Detox 101: Dry Brushing

As the name suggest, dry brushing means brushing on dry skin. Dry brushing is a cheap, simple and natural way to detox. By brushing the skin, which is your body's largest organ, it stimulates your lymphatic system, which helps in detoxification. Dry brushing also helps to boost circulation and exfoliates your skin. With some much benefits, and low investment (you just need to buy the brush), what are you waiting for (as most Singaporeans say, "cheap and good, mai tu liao!")

What you need: a natural bristle brush, preferably with a long handle so you can easily reach all parts of your body

3 Simple Ways to Start Dry Brushing (this is usually done before you bath)

1. get naked,
2. begin brushing, starting from your feet, in long sweeping motions upwards (towards your heart). brush several times in each area. follow the image below for direction of each brush
3. after you've brushed your whole body, you can start showering. that's it! and repeat everyday!

note: when you first start dry brushing, you may feel awkward or uncomfortable, especially when you're brushing over sensitive areas like inner thighs or chest. don't worry, once you get used to it, it will get better. and soon, you'll be hooked! :)

TOXIC BEAUTY: What makes you beautiful can makes you sick

Skincare, cosmetics and makeup have become part of our everyday lives. Most women (and even some men these days) cannot think of living without their bottles of creams, lotions, serums, masks, shampoos, foundation, lipsticks, eye liners and mascaras.

However, you'll be surprised (or if you're like me, horrified) to know that in our attempt to achieve beauty, we are actually intoxicating and poisoning ourselves, slowly, bit by bit each and everyday.

Was doing some googling on toxins in beauty products and this article jumped out. It says

"Research by Bionsen, a natural deodorant company, found that the average woman's daily grooming and make-up routine means she 'hosts' a staggering 515 different synthetic chemicals on her body every single day."

WOW. 515 different synthetic chemicals on our body every single day? Are they sure?

All the shampoo, hair sprays, eyeshadows, foundation, lipstick, nail polishes, are killing us slowly each end everyday. When I was reading this article, I did a quick check on my supplies, and I'm sad to find that alot of my everyday products do contain these chemicals. Well, I read this article some time back, and I'm now slowly trying to change my products or reduce the use of products that I don't really need (which is why I rarely go for manicures anymore). I have to admit. It's a tough journey. Ever since I learnt about how harmful all these synthetic chemicals can cause us, I tried to read the ingredients list of almost everything I buy. and it's sad to know that it is so difficult to find products that are really free of these chemicals. Don't believe me? Go grab any of your shampoos, powder, facial masks or whatever, and take a look at the ingredient list. Very likely you will see ingredients like Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, Talc, Fragrance, Methyl Paraben etc.

I remembered when I was young, my parents always say "whatever that is applied outside is ok" since we are not eating it. but I learnt that this concept is so wrong. just because we are not eating it does not mean we are not ingesting it.  When we apply all these "things" that contains toxins and chemicals, they can get into our system through our pores, and into our blood stream. so it is really NOT OK.

Here are some ingredients you should learn to register in your brain, and avoid when choosing your cosmetics and makeup:

imidazolidinyl urea, diazolidinyl urea, methyl paraben, propyl paraben, butyl paraben, ethyl paraben, petrolatum, propylene glycol, PVP/VA copolymer, stearalkonium chloride, synthetic colors, synthetic fragrances, talc, diethanolamine (DEA), monoethanolamine (MEA), triethanolamine (TEA), dioxane, 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1, 3-diol (bronopol), benzalkonium chloride, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), chloromethylisothiazolinone, and isothiazolinone.

You'll realize all these ingredients sound so alien and complicated that it's even hard to pronounce and recognize. Honestly, I'm only able to register a few of the simple ones like whatever-paraben, petrolatum, talc, fragrance. so my trick is if I see a list of ingredients I don't understand, I'll try to avoid it. but, you will soon realized it is SO FREAKING DIFFICULT finding products without these chemicals. It's not about price or brand. At first, I thought it's the drug store brands trying to "cut cost", hence they use these chemicals. but NO. Big High-end beauty brands include these ingredients too. A simple example is "talc". Go take a look at Watsons and Sephora. You'll find it's a huge challenge trying to find powder without talc. I didn't believe it when my beauty therapist told me. but she's right. there are products without talc. but you really need to look hard. will share some of the more toxic-friendly products I've found in later articles.

Infographic from dailymail showing most worrying chemicals found in the products and possible side effects. credits: dailymail

These may not kill you immediately. but as these toxins accumulate in your body, and could not flush out in time, they will cause harm to your body, killing you slowly.

Green Bean (Mung Bean) - For Cooling & Detox

Green bean 绿豆(also known as Mung Bean), is an excellent source for detox and relieving summer heat). It is a very popular dessert in Chinese families, and is extremely simple to make.

Green bean is known to be cooling, so may not be suitable for people who have a cool body (those who have cold hands and feet), people having diarrhea, women who are having their menses (or going to have their menses). There's several ways of cooking green bean dessert. 2 popular ways are green bean soup and green bean water. Both have different benefits and should not be confused with one another, though both uses the same ingredients and cooking method.

Pre-cook Preparation
Soak green bean in water over night (or at least 2 hours)

Ingredients
pandan leaves (optional. I'll usually add in pandan leaves for the fragrance)
green bean
water
brown sugar/rock sugar (optional)

Cooling Purpose 降火气 - Green Bean Water 绿豆水
The skin of green bean helps to reduce heatiness. Hence, if your purpose is to cool or reduce heatiness, do not cook the green bean soup for too long. Add the beans to boiling water and boil in small/medium fire for about 10 minutes (don't cook for too long). Alternatively, just add boiling water to green beans, and let is simmer for around 15 mins. Add in some brown sugar or rock sugar (冰糖) if you need more flavour.The beans will look pretty hard and inedible. The water will look clear and greenish. Discard the beans and drink the water.

Detox Purpose 解毒 - Green Bean Soup 绿豆汤
The inner part of green bean helps with detox, hence, for detox purposes, you will need to cook till it's tender (煮烂), where you will basically see the beans "breaking up", and see the white inner parts of the bean. You will need to boil the soup longer (around 30 mins or more). The soup will look cloudy and slightly reddish. Green bean soup is good for detox, but not so ideal if your purpose is for cooling.

Recipes: Luo Han Guo Chinese Herbal Tea (罗汉果凉茶)

Luo Han Guo has a very chim scientific name: Siraitia grosvenorii. This is a herbal tea that my hubby loves and will always buy when we passed by the herbal store so I decide to learn to cook it. Am pleasantly surprised that it's so easy to cook this herbal tea! This is one of the standard chinese herbal tea for cooling the body and to heal cough/sorethroat.

Luo Han Guo is cheap and can be found in supermarkets or chinese medicine hall.3 pieces cost around S$1.20 to S$1.50. I prefer to buy mine in chinese medicine hall where you get to choose. NTUC usually only sell pre-packed ones.

How to Choose Luo Han Guo (罗汉果):

• Colour: should not be too dark
• Shake: give the fruit a light shake when choosing. if you can hear/feel the seed within moving, the seed is dried (not fresh), and will not give much taste/benefits

What you need:

• Luo Han Guo (罗汉果). 
• Pot (Try to use clay/ceramic if possible. It is better for cooking herbal tea/soup as there may be chemical reaction with metal/stainless steel pot)
• Water
• Chrysanthemum (optional)
• Wolf-berries (optional)

For me, I prefer to add chrysanthemum & wolf berries into my herbal tea. These are optional. Traditional luo han guo tea consists of luo han guo and water only. Luo Han Guo has natural sweetness so sugar is usually not required. but if you do have a sweet tooth, you may put in a few pieces of rock sugar.

Wash the Luo Han Guo fruits, Chrysanthem and wolfberries. I usually use a medium-sized pot, and I found that the taste for 1 Luo Han Guo is quite bland, so I usually use 2, and if necessary, add another 1. It's entirely based on personal taste. My family loves the thick herbal taste of Luo Han Guo so my tea is usually quite thick in flavor.

Fill the pot with about 3/4 full of water, crushed the luo han guo and put them into the pot. close the lid and wait for the mixture to boil

Let the mixture boil a while. and open the lid to taste. This is the time when you decide if you need to add another fruit, or sugar

For me, I'll usually add Chrysanthem and wolfberries at this stage

done!

Benefits

• Luo Han Guo is good for cough and sorethroat
• It is considered a "cooling" fruit, so this is a good cooling herbal tea when you're feeling heaty, or have eaten too much unhealthy fried junk or have too too many late nights
• chrysanthemum is also known to be cooling, rich in Vitamin B & C, and good for detoxification of the liver
• wolfberries are good for eyesight and is is one of the most antioxidant-rich fruits around.