Eczema and snacks

Since my eczema has taken a turning for the worst 2 years ago and spread to every part of my body, I have been progressively very careful with my diet and try to only eat nutritious and healthy food so that I am not further intoxicating my body. For the last 3 months, I have now completely switch to organic food only, cut out grain 90% of the time and haven’t had any junk food. However, I am a sweet tooth and love my chocolate indulgence. I bought some ice lollies I saw in green at heart lately and just tried one. It was delicious and comforting…chilled coconut dipped in chocolate…no additives, preservatives, colouring, gluten…just basic ingredients…if only I can get these in 7-11.

Eczema and Aloe Vera

When I take my daily bath in coconut oil and tea tree oil for 20 minutes, sometimes I would have a Aloe Vera mask if my facial eczema is really bad.

I would basically cut a leaf of aloe vera, skin it and just use the clear jelly, blend it with a little water and a spoon of honey. Put it in the fridge and use it as needed. It is very soothing and immediately calms down redness / inflammation. I would recommend this to users and just in case, you should try a little first to see if you are allergic to either honey or aloe vera.

Regarding the aloe vera, there are actually many kinds and it is easy to grow (plenty of sunshine and a little water in fertile soil). The picture illustrates the aloe Vera that I have. As it grows, siblings drop off and grow on the side and you can replant them as another aloe plant. Alternatively, I do notice you can get them in park n shop for HK$20 a leaf but it would much cheaper to grow it yourself. Also, be careful if you are thinking of eating it as not all aloe plants are edible.

Eczema & washing lotions

In the past, I would use mild chemical based washing lotions to deal with my eczema ( the most used being seba-med). However, I recently came across an organic product made purely of natural ingredients that I could understand. This product is called Aquarius mineral body wash. It is from the US and certified organic and comes in different scent but I use the peppermint scent. The product is made of the following ingredients: mineral salt, olive oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil and essential oils.

One word of caution, if you have cuts / wounds, using this product will sting because, I think, of the salt content reacting to the wounds. Otherwise, I find that this is a product that I can trust. You can get this product at Green at heart (please refer to other blog article).

Below is a picture of the body wash.

Eczema & lotions

There are a number of different cream, moisturizers and lotions that I have used over the years to battle eczema. I will cover them over a number of posts giving my own opinion and experience of them. However, it is the reader’s own decision whether they wish to try them.

First of all, I will cover Lavera neutral face cream and body lotion. (See picture below). This is a German brand and quite a pricey product. I have recently started to use this product line and I like it very much for its organic ingredients and neutral scent.

Its main selling point is organic ingredients. The neutral line is fragrance free and contains organic evening primrose & sea buckthorn oil (anti-inflammatory), jojoba seed oil, sunflower seed oil, oilive oil and shea butter (anti-oxidant & moisturising).

I purchase them from ThreeSixty costing about HK$200 each for the face cream and body lotion. (Please shout if anybody can find them cheaper elsewhere)

The face cream is very rich and thick. Most people would only need a small blob (but I need a big blob) to cover the entire face. The face cream doesn’t have any scent and takes about 5 mins to absorb into the skin after which you will see a glossy shine on the face.

The body lotion feels more water based and quickly absorbs into the skin without feeling too sticky.

Below is the website to their products

http://www.lavera.com/products/Hypoallergenic_Eczema_Dermatitis_Neutral_Face_Cream-37-3.html

Eczema and apple cider vinegar

This unfiltered organic ACV with Manuka Honey is available from ThreeSixty. It is easier to take as a everyday tonic to help the body cleanse toxins. I am taking this everyday in the morning with an extra spoon of Manuka honey.

Frozen meat store in Luen Wo Hui Fanling 曾記環球凍肉

I had been searching for a while to find a place that sells grass-fed organic beef in Hong Kong. Yes, it is probably available in higher-end supermarkets like ThreeSixty, Olivers or CitySuper, chilled and air flown from overseas but it would cost at least HK$400 to 500 for a small piece in those places which is not something I can afford on a everyday “grocery shopping” basis. Luckily, I came across a frozen meat store in Luen Wo Hui Market while doing some BBQ shopping. In the market, there is a frozen meat store called “Tsang Kee” that stores some higher end frozen meat including frozen grass-fed organic steak from Australia at ~HK$100 a piece. Choice of sirloin and rib-eye is available. Additionally, organic pork loin and pork chops is available from the US. Below is the Chinese address to the market and facebook page of Luen Wo market:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/聯和墟街市/127414080664968

曾記環球凍肉 粉嶺聯和墟新街市1樓M9號舖 2676 0737

Live in Green Company 活在綠色

Live in Green is a local company that sells special allergy bedding products from the UK. Their website is

www.live-in-green.com

Their bedding products is made of pure cotton, comfortable to the touch and durable. I have purchased 2 sets of bedding due to my allergy to dust mites and having been using the bed sets for over a year washing every them other day in >60C temp water. They are still in good condition and has helped me with my allergy to dust mites.

I also happen to have a water-based rainbow vacuum cleaner and had a chance to test the effectiveness of the bed sheets by vacuuming 2 beds to compare the impact of having these bed sheet and without them. There were still some dust with the allergy bed sheets but it was minimal compared to the bed with normal bedsheets, so I think they are purchase an investment if you are allergic to dust mites.

Green at heart 綠色心意

Green at heart is a shop in the e-max mall in Kowloon Bay. Free parking is available with purchase from HK$100 upwards. This shop stocks a lot of goods from Taiwan, Korea and the US. Their website address is

www.greenatheart.com.hk

This shop also does online shopping with free delivery and they also have another shop in Yuen Long. However, I have not tried their online shopping nor their shop in Yuen Long.

The things I buy at this store includes:
1. Large jar of organic coconut oil from Thailand/Philippines (good value)
2. Preserved prunes
3. Dried seaweed snack
4. Frozen fruit lollies
5. Black sesame snack

Other interesting products in this store that I can see include:
1. Organic food for cats/dogs
2. Preserved figs
3. Manuka honey

Compared to shops like CitySuper and ThreeSixty, the prices are a lot cheaper at Green at heart.

有機仔仔 Organic BB

Organic BB is a small shop based in Shatin in the New Territories. This shop was recommended to my wife when she was shopping at an organic product counter and she was discussing my condition with the sales lady. We now do a weekly shopping routine at organic BB where my wife would place an order and I would pick it up after work on Tuesday. Parking is quite convenient and I always park outside on the pavement road near the shop.

More recently, they have set up a online ordering system with free delivery for orders over HK$400. Other fellow HK’ers may want to check it out. Below is their website link, Facebook link and Blog link:

www.organicb.com.hk
Facebook page
Yahoo Blog

Personally, my family would buy the following groceries:
1. Local organic vegetables
2. Local organic ka mei chicken
3. Local yuen long monkshood fish
4. Local wah kee bath premium pig meat
5. Dried banana snacks

I also notice the following produce is available that is interesting:
1. Dried seaweed
2. Local organic honey
3. Braggs apple cider vinegar
4. Rocksalt (aka himalaya salt)
5. Local fresh milk
6. Limited local seasonal fruit produce

Anyway, healthgoers should check it out themselves and make their own judgement of the shop.