"Rethink Your Drink"

Recently there is a photo going around the internet and it arrived on my Facebook wall:

I would love to give credit to the creator of this picture if I know him/her.


This is a brilliant way to get a clear idea how much sugar is in the crappy drinks! They should really have shown the sugar content in Ribenna and the Vitamin Water!


For teachers and parents, this is a great activity idea. These are what you will need to prepare:
- kitchen scale
- clear plastic bags
- teaspoons (1 teaspoon = 4 grams)
- huge tub of white sugar


As your children to name one of their favourite drink, get them to read the nutrition table on the packaging and weigh out the amount of sugar contained in the drink into the clear plastic bag. Get them to compare the sugar among their drinks.


You can also check this site out for a list of sugar content in the common drinks in Singapore.

Attended a pilates course recently and met up with many fellow practicitioners.

There are so many new Pilates studios set up lately, I am glad to see the industry blooming, that means people are more aware of the goodness of Pilates. Consumers are really spoilt for choice ^_^

I have updated studio listings, check them out:

• In KL, Malayisa
• In Singapore

Artificial colouring

I love love love Starbucks' Green Tea Latte, but on my health-conscious days I find it too sweet for my liking and sadly, unlike buying coffee from kopitiam, I can't ask for "siew dai" (less sweet in Hokkien) because apparently it is made with a  pre-mixed formula readily loaded with sugar.


To curb my craving in a healthier way, I decided to try my luck and make my own concoction using my Nespresso machine. I bought a pack of premium grade Japanese green tea powder from the supermarket and added 5 teaspoons of powder (which was meant to make 5 cups of tea) into the steamed milk...


The end result, it tasted absolutely delicious, creamy texture with intense green tea fragrant, but...


It just didn't look like the real deal, see the comparison:

I added more and more and more green tea powder (15 teaspoons in total!) but the colour was not even half as green as the Starbucks'... I gave up.


There is no way that Starbucks could have used pure green tea powder as the cost is too high, so I concluded that they have added colouring (lots of it) into my favourite drink! sigh...


And here is an article that confirmed my suspicion, and to make conscience effort to reduce use of chemicals in their products, Starbucks use insect-based ingredients to make their drink colourful and attractive. I am really not sure if I should be happy to know that the colouring is now more "natural", because given a choice I wouldn't consume insect for its brilliant colour...


The amount of chemicals from artificial favourings, preservatives and colouring we consume daily is horrifying. You just can't run away from it, they are everywhere be it cheap or expensive food sources. These kind of additives are added liberally just to make the products more competitive and lucrative. Many studies show links between consuming food additives to diseases like hyperactivity in children, skin allergies, asthma and even cancers. How can we not fall sick if we keep pumping in harmful chemicals into our bodies?!

Why can't they leave a simple drink to look simply the way it is??