Onion, My Saviour

I’m probably going to sound like an onion marketer or sales agent, but do bear with me. So what happened is, for the past three months or so – the time we started have to turn on the air conditioner at all times due to the unbearable heat of Hong Kong’s unforgivingly hot summer – I’ve been woken by the desperate urge to cough, complicated with an extremely stuffy nose. The diabolical ‘routine’ took place at around 2am every night, and every time I’d have to go to the living room to unblock my nasal blockage, not really getting much sleep as the saga usually dies out at approximately 5am.

I’ve never had any nasal allergies so it goes without saying that I hadn’t an inkling whether an air purifier actually works. But we got one anyway, for a friend claims to have had similar symptoms but has been able to get undisrupted sleep once she got an air purifier. For a few days the air purifier seemed to save the day, and yet all of a sudden its effectiveness seemed to wear off as soon as its novelty. What we also tried was aromatherapy with peppermint but other than filling the apartment with refreshing scent, it was pretty much useless.

So last night, the boyfriend decided to take inspiration from his mother and use power of the onion. I’ve known of the bacteria-killing power of onion but I must have underestimated it in hindsight. We cut two onions in halves and put them under the bed, with one half right next to my pillow. And lo and behold, I woke up this morning, though not feeling like a Disney princess rising to birdsong, definitely more reinvigorated than I’d done in a long while, because I was able to sleep till the alarm was due to wake me.

Just my two cents. The onion doesn’t have to work for you, but at least for now, it is on my side. 

The Mighty Lemon

Credit: Ecozine

So your truly has started a new routine of daily lemon water intake in the hope of well, staying healthy and ridding my body of toxins – regular consumption of lemon-infused water is believed to be effective in preventing formation of kidney stones. And by end of the day, I’d use the lemon slices to clean the flask that I use to contain the lemon-infused water with. Turns out there’s a whole lot more things you can do with lemon, such as an all-natural odour-remover.

With half a lemon and ½ cup of water, you can make a chemical-free odour-remover and cleaner for your microwave oven, for instance. All you need to do is to squeeze the lemon juice into the water, heat it up in the microwave until it boils, and let it sit for five minutes and let the steam do the work. To bring back the glimmer in silverware, mix lemon juice and baking soda (4:1) and wipe the silverware with the mixture or let the silverware sit in the solution for three minutes. Got sweat stains on your clothes? No matter, add ½ cup of lemon juice into the water during the rinse cycle of your laundry, and the clothes will come out of the tumbler all bright and smelling fresh. Apparently, you can unclog and freshen drains with ½ cup of baking soda, ½ cup of white vinegar, and one cup of lemon juice too by simply pouring the baking soda down the drain, followed by vinegar, and the lemon juice at last.

The health benefits and household uses of this amazing citrus fruit is abundant, go explore, and stay clean and healthy the natural way!

Meet the New Superfood

Credit: Ecozine

For those health-conscious among you, the new kid on the superfood block is something you’d want to stock up on.

Called baobab, this superfood is derived from an ancient African tree known as The Tree of Life, which is celebrated for its health benefits and healing properties. As a fruit that is eaten cracked open and ground into powder, the baobab is 100% natural, vegan and gluten-free, and is free of additives or processed ingredients. What’s more, baobab has also six times more vitamin C than an orange, six times more potassium than a banana, twice as much calcium as milk, more soluble fibre than psyllium, and more magnesium than coconut water. True to its title as the new superfood, baobab is not just an ideal food ingredient, but in its oil form baobab also has a velvety feel to it, meaning it can easily serve as a skin hydrating product while preventing wrinkles and signs of ageing with its plentiful amount of vitamin A and E.

We know you must be wondering where in Hong Kong the baobab can be had. You may order online at Nice Things, or buy it at Anything but Salads (Sai Ying Pun), Healthy Chicken (Central), Organic Footmark (Ma On Shan and Mong Kok), Spicebox Organics (Sai Ying Pun), Maya Café (Wan Chai), IFC Foodlab (Fanling) and many more! 

Recipe: Popsicles for Brekkie!

Credit: Allrecipes

My mum would have never allowed this ("Cold food on the stomach first thing in the morning will give you weak kidney and grey hair!") but apparently fruit and yoghurt breakfast popsicles are a thing! Don't you just want to make these as the obnoxiously hot and humid Hong Kong summer is returning with a vengeance?

When Too Much Tofu is Bad for You

Credit: First to Know

Yes, we know, tofu has been the substitute to meat for vegans and vegetarians lately. And to be honest I am a fan of the tofu burger too, but apparently too much tofu can be bad for you sometimes, and a 55-year-old man in China speaks as he finds, when a CT scan revealed over 420 kidney stones – like the pebbles you put in the fish tank for decoration purpose. Initially appalled, the doctors believe the stones could be the result of the man’s tofu-heavy diet.

As it turns out, the man loves his tofu so much that he eats it on a daily basis, but what caused the severe stomach ache that would later lead him to seek medical help is his lack of water intake, which resulted in the painful accumulation of unprocessed kidney stones, as tofu is a rich source of calcium and kidney stones are caused by a buildup of calcium.

So watch out for your love of tofu, moderation is key.