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??

Spine Health for Drivers

An extract from a recent article on "Mind Your Body"(25 Sep 2009), which resonants with my previous entry "Good Posture for Drivers":

Rev up on Healthy Driving

"Back to comfort

Sitting in a car is quite different from resting on a couch because when the vehicle is moving, the body is subject to different forces - accelerations and decelerations, lateral swaying and up-down vibrations, said Dr Fong Shee Yan, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

To minimise back and neck discomfort, he said, have car seats with good lumbar cushion support for the lower back and headrests for neck support.

Car seats should recline at about 100degrees horizontally, with the knees slightly above hip level. The driver's seat should be moved close to the steering wheel to best support the curve of one's back and to allow the knees to bend.

During a long drive, it is important to take frequent rest breaks and do some stretching exercises to ease the discomfort and pressure on the spine."

Stop Whining!! For Your Health.

I read an interesting article, "Hush girls, stop that angst-y chatter", on Mind Your Body section of the Strait Times today. It's really a great awakening for many of us, especially for my girl friends.

In a study published in the Journal of Developmental Psychology, pre-teen girls rather than boys, tend to rehash problems and focus on negative feelings. They developed close friendships with co-complainers, and ended up depressed and anxious, which led to more angst-y chatter - an endless cycle.

This actually reminds me of myself. I was definitely one of those girls who whined a lot about my problems with my close friends. Though feeling slightly better after all whining and even shedding some tears with my buddies, I constantly felt very hopeless and depressed, and my whole world seemed to crumble down. I was stuck in that kind of depression since I came to Singapore, and it lasted till last year. It definitely had a very negative impact to my school work, relationships and work life.

I was very fortunate to have met my husband, who was attracted to my seemingly bubbly and sunshine external personality, but at the same time never gave up on my dark, depressive inner self.

Ed always tells me to think positively, but it was difficult for me as I am so stuck in the angst-y chatter and the anxious mood. One day he showed me a great video called The Secret/ Law of Attraction. At the same time, a comedy/romantic Korean TV series "Coffee Prince Shop No.1" was on air and got me totally hooked. These helped me realise life would be so much happier and easier if I focus on the positive side of things. It was a great awakening for me and finally I managed to get out of the vicious cycle. So I cut down my angst-y chatter (can't really stop it all at once) and stop my Xanga blog that was filled with complains. And true enough, life start to appear much brighter!

So to all my dear friends, like what the ST article says, "In general, talking is healthy. However, co-rumination represents too much of a good thing." So let's cut that short ok ^_^

Know Your Bones & Joints

Just saw on Straits Times that there is a new book called Know Your Bones And Joints.

It is writen by an Singapore orthopaedic surgeon and it aimed to provide a comprehensive guide to the prevention of bone and joint problems. Besides describing the causes and treatment options for each orthopaedic condition, the book also elaborates on how each condition can be avoided or delayed.

Sounds like a good entry level educational book for injury prevention. I think I will buy it not only because I believe "prevention is better than cure", but also because it claims that proceeds from its sales will be donated to the Straites Times School Pocket Money Fund and the Assisi Hospice. So I can lend it to my client for extra info and do some charity at the same time.

Pilates on AsiaOne

Joe from Option Studio shared with me this article on AsiaOne. It gives a great concise introduction about Pilates as well as three informative videos. My favourite video is "Armchair Pilates".


Enjoy!

If President Gloria Arroyo has good posture, it's probably because of Pilates

March 16, 2008
ST.com News: Stretching his pilates skills - from the Philippines to S'pore

By Tan Dawn Wei

"IF PHILIPPINE President Gloria Arroyo has good posture, it's probably because of Ole Eugenio.

The pilates instructor used to give Mrs Arroyo lessons in the presidential palace, although he'll have you know it's not exactly the most enviable job in all of the Philippines.

Pilates is a system of mind-body exercises which many professionals like dancers use.

'It's hard teaching Mrs Arroyo because there's so much protocol. You can't touch her and correct her - her bodyguards will jump,' said Mr Eugenio, 35, a soft-spoken Manila native.

Since moving to Singapore two years ago to teach at a pilates studio, he has not had to deal with the likes of those macho minders. His clients are largely 'tai-tais and yuppies'

'People here are health-conscious. Lots of people are stressed out, so I think Singapore needs me,' he said with a laugh."