*In collaboration with Eu Yan Sang*

As I get older, I find myself being very tardy in terms of taking care of my internal health. In my 20s, I would buy an array of vitamins and supplements, do research on all sorts of health products, go a little mad on essential oils and insist on drinking good filtered water.

Now in my 30s approaching 40, all these “best practices” have been thrown out of the window. Maybe I got busier. Maybe I feel it doesn’t really matter anymore. Heck, if I am thirsty, I am actually ok just drinking from the tap, hurhurhur.

Until I broke my foot recently and life forced me to slow down and think about my health in a whole new way.

My bone health was the first I was alarmed by. I probably lack calcium due to too much coffee, like 2-3 cups every day.

My internal well-being was the next I was a little worried about. I was getting lethargic easily even with intermittent fasting and yoga, and I clearly have a lot of toxins to purge. My internal organs, I believe, was also working extremely hard.

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So when Eu Yan Sang sent me some health and personal care supplements, I was determined to get my self care in place while recovering from the fracture.

First up, a bottle of Eu Yan Sang’s Essence of Chicken (with Dang Gui and Pearl) every morning. 23.3mg of calcium in one serving, 25kcal of energy, 0 cholesterol and total fat, plus pearl powder and dang gui for “youthful appearance” (so says the box) and it’s one bottle of goodness daily which I need.

Taste is not that bad (honest!) and I am heartened to know that Eu Yan Sang’s chicken essence is extracted from fresh premium-graded chickens produced from Good Animal Husbandry Practice-certified and accredited farms in Malaysia. Plus, it’s 100% natural and contains no caramel colouring!

Next, I’ll down a bottle of Eu Yan Sang’s Bird Nest with Pearl Powder and Collagen after a weekly facial mask unwind session – a luxury for a time-pressed mom like me – usually on a Thursday or Sunday evening. The last time I went for a two-hour facial was in May and I am finding it hard to squeeze in time for this. So a home facial and a bottle of Bird’s Nest will do for now. Bird’s Nest expensive lah, hurhurhur, once a week is good enough.

The third that’s incorporated now in my self-care routine includes swallowing 2 kinds of capsules that taste pretty funky but I am doing it nonetheless without complaints. For a long while now, my mother has been nagging about taking cordyceps in place of caffeine to boost my energy and taking Bak Foong pills once a month.

Cordyceps in capsule form is not a big problem. It’s pretty easily done. I do that at least twice a week, following the instructions at the back of the supplement bottle.

Now, Bak Foong pills are the most challenging. They are so tiny and plentiful and they don’t exactly taste fantastic. BUT I will go as far to say, I am reaping the benefits of it gradually with a bottle a month.

What benefits? <Warning: the next paragraph contains details of the gross kind>

My heavy flow is regulated now (it’s not ridiculously heavy on the second day), there’s lesser clotting and my cramping has reduced, which is really great. On a scale of ten, where I used to be at 10, it’s now 7-8 and much more bearable.

True story.

Mama is always right, I guess. She’s told me about Bak Foong since my teenage years and I only believe her NOW.

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I am hoping I am on the right track to taking care of myself now. Those initial days of me being in a cast made me realise that burdening the family is not cool at all, and my kids need me. Glad that TCM is so easily accessible and non-invasive, and all I need to do is to ingest and reap the benefits for my internal health. En-route to better self-care and recovery for the broken foot!

Disclosure: This is the first out of two posts in collaboration with Eu Yan Sang, my go-to brand for my TCM needs. All opinions here are my own.