..Reflections on how coffee helps fight liver cancer

By KF Seetoh,
makansutra

I had to spend two sleepless nights before I could churn this story out. It was recently reported that three to four cups of coffee a day can help keep liver cancer at bay, or at least reduce it by 44 percent. I don't know how that percentage is calculated but I am taking no chances.

You see, I love coffee and my late father (bless his soul) passed on with some liver
complications over 30 years ago. So if hereditary genetics is anything to go by,
then those extra few cups I had over the weekend would certainly ease my mind
about inheriting things I don't want from the family's genetic treasure. So I
stayed up, entertained my heightened memory (coffee is known to have that
effect) and pondered about that finding on coffee and cirrhosis.

Firstly, I was celebrating what the Singapore Chinese Health Study research concluded -- that those few cups of intoxicating black wonder helps delay or hold back liver disease or cancer for Singapore Chinese folks only. The finding was published in the American Journal of Cancer and Causes. Too bad my Chinese pals in Johor Baru cannot benefit from this finding -- they are so near yet so far. I realised this from my two trips to the loo at 2am and 4.30am (the diuretic effects of coffee was a natural post celebration party).

I never felt so alive as my heart was racing and even skipped a few beats as I
revelled in that finding and uncovered even more (if the following Internet
"researcher's findings" and information can be trusted). It's not that I'm a
frequent fitness-gym lizard, darting around waiting to pounce on the tricep
machines and abs-hardeners, but some chemicals in that cuppa does help reduce
gym muscle pain.

A cup of it one hour before the gym routine helps reduce that strain pain by 48 percent. Do remember, two cups a day can aid that effect, but three or more can hasten the arrival of osteoporosis as it "steals" calcium from the body. I suppose the trick is to avoid exercise routines that may have an impact on bone density -- like spending more time and money talking to the hot fitness instructors and signing up for "tai-bo yoga" sessions which you will not attend. Meanwhile, somewhere at the back of my head, my concerns for my Malaysian friends surface again...

Meanwhile, somewhere at the back of my head, my concerns for my Malaysian friends surface again -I wondered about those Johoreans who have been living and working in Singapore for decades. Does it apply to them, or any well heeled foreign Chinese (those who can afford fine coffee daily) who have called Singapore home all these years. Then I spotted an exclusion clause in that finding that sadly, may apply to them. Having their coffee in those chi-chi coffee joints where they percolate the beans with paper coffee filters automatically disqualify them from the health benefit. The research says these percolators sieve away most of the two most important oils in that concoction that helps contain liver cancer - cafestol and kahweol. A kopitiam Ah-Ko sock-brewed version keeps them all at bay. So holding a foreign passport while sipping coffee at these fine chain coffee joints won’t help. I suggest, instead of asking what is the coffee of the day, try querying “what type of percolator you use ah.”. Then, another internet “fact” splashed cold water on my excitement- that too much cafestrol leads to an increase in cholesterol levels. Oh boy, my borderline fatty liver is not gonna like this.

It is also said that coffee puts women in the mood for sex, especially those who don’t drink too much of it but having high cholesterol, which can come with effects like low libido, is not going to do anyone any favours. Coffee contains caffeine, which makes sense to those who down pain killers with it as it increases the effectiveness. So for the happy hangover clubbers who down pain killers with coffee to rid the headache, it’s no longer a mystery why you are so thirsty in the morning when you drank so much the night before.

Finally, that article says drinking four cups of coffee a day “might lower the risk of diabetes.”. I suppose they mean kopi kosong (even one spoon of sugar each cup can actually help obtain, not contain diabetes). So the moral of today’s story is- I going back to my two cups a day just so I can catch up on my sleep and rest.

If you’re having difficulties getting pregnant, new research announced May 26 suggests that cutting back on caffeine might help.

Researchers from the University of Nevada School of Medicine in the US found that caffeine could impair fertility in women by relaxing the cells of the muscles in the fallopian tubes, which carry a woman's eggs from her ovaries to her womb.

"Caffeine inhibits the contractions of the muscles in the fallopian tube, so the egg stops getting transported," study researcher Sean Ward told health website MyHealthNewsDaily.

Ward and his team tested the effect of caffeine on mice, which he said are similar reproductively to humans. The study didn’t give specifics on how much caffeine may impact fertility, but the amount they tested in their research was about the equivalent to two cups of coffee for humans.

"This provides an intriguing explanation as to why women with high caffeine consumption often take longer to conceive than women who do not consume caffeine," stated Ward in a release.

Past research had also made the link between caffeine and fertility problems. A 1993 study found that drinking more than "moderate amounts" of caffeine can lower a woman's likelihood of conceiving by as much as 27 percent. How much caffeine was too much? Drinking more than two cups of coffee a day, or 200 milligrams of caffeine. Also in this same study, women who drank as little as one cup of coffee a day lowered their chances of getting pregnant by 10 percent.

If you’re trying to get pregnant and having trouble, talk to your doctor about your caffeine consumption and how it might be affecting you. Caffeine affects everybody in different ways, and therefore may affect people's fertility differently, Ward stated to MyHealthNewsDaily.

The study was published May 26 in the journal British Journal of Pharmacology. Access the paper here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1476-5381.2011.01266.x/abstract

Labels: articles, facts, meaningful, recommendations

Dinner@My Secret Garden

My Secret Garden
Address: 161 Middle Road, Sculpture Square Singapore 188978
Price Range: $20-$50 per pax
Type of Food: Western with nice ambience

There's a 1-For-1 promotion at My Secret Garden which I went there with my bestie, Mingli last two Saturdays ago while my dear is away. Went there in 2007 to throw my sister's Hen's Night Party celebration and at that time, another table was also having their Hen's Night Party just next to us. The Beef Tenderloin and Roasted Rack of Lamb is a Must-try. Just to share some photos we took at My Secret Garden on that night...

The exterior courtyard of the restaurant...


A lot of wedding solemnisation and ceremonies are held at this place...


Sparkling Wine with Lychee....Very strong alcohol taste actually...


That's the Lychee Martini and Roasted Rack of Lamb

Beef Tenderloin...



Read this here:
My Secret Garden is pleased to extend our offer of a 1-for-1 dining deal for this Month of June 2010. This is a great time to try out our signature items like Roasted Rack of Lamb, Wild Alaskan Black Cod, Beef Tenderloin and many others, terms and conditions applies.

The followings are My Secret Garden's operating hours :-
Mondays – Fridays : Lunch 12pm - 2.30pm
Mondays – Saturdays : Dinner 6pm onwards
Saturdays : Close for Lunch
Sundays : Close whole day

All you have a do is :
- Call 6334-8334 & quote "Secret Promo" for reservations, subject to confirmation
- To redeem this "Secret Promo"offer, please hand a printed copy of the image below w your name/email address/mobile tel
- This offer is good for up to 6 persons per reservation & redemption
- This offer ends Sat June 26th.

For more information log on to our website at http://www.mysg.com.sg/

Reviews:
Beef Tenderloin - 4/5 stars (Tender meat but too little)
Roasted Rack of Lamb - 4/5 stars (3 pieces of lamb rack but for those who appreciates eating the fats)
Drinks - 5/5 stars (there's more alcohol in it than the syrup blended in it, so definitely worth the money)

Labels: food, recommendations, restaurants, reviews

[x] Shireen signing out at
8:43 PM

{{ Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Bali - Villa Erick @ Seminyak

I'll be visiting my very first beach holiday and that will be Bali - the island off Indonesia. I'll be staying in a nice villa called Villa Erick and it's in Seminyak which is not near the beaches, will require transport there. I'll be going with a group of 10 pax so booking this villa have 4 bedrooms + 1 study room with sofa bed (my cousin, Kristin and myself will be sleeping in that room), our own private pool, own cook to cook our meals, etc. We paid USD 500 per villa/day.
http://www.bali-holiday-villas.com/villas/bougainvillea/bougainvillea043/index.html




(Left pic) This is the study room I'll be sleeping at.


(Right pic) This is the only bathroom with bathtub in it. I wonder which room will this be.

Will give reviews and take actual photos of this villa after I come back from Bali. I will then upload photos of the actual villa. If the photos shown at the website is exactly like when I'm there.

Labels: Experiences, holidays, recommendations

[x] Shireen signing out at
9:57 AM

{{ Sunday, February 15, 2009

Korea Trip 26 Dec 08 - 2 Jan 09 - Day 1

I've been back for 3 weeks now and I am starting to blog about my Korea holiday. Feel quite lazy to type my holiday in details so probably have to split up several entries to finish blogging about my 8 day trip. On 26 Dec, my flight was a night flight at 10.50pm so we had to check-in with our tour group at 8.40pm. The whole group that was with us had 37 people in all where 9 were from my family. Our tour leader here was Jasmine, from Chan Brothers. We had shots taken at Terminal 1 before we went into the Customs.

Felicia, Kristin and me...

My youngest cousin, Perpetua came with her family to see us off too...

When we entered the waiting area, I took a shot of our plane...

The plane was not full, it had lots of empty seats so Kristin and I changed our seats...

Upon arrival at Incheon International Airport, we were given an hour to change into our winter clothings and have a quick breakfast before we board up our bus and met up with our local guide, Thomas Zhang. We changed into our "long john" inside together with the three-quarter sleeve I was wearing initially together with the pink jacket I was wearing. We had McDonald's breakfast and then when we went outside the airport to board up our bus, I already felt it was very cold. As I was pulling my luggage on one hand and the other holding my thick winter jacket, I did not have the time to wear the jacket. I was only able to put on the scarf. We were all so glad we were on the bus then and felt much warmer. We were on our way to Everland and it was only 8am (Korea time is 1 hour ahead of SG) and the amusement park opens at 9.30am. It was an hour and a little drive from Incheon to Everland. We learnt that it is the start of the winter holidays and it was a Sat morning so be prepared for long queues and sch children...

When we reached Everland, we went to the restrooms and after I came out from the toilet, I was so cold, I was thinking if I was able to survive throughtout the whole holiday in this weather a not. I'm more afraid of the cold than the hot but I believe once you're accustomed to the weather and temperature, you'll get used to it.

Cool vending machines that I only saw in Japanese dramas but it's also here in korea too. They're cool cause they not only sells cold canned drinks, they also sells hot canned drinks too. So it works as a heat pack too...

Fyi, my family did not go to Korea, these are my maternal's relatives; cousins, aunties, grandparents...

Look at the queue and the pack of people...

We did not queue for long once the gates opens cause there are privileged entrance for group tours...

My cousin, Kristin and me....This photo will be nice if the camera weren't facing at the sun...

Our first ride was taking this Chairlift down to the lower part of Everland....

The view from the chairlift ride down along the way...

My two cousins, Kristin and Felicia...

When we reached the bottom, we queued up at Animal Safari and the queue was super long so we ended up taking photos whilst queueing.

My grandparents and Aunty Sally...

My cousins with their family...

The bus we took to see the animals in the Safari Kingdom...

We get into the enclosure where the lions, tigers, bears were walking freely around in the enclosed area.







The driver of our bus was asking the bear to stand up and wave at us, when he does that, the driver will throw some treats to reward him...







After the tour at Safari Kingdom, we went for lunch at the food court and I had Japanese Udon Soup. It wasn't that fantastic but at least it was soup and outside was cold so it was okay to me. After lunch, Auntie Sally stayed with Grandma and Grandpa while the rest of us went on to take the other rides. We went to this Revolving House and the queue was pretty long...

There's this mirror inside where it makwes you look taller and slimmer kind of effect...
Before taking the Skylift up to the top of the park again, we took some shots of the whole park...




The three of us, Me, Aunty Linda and Kristin taking the Skylift up...

Our last ride decided was this rollercoaster ride. At first I was quite doubtful whether to take it or not, cause I had thought there was a loop where the roller coaster turns 360 deg in that loop, actually I had taken that similar ride at Genting before several but with my eyes closed most of the time. There was quite a long queue and AUnty Linda and Kristin went to queue up first while I wait outside for Aunty Maggie, Felicia and UNcle Jeffrey. Then I was surprised that Felicia wanted to take this ride so I thought since a 14 year old girl dared to, why not? So I joined in the queue but we were far behind. Then a bunch of Koreans dressed in Cosplay jumped queue and went up all the while to join their friends who in the queu so Felicia went in to join Aunty Linda and Kristin. When it was almost our turn and was able to see how the ride will be like, I saw there was a second loop. Then I realised I was then tricked and cheated into getting into this ride. Nonetheless, I still boarded the rollercoaster ride and indeed it was fun though it had more than two loops and there was twist and turns around but I closed my eyes most of the time. I can feel I'm upside down and the twisting and turning even with my eyes closed. At least I dared to take the ride unlike my sister who may freaked out in the end.

She loved this doll a lot. She said it was so cute so must confirm snap a shot together with it.



Our next stop was visit to Samsung Transportation Museum. Samsung was one of the largest companies in Korea besides Lotte Group. This museum features all the vintage motorcars from the past till today.


Vintage cars (model) painted in silver...









The car from Herbie: Fully Loaded...





Toy model cars of all the sports car from Lamborgini, Porsche, Mustang, Ferrari, etc.












F1 Grand Prix racer cars...Probably one of the sponsored cars by Samsung previously...






Our next stop was to Dongdaemun Market. It was a popular place for shopping as the shops are opened till like 5am. We only made a brief stop there so we did not shop a lot or bought anything there. There was nothing much that interests me anyway. But we bought some stuffs and spent most of the time at The Face Shop. It was super cheap there compared to SG. The tour guide saw our Face Shop paper bag we were carrying then he told us that he forgot to tell us not to buy anything here yet as he will be bringing us to a huge The Face Shop on the last day. Then we headed to our dinner venue, dinner was Ginseng Chicken Soup....

Review: The ginseng taste wasn't very strong which made the soup to be rather bland. I tried the one in Singapore was far better and had stronger ginseng taste which I didn't like but this one was little tasteless. I liked their noodles though, mee sua...


I was having diarrhoea that day so I did not want to try the kimchi, anyway I'm sure it's spicy anyway...


Our accommodation that night was Seoul Garden Hotel. We only managed to check in at 9pm...

How our room looks like, they do not really have a triple sharing room so they just gave us a normal room and placed ane xtra bed there so it looks really small and squeezy that we couldn't really walk much in the room after we placed our 3 luggages in the room.

The super small toilet....

Labels: holidays, recommendations, reviews

[x] Shireen signing out at
7:43 PM