Sunday, February 27, 2011

Health Tips #8 : Soy Product

Suka kacang soya? Always heard that banyak makan kacang soya boleh mencantikkan kulit dan dapat baby putih gebu?
Initially I was a true soya haters.. I can't stand anything soy kecuali soy sauce. Haha. but over these past few years I've developed an obsession of healthy living, and among the food that I desperately forced myself to consume and find it not bad at all are soymilk! OK I am always a tempe lover-thats a fact but now I can stand soymilk walaupun daku takkan membelinya on purpose, but if somebody offered I can drink it now.Semuanya kerana kesihatanku yang berharga.
But..at the meantime there is also a news spread really fast that said soymilk is not THAT good (I knew some pregnant mothers drink it like nobody's business for the sake of their baby). I knew most of you had read it already.. and later someone shared another link to jawab semua facts tersebut(thanks to Encik A).
For me,my basic rule is simple : never consume ANYTHING too much, or else akan jadi lain.Even the best of food cam milk,eggs,sayur2 etc sume takleh consume too much kan?amik moderate amount jer.. Kalo tak lain jadinya..dan make sure you eat from various sources of carbo,protein,etc..jangan dok makan satu lauk jer :p (note:jangan jadik karnivor!)so takyah pening2 nak cari the best or the worst food whatsoever.Just stick to that basic rule and insya Allah everything will be fine. Cuma kalau boleh galakkan diri makan makanan sunnah (yang Rasulullah makan dan yang disebut dalam Quran e.g. kurma,anggur,buah zaitun,susu,daging kambing,etc) untuk dapatkan berkat dan juga makanan2 ni mmg terbukti berkhasiat.Cuma again the basic rule applies here : don't eat too much!!
Love to share some excerpt I got from the counter-answer for soy badness as I mentioned earlier. Like to highlight a few points too..happy reading and implementing!
The anti-soy crusaders, on the other hand, point to certain substances found in soy, and tell us that almost any amount of soy is too much. The reality, though, is all foods contain substances that, if eaten in high enough concentrations, would cause problems. Even the most healthful foods contain components that produce unwanted effects when they are tested in isolation in a laboratory. For example, broccoli, lentils, and grapefruit contain naturally occurring pesticides that can cause mutations if eaten in high enough quantities.

Peanuts and peanut butter often have traces of aflatoxin, a substance found in a mold that grows on the nuts that causes cancer in high enough amounts. Celery harbors toxins that at high enough levels damage the human immune system and causes photosensitivity. (Highest levels occur in celery that has brownish patches.) Spinach and chard contain oxalic acid, a substance which binds with calcium and diminish its absorption. Common mushrooms contain several substances that in sufficient concentrations are carcinogens.

This doesn't mean, though, that you should avoid eating broccoli, lentils, grapefruit, peanut butter, celery, spinach, chard and mushrooms. In fact, if you made it your policy to eat no food that contained substances which can in large enough concentrations cause damage, there would be literally nothing left for you to eat.

It's true that soybeans contain substances that in excess can be harmful. But to imply, as some do, that as a result eating soyfoods poses a risk to human health is taking things much further than the evidence warrants. There would be dangers in eating a diet based entirely on soybeans. But, then, the same could be said for broccoli or any other healthy food. This is one of the reasons why varied diets are so important. Diversity protects.

full article here : http://www.vegfamily.com/health/is-soy-bad-for-you.htm

p/s: satu lagi conclusion I got adalah; tempe is one of the best soy product to consume.Haha suke!cita2 jangka panjang I adalah utk membuat tempe sendiri.Any Javanese sudi nak ajar??:p

Friday, February 18, 2011

No Regrets : This Ain't A Textbook Life

I planned to write an insights of what was recently happened to me.. a really(?) good one with grammar check,good vocabulary and everything. But I'm afraid I'll be so lazy and will subsequently abandon this page and when I was up to write again, semuanya jadi basi. So I want to write something, and right now.

Ok you 've known the chronology already, I detailed it out in the last page. "No regrets" - those words were stucked on my head from the very first night I was admitted in the hospital until recently. Nothing should be regretted pun kan. But Alhamdulillah I didn't feel depressed or anything alike.OK I cried once and that's it, just accept it.It had happened and it was not the worse thing happen to someone. Yelah I mean, countless ladies that I knew had the same experience, if not worse.My friends,my colleauges,my boss,my aunties.. ramai yang dah share experience yang sama that actually made me relieved.

I pun tak sure what my point is actually tapi I still nak tulis something.

Yang tak semua kita ni experiencing/will experience `textbook life'. My definition of textbook life is everything you planned is exactly implemented whether with or without your control. Macam, you study that discipline and you get employed doing exactly that.dan you plan nak kawin at 25 and you got it arranged.dan after one year you already pregnant, no complication whatsoever and had a beautiful baby,after two years you got another bundle of joy and the list went on and on.meanwhile you get good performance ratings at work, get promoted within 4 years,buy house,buy new cars, etc. As odd as it sounds, some people do get a textbook life.I know some who had it.Tak mungkinlah tak jealous tapi dah memang rezeki dan tertulis their plan is exactly the same as the God's plan..they should be grateful to have all that.

While, some of us, infact most of us will face bumps down the road.Sometimes we will be hit hard,sometimes we bounce back harder.Bukanlah sebab Tuhan tak sayang but we will be challenged on things that we are actually capable to deal with no matter how hard.. it was written in the holy Quran. Infact kita pun kena sangat bersyukur sebab dapat ujian, ujian tanda sayang Allah kpd hamba-Nya kan? Mungkin textbook life is not the best for us, hence ours are more challenging. The fact is that when we died, we will only be judged with our iman and taqwa. Not our money,our success stories,our performance rating, our number of children, our family etc etc. So ladies and gents, and especially myself, tabahlah :) Dan doa usaha tawakkal selalu..meminjam kata2 seorang kawan,"kalau langit yang besar dan berat tu Allah boleh tadbir, takkan awak sorang yang kecil ni Allah nak biarkan?"

Baru2 ni ada scene dalam satu drama tu sangat mengesankan saya.Tak ingat dah tajuk dia.. tapi pasal anak perempuan ni yang ala2 jahat cakap kasar ngan mak dia kat telefon, pastu terus eksiden.Then bila dia terjaga tengok kawan2 dia semuanya dah mati dalam kereta tu, dia takut dan panggil2 mak dan abang dia yang dia dah buat jahat untuk mintak maaf..lepas tu baru dia nampak mayat dia sendiri tercampak luar keta.Maksudnya dia pun dah mati...... owh that scene really touched me. Siapa tahu tajuk dia sila bagitau saya ok.

OK I know this post tak sharp and point dia bersepah2.But that is how I usually think,bersepah2 and think 10 things sekaligus. Apa2 pun, doakan I dapat pengganti yang lebih baik okay :) And I'll pray for you guys too.Semoga baik2 sahaja!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

No Regrets : The Experience

It happened so fast, when we least expecting it. I just came back from a hectic journey to Canton in mid January.It was actually a combination of my birthday celebration and a family vacation.We were on our feet and metro(subway train) most of the time, and just imagine a trip to one of the busiest business hub worldwide;if I may describe it in one word : it's HECTIC! The trip was exhaustive but worthwhile, we even planned to come back any possible time soon.


And few days later I found that my menses was late, usually it is just right on the day it should be. I waited for a while just to make sure.It was until my fourth day that I decided to take a home test.The initial thought was if it turns negative, I can pack my gym clothes and hit the gym on the next day :) But both tests got faint but clear lines on them, so the rest was history.

We made a visit to the nearest clinic and the doctor confirmed it : I was pregnant. I still remember that night, while I recited the Quran and read the meaning I realised that the ayat was the famous ayat 1000 dinar (Surah at Talaq - verse 3) which in layman translation means `Allah akan memberikan rezeki dari arah yang tidak disangka2...' I felt grateful and blessed for His unexpected present to me.


And as time goes by, only family and close friends knew that `someone' is growing inside me. Sorry friends, but this time I followed the old Chinese beliefs to keep it as a secret until I pass the first trimester.It is just something I believe in life, that destiny always has two sides, and it is up to the Almighty which one He will choose as our fate. Anything can happen at any given time, hence I need to make sure I am ready for the most unexpected and never jump the guns just yet.


I think I've shared this before, I always think beyond time to challenge my brain and my emotion.It is some sort of `emotional firedrill'. One fine day you just have to sit at one corner,and think hard of the possibilities that may happen to you,your family and your love ones(the what ifs) and how would you react if you face such situation. But remember never overdoing it or else you will be a psycho who just refuse to do anything in life for fear anything bad will happen to you:) And I did just that. I'd thought about the worst that could happen and mentally prepared to handle the situation,just in case.


Back to my story, I don't have any exciting stories or adventurous chronology to share, it just happened.I had a light spotting the night before and it gets heavier during noon.I was at the office back then while my hubby was on medical leave due to food poisoning. I called hubby to tell him and he insisted to go to the clinic straightaway. I went to the nearest outpatient clinic with reputable gynea only to get uncertain results :( Through the ultrasound scan, we could see that the baby has stop growing although the sac was still intact.Mathematically I was already 7 weeks. However the doctor could not confirm I am miscarriage and she asked us to go back and observe the bleeding for a few days.If it gets worse,just came back for D&C.And we were charged RM76 just for that!

Deep down I knew I've lost the baby;it is the basic instict. The body knows when something went wrong and will immediately send some signal to the brain,thus the bleeding although I didn't actually do anything that might cause it(as much as I could recall). Meanwhile I just had slight cramps and we went home straight away. At that time I already burst into tears but amazingly hubby was so calm and continuously consoled me with his bear hug.. I accepted the fate already but I guess it's more than normal to feel sad for the loss. I mean, it would be abnormal if you did not feel sad at all,right?

However, my greatest fear at that time was to handle the miscarriage at home by myself. I've had good friends supplying me details of their experience on miscarriage;plus I read alot from the internet hence I can basically imagine the bleeding,the clots and the pain to endure for the sac to come out naturally.Luckily I don't need to wait any longer. At almost 7pm, I felt the strongest pain (period pain-alike) and had even heavier bleeding with clots..I even vomitted because of the unbearable pain. We quickly grabbed our wallets and stormed out to the car and hubby drove straight to Prince Court Hospital and parked at ER bay. Glad it was just a mere 2km from our house.

The rest was technical, you can guess it already. An hour at the ER, then I was transported to the ward. Surprisingly the pain had subside and gone at that time.Later the gynea on call, Dr Tan came to examine me and during the scan, we could not see the sac at all. It had gone during the bleeding, however Dr still declared that I had an incomplete abortion thus scheduled me for D&C the next morning.This time, both my parents had already arrived and an aunt came to offer moral support.

At about 9.30 am the next morning, I was brought to the operation room.The procedure went smoothly. I had general anasthetic and didn't feel anything even after I gained my conscious half an hour later. I stayed in the hospital for another night before being discharged around noon the next day.Alhamdulillah, I neither did vomit or had a fever (although the doctor said all these side effects are common after D&C procedure) and my BP is all normal. The only discomfort that I had were the abdominal/muscular pain and the intravenous drip needle that stuck on my skin until the very last moment. In my 3 days stay, the continuous visit from family,colleagues and friends really made me feel happy and blessed - thanks a million for that.

Now here I am, awarded with MC for 2 weeks and experiencing confinement just like the other mothers after giving birth. Perhaps mine would be more lenient and shorter (hopefully) but I am still forced to consume the Pati Ikan Haruan daily :( I guess that's the worst part of my confinement. The best part is I get to eat KFC :) haha. I will share the details in my next post.

Until then :)