Health Blog
The Healthy Way of Life Company – Exercise
Everyone knows the importance of exercise to maintain a fit and healthy body. Different type of activity and intensity of exercise will improve your overall fitness level.
Moderate intensive exercise
Moderate exercise increases your heartbeat rate, make your body warmer and increase your breathing speed. After moderate intensive exercises, you should able to talk easily without shortness of breath.
Some of the moderate intensive exercises are:
- Hiking
- Cycling (slowly)
- Ballroom Dancing
- Walking
- Gardening
- Swimming (slowly)
Vigorous intensive exercise
Vigorous exercise will make you feel short of breathing and breathe in fast. After vigorous intensive exercises, you will need to take a few breaths in between to speak a full sentence of words.
Some of the vigorous intensive exercises are:
- Football
- Gymnastics
- Skipping rope
- Jogging
- Walking up the stairs
- Aerobics
Extreme intensive exercise
Extreme exercise will make you feel short of breath in a very short time. After extreme intensive exercises, you will not be able to speak a full sentence of words without taking a minute rest.
Some of the extreme intensive exercises are:
- Lifting heavy equipment
- Spinning session
- Hillwalking
- Interval jogging
- Tabata
- Push up for 50 times without resting
Reference: nhs.uk. 2021. Exercise. Available at:https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/
Healthy Chinese New Year Recipe: Cashew Chicken
It is less than one month till Chinese New Year, here is one of the healthy yet delicious dishes to be on your table during your family reunion dinner.
Ingredients
- 500g of diced chicken breast pieces
- 1 large red bell pepper, cut into pieces
- 1 large green bell pepper, cut into pieces
- 1 large yellow bell pepper, cut into pieces
- 30g of minced garlic
- 10g of sliced fresh ginger
- 60g of water chestnuts
- 100g of cashews
- 2 tbsps. of olive oil
Sauce
- 1.5 tbsps of sesame oil
- 3 tbsps of honey
- 3 tbsps of corn starch
- 30g of light soy sauce
- 30g of rice wine vinegar
- 100g of water
Preparation
- Add all the ingredients for the sauce into a bowl and mix well.
- Heat your olive oil in a frying pan, cook chicken breasts for about 5 minutes or till almost well-cooked. Set aside the chicken breast.
- Add all the bell peppers into the frying pan and sauté for 3 minutes and then add the garlic and ginger and fry for another minute.
- Add the sauce and cook until thicken and add the chicken breasts back into the frying pan.
- Add water chestnuts and cashews into the pan and stir-fried it for 3 minutes. Food is ready to be served!
What is ketogenic diet?
Is one of your 2021’s goal is to lose weight? While you are planning on how to lose your weight to achieve a healthy weight, have you come across the keto diet which is also known as ketogenic?
The Ketogenic Diet
Keto diet basic rule is to have your meal with low intake of carbohydrate, moderate intake of protein and high intake of fats. Fats should contribute 70% of calories to your meal, protein should make up 20-30% of calories of your meal while carbohydrate only contributes up to 5% of calories only. The main source of body energy will be provided by fats instead of carbohydrate which might promote fat loss and lead to weight loss.
Foods should be in your shopping list for keto diet
- Salmon, mackerel and tuna
- Avocados
- Eggs
- Chicken, pork and beef
- Full-fat dairy products: cheese, butter and yoghurt
- Almonds, peanuts and walnuts
- Olive oil, sesame oil and coconut oil
- Tomatoes, broccoli and mushrooms
Foods you should avoid in your shopping list for keto diet
- Sweet corn, potatoes and pumpkin
- Rice, oats and cereals
- Grapes, bananas and oranges
- Noodles and pasta
- Bread, doughnuts and biscuits
- Sweets, ice cream and syrup
- Red beans, chickpeas and black beans
- Sports drinks, fruit juices and soft drinks
However, keto diet still lacks of evidence support on the effectiveness of weight loss and impacts on health. It is better to consult your doctor or nutritionist before you start your keto diet plan.
Reference: Medicalnewstoday.com. 2021. Ketosis: Symptoms, Diet, And More. [online] Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/180858
How to plan your New Year’s resolutions healthily
It is the last day of 2020 today, have you review your 2020 new year’s resolutions? Do give yourself a big hug for how far you had come from. Let’s start fresh and plan your 2021 new year’s resolution including some health goals. Here are some healthy new year’s resolution ideas for you to achieve better health.
1. Reduce the intake of processed food and eat more whole natural food
Cutting off your diet on processed food like sausage, canned food and instant beverages will greatly reduce your risk of cancer and heart diseases. While eating more natural whole food will improve your body health and prevent you from chronic condition.
2. Exercise at least 3 times a week
Exercise regularly is important for both of your mental and physical health. Exercise will help maintain your muscle and body strength while also relaxing your mind.
3. Prepare more home cooking meals
Start to practice preparing your own meals if you have not already done so. As you will be able to choose to cook healthier ingredients and have control over your salt and sugar intake.
4. Have sufficient and better quality sleep
Sleep quality have a big impact on your health, if you do not have good and sufficient sleep, you may have a risk of having depression or weight gain.
5. Spending more times outdoors
As simple as taking a walk around your resident area every day after your dinner with your family do improve your health by distress yourself and having a better mood.
6. Plan your weekly diet plan
By planning your diet plan weekly, it will help you to ensure that you are having a balanced and healthy diet which lead to sufficient nutrients intake and good health. Planning your diet will also help you to avoid overeating which leads to weight gain.
Happy New Year to all of you and may the New Year bless you with health, wealth, and happiness ♥
Herb-ty turkey
Christmas is only one week away from now, have you get ready your cookbook for the upcoming Christmas present exchange and gathering with your loved one? Herb-ty turkey surely will be the star on the dining table which are healthy yet delicious too.
Ingredients
- 3kg of fresh turkey
- 5g of fresh herbs
- 1.5 teaspoons of oregano
- 1.5 teaspoons of rosemary
- 1.5 teaspoons of thyme
- 1.5 teaspoons of sage
- 1 teaspoon of marjoram
- 1 teaspoon of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 50g of sliced apple
- 50g of sliced onion
- 50g of sliced lemon
- 50g of sliced orange
- 700ml of water
- 2 teaspoons of olive oil
Preparation
- Preheat your oven for 10 minutes to 250 °C with the baking rack positioned on the bottom of the oven.
- Dry the turkey with a kitchen towel and place the turkey onto a roasting pan with turkey breast facing upward.
- Add minced fresh herbs, salt, oil and pepper in a mixing bowl and mix well. Apply the mixture evenly on the whole turkey including under the skin.
- Mix oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage and marjoram together and placed in the turkey cavity together with sliced apple, onion, lemon and orange.
- Use kitchen string to tie both legs together. Add the remaining mixture of oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage and marjoram with 700ml of water into the baking pan.
- Roast the turkey with 250 °C for 45 minutes or till the skin turn to golden brown.
- Remove whole baking pan from the oven and place two layers of foil over the turkey breast.
- Lower the oven heat to 180°C and roast it for another 1 hour 30 minutes. If baking pan begins to dry up, move the turkey to let sauces drill out onto the baking pan and top up 250ml of water.
- Remove the turkey from oven. Wrap the turkey with foil and let it rest for 15 minutes. Yummy turkey is ready to serve!
Merry Christmas in advance to all of you ❤
Vitamin D is D-lightful
Are you a person who is always hiding away from the sun just to keep your fair skin tone? Or are you allergy to milk? You might be facing vitamin D deficiency. As skin exposed to the sun can activate the production of vitamin D within your body and milk is a great source of vitamin D.
Natural sources of vitamin D
- Fish rich in omega such as sardines, mackerel, tuna and salmon
- Mushroom
- Red meat such as beef, lamb and pork
- Fish liver or beef liver
- Egg yolk
- Fortified food products such as milk, cereals, cheese and juice
6 reasons that will lead to Vitamin D deficiency
- Always staying indoors that limited exposure to sunlight
- Usage of sunscreen or wearing clothes that cover all of your skin while at outside
- Have darker skin
- Babies who are having breastfeeding
- Having an imbalanced diet which lack of vitamin D
- People who are in old age
Vitamin D deficiency symptoms
- A decrease in bone mass – Vitamin D helps increase body absorption of calcium. Deficiency of Vitamin D might cause poor absorption of calcium which lead to bone loss.
- Depression – Vitamin D is required in some brain functions, lack of vitamin D may increase the risk of depression.
- Osteoporosis – Bone will be fragile and weak due to insufficient intake of Vitamin D which linked to a higher risk of osteoporosis.
- Muscle pain – Lack of vitamin D in your body will result in muscle pain and weak muscle strength. As vitamin D is involved in muscle development.
Reference: Ods.od.nih.gov. 2020. Office Of Dietary Supplements – Vitamin D. [online] Available at: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/#h5
Listen to your body, it’s calling for Magnesium
Over 300 of different body enzyme functions require present of magnesium to complete body reactions. Magnesium is a mineral that can be found in a lot of natural food sources. Magnesium helps the control of nerve and muscle function, regulate blood glucose level and protein formation.
Natural sources of magnesium
- Wholegrain foods: brown rice
- Quinoa
- Dark green leafy vegetables: spinach
- Almond, cashew nuts and pumpkin seeds
- Soybeans products: tofu
- Peas and beans
- Banana
- Avocado
Benefits to health
Healthy bone: Body needs magnesium to produce new bone cells. Also, magnesium helps in the control of vitamin D and calcium levels which both are important nutrients for the formation of strong and healthy bones.
Prevention of diabetes: Magnesium is involved in regulating of blood glucose level and ensure proper function of insulin which lower the risks of diabetes.
Reduce risks of cardiovascular diseases: As magnesium helps in the control of muscle which including all heart functions like pumping of blood and heart beating. Sufficient amount of magnesium is linked to lower risks of heart diseases.
Treatment for migraines: Magnesium supplement can reduce symptoms of migraines headaches effectively.
Helps in Anti-inflammatory: Magnesium helps cut down on inflammatory indicator cells which prevent your body from inflammation.
Do you know?
Recommended daily intake of magnesium for normal adult age between 19 to 30 year-olds is 400mg for men and 310mg for women by the US Food and Nutrition Board (FNB).
Reference: Ods.od.nih.gov. 2020. Office Of Dietary Supplements – Magnesium. [online] Available at: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/
Adventure sports – Your moment is out there!
Adventure sports is any activities or exercises that require you to step out of your comfort zone and face your fears which made you feel pleasure after you had achieved it. Some of the examples of adventure sports are skydiving, mountain cycling, skateboarding and rock climbing. In recent years, more people choose to engage with adventure sports instead of other normal outdoor sports like badminton and basketball. Which very likely linked to adventure sports improve not only your physical health but also mental health.
Health benefits of adventure sport
1. Improve your self-confidence
As most of the adventure sports will be challenging and hard to achieve, thus after finishing of adventure sports will boost your self-confidence level as you achieved something new and difficult.
2. Helps in stress management
Taking part in adventure sports greatly reduce your stress level as it brings you achievement while having a break from your daily tasks which improve your mental health.
3. Maintain a healthy heart
As adventure sports help reduce stress level which is linked to lower blood pressure, hence greatly reduce chances of heart attack.
4. Enhance body-balancing skill
Taking part in adventure sports will surely improve your balancing skills as a lot of tasks need good body-balancing to complete.
5. Work out on different body muscles
Your body will need to use different body muscles to coordinate when you are doing some adventure sports like rock climbing and kayak.
6. High calories-burning
Adventure sports are considered as intensive activities where you will need to use a high level of strength and energy which burns high calories.
7. Promote healthy social interactions
By going to adventure sports with your friends and families, you will develop a stronger bond with them as you will need to overcome tasks and fears together with them.
8. Better concentration skill
High level of focus and concentration is needed throughout adventurous sports as without concentration you might expose yourself to dangerous mistakes.
Our health blog giveaway has ended and we thank you everyone for taking participant! Adventure sports can bring many health benefits to your health, thus we hope we bring not only joys but also good health to the top 3 winners with their entrance tickets to adventure sports! ❤ Do stay tuned to our health blog for more fitness, nutrition tips and of course more surprises!
World Diabetes Day – 14 November 2020
Diabetes is an illness that occurred when your body is unable to control your blood sugar levels. Without proper control of your lifestyle and diet during the early stage of a certain type of diabetes, it will lead to severe complications.
Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes happens if your body is unable to effectively work with insulin, which is a hormone that is essential for your body to transform glucose(a simple form of sugar) to body energy. In Singapore, most diabetes patients have type 2 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes also commonly known as insulin-dependent diabetes which your body produces no or insufficient insulin. This type of diabetes normally occurs in the time of patient’s adolescence or childhood stage.
Ways to prevent yourself from diabetes
- Maintain your body weight to achieve Body Mass Index(BMI) in the healthy range
- Have a balanced and healthy diet lifestyle, always monitor your saturated fats and sugar intake
- Quit smoking, to reduce the risk of heart diseases and diabetes
- Stay active, exercise at least 30 minutes for five days in a week
- Restrict your alcohol consumption
- Do medical check-up every year to monitor your body health
To help spread awareness on world diabetes day, all our outlets will have 20
¢ off on Milo kosong, Teh O kosong and Kopi O kosong. Do drop by to our outlets to enjoy this promotion tomorrow!
Reference: Who.int. 2020. Diabetes. [online] Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diabetes
Insomnia – All you need is a good sleep
Insomnia happens when you cannot stay asleep or unable to fall asleep regularly and feeling restless the next day when you wake up. However, you can improve your sleep quality and get rid of insomnia simply by changing your sleeping patterns.
Insomnia signs
- Difficulty to fall asleep
- Awake more than 2 times at night
- Feeling restless after a long night sleep
- Staying awake while resting on the bed for the whole night
- Loss of concentration due to tiredness
- Feeling tired, annoyed and moody during the day
You can experiences these signs for more than 3 months regularly or even up to years.
Insomnia causes
- Depression
- Loud noise
- Stress
- Caffeine drinks
- Jet lag
- Room temperature too cold or hot
- Certain medication
- Uncertain working schedule (day and night shift)
Ways to improve sleeping habits
- Stick to same sleeping and wake up time every day
- Avoid taking nap during daytime especially evening
- Relax at least an hour before sleep eg. getting a hot shower or drink a cup of warm milk
- Do not consume caffeine beverages and alcohol at least six hours before sleep
- Turn off all lights and sound devices in your room. You can use earplugs to block loud noises from outside.
- Do not force yourself to sleep unless you are tired
- Exercise regularly helps improve sleep
- Avoid heavy meals during your dinner
- Ensure your bed and pillows are comfy and clean to have better sleep
- Do not keep checking on time when you cannot fall asleep, try reading a book instead until you feel sleepy
Subscribe to our health blog via the green tab on the left of our website so that you can stay updated to our fitness, nutrition tips and many more. Join our first health blog lucky draw event now by subscribing to our health blog and tag 3 friends on our Food Canopy Pte Ltd Facebook page giveaway post to win free tickets to treetop adventure park, good luck!❤
Reference: nhs.uk. 2020. Insomnia. [online] Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/insomnia/