Getting Enough Vitamin D?

A recent study shows that for people with low levels of vitamin D, taking supplements can reduce more than half of the risk of dying -of any cause.

The study was done by the University of Kansas. More than 10,000 adults were tested. The results are as follows:
70% of the patients had under 30 nanograms of vitamin D per milliliter, the level many experts consider sufficient for good health, and they were at significantly higher risk for a variety of heart diseases.
People with deficient levels of vitamin D were more than twice as likely to have diabetes; 40% more likely to have high blood pressure; 30% more likely to suffer from cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disease; three-fold more likely to die from any cause compared to those with enough vitamin D.

We hear a lot about vitamin D. So what is vitamin D?  Vitamin D is a nutrient that helps the body use calcium and phosphorous to build and maintain strong bones and teeth. Too little vitamin D can cause calcium and phosphorous levels in the blood to decrease, leading to calcium being pulled out of the bones to help maintain stable blood levels.

It is so important for our health. Then how do we get it? We should get about 90% of our  vitamin D from the sun and only 10% from our food. But in the northern US and throughout Canada, the sun isn't strong enough during the winter, even if the weather was warm enough to expose the skin for the sun for a long time. So adults should consider getting their vitamin D levels checked through a simple blood test and take  vitamin D supplements if needed.

The recommended intakefrom Health Canada is as follows: for age of 0~12 months the daily amount is 400 IUs; for age of 1-70 years old the daily amount is 600 IUs and for 70 plus it is 800 IUs.

Five minutes of daily sun exposure will help to produce the vitamin D that your body needs. It just help not enough.  Vitamin D is found naturally in oily fish such as salmon, tuna and sardines. It is also added to milk, soy beverages, and margarine. So if you want  healthy bones and teeth, enjoy the sun shine and eat more oily fish. Or if you need, taking supplements is necessary. It can decrease the likelihood of heart disease, cancer, bone disease, and so on.

How to make rice wine at home

Rice wine, a very popular food in southern China, is also called fermented rice or sweet wine. It’s very delicious, sweet and nutritious. People usually eat it at breakfast by boiling it together with some small glutinous rice balls or egg flakes. It’s very convenient and time-saving to cook it.

You can buy rice wine from supermarket or make it at home by yourself. Sometimes I make rice wine myself.  It is very simple to do it. 

Ingredients: 2cups of sticky rice  water   sweet wine yeast

The following are steps involved in the procedure that I make rice wine. Anybody interested can try it step by step.

1.     Take 2 cups of glutinous rice(about half kilogram), clean and soak it in a bowl for about 12-16 hours, until it is easy to break.

2.     Add enough water in a steamer; put a cleaned chinese cloth (gauze) over the layer of it. When the water starts boiling you can put the rice prepared in step one evenly over the cloth. Continue steaming about an hour, taste the rice, if the rice is still hard, you can sprinkle some water and steam it for a little longer until the rice is soft.

3. When you are waiting by step 2, you can take the time to prepare the sweet wine yeast. The amount of the yeast depends on the yeast type you buy. The yeast I bought is 20 gram for 3 kilogram rice. You can find the instruction on the package of the yeast. dissolve the yeast in some warm water and set aside  for later use.

4. When the rice is ok, cool it to room temperature. Just leave it alone. If you are eager to finish you can speed up with chopsticks by stirring it from time to time. Cool it thoroughly.

5.   Mix the rice with the wine yeast evenly, mix well, transfer it to a well cleaned fermentation container(airtight). then press the rice by hand, make the rice surface smooth. The rice is 2/3 full. In the end make a hole in the middle of the rice with one of your fingers.

6.  Finally, cover the container with the lid to make sure the air can’t enter. Place it next to the heater in winter or leave it alone in summer and make sure the temperature of the fermentation is about 30 celsius.

7.  Now the only thing you need to do is waiting, the time is about  24-36 hours. After 24 hours  you need to check it often. When it is  ok the rice wine should smell fragrant, and there should be some sweet juice in it. Ok, the whole process is finished.

8.  Put it in the refrigarator for at least one day for best taste. You can eat it directly or boil it with eggs. It will taste both delicious and nutritious .

9. The most important thing you need to take care/pay attention is that all vessels and pots you use in the whole process must clean without any oil.

Buying a Car

 In China not every family has to own a car, but in Canada almost every home must have at least one car,  for Canada  is very large. It is very convinient for people to go working, shopping and do any other interesting things.

We plan to buy a car as soon as possible. My husband needs a car to go working. I need a car to go shopping and send my child to the  class. My daughter has three interesting class during the weekend, she has drawing, playing piano and dancing class in different place,  we are eager to have a car now because the winter is coming soon. we need it to keep warm on the road and reducing the waiting time on the bus stop.

We want to buy a big car just like SVV and so on. It is a kind of big cars and can hold more things. We like travelling by big car.  Big cars can drive fast and safe and comfortable. but it is not economical for us because it will waste more petrol and more money.
Everyone like to drive a new car, but in my opion, as a new immigrant, money is the very important aspect we should think of.  Now we have no income for our family. so we must save money and the used car is ok for us now.
 
we like to buy a used car from one of my friends, but they don't have one. so we need to buy form the dealers and pay by lease.

In a word, we need to buy a used car for our family.