Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by Kasey Brown

Delete

Kasey Brown — Sun, 16 Nov 2025 22:26:24 +0800

Sorry everyone, posted something because I didn't quite understand something else, and then quickly realized the mistake.

Please delete this one. I can't find the delete button.

That "spark"

Kasey Brown — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:56:44 +0800

Ok, so it's like this.

I don't have much of a problem meeting girls. I have even less of a problem talking to girls. I mean hell, I've done public speaking, taught classes, put on presentations... this kind of stuff doesn't bother me. And I never have trouble with awkward silence either. I could almost be a late night talk show host.

But here's the thing. I meet up with a girl, we talk for a rather long while, everything goes alright... then we both decide to call it a night, shake hands, and each go back our separate ways.

And that's it! I never really feel any spark. In fact I don't feel anything... we just have a nice and interesting conversation, and I probably end up making a good friend... it's not "friend zone" either, because I honestly don't feel anything more about the girl. In fact, I usually feel a bit disappointed that I don't feel anything more.

I did go through a break up with my fiance in Malaysia before I came back to America... and I wonder sometimes if I ever *really* got over that, or if it's still affecting me somehow. Maybe it's stopping me from being able to feel this way.

Or maybe I'm missing something somewhere, and could try something different...

Or maybe I just keep running into boring girls and I'm over thinking it?

Lowyat for Singapore?

Kasey Brown — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 09:51:31 +0800

You guys know how Lowyat is pretty much a Malaysian board...

I'm thinking that most countries probably have a board similar to this, but none of us know about it, right?

Does Singapore have a version of Lowyat?

Thanks.

The Power of Negative Thinking

Kasey Brown — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 09:55:29 +0800

Is it possible to find success by always thinking negative?

http://economyisland.wordpress.com/2012/12...ative-thinking/

What does LowYat think?

[addedon]December 8, 2012, 2:18 am[/addedon]LowYat doesn't think very much. Does it.

5 Reasons Against MLM

Kasey Brown — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 23:02:02 +0800

Wanted to share this and get some feedback.

http://economyisland.wordpress.com/2012/11...evel-marketing/

Now, while I've only articulated 5 reasons in this post, I'm sure there are many more reasons to hate - or love - MLM. I'm interested in hearing more from both sides: those for and against it, and your ideas.

Hope some intelligent and enlightening discussion will follow from this.

So what are your thoughts?

[addedon]November 27, 2012, 11:06 pm[/addedon]Ah yes, and the MLM meeting with all the excitement about Maxi Pads - that one happened in Malaysia! Forgot the name of the place. Near Tun Razak I think.

Intigration of Social Media

Kasey Brown — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 16:43:35 +0800

Recent developments in the west have seen a scattered and unorganized transfer from the traditional paper-based and person-based job market to one that is often times exclusively online. Many companies have completely removed the ability to apply to the job in person, so instead of each outlet receiving applications based on a geographical area, one central office receives applications nationwide, rendering the application process completely futile upon the overwhelming inflow of faceless, electronic applicants. Most job market specialist agree that fewer than 20% of such applications will even be seen, and fewer still will be considered at all.

From this has sprang a new culture and philosophy of establishing "connections". Once an afterthought, connections are now the primary avenue for obtaining employment, given the aforementioned developments.

Malaysian culture is quite a bit different, so while I dont see this shift infecting Malaysia quite as soon, I did have some thoughts regarding the future of this set up.

Lets not think of implementation just yet. For now: would it be beneficial to society if the online job market were reformed in such a way that all job applications went through a central website that collected information on it's user database and gave incentives to companies to hire certain at-risk individuals (such as those facing a foreclosure or eviction), which would even the playing field? Other things could be done of course. Regulators may help applicants dress up their resumes / CVs / applications so that they are more presentable. Capitalist theory mandates that employers hire skilled labour based out of self interests. The inability to present a CV, regardless of your skills, is only gets in the way.

What does lowyat think?

The Zone

Kasey Brown — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:36:27 +0800

You know when you've got a lot of study-work to do, or papers you need to write, or whatever it may be - something that involves sitting down, papers or emails, and lots of brain work?

You sit down and just totally do not feel like getting into it. Can't focus. Keep looking at youtube. Getting distracted with every little thing...

But then sometimes you're IN THE ZONE... you are so incredibly sharply focused and your mind is like a high powered laser beam of pure concentration. You're hammering out paragraphs one after the other, completing all sorts of things, and work projects are flying out of the way one after the other.

We all want to get into THE ZONE!

So how do you do it? ITT, we discuss our own sacred individual routines that help us reach THE ZONE ™.

[addedon]April 17, 2012, 12:37 am[/addedon]I do it with a Rockstar drink, trance music, and answering incredibly easy Lowyat posts.

Conquering Soviet Oregon, brb.

Kasey Brown

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 07:30:00 +0800

Kasey Brown

Kasey Brown — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:11:19 +0800

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Kasey Brown

Kasey Brown — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:13:49 +0800

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Troll Marketing

Kasey Brown — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:37:09 +0800

Tell group A you own offshore stock. Ask if they'll invest 1,000 ringgit, and that they'll get returns on their investments almost immediately.

Give group A back 200 ringgit of their own money. Tell them it's the profit of their investment.

Get group B to see group A's return. They'll join and invest 2,000 ringgit each. Give everyone back 100 ringgit almost immediately.

Get group C and D to join. Don't bother to send payments out to groups A and B anymore, just send statements showing how much money they earned.

Keep going until you have 100 million ringgit.

Leave country. Easy millionaire.

What are some other ways for infinite moneys /j&c/ ?

Economy Island 4

Kasey Brown — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:45:50 +0800

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The CV Thread

Kasey Brown — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:43:01 +0800

ITT: we post our CVs and help each other improve them.

In another thread I posted some links to my business CV, which were found here:

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m489/K...inessCVpic1.jpg

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m489/K...inessCVpic2.png

Taking debbieyss's advice, I decided to study up on how to write a business CV using the bullet format style she suggested.

These are the results:

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m489/K...businessCV1.jpg

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m489/K...businessCV2.jpg

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m489/K...businessCV3.jpg

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m489/K...businessCV4.jpg

Sorry it's spread across 4 links, but I had to increase it to 130% or you couldn't see the print. This required 4 screen shots with the paint program I was using.

Thoughts?

Need a downloader program

Kasey Brown — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:43:07 +0800

Ok guys, I need someone to help me out.

http://adg3.com/ <--- see this? It's nothing but a page with music, but it's incredibly outrageously awesome music I wanted to download.

I looked all over youtube for this with youtube downloader but I cannot find it. I cant find any of the stuff this guy makes either. How can I download the music off that page? What program do I use?

And http://www.myspace.com/mrcelloman - this page too... is there a program I can use to download that? I dont think youtube downloader will work.

Economy Island 3

Kasey Brown — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 03:41:56 +0800

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Economy Island 2

Kasey Brown — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:06:31 +0800

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Economy Island

Kasey Brown — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:53:36 +0800

Hello everyone, and welcome to Economy Island! This is a hypothetical island where we will use practical examples and analogies to explain how free enterprise, capitalism, and other economic systems and theories work. The purpose of this thread is to help show people in the basics of business and economics, because there frequently appears to be a gap in the fundamental understanding of these topics.

The island we're on is in the middle of the ocean (imagine that), with an undefined number of people on the island (but there's at least 2 - "you and me") and an uncertain number of other islands within rowing distance (but again there's at least 2 - "Better Island", where everything runs perfectly, and "Worse Island", where everything sucks. Feel free to include these in your examples if needed.). Our island has just 2 resources - fish and bamboo - because for most illustration purposes, that's all we need (and please try to stick to just these two for simplicity sake).

So lets start with the topics of job income and "exploitation", a topic we've covered in recent threads. Here it is again just to get things rolling. "Exploitation" is the word of choice when you have to work yourself to the bone to make minimum wage, while your boss sits around and does nothing and gets rich. This isn't fair, and your boss is "exploiting" your labor to make himself rich. Your job salary is related to this too. How many times have we heard so far "I work at a China man company with long hours for little pay"?

So lets see how this works on Economy Island.

You and I are on the beach, catching fish with our hands. By using our hands we can both catch 1 fish a day. That's enough to keep us alive.

One day you get an idea. You decide you're going to build a net to catch fish. You take a stick and draw a diagram in the sand one morning before you go fishing with your hands. This net looks like a good idea, and you decide to give it a try. The next day, you decide not to catch any fish, and instead you're going to go hungry for the whole day while you try building this net.

You do not know if this net will work or not. This is extremely important to understand! There are no guarantees. No matter how really really REALLY good this idea looks on sand, there's no proof it will work for certain after it's made. The fish my slip through the strings... the strings might break during use... most frustrating of all, Economy Island might have a traditionalist island that would actually PREFER using their hands rather than a net! So what you're doing here is called taking a risk. So why are you taking this risk? Why bother? Because the pay-off for taking this kind of risk is huge - otherwise, there'd be no point! If this net works, you've got it made and you'll never have to work hard again! Without that promising future, you might as well drag yourself back over there and keep catching with your hands.

So after a day of going hungry, your net is ready. You can now catch 3 fish per day with the same amount of effort as before. Awesome, huh?

You then give your net to me, and let me catch fish for you. You pay me 1 fish and take the other 2 for yourself. Now you can rest, relax, and do whatever you want every day of the year while I do all the work. Now I might jump up and say "THATS NOT FAIR!" - ah, but it *IS* fair. Remember, my labor is only worth 1 fish, because that's how much I was catching before without your net. With or without your net, I'm catching only 1 fish. The reason you get 2 fish is because you invested the time, effort, and RISK in building the net.

Better Island aggressively pursues the same system we're using (sometimes called "the free market", "free enterprise" or "capitalism") for absolutely all it's business activities. That's why it's the most technologically advanced island in the world. Useful innovations / inventions / research / and discoveries pay off tremendously. As a result, everyone everywhere is constantly pushing to find better ways of doing things. This leads to some pretty extreme advancements after a while!

Worse Island, on the other hand, uses the communist model. The government takes your invention and uses it to catch the 2 additional fish to give everyone on their island 1.02 fish instead of just 1 fish. BECAUSE THATS FAIR! Why should you be rich when we're not??? Because you dont get any personal benefit from your invention, that means there was no reason for you to go hungry for a day and invent anything. You might as well have kept fishing with your hands. You went through that for nothing. As such, no one on Worse Island has any reason to do things better, or take any risk. And when they start falling behind as a result, they send spies and under cover agents over to Better Island to steal their technology, because Worse Island's system just does not work. People desperate on Worse Island try to swim to Better Island because the life there is so much better.

Sound familiar? If not, open a history book.

So back over to Economy Island: here I am stuck holding the net still getting only 1 fish for my work. What can I do about it?

The great thing about the free market is that it's FREE. I have the freedom to take all sorts of different actions and choices! Lets look at some of the things I can do here.

1. I can start eating just 3/4 of a fish each day and saving the uneaten fish (we have a method of saving fish so they never go bad). After 20 years, I can live on all the uneaten fish parts and dont have to work anymore.

2. I can tell my boss "Screw you, I'll go back to just using my hands!" - this is a hell of a lot tougher than using the net, but hey, I'm non-conformist like that.

3. I can look for an even better way of catching fish than using the net! I have this idea for a fishing rod... I'll need to go hungry for some time while I develop it, and it may or may not work. If it doesn't work, then thats that. I suffered, I starved, and got nothing. But if it DOES work....

4. I can look for another guy on the island who's using the net, and offer to work for him if he lets me have 1 and a half fish instead of just 1. I've got lots of experience in using the fish net already, so he wont have to train me. Plus I'm a pretty nice guy and I'm easy to be around.

5. I can say "f*** it", and go into the bamboo business (career change).

6. I can whine and cry about how not-fair it is, then go back to doing it anyway so I can whine and cry more every day about how it's not fair. LOTS of people are into doing this. It doesn't fix the problem but god is it ever popular!

7. I can try to move to Better Island and find work there. Unfortunately Better Island doesn't really want me there... because if they let everyone in, who wanted in, Better Island wouldn't be in trouble. So under this decision group lies plenty more options... marry someone from Better Island, go hungry for a day and learn a skill Better Island currently needs, screw all that and try sneaking in by swimming over there under the cover of night then working illegally, etc.

8. I can try to build my own net and catch 3 of my own fish every day. Though this is dangerous if the net's been patented! (A patent, by the way, is something you file for when you create a new invention to prevent anyone else from making their own version of it. This gives you a "head start", usually several years, to start marketing your product before anyone else has a chance to produce it. Because if everyone else could instantly start making what you spent all your time researching and developing, there would be no pay off and no point to spending your time on it.)

9. I can go around the island and try to get everyone else to use the net. If they start using the net, they need to find 3 other people to start using the net for them. Of those 3, if each one finds 2 more people to start using the net, I'll be rich and can buy a nice flat over on Better Island. This is called MLF (multi-level fishing). Please note, you are a complete douche if you choose this route.

10. I can find a new way to use the net, for an entirely different purpose or in a completely new market, which has never been thought of before (google "blue ocean strategy").

I wonder if Dreamer or some of the others can use this model to illustrate their own examples. Also wonder if anyone has some observations they'd like to contribute, or can think of more ideas and choices that a person has when they're stuck holding the net. Or in other words; DISCUSS!

Non-muslim marrying a Muslim

Kasey Brown — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:40:35 +0800

So here's the situation.

Lets say, hypothetically... I wanted to marry a woman who's a Muslim in this country. If I do this I'll need to "convert", which I dont have much of a problem with.

I'm a white guy, American, living in Malaysia for 4 years now. This simplifies the hell out of things when it comes to religion, because no matter what Malaysia tries to do to me in that sense, my country can easily reverse and erase it without a second thought.

Further, you cannot make someone actually "convert"... the concept is ridiculous. Lets say for example you wanted me to start believing George Washington was the first president of Indonesia before I could marry you... and I said "Ok, I'll believe that". How disingenuous can you possibly be? Despite everything I know about anything at all, I will blatantly ignore reality as I understand it, and start believing reality the way you want me to understand it? And it's not just that... my woman doesn't care at all if I'm a Muslim or if I convert to Islam. It's the government, for some reason, that wants this.

But nevermind. I'll "convert". I'll change my name to Muhammad Kasey. And when you're done snickering I'll wear one of those sarongs... I'll even put on a little hat... hell I'll even put a ketchup bottle on my head and spin around 3 times singing Marry Had a Little Lamb!

What I need to know is, if I actually wanted to do this, what is the exact process? Anyone know? I'm sure I have to sign some papers... how long does it take? Weeks? Months? I'm pretty sure they'll want me to change my name too. Specifics on this?

Someone tell me the whole process from beginning to end.

Starting my own Commercial Gym

Kasey Brown — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:12:02 +0800

Ok everyone, I've decided to start my own gym!

... actually my friend is starting a gym and letting me tag along as the marketing / business / program advisor. But still!

Anyway, we need help coming up with a name. Kinda urgent. We suck at names, and we need to come up with one fast. I came up with a list of ideas, cant decide which one to use. I want some votes on which ones everyone likes, or new ideas for gym names.

Here's the ones I got so far, plus some explanations on why I came up with them:

S&K's Fitness Place

The initial of his name and mine. Has a ring and a rhyme to it, easy to remember with a casual tone to it.

Ballistic Fitness

Has a ring to it due to repetition of sounds. Ballistic meaning "explosive", a key word in fitness.

Unified Fitness

Kind of a geek origin to this one. Unified Physics is the idea that we can take all physics theories and unify them into one "theory of everything". So Unified Fitness would do the same thing. Take all the different methods of fitness and provide them in one place.

Fitness Now

Well... you want fitness. NOW!

American Fitness

Because hey, I'm American, and everyone loves America! And if you dont love America, then you're a f*ing terrorist. So yea. People will love this for sure.

United Fitness

Kinda the same as Unified Fitness but people might be more familiar with the word. Plus brings that western feel into the name (United States).

Slim and Trim Gym

It's Slim and Trim Gym, Ken! Would you like to come in? We'll have you finished by ten. Please come again! (Take THAT, Eminem!)

Rapid Fire Fitness

Same points as before... catchy name, easy to remember, hints that our services are quick and so are the results.

Common Sense Fitness

Not sure what feedback I'll get on this one... but I notice most of the questions people ask are, well... common sense. So if we had a gym dedicated to the real low-rung type question and answer, along with some basic advice everyone could follow... it's common sense fitness!

The gym is in the I-zehn condominium, near the Pantai medical center, in bukit Pantai, so there's a lot of expats around here, and the demographic has to be taken into account when deciding on the name.

So which ones do you guys like, which ones you dont like, and do you have any extra suggestions for names?

What you need to grow / recover / etc

Kasey Brown — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 07:02:34 +0800

This is a write up I created for a friend through email who was having energy and recovery issues. It's been my experience that around 99% of the time, your issue is caused by a deficiency in one or more vitamins or minerals. But since most people have such a vague understanding of what "vitamins and minerals" entails, I thought I'd post this here. I'll also put in bold the issues I most commonly see being brought up on here.

To keep things extra simple, toxicity is addressed as "no" for no known toxicity level, "unlikely" if it's possible, but you'd have to go out of your way to achieve it, and simply "yes" if it's possible and easy to overdose.

Something like this appeared on my website a while back, but it was a bit long and casually wordy... plus some things happened between me and a few other people so I decided to take the site down. Anyway here's a really really really simple discussion on what they all are and what they do.

In this post, Mrs DeSilva is your typical average Malaysian housewife. If you're working out, you're going to need far more nutrition than she does. The amounts she needs is what's recommended to just stay healthy without exercise (most of you dont even get this). The amount you need is what's required for sufficient recovery, energy, mass gains, fat loss, etc. So lets get started.

Vitamin A - contributes to eye site, immune system function, mucus production, cell growth.

Mrs DeSilva Needs - 5,000 IU per day.

YOU NEED - 20,000 IU per day.

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Deficiency?

Blindness, stunted growth, brittle bones, sickness (immune system dysfunction), hair loss, and stomach dysfunction.

Toxicity - unlikely.

Vitamin C - Helps make connective tissues, stores iron, production of bile acids and neurotransmitters, required for wound-healing and immune system function, and is a powerful antioxidant. It also synthesizes carnitine (a substance also responsible for dozens of many important functions, which include fat burning).

Mrs DeSilva Needs - 500 mgs per day.

YOU NEED - 2,000 mgs per day. (1 orange has 70 mgs. Good luck!)

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Deficiency?

Infections due impaired immune system function, nosebleeds, injuries that do not heal properly, weakness, fatigue, weakened teeth or possible tooth loss, dry skin that breaks open and bleeds, internal bleeding, hair loss, rapid aging, and depression.

Toxicity - No.

Vitamin D - Not relevant. Exposure to sunlight takes care of this, and discussion isn't needed.

However, higher doses of vitamin D over long periods of time have been shown to help prevent some cancers.

Toxicity - unlikely.

Vitamin E - Also not relevant. Deficiency is rare, even for athletes.

Toxicity - yes. Be careful if you choose to supplement with vitamin E. Supplementation should only be administered to those with a medical condition and require it.

Vitamin B - Responsible for around 97612083746501607238947562345 functions in the body. Here's a summarized list.

B1 - Mrs DeSilva needs 5 mgs per day.

YOU need 50 mgs per day - the additional benefits of this and higher doses include clear mindedness and emotional stability. Athletes see additional benefits at 300 mgs per day.

B2 - Mrs DeSilva needs 1.5 mgs per day. Those on various medications may require as high as 20 mgs to 25 mgs.

YOU up to 300 mgs per day.

B3 - Mrs DeSilva needs 15 mgs per day.

YOU need upwards of 100 mgs per day.

B5 - Mrs DeSilva needs 5 mgs per day. Doses of around 2,000 mgs have implications at improving athletic performance by delaying exhaust times (the athlete can work longer and harder before giving out), and possibly speeding up healing times. Doses as high as 20,000 mgs have been used to treat acne. This much B5 (which is actually a lot) has been known to cause fatigue and nausea. The fatigue may be due to B5 metabolizing away all the B12. Make sure you balance your vitamin intake.

YOU would do best with around 200 mgs per day.

B6 - Mrs DeSilva needs 1.5 mgs per day.

YOU may need as high as 50 mgs per day. Stay below 100 mgs.

B9 - Mrs DeSilva needs 400 micrograms. Read again. MICROgrams. That's kind of important because 400 miligrams, which is exactly 1,000 times as much, would probably kill you.

YOU may need around 1,200 mcg per day.

B12 - Mrs DeSilva needs 1.5 micrograms.

YOU may need up to 200 to 500 mcg per day.

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Deficiency?

A deficiency in even one of these can cause a never ending list of problems, but the most common are weakness, fatigue, inability to recover from exercise (ring any bells?), reduction in muscular gains from exercise, ineffective sleep (wake up feeling tired instead of rested), inability to concentrate, low energy, low mood, and impaired fat metabolism.

Vitamin B is a primary key component to protein metabolism. This is why you see things like reduced muscular gains, and why I sigh each time I read one of you is taking a protein powder, because I know you weren't getting enough vitamin B before that, and now you're just increasing the demand for something you already didn't have enough of. So how many questions does that answer?

Toxicity - B1 and B2, no. B3, unlikely (500 mgs per day over time can cause liver failure). B6 unlikely (100 mgs per day over time can cause neuropathy - or damage to the nervous system. Hard to get this dose from food only). B9 and B12 - unknown / uncertain.

Vitamin K - Not relevant. A deficiency is extremely rare, and toxicity is impossible from food alone.

Calcium - needed for muscle contractions, nervous system function, bone and teeth formation, and blood pressure control. Also a high calcium diet actually reduces the incidence of kidney stones, rather than help cause them.

Mrs DeSilva Needs - 1,200 mgs per day.

YOU NEED - 2,600 mgs per day.

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Deficiency?

Muscle weakness, spasms, tingling sensations, brittle bones, heart irregularities, and eventually death.

Toxicity - unlikely.

Iron - Forms hemoglobin, which transports oxygen, and myoglobin, which makes oxygen available for use by the muscles, and allows energy production from food.

Mrs DeSilva needs 15 mgs per day.

YOU need 30 to 40 mgs per day.

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Deficiency?

Apathy, irritability, fatigue, reduced athletic performance, inability to concentrate, depression, and has been linked to restless leg syndrome

Toxicity - yes. Cooking with iron pots and pans increases iron in the diet. A diet rich in red meats and spinach will often supply the iron needed. This should be considered if taking a multivitamin which also contains iron. Long term iron toxicity can cause liver failure.

Phosphorus - Is involved in nearly every cellular function in living organisms. ATP - adinosine tri-phosphate, uses phosphorus. Without it, you would instantly die. It is also a key component in cell formation, assists calcium in strengthening bones, and assists the B vitamins in releasing energy from food.

Mrs DeSilva needs around 800 mgs per day.

YOU need around 1,600 mgs per day.

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Deficiency?

It's very hard to get a deficiency here, as many foods use phosphorus as an additive. Still, it's possible... symptoms are weak bones and teeth, weakness, fatigue, and irregular heart beats.

Toxicity - unlikely.

Iodine - Produces thyroid hormones. As such, responsible for the body's metabolic rate, and largely responsible for the metabolism of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

Mrs DeSilva needs around 150 micrograms.

YOU need around 500 micrograms per day.

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Deficiency?

Symptoms are low body temperatures, fatigue, weight gain, weakness, depression, impaired fat metabolism, and goiter.

Toxicity - unlikely (you'd need to eat salt like it were food).

Magnesium - Responsible for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. Magnesium allows muscles to relax, helps end muscle contractions and maintains a steady heart rate. It assists in building strong bones, regulates the immune system, blood pressure, energy metabolism and protein synthesis.

Mrs DeSilva needs around 350 mgs per day.

YOU need upwards of 1,000 mgs per day.

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Deficiency?

Irregular heart beat, muscle weakness, spasms, fatigue, possible seizures and mental disorders (put in bold because some of you are crazy...)

Toxicity - unlikely (supplements only).

Zinc - Vital in nearly 100 metabolic functions, it is important for wound healing, anti-oxidant activity (greatly benefits long distance or endurance athletes), immune system function and brain function. It's also needed to maintain a good sense of smell and taste.

Mrs DeSilva needs 15 mgs per day.

YOU need 100 mgs per day.

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Deficiency?

Impaired sense of taste or smell, impaired immune system function, loss of appetite, and slowed mental performance (tempted to put that in bold too.)

Toxicity - unknown / uncertain (stay below 150 mgs per day to be safe)

Selenium - A potent antioxidant that can protect against free radical heart damage, and regulates thyroid hormone output. Increases thyroid output to increase energy levels, and helps fight depression. (On a side note, it's also good for those suffering from AIDS. Though AIDS is considered an unstoppable disease, a diet high in Selenium helps those infected live much longer.)

Mrs DeSilva needs 60 mgs per day.

YOU can benefit from up to 400 mgs per day.

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Deficiency?

Heart deterioration and joint problems. Various mental disorders show a positive correlation with selenium deficiency (including depression and Alzheimer's).

Toxicity - unlikely (supplement only)

Copper - creates anti-oxidants, skin pigmentation, and the formation of connective tissue and the protective sheaths that surround nerves, and allows iron metabolism.

Mrs DeSilva needs 3 mgs per day.

YOU need 5 mgs per day.

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Deficiency?

Very rare, and similar to iron deficiencies.

Toxicity - yes. Be very careful with copper. 10 mgs a day can make you flip out (it can actually cause schizophrenia-like symptoms). Copper cookware is not a good idea.

Manganese - Releases energy from carbs, fats, and proteins, maintains hormonal balance, immune system function, blood sugar regulation, creates connective tissue, anti-oxidants, and maintains the health of the immune system.

Mrs DeSilva needs 5 mgs per day.

YOU need 50 mgs per day.

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Deficiency?

May result in impaired growth, eye and hearing problems, ataxia, high cholesterol levels, hypertension, infertility, weakness, heart disorders, memory loss, poor muscle contraction, tremors, seizures, and reproductive disorders.

Toxicity - unknown / uncertain (upwards of 50 mgs is safe)

Potassium - Conducts electricity, helps control the water and acid balance in the body, helps in allowing muscle contractions, and regulating the heart beat.

Mrs DeSilva needs 2,000 mgs per day.

YOU need upwards of 2,500 to 4,000 a day.

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Deficiency?

Get ready. Muscle weakness, irritability, fatigue, and heart disturbances, which gradually progresses to unresponsive muscles, muscles that suddenly contract on their own, and increased heart disturbances, followed by muscle destruction, difficulty breathing, and death. Correcting a deficiency at any time is easily accomplished by consuming foods high in potassium. Deficiency is actually pretty common.

Toxicity - Unlikely (6,000 mgs... virtually impossible to get from diet).

Choline - It is responsible for nerve function, allows the body's cells to "open and close" the gates leading in and out of the cell so nutrients can come in and waste can get out, reduces inflammation, and keeps the blood clear of homocysteine, a toxic byproduct of protein metabolism.

Choline is especially important to endurance athletes. Post exercise, these athletes show a sharp reduction in blood choline levels. Athletes who supplement with choline have shown significantly improved performance.

Mrs DeSilva needs 550 mgs of this a day.

YOU need upwards of 1,200 or 2,000 mgs a day.

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Deficiency?

Memory problems, insomnia, liver disease, and cardiovascular disease.

Toxicity - unlikely.

[addedon]July 13, 2011, 7:14 am[/addedon]Now that you know what the vitamins and minerals are, the second step is to find what foods actually have them.

There's 2 websites I highly recommend for learning what precisely is in your food. Those are:

www.nutritiondata.com - just put a food name in the first search bar at the top. It may be difficult at first, because putting "broccoli" will give you every food listing with "broccoli" in the name. But find broccoli in the list and click on it, and you'll see this. The spiral graph at the left, below the health label, gives you a quick at-a-glance idea of what nutrition that food has.

www.whfoods.com - this one lets you search all kinds of stuff... you can search food and find out what vitamins it has, OR, you can search a vitamin and find out what food has it. Really versatile, and each food / mineral / whatever comes with a full write up on all it's functions, doses, whether it's damaged by cooking, etc. For example: http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=43 - shows spinach is high in iron. Or... http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=70 - show's iron can be found in spinach.

Now rather than me try to discuss various Malaysian dishes... if you know what's in the dish, it's best you search on your own, because I'm not all that familiar with all the different Malaysian foods. Even though I've lived here for 4 years, I mostly eat raw veggies, chicken, fish, or egg whites. So I dont know much about nasi this or nasi that, sorry.

But now I hope people read this thread and we'll quit getting the same old questions over and over again.