Archive for May, 2012

What foods shall give you diabetes?

May 31, 2012 at 6:55 pm · Filed under blood purifier, Food, Health, Nutrition, nutritional benefits, nutrtional food ·Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Diabetes is a lifestyle disease. And it is caused by a number of lifestyle food habits that can easily be avoided. Unconsciously, we lead a lifestyle which is not conducive to health and we are not even aware of it. Here’s a checklist of food habits that must be avoided to prevent diabetes:

Saturated fats

Saturated fats are bad for health and are the biggest cause of diabetes. These fats are usually found in dairy and animal products. If these items are packaged or if they are fast foods, it gets all the more worse. If your meal contains a lot of red meat or foods having semi-hydrogenated oils, you must immediately reduce the intake especially if you have crossed 30 years of age.

Haphazard eating

What exactly is diabetes? It is the inability of the body to maintain an even sugar level. Now if you are in the habit of eating haphazardly, often changing the routine, or eating at odd hours, you are doing a real damage to a uniform sugar level in your body. As a result, your sugar levels would often be fluctuating resulting in diabetes. Another health mistake that you may be making is to hog into some heavy desserts after dinner. Understand that anything consumed in late hours, that is, 9 pm is dangerous for your body.

Missing breakfast

Every nutritionist, doctor and health expert should tell you that breakfast is the most important of all meals during the day. If you leave for office hungry and carry an empty stomach for half the day, you increase your chances of acidity. This in the long run leads to diabetes. You must nourish your body with a considerable amount of breakfast every morning to give it enough energy.

Eating high GI foods

Glycemic index shows how fast a certain kind of food eaten by us is transformed into energy i.e in the form of glucose. Now the foods that become glucose faster are called High GI Foods. And these are the danger foods that you must avoid. And what are these foods? Foods like candy, pasta, rice or ready-to-eat food items like noodles, pastries and so on. Since these can be quickly digested, they create a glycemic overload by inducing excessive sugar in the blood stream. Hence these foods must be consumed less or if possible avoided altogether.

Not drinking enough water

Dehydration is equally dangerous for your body. We need enough water so that our kidneys function well and release toxins that make our metabolism lethargic. This means that are body is more prone to retaining and storing glucose. To avoid this, we must drink at least eight glasses of water each day.

Overcooked foods

A daal that has been warmed again and again during the day is a dangerous food. And if you consume such foods regularly, you are more at a risk of getting diabetes. That is because over-fried and over-cooked food contains trans-fats.

The above are at best some bad food habits that can be avoided. Also involve a lot of salads in your daily diets and replace beverages like tea or coffee with green tea and fresh juices.

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Thou shalt eat these to stay young!

May 25, 2012 at 7:08 pm · Filed under Fitness, Food, Health, Nutrition ·Tagged , , , , , , , ,

AH! Tempted already huh! Yes, even some foods have the power to keep you young forever. You must know them, consume them. Most of these foods are found around us and neglected often. Some of these are mocked at for being ‘green’ or ‘eco-friendly’, others are dismissed as ‘calorie gain foods’.These foods contain ingredients that are conducive to your general well-being. Lets take a look:

Green veggies: However boring they may look, sound or taste, the fact remains they are responsible to keep you from ageing. Spinach has the ability to boost the immunity of your body. Even other leafy foods like kale and collard have folate which is vital in preventing DNA and blood vessel damage. As a result, diseases like dementia, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and kidney diseases are at bay.

Soyabean: Another age boon for all of us is Soya found in almost every other household. Soya products like tofu are a great source of protein and they are better than meat or fish because they have less fat. If you include soy products in your diets, you reduce the risk of blood pressure and heart attack. The reason why Japanese have a longer life span is because tofu is an integral part of their daily diets.

Yogurt: Good bacteria boost our immune system, increase our antibodies so that our body is better equipped to fight against pathogens. A vital part of age-related problems is intestinal diseases which are prevented considerably if one includes yogurt in one’s daily diets.

Green tea: If instead of the desi chai, you embrace the relaxing Green tea, you can be healthy while also enjoying a great drink. It is believed that green tea is beneficial in controlling blood pressure, it reduces blood sugar, has a role in boosting the immune system and lowers cholesterol. Recent studies are also showing that green tea can be wonderful in preventing cancer too.

Dark chocolate: While a lot of people would dismiss dark chocolate on the grounds of sugar and caloric food, this tempting thing can help fight the signs of ageing considerably. That is because it has cocoa which has antioxidants called Flavinoids. These have a crucial role in preserving a healthy function of the blood vessels. A great blood circulation ensures prevention of diseases like kidney failure, high blood pressure, type II diabetes and dementia. But the line of caution is to use this health blessing sparingly.

Red wine: Guess what red wine has? Well antioxidants like polyphenol apart from minerals and resveratrol. And what do they do? They bestow a great blood circulation, provide good cholestral levels to the body and prevent blood clotting. Women going through menopause can also be greatly benefitted through resveratrol found in red wine as it reduces the risks of breast cancer and osteoporosis – diseases caused due to decreased oestrogen levels.   However, you cannot overdo the red wine. Keep it minimal.

Water: Why do you think water is the biggest beauty tip of today? That’s because it keeps the fluids in the body active that prevent dehydration and fatigue. Water can keep you active, it is great for skin as it needs fluids too in order to look fresh and glowing. Women who drink lots of water in a day have a very younger looking skin.

None of these foods is a rare commodity. Most of these can be found in every other household. The key is to include them more and more in your diets. Instead of junk food, if we opt for any of the above foods, we can be healthier and shall live longer.

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New reason to walk now! Low blood pressure!

May 22, 2012 at 6:33 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Walking can lower BP even among people with family history

PEOPLE with a family history of blood pressure can actually do something about it and that too without spending an extra penny. A new research suggests that if you do moderate exercises daily apart from brisk walking for 30 minutes, you can cut down the risk of getting a blood pressure despite the hereditary factors.

The results of the new study have shown that fitness can be so practical and healthful without much effort. A moderate amount of exercise that is walking for 30 minutes every day which amounts to about 150 minutes per week can be great for people who have a history of hypertension due to family history.

How does it work?

The reason why it is important to control blood pressure is that the heart needs extra effort to pump blood pressure through the arteries. This increases the size of the heart and you then get increased risks of heart attacks, kidney failure, stroke and ath­erosclerosis (buildup of plaque in the arteries).

Of course doctors will tell you to work seriously on your diet, cut sugar and rice, avoid fatty foods and too many carbohydrates and so on. However, all these things will not be enough if you don’t subject your body to a regular exercise or any physical activity.

Understand that one’s blood pressure is a measurement of the pressure of the blood flow in one’s arteries. Everyone has something called systolic blood pressure and the higher number tells us the pressure in our arteries when our heart is contracting and pumping blood out into the body. Opposite is the case with diastolic blood pressure. The lower number is the pressure in the arteries when the heart is relaxed.

Hence while we exercise or walk, our systolic blood pressure increases to improve blood flow, thus increasing available oxygen to the working muscles. Our blood vessels may also become more relaxed, or dilated and this allows for the increased blood flow.

The good news is that the new study has ruled out the effect of hereditary factors in at least lowering the blood pressure of a person. It clearly has stated that despite family history, if you start walking in your late 20s, you will reduce the risk of high blood pressure considerably.

Even older people who already are struggling with BP, can lower the risk by starting to walk every day, At the same time, if a person stops walking, say for a week, he or she would experience the old level of blood pressure. This means that every person with a blood pressure or having a family history of it, must make walking a regular habit. Nothing can be more valuable than health.

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Cry baby cry

May 21, 2012 at 9:22 am · Filed under Health, prevent heart ailments, Wellness ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Crying your heart out can unburden your soul

CRYING may not be all that bad afterall. In fact, it’s healthy for both physical and psychological reasons. Today, our lives are mostly so stressful simply because we don’t ‘let it out’. We have lost the habit of crying honestly and innocently. We probably have learnt to find other outlets like watching television, spending time on Facebook or simply partying and boozing. These are not the healthiest ways to deal with a setback or a disappointment. If you are feeling low, it’s important to admit. The best way to admit it to yourself is to cry your heart out.

Here are a few real advantages of crying:

For the big release

Has anyone ever told you that crying can be an excellent healing tool? It is actually considered therapeutic. A low part of your life badly needs a release. A release that would wash away the anxiety or disappointment or dissatisfaction. And it is very vital for your health that this comes out before it gets converted into something physical like a high blood pressure or mental stress. Suppressing emotions or replacing them with something else is never advisable nor is healthy. Crying helps in releasing the emotions freely. One really feels the need to unburden one’s thoughts. And there’s no better way to do that but cry. Crying clears your mind, and relaxes you.

You feel better
Biologically speaking, while you cry, you happen to lower your manganese level. The manganese is responsible for causing irritability, fatigue, emotional imbalance, nervousness, and such things. And so crying is almost important to be able to get rid of all these factors which can be crucial in making you feel better or worse. Since crying washes out the above feelings, you feel better and more charged to face the world.

Stress buster

Crying is really a stress buster. In a given bad day, instead of rationalizing what happened the whole day and who was responsible, if you just take a moment and let the feelings out through tears, you can practically save yourself a lot of stress. Chemicals like leucine enkephalin and prolactin get built up due to stress and it would increase if you suppress your feelings of anxiety. You can keep diseases like blood pressure, heart problems and peptic ulcers at bay if you just cry.

Good for eyes

Tears we all know are good for eyes. Tears actually clear your eyes, they act like a lubricant.
Tears kill bacteria

It may sound funny and very unemotional as we write this but that is quite a fact. Tears actually help killing bacteria and other viruses that may damage your eyes. As a result, your eyes don’t pick up germs from dirtier places. Tears contain lysozyme, which is a fluid that kills most of your bacteria.

If you had been keeping a burden on your heart for long, it’s time to release it. Cry today.

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The Alchemy of Crash Diet

May 15, 2012 at 12:24 pm · Filed under Fitness, Health, healthy food, Nutrition, Water

THE most tempting thing about crash diets is that they work at least for some time. Lured by the temporary results, people resort to them and recommend friends. This soon becomes a fad. However, this doesn’t make them healthy or beneficial in the long run.
Let’s get this straight. Fitness has a price and time. And there are absolutely no shortcuts. Even the ‘quick-fix’ weight reduction packages at the gyms or the flat-tummy-in-seven-days trials are a big mistake. They have very serious side effects. Let’s understand today the entire alchemy of Crash Diets.
What’s a crash diet?
A kind of diet that promises or targets to achieve weight loss in a very short span of time, say, four to seven days, is what is termed as crash diet. The focus of a crash diet is quick calorie reduction through much focused eating and often starving.
Why crash diets are bad?
There are some extremely logical reasons why crash diets are bad for your health. And as you read these, you will realize that a crash diet does more bad than good.
It shows: A person on a crash diet looks like he is undergoing some kind of a health problem. Here’s a how: Since you are crash dieting, meaning not eating enough food, your body starves. The effects are not so simple. Your body then stores the fact and burns the muscle. But since your fat is stored up, it is more difficult to lose it since your muscle is lacking at the moment. This gives you dark circles around your face, you look starved and malnourished. It even has an effect on the colour of your skin and your nails. While the moment you are back on your old diet, the body weight shoots up again due to imbalance.
Vital organs cry out: The worst sufferers during your crash diet are your heart, kidneys, liver, and brain. This is so because during crash diets, your organs don’t get enough energy from carbohydrates and calories which you are avoiding. Effectively, these organs start burning your muscle tissue to extract that much energy essential for performing their basic functions. This is definitely bad for health in the long run.
Dehydration: The body thirsts for more water during crash diets. A lot of foods rich in water, are not consumed during a crash diet that results in dehydration.
Bone weakness: If you regularly crash diet, most likely you are already weakening your bones. Understand that crash diets usually deprive the body of essential nutrients and tissues. Calcium is vital for your bones, and this gets neglected very easily during a crash diet. In the long run, you may become a patient of osteoporosis, a disease that severely weakens bones.
Imbalance in metabolism: The deprivation of calories also affects the general health of your metabolism. This lowers the metabolism because a crash diet makes it undergo a starvation state. This can be really unhealthy and in future when you are back to your normal diet, you may struggle with lack of appetite.
Hair loss: Another visible effect of lack of enough nutrients during a crash diet is hair loss. Your hair constantly needs vitamins and minerals and when these are not in abundant supply, hairline starts to recede.
Break free from crash diets
It is never too late, as we always say. Start now. You can still undo the effects of crash diet on your body by feeding it from time to time with minerals and vitamins. Here’s what you must start immediately if you have been on a crash diet recently.
Balanced diet: Start with a balanced diet. Include a bit of everything. For example, on a lunch thaali, include grains like moong, toor or udad daal, rice, curd, a rich salad of green, one green and one yellow vegetable, chapaati and a bit of sweet in the end. Try to follow this regimen for a week’s time at least over lunch.
Sumptuous breakfast: With a crash diet, you were most likely missing breakfast. Change that. Try having a sumptuous breakfast in the morning. With a glass of milk and juice, go for a few bananas, include a bit of butter with toast. This will recharge your metabolism, give you great energy for the rest of the day and lift up your mood.
Water: Start counting the number of glasses you are having each day of water. Eight glasses are recommended to rehydrate your body. Make it a habit. In fact, every time you have an urge of having a coke or a soda, just drink a glass of water.
Avoid sweets: Of course all this does not mean you can eat as many sweets as possible. In fact, you must limit your sweet intake and focus more on other healthy things like green vegetables, fruit juices, salads and other healthy snacks.
How difficult are the above solutions? Not as difficult as a crash diet, as you can see. Remember that there never was and never is any quick-fix solution available for fitness. Fitness is a habit. Cultivate it today.

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Boost up your two ‘H’ quotients!

May 11, 2012 at 6:35 pm · Filed under Fitness, Health ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Happiness and health are siblings, everybody knows. The new news is that it’s never too late to improve on your health and happiness factors. Even when you think you have largely led an unhealthy life, start today. Start now. You can still do a lot of things to get that magic health quotient.

New findings have concluded that a person can start any day. Of course, the ‘sooner the better’ characteristic shall always be there. Yet, lets take a look at the many factors that directly relate to our health, ageing and happiness.

Get a green diet

If you have been hogging on junk food most of your life, you may want to replace that with some green and yellow diet. Include green and yellow vegetables religiously in your diet. These are healthy, rich in proteins and have low calories. This can increase your life expectancy.

Smoke less, drink lesser

According to a British study, if you quit smoking at the age of 30, you increase your life expectancy by a decade. This time would keep on decreasing with later age. Similarly, alcohol is bad for your heart. If you drink socially, keep it to one or two drinks a day or make it only weekly drinking.

Napping

Research has shown that people who nap regularly have a better life expectancy. In the USA, there is a culture of sleeping during the day time. Even the office hours are designed in a way so as to encourage siesta. Taking a few minutes of nap every day can totally alter your energy levels during the day in the short term while increasing your life in the long term.

Friends close, enemies farther

Always try to make new friends as they add spice in your life and keep your ego nourished. Keep all those people around you who make you happy. However, keep away from friends who would inculcate bad habits in you. Bad habits may range from alcoholism, eating junk foods, frequent late night parties and so on. If these people are so precious in your life, they wouldn’t force you into unhealthy activities often. If so, you be a good change in them. Make them change their habits.

Be meticulous

However foolish it may sound in today’s world, always pay attention to details of your work and your life in general. When you are particular about little things in your work, you progress. When you do the same in your life, you are able to build lasting relationships. This adds to a longer life span and keeps you happy.

Say I do

People who are married have a more fulfilling life than those who remained single all their lives. Married people usually have a sense of purpose and a longing to care for their family. This keeps them happy and occupied. It gives them a will to live longer and better.

Burn fat, exercise

Don’t let extra fat ruin your sense of well being and self-esteem. Work meticulously on your fitness. Fit people look younger, live longer and are happier due to a great self-esteem. If you have been cynical about burning calories, it’s time to change that for good. Run, walk, trek, swim. These physical activities provide acceleration to life and they are great for health too. Research has shown that people who are constantly on the move, are more active, energetic and have a happy countenance. Who doesn’t want to look fit afterall?

The M Diet

Ever heard of a Mediterranean diet? That consists of almost every good thing there is to eat i.e vegetables, whole grains, fruits, olive oil and fish.  This is probably the perfect diet that you can have for your body and if you consistently stick to it, you are able to lower the risk of blood sugar, increased blood pressure and heart diseases.

Pray

Believe it or not but spiritually inclined people are able to lead a stress-free life. There is a 12-year old study that has revealed that church going people had better immune system than atheists. There is a very logical reason for this. Spiritually inclined people usually stick in groups, they try to make and maintain friends, help and support each other. Hence they have a longer life span.

Let go

Forgiveness is the most emancipating feeling a human can never have. It’s important to forgive people and let go of the negative thoughts. Even if you have been wronged, if you keep holding on to it, it’s only you who would suffer. Learn to let go. Think positive.

Take challenges

Don’t let your life become an endless routine. Break free once in a while. Cultivate something new to do every day, even if it’s just playing your old guitar or singing with that ancient harmonium. Keep challenging yourself. Take up new assignments or tasks. Don’t settle in your life just for the same kind of a thing. Give your life a change. This will add spice to your life and give you something to look forward to every day.

It’s your life. Live it to the fullest

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