Want to feel good WITHOUT sugar?

Tuesday, 10.30 pm, Mary was still working. She opened the drawer under her desk to grab her munchy: Chocolate. Deep down, she knew she should not have taken it. But just ONE bar, it didn't matter, did it?

Thirty minutes later, she was STILL on her desk, working. Her hand subconsciously reach the secret stash storage, "one more... and I will stop " She told herself that. Before she knew it, four chocolate bars were consumed. She promised herself that tomorrow, she would walk 2 hours to use up the extra energy.

01:00 am: she was in her bed, rolling around, checking her phone. The Theobromine in her chocolate earlier increased her heart rate and kept her awake.

01:45 am, she was lying on her bed, her eyes were still open. She was tired but was unable to sleep.

06:30 am, the alarm rang, she woke up and felt dizziness. She was so exhausted. 

This vicious cycle happens daily. Mary hated herself for that. She talked to her friend about this and found out that it was not the hunger that made her eat. It was the stress, and when consuming sugar, it temporary fix the issues. However, it created an unhealthy sugar addiction. This article (click here) confirmed her story.

She needed to do something about this before her weight became out of control.

So what does Mary's story have anything to do with me?

Let's me explain

It is about habit. If every time we felt stressed, and we consumed sugar, we trained our body to react this way. Over time, our bodies adapt, and whenever we are stressed, our brains signal us to eat.

Some people develop a healthy habit of exercising when feeling stressed. Later on, regular exercises become their daily ritual and stress is manageable. They start taking control of their life.

You want something simple to follow through which you can stick with for an extended period. You want it to be part of your life, not diet after diet.

I once weighed 85kg (..and I only 1.7 m height). I got rid of my belly fat by eating two meals a day and perform resistant exercises. There is no short cut around it, period! I made this routine became part of my life, and I no longer feel hungry - work-life integration. 

 “Hunger is a state of mind, not a state of the stomach.”

― Jason Fung, The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting

You have probably experienced this too. Sometimes, you got many tasks to do, and you skipped lunch without noticing it. Did you feel hungry? Did you forget to eat?  How did you feel after skipping lunch?

For those who are interested: Watch this video here: 

 Dr Jason Fung - 'Therapeutic Fasting - Solving the Two-Compartment Problem'

Disclaimer: I don't have any financial benefit for this video. It works for me, personally and it makes a lot of sense for me, so I hope it helps you too.

(Please note: if you have diabetes or health concerns, also consult with your General Practitioner, Doctor, this blog post is not a piece of medical advice, it is merely shown what works for me as an individual) 

Intermittent fasting alone reset my insulin level, in the absence of insulin, the body starts burning the preserved energy, known as fat. " In type 1 diabetes, when insulin levels are extremely low, patients lose weight no matter how many calories they eat. Give insulin — gain weight. No insulin — lose weight (even to the point of death). The implication is clear. Insulin causes weight gain" (Dr Jason Fung, 2018)

In addition, I also took Agarwood tea and with the combination of fasting. It helps me accelerate the fast lost and put me back to balance. I could dream again.

 The benefit of Agarwood tea (Aquilaria Crassna's leaves, herbal infusion), with scientific researches 

• One single ingredient: 100% Aquilaria Crassna dried leaves. No mix with unknown ingredients
• Multiple health benefits This leaf contains: 4 bioactive ingredients that are Antioxidant, Antiglycation and Anti-inflammatory  (Wongwad et al. 2019)

1. iriflophenone 3,5-C-β-d-diglucoside
2. iriflophenone 3-C-β-d-glucoside
3. mangiferin  and
4. genkwanin 5-O-β-primevoside 

• Extract of Aquilaria Crassna leaves, and mangiferin are vasodilators while showing no cytotoxicity (Wisutthathum et al. 2019)

•  Multiple pharmacological properties: (Adam et al 2017)

1. Analgesics, anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory activities
2. Antibacterial activities
3. Anti-inflammatory activities
4. Anticancer
5. Antipyretic activities
6. Laxative effect
7. α-glucosidase inhibitory activity

• Contains polyphenolic compounds might be served as promising candidates in the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases. (Tadtong et al. 2017)

1. Genkwanin 5‐O‐β‐primevoside (1), iriflophenone 3,5‐C‐β‐d‐diglucoside (2) and iriflophenone 3‐C‐β‐d‐glucoside (3). Among these isolates, compounds 1 and 2 were shown to be the active principles responsible for the neuroprotective and neuritogenic of A. crassna.

You may ask if you could enjoy it as a cold beverage? Sure you can

1. Just steep the leaves with hot water in your teapot normally, 
2. Let it settled for 10 minutes
3. Get a glass of full of ice.
4. Pure the liquid into that glass (the glass filled with ice) and enjoy

The only cons I found: It is very bitter but hey since the benefit is so great, I don't really mind about the taste. Would you like to learn more?

Want to try what it likes?