Green tea may help fight obesity, US study says
Tech and Science | Updated today at 12:24 PM
(THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - US researchers suggested green tea may slow down weight gain and serve as another tool in the fight against obesity, Xinhua news agency reported.
Obese mice fed a compound found in green tea along with a high-fat diet gained weight significantly more slowly than a control group of mice that did not receive the green tea supplement, according to US Pennsylvania State University food scientists.
'In this experiment, we see the rate of body weight gain slows down,' Joshua Lambert, assistant professor of food science in agricultural sciences, was quoted as saying.
The researchers released their findings in the online version of Obesity on Tuesday. They fed two groups of mice a high-fat diet. Mice that were fed Epigallocatechin-3-gallate - EGCG - a compound found in most green teas, along with a high-fat diet, gained weight 45 per cent more slowly than the control group of mice eating the same diet without EGCG.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
A moment in reflection
Everything has quiet down after a hectic week end and yoga session yesterday.. Managed to rest early but my eyes won't close. Maybe, it was too much coffee for the day at my office. Lying on my bed reflecting a nagging thought. How can people be so cunning and hypocritical ? Stealing people's idea and getting the merit, Dunno why this type of people continue to shine ? Yes, must be a great pretender.
Shifting from this nagging thought, just comtemplating about life. During the trip back from office, my wife talk about this feeling of burn-out and needs fresh air and a new environment but she has three more years to go for retirement. I sensed that he is unhappy been overloaded with job and job that she don't like. I feel for her and I understand her desperation. But, I consoled her that she is foregoing alot of benefits by opting for an early retirement and having to pay taxes for retiring gratuity. Hope that she can finally control her emotions. Sometimes, in the midst of our life, there are periods of ups and downs and I know she is feeling the downs at this moment. I complain about my routine in life and she complain about her torturing work load. Yeah, a change environment should be good for her.
My thought shift again and this time, my focus is on the aches on my body after the yoga class.. Each time, my yoga teacher will give a different exercise routine and she is pumping us all up. So, the aches is always there because the stretching is on different muscles due to the different routine. Maybe, this is the purpose so that we have a all round body. Yes, I could feel the muscles shaping up and one of my yoga mate start to call me a muscle man. Ow, sounds good but the muscles are still painful.
My eyes is refusing to close and I have to exhaust my brain. In my mind, the sound " all out of love" kept ringing in my ear. The song was make famous by the " Air Supply" , The lead singer have such a high pitch and he can sing the song very well. Another song in the same album is "without you". Sometimes, I wounder why certain people have this special gift and they can make so much money by using this gift. There is a saying " many are called but only few are chosen". So, this few are chosen and make good.. But, my view is that there is a gift in everyone and it is like a diamond waiting to be unearth. Some people realized this gift but others are not fortunate enough to notice and polish it bright. God or the Creator is fair and is fair to all. Now, look into your heart and try to find the gift. The gift is the key to your break through and open up your path to success and fortune.
Start searching now and you will realize that it has been always with you if you bother to look. Open your eyes and open your heart and let you mind lead you to the pot of good under the rainbow. You will find it.
Namaste.
Shifting from this nagging thought, just comtemplating about life. During the trip back from office, my wife talk about this feeling of burn-out and needs fresh air and a new environment but she has three more years to go for retirement. I sensed that he is unhappy been overloaded with job and job that she don't like. I feel for her and I understand her desperation. But, I consoled her that she is foregoing alot of benefits by opting for an early retirement and having to pay taxes for retiring gratuity. Hope that she can finally control her emotions. Sometimes, in the midst of our life, there are periods of ups and downs and I know she is feeling the downs at this moment. I complain about my routine in life and she complain about her torturing work load. Yeah, a change environment should be good for her.
My thought shift again and this time, my focus is on the aches on my body after the yoga class.. Each time, my yoga teacher will give a different exercise routine and she is pumping us all up. So, the aches is always there because the stretching is on different muscles due to the different routine. Maybe, this is the purpose so that we have a all round body. Yes, I could feel the muscles shaping up and one of my yoga mate start to call me a muscle man. Ow, sounds good but the muscles are still painful.
My eyes is refusing to close and I have to exhaust my brain. In my mind, the sound " all out of love" kept ringing in my ear. The song was make famous by the " Air Supply" , The lead singer have such a high pitch and he can sing the song very well. Another song in the same album is "without you". Sometimes, I wounder why certain people have this special gift and they can make so much money by using this gift. There is a saying " many are called but only few are chosen". So, this few are chosen and make good.. But, my view is that there is a gift in everyone and it is like a diamond waiting to be unearth. Some people realized this gift but others are not fortunate enough to notice and polish it bright. God or the Creator is fair and is fair to all. Now, look into your heart and try to find the gift. The gift is the key to your break through and open up your path to success and fortune.
Start searching now and you will realize that it has been always with you if you bother to look. Open your eyes and open your heart and let you mind lead you to the pot of good under the rainbow. You will find it.
Namaste.
Day by day especially a raining day.
There were strong winds and rain last night and it was gloomy for the whole day. I was busy with my work the whole day but this nagging thought in me and urge me to share my experience with all of you. Life is a big routine from the moment I wake up and from wearing my stocks to driving to work including facing the massive jams from the many cars driven by the people to work due to the gloomy weather.
I told my wife this morning while wearing my stocks. Day by day, life is a routine and before she gets out of the car to her office. She told me that we should not stop working because we will get senile and useless. But , what about doing something different ? How many more years can we bear the work ? Even doing yoga three times a week becomes a torture. We used to enjoy it and now, it is getting strenuous and painful. Are we having a good life ?
It is so difficult to decide. Work or no work ? How are we going to spend our time ? Travelling ? How much can we travel ? Look at the KL Aunties shuttling from KL to Penang and Penang to KL and losing their beauty sleeps. For us, waking up in the morning with big red eyes is also a torture. The only interesting thing is the opportunity to challenge our mind during the working hours and time passes so fast. Yes, this is Tuesday and it is gone.
I remembered an old song , Life is a circle. How true ? Every routine is a small circle and every small circles make a big circle and round and round, we go. Finally, ending from where we start until we fall dead. Can we be different ? Changing our routine every day ? Our mind is set for routines and we get into the comfort of living in routines. That is the comfort zone. To move out of the circle, there are plentiful of uncertainties and uneasiness. There is a mental test which some psychologist use to test our mind sets. They painted one door black and another door white and they let a group of participants to choose. What do you think is the outcome ? Behind the white door is a pond full of shit. 99% landed with the shit in their face. Why ?
From young, all of us have been taught during school days, in books and in conversation and in advertisements , white indicates righteousness, indicates goodness and indicates safe and positive way. This consistent drumming of this message presets our mind set and that is why , we land in the pond of shit. This is also illustrate in the mouse test where the mouse is taught to ring the bell when it becomes hungry. If you feed food to the mouse when you hit the bell each time and through a period of time, this message is embedded in the mind of the mouse and they will good for food at the specific time and will even to the extend of ringing the bell for food.
Human’s mind is predictable and controllable. Like in the example of the terrorist suicide squad. They have been taught and program to think that if they kill people in the Jihad, they will go to heaven and have 74 virgin wives, they will kill at a command or signal. Why 74 virgin wives ? How can you make use of it and before you finished, you will die a faster death.
So, break away from this thinking and work against your mind set. Every thing you do is not your choice or your decision. Please be aware of this choice.
Namaste.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Take short breaks for good health - news
Workplace fitness is good for business
Mon Oct 3, 2011 10:46AM EDT
By Dorene Internicola
NEW YORK (Reuters)- Stuck on a problem at work? The best way to solve it could be to get moving and take a walk.
Fitness experts thinking outside the cubicle are hoping to see the sedentary corporate culture of marathon meetings and vast stretches of unbroken computer time go the way of the typewriter.
"Forty years ago athletes were told if you drink water it's a sign of weakness. We are still living in an old-think culture in business," said Dr. Jack Groppel, an exercise physiologist. "We're not active, we're not moving and we need to change this paradigm."
Groppel, co-founder of the Human Performance Institute, based in Orlando, Florida, said that building even small breaks into the workday every 20 minutes or so will not only cut down on healthcare costs but improve performance.
"If there's more oxygen getting to the brain, you solve problems more readily," he said. "We understand it intellectually but we do nothing about it behaviorally."
Groppel likens the changing role of physical activity in organizations to the concept of going green.
"It has to become a crisis," he explained.
With U.S. obesity rates over 30 percent, some companies are listening. Last year 25 of the Fortune 100 companies participated in his company's Corporate Athlete training program, which includes lessons in interval, resistance and flexibility training.
Groppel said tactical initiatives to get workers moving, such as walking groups and discounted gym memberships, will have only limited success until the workforce is given permission to move about.
"The boss has to role-model this," he said. "The story in business is still, 'If we've got to solve a problem, we'll stay in this room until we solve it, when, in fact, we have our best ideas when we're in a mode of recovery. We have our best ideas in the shower."
Shirley Archer, author of the book "Fitness 9 to 5," was a corporate lawyer until chronic fatigue syndrome led her to reinvent herself as a Florida-based fitness instructor.
She believes companies are becoming more amenable to workplace fitness.
"Studies are showing that for every dollar they spend on workplace wellness they get three dollars back," Archer said. "Anyone who sits at a computer all day is going to have issues over time."
In her book she lays out a cornucopia of small-scale movements, such as chair squats, lunges, mini-back bends and stretches, tailored to a day at the office.
"It adds up," she said. "Even taking a minute each hour to stretch can make a difference."
Other practical tips include keeping light dumbbells in your drawer, tracking your activity with a pedometer, taking the stairs or parking at the far end of the lot.
"And we don't have to have sitting meetings," she said. "Why can't we have walking meetings? Just standing doubles your calorie expenditure."
That would go a way toward dispelling what Groppel calls the "myth of face time."
"Research shows that if we exercise at 6:30 am every day, then go into the workplace and sit in meetings all day long, the brain starts slowing down," he said. "The human body is business relevant."
Mon Oct 3, 2011 10:46AM EDT
By Dorene Internicola
NEW YORK (Reuters)- Stuck on a problem at work? The best way to solve it could be to get moving and take a walk.
Fitness experts thinking outside the cubicle are hoping to see the sedentary corporate culture of marathon meetings and vast stretches of unbroken computer time go the way of the typewriter.
"Forty years ago athletes were told if you drink water it's a sign of weakness. We are still living in an old-think culture in business," said Dr. Jack Groppel, an exercise physiologist. "We're not active, we're not moving and we need to change this paradigm."
Groppel, co-founder of the Human Performance Institute, based in Orlando, Florida, said that building even small breaks into the workday every 20 minutes or so will not only cut down on healthcare costs but improve performance.
"If there's more oxygen getting to the brain, you solve problems more readily," he said. "We understand it intellectually but we do nothing about it behaviorally."
Groppel likens the changing role of physical activity in organizations to the concept of going green.
"It has to become a crisis," he explained.
With U.S. obesity rates over 30 percent, some companies are listening. Last year 25 of the Fortune 100 companies participated in his company's Corporate Athlete training program, which includes lessons in interval, resistance and flexibility training.
Groppel said tactical initiatives to get workers moving, such as walking groups and discounted gym memberships, will have only limited success until the workforce is given permission to move about.
"The boss has to role-model this," he said. "The story in business is still, 'If we've got to solve a problem, we'll stay in this room until we solve it, when, in fact, we have our best ideas when we're in a mode of recovery. We have our best ideas in the shower."
Shirley Archer, author of the book "Fitness 9 to 5," was a corporate lawyer until chronic fatigue syndrome led her to reinvent herself as a Florida-based fitness instructor.
She believes companies are becoming more amenable to workplace fitness.
"Studies are showing that for every dollar they spend on workplace wellness they get three dollars back," Archer said. "Anyone who sits at a computer all day is going to have issues over time."
In her book she lays out a cornucopia of small-scale movements, such as chair squats, lunges, mini-back bends and stretches, tailored to a day at the office.
"It adds up," she said. "Even taking a minute each hour to stretch can make a difference."
Other practical tips include keeping light dumbbells in your drawer, tracking your activity with a pedometer, taking the stairs or parking at the far end of the lot.
"And we don't have to have sitting meetings," she said. "Why can't we have walking meetings? Just standing doubles your calorie expenditure."
That would go a way toward dispelling what Groppel calls the "myth of face time."
"Research shows that if we exercise at 6:30 am every day, then go into the workplace and sit in meetings all day long, the brain starts slowing down," he said. "The human body is business relevant."
KL Aunties - what an experience ?
 |
| From left to right : Aunti MC, Mandy, Hua, BG and G. After 50 years and sharing their experience on this faithful day. |
Latest news that the Aunties reached KL at 4 am , totally exhausted and deprived of their beauty sleep. The driving Auntie Mandy was missing in action for the whole day, recouping her sleep. If we try to keep awake if we are sleepy, it is the most painful torture you can have. An imagine, the pain and frustration which Mandy have to go through. You would not want to go through it , not even one.
During the 2nd world war, the Japanese used this tactic to torture their prisoners. The use the tooth picks to open the eyes of their prisoners for a few days until the prisoners can sleep with their eyes open. Just imagine looking at someone who is staring at you and instead sleeping. It is weird and strange right. Many people are walking sleep.
I have tried to drive to KL in the morning and drive back at night to avoid staying in KL for the night. The feeling of fighting sleep is very difficult and for a few seconds , our eyes will just closed automatically and if you are aware, you pull back the car at the right time before you hit head on with another vehicle or land in a drain or hit a tree. There is a point of no return , that is the sleep takes over completely until you landed on the other side of the dimension. The floating realm when you are dead.
Why is the hurry to get back to KL ? The Aunties should placed safety first and what if something happen ? Not only they cannot sent their children to school but destroy a good and happy family or hurt the loved ones. Logic and cool head must prevail in these situations. The risk is very high on the highway and anything could have happen. There are instances of the ladies been robbed off everything including their dress and make to run half a mile to the next rest area. Just imagine, running naked in the early morning hours of the morning. Cold and damp and chased by the mosquitoes and wild dogs. This is not a figment of my imagination and it can be very real.
What is more important in this world than your health and safety ? Just missed a day at school is so important than suffer a whole life time. What about the companions ? The innocent parties who just happen to tag along ? There is too much to loose and all the right way to stay safe and sound.
This is a lesson for all of us to learn. Sometimes, it is better to wait and delay rather than rushing ahead in the direction of dangers. A cool head and a warm heart is needed here. Cool head means logical deductions and warm heart means caring for others.
Aunties… don’t ever do that again.
Namaste.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
The KL Aunties came to town.
 |
| Left to right : Aunty Mandy, MC & G. Behind : Aunty BG & Hua |
Yesterday was a hectic day for me as three Aunties came from KL and one Aunty from
After lunch, we have to sit out and hear out , one Auntie Mandy explaining her investment plan at the Coffee Bean together with the Auntie G from Bangkok
People says that two women chatting is a market , three women chatting at the same time is like a village of people talking and what about five Aunties...?? Heaven forbades. But, actually, I talk the most. Towards the end of the talk, one more Auntie BG join the discussion and the group breaks into two with different subjects and agenda. The Coffee Bean guys must be having a hard time trying to catch the gossips… hahahax.
After the discussion, it was adjourned to a tea break at Gurney Beach Resort and a new round of gossip with biscuits and tea. Then, someone suggested a tour of Penang Island Penang town area and Tanjong Bungah.
I announced the major tourist spots and also the famous eateries in Penang especially the Char Koay Teow, the Hokkien Mee, the Lor Mee, the Fish head congee, the Assam laksa, etc on and on… it goes. Well, I am quite professional in this job. Maybe , take up a part time job after my retirement just to pass time and earn some extra income. Hey, must get a license first.
After the run around, we ended up eating a hawkers’ dinner and we finished the tour at about 8.30pm. The KL Aunties decided that they want to go back to KL after that and we wish them good luck and good fortune. Later, I was told that they reach KL at 4.00 am in the morning next. What are the Aunties’ thinking about ? Running along the highway at early hours in the morning with so much risk and danger lurking around. Luckily, non of them was raped and tortured…. Haiyaaaa…otherwise, big trouble leh.
Namaste.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Brother James came to town
My BIL, James came to town. He is down with Cancer for a year now and he looks fine under chemo treatment expect that he lost quite a lot of weight. We have a long chat and he told me about his illness at his sky home in a Condo overseeing Gurney Drive. I told him he has managed himself very well and under good hands in Bangkok.
James love life and he is lover of crystal toys and have a good collection of watches and a store lot of fine wine. He also loves travelling and good food. These hobbies showed that he not only enjoys life but quality life. He wants to continue to live and with his remaining strength, he focus in keeping himself alive.
He told me that he has already caused him a fortune to stay alive and his chemo and dialysis treatment cost him about RM40k a month. The chemo drug he used is the latest and it specially for his type of disease. For him, his dose of chemo is like any drugs to a diabetic person and eventually, there will be a cure. The disease is less terminal now and if he had suffered this disease five years ago, he would not have survived more than 6 months. This shows the advancement in the medical field and medical care. I was amazed.
Surprisingly, he had good diet and he eat a sizable amount during lunch and he looks forward to the good food in Penang. His energy may be lacking but his outlook of life is so positive. His wife, Geenie suggested dinner and a visit to Straits Quay with my BIL, James and we instantly obliged,
We have dinner at Perak lane at the famous fish head congee shop and it was a good good and simple meal and we proceed to Straits Quay. The traffic was heavy but surely and slowly ,we reach Straits Quay. During the trip, I managed to show BIL James his friend's shop, James Foo Western Food Restaurant at Fettes. Upon reaching Straits Quay, there was a big occasion and there were many cars parted on the road. There was a Ceremah by the Penang Pakatan Party led by our CM, Lim Guan Eng and other key, Pakatan leaders.Two weeks ago, our PM Najib have launched a 1Malaysian campaign in the same place.
\
As usual, when in Straits Quay, we visit May at the Aseana Cafe for a drink and some tit bits. Again, we sat at the same settee facing the Marina and the sea. We continued our chit chat and last deep in the night. May, my daughter was busy serving us and other customers.
The night was quite breezy and calm and as usual, there was a lot of window shoppers hanging around the Malls while those people in the nearby hall should be yelling in support of the Pakatan leaders. Well, every occasion have to come to an end and it was time for BIL, James to rest and off we go. I bid May a safe return to home and we packed off.
The return trip was quite smooth minus the massive jams on our trip o Straits Quay. I have several insights after my encounter with BIL, James. We should be living instead of worrying in case that we are in a situation that is beyond our control. Next, we should eat and eat the food we like and have optimism while leaving the disease in the hands of capable doctors. We should not interfere and use our common sense and hearsay to believe what others say is good for you. I believe if my FIL, Johnny would have taken this same treatment as BIL, James , he could live another few good years.
Maybe and maybe not, the same outcome. But, we should try and have faith in the medical expertise at this advance scientific age.
Namaste.
James love life and he is lover of crystal toys and have a good collection of watches and a store lot of fine wine. He also loves travelling and good food. These hobbies showed that he not only enjoys life but quality life. He wants to continue to live and with his remaining strength, he focus in keeping himself alive.
He told me that he has already caused him a fortune to stay alive and his chemo and dialysis treatment cost him about RM40k a month. The chemo drug he used is the latest and it specially for his type of disease. For him, his dose of chemo is like any drugs to a diabetic person and eventually, there will be a cure. The disease is less terminal now and if he had suffered this disease five years ago, he would not have survived more than 6 months. This shows the advancement in the medical field and medical care. I was amazed.
Surprisingly, he had good diet and he eat a sizable amount during lunch and he looks forward to the good food in Penang. His energy may be lacking but his outlook of life is so positive. His wife, Geenie suggested dinner and a visit to Straits Quay with my BIL, James and we instantly obliged,
We have dinner at Perak lane at the famous fish head congee shop and it was a good good and simple meal and we proceed to Straits Quay. The traffic was heavy but surely and slowly ,we reach Straits Quay. During the trip, I managed to show BIL James his friend's shop, James Foo Western Food Restaurant at Fettes. Upon reaching Straits Quay, there was a big occasion and there were many cars parted on the road. There was a Ceremah by the Penang Pakatan Party led by our CM, Lim Guan Eng and other key, Pakatan leaders.Two weeks ago, our PM Najib have launched a 1Malaysian campaign in the same place.
\
As usual, when in Straits Quay, we visit May at the Aseana Cafe for a drink and some tit bits. Again, we sat at the same settee facing the Marina and the sea. We continued our chit chat and last deep in the night. May, my daughter was busy serving us and other customers.
The night was quite breezy and calm and as usual, there was a lot of window shoppers hanging around the Malls while those people in the nearby hall should be yelling in support of the Pakatan leaders. Well, every occasion have to come to an end and it was time for BIL, James to rest and off we go. I bid May a safe return to home and we packed off.
The return trip was quite smooth minus the massive jams on our trip o Straits Quay. I have several insights after my encounter with BIL, James. We should be living instead of worrying in case that we are in a situation that is beyond our control. Next, we should eat and eat the food we like and have optimism while leaving the disease in the hands of capable doctors. We should not interfere and use our common sense and hearsay to believe what others say is good for you. I believe if my FIL, Johnny would have taken this same treatment as BIL, James , he could live another few good years.
Maybe and maybe not, the same outcome. But, we should try and have faith in the medical expertise at this advance scientific age.
Namaste.
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