FOOD FOR THOUGHT
In another one and a half months, the festive season will be in full swing again. We’ve just come off our Christmas parties and New Year indulgences. We’ve just made a whole bunch of New Year Resolutions that we still intend to keep. We’re making plans for a bigger and better year than ever before – and YES! Chinese New Year is just around the corner.

Chinese New Year is a season filled with many family and social gatherings that’s full of fun, food, and drinks – a fantastic time to overindulge. It also happens to be the time of the year when we slack the most in our health and fitness regimes.

We definitely believe in having a great festive season, but here are some things to keep in mind as you gorge through those once-a-year delicacies, family eating sessions, and nights of revelry. With a little knowledge and the right tools, you can shield yourself from various problems such as indigestion, constipation, dehydration, and many other issues that could keep you from enjoying not just the following week, but possibly the rest of the year.

START RIGHT
You've got the whole 15 days to indulge, so it’s important to start each day with the right kind of food, more precisely, fruit. FRUIT IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FOODS. When you eat fruit on an empty stomach, it plays a major role in detoxifying your system and supplying you with a great deal of nutrients that are important for cellular health and life activities. Fresh juices are also an excellent source of natural vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that are essential to our body for its normal function. There is no better way to start your day! Grab some whole fruit, have a fruit salad, or gulp down some fresh juice before you head out for your all-day-meal – it could be your only nutrient source for the entire day!

SUPERCHARGE YOUR DAY
How about sacrificing that extra hour of sleep for a little morning exercise? Although you might have to literally drag yourself out of bed in the morning, the energy you create by exercising in the morning will sustain you through your day. Not only that! It also gives you the licence to indulge guilt-free for the rest of the day, as your charged-up metabolism continues to burn additional calories as you go from open house to open house. You’re also more likely to make better choices with your foods after spending your first waking hour sweating it out.

SALT AND OIL
Asian cooking, especially Chinese food, is usually laden with salt and oil. Why? Because that’s what makes it so delicious! Some say that it’s only a “once a year” thing, but we need to keep in mind that processed oils can remain in our body for a long period of time. Trans-fat, a by-product of hydrogenation, takes up to 51 days to metabolize up to 50% of its stored amount. This means that the other half could still be in your body for another 51 days at least!

An increase in sodium intake elevates the blood pressure. Did you know that hypertension causes 64% of strokes and 49% of coronary heart diseases? The prevalence of hypertension among those aged 30 years and above has increased significantly from 32.9% in 1996 to 40.5% in 2004. There is no doubt at all that salt and processed oils are two silent killers of the 21st Century.

INDIGESTION AND HEARTBURN
Gatherings with family and friends, festive parties, rich foods and “yum sengs” – these things not only signify the festive celebrations, they also ignite the flames of heartburn. Along with the stress and lack of exercise, it's no wonder that incidences of heartburn are much higher during this period – a time when you really don’t want to endure the discomfort of heartburn or indigestion! There's a saying that the “Chinese cook their food to death”, killing all live enzymes completely!
A lack of live enzymes not only causes indigestion, it also causes poor absorption and assimilation of nutrients.

WATER
This time of the year is usually associated with dry and hot weather, and as hectic as daily life gets, it can be really hard to avoid dehydration if we’re not making a conscious effort to drink enough water. Good food, processed snacks, and soft drinks also sap water from our system. Always try to have a minimum intake of 40 mls of water per kg of body weight eg. if you weigh 70kg, your water intake should be 2.8 litres daily
– and this is separate from herbal teas, juices and other drinks. Thirst is a sign that we are already hyperthermic and dehydrated. Make it a point to drink between 8 to 12 glasses of pure distilled water each day even if you don’t feel thirsty! You’ll definitely feel better, look better, and enjoy each day more.Do not wait for the first sign of thirst! Get some pure, distilled H2O right now!

RECOVERY FOR ANOTHER GREAT YEAR
A brilliant plan for March is a total body detoxification programme. Do not hold back any longer! A comprehensive and complete detoxification programme, which stimulates the metabolism, eliminates toxins, and restores waste removal functions of the liver and kidneys, can be found in Dr. Lynn Tan's Detoxification & Rejuvenation Programme (DRP). Its aim is to provide high quality nutrients which will rejuvenate the whole body’s cell functions, improve detoxification processes, and rebuild one's supressed or weakened immune system. It will restore your body to a healthier state and reverse the effects of toxemia and pre-mature aging! Now, please go out there and have a fantastic holiday. Just remember that when you’ve had your fun and your body has endured the celebrations, take good care of it with a total detox, proper supplementation, and a healthier lifestyle!

Here’s to another great year of total health and wealth!

Have a Happy, Prosperous and A Blessed Chinese New Year!