With a daily morning routine which would leave most people breathless, Raja Jesrina Arshad bounces into her immaculate kitchen all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Bursting with energy, she offers everyone a glass of cold-press green juice mixed with her brand’s supplements.
Having just finished a Zoom call, Jesrina started her day with morning prayers at 6am followed by doing breathwork.
A brisk walk and jog around her neighbourhood while listening to an uplifting podcast is followed by a breakfast consisting of a smoothie bowl made up of dragon fruit, mangoes, spinach and dates sprinkled with some chia seeds. Finally, a five-minute guided meditation chosen from her YouTube playlist sets her up in the right frame of mind for the rest of the day.
If anyone walked the talk on healthy living and wholesome wellness, then Jesrina gets to the top of the queue. With her sparkling eyes, glowing skin and honey-hued highlighted hair, there couldn’t be a better candidate to represent a health and wellness lifestyle brand than her.
Perched on her kitchen countertop for our photoshoot, she’s a vision in a pale green off-shoulder pleated dress by Love, Bonito. Exuding an aura of wellbeing, it would be hard to imagine Jesrina having anything but perfect health.
But as she explains, she wasn’t always in the best shape or physical condition. During her stint at Astro when she was the head of Digital Marketing, Jesrina developed rashes and migraines while her digestive system started acting up.
Feeling constantly lethargic and bloated, you wouldn’t need a medical degree to guess that all these ailments she was experiencing was a result of being over stressed and nutritionally under fed.
“I went to see a naturopathic doctor in Singapore and I found out I was allergic to gluten, dairy, egg, wheat and shellfish,” she reveals, surprised that the list of her allergies were so long. “I was not born with these allergies and I was totally fine while growing up.”
But her hectic lifestyle and workaholic tendencies exacerbated by an unhealthy diet consisting of processed foods exerted its toll on her wellbeing. “Developing all these intolerances was the way my body was crying out for help,” she says.
Healing and recovery
Rallying to her body’s cry, she took a long hard look at her diet and lifestyle. “I had to reset and change the way I looked at my nutrition and lifestyle. I had to make a decision to cut out all my allergy triggers and yet still enjoy my life,” she says determinedly.
Turning to health and lifestyle gurus she sought from social media and the internet, Jesrina mentions one who had a profound influence on her.
“Ella Mills who goes under the handle Deliciously Ella on Instagram was such an inspiration to me. She had a chronic disease which made her bedridden and doctors had no clue what was causing it. But she managed to cure and heal herself by changing her diet and lifestyle by cutting out all processed foods including gluten, dairy, eggs and wheat...everything I had to cut out, she cut out too.”
But eliminating all these ingredients didn’t mean an austere diet munching on just celery and carrots.
“What I learnt from Ella was you can cut out all these triggers but still enjoy food with recipes she created, which was delicious and tasty without these allergy-inducing ingredients.”
Learning these recipes must have been a godsend to Jesrina and saved her from relapsing into her unhealthy ways and health misery. “I could sustain this healthy lifestyle because the recipes were very easy.” And with this ease, a light bulb switched on in her head.
“I wondered how come there wasn’t a single brand or platform or website which educated Malaysians and Asians on how we could make these lifestyle changes to improve our health.” They say necessity is the mother of invention and so Jesrina decided to launch her own health and lifestyle brand PurelyB in 2015.
However, it wasn’t just a cut and paste job from recipes and tips she had culled from the internet as most of the ingredients these health gurus used are not available in Malaysia. “I had to do a lot of my own research about how I would adapt these recipes to a Malaysian lifestyle and culture.”
Just like the next person, Jesrina couldn’t give up local favourites like nasi lemak or mee rebus which spurred her to create a healthier version of these sinfully delicious dishes. “I learnt how to substitute the ingredients I couldn’t have with more nutrient-dense ones which wouldn’t cause me any flare-ups.”
Miraculously, after changing her diet for just a week, her rashes cleared up and her migraines all but disappeared. “My energy levels soared to an all-time high!” she exclaims with such conviction you can’t help but believe her.
With all this new found energy, Jesrina resigned from Astro soon after and became the co-founder and CEO of PurelyB, touted as South-East Asia’s number one digital health and wellness lifestyle brand and community platform, a one-stop digital destination that people could go to for all the help and guidance they need to live a heathy and sustainable lifestyle.
Knowing her own limitations, Jesrina realised couldn’t do it all by herself, so she sought the aid from various health experts and nutritionists, her eldest sister who happened to be a naturopath, being one of them.
Achieving optimum health
But there are no shortcuts to achieving health and wellness, and Jesrina would be the first to say so. “The answer really lies in awareness and education,” she sums it up succinctly. “Most people are not in the know of what to do to improve their own health. If it’s seen as too troublesome or if they have to sacrifice the foods they love, they won’t do it...and some might think they are being healthy but they are not making the right choices because they lack the knowledge.”
She quotes the example of how low fat yoghurt is full of sugar while switching to brown rice just twice a week from white rice could reduce the chances of getting diabetes. “To be healthy you need to have home cooked meals too. If you eat out all the time, it’s impossible to be healthy. For me it’s all about balance. If I have to eat out, then I will be mindful of what I choose from the menu.” And it’s not just healthy eating which will yield positive results. “You need to cleanse your body every day. There has to be balance, detoxification and nutrition with the right superfoods and supplements.”
To dispel any preconceived judgements you may have had of her, she says, “Of course I have my cheat days!”. And what does she indulge in during those Get Out of Jail Free card days? “I absolutely love the truffle burgers at Park Grill Restaurant,” she divulges while licking her lips and rolling her eyes, and adds, “And I cannot resist French fries!”
So how does she deal with the everyday stressors which are inevitable unless one were living on a remote mountain top nirvana? “You cannot escape stress when running a business,” she says. “Sometimes in the middle of the day, a crisis happens and I get overwhelmed. When that happens, I press my pause button.” And stopping for a breather means zoning out by her pool with her crystals and burning Palo Santo, listening to relaxing music and doing deep belly breathing.
As a proponent of salubrious living, it would be interesting to know what Jesrina’s definition was of optimum health and wellness. “For me, it has to be holistic which includes our mind, body and soul. If you eat healthily and work out regularly but you neglect your mental well-being, that is not optimum health,” she explains while adding a very important caveat. “We are all a work in progress. I don’t believe anyone can say they have achieved it and got all three.”
And how would you know if you managed to pull it off? “When you feel contented and at peace. It is possible to achieve this but in baby steps. No one should try to attain it all overnight because then it is not sustainable.”
I don’t believe anyone can say they have achieved holistic balance of mind, body and soul. We are all a work in progress.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
