Losing Weight

STEP 1

Since my gallbladder problem, I went on an 'alkaline residue' drink daily. If I can find a lemon, I add a drop of lemon juice to my drink. If I have green salad, I add lots of lemon juice and salty black olives in addition to salad greens and tomatoes. I take very little rice to avoid feeling too full after lunch or dinner. I can go without rice - I get a lot of problems with rice. I snack on some meruku and walnuts after my usual breakfast meal (I have to force myself to eat these dried stuff) so I won't feel hungry for at least 4 hours. I can go up to 6 hours without food but I try to stop work and take a drink every now and then or else I don't have urine.

STEP 2

I recently drank something nice in Penang and asked for the recipe. It is a nutmeg drink which I like. I add some fresh juice from belimbing besi, some pure nutmeg juice, bottled honey, sugar and lots of cold water. It is difficult to dissolve honey in this mixture. I have to stir it for a long time for the honey to dissolve. Even if the honey is dissolved, the drink is still not sweet. I then add 1-2 tablespoonful of granulated white sugar. The sweetness adds to palatability. It looks like vomitus! I keep it cold in the refrigerator to let the sediment sink and not look like vomitus. I take a sip or two every now and then. I don't feel hunger or pain.

STEP 3

I'm trying to lose 10 kg. I am starting on RealDose today, which I ordered from the Internet via Amazon.com. I mixed approx. 1 tablespoonful of dried RealDose strawberry flavoured powder with a cup of cold water. It doesn't mix well in cold water at all - indicating low or nil levels of phospholipids, a necessary emulsifier in all instant drinks. I mixed it by stirring hard with a plastic spoon - it didn't all dissolve, and looked ugly, quite uninviting. I drank and partly choked on it. I then washed down the residue remaining in the cup and consumed that too. All is well and I am still all right.

STEP 4

I eat less chicken curry, less roti Benggali, less spaghetti, less cakes, less Raya biscuits, and none of the good stuff. I try not to enter the kitchen between meals unless I have to do some cooking for my family - I only cook dinner. I don't have the big tummy I had before. My tummy has reduced in size and doesn't look like a balloon anymore. I can see my own navel.

STEP 5

My HOD said to cut down on oily foods. But I showed her the Hari Raya table in front of us contained the best oily foods! She shrugged.

STEP 6

I weighed myself on 26 August 2013; I am now 74 kg (totally overweight and becoming obese if I don't do something). I fasted one month for Ramadan and took my olive oil softgels as described on the MinSyam package. I gained approx. 4 kg after taking 15 packs of this olive oil @ 1 softgel at breakfast. I still need to work on the inflammatory factors; I'm itching from whatever I ate - seafood! I use a stem cell cream to overcome itchiness, even a mosquito bite.

STEP 7

I weighed myself on 19 September 2013; I am now 75.5 kg. I feel very heavy and it is very difficult to balance myself when I stand or when I walk. My tummy bulges so big like I ma 12 months pregnant when I am not. The Indian lady at Cameron Higlands also asked if I wanted a pregnant mother's dress or T-shirt because she thought I was pregnant. I told her I was not pregnant but fat. I have become fat for reasons of overeating. I am really fat and heavy now. My legs swell when I sit or stand too long. I feel comfortable on an empty stomach but feel terrible after eating; so I eat a little instead of overeat at a single main meal. The RealDose is no good - I have stopped taking it and forgotten about it altogether. I changed my diet and drank more fluids - mostly ginger tea and blended belimbing buloh juice minus sugar. I learned to cook a quick vegetable dish made of brinjals (terung), potatoes (ubi kentang) and greens (daun keloh, small sayur sawi or daun cekak manis). I add tomatoes or carrots when they are available. I saute or fry the sliced garlic, shallots and a big onion for added fiber, and so that the vegetables become palatable. I then add the potatoes and brinjals and cook them till they are brown and softened a bit. I then add salt, soy sauce and tomato. I take the vegetables with rice and fish or a piece of chicken, so I have proteins. I can last 5-6 hours in between meals. I take fluids every few minutes so I remain hydrated. This is a bit difficult because I don't take fluids in my office when I am at work.

Drinking Water Deficits and Crisis

The Earth is mostly water and less land. We still have plenty of rivers and vast oceans. What we have less of or don't have today is abundant clean drinking water supply.

Malaysia still has plenty of water when it rains but it doesn't have an efficient system of providing clean treated drinking water; it depends on Singapore to provide that. Singapore has a shortage of clean water and it must buy raw water from Malaysia and treat it for its people to drink. So far, the problems between the two countries are ok.

In the USA, even though there are so many water sources, USA is a vast farmland. As farmland, the USA depends on pesticides and weedkillers to save the crops it grows. The widespread use of chemicals leach and get into underground water systems, including aquifers. So in the USA, farmlands have contaminated water due to pesticide and weedkillers residues.

A problem with living too close to oil and gas drilling wells is the possibility of the oil and gas leaking into drinking water systems. Hotels and homes are hardest hit. There are reports of hotel occupants dying after drinking tap water in the hotel rooms. People have been known to fall sick from drinking contaminated water.

Living too near a large waste treatment plant can possibly give contaminated drinking water. The water may contain extra salt. If used for mechanical parts, salty water will cause rusty parts in machines, including washing machines and dishwasher.

Many areas which were once with luxurious plant growth have now turned into dry lands and deserts. It won't be a surprise if we use Google Map and suddenly find many areas becoming dry and new deserts. This is the bleak future if we don't take care of the environment. The water sources must be kept safe for drinking. There should be plenty of free drinking water for everyone.

In Adelaide, residents tap rainwater into metal tanks at a corner of their houses. Water is precious. Houses have good clean water, including drinking water.

Perth uses underground water to water its parks and gardens. This is putting natural rusty water to good use. It makes certain structures look rusty but these blend with the environment.

Marshes and too many rivers and lakes at Mandurah (south of Perth) form a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Residents complained of mosquitoes and have to depend on netting. They depend on oil lamps to kill the mosquitoes, especially in mid-summer, for al-fresco dining and BBQ.

It is our job to protect our water sources and systems if we don't want other people (or countries) to determine our water prices and how much water we get to drink daily. We cannot survive without clean drinking water.

External link:

http://www.onepennysheet.com/category/environment/water-environment/

Damages to DNA

In the event of a nuclear disaster, radioactive materials are released to the atmosphere, the surrounding ground and nearby water systems (rivers and ocean).

The last two nuclear disasters should teach us some good lessons. The Chernobyl, Ukraine in the USSR catastrophic nuclear accident occurred on 26 April 1986. The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear meltdown occurred on 11 March 2011, following earthquake and tsunami.

What lessons have we learnt?

1. Radioactive wastes and emissions can go anywhere, and appear anywhere, even in our foods - leafy vegetables such as spinach, and milk
2. In the event of a nuclear disaster, it is expected to find high levels of radioactive materials in the atmosphere
3. The rain will wash down air-borne radioactive materials onto land, rivers and the sea
4. There are reports of radiation contaminating food sources from Japan 
5. China has reported radiation in her domestically grown vegetables
6. There are no reports of human deformities or increased in congenital malformations from Japan or China
7. Plant DNA is more susceptible to damage compared to human DNA; we expect to see more damages to plants and the foods which farmers grow
8. Scientists have predicted a rise in thyroid problems and cancers but they are no reports yet
9. Water systems remain contaminated for quite some time following a nuclear disaster. Turnover for a water system or body of water depends on how it is fed and how adequately it is drained
10. Ocean currents will carry radioactive materials in the sea, a long distance from the nuclear disaster site
11. Many countries have reported a rise in detected radioactivity of their seawater, indicating contaminated seawater
12. Which way radioactive materials in the sea travel depends on currents, how planet Earth turns, the seasons and tides
13. If we don't monitor the seawater near us, we won't know whether our seawater around us is contaminated or not
14. There are limits set for background radioactivity for seawater and foodstuff
15. Detecting increasing amounts of radioactivity in seawater means contamination by a far away or nearby source

External links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=126469
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/japan-finds-more-foods-tainted-by-radioactive-material
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-24/threat-to-japanese-food-chain-multiplies-as-cesium-contamination-spreads.html
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/7342301.html

Ibn Rajab

This Wordpress is in Malay and contains some of my articles. They seem different when re-written in Malay:
http://ibnrajab.wordpress.com/2008/07/27/info-kesihatan/

How to Dissolve Gallstones

Hempedu Update

12 Ramadan 1434 Hijrah

21 July 2013

This is a miracle - the 2 gallstones have disappeared!
Alhamdulillah.
How did it happen?
What did I do?
How I did it?

Here is the miracle cure for gallstones, I did it my way:

1. Eat less for buka puasa for 2 days.
2. Feel where the gallbladder is - right side, just under the last rib
3. After buka puasa, after solat maghrib, rub Minsyam minyak zaitun. Rub over a big area, to cover all possible areas where pain could arise.
4. Then rub a fresh tube of halia bara (an old tube won't work as the menthol content is gone). The halia bara will heat up and the hot sensation can be felt but it doesn't burn the skin. 
5. This is what I think happened: This hot-cold sensation will open up the sphincter of the gallbladder somewhat. 
6. This is how I think the 2 big gallstones got out: The 2 gallstones are elongated and will align properly, and flow out of the gallbladder, one by one, big as they maybe, but they will still move out. Update 22 August 2013: I take olive oil softgel to soften the bile duct and also to help dissolve the gallstone. Dr Lim Ju Boo also recommends to take olive oil to soften the bile duct and help the gallstones dissolve.
7. How long did it take for the gallstones to move out? I think for me it took 2 days. It took 2 days for the 2 gallstones to move out. The pain was felt first in the right side and then in the left side, and then it disappeared altogether. I can breathe normally and am not in pain.
8. I think probably the 2 gallstones dissolved along the way out through the biliary track, or became small enough to flow through the biliary duct and out into the duodenum.

Today is the second day after the 2 gallstones moved out from the gallbladder. The gallbladder feels empty and soft now, not swollen and painful as before. 

Once the 2 gallstones moved out, I was able to take more food at buka puasa, without pain or feeling bloated - just feels normal. It felt so rewarding, Alhamdulillah.

Also, I stayed up late at night, and before I went to bed, I took hot coffee and 3 dates, to fill up the gut so that the bile would continue to flow and empty out and not collect in the gallbladder. I think when the gut is empty for a long time, the gallbladder has time to refill and concentrate fast. So having dates in the gut takes care of continued bile flow into the duodenum.

I also took a herbal drink that needed honey (good quality honey) and maybe that too helped. I know honey stimulates the gut and makes the enzymes active. I don't know how it affects bile and bile flow but it seems to work in synergy.

Tonight is the second night I'm taking coffee and dates late at night. This seems quite an interesting mix as I have never taken this before. I take 2 types of coffee - Super Coffee (regular, 3-in-1, low fat) and Kopiko (3-in-1). I make a tumbler-full of one coffee and a tall cup of the other coffee. I think the type of coffee matters. It didn't work with Nescafe or TESCO coffee - they were hopeless. I have not gone back to these 2 coffee brands.

I consumed Yusuf Taiyub high quality dates - these are half brown and half creamy (rutab). I read that this type of dates are good for the internal system (gut), so I used them. I received these dates from Assoc Prof Dr Sirajudeen in my dept. There are 38 known varieties of dates.

I'm trying another type of dates tonight as yesterday's dates are all gone. Tonight, I'm trying Gurun Emas dates which are coated with Habbatus sauda. Tonight, I'm taking 3 dates, 2 dried seedless prunes and 1 tablespoonful of dried cranberries, with coffee. I had a ripe banana at buka puasa, 5 hours ago. Bananas are not good for midnight snacks.

InsyaAllah, this is the easiest way to dissolve gallstones.
I haven't gone to scan yet. I hope the gallstones are gone for good.
I will teach the doa later.
Hope that helps gallstone suffers.

Update (12 October 2014): The "two gallstones" detected by ultrasound were actually one large piece of U-shaped cholesterol gallstone. It was removed by laparoscopic cholecystectomy as it was too big to be dissolved by traditional or non surgical methods and moreover, would take too long to dissolve.

External link:
http://www.healthline.com/health/gallstones#Overview1

Orthodontics

Crossbite —The condition in which the upper teeth bite inside the lower teeth.

Crown —The natural part of the tooth covered by enamel. A restorative crown is a protective shell that fits over a tooth.

Deep bite —A closed bite; a deep or excessive overbite in which the lower incisors bite too closely to or into the gum tissue or palate behind the upper teeth.

Eruption —The process of a tooth breaking through the gum tissue to grow into place in the mouth.

Impacted tooth —Any tooth that is prevented from reaching its normal position in the mouth by another tooth, bone, or soft tissue.

Incisors —The eight front teeth.

Interceptive orthodontics —Preventative orthodontics; early, simpler orthodontic treatment.

Malocclusion —The misalignment of opposing teeth in the upper and lower jaws.

Molars —The teeth behind the primary canines or the permanent premolars, with large crowns and broad chewing surfaces for grinding food.

Open bite —A malocclusion in which some teeth do not meet the opposing teeth.

Orthognatic surgery —Surgery to alter the relationships of the teeth and/or supporting bones, usually in conjunction with orthodontic treatment.

Overbite —Protrusion of the upper teeth over the lower teeth.

Plaque —A sticky film of saliva, food particles, and bacteria that attaches to the tooth surface and causes decay.

Retainer —An orthodontic appliance that is worn to stabilize teeth in a new position.



Source:
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/orthodontics.aspx

How to be a top student

I will share with everyone about how I made it from being just an ordinary student to being the top student anywhere and everywhere.

Life as an Ordinary Student
As an ordinary student, life was dull. You do as you're told. Everybody dictates and you follow. Otherwise you get a scolding. I was the average ordinary student. I hated it! I hated being told and ordered around. I wanted change. I wanted to do things that I like and doing things my own way. I didn't want people to tell me what to do. Why do people have to tell me what to do? I am in charge of my own life and I will direct my own life. I need to change and be a director for my own life.

The Change
Change is a big messy word that nobody really understands. Ask anybody what that word means and nobody can even define what it is. Change is essentially self-directed steps that I wanted to take to make my life different, and in the end I become my own independent director. I will be in charge of my own self and my own life. No need to be told what to do. Even my parents don't have to check on me whether I'm studying or failing. I will be my own director.

How to Change
Good question. There are a 1001 ways to create change. For me, the easiest way to make change is to change whatever I'm doing. In creating change, I need to be able to do more than what I usually do. If I read one page of a textbook, I now need to read 2 pages. That's called change. If I read 1 chapter, now I need to read 2 chapters. If I write a half-page essay for a class, now I must be able to write a page. So now you see, more effort needs to be put in for the daily learning activities. This is mean extra time for learning. If I sit down to read at 9 pm (after isya'), now I need to sit down and read right after dinner, around 7.30 pm (after maghrib). So time for learning has to change as there will be more activities to cover. The more the learning that needs to get done for the day, the more time I needed to assign for learning that day. That means time management. It means I need to readjust my schedule for play and learn. I cannot play all the time and have very little time for learning. I cannot learn all the time and have no time to play. So what did I do? I did all my homework and reading daily and finished them daily, before I go to bed. I play only when I have completed my learning or studies. I pushed 'play' to weekends. I learned most of the time during the week because I wasn't going to learn on weekends as they were meant for 'play' (relaxation). So I read on weekdays and played the piano, washed the clothes, went shopping, went strolling and picnic on weekends. I also change my revision for exams. I started revising after each class lecture or practical. I made sure I understood texts, diagrams and pictures. Because there were so many images as I was doing double major and three minors, I had to learn how to 'store' things in my brain. So I took up speed reading and learned photographic memory. If you are a keen Quran reader, speed reading is easy. If you're not a good Quran reader, speed reading is not for you. Go reverse and learn Quran reading first because that helps speed reading. When you can read fast, the brain works fast. When the brain works fast, it is both active and receptive. When the brain is in this 'activated state', it takes care of everything it wants to and shifts gears automatically. How to get the brain to that state? Sufficient rest, lots of fresh air, clean environment, conducive environment, relaxing atmosphere, good surroundings, not noisy not too quiet, good seasons - not extreme, lots of good food. I lived in the hostel and had a very good environment and good food. So I was making great changes in no time. For languages, I sat in front of the TV and learned US English. By 6 months I was proficient and a fluent speaker. I put English to practice so I wouldn't lose it rapidly because any language acquired goes away fast without practice. So I was really doing a lot of good changes for myself. I never felt sorry nor tired of making small changes whenever the opportunity arises. I wrote down words which I didn't know and looked them up in dictionaries - we didn't have Internet or smartphones back then.

How to Know if the Changes are OK
Very simple, my grades went up. Soon, I was near the top of my class. By second, third and final year, I was at the top pf my class. I stayed as top student and my grades never ever fell. So I was progressing ok. I enjoyed doing things my way and nobody said No or anything bad that would hurt me. So I was a happy kid doing things my own way. I had created in myself a means to direct my own learning style and I was comfortable with my learning and my grades were good. I enjoyed every bit of my university life because learning was so enjoyable. I was always looking forward to class. I didn't want to miss class. I wanted be present in all my classes and be able to be in class before my professors arrived and spoke to the class. I wanted to hear their first words and how they addressed students. I wanted to be very knowledgeable like my professors. I admired them for their simplicity, generosity and knowledge. I didn't want anything else. I just wanted to be as smart as my professors. So I watched and observed each one of my professors. Everyone left me a deep impression. The overall impact of that is to have very goof will power to succeed, and succeed I did. Alahmdulillah.

Being Top Student
It feels really great being a top student. It feels good, really good being that most coveted seat - TOP STUDENT! Who wouldn't want to be a top student?! So I was a top student and my professors admired me for being that as they labeled me as GENIUS!!!!!  Goodness Gracious! Alhamdulillah. Now, with that kind on admiration from my own professors, I had nothing to lose but to strive on and maintain my status as TOP STUDENT. It was easy because I had mastered the means of becoming a top student and I was comfortable. I didn't become obsessed, I just enjoying learning and learning new things. I could understand things easily and nothing was too difficult. If I didn't understand I could just stop my professor and ask. I wasn't shy at all since my English was ok after 4 years in undergraduate university and 6 years at my postgraduate university. Nobody could tell I am Malaysian. People thought I was Hispanic or Chicano but I spoke really good California English for a Malaysian teenager and youth. So I really enjoyed myself with my newly acquired soft skills and learning methodology.

Is being Top Student any good?
I think there is more good as a top student. I get to speak in class and I get to head my class discussion. I read widely so I had a lot of facts and factual recall is easy with practice. So being top student is really worth it. I totally enjoyed it, unlimited.

Take home message
Learn to me a good student first, make small changes until the changes come naturally. Improve on English language so it doesn't become an obstacle. That's it! InsyaAllah, it will work for you too.

Take care!

Study hard but study smart. Aim to be a top student. Come what may, stay as top student. Always and all ways.