…my cuppa iced coffee…

Losing weight can be effortless if you overcome your insulin resistance, says expert.

Syndrome X. The Metabolic Syndrome. The Insulin Resistance Syndrome.

They may be different names, but all three point to the same set of health concerns affecting both the developed and developing world – expanding waistlines along with high blood pressure, cholesterol levels and raised blood sugar levels.

The Metabolic Syndrome, which increases the chances of people developing type 2 diabetes and dying from heart attacks, is now considered to be the driving force for a new cardiovascular disease epidemic, says the International Diabetes Federation.

“After years of inactivity, poor diet and unhealthy lifestyle, people eventually tip over to develop the Metabolic Syndrome, which is really the Insulin Resistance Syndrome,” said Dr. Ray Strand, author of the book Preventing Diabetes and Health for Life, while he was in Kuala Lumpur recently.

However, according to him, you can reverse the Insulin Resistant Syndrome by applying a triad of healthy practices – eating a low glycaemic diet, increase moderate exercise and supplementing your diet with nutrition that helps insulin sensitivity – and lose weight without even trying.

Insulin resistance, the Glycaemic Index (GI) and the Metabolic Syndrome

When we eat or drink food that contains sugar (from simple sugar to complex carbohydrates), it breaks down to its basic units, glucose. Our body produces insulin (a hormone) to help muscle and liver cells absorb glucose from our blood to be used to produce energy or form energy stores.

However, when we consume food with high levels of sugar, our blood sugar levels rise rapidly and our body compensates by producing more insulin to bring the blood sugar levels down. Soon, our cells may develop a resistance to insulin and more insulin is needed for the cells to bring glucose from the bloodstream into our cells to maintain the blood sugar levels at a certain range.

So, if our body can produce enough insulin to counter insulin resistance (which prevents cells from taking in glucose), our blood sugar levels will remain the same. It is when our insulin production drops and insulin resistance stays the same that our blood sugar levels will increase, says Dr. Strand.

But not all foods that contain sugar and carbohydrate have the same effect on our blood sugar levels. Some of these foods break down gradually (low glycaemic index) while some break down rapidly (high glycaemic index) during digestion to release glucose into the bloodstream, raising blood sugar levels at varying speed.

Dr. David Jenkins, who was credited for the development of glycaemic index, found in his first study in 1981 that “great differences (of GI) were seen not only between but also within most of the food groups e.g. among cereals, the GI for the wholemeal bread was 72% while for wholemeal spaghetti, it was 42%”.

That means if you eat wholemeal bread, your blood sugar levels will raise to a higher level over two hours as compared to wholemeal spaghetti.

The problem with spiking (rapidly raising) your blood sugar levels by eating high-glycaemic foods is you over-stimulate the production of insulin, which subsequently cause blood sugar levels to drop below the normal range, says Dr. Strand. The low blood sugar levels will, in turn, stimulate the release of stress hormones – cortisol and adrenaline – that causes hunger or craving for food, he added.

“So, what we’ve been calling emotional eating all this while is actually a natural response of the body,” he explained.

In the Metabolic Syndrome, insulin resistance raises sugar blood levels and the excess glucose is diverted into storage in the form of fat.

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Source: Sunday Star 27 April 2008, Reversing the Metabolic Syndrome by Lim Wey Wen.

When I shop, the world is better.

I can certainly relate to that.  There’s something therapeutic when it comes to shopping. 

Image courtesy of shopaholicmovie.com

No, I’m not a shopaholic. Although, given the chance, I would gladly and happily spend whatever cash or credits I have till nothing is left. Shopping is really fun.

The thing with credit cards is.. it takes a really really huge amount of self-control not to use them. There’s always something on display that you don’t need but you just absolutely can’t live without. Remember the part in the movie where the manequin seduced Miss Bloomwood to buy the green scarf (it looks cheap, by the way)? Yeah, that’s basically what you would hear everytime you walk through Pavilion, or Suria KLCC, or Midvalley Megamall. If you’re not strong enough, then there goes your credit balance.

So, what does the movie tell you?

To pay off your credit card debts Rebecca Bloomwood’s style, you need to:

1. Get a job totally not related to your area of expertise.
2. Hook up with the boss (provided he’s drop dead gorgeous and rich as hell, of course).
3. Do something that would glamorously put yourself on national tv. (Although how one article can turn Miss Bloomwood into an instant celebrity just escapes me. It sounds too good to be true.)
4. Then get yourself humiliated on national tv on the problems you’re having with your credit cards debts. (It’s entirely up to you, of course.. but I’ll pass on this one.)
5. The boss, who is somehow in love with you, dumps you. So you resigned.
6. Then you turned down a job offer that pays a ridiculous amount of money just because you developed a conscience all of a sudden.
7. Since you don’t know what else to do, you get the people from Shopaholic Anonymous support group which you’ve been attending to together and organise a clearance sale on all the things you’ve bought but you don’t even remember you have them.
8. The sale you made finally managed to cover all your credit cards debts.
9. Your drop-dead-gorgeous-and-rich-as-hell ex-boss somehow realised that he can’t live without you and wants you back.
10. You gladly accepted him and live happily ever after.

So… think you can do all those? Maybe in your dreams.

Image courtesy of shopaholicmovie.com

No, I’m not talking about beer. I’m talking about blood. Nothing gory or disgusting. Although you would probably feel the latter after you’ve read this story. It happened to Bahrinshah, my officemate. I do not know this guy personally, but his story is one that I think should be made known to the public.

Here goes…

For the past few months, Bahrinshah’s son, 8 years old, has been diagnosed with leukemia (blood cancer) and is currently being hospitalised at the Sime Darby Medical Centre (used to be known as Subang Jaya Medical Centre). About 2 weeks ago, his son’s condition improved but for the past few days, there were relapses and the poor kid has used up at least 18 pints of blood for transfusion processes.

Due to the high usage of blood, the management of SDMC has asked Bahrinshah to find blood donors who can help to replenish their blood bank regardless of the blood group.

Apparently the hospital has a silent policy: those who have used up more than 10 pints of blood must find replacements on a one-to-one basis. Meaning, each pint of blood used must be replaced with the same amount. 

For Bahrinshah, failure to do this may result in his son not being able to continue the treatment at SDMC or be denied of future admission.

So… news to you? Yeah, to me too. Who would’ve thought a hospital would have this rule and not made known to the public. I guess one would only know about it when one is experiencing it. But still…

Anyway, a blood donation drive was immediately conducted and the response from other staff was tremendous.

“When we started out, we had no stars, we had no power or muscle. We didn’t have enough money, really, to do what we wanted to do. But what we had was a script that inspired mad love in everyone who read it.”
- Christian Colson, producer

Image courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes

I’ve only heard about the movie in passing. Never even seen the trailer, actually. You know how they always show upcoming movie trailers at the cinemas before a movie starts? Slumdog Millionaire wasn’t one of them. Well, maybe the movies I saw were not of the privileged ones.

Anyhooo… I got to watch the movie (on dvd) last Saturday afternoon when I was wasting time at my friend’s place. I was quite surprised, actually, when I saw the movie was made in India. Don’t get me wrong. Indian movies are great. Easily at par with the best ones from Hollywood.

With a budget of only $15 million, however, they really did something wonderful with this film.

Needless to say, I was captured right from the start. The movie was so simple, yet so touching. I especially like the way Jamal relates his personal experiences with the questions asked during the game show. I’m sure it’s nothing new, that there are movies out there with the same concept, but how many do you think have the stories like the ones in this movie? One? Two? To me they are still unique, regardless.

I love the cinematography, the cast of unknown actors and actresses, the simplicity of the storyline, the comedies, the love… okay, the whole movie. Full stop. You just have to see it. Then you’d know why Slumdog Millionaire has won so many awards. Like these…

81st Academy Awards/The Oscar 2009

1. Best Picture
2. Directing
3. Music (Original Song)
4. Music (Original Score)
5. Film Editing
6. Sound Mixing
7. Cinematography
8. Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Golden Globe Awards 2009

1. Best Motion Picture – Drama
2. Best Director – Motion Picture
3. Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
4. Best Original Score – Motion Picture

14th Critics’ Choice Awards 2009

1. Best Picture
2. Best Director
3. Best Writer (Original or Adapted Screenplay)
4. Best Young Actor/Actress (Under 21)
5. Best Composer

BAFTA Awards 2009

1. Best Film
2. Director
3. Adapted Screenplay
4. Music
5. Cinematography

For me, the part that brings back memories is the game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Why? Because I not only got into the show, but I also managed to get onto the hot seat. Not bad, eh?   Now I will never forget what Achilles tendonitis is.

So, back to the subject.. if you have not seen Slumdog Millionaire, go see it.

Verdict:

Image courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes

I have no idea whose idea it was but when AirAsia implemented the free seating concept, I thought it was one of the worst decisions ever made. I have this thought hanging over my head that if I want to get a good seat (that’s window seat for me), I have to either fight for it or check in and stand at the gate 3 hours early. No option, of course.

So when I got an email from AirAsia about this Pick A Seat, I thought… finally! About time they implement this.

But when I got to the part about the charges, I thought… bloody hell!! They keep coming up with ways to bleed people dry. I mean, c’mon… Surely service like this can be made free? Malaysia Airlines does.

RM5 for a standard seat and RM25 for a hot seat are just too much. Especially when the seats are extremely uncomfortable.