Green Idea 3 - How To Make Your Own Deodorant?

There are many harmful ingredients in products we use daily but we generally don't pay enough attentions. I am slowly switching out things which I find harmful ingredients in them. I have been able to use home made soap for body & hair, home made laundry detergent & dish washing soap, and now I am going to switch to home made deodorant.. :)

I found this simple recipe to make our own deodorant and I am going to try it:

http://1greengeneration.elementsintime.com/?p=596

(I mix 1 part of baking soda with 1 part of corn starch (rather than 6 parts).)

What are the potential harmful ingredients one may find in commercially available deodorant? Aluminium is one of them and it is absorbed through the skin and accumulates in the body.

Read more about this here:
http://www.dyingtolookgood.com/deodorant_top7.html

Bye and have a good weekend.
Anic

Health Tips 4 - Make your own yogurt

Dear all,

I am finally back online. No time for craft work yet.. so, I thought I would share a simple recipe I use to make my own yogurt.  In case you would like to read about the benefits of yogurt, here is a link that gives a good overview:

http://www.tophealthydiets.com/benefits-of-food-items/benefits-of-yogurt.php

The recipe I use to make yogurt:
1) Blend the following together:
1 cup of milk powder
2 cups of hot water
2 cups of room temperature drinking water (in Malaysia, it is about 27 °C now at 10:12pm)

2) Once you have the warm milk ready, add 2 big table spoon of natural yogurt (starter) you buy from Supermarket (don't buy the flavoured one).   I like to use Marigold brand but other brands should do too.  The milk shouldn't be too hot till it kills the living cultures in the starter.  I found that 2 cups of hot water plus 2 cups of room temperature drinking water mixed together worked well.

3) I use a container which could go into my slow cooker (without turning on the electricity).  This is so that the milk remained warm for a longer time.   If you don't have a slow cooker, any other method is fine.  For example, leave it in the kitchen cupboard or wrap it with a towel or use a container which doesn't lose heat easily etc..

4) The yogurt is ready after a few hours (say 8, I never really measure how long it takes.  Usually I make it at night and I have my yogurt the next morning).  Keep in fridge once you think it is thick enough..  :)

If you haven't tried it...  you should..  :)

Warmest regards,

Anic

Health Tips 3 - Triphala ("three fruits")

Have you heard about Triphala?   It is a few Ringgit for a small bottle but it is very good for cleansing the body, so I thought I should share this with you, in case you haven't heard.  It is used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine.. Don’t worry about the Ayurvedic medicine,  just use Triphala as it is cheap but very beneficial.   You should be able to find it in some traditional Indian stores.  It is easily available from "Modern Store" in Jalan Brickfield, next to CIMB bank.

I normally buy the powder form as it is a lot cheaper compared to the tablets form.
It is made from:
1) Amalaki (Emblica officinalis)
2) Bibhitaki (Terminalia bellirica)
3) Haritaki (Terminalia chebula)

What is the benefit of Triphala?  In my own words:
1)    Help you go to toilet..  :)  but it is not so bad that you have to run to toilet..  So your toilet habit will be regular.
2)    If you have congested colon, of course this will be useful.
3)    If you have lots of fried food, this cool down your body.
4)    It helps remove toxin from your body.


To describe the benefit more professionally, here are words I borrowed from Wikipedia:
In traditional Ayurvedic medicine, Triphala is used for:

    * immune system stimulation
    * improvement of digestion
    * relief of constipation
    * gastrointestinal tract cleansing
    * relief of gas
    * treatment of diabetes
    * treatment of eye disease

For more reading, please see:
http://www.organicindia.com/triphala.php

Hope this help...

Health Tips 2 - Grape seeds

I ate grapes the other day and was chewing the seeds..  I thought that I should share this little piece of information not commonly known.   Grape seeds are high anti-oxidant, so shouldn't spit them out...:)  Should chew and swallow them together with other nice part of the grapes..

If you are eating a lot of grapes, it maybe too much chewing but try to do as much as you can... :)   I was eating a lot of grapes the other day and was tired of chewing..  :)  They were rotting... so need to eat them fast..

So what is so great about Grape Seeds?

1)  Grape seeds contain high concentration of Vitamin E, flavonoids, linoleic acid, and oligomeric proanthocyanidin complexes (OPCs, powerful as anti-oxidant).   Anti-oxidants are substances that destroy free radicals, harmful compounds in the body that damage DNA.      They could help treat heart disease to cancer, aging skin, although scientific evidence is mostly lacking for these.  However, there is good evidence that grape seed extract can help treat chronic venous insufficiency and edema.  See http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/grape-seed-000254.htm

2) Eating grape seeds may help combat degenerative brain conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.   http://www.ibtimes.com/contents/20100415/grape-seeds-demetia-alzheimer-amyloid-deposits.htm

Many more benefits mentioned here:  http://everydaysimplicity.blogspot.com/2006/01/grape-seeds-good-4-u.html

So...  before you throw out grape seeds...  think twice..  :)

Health Tips 1 - Seaweed Jelly (Good collagen source)

I am taking a little break from sewing..  :)    A short post about something I use in my cooking which is very rich in calcium, collagen and other minerals. 

Seaweed Jelly is actually Eucheuma Seaweed.   Some peope call it Sea Bird's Nest.  Apparently it's collagen content is 10 times higher than bird's nest (but a lot cheaper than bird's nest) and it's calsium content is 37 higher than fish liver.  A packet of Seaweed Jelly (can't remember the weight) is a few RM in organic shop.  Not a big packet but you get quite a lot of seaweed jelly.   I haven't checked out at other shop.

Collagen is very popular as the solution for a younger looking, wrinkles-free skin. :)  Around 75% of our skin is made of collagen.  It is also important for many parts of the body to function properly such as bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc..

One seller said:  "SEA BIRD'S NEST" is called ladies' cosmetic food as it helps to improve skin care and hair fall problem.  If consume continuously everyday, it can reduce Wrinkles, Black spot, freckles, Acnes and sensitivity symptoms.  (Really?  I better eat frequently.. :) )

But I eat it not for skin care instead I am hoping that I am able to maintain a healthy level of collagen in the body..  age is catching up.. :)

This is how it looks like.

You need to soak it so that it becomes jelly like looking.

What can you make from this jelly?  I don't have fanciful recipe, I just add them to my noodle soup as what I need is the nutrition.. :)
It melts if you add it to hot soup or boil it.   So, if you want to have something to bite, add it when the soup is not so hot.




Of course, there are better recipes.  A few nice ones:

1) Add it to your red bean/green bean soup, add after the soup is not so hot, otherwise it melts.

2)  Drinks:

Antioxidant Booster: http://sennyong.blogspot.com/2009/08/eucheuma-seaweed-my-antioxidant-booster.html
This one is easy to make: http://crystalbyblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/sea-birdnest-funori-drink.html

3) Sweet & Sour Eucheuma Seaweed Salad - http://www.greenborneo.com/chinesefoods/index.php?action=select&page=recipes&list_id=125&entry_id=48

4) Simply salad - http://sennyong.blogspot.com/2009/08/san-hu-cao-eucheuma-seaweed.html

5) Longan Red Dates Sea Coconut Eucheuma Drink - http://sennyong.blogspot.com/2009/08/sea-bird-nest-dessert-and-drink.html

Don't miss out this affordable collagen supplement, try it out...  :)

 
Thanks to the owners of the above links for sharing the recipes.

Oh.. it supposed to be a short post but ended up quite long..