Walnuts are eaten by the Chinese as medicine. Walnuts tonify the kidneys, strengthen the lungs, relief asthma, keeps the skin young and moist, and help improve mental agility.

However, it’s not advisable to eat too many walnuts at one go as it is difficult to digest. Unsoaked walnuts contain enzyme inhibitors that can c…ause uncomfortable digestion.

There is however, one way to make it more digestible. You’ll need to get some freshly cracked walnuts, right off the shell, and soak it overnight (or about 12 hours). The enzyme inhibitors will be de-activated.

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More info on how to heal your body

• Should we drink chlorinated tap water?
• Lots of great raw or almost raw food here!
• “This plant healed my sister!” said hubby
• Gotu Kola heals the world!
• Iodine Tincture Heals Cancer Lesions?

A study conducted by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Environmental Working Group found that 17 of the top fragrances contained 38 secret chemicals!

Here are the list of the fragrances that has the most chemicals:

American Eagle Seventy-Seven – 24
Chanel Coco – 18
Britney Spears Curious – 17
Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio – 17
Old Spice After Hours Body Spray – 16
Quicksilver – 16
Calvin Klein Eternity for Men – 15
Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry-Blossom – 14
Calvin Klein Eternity for Women – 14
Halle by Halle Berry – 13
Hannah Montana Secret Celebrity – 13
Victoria’s Secret Dream Angels Wish – 13
Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce – 11
Jennifer Lopez J. Lo Glow – 11
AXE Body Spray for Men: Shock – 10
Clinque Happy – 9
Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue – 7

See the problem is, studies have shown that our skin do absorb chemicals that we put on our body.

Frankly, I have not been using any chemical perfumes ever since I got pregnant with my first kid. I didn’t want anything to be absorbed into my baby’s body. Luckily for me, Asians have been using fragrances for hundreds of years. Traditionally, we soak flowers and nice smelling herbs in a warm  bath water, hmmm, about an hour before we take our bath. The wonderful fragrance from the bath water is what would lightly perfume our body.

Image taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/30471084@N07/2937326324

Bathing with fragrant flower water is something most brides-to-be in Southeast Asia will undergo

Asian women also use fresh flowers, like the tiny, pure white fragrant Jasmine flower,  on our hair.

I myself love perfumes, and when I decided to ditch my bottles of perfume, I did feel a twitch of sadness. Only the thought of doing something for the greater good spurred me on.

Ok, speaking of flowers being good for the hair, I’d like to share a natural hair shampoo that you can make at home using the hibiscus flower and leaves.

Hibiscus or Bunga Raya (Joyous Flower) is Malaysia’s national flower. And let me tell you, these plants can be found just about anywhere in Malaysia.

All Natural Bunga Raya Shampoo

• Firstly, you’ll need to collect a handful of leaves and flowers (remove the stems and stamen from the flowers).
• Wash and soak the flowers and leaves for about 15 mins.
• Then, cramp the entire thing into a blender. I like my Magic Bullet for this sort of thing.
• Blend the leaves and flower petal, adding a little bit of water to get the whole thing moving.
• The brown paste is ready for you to use as a shampoo.
• When you are washing your hair, first, be sure to wet your hair.
• Then, massage the brown paste  into your hair (yes, it can be used as a body scrub as well). You will get a mild foam when you do so.
• Wash and rinse really, really well to get everything out of your hair.

This cleanser is very gentle and totally safe for kids as well…  unless they are allergic to hibiscus.

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More info on how to heal your body

• Should we drink chlorinated tap water?
• Lots of great raw or almost raw food here!
• “This plant healed my sister!” said hubby
• Gotu Kola heals the world!
• Iodine Tincture Heals Cancer Lesions?

All images taken from The Berry

To all Malaysian raw foodies and those who are interested in health, we can now get Loving Earth (Australia) raw food products at Jaya Grocers! *Whoohoo*

There’s raw cacao powder (lots of good stuff and sinful too), Maca powder (Peruvian ginseng), oh so delicious raw cacao butter, and other great stuff.

If you have never tried Maca, you should try it now, cause previously the only way was to buy them online. Also great for guys who, for whatever reason, want to increase their *cough* sperm count.

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Where to get raw dehydrated wheat grass in Malaysia

Raw chocolate tastes so good

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