, the dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, who was not involved in the research. “The observed metabolic difference was large, more than enough to explain the yo-yo effect so often experienced by people trying to lose weight.”

Mozaffarian called the findings “profound” and said they contradicted the conventional wisdom on calorie counting. “It’s time to shift guidelines, government policy and industry priorities away from calories and low-fat and toward better diet quality.”

The new study is unique in part because of its size and rigour. It is among the largest and most expensive feeding trials ever conducted on the subject. The researchers recruited 164 adults and fed them all of their daily meals and snacks for 20 weeks, while closely tracking their body weight and a number of biological measures.

The trial cost US$12 million (S$16.5 million) and was supported largely by a grant from the Nutrition Science Initiative, a nonprofit research group co-founded by Gary Taubes, a science and health journalist and proponent of low-carbohydrate diets. The study was also supported by funding from the New Balance Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and others.

The new study is unique in part because of its size and rigour. It is among the largest and most expensive feeding trials ever conducted on the subject.

While some experts praised the findings, others were more cautious. Dr Kevin Hall, a scientist and obesity expert at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, said the new study was ambitious and very well-run. But he said the researchers used methods that raise questions about the results. One method they used to track metabolism, called doubly labelled water, has not been shown to be reliable in people on low-carb diets and it may have exaggerated the amount of calories the subjects burned, he said.

Dr David Ludwig, an endocrinologist at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital and one of the study authors, disagreed, saying: “We used a gold standard method that has been validated across a wide range of experimental conditions and universally adopted in the field.”

Hall added, “I would love it to be true that there was a diet combination of carbs and fats that led to large increases in energy expenditure – and I really hope it is true. But I think there are reasons to question whether or not it is.”

The idea that counting calories is the key to weight loss has long been embedded in the government’s dietary guidelines. It is the driving force behind public health policies like mandatory calorie counts on restaurant menus and food labels. Many experts say that the underlying cause of the obesity epidemic is that Americans eat too many calories of all kinds, prompted by easy access to cheap and highly palatable foods, and that they need to exercise portion control.

On its website, for example, the National Institutes of Health encourages people to count calories and warns that dietary fat has more calories per gram than protein or carbs: “You need to limit fats to avoid extra calories,” it states.

But experts like Ludwig argue that the obesity epidemic is driven by refined carbohydrates such as sugar, juices, bagels, white bread, pasta and heavily processed cereals. These foods tend to spike blood sugar and insulin, a hormone that promotes fat storage, and they can increase appetite.

Ludwig and his colleague Dr Cara Ebbeling have published studies suggesting that diets with different ratios of carbs and fat but identical amounts of calories have very different effects on hormones, hunger and metabolism. He has also written a best-selling book on lower-carb diets.

Hall and others disagree. They have published studies disputing the notion that carb-restricted diets accelerate metabolism and fat loss. Hall said that low-carb diets have many benefits: They can help people with Type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar levels, for example. But he argues that the carb and insulin explanation for obesity is too simplistic and has been “experimentally falsified” in rigorous studies.

Hall published a meta-analysis of feeding studies last year that suggested that energy expenditure was actually slightly greater on low-fat diets. But Ludwig pointed out that those studies were very short, with none lasting longer than a month and most lasting a week or less. He said the process of adapting to a low-carb diet can take a month or longer.

“A few days, or a couple weeks, is not enough time to make any meaningful conclusion about how diets affect metabolism over the long term,” he added.

To do the new study, Ludwig and his colleagues collaborated with Framingham State University, about 20 miles (46.6 km) outside Boston, where they recruited overweight students, staff members and faculty members. Each participant went through two phases of the study. First, they were put on strict diets that lowered their body weight by about 12 per cent, which was designed to stress their metabolisms.

“At that point their bodies are trying to regain the weight,” Ludwig said. “It pushes the body and predisposes to weight regain.”

The process of adapting to a low-carb diet can take a month or longer.

In the second phase of the study, the subjects were assigned to one of three diets with 20 per cent, 40 per cent or 60 per cent of their calories from carbohydrates. Protein was kept steady at 20 per cent of calories in each diet.

Over the next five months, the researchers tracked the subjects meticulously and provided them with enough daily meals and snacks to keep them from losing or gaining any weight. This was so the researchers could determine precisely how the subjects’ metabolisms responded to the different diets while their body weight remained stable.

The researchers tracked biomarkers that helped them ensure that the participants stuck to their diets. They also worked with a large food service company, Sodexo, to prepare thousands of generally healthful meals that the subjects could eat in cafeterias or take home with them.

A typical meal for the high-carb group might consist of a chicken burrito bowl with rice and vegetables, for example, or roasted turkey with green beans and mashed potatoes. The low-carb group would get a similar meal with fewer carbohydrates, like a chicken burrito lettuce wrap or roasted turkey with green beans and mashed cauliflower.

What the researchers found was striking. The roughly 250 extra calories that the subjects in the low-carb group burned each day could potentially produce a 20-pound (9kg) weight loss after three years on the diet, Ludwig said. People who tended to secrete higher levels of insulin did the best on the low-carb diet, burning about 400 extra calories a day.

The subjects on the low-carb diet also had the sharpest declines in a hormone called ghrelin, which is produced in the stomach. Ghrelin promotes hunger and body fat, and it lowers energy expenditure. Suppressing ghrelin may be one reason the low-carb diet increased metabolism, the authors noted.

Ludwig emphasised that the results need to be replicated by other investigators and he stressed that the findings do not impugn whole fruits, beans and other unprocessed carbohydrates. Rather, he said, the study suggests that reducing foods with added sugar, flour and other refined carbohydrates could help people maintain weight loss by increasing their metabolisms at a lower body weight.

"These foods seem to undermine your metabolism,” he said. “They slow metabolism in a way that may work against long-term weight loss maintenance.”

Anahad O’Connor © 2018 The New York Times

Taken from this article:
How cutting carbs – not fat – might be key to maintaining a healthy weight

Can eating organic food lower cancer risks?

2020-04-20T00:30:00.000-07:00

People who buy organic food are usually convinced it’s better for their health, and they’re willing to pay dearly for it. But until now, evidence of the benefits of eating organic has been lacking.

Now, a new French study that followed 70,000 adults, most of them women, for five years has reported that the most frequent consumers of organic food had 25 per cent fewer cancers overall than those who never ate organic. Those who ate the most organic fruits, vegetables, dairy products, meat and other foods had a particularly steep drop in the incidence of lymphomas, and a significant reduction in postmenopausal breast cancers.

In a study, those who ate more organic produce, dairy, meat and other products had 25 per cent fewer cancer diagnoses overall, especially lymphoma and breast cancer.

The magnitude of protection surprised the study authors. “We did expect to find a reduction, but the extent of the reduction is quite important,” said Julia Baudry, the study’s lead author and a researcher with the Center of Research in Epidemiology and Statistics Sorbonne Paris Cite of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research. She noted the study does not prove an organic diet causes a reduction in cancers, but strongly suggests “that an organic-based diet could contribute to reducing cancer risk”.

The study, published Oct 22 in JAMA Internal Medicine, was paid for entirely by public and government funds.

'MORE IMPORTANT TO SIMPLY EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES'

Nutrition experts from Harvard University, who wrote a commentary accompanying the study, expressed caution, however, criticising the researchers’ failure to test pesticide residue levels in participants in order to validate exposure levels. They called for more long-term government-funded studies to confirm the results.

“From a practical point of view, the results are still preliminary, and not sufficient to change dietary recommendations about cancer prevention,” said Dr Frank B. Hu, one of the authors of the commentary and the chairman of the department of nutrition at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

He said it was more important for people to simply eat more fruits and vegetables, whether the produce is organic or not, if they want to prevent cancer. The American Cancer Society recommends consuming a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains instead of refined grains, and limited amounts of red meat, processed meat and added sugars.

Dr Hu called for government bodies like the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Agriculture to fund research to evaluate the effects of an organic diet, saying there is “strong enough scientific rationale, and a high need from the public health point of view”.

BREAST AND LYMPHOMA CANCERS

The only other large study that has asked participants about organic food consumption with reference to cancer was a large British study from 2014. While it found a significantly lower risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma among women who said they usually or always ate organic food, it also found a higher rate of breast cancers in the organic consumers – and no overall reduction in cancer risk.

The authors of that study, known as the Million Women study, said at the time that wealthier, more educated women in the study, who were more likely to purchase organic food, also had risk factors that increase the likelihood of having breast cancer, such as having fewer children and higher alcohol consumption.

The organic food market has been growing in recent years, both in Europe and the United States. Sales of organic food increased to US$45.2 billion last year in the United States, according to the Organic Trade Association’s 2018 survey.

For food to be certified organic by the Department of Agriculture, produce must be grown without the use of most synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, and may not contain genetically modified organisms. Meat must be produced by raising animals fed organic food without the use of hormones or antibiotics. Such items now represent 5.5 per cent of all food sold in retail outlets, according to the organic trade group.

LINK BETWEEN PESTICIDE AND CANCER?

A representative of the Alliance for Food and Farming, a group that seeks to allay public concerns about pesticides, said consumers should not worry about cancer risks from consuming conventionally grown fruits and vegetables.

“Decades of peer-reviewed nutritional studies largely conducted using conventionally grown produce have shown that eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables prevents diseases, like cancer, and leads to a longer life,” its executive director, Teresa Thorne, said in an emailed statement.

For the study, researchers recruited 68,946 volunteers who were 44, on average, when the study began. The vast majority, 78 per cent, were women.

Participants provided detailed information about how frequently they consumed 16 different types of organic foods. The researchers asked about a wide range of foods, including fruits, vegetables, dairy and soy products, meat, fish and eggs, as well as grains and legumes, bread and cereals, flour, oils and condiments, wine, coffee and teas, biscuits and chocolate and sugar, and even dietary supplements. Study volunteers provided three 24-hour records of their intake, including portion sizes, over a two-week period.

The information was far more detailed than that provided by participants in the British Million Women study, who responded to only a single question about how often they ate organic.

OTHER HEALTHY BEHAVIOURS MAY HAVE HELPED

Participants in the French study also provided information about their general health status, their occupation, education, income and other details, like whether they smoked. Since people who eat organic food tend to be health-conscious and may benefit from other healthful behaviours, and also tend to have higher incomes and more years of education than those who don’t eat organic, the researchers made adjustments to account for differences in these characteristics, as well as such factors as physical activity, smoking, use of alcohol, a family history of cancer and weight.

Even after these adjustments, the most frequent consumers of organic food had 76 per cent fewer lymphomas, with 86 per cent fewer non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, and a 34 per cent reduction in breast cancers that develop after menopause.

The reductions in lymphomas may not be all that surprising. Epidemiological studies have consistently found a higher incidence of some lymphomas among people like farmers and farmworkers who are exposed to certain pesticides through their work.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified three pesticides commonly used in farming – glyphosate, malathion and diazinon – as probable human carcinogens, and linked all three to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

One reason an organic diet may reduce breast cancer risk is because many pesticides are endocrine disrupters that mimic oestrogen function, and hormones play a causal role in breast cancer.

By Roni Caryn Rabin © 2018 The New York Times

Taken from this article:
Can eating organic food lower cancer risks?

Fruits can be your diet ally or saboteur – depending on how you consume them, say dietitians

2020-04-17T00:30:00.000-07:00

These are confusing times when it comes to sugar. While there is no grey area when it comes to the adverse effects of added sugar on your health – think diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and weight gain – you may not be so sure about the sugar found naturally in food like fruit.

Both fruits and soft drinks are sweet but why is one better for you than the other? Can fruits make you gain weight? CNA Lifestyle goes in search of diet answers.

But wait, how can fruit be bad for you when the Health Promotion Board (HPB) advises us to eat at least two servings of fruit a day? Should we be worried about the sugar in fruit? Are certain fruit better for you than others? Does fruit... make us fat?

DIFFERENTIATING THE SWEET STUFF

First, not all sugars are the same. “While all sugars give us energy, there are subtle differences in the way each type of sugar is absorbed and digested,” said Jaclyn Reutens, clinical dietitian and the founder of Aptima Nutrition & Sports Consultants.

What gives fruit their sweetness is fructose – a carbohydrate naturally found in them. “When you eat fruit, your blood sugar levels rise slowly,” said Reutens.

But in highly processed food, such as bubble tea, biscuits, cakes, sweets, and even savoury items like frozen dinners, sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) are added to improve their flavours. “When you eat these foods, your blood sugars levels soar,” said Reutens, referring to the potentially diabetes-causing situation you want to avoid.

Unfortunately, HFCS is used in many foods you see in the supermarket. Take boxed fruit juices, for example. Although juice is already naturally high in sugar, some food manufacturers sweeten it even further with HFCS, making the level of sugar comparable to the amount added to soft drinks – and in some cases, even more than soft drinks, according to the Healthline website.

Even a single serving of certain flavoured low-fat yoghurts – which you may think is healthy – could contain over 40g of sugar. The same can be said of other seemingly “healthy” foods, such as cereal and granola bars, which are heavily sweetened with HFCS, noted the website. These foods can easily bust the limit to your daily intake of added sugar, which is no more than 8 to 11 teaspoons, or 40g to 55g, according to the HPB.

SUGAR IN FRUIT

Fructose is what contributes to your calorie intake. Here’s a look at how some common fruits rank on the fructose meter, from the lowest to the highest.

A serving of fruit would give you 10g to 20g of fructose. Two servings a day, as recommended by HPB, would provide 20g to 40g, said Reutens.

"If we're consuming natural sugars within the healthy eating guidelines, for example, two servings of fruit per day, and adequate amounts of low glycaemic index carbohydrates, which do have some natural sugar in them, this is meeting the guidelines of what you're looking for," said dietitian Chloe McLeod on HuffPost Australia. "It's more about looking at added sugars. We want those added teaspoons in the day to be quite low."

If you’re thinking of clearing your fridge of fruit to help you lose weight – don’t. “Forget the notion that fruit makes you fat,” said Reutens. "It’s a fact that we do not eat enough fruit. One in four Singaporeans do not meet their recommended intake, so how can we attribute weight gain to fruit?” she said.

On the contrary, fruits are a must if you want to lose weight. “Fruits give you satiety, which enables you to control your appetite. Fruits are also naturally sweet, so they help to satisfy your sweet cravings with far fewer calories than cake or any sweets,” said Reutens. “Fruits are a source of dietary fibre in your diet. They also give you vitamins and minerals as well as phytochemicals that foods in other food groups cannot provide. Eat your two servings a day.”

But that doesn’t give you the licence to binge on fruit either. "It's not that fruit is unhealthy; it just means that if you're having (six or seven) pieces of fruit, it's unlikely you're going to meet your veggie requirements, daily nut intake, or dairy intake per day. It's about fitting it all together,” said McLeod.

Moreover, “we eat foods, not single nutrients,” said Reutens. If you avoid fruit to minimise your intake of fructose, you may run into nutrient deficiencies, she said. Take, for example, avocados. They rank high on calorie content but they are also packed with monounsaturated fats, which are good for improving the level of good cholesterol (HDL) in the body, she said.

Conversely, if you regularly eat energy-rich bananas and do not burn off the calories, you can potentially gain weight, said Reutens. But that doesn’t mean you should stay off bananas – they are also a fantastic source of potassium, which helps with muscle contractions and prevents cramps, she added.

BEST WAY TO JUICE UP

What about fruit juices then? It depends on how the juice is derived. “The majority of the nutritional value in fruits is found in the pulp and flesh, which provide fibre,” said Reutens. “If you remove them, you are left with very little nutritional value. You may get some Vitamins A and/or C, or whatever is left after oxidation.”

Should you still order a juice instead of a soft drink for lunch? “You are better off with fruit juice,” said Reutens. “The calories are much lower in fruit juices but there are no added sugars, and the juices also contain some, albeit, small amounts of vitamins and minerals. Bubble tea and blended drinks are also high in fat.”

For instance, a cup of watermelon juice has 95 calories and 20g of sugar. If you have a 330ml can of Coke, you’ll be consuming 133 calories and nearly 35g of sugar, said Reutens. Bubble tea with pearls and milk are worse at 232 calories and 24g of sugar.

The worst choice, in terms of calories and sugar intakes, are blended drinks, such as yoghurt drinks, smoothies and mixed fruit juices. Each cup can give you over 400 calories and nearly 40g of sugar if you don’t watch what you put into it.

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF FRUIT

It’s all about maximising the amount of nutrients when it comes to eating fruits. To that purpose, it is best that you eat the fruit as soon as you cut or prepare it.

“Fresh fruits have enzymes in their tissues. When a fruit is sliced, the enzymes get exposed to the oxygen in the air and oxidation occurs. That is why fruits turn brown. When oxidation occurs, Vitamin C gets lost,” explained Reutens. The longer the fruit is exposed, the less Vitamin C it will have.

However, if pre-cut, cellophane-wrapped fruit is all that you can find at the supermarket or convenience store, you will still reap the benefits of its dietary fibre, potassium and remaining vitamins,” she said. To supplement your vitamin intake, alternate pre-cut fruit with whole fruit, she advised.

Taken from this article:
Fruits can be your diet ally or saboteur – depending on how you consume them, say dietitians

Thinning eyebrows: It could be a medical issue, not just a sign of ageing

2020-04-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

If you've been too enthusiastic with tweezers in the past resulting in sparse eyebrows or you're just not naturally blessed with Cara Delevigne level brows, well, you're not going to look forward to getting older.

In fact, you might already have noticed your brows’ disappearing act in your 40s. One sign of that is, you are getting increasingly liberal with your eyebrow pencil or powder. Even if you don’t wear makeup, you might see bald patches, or your brow tails are getting shorter.

The rate of hair growth slows when you’re older, but certain health conditions could also be the cause of your brows looking worse for wear.

WHY BROWS THIN WITH AGE

So, what is going on? Just as the hair follicles on your scalp grow thinner and finer hair as you get older, so too, can the follicles above your eyes, said dermatologist Dr Sejal Shah, a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology, on Self.

The rate of hair growth also slows when you’re older, said New York City-based dermatologist Joshua Zeichner on Allure. “Eyebrow hair grows actively for three to four months, followed by a resting phase, after which the hairs are released from the skin,” he said. But when the active phase shortens and the resting phase lengthens because of age, your brows will start to look patchy.

At the same time, your body starts to shut down its pigment factory, according to Medline Plus, meaning that the hairs produced won’t look so dark if you have black hair to begin with. The result? Brows start to look thinner and more sparse.

MEDICAL CAUSES OF THINNING BROWS

However, it's not just ageing that could be affecting the fullness of your eyebrows – it could be caused by certain health issues as well. Here are four reasons why thinning brows may warrant a trip to the doctor.

Skin conditions

That itch on your face may be more than a mozzie bite if you’re losing brow hair. That’s because healthy hair needs healthy skin to grow, and if the affected area has become red and flaky, it could be a sign of eczema, psoriasis or other forms of skin conditions, noted Medical News Today. Unfortunately, the use of some medication to treat psoriasis, such as acitretin, can also cause hair loss, including the brows.

Thyroid issues

The thyroid gland in the neck produces hormones to regulate metabolism. But when there is too little or too much of certain hormones, it disrupts many processes, including hair growth, according to Healthline. The loss of brow hair may be more pronounced in the outer third of the eyebrow in hypothyroidism (insufficient thyroid hormones), noted Medical News Today.

Autoimmune diseases

Doctors don’t know what causes alopecia, an autoimmune disease, but it is when your immune system mistakenly identifies the hair follicles as the enemy and attacks them. Several kinds of alopecia exist, according to Healthline, including alopecia areata, which causes random spots of baldness; alopecia universalis, which causes all hair, including your brows, to completely disappear; and frontal fibrosing alopecia, which scars the scalp and also creates brow loss.

Lack of sebum and Vitamin A

Sebum is every tropical dweller’s nightmare because it greases up everything, from the scalp to the face. But sebum has its purpose: To moisturise skin – and apparently, help hair grow. A 2011 study on Science Direct, a platform for peer-reviewed research, found that a lack of vitamin A can hinder the production of sebum, which is essential for moisturising hair and promoting its growth.

Taken from this article:
Thinning eyebrows: It could be a medical issue, not just a sign of ageing

Are you grinding your teeth? You could be stressed or have a sleeping disorder

2020-04-10T00:30:00.000-07:00

We cope with stress – consciously and unconsciously – in various ways. Some of us reach for some comfort food to feel better while others hit the gym or head out for a jog to get into the Zen zone. Then, there are the unconscious manners in which we react to stress, such as the peculiar odour our bodies produce under duress.

Teeth grinding and jaw clenching – also known as bruxism – could manifest during sleep and even unconsciously in the day.

Or you may be clenching your jaw or gnashing your teeth unknowingly – a condition known as bruxism – especially when your boss is breathing down your neck for a report.

As high as 38 per cent of the patients seen here were significantly depressed, too, when they reported jaw joint symptoms, which are likely a result of the effects of bruxism.

It's not just stress causing you to do that, depressed individuals may also be prone to teeth-clenching, said Dr Chua Ee Kiam, a senior consultant with the Department of Restorative Dentistry’s Prosthodontic Unit at the National Dental Centre Singapore.

“I would look at the psychological states, as in some cases, depression may also activate bruxism. As high as 38 per cent of the patients seen here were significantly depressed, too, when they reported jaw joint symptoms, which are likely a result of the effects of bruxism,” said Dr Chua.

In fact, a PubMed article, in which 470 participants were surveyed, also noted that “individuals who grind their teeth tend to report more symptoms of anxiety and depression than non-bruxers”, with bruxism seemingly “more severe during periods of heightened stress and anxiety”.

Why some people develop bruxism when stressed or depressed while others don’t depends on how they perceive and manage the stimulus, said Dr Chua. During sleep, “the subconscious mind may be more active than usual”, he said. And as the mind attempts to solve some of the day’s issues, it may result in gnashing or clamping of the teeth for some individuals.

BRUXISM IN THE DAY AND AT NIGHT

Some experts term bruxism as the clenching or grinding of the teeth, while others group them together, noted The American Academy of Oral Medicine (AAOM). But no matter what the action is, bruxism can happen in your sleep – and even during your waking hours. In adults, awake bruxism is more prevalent (22 per cent to 30 per cent) than sleep bruxism (1 per cent to 15 per cent), said Dr Chua, because patients are “often aware of the habit in the day”.

Because of this awareness in the day, awake bruxism is not as insidious as sleep bruxism, according to Dr Yue Weng Cheu, the clinical director of DP Dental and DP Dental Orchard. The nocturnal version can be caused by sleep apnoea, which one third of our population is at moderate or severe risk of, he said.

A worrisome form of it is obstructive sleep apnoea when the throat muscles relax during sleep and block the airway to the extent of interrupting breathing. What happens next is, the body sends out a stress response to raise heart and respiratory rates to get in more oxygen, said Dr Yue. Sometimes, this stress response increases muscle activity in the jaw, which in turn, leads to clenching or grinding during sleep.

In adults, awake bruxism is more prevalent (22 per cent to 30 per cent) than sleep bruxism (1 per cent to 15 per cent).

Sleep bruxism could also be caused by the way you breathe. “Mouth breathers, for instance, condition their tongues to lay low in the mouth during the day and when they continue to mouth-breathe at night, they suffer the consequences of airway obstruction or resistance, resulting in snoring and sleep bruxism,” said Dr Yue.

Almost every patient who suffers from sleep bruxism is unaware of his or her habit unless the sleeping partner complains about the noise at night, said Dr Chua.

ARE YOU PRONE TO BRUXISM?

The prevalence of bruxism is higher in individuals from ages 30 to 49 than those older than 60 years old, said Dr Ho Kok Sen, a dental specialist in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Specialist Dental Group, Mount Elizabeth Hospital. "According to AAOM, the prevalence of bruxism tends to decrease with age, with the lowest in people over 65," he said.

So, how common is bruxism? Dr Chua sees about 10 to 20 cases every month, while Dr Yue handles about four cases a week on average. Age is not a factor as both doctors have patients of various ages.

HOW DO YOU TELL IF YOU HAVE BRUXISM AND WHAT’S THE DAMAGE?

Is there pain in your temporomandibular joint (a hinge-like joint that connects your jaw to the skull) – especially in the morning when you wake up? While brushing your teeth, take a look in the mirror: Are your teeth looking shorter than before?

Take note, too, when you’re eating; is there pain or sensitivity when you chew? Do you notice a change or misalignment in your bite, or you just can’t bite properly anymore? Or you can’t fully open your mouth? If you answered “yes” to any of the above, it’s time to check in with your dentist for bruxism.

Clenching typically cracks your pearly whites and causes muscle soreness, pain and damage to the jaw. On the other hand, grinding wears off the outermost protective enamel and exposes the nerve-rich dentin, which results in tooth sensitivity, noted AAOM.

“Sometimes, we don’t see the grind marks or facets clearly but we can detect craze lines (cracks in the enamel) in the teeth,” said Dr Yue. But by the time the craze line has developed into a crack (involving the enamel, dentin and pulp of the tooth) and has joined with the other cracks, the patient has already worn down his teeth to the point of breakage, he said.

The duration it takes to wear down your teeth depends on the thickness of your teeth's enamel, said Dr Ho. "People who have weaker tooth enamel will having a higher risk of teeth breakage if bruxism persists."

Dr Yue added that it is "hard to tell how long that takes but those with the habit of cracking open crab shells, nuts, ice cubes and chicken bones with their teeth run higher risks”.

WHAT TREATMENTS ARE THERE?

Save for the scenario when you can’t fully open your mouth and require surgery to “unlock” the jaw, you’ll likely need root-canal and crown treatments, said Dr Chua, and sometimes, extraction.

Meanwhile, wearing a mouth guard may help to minimise the wear and tear. But do not grab one off the shelf. “Using a mouth guard from the sports store is like using a pair of shoes you picked up on the street,” said Dr Yue, explaining that the dentist needs to customise the fit for you. “If the fit is not good, the muscles will suffer.”

In addition, "over-the-counter mouth guards are generally made of thinner materials, which may not be able to withstand the force if your clench or grind is extremely hard", said Dr Ho.

However, a mouth guard doesn’t directly address the root cause of bruxism, said Dr Yue, which can sometimes be traced to sleep-related breathing disorders. Moreover, an upper guard should not be used during sleep if the patient has breathing disorders. “This is because the upper guard will block the tongue from lifting to the palate and that can aggravate the obstruction of the airway, leading to a more disastrous outcome,” he explained.

Botox injections to reduce the muscular actions in the jaw may help temporarily, said Dr Chua. Other than those, he suggested keeping stress levels under control and leading a balanced lifestyle.

Taken from this article:
Are you grinding your teeth? You could be stressed or have a sleeping disorder