Learning Holistic Wellness

How to perpetuate the effort of vegetarian movement

2012-01-13T13:26:00.000+08:00

Vegetarian awareness in Singapore is definitely on the rise.

Yesterday I received a call from The Strait Times
surveying the trend of vegetarian outlets in Singapore
asking a lot of questions about the demand of vegetarian fodd
and the owners' intentions of setting up vegetarian outlets in Singapore.

Meanwhile, as published on
TodayOnline/Voices,
we also see that vegetarians are getting
more vocal and defensive about their aspirations
http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120102-0000051/Its-not-our-parents-vegetarianism-any-more
http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120109-0000119/Youre-an-animal-lover

And, looking at the feedback column following both online articles
it's thrilling to see the endless debates between
pro-veg and anti-veg sentiments.

I noticed this situation many years back,
and was indeed very puzzled
why even with the hard solid facts and figures
general public are still "not convinced" to go a little less meat...

I later got some guidance/inspirations from teachers
that the vegetarian movement
has to go beyond just raising awareness,
and evolve into imparting proper education on vegetarianism.
-- This so as to perpetuate/sustain the effort of vegetarian movement
done so far in Singapore.

From what I have been experiencing,
proper veg education isn't that straight forward
like running a weekend Veg Roadshow
or putting a few veg lines on FB.

That is at most drawing public attention/awareness,
and merely suggesting to the public about
how they may go via a plant-based diet
to improve their health, protect animal welfare and conserve the environment.

Vegetarian community has to take one step up
to adopt a more holistic educational approach
via a "planned" step-wise nurturing process:

The followings are some suggestive steps that fellow vegetarians may adopt
to better convince/influence family and friends to go less meat more veg :)

Step 1. befriending with non-veg
            -- greet them with smile and kind words always, to establish a good first image :P

Step 2. building rapport/bonding with non-veg
           -- by participating in their lives
               e.g. go non-veg restaurant with them (but order veg option) and do sports with non-veg

Step 3. establishing moderate and trustworthy image of a veg
           -- interact with non-veg by good will, without prejudice,
               shower them with compassion and always willing to add value in non-veg's lives.
               This is a critical bridging step for subsequent "information transmission"

Step 4. gradual information feeding to non-veg
            -- subtly and casually pass on information on plant-based diet (with positive vibes)
                e.g. the anti-aging benefits of phytonutrients

Step 5. engaging non-veg in *omnivore-friendly* veg events/activities
          -- that is to receive non-veg friends in veg events with sincerity and
                absolutely avoid anti non-veg sentiment during conversations.
                This is so that non-veg would feel welcome and won't feel out of place.

Step 6. confer proper education about vegetarianism
            via good books, videos, lectures and workshops
            -- these educational info has to be fact/science based, absolutely no emotional remarks
                and most importantly with moderate views.
                Otherwise, non-veg tends tp think veg are just a bunch of extremist.

Step 7. lend non-veg friends unconditional support/love
            when they decide to try out a vegetarian regime
         -- when non-veg step out of their comfort zone to try out a new diet,
               support and love are essentials to give them a sense of security and
               to gather courage to move on.

As one can see from above,
promoting vegetarianism is not going to be
simply opening our mouth and argue by the facts and figures
(and stirring up heated, meaningless debate sometimes).

Vegetarian education movement takes
a great deal of energy,
a lot of patience to nurture,
a very deep compassion to educate the non-veg public

Only by a holistic approach to educate,
then only vegetarianism will continue bloom harmoniously in Singapore.

Well regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

When wholesome grains spell trouble?

2012-01-09T11:23:00.003+08:00

A good friend of mine, Violet,
recently drew my attention to some 'troubling' issues
about the consumption of whole grains.

According to an article she read,
improper consumption of whole grains
may cause problems like:
- indigestion/mal-digestion
(due to high fibre and enzyme inhibitors)
- minerals mal-absoprtion
(due to high fibre and phytates)
- intoxication
(due to rancidity)

It's very true!

Although whole grains is more nutritious and healthier
than refined grains,
it's important to learn the proper ways to consume whole grains
to avoid some unnecessary "side-effects".

To circumvent/solve the problems above, one may consider
doing the followings:

(A) Storage
> store at cool and dry place.

~ whole grains contains a lot of good fats
   (which white refined grains do not have
   after polishing away the brain and germ layers).
   But these good fats easily go rancid if stored under heat, direct sunlight
   and high humidity.
   Hence it's important to ensure the proper storage of these grains
   in dark, dehumified container away from heated spot of the kitchen.
   This will also prevent the growth of microscopic mould on the grains
   which is very toxic to our liver.

(B) Preparation
> soak, germinate/sprout the grains prior to consumption.
~ all whole graisns/seeds contain enzyme inhibitors, phytates
   and other toxins that causes digestive and absorption problems.
   This is part of the plan of nature,
   to protect the seeds so that
   they do not anyhow get gobbled up by animals
   to ensure their survival.
   But we human could use a bit of intellect
   to render these seeds suitable for consumption,
   by soaking to remove phytates
   by germinating/sprouting to degrade away enzyme inhibitors and other toxins.
   Therefore, in order reap the wholesome benefits of whole grains,
   we have to invest some effort. -- But it's very worth it!

(C) Consumption
> improve digestibility/absoprtion and minimise acidity by:
   i. adding more water content (e.g. congee, plant milk, soup)
     ii. low heat treatment (e.g. light toasting prior to making buckwheat tea)
     iii. grinding into powder (e.g. brown rice powder)
     iv. fermentation (e.g. miso, rejuvelac)
     v. complement with fresh juices (for alkalising purpose)
~ all the approaches above not only will help mitigate digestibility and absoption issue,
   but will also introduce more variety of dishes!

(D) Combination
> consume various types of grains but consume 1 type of grain at one time
~ each type of grain are 'made different,
   hence they have different nutritional profiles,
   having their own 'strength' and 'weakness'.
   Eating a variety of grains will help compensate
   each other's imperfections and synergise their strengths.
   However, if we eat different grains blindly in one meal,
   that may cause indigestion,
   as different grains may need different enzymes to digest in our gut.
   Therefore, it's advisable to eat each different types of grains separately
   for maximum digestibility.

Hope this posting will help clear the worries about the "side-effects" of whole grains
as well as offer some ideas on how to make small improvement in their daily diet =)

Bon apetit!
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Advancing Vegetarianism in 2012

2012-01-07T10:53:00.000+08:00

2011 was proven to be a hectic year,
as I took a few steps further
to advance my soul searching,
via physically reforms in my career and lifestyle
just like I did in 2010...

Some of LHW readers may have known that
I quit my full time job end of July 2011,
to better prepare for the commencement of
The Veg School in Oct 2011.

Like many others, I took long considerations
and had multiple consultation sessions with my family
before taking the plunge,
as it's expected that for substantial period of time
I will be short of stable income.

With permissions and support from my family,
I officially went full time into vegetarian education
as a new career cf. as a part time hobby in the past 10 years.

It has been five exciting months since the career switch.
and so far,
I am enjoying this new life! :D

During this very short period of time,
with the help of many boddhisatvas,
The Veg School successfully conducted
two workshops,
helping general public to understand the basics of healthy plant based diet,
and the importance of going organic for better health and environment.

At the same time,
some extraordinary learning opportunities came along,
when Nutrihub invited myself to help out on their marketing,
and two boddhisatvas offered very sincere incentives to convince me
to start up a vegan tea house at Kovan.

Everything happened just so quickly in the second half of 2011.

While I am indulging in my hectic (but spiritually-rewarding) new life,
2012 has now sneaked in!

Actually, I didn't quite realised it's 2012,
until my students were asking for
my new Vegetarian Wellness timetable for 2012 :P

In this new year 2012,
as seen in the timetable link above,
The Veg School will continue
to educate the public on vegetarian wellness,
serving even a larger audience
including the Mandarin speaking crowd (from April onwards)
and the residents in Kuala Lumpur (in May)!!

On my personal capacity,
I am also organising more outdoor workshops/tours/camps
to make it more lively and invigourating to learn vegetarian wellness,
including a Detox Workshop cum Retreat at Bornoe Highlands Resort (Apr)
and a 6D5N Healthy Lifestyle Transformation Camp at Aenon Farm (June).

Hope all the new vegetarian wellness programs lined up for 2012
will entice more people to learn more about vegetarian wellness
and to lead healthier lifestyle via compassionate and environmental diet.

Here, I wishes everybody
Good Health, Wisdom and Inner Peace
in 2012!

With metta,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Organic Gems of Singapore (6)

2011-11-26T11:50:00.000+08:00

Besides the 5 Organic Gems in Singapore,
there are also quite a few budding organic eateries
which are offeirng quality organic food:

Four Seasons Organic Market/Cafe
City Square Mall (Farrer Park MRT),
#03-46/47
Tel: 65096683
Url: http://www.facebook.com/organicmarket

Try their flavourful Curry,
Portobello Mushroom Burger (with vegan cheese), Corriander Beehoon!

Real Food
The Central (Clarke Quay MRT),
#B1-52
Tel: 62244492
Url: http://www.realfoodgrocer.com

Recommend their Mushroom Noodle, Salad, Brownie with vegan ice-cream!

Kokee
Bukit Timah Market and Food Centre
#02-188

Some nice suggestions are their wholesome Leicha, Rojak, Coral Jelly!

Organic eateries don't come by easy,
given the lack of organic education in general,
and the high overhead cost to operate a business in Singapore.

There is a need to give them
a bit more support,
a tad more understanding,
a little more nurturing,
so that they may sustain and carry on with their selfless missions
to do the people good,
to do the environment good :)

Take action and pay them a visit today! :D

With metta,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Organic Gems of Singapore (5)

2011-11-24T21:00:00.001+08:00

Gem 5:
NutriHub
46, Temple Street,
Singapore 058591.
Tel: 67382746
Url: http://nutrihub.blogspot.com/

Nutrihub has been around in Singapore for the past 4 years or so.
It started at Cuppage Plaza, Orchard Road, and later,
due to rental hike, moved to the current location at Chinatown.

The founder and chef of Nutrihub, Vinitha Ang
set up this healthy cafe for the good of the public,
mainly due to her health care background.

Vinitha was a nurse with master degree
and worked in several hospitals,
before she switched into health food business.
In many of her past interviews, she revealed that
she saw too many people suffering from
cancers, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases;
and hence the motivation to promote organic living.

Given her background, she emphasizes highly on
nutrition and the healthy way of food preparation
i.e. with zero mokc meat, zero MSG,
minimal oil and salt, just like many other healthy organic outlets.

Some very nice delicacies at Nutrihub are:

Vegan Otak-otak, Asian Raw Pizza, Raw Nutmilks,
Avocado mousse and Minty Kailan-Pineapple Juice

Many regular customers at Nutrihub
appreciate greatly the high energy food with pure taste there,
as they gradually found their health improved
after consistently eating at Nutrihub.

Vinitha derives satisfaction mainly from
her customers' health improvement,
and this is probably why she continues to operate this cafe
despite monetary loss all 4 years.

Gratitude is hence important for these unsung organic heros
like Nutrhub.

Coming up: some other budding organic newbies which are also doing tremendous good deeds and ought to be acknowledged too.

Well wishes,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Organic Gems of Singapore (4)

2011-11-23T21:00:00.006+08:00

Gem 4:
Eco-Harmony Kitchen (Kampung Senang)
Block 106, #01-205,
Aljunied Crescent,
Singapore 380106.
Tel: 67498509
Url: http://www.eco-harmony.net/

Eco-Harmony Kitchen is part of the social enterprise wing of
The Kampung Senang Charitable and Education Foundation.

It's based in The Holistic Lifestyle Centre at Aljunied,
which is one of the five branches of Kampung Senang.

Here, they do not only use 90% organic vegetables
(small portion of which are grown in their mini organic garden in Tampines branch),
they also absolutely avoid mock meat and processed veg foods.

Eco-Harmony culinary philosophy is naturally influenced
by Dr Lai Chiu-nan's healthy teachings,
as the founder of Kampung Senang, Joyce Lye
was the first person who invited Dr Lai to Singapore in early 90s
and subsequently founded Lapis Lazuli Light in Singapore.

Anyone who ever dined at Eco-Harmony Kitchen,
will noticed that their brown rice set meals are always "stuffed"
with many colourful vegetables.
This is another organic veg outlet
which is always concerned they don't put enough ingredients!
Because of that, their foods are always flavourful (despite very light seasoning)
invigorating and nourishing.

Another impressive point about Kampung Senang's Eco-Harmony Kitchen
is that they offer their daily meals the "Annalakshmi"-style
i.e. you pay as you feel how much the meal is worth
-- This is one very clear manifestation of compassion
to get the general public eat more organic health food.

As Joyce always mentioned,
organic food should be afforable by everybody.
This is how she materialises her words.

This organic food outlet,
like the other organic gems of Singapore,
is no ordinary business.
If one were to pay the slightest attention,
it's not hard to feel the overflowing good will behind,
leading the organic health movement in Singapore.

Some highly recommended foods at Eco-Harmony Kitchen:
daily brown rice set, brown rice milk, Lei Cha, bamboo rice, Rejuvenate Concoction brown rice dumpling and most impressively their yearly Xmas buffet!

With gratitude,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Organic Gems of Singapore (3)

2011-11-22T23:06:00.000+08:00

Gem 3:
Livin'Greens
325 Beach Road, Singapore 199559.
Tel: 6396 5523
Url: http://www.livingreens.com.sg/

Livin'Greens is another amazing organic eatery!

Barbara Chin, who is also the gourmet chef,
along with her husband, Tiger,
has been running this cosy vegan cafe for about 6 years,
offering a large variety of mouth watering vegetarian cuisines.

Despite the myriad of delicous dishes
Barbara is capable of generating to attract health food goers,
this family business actually
gained popularity in the early years
for Barbara's magical bakery skills
-- fyi, she is famous for baking gluten-free, millet-based vegan cakes
and creative wholemeal breads/buns.

Living'Greens is also one of a few healthy vegan outlets out there,
which persists on zero mock meat usage.
This is considered admirable,
because it translates to skill-demanding food preparation,
to strike a good balance among cost, taste, healthfulness as well as effort.

Some of the dazzling veg gourmet at Living'Greens are:
Vegan Lasagna, Shepherd's Pie, Pumpkin Salad,
Veg Jiaozi, Veg XiaoLongBao, Black Sesame Pudding, Laksa etc..

Barbara who is a dynamic, friendly and kind-hearted women,
emphasizes on educating the public to go veg,
not only for the sake of personal health
but also for the health Mother Earth.

One can see how she puts up a lot of
educational posters on environmental conservation on the walls
and sells a lot of environmental friendly products at her retails racks.

Livin'Greens certainly deserves to be praised,
for the sincere effort they have put in to
serve heathy, environmental and artistic veg food
to the fellow Singporeans.

Next: a vegan organic outlet that is run by a social entreprise which has a big heart for the young, the old, the sick and the disabled.

Well regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Organic Gems of Singapore (2)

2011-11-21T22:45:00.004+08:00

Gem 2:
New Green Pasture
190 Middle Road #04-22,
Fortune Centre, Singapore 188979.
Tel: 6336 8755

The New Green Pasture is another amazing organic eatery
even the 'hardcore meaters' can't resist the creative and tantalising dishes here!

Founded and operated by Sophia Teh, the chef and owner,
a fashion-designer-turn-vegatarian-gourmet-chef,
The New Green Pasture has been
serving her customers dedicatedly for almost a decade.

Few people know that
Sophia also learnt about healthy organic cooking
by the Dr Lai Chiu-nan's way
when Lapiz Lazuli Light first set up
on the 4th floor of Fortune Centre in mid 90s.

Inspired by Dr Lai to help improve the well being of general public
Sophia gave up her lucrative fashion design career in Orchard
and started up her organic food service.

Throughout the years, Sophia who is also a staunch buddhist
sees herself doing this organic business
as a form of volunteering (just like Mdm Wong of Ci Yan perceives).

One uniqueness about Sophia's food is
the 'overwhelming' nutriton (as she never fail to put more ingredients)
and appealing colourful food presentation!
Some of the must try unique dishes at NGP are:
Penang Laksa, Salad Soba, Yong-Tau-Foo, Salad Sushi, Bibimbap set, Pumpkin Chestnut Rice set.

Like Ci Yan, this is the eating place
where one doesn't have to worry about
the quality of ingredients used -- given Sophia's personal integrity
and the nutrition -- due to her healthy cooking education background.

To come: an organic eatery that is equally creative, nutrious and health conscious, serving the organic community at the other corner of Bugis area, for more than half a decade, tiredlessly.

Gratefully,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Organic Gems of Singapore (1)

2011-11-21T00:44:00.002+08:00

Very often, organic newbies or friends from overseas
would ask me this question:
"Which organic eateriesare good?"

Usually I would recommend them
a handful organic outlets which I frequent
-- not so much because of the taste, also not because they are cheap,
but more of the healthfulness of their foods and
the sincerity of the eateries' chefs/owners to serve.

I have to admit along these years,
I have become less and less picky about the taste of food,
but I have also become more and more concerned about
the quality of ingredients used and manner the foods are prepared.

Hence in this blog series to come,
I will make known several organic eateries
that, I personally feel, should be
the models of organic community in Singapore.

There will be a lot of good organic eateries that I do not mention,
may be due to my lack of communication with them,
may be due to my personal prejudice,
may be due to short period of time they have emerged,
but that doesn't mean they are not worth mentioning.
As often I emphasize, as long as it's veg and organic,
we should give them support regardlessly =)

Here are the 5 Organic Gems of Singapore:

Gem 1:
Ci Yan Organic Vegetarian Cafe
8, Smith Street, (Chinatown), S058922
Tel: 62259026

Ci Yan has been around for at least 12 years.
It's one of the most established healthy organic veg outlets
in the past decade.

Many people who have tried the food at Ci Yan
probably won't deny
the good taste, healthfulness and reasonable pricing of the food there.
Some highly recommended dishes are:
- Brown rice set meal, Hakka Leicha, Nasi Lemak, Rojak and Lotus Leaf Rice.

But those are not the most important thing.
What impresses myself and many customers of Ci Yan,
is their sincerity to serve.

According to Madam Wong, who is the chef and owner,
the reason why she operates Ci Yan is to repay Buddha
for granting her a new lease of life,
helping her to pull through her fatal 4th stage leukemia
some 15-20years ago.

Many a time, she shared with people,
how going organic and cooking vegetarian food the healthy way
(that she learnt from Lapizs Lazuli and Dr Lai Chiu-Nan)
help people bring back good health.

Ci Yan's readiness and sincerity to serve
could be seen from their attitude in operating the eatery.
Unless Mdm Wong goes for retreat or short breakaway,
the outlet is opened every single day 12nn-10pm
rain or shine.

Many a time, when customers (including myself)
came in late (say at 10pm)
and she was already closing or all foods had been sold,
Mdm Wong wouldn't mind the hassle "reactiving the kitchen"
to cook something up just for the starving customer.

Mdm Wong also mentioned before that
she wants to make healthy organic veg food affodable to general public.
Therefore no matter how high the cost of organic ingredients are,
she would keep it at a low S$5.
--That's the vow she made to Buddha after recovering from cancer.

Considering the healthfulness, taste, sincerity to serve and price affordability,
Ci Yan is well-deserved as one of the Organic Gems in the region.

Next, another organic eatery which is almost as well established as Ci Yan,
also influenced by Dr Lai's teachings, operated by yet another wonderful woman...

Well regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Holistic Wellness Events Update (2)

2011-11-02T09:59:00.003+08:00

Dear friends,

It has been a while since the last event update.
November - Dec 2011 is another exciting period.
As you will see below,
this year end LHW schedule is still packed
with a lot of learning opportunities
from Detox to Basic Nutrition workshops to simple cooking demo,
and quite some fun including
the very first Vegetarian Gourmet Tour @ KL!

Understand many will be travelling away,
so, would like to block your calendar now =D

************************************

5 Nov 2011:

o Organic Living Workshop (English)
9.15am - 5.45pm
Imagination Room, Level 5, Central Library, 100, Victoria Street.
Tel: 91175756
Email: info@TheVegSchool.net
(This is the second module of The Veg School systematic vegetarian course, covering a wide range of topics, from identifying organic products, understanding organic farming principles, to GMO issues, nutritional crises due to chemical farming and organic myths debunking. There will be hands-on segment learning how to cook yummy food at home!)

7 Nov 2011:

o Detox and Health (English)
8.30am -5.0pm
Awareness Place Wellbeing Centre, #03-39 Bras Basah Complex, S180231.

Tel/Fax: 6336 5067
Email: sem@kmspks.org
(This is an extra Detox Workshop that I didn't plan for 2011. My ex-students were benefited a lot from the session and specially requested this extra session so that she may bring her friends in to reap some benefits! An opportunity to learn the core principles of detoxification and understand how heal naturally, the proper way. Step-by-step guide to do DIY Detox at home provided end of the workshop.)

12 Nov 2011:

o Easy Raw Food Demo
7.00pm-8.30pm
Nutrihub, 46, Temple Street (near Chiantown MRT Exit A)
Tel: 91175756
Email: kee_yew@TheVegSchool.net
(a simple raw food demo of 4 nutritious recipes using super blender Vitamix. An opportunity to learn how to improve life quality via quick and nutritious raw food prep!)

13,20,27 Nov, 4 Dec 2011:

o The Basics of Health Diet (Mandarin)
3.00pm - 5.00pm
Awareness Place Wellbeing Centre, #03-39 Bras Basah Complex, S180231.

Tel/Fax: 6336 5067
Email: sem@kmspks.org
(This is the last series of Vegetarian Wellness Course Level1 module to be conducted at Awareness Place. This module will be improved and taught at the National Library on 28 April 2012, under The Veg School system.)

27 Nov 2011:
o Organic Living meetup @ Nature's Harvest Cafe
#02-08, FuLuShou Complex, Bugis
12.00-2.00pm
Details: http://www.meetup.com/Organic-Living/events/39447262/
(a monthly effort to visit organic outlet to boost the business of organic outlets so that they could sustain more easily.)

3 Dec 2011:

o The Veg School 1 Day Local Organic Tour
Venues to visit: Quan Fa Eco-farm @ Lim Chu Kang, Yes Natural @ Clementi, Four Seasons @ City Square, Livin'Greens @ Beach Road
8.45am - 6.00pm
Tel: 91175756
Email: info@TheVegSchool.net
(This is a collaborative effort with CieloSereno.net to bring organic education to the public via lively tours, putting organic theories in practice!)

8-9 Dec 2011:

o 2D3N Vegetarian Gourmet Tour @ KL
2 full days of Vegetarian Makan sessions, trying out all the delicacies in KL/Klang Valley
Enquiries: 91175756 kee_yew@yahoo.com
Itinerary: http://thevegschool.net/tours/KL-Gourmet%20Tour.pdf
(This is a premiere tour that I am inventing to bring more excitement to the veg community in Singapore. Limited to 8-10pax only. Apply leaves now! :D)

10 Dec 2011:

o Diet For A Hectic Lifestyle (English)
Venue: Tampines Library Auditorium (SGD8 per entry)
11.30am - 12.30pm

To register, please email: kee_yew@yahoo.com
(This seminar will be illustrating the consequences of 'hasty' eating; and most importantly providing practical solutions for adopting a healthy nourshing diet in our hectic lifestyle. The seminar will also introduce foodstuff which are packed with easily digestible nutrientsand sharing of some yummy and simple recipes!)

12 Dec 2011:

o Iridology Workshop (English)
Venue: Green Room Cafe
2pm-5pm
Details: http://thevegschool.net/workshops/Iridology.pdf
(This is an enriching hands-on workshop for beginners who would like to pick some basic skills to analyse one's health via a non-intrusive method ie through the recognition of patterns of iris. Vegetarian Nutritionist and Iridologist Ms Ketki Vinayachandra will be leading the workshop.)

11, 18 Dec 2011:

o Simple Vegetarian Cooking (Mandarin)
3.00pm - 5.00pm

Awareness Place Wellbeing Centre, #03-39 Bras Basah Complex, S180231.
Tel/Fax: 6336 5067
Email: sem@kmspks.org
(This is a popular cooking session that I have been doing at Awareness Place for years. Simple, nutritious and yummy cooking. Just right for beginners and hectic people!)

** I am planning to re-visit Borneo Highlands Resort 4-7 Jan 2012 (leisure) and 22-25 Apr 2012 (with Organic Detox course). Email kee_yew@yahoo.com to pre-register now!**

************************************

With metta,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

p/s: should you need any extra info about any of the above events, please do not hesitate to email me @ pureland2012-at-gmail.com or call 91175756.

p/p/s: should you like future email notification of new blog posts/updates, you may want to subscribe to Learning Holistic Wellness.

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Three lectures that grounded the soul, the heart and the body (3)

2011-10-27T22:31:00.002+08:00

A very unique presentation
by Geshe Michael Roach

Lecture 3: Buddhist teachings that ground my heart for a successful career

Like many people, I am also a person who from time to time
worry about stability of career.

Just a few days after Dr Lai's talk,
I went for a 2-night career talk
organised by The Diamond Cutter Institute,
meeting a person I admire for a long time but
never thought I would be able to meet in person
-- Geshe Michael Roach.

I first learnt about the existence of Geshe Michael Roach
through recommendation by some buddhist friends,
multiple years back, about this book called
"The Diamond Cutter".

In the book, the author i.e. Geshe Michael Roach
narrated how he set up a successful diamond company
in New York within 1 year, using Buddhist teachings
he learnt in a Tibetan Monastry for 25 years.

At Geshe Michael's talk over two evenings,
Geshe Michael wanted to specifically answer
most people's desperate wish for a successful career.

He compassionately pointed out that
the only guaranteed way towards a successful career is to
plant the seeds for a successful career.
That is to help other people succeed in their careers
and to solve other people's problems in their careers.

Strange as it sounded, but that was a proven path
as per Geshe Michael's testimonial
and Buddhist texts (The Diamond Sutra).

Geshe also taught us 4 specific steps to ensure that
we will succeed in our career faster:

(I) plant the seeds in the right place
   i.e to help people who helped us a lot before (e.g. parents),
        people who helps a lot more people
         or people who are in emergencies -- without hesitation

(II) meditate and plan how
      to help resolve target's sufferings/difficulties

(III) take action

(IV) recollect every evening on
      own's kind deeds during the day
      to help resolve target's difficulties

Also according to Geshe Michael,
our success in career is easily erased by jealousy.
To insure the success of our career from being demolished by jealousy,
he reminded us 4 important concepts to help dissolve it:

(A) Jealousy is a perspective that come from ourselves,
      hence it can be eliminated

(B) Any intention/seed will eventually amplify,
      hence the damaging results of jealousy
      is scalable in long term

(C) Commit to ourselves that
      we will not be jealous over defined period of time
      as an initial practice

(D) Do something to conteract jealousy,
      e.g. learn to praise a person.

I almost wanted to give Geshe a standing oviation
for all those precious teachings.

He was simply brilliant
putting buddhism into lay man terms and
making it so relevant to our modern lives
-- especially when it grounded my unsettled heart
in my career switch recently!

Gratefully,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Three lectures that grounded the soul, the heart and the body (2)

2011-10-26T23:44:00.001+08:00

Lapis Lazuli Light's motto

Lecture 2: An alternative healing technique that grounds the body

A month later after attending Prof Huo's enlightening lecture,
came another great teacher,
Dr Lai Chiu-nan (founder of Lapis Lazuli Light)
who has been advocating natural healing alternative for decades.

That evening with Dr Lai at Kreta Ayer People's Theatre,
further opened up my eyes and my mind towards
the broad possibilities to heal without medication.

Among a handful of non-intrusive healing techniques that Dr Lai introduced,
including healing with sound/music, colour illumination,
eye-ball rolling and specific vocal exercises,
it was the Earthing technique that was most impressive,
according to some amazing testimonials she quoted.

Earthing is a simple technique whereby we simply get ourselves
in contact directly with the Earth,
to balance up our bodily energy field for wellness benefits.
E.g walking bare foot on a green pasture, lying down on the beach.

This wasn't the first time that I've heard of Earthing.
All the while I thought it is just good for minor wellness improvement.
But that evening, Dr Lai elaborated quite deeply
on how it could be deviced skillfully and creatively to heal critical illnesses.

In an example, Dr Lai mentioned how a sick old man being bed-ridden for years
managed to get out his bed just a few days after getting himself Earth-ed or Ground-ed.
As the old man was not at all possible to get out his bed to begin with,
somebody creatively got this old man to sleep on a bed linen
which is electro-conductive and connected to the ground,
like how all electrical appliances is grounded at the socket in case of leakage of electricity..

With that very dramatic healing success story,
I began to feel it's necessary to pay more attention getting grounded
to mother Earth more frequently.

As many of us who live in the city have little chance of getting connected with the Earth,
Dr Lai suggested wearing shoes which soles are made of cotton or hay
to aid Earthing process "on the go" in oppose to rubber soled shoes
that are electrical insulator.

Very grateful to Dr Lai's for pointing out how to
heal and ground our body the natural way :)

With metta,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Three lectures that grounded the soul, the heart and the body (1)

2011-10-25T23:11:00.000+08:00


XinHai Revolution Lecture @ Xi Yao

The past two months had been eventful,
in term of my personal improvement journey.
I feel very blessed to be able to receive guidance and education from 3 prominent gurus,
and had my soul, my heart and my body grounded at 3 different occasions.

Here I would like to share my learning journey and
some important pointers I got from the gurus.

Lecture 1: The Revolution that grounded my soul

Early Sep, I was recommended by my friend Peck Yin
to attend an interesting lecture by a modern philosopher/educator,
Prof Huo Tao Hui (霍韜晦) from Hong Kong.

It's an event co-organised by Xi Yao Culture Association
and other Chinese culture academic institutions,
to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of XinHai Revolution.

Prof Huo delivered a solid 3 hours historic lecture in a very lively manner
and I listened enthusiastically to the modern history of China
with mixed sentiments towards the difficulties and sufferings my ancestors went through.

The lecturer was a very good "supplement" to what I missed out in high school
as it was exactly the post 1911 Chinese history that I missed out,
as I skipped my final year of high school (for good reasons).

All these years, (I know somehow weird) I felt "disconnected from my origin"
due to under-information of modern history of China,
until I got the last chapter of Chinese history "re-instated" at Prof Huo's lecture.
It was emotionally and intellectually critical to me.

It was a sad story to listen to, but I felt more "grounded"(settled)
after Prof Huo's lecture.
Especially, towards the end of the lecture,
Prof Huo delivered his philosophical interpretation of
the revolution event and the impact of such a revolution
on the past 100 years of modern China.

One very impressive remark that Prof Huo made was that
XinHai Revolution tho' technically was an event
that seemed successfully overthrowing
the ~2500 years of Imperial System of China,
the Revolution from macro point of view
could be seen either a "failure" or an uncompleted revolution.

The revolution terminated the age of Imperialism
but the very same revolution also failed to create
a Republic (initially intended for and which Sun Yat-sen strived to form)
-- please note that this is a neutral academic view, hope PRC readers do not take offence
According to Prof Huo,
one of the critical factors behind the incompleteness of the revolution
or the lacking element that drag this revolution for100 years
is the need of 'Min De'(民德) -- crudely translated as the moral excellence of the general public.

Prof Huo further illustrated the need to educate public
and uphold the strong moral values,
in order for a country to advance;
quoting vivid examples of the lack of virtue
leading to a lot of past sorrowful failures in modern Chinese history.

Touching lightly on the setback of over-worshipping capitalism in modern society,
he warned that the lack of moral education in nowadays materialistic world
will easily and constantly face huge predicament (hence chaos) when changes come upon.

I was very very touched by Prof Huo's deep insight
and his inner good will to wake us up to rebuild a world with integrity
through his skillful delivery of the 3-hour lecture.

With gratitude,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

p/s: Xi Yao Culture Association founded Prof Huo is a platform by which he passes on his educational philosophies and intention to rebuild a moral world.
{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Spirulina scare -- a case study on credibility of nutritionals manufacturer

2011-09-19T23:06:00.000+08:00

A student of mine, Angeline informed me recently
that there has been a chained email passing around to
ask people to avoid Spirulina,
due to some possibilities of hepatic and neuronal intoxication.

I am grateful that I was alerted about it,
as I have benn encouraging consumption of Spirulina
as a form of supplement and
especially when the source of the chain email was credible.

I hence went do some literature search to confirm
the situation and I now quickly report it here
for better awareness and clarity:

Some important findings:

i. Cyanobacteria (a.k.a. Blue Green Alage) is proven to be able to produce hepatotoxin (toxin for liver) and neurotoxin (toxin for the brain) in 2005. The study was done on 30 strains of Cyanobacteria, but Spirulina (a genus of a very diversified Cynobacteria phyllum) was not included. -- original full scientific publication here:
http://www.pnas.org/content/102/14/5074.full.pdf+html

ii. Subsequently, two Spirulina manufacturers (Cyanotech and Earthrise) committed third party laboratories to test for the toxins and Spurilina was certified free of the toxin. Reference here: http://naturalnews.com/007740.html

iii. in 2008, about 36 Chinese health products containing general cyanobacteria and spirulina were subject to toxin test and found to be Mycrocystins (hepatotoxin) positive in most of them. The level was however low. -- I only had access to the abstract of the article, so didn't find out what exactly are the 36 products tested. If they were mixtures of general cyanobacteria and spirulina in the detected samples, it's not conclusive to claim Spirulina produced toxin, as it's not a pure Spirulina health product. Reference here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18569007

iv. In 2009, another group of scientiests detected anatoxin-a (neurotoxin) in 3 of 39 Cyanobacteria supplement (containing Spirulina). Again, only abstract was obtained, not sure if the supplements contains other cyanobacteria besides Spirulina. Reference here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19520132

Interpretation:

i. Spirulina which has been consumed for centuries by indigenous Africans and Americans are unlikely to have lethal dosage of toxins. Tests have been done to prove Spirulina does not produce hepatotoxin and neurotoxins. Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirulina_(dietary_supplement)#Historical_use

ii. But because general Cyanobacteria ubiquitiously produces these toxins, scientists and the public tends to extrapolate that Spirulina is capable of producing such toxins if given the appropriate growing condition. -- It's known that some Cyanobacteria produce these toxins on and off depending on growing conditions.

iii. Hence it all boils down to the stringency of the culturing and manufacturing processes in which mutation of Spirulina, toxin-inducing growth environment and contamination by other cyanobacteria in the culture (ie hygience/sterility), may occur.

iv. Advice is to buy from reliable manufacturers who commit to testing of each batch of Spirulina for the presence of toxins plus engaging third party certification body to certify the products free of hepato-/neuro-toxins on constant and periodical basis.

-- This is why buying supplements from reliable company is important. Not all supplements on the shelves are safe and sound.

Hope the above quick report could help readers
to make the appropriate choice and adjustment.

Well regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

A dinner worth celebrated for

2011-09-08T21:48:00.005+08:00

It was an amazing evening last Saturday,
when I brought my Organic Living meetup group
for a raw organic vegan dinner at Green Room Cafe.

At this rare event, I was totally mesmerised among
the classy al fresco ambience at the cafe,
the creative and deliciously raw Balinese dishes,
and the company of 16 (environmental-)friendly organic goers!

The unique dishes we had was not even in the cafe's usual menu.
Diana von Cranach the raw chef personally "orchestrated"
the entire series of raw dishes
specially for us -- to celebrate
Living health food, Veganism and Organic Living
3 in one go! hahaha... :D

Raw Organic Vegan
Menu

Carrot "Rice" with
Curry Vegetable

Living Biscuit with
Papaya Soup

Raw Chocholate Mousse
with Mango

Organic Goers with
Diana von Cranach

What was truly precious about this dinner
was meeting the like-minded people,
people who seriously care about
environmental health,
organic farming and
have big compassion for the animals.

Diana also shared with us how
organic living should start with
fresh foods and
knowing the kind hearted people who farm for our food.

We started the dinner gathering at around 6.30pm,
but none of was willing to leave until it was 10pm-ish...
Great moment always seemed so short =)

Warm regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Learning about the hidden truth of the current economy

2011-08-31T23:47:00.002+08:00

Click here to enter
GoldSilver Knowledge Centre

In May 2009,
I attended the 4 day workshop by
Robert Kiyosaki and his Rich Dad team
on how manage our own financial health
without the intervention by agents and brokers.

That was my very first time,
I got to know Mike Maloney,
one of Kiyosaki's associates,
who gave a very in depth analysis on
the current economy and
how physical gold and silver have become
the essential financial equipment
to cushion the already deteriorating economy.

I bought my first batch of silver coin
on the 3rd day of the workshop,
and subsequently another batch order of silver coins
from Perth Mint (after some discussion with a few financially well-informed friends)
and also my first piece of gold coin in Malaysia
when I thawed my other investment
around the same time.

Ever since I kicked started my golden and silver path,
I have been continuously following
Mike Maloney's educational videos and reports
as well as other articles to reassure my "new venture" into gold and silver.
and to reinforce my learning about the hidden truth of the current economy.

In contrast to most people think,
gold and silver are not truly an investment,
as it doesn't really give dividents or cashflow.
It's merely a "parking lot" to park our wealth during this financial crisis
which is stepping up day by day.

While I am still at my infancy stage in learning financial wellness,
after two years of multi-session and intensive practice of
financial knowledge that I have learnt from Kiyosaki, Maloney, Harris Dent, T. Harv Eker etc,
I am beginning to have a clearer picture the rough mechanism
how we the middle class or the grass roots
are being enslaved/illusified/deceived/intimidated
by financers, financial institutions and even governements.

This 90min video, below, by Mike Maloney is one of the most
comprehensive recapitulation of many things that he taught
in his past workshops, books, reports, newsletters and interviews.
-- especially helpful for those who are bound by hectic life and
don't have time to read Maloney's book.

Mike Maloney is a sincere financial educator,
even my old classmate who hold a high position in a bank's investment wing agrees:

.

.

Whether to invest, or not to invest; gold, silver or shares or real estate etc,
all that I wish is that at least my friends around are well informed about
the economic environment (mess) we are dwelling in.

Ultimately it's not gold or silver that cushion us from the bumpy road ahead,
it all boils down to awareness,
like how we should manage our bodily health, our fragile environment and spirituality.

With metta,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Holistic Wellness Events Update (1)

2011-08-28T00:22:00.002+08:00

Dear friends,

As an improvement to help keep LHW readers informed
about educative and recreational holistic wellness events,
I will be starting, from now on,
to periodically post a listing of upcoming events including:
lectures, workshops, tours and social gatherings =)

For a start, here is the list!
-- Thank you for supporting Learning Holistic Wellness :D

****************************************************

30th Aug 2011

o Detoxification and Health Workshop (Mandarin)
8.30am - 5.00pm
Awareness Place Wellbeing Centre, #03-39 Bras Basah Complex, S180231.
Tel/Fax: 6336 5067
Email: sem@kmspks.org
(This is the last Mandarin Detox Workshop I planned for 2011. An opportunity to learn the core principles of detoxification and understand how heal naturally, the proper way. Step-by-step guide to do DIY Detox at home provided end of the workshop.)

o Holistic Wellness Symposium (English/Mandarin)
8.30am - 6.00pm
SingPost Building 5th Floor Auditorium
Tel : 6749 8509
Email : hws@eco-harmony.net
(This event is organised by a prominent player in holistic wellness education, Kampung Senang. They are doing this annual Holistic Wellness Symposium for the third year. This event will expose one to wider perspective of alternative natural healing and I benefited from Kampung Senang's events a lot, hence the recommendation)

3rd Sep 2011

o A raw organic evening with Diana von Cranach

6.30pm-9.00pm
Green Room Cafe, Bishan Park II
Details: http://www.meetup.com/Organic-Living/events/29942651/
[Please RSVP latest by 29th Aug]
(Extremely rare opportunity to learn from a raw guru from Bali. I met Diana once and tasted her Baliness style raw food many times.. absolutely amazing. Do join me for the special event that I have pushed quite hard to make it happen =P )

17th -18th Sep 2011

o Trading Mastery Intenstive
2 full days
Singapore Expo
Details: http://tradingmasteryintensive.com/
(This event is organised by a financial education academy, Royal Edlen at which I attended my some of my financial courses. A reliable and sincere education company, hence the recommendation. If interested, let me know as I can fetch the tickets @ a good discount, being an existing student there. -- I will be helping out at the event.)

20th-25th Sep 2011

o 5-Day Meditation Retreat (Mandarin)
6D5N (overnight stays compulsory)
Beeh Low See Buddhist Temple, 71B Jalan Jurong Kechil S(598588)
Tel: 6735 5900
Email: ddrum@singnet.com.sg
(This event is organised by Dharma Drum Singapore, a supporting branch of the well-established Dharma Drum Monastry in Taiwan. The meditation retreat will be guided by venerables from Taiwan, who are recognised for their proper skills and understanding of meditation. I attend Dharma Drum's meditation retreat every year since 2007. I have been tremendously benefited, hence the recommendation. I will be in the retreat again this September. Hope you could join me.)

25th Sep 2011

o Organic Pot Luck Party cum Organic Documentary Session
3.30pm-6.00pm
GroundUpInitiative @ Sustainable Living Kampung
Details: http://www.meetup.com/Organic-Living/events/31129782/
(Do check out the details in the link. The documentary is inspiring and I bet the food and people at the pot luck party will be amazing too!!)

2nd October 2011

o The Basics of Healthy Diet (English)
9.30am-5.00pm
Central National Library (Imagination Room, L5)
Details: http://thevegschool.net/courses-schedule
(This is the inaugral opening of my pet project, The Veg School! I promise that this veg education event is like no others before. You could only expect surprises, comprehensive and intensive veg knowledge, good food, freebies, hands-on food prep and more!! I must see you there :D )

9th October 2011

o Nutritionals For Preventive Medicine (English)
3.30pm-4.30pm
Central Library (Possibility Room, L5)
Tel: 91175756
(This is a newly created topic in my portfolio, helping lay public understand the different tiers of nutritional supplement, criteria for good supplement, the pros and cons, and how to harnest the power of nutritionals for preventive medicine.)

26-29th October 2011

o Health Retreat in the Borneo Mountains
4D3N
Borneo Highlands Resort / Kuching
Details: http://CieloSereno.net/borneo2011.htm
(Another organic tour organised by my Non-Profit Organisation, Cielo Sereno, which aspires to improve the organic awareness in Singapore via fun educational tours. This premium tour to the Borneo may not be repeated. If you like the healing magnetic field in the mountains and the pure taste of local organic produce, please don't miss it! AirAsia is offering cheap flight now, join us before it's too late!)

****************************************************

Well regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

p/s: should you need any extra info about any of the above events, please do not hesitate to email me @ pureland2012-at-gmail.com or call 91175756.

p/p/s: should you like future email notification of new blog posts/updates, you may want to subscribe to Learning Holistic Wellness.

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Trilogy of Diabetes (5)

2011-08-26T23:31:00.001+08:00

The participation of Zinc
in insulin secretion by Beta-cell
in the pancreas

At this juncture,
one may find that diabetes is actually
a little more complicated as it sounds from the surface.

Sugar/glucose metabolism in our body is
very sophisticated and tightly controlled.

Under normal circumstances,
the balance/homeostasis of glucose metabolism
isn't easily disrupted,
unless we ourselves constantly bombard our body with
excessive fats, proteins and carbohydrates.
over a prolonged period of time.

According to the Health Promotion Board a few years ago,
the average consumption level of protein in Singapore
is around 78g/day per person,
which is way excessive compared to the recommended level of
45~55g/day.

Now, it's not difficult to make sense why
the diabetic trend is constantly climbing.

Addendum 1: The magic bullets for diabetes

Diabetes can also be perceived as a disease of malnutrition
-- meaning,
we have been overfeeding on macronutrients (fats, proteins, carbo)
but
constantly have been lacking of minerals and fibre
due to the prevailing trend of meat based diet and non-organic farming nowadays.

The prolonged lacking of minerals in our diet
contributes just as much in causing diabetes,
as excess fats and proteins do.

Studies shown that diet low in minerals
e.g. magnesium, zinc, chromium, vanadium
poses higher risk of diabetes.

The reason is simple, these minerals
are the key co-factors in different stages of glucose metabolism
from insulin secretion, to insulin activity to glucose uptake and conversion.

Hence, minerals can be seen as one magic bullet
in preventing or stabilising diabetes (during milder stages).

Another magic bullet for preventing or improving diabetic health
is the very humble fibre.

Because fibre slows down the absorption
of glucose from the gut into the bloodstream,
it helps reduce the blood sugar shock and
in turn reduce the chance of obesity
and over-exhaustion of the pancreas.

Addendum 2: The (preventive) cure is in the daily diet

Summing up all of the points above
it's implied that,
in order to prevent or mitigate diabetes,
a wise person would prefer a diet:
- low in fat
- moderate in proteins
- fibre to go with carbohydrates (tehcnically known as low glycemic index food)
- high in minerals

While there many options to fulfill the above criteria,
certainly, a whole grain based vegan diet
would be one good example =)

Even better, if one can go organic,
for the higher content of minerals in organic produce.

Lastly, as a gentle reminder --
Diabetes is a disease not to be taken lightly of.

Many people has the misconception that there are
very effective drugs and recombinant insulin to help curb the condition.
However, without targeting the root of the problem
ie a balanced diet,
the medication will finally lose its efficacy
and diabetes is bound to worsen over time.

The worrying part of diabetes,
is when a diabetic comes to a stage where the kidney is impaired.
At this stage, one may perceive it as a tip-over point
beyond which the degenerative condition
will only spiral down hill (until death, sorry to be honest),
even then, a healthy diet cannot reverse the situation.

Hope this series of diabetes blog have been of some benefit to LHW readers.
To learn how to eat your way to health and balanced nutrition,
try get some scientific based veg education at The Veg School :)

Best regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Trilogy of Diabetes (4)

2011-08-26T00:45:00.001+08:00

Excessive amino acids triggers
high blood sugar level,
cancelling the effort of insulin.

Episode 3: Excessive proteins induces insulin resistance

Q: Why does this happen?

A: It's all related to the confusion of another signalling pathway.

The story goes like this...

During starvation or emergency (e.g. life threatening events)
glucose are consumed quickly and low blood sugar situation occurs.

Our body will then be signalled to increase the blood sugar level
in order to feed the relevant muscles for emergency rescue,
via the release of two hormones:
cortisol (a stress hormone) and glucagon.

And, how exactly these two hormones are triggered
is, interestingly, via an elevated level of blood amino acids (or proteins)
which originate from
injured tissues (e.g. animal attack) or
digested muscles (due to starvation).

On a normal day,
when we have our 3 proper meals at proper timing,
comfortably at our dining table,
cortisol and glucagon shouldn't exist in significant level
(as there is no starvation or emergency occuring).

However,
with the large intake of meat and dairy in a meal,
our body mistakes those increased amount of dietary proteins/amino acids
as a signal of starvation/emergency!
Consequently, when cortisol and glucagon
(which act in the exact opposite direction of insulin)
are released,
they create a condition similar to insulin resistance,
subsequently forcing the pancreas to secrete exaggerated amount of insulin
to bring back the blood sugar to normal after the meal.

In long term, same drill, the pancreas gets exhausted and
fails to keep up the insulin production with the 'false emergency alarm'
after every high protein meal that we eat,
leading to high blood sugar level eventually.

The above are actually very established biochemical facts
which one can easily find in textbooks.
But, the general public who are under-informed about this "general knowledge",
may perhaps be mistaken that eating more protein food (meat and dairy)
in place of carbohydrate food,
is a 'wise' way to avoid the risk of diabetes.

How many times have we seen diabetic friends
dedicatedly cut down their carbo food,
but only to worsen their condition
by taking in large amount of proteins via a meat-based diet?
-- whenever I see that, I sense the shiver down my spine...

Next, we will discuss on two "magic bullets"
to mitigate the severity of insulin resistance
and the principles to formulate a diet to prevent diabetes.

Take care,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Trilogy of Diabetes (3)

2011-08-25T00:06:00.000+08:00

The condition where the insulin signalng/instruction
gets hindered/retarded is known medically as
insulin resistance.

While most people didn't know about the true cause of
insulin resistance,
they naturally turn to blame the result of insulin resistance
which is the sugar in the blood.

That under-information consequently lead to
unnecessary (or dangerous) action
of cutting down sugar/carbo/starch intake severely,
sometimes to the extent of developing phobia towards carbo.

Hence, it's not difficult to see some mis-informed diabetics ended
with weak limbs and poor concentration,
craving for fatty food to perk them up.
This in turn makes the situation worse.

Some diabetics even resist to shed off their excessive weight
despite doctors' advice,
as they couldn't make sense in between fats and their 'sugary' urine.

Even worse,
when their insulin resistance increase day by day,
and doctor's insulin pills slowly lose their efficacy,
they continue to cut down on sugar and replace calorie loss with fatty food.
Eventually. with frustration,
they blame it all on their genes (and sometimes even give up on treatment).
-- all because of serious misunderstanding of the cause of diabetes.

While diabetes indeed could be inheritable,
it's still mainly due to an imbalanced diet.
See The Humble Truth of Genes on why gene is not be blamed.

In the next episode,
why protein is the next culprit for diabetes.
-- yes, not mistaken at all, excessive protein causes diabetes as well.
Tune in!

With love,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Trilogy of Diabetes (2)

2011-08-23T22:59:00.001+08:00

Many of us may still find it puzzling,
to claim that sugar doesn't (directly) cause diabetes.

Question arises here:
-- if sugar is ok, then why are we constantly hearing advice not to take too much sugar/carbohydrates?

A simplified answer:
>> When sugar is taken in refined form (e.g. in soft drinks, sweets, white flour and processed foods)
they shock the blood sugar level and quickly get converted into fats, ultimately contritbuting to obesity issue (which may indirectly evolve into a diabetic issue as explained later).

However, if sugar is taken in whole food manner (e.g. brown rice, wholemeal bread and whole grains), with the presence of fibre, the blood sugar level rises gently, and doesn't contribute to obesity easily.

Also, because whole food are usually loaded with high fibre, one gets satisfied more quickly and doesn't get overboard in sugar consumption easily.

If we are choosing the right form of sugar/carbo, it's even harder to convince that sugar causes diabetes.

Episode 2: Fat is one of the cultprits

Those who are in tuned with diabetic medicine,
probably won't be too unfamiliar with the remark
that waist line of a person is tightly correlated to
the risk of diabetes.

One may get the hint now that it's
fat that actually plays crucial roles inducing diabetes.

There are two ways fat causes diabetes
by failing the insulin to control blood sugar level:

(I) Hindrance of insulin signal :
When blood sugar rises, insulin secreted from the pancreas
will be circulated thoughout the body to inform the necessary tissues/cells
to do the necessary actions to reduce sugar in the blood stream immediately.

However, if there are too many fat molecules in the cells/tissue,
the insulin signals will get retarded and faded away,
consequently leading to inefficient signalling.

As long as the blood sugar level doesn't get normalised,
the feedback system in our body will keep informing the pancreas to
work harder and to release more insulin
until the desireable blood sugar level is reached.

In long term, the pancreas gets overworked
and eventually fails to produce matching level of insulin.
This is a classical case where diabetes arises.

(II) Defective insulin signal reception:
This pathway of diabetes is getting more prominent day by day,
when under-informed public, uncounsciously
take in molecularly impaired fats (ie bad fat).

As mentioned in The Fats of Life series,
any fat/oil which is treated with high heat
will render the fat molecular structure deformed.
Little that the general public knows that
the common cooking oils sold in the market
are treated with extreme high heat before bottling
to prolong their shelf-lives.

These deformed fat molecules
once assimilated into our body,
part of them will be used to make defective insulin receptor,
ultimately blocking partially the initiation of insulin signaling.

In the end, it doesn't seem that the pancreas
will ever be able to produce sufficient insulin to compensate
the blockage of insulin system.

Scary as it sounds,
but many people still prefer not to change their habit
in the choosing the right type of cooking oil
(which are not high heat treated).
-- good cooking oil are easily accessible at many Health Food Shops

More to come in the next blog,
as we still have one more culprit of diabetes to unveil.
Also, we will be discussing on how to devise
our food intake to mitigate the severity of existing diabetic condition.

Well regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Trilogy of Diabetes (1)

2011-08-23T00:44:00.000+08:00

I promised long ago to write a blog series on diabetes (Type II)*

which is of increasing significance to general public health nowadays.

Here, we are going to discuss about the true causes of diabetes
in a in-depth manner and hopefully could encourage readers
to do the appropriate preventive steps.
-- especially till today, many people have substantial misunderstanding
on the causes of diabetes.

Episode 1: The Myth of Sugar-induced Diabetes
In contrary to what most people believe,
diabetes although closely related to blood sugar,
is not a disease caused by too much sugar intake, technically speaking.

Blood sugar level happens to be a indicator of the severity of
the disease and hence it's easily mistaken to be the culprit
(in fact, it's a scape goat in the entire issue).

Excessive consumption of sugar may aggrevate the severity of diabetic condition,
but certainly, it's broad misunderstanding that excessive sugar induces diabetes.

There are a few points below to be reminded, in regards of sugar,
when we clarify about this misunderstanding:

(i) our body is design to be able to harmonise/normalise any dramatic
fluctuations of blood sugar level (via homeostasis/negative feedback loop),
to ensure stable blood sugar concentration for optimal bodily functions

(ii) sugar is critical for survival ever since human being started to walk on the Earth;
excessive sugar is very welcomed, as a backup for incidences
of starvation and emergency escape.
(Excessive sugar are happily stored in liver as glycogen and under the skin as fats)

(iii) high amount of sugar consumption doesn't necessary always
results in high level of blood sugar concentration,
depending on the type of sugar/carbohydrate (in term of digested rate)
and the presence of fibre to slow down the absoprtion of sugar through the GI track.

None of the scientific facts above support any solid path towards diabetes.

Diabetes which is truly a degenerate disease showing symptoms of the body unable to

to control the blood sugar level after a meal (or sugar intake),
is, strictly speaking, caused by the failure of insulin-system to function.
(and sugar has no reason to directly cause the insulin system to fail)

In the next few blog posts, we will delve into how actually this insulin-system fails,
and some may be surprised that the culprits of diabetes
don't quite look 'sugary'.

Well wishes,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

*Diabetes are categorised into two types: Type I which is rarer and happened to young children/newborn with impaired pancreas; Type II which is most common, preventable and diet-induced. In this blog series, I refer specifically to Type II diabetes.

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Meeting a rawsome guru -- Diana von Cranach

2011-08-21T12:06:00.001+08:00

Raw food guru,
Diana von Cranach at her
creative and rawsome
food demo

Just a few days after a fun-filled organic trip at Titi Eco Farm,

I went for another raw-some living food workshop, with
a raw food guru, Diana von Cranach
@ The Green Room Cafe.

The entire afternoon spent with Diana
was inspiring.

It was like a magic seeing how the guru put together,
effortlessly,
some of the humble raw veggies
to create dishes which are very pure tasting and nourishing.

During the 4 hour workshop,
we went through the recipes with full serving of 4-course lunch
from Eggplant Roll appetizer to Sweet corn - Coconut soup,
to Mixed Veggie Timbale to Coconut jelly.

Diana also shared on many topics about healthy eating,
including differentiating what are the truly living food,
the real way of organic un-cooking,
as well as giving us some recommendation where to get
the good quality food sources and reliable kitchen appliances.

Other than skill and knowledge transfer,
the participants also had a good time networking with each other,
and exchanging 'living' ideas ;)

Some of the nice looking dishes captured at the workshop.
Happy Eye Feasting!
-- yes, these are what we had for lunch!! hahaha.. :D

With gratitude,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

p/s: I absolutely fell in love in Diana's food ever since Green Room Cafe re-opened with raw cuisine early May this year. I want to help spread further the concept of true organic and healthy vegetarian, hence am organising a special dinner session with Diana on 3rd Sep 2011. If interested, please check out Organic Meet Up =D

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

The Oasis of Organic Living - Titi Eco Farm

2011-08-19T23:28:00.000+08:00

Titi Eco Farm Tour organised by
Cielo Sereno

Just about 10 days ago,

I was leading a memorable organic tour

to Titi Eco Farm in Malaysia.

Altho' that was probably my 5th or 6th visit to the farm,

I enjoyed the stay, with thrill and gratitude,

like it was my first visit =D

Titi Eco Farm expanded quite a bit since I last visited a few years back,

but the essence of the farm hasn't changed all these years!!

I liked how the fresh air and

the beautiful sunset view from the front yard

still remained,

how the creative raw food chef, Elaine,

was still passionate about raw organic diet,

how the various organic produce there

were still vibrant!

During the 3D2N stay,

the experience was absolutely relaxing, pampering and enriching:

-- basically, we were:

feasting on nourishing and mouthwatering
organic food everyday

(with almost free flow of

organic salad and fruits!),

soaking our our legs in steam foot-spa,

drinking herbal tea to detox,

chilling ourselves at the balcony of the chalet,

joining in workshops on making papaya salad

and Hakka Farmer's Tea (擂茶)**,

doing laughter yoga together in the Energy Garden

... and so much more!!

Titi Eco Farm was truly a gem.

It's a place where we realised the sweetness of humble living,

the abundance of love that mother Earth offers,

and how we should treasure, in deep gratitude,
the purity of unpolluted air, land and food.

I am definitely going back to Titi again! :D

With metta,

Kee Yew

pureland2012-at-gmail.com

**Bonus:

[Titi Eco Farm's recipe on traditional Hakka Farmer's Tea (客家擂茶)]

Mix and grind, in a mortar, equal portion of
. Eleutherococcus trifoliatus 苦粒心
. Basil 九层塔
. Xiao-Ye-Gan 小叶甘
. Guava Leaf Buds 番石榴嫩芽
. Peanuts
. Sesame seeds
into fine paste using Guava pestle. Pour in hot water, and adjust to desirerable thickness, add some rock salt to taste and serve with crunchy diced veggies and brown rice. Bon Apetit!

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Holistic transformation in the pipeline -- The Veg School

2011-05-01T09:00:00.003+08:00

A symbol of good will
for social, animal
and environmental wellbeing

Some 8 months ago,
I was sitting in a 3-day T. harv Eker's workshop
on how to make our dreams into reality,
inspiring me to open a vegetarian school.

I took the inspiration to my heart so deeply that
I made broad public commitment on Facebook and my Blog
and
started to recruit talents to prepare for the biggest project of my life.

Given the overwhelming support from many many friends,
the management team for the vegetarian school quickly took shape,
the vegetarian school officially registered with ACRA as "The Veg School" in March 2011
and today,
The Veg School's official website goes live!!

As I write this blog,
my cells resonate in excitement:
I couldn't believe this very ambitious project (and mission)
that will potentially transform the lives of many people
finally takes place.

At the same time, I am also feeling grateful :
without the mutual support and dedication of
the TVS team members,
this very critical start of the life-transforming project
couldn't have been so smooth --
be it the booking of teaching venue,
publicity platforms,
content write-up,
website construction or back end support...

The Veg School (TVS) promises to be an educational figure
that doesn't just talk about how to lead a holistic and healthy vegetarian lifestyle,
but also help students to actually impart the knowledge into their lives
and make the real change happens!

Unlike the conventional schools which
passes on only theories and notes to students,
TVS will provide step-by-step systematic guidance
and follow through the growth of the students along their path towards vegetarianism.

TVS is a school with personal touch and
sincerity to offer true values to the people (+animal+environment).

Here, I sincerely invite you to visit
TheVegSchool.net

Register as a student (take the opportunity of the admin fee waiver till 31st July 2011!)
sign up at least a full day module with The Veg School -- if not the entire program ;)
and
recommend to your loved ones and your best friends!

There is one critical point that TVS needs your help --
TVS needs the very YOU to be in the scene
so that TVS could honour its promise
to transform your life and lives of many others
via holistic, ethical and healthy vegetarian lifestyle.

The first module starts 2nd October 2011.
Be there =)

With deep gratitude,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}