“Some people call acai the youthberry, others call it Botox in a bottle. Either way, it’s important you learn how to pronounce acai (ah-sigh-eee), because it looks like it’s going to be big.” — The Telegraph

“Studies show that this little berry is one of the most nutritious and powerful foods in the world! Acai is the high energy berry of a special Amazon palm tree. Harvested in the rainforests of Brazil, acai tastes like a vibrant blend of berries and chocolate.” — Fox News

Acai has, in recent years, aroused worldwide attention as a powerful superfruit. With a huge following including natural therapists and doctors, this fruit is being extensively studied by universities and laboratories worldwide. One such study showed that extracts from acai destroyed up to 86% of leukemia cells tested.

The Nutrition Clinic has teamed up with a naturopath and The Healing Kitchen for an informal information session and cooking demo to show you how to incorporate acai into your daily life. Come and taste acai for yourself.

Join us for a fun and festive evening and discover how acai berry’s unparalleled antioxidant levels  – 50 times greater than mangoes and more than five times greater than in blueberries — can help keep you in maximum health during the binging and drinking season!

When: Wednesday, 13 Jan, 7 - 8pm
Where: Onaka Healing Kitchen at 8A Biomedical Grove #01-17/18 Immunos
Fee: $10

Please note that seats are limited and registration is necessary at 64642007 

Click here for additional details:activeagelessacai4

Join a professional nutritional therapist and discover how to use healing juices, power-packed smoothies and Asian superfoods to create a powerful impact on your health.

Pooja Vig, founder of The Nutrition Clinic, will share her unique approach to increase energy levels, curb cravings, improve digestion, and recharge your immune system to heal your body.

Monday, June 8
10.00am – Noon
Singapore American Club, Colonial room
Member: $10
Guest: $15
For reservations, please stop by the Concierge Desk or email:concierge@amclub.org.sg, or call 6737-3411. Cancellation policy - 48 hours

Sales of supplements, which have grown over the last few years, have surged in recent months, rising as the economy has nose-dived. With the added fears of a flu pandemic, I have no doubt that herbal immune boosting products and multivitamins are growing in demand.

When used correctly (right nutrient at the right dose, manufactured safely and meeting certain quality standards), supplements can be very powerful.

But, a recent report by an independent supplement testing lab (www.consumerlab.com) shows that as many as a third of the products in the market fail quality and safety tests. Some green tea extracts and multivitamins, for example, were less potent than promised; some were contaminated with lead!

There is increasing evidence that our food supply does not provide the nutrients we need. Selenium and chromium are examples of minerals that many people need more of.

So, Here are some tips for choosing supplements:

1. Be specific about what you need supplements for. Don’t be tempted to take more than you need. It may be a waste — or worse, harmful. If you wish to find out what your specific mineral needs are, you might wish to do a hair mineral analysis test.

2. Do some online research about the brand you buy. You can find out a lot about a company’s safety standards online.

3. If a product claims it will “cure” a disease, or makes other grand claims, be on guard. Any supplement that sounds too good to be true likely is.

4. Choose brands labeled with the NSF International, US Pharmacopeia, or TGA seal.

5. Find out where the supplement was manufactured. Choose companies with GMP certification.

At a dinner party tonight, I met a friend who has been taking fenugreek seed powder daily for the last 6 years. The result? Over this time period, he has been able to slowly reduce, and now stop his cholesterol medication. I like the way he approached this — he started by adding fenugreek to his daily routine, he stuck to it, monitored his blood lipid levels and worked with his doctor to reduce and then, when the time was right, stop his medication.

Studies have also shown that fenugreek can help stabilize blood sugar in diabetics. It works so well that sometimes it can cause the blood sugar to dip too low, so be sure to talk to your doctor before trying it for this condition. It should also be used cautiously if someone is on blood thinning drugs, and it is not for pregnant women — but it is very effective post-pregnancy to encourage milk production 

A shocking new study has found that 15 infant formulas sold in the US are contaminated with the rocket fuel, perchlorate – which is even worse than it sounds, because where tested, the water which was used to mix the formula was also contaminated with the same chemical.

From the Environmental Working Group:

Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported that 15 brands of powdered infant formula are contaminated with perchlorate, a rocket fuel component detected in drinking water in 28 states and territories.

The two most contaminated brands, made from cow’s milk, accounted for 87 percent of the U.S. powdered formula market in 2000, the scientists said.

The CDC scientists did not identify the formula brands they tested.

The little-noticed CDC findings, published in the March 2009 edition of the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, raise new concerns about perchlorate pollution, a legacy of Cold War rocket and missile tests. Studies have established that the chemical is a potent thyroid toxin that may interfere with fetal and infant brain development (Kirk 2006).

First melamine, and now this.

We are led to believe that the chemicals that we are exposed to are not directly responsible for health problems — and that the body is designed to cope. When it comes to infants, their systems of detoxification including organs such as the liver, are underdeveloped, so this really is scary and unacceptable. But even adults need to think about their overall exposure to chemicals (something called body burden) and take steps to lower it. There are certain things we can’t avoid, but where we can, it makes sense to lower the level of harmful substances that are allowed into our system. Many people go on a “detox” to help with some of this. There are several ways to help the body clear toxins, but I think two principles need to be thought about seriously: 

1. You don’t buy detox in a bottle…you learn to support your body’s natural detox systems
2. It is better to lower the body burden than to be on a detox, retox cycle

I am back after maternity leave —  had a beautiful daughter late last year! I have known about the importance of supporting the body before, during and after pregnancy. Experiencing it was something else…especially the post-pregnancy recovery part! I researched several traditional Asian food and lifestyle practices (usually called “confinement”!!) which are designed to help the mother’s body recover. I chose the ones that I felt made sense, and were possible for me to do, and they really did help. I had some complications, which left me very exhausted after the birth, and I found many of these very useful. 

I shall share these as I organise my notes and thoughts on the subject.

We plan to launch a range of products, called Thrive.

Why more products when there are so many in the market? I see that a lot of health and organic products are misleading. One really has to read the label carefully. My plan? Each item under Thrive will be selected to represent the highest quality and each product will do what it claims. Simply put, Thrive will be a range of products that have been scrutinized thoroughly, they would be what I use myself or give to my family. 

This is the question. Studies suggest that lifestyle (diet, exercise, emotions) can be powerful enough to switch on or off certain genes. So, while you can’t change the genetic set you are born with, you can control some of the switches. 

Dr Dean Ornish showed that some 15 years ago when he claimed that heart disease can be reversed. More recently, he showed that when men with early stage prostate cancer made lifestyle changes, the nature of the cancer changed. The actual cancer tissue started behaving differently. 

Just last month, another study showed that when it comes to diabetes, lifestyle can be more powerful than genes. The Finnish study followed identical twins to show that lifestyle can determine the switching on and off of genes linked to diabetes. 

Because the genes of the volunteers is identical, the finding suggests that environment contributes more than heredity to the development of insulin resistance in people who are obese.

Fascinating, I think…

I am often asked why can’t we just eat a “balanced diet”. Afterall, by now, we all should know what is healthy and what is not. I believe there is no such thing as one diet fits all. There is no one way to eat that is appropriate for everybody. This is the trouble I have with general nutrition advice. For example, the individual who is insulin-resistant  or has metabolic syndrome should not be advised to follow a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet. This individual should not be told to “eat a banana daily to get plenty of potassium” or “drink a glass of orange juice for vitamin C.” This advice would further create more insulin problems in the individual due to the high carbohydrate content of both of these offerings—making them inappropriate. 

Welcome to my blog and thank you for stopping by. I started this blog to further my efforts to help people on their journey towards health. I practice as a nutritionist and have been doing a lot of nutrition related research and writing over the past couple of years. My explorations of what we eat and how it affects us have convinced me that there are no simple, one-size-fits-all answers. I see this blog as an opportunity to interact with readers. So come gather around this table to talk, ask, discuss.

Pooja