Honey - my new superfood!

Recently I have been having a hundred-days-cough and some close friends recommended me to take honey regularly for health. I do not like it at first, since I do not have a sweet tooth and prefer salty food. However, I do feel better in the morning and has a greater energy level. And my hundred days cough has finally stopped, so i guess i am pretty convinced of the healing properties.

I decided to take them regularly and feel so much better at work. Reading about all this honey effect gives me a boost mentally. I learnt that honey has been used in ayurvedic medicine in India for at least 4000 years and is considered to affect all three of the body’s primitive material imbalances positively. 

It is also said to be useful useful in improving eyesight, weight loss (i am really curious why!), curing impotence and premature ejaculation, urinary tract disorders, bronchial asthma, diarrhea, and nausea.

Honey is referred as “Yogavahi” since it has a quality of penetrating the deepest tissues of the body. When honey is used with other herbal preparations, it enhances the medicinal qualities of those preparations and also helps them to reach the deeper tissues.

Not just in eastern civilisation that has discovered the health benefits of honey, but western civilisations too:-

“My son, eat thou honey, for it is good” — King Solomon – Proverbs: 24:13

Well here are some famous Health Benefits:

1. Provides relief for cough and throat irritation:

Honey provides a soothingly relief for cough and throat irritation. In a study of 110 children, a single serving of honey was proved as effective as a single dose of dextromethorphan in relieving nocturnal cough and allowing proper sleep. Honey is a natural cough medicine.

2. Honey is Anti-bacterial and anti-fungal:
"All honey is antibacterial, because the bees add an enzyme that makes hydrogen peroxide,” said Peter Molan, director of the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. Due to such anti-bacterial properties, honey leads to the next point...

3. Reduce ulcers and other gastrointestinal disorders.

Recent research shows that honey treatment may help disorders such as ulcers and bacterial gastroenteritis. Many people likes to take a spoonful of honey to alleviate their stomach disorders.

4. Honey prevents heart disease and Cancer:
There are flavonoids in natural honey. Flavonoids are antioxidants which help reduce the risk of some cancers and heart disease.

5. Blood sugar regulation:
Honey contains an exact combination of fructose and glucose that actually helps the body regulate blood sugar levels. Some honeys have a low hypoglycemic index, so they would not spike up your blood sugar level. The frutose and glucose combination is very different from those in white sugar and artificial sweeteners.

6. Probiotic:

There is a large amount of probiotic that exists in some varieties of honey. So far, researchers have identity up to 6 species of lactobacilli and 4 species of bifidobacteria.

7. Increase athletic performance.

In ancient Olympic, competing athletes would eat honey and dried figs to enhance their athletic performance. Modern studies has proved that it is superior in maintaining glycogen levels and improving recovery time than other energy boosters.

8. Honey gives Beautiful skin:

Thanks to its anti-bacterial qualities, honey is very moisturising and nourishing to the skin. Some of the famous and effective products that helps alleviate dry skin or eczema condition are honey-based, such as the Comvita Derma Cream. Another example is the Royal Nectar Facemask, used regularly by Duchess Kate Middleton as well to maintain her beautiful skin. These are great skin products bolstered by the benefits of honey. 

9. Heal wounds and burns:

Applying honey to wounds and burns has been proved to be as effective as conventional treatment with silver sulfadiazene. It seems that the drying effect of the simple sugars and honey’s anti-bacterial properties combine to create this effect.

All these benefits I learnt from friends and I hope that you can drop by and LIKE https://www.facebook.com/cherubcove for more such useful health and beauty tips!

Also if you do want to eat some honey, you can get the best value-for-money Kare Manuka Honey here, or if you have a bigger budget, you may want to get the more premium Comvita Honey. Comvita is more expensive but is much higher quality than the usual honey. It uses only high quality ingredients so it is very common for NZ to run out of stocks to export to Singapore.

Thank you humble bees for your hard work!

Politician -Kevryn Lim: do we really need a pretty face?

Many voters do remember Nicole Seah, so much that her political party, NSP, is widely known as
"Nicole Seah Party".

(Actually NSP stands for National Solidarity Party.

For this upcoming General Election 2015, Nicole Seah has voiced out that she would not be running. Hence NSP has lost one of its 'hottest' weapon.

And.... it has launched another hot weapon.

Kevryn Lim.

At first glance, I was wondering if NSP is a serious political party. I was hoping NSP has some serious candidates with important qualities. I mean, this is about the ruling of the nation, and not some beauty contest.

but then the photos keep flowing...

I really hope Kevryn Lim has some substance beside having a beautiful face and fantastic figure. The good thing is that she was an active school volunteer. She has volunteered at the Activ Foundation for a year and went on a volunteer trip for two months in Central America. I would prefer someone with a good heart in the government.

I admit that most of us just dismissed her off just because she is a pretty face. However, who said that a pretty face cannot be capable in politics and in leadership.
Lets hold the judgement for now and let us see what she can offer in the coming election rallies.

Buying Gold Silver Guide - Gold or Silver?

Buying Gold Silver Guide – Gold or Silver?

For all new stackers who wish to start saving their hard earned money in physical metal, the first question usually arise would be:-

Which precious metal?

Well, firstly  precious metal is a rare, naturally occurring metal of high economical value. We have used precious metals previous as currency, such as coins and taels. With the creation of modern fiat currency, precious metals are now widely regarded mainly as investment and industrial commodities.

The best-known precious metals are  gold and silver. There are other precious metals such as ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium and of course, platinum. However, these rare precious metals are rarely traded and less liquid as the 2 most common precious metals known to us – Gold and Silver.

Let us focus on Gold and Silver, which are the popular precious metal in Singapore.

Gold –

Currently as of 16 August 2015, the spot price of gold is SGD $1567.53 per troy ounce (or USD $1114.30)

Valcambi Suisse Minted Gold Bar

Gold is the most recognised, most liquid precious metal. Not only is it easier to buy, it is easier to liquidate for cash too. Gold is a popular jewellery, but for investment, we would only deal with investment grade gold, in the form of bullion bars or coins. You can buy pure gold coin or bars from bank, such as UOB head branch, or jewellery stores. These are usually a lot more convenient, almost any jewellery stores would have gold bars of different sizes for sales.  Unfortunately, most of these gold bars and coins are sold at a high mark up. The high mark up is mostly because of the high rental costs and branding of the bank or jewellery stores.

You can also visit shops that specialise in bullion gold / silver, the markups are low as they specialise in bullion products and generally has less recognition power compared to UOB or big brand jewellery name like Poh Heng Jewellery. A quick search would reveal many bullion shop such as Gold Silver City in Singapore or Gold Silver Singapore.

Most importantly, the reason why Gold is the top choice of many investors is because it is so recognised in value and easy to liquidate. You can sell gold easily, without too much loss in value. Most banks and jewellery franchise buyback, though they cut a commission for themselves. You can sell to bullion shops,  majority of them buybacks. You can visit any pawnshops in your neighbourhood and you can get cold hard cash easily. If you bother to use forums, eBay, carousells or other avenues, you can even get a slightly better price. It is that easy to convert your investment into cash.

The biggest disadvantage of gold is that it is so costly, and it may be difficult for cost averaging when one small gold coin of 1 ounce costs $1600. Thankfully there are gold bars and coins that are smaller. For investment, gold is a bit more demanding on the pocket.

Silver

Currently as of 16 August 2015, the spot price of silver is SGD $21.52 per troy ounce (or USD $15.30)

As you can see, the biggest advantage of stacking silver is that it is light on the pocket. One ounce of silver costs you only a meal at a causal restaurant in Singapore. That is also why Robert Kiyosaki of Best Selling Book  “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” strongly allocates buying silver, even for workers who are struggling to meet the challenges of rising costs of living. One can afford to stash away a few coins or bars monthly to save up for the future, rather than splurging on movies or costly meals.

Another advantage is that many silver investors find silver to be a higher potential in risk-reward ratio than gold. As the price of silver is so low currently, the chances of it doubling or tripling is a lot more likely than gold. ($1600 SGD double to $3200 SGD is a lot harder than doubling from $22 SGD to $44 or $66) Also there is a good chance the gold silver price ratio may move towards more silver. There are increasing industrial demand for usage of silver in our smartphones, solar panels etc.  Hence, there is a lot more speculative return potential on silver.

The biggest drawback of silver is that it is harder to buy or sell. Most jewellery stores do not sell silver, neither do banks. Bullion shops that specialise in precious metals would definitely sell silver coins or bars for investors. In Singapore there are many bullion shop such as Gold Silver City in Singapore or Gold Silver Singapore. It would be difficult to buy silver from convenient locations such as jewellery stores or banks.

If you like to sell your silver for cash, it is definitely more challenging than selling gold. Banks, jewellery stores and most pawn shops do not buy silver, so your only choice is via bullion shops that buy back. You may also sell them via forums and ebay. Thankfully silver is starting to get more recognised, and there are some pawnshops that are beginning to buy and sell silver. Silver would definitely get more traction.

In summary here are simplified pros and cons of gold and silver.

Gold- Pros:

More recognised. Easy to buy and sell.

Gold- Cons:

Higher dollar investment per ounce

Silver- Pros:

Lower dollar investment per ounce
Higher potential risk-reward ratios

Silver -Cons:

Less liquid- less locations to sell off.

(Source: http://goldsilvercity.com.sg/buying-gold-silver-guide-gold-or-silver/)

17 Desk Stretches That Might Save Your Life