Junk Food - Is this Good?

I believe all of us ever tasted all sorts of food that normally known as junk food. Common known definition of junk food is something which is consumable but not necessary.

Little did we know that the fried 'keropok' that we used to buy is called 'junk food' for a reason. Why?

Basically, the word 'junk' means something useless, something bad and no benefits. Here's what junk means in dictionary.com:

Isn't this means that junk food is actually something which is not suppose to be consumed but instead discarded? But why is it that we likes this food so much?
　
What about definition of junk food? Wikipedia defines junk food as "Junk food is a common term used for any food item that is perceived to be unhealthy and has low or poor nutritional value". Not only that, junk food actually contains too much calories and fats which are useless and may cause health problem such as obesity.

Junk food is loveable in-spite of the name "junk" given to it. The sweetness or sourness of the taste makes human just gets attach to it. One of the factor that makes us link to junk food is the conveniency. We can find junk food at anywhere; the mall, small shops, five-foot stall and even our office/school canteen. As I'm creating a blog about health, so this time I'll stress on the effect causes by junk food.

There are two types of effect ; the short term & the long term:
Short term:
Reduce energy - as junk food contains little or no nutritional value, therefore, our body will weakens due to the lack of nutritions.
Reduce our concentration - without energy, there's no concentration as blood circulation decreases.

Long term:
Heart disease & high cholesterol- as junk food contains very high amount of fats and calories, over consuming it will cause heart disease and high cholesterol level.
Obesity - consuming junk food daily can lead to obesity

So, stop eating those unhealthy food and let's get on with healthy lifestyle!

Curry-Puff

Business is getting better and so does the size of curry-puff. Few weeks ago, my cousin brought back curry-puff from KL. I believe this is one of the special food over there that they decided to enlarge the original curry-puff from the size of a soap into the size of 350 ml body shampoo.

For me, the taste of this super giant curry-puff has no difference than other curry-puff. I had difficulties finishing them and felt its such a waste to throw it away. So, I had to force myself to finish it and start the day with heavy stomach.

And yet Malaysian is wondering why obesity rate is increasing in Malaysia ......

Curry-puff is very high in calories and saturated fat. In one website, it is reported that every piece (25g) of curry-puff contains 115 calories with 14% of saturated fat. For the curry-puff that I've had for breakfast, it is equivalence of 4 piece of the normal curry puff. This means, for breakfast, I've polluted my body with 460 calories + 48% of saturated fat!!!!

For those who do not know what is this, here's where you can find the recipe. Don't eat too much ya!

Dark Chocolate

I believe all of us are chocolate lovers. But how many of us loves dark chocolate? Not everyone!!
Dark chocolate is actually a much more healthy choice for chocolates compared to those which tasted so sweet that after taking one, you will need to drink one glass of waters.

In general, the benefits are :

• Help in reducing blood pressure
• Improve our circulation
• Gives us lower percentage for heart disease
• Improve the function of endothelial cells
• Improve digestion and help to stimulate kidney

Dark chocolate (without milk) is a potent anti-oxidant that helps to prevent heart disease. As it contains anti-oxidant, therefore it can also gives the radiant look on our skin. In another words, glowing skin. Hot cocoa can be use to substitute coffee. Suggestion is to have 1 glass every morning.

Not only that, eating small amount of dark chocolate can actually helps to improve our memory too. For those who have difficulties in remembering things, try eating dark chocolate.
Like any other chocolate, dark chocolate can also helps in reducing depression.

Have anyone wondered what will cocoa do to our cholesterol level? Unlike other chocolates, dark chocolate (pure dark cocoa) can help to reduce the LDL cholesterol level by 12%.
So, stop feeling guilty to your weight when you grab a bar of chocolate. Grab one dark chocolate instead!

Papaya - The Source of Anti Oxidants

I'm not sure whether I've posted anything about papaya or not, but anyway, there's no harm in posting again. Recently, my papaya tree had collapse due to the strong wind. Luckily, the root is still attach and I believe the fruits would be able to ripe, not just rotten and spoilt.
Some of the benefits of papaya:

(1) Eating papaya gives us a lot of benefit. It is believe to help in preventing cancer. Papaya is rice with antioxidant that helps the body to fight against cancer-causing cells. Sources of antioxidants are vitamin C, E and beta-carotenes.

(2) For those with digestive disorders, papaya is one of the best solution. It contains the proteolytic enzymes (one of the leading proteolytic enzymes that are found in papaya are papain). Papain breaks down proteins in food, thus allowing better digestion. Eating papaya regularly treats digestion disorders such as bloating and chronic indigestion.

(3) For male, papaya helps in boost male virility. Arginine, which is found in papaya is known to boost blood flow around the penis. These enzymes boost nitric acid in the body to relax the muscles around the blood vessels and increases blood flow. Specific use of arginine is to treat erectile dysfunction.

(4) For girls, we are very concern with the premature aging sign. Papaya are proven to be able to control premature aging. When our body digest the food properly and absorbs all the nutrients it needs, our body remain vital for a long time, indirectly controlling the premature aging.

(5) For those who concern with heart attacks and strokes, you can include papaya in your daily diet plan. The antioxidants in papaya prevents cholesterol from oxidizing. A plaque is form when cholesterol becomes oxidized, which causes heart attack or stroke.

Hope all this tips would benefits my readers. It is good to plant 2~3 trees of papaya in our yard. Papaya is easily planted and the tree can serve as a shed to our homes too.

Lui Cha

"Lui Cha" is a traditional Hakka dish that contains seven types of vegetables which is good for our health. It is believe to be able to reduce the heat in the body, health in constipation, cleansing our body system and also free from artificial food.

Not long ago, my Godmum had prepared Lui Cha for breakfast. Lui Cha is not complete without the soup. For those that hate bitter stuff, you won't like the soup.

It is so bitter and it smells of chinese herbs. These vegetables are crushed in a lui cha pot and grind with a stick. Some people would use the blender as it is easier and faster. However, for those who loves lui cha, they says that the taste when grinding with blender is not as tasty at the original grinding with lui cha pot.

The vegetables, rice and soup are served by mixing all of them into a bowl.