Good habit : Keep antioxidants handy at home!!!

Ninta's school is far from our home, about 19 km away, but close to my parents' house where she has been staying since July 2009. It takes quite an effort for me to get there, in terms of all the preparation that has to be made very early in the morning.

The school held a parent information meeting on a course in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program called Theory of Knowledge yesterday. I had to wake up earlier than usual to iron my clothes, cook a small portion of meal for Rania, serve antioxidants for the family and start driving towards the toll road at 6.15.  

As always, I felt grateful for being able to get up that early and enjoy the fresh morning air. I  would never stop hoping that someday Jakarta's air could be this wonderful all day long. A ridiculous dream?  Most probably yes. That's why I have to arm myself  and the family with powerful antioxidants to fight against pollution.

My choices are always cheap despite their excellent health benefits:

• We consume juice of a half lime dilluted in a glass of water first thing in the morning which is good for:
• Preventing mouth ulcer formation. Unlike most animals that can synthesize their own vitamin C (an important antioxidant), humans lack an enzyme necessary for such synthesis and must obtain vitamin C through their diet. Limes (Citrus angustifolia) are rich in Vitamin C and  available all  year round. In Indonesia, they are more expensive than lemons.   
• Maintaining a healthy liver. Lime juice in a glass of water can help cleanse the liver. There are many on-line sources that explain the benefit of lime juice in reducing the level of toxicity in the liver.
• Crackers with tomato paste spread in the morning and evening. Lycopene in a tomato gives its deep red color and is responsible for its antioxidant property. It is good for maintaining healthy skin, besides reducing the risk of cancer and strokes. Lycopene in tomato paste is four times more bio-available than in fresh tomatoes.
• Spinach soup. Spinach is rich in antioxidants (vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E). It is good for your eyes. It also contains high fiber which is necessary in order to avoid constipation.
  
• A cup of green tea
• Soybean powder drink
• Turmeric herbal drink. This is one among many Indonesian traditional drinks (jamu), made of tumeric and palm sugar. Turmeric has other health benefits (preventing alzheimer's desease and certain types of cancer) besides its antioxidant property.

Turmeric (kunyit) herbal drink from Serambi Botani

Fresh turmeric leaves and rhizome are widely used as cooking spices in Indonesia. The rhizome is also very effective for cleansing raw fish before cooking in order to get rid of its fishy smell. What about  jamu? Various kinds of jamu were initially consumed only by the Javanese royalty at the Hinduism palaces in Surakarta and Yogyakarta more than a thousand of years ago. Now, jamu has widespread and we can find jamu sellers - women only - carrying a pack of bottles on their back around streets of Jakarta. They usually wear kebaya and batik. However lately many of them prefer casual clothes and go around on bike. Instant jamu from various leading brands are also available in many shops.

My favorite turmeric herbal drink is the one produced by Taman Syifa for Serambi Botani/IPB, certainly not because I'm an IPB alumnus. This jamu has a unique sweet taste unlike the taste of jamu anywhere else. It uses special sugar, not the ordinary palm sugar we keep at home.