Archives for March 2017

March 29, 2017 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

GOQii yet again Numero Uno -IDC

Features in Harvard Business Publishing as a management case study

GOQii, the world’s leading Health and Wellness Company has once again made it to the no.1 position in the Indian wearable market with a 15.5% market share in Q4 2016 as per the latest report from IDC. It’s the unique model of a fitness tracker combined with an integrative service ecosystem that consists of a personal coach, doctor and diagnostic that puts GOQii in this position. GOQii clearly does not operate as a wearable business alone but is in the business of helping people get fit and changing their lives. In three years it has been able to expand itself into a full-fledged health ecosystem.

It’s not only about being a market leader quarter after quarter but, recently, GOQii added another feather in its cap by getting featured as a management case study in Harvard Business Publishing platform for educators. Since its inception, GOQii has been creating a disruption in the Indian healthcare industry and has partnered with companies in various areas of healthcare to build a complete health eco-system.

It understood that HBR editor gets hundreds of submissions a year but barely 2% have the chance of making it into the magazine. As is reported earlier, it is understood that the editor of HBR does not look at a single company telling its own story but looks for an academic who has pulled a lot of research together to draw conclusions. Why does a busy executive in another part of the world need to read this piece now? Who does this theory apply to? What are the implications of it?

This is precisely what the case authors of GOQii have done. The case study authored by Dr Sonia Mehrotra, Associate Professor, Welingkar Institute of Management, Development and Research andDrArun Pereira, Clinical Associate Professor, Indian School of Business has been extensively researched and focuses on the entrepreneurial skills of Vishal Gondal, Founder and CEO, along with highlighting the factors on which an entrepreneurial opportunity is dependent. The case authors have made sure that the study is a piece that would matter to anybody other than the firm itself.

“As I interacted with Vishal and learnt more about GOQii, I was convinced that this represented a fascinating case study for management students. He had the ability to think ahead of time and launch GOQii, which has over time been developed as a comprehensive healthcare program with its own ecosystem. Every step of the case study development process revealed new insights on GOQii efforts to generate positive customer experience,” says DrMehrotra.

“It is not every entrepreneur who has the vision and the ability to ‘see around corners’,” says Dr Pereira. Further, he adds, “I believe Vishal is one of a few, and it was wonderful to capture his entrepreneurial approach through this case so that it can be brought to the classroom.”

The case study also showcases the healthcare industry in India and the competitive advantage that GOQii has attained to meet the customer requirements.Commenting on this achievement Vishal Gondal, CEO and Founder says, “It is indeed a proud moment for us that GOQii has received recognition in a short span of time and that the student community is looking at the success of GOQii as a benchmark for their management program”. “Our venture captured as a case study for management education and listed on the Harvard Business Publishing platform reinstates our vision of healthy living and preventive healthcare. We hope that through the case study we are able to create strong leaders for the future,” Gondal adds.

With a focus on higher education, Harvard Business Publishing serves as a bridge between academia and enterprises around the globe through its publications and multiple platforms for content delivery, and its reach into three markets: academic, corporate, and individual managers.

Description of the case studies are available here

https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/ISB079-PDF-ENG and https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/ISB080-PDF-ENG

March 23, 2017 By Komal Mehta Leave a Comment

Keep it cool this summer with the right foods

It’s summer—that amazing time of year when fresh produce abounds. We need to relish the fresh produce as summer brings in lots of nutrient rich, healthy choices.

But, what about the scorching heat and associated dehydration, perspiration, rashes, itchiness, tiredness which we experience in summer. Well, of course drink more water!!! Everyone knows that, also, add some lemon juice and watermelons to keep you hydrated. Have you ever tried any other natural coolant? Let me remind you of these food products our grandma used every summer to keep the heat at bay.

Kokam: Kokam juice is a very refreshing drink with cooling effect on the body. It not only quenches the thirst, but also prevents dehydration and sunstroke due to summer heat. Kokam has other health benefits like, garcinol present in kokam is an excellent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory hence inhabits cancer cell growth. Also, hydroxyl acetic acid helps reducing the conversion of carbohydrates to fats, so it prevents fat deposition.
Dried black currents: Dried currants are also an excellent source of nutrients that are essential for health, including dietary fiber, copper, manganese and potassium. Potassium allows electrochemical balance that allows muscle contraction and nerve cell impulse transmission to occur properly. Because of water loss potassium becomes important.
Fennel seeds: Fennel is an aromatic and flavorful herb that has several culinary as well as medicinal uses. In addition to its popular use as a breath freshener, it helps relieve a number of ailments and facilitates better health due to its anti inflammatory, antimicrobial,expectorant, diuretic, anticarcinogenicand antioxidatIt contains vitamin C, potassium, manganese, iron, folate, and fiber. It is also rich in phytonutrients and has a high concentration of volatile oils. It cools the body off by increasing perspiration and maintaining body temperature.
Rock sugar candy or Mishri or khadishaker (in Hindi): Mishri or Rock Sugar is crystallized sugar, sweet candy is packed with numerous health benefits. Mishri is widely used as a refreshing drink during summers, Fennel seed powder with ground mishri makes a refreshing drink to fight harsh summer heat. It exerts a soothing effect on the mind and body and relaxes you from stress.
Sattu or barley water: Sattu has extremely good properties for your health. It is extracted from barely, wheat or gram. Mix sattu, little lemon juice drops, salt and roasted cumin powder to get a very healthy drink.

Consuming foods that are not in season may come with a risk of chemicals and preservatives that are applied to fruits and veggies to keep them fresh. With these food one can also use:

Curds or buttermilk.
Raw mango
Watermelon
Coconut water
Bottle gourd
Salad leaves, especially mint leaves.

With all these food always go for light diet which can be easily digested by our body without much effort. Oily and junk food should be avoided.Avoid too much of tea and coffee as it contains caffeine which results in dehydration.

Restrict tea and coffee to two cups a day. You can switch to green tea as it contains antioxidants which are great help to body during summer seasons.Do not eat spicy, hot and extremely salty food as they are hard to digest and will have ill effects on the skin.

So keep cool and Have a happy summer!!

March 22, 2017 By Trishala Chopra 17 Comments

All you need to know about whey protein!

The more people are getting concerned about their health, more brands of whey proteins are being introduced in the market.

Being a consumer, you have the right to know about what is going inside your body. You might have heard a lot about whey protein, but are you aware about what exactly it is?

Everybody who talks about whey protein have mixed reactions. When I tell my players about whey protein, I get a list of questions!

Why do I need whey protein?

What is the other option for whey protein?

Is taking supplement good for health?

Will whey protein affect my kidney?

I am okay with all these questions because there are many healthcare sites having mixed opinions about whey protein.

Let’s not be judgemental about anything.

It’s not even correct to call ‘whey protein’ as a supplement because it does occur in natural food sources as well!

This blog will help you clear your doubts about whey protein!

What is whey and where do we get it from?

Whey is derived from animal milk.
Milk protein is divided into 2- Whey (20% of the protein in milk) and casein (80% of the protein in milk)
Whey protein is said to be a complete source of protein as it contains all essential amino acids (These amino acids are not produced by the human body so it must be supplemented through diet) which are required by the human body.
Whey protein is water soluble while casein protein is insoluble in water.

What are the natural food sources in which whey protein is present?

Ricotta cheese
Milk
Yogurt

There are different supplements available in the market which has different brand names and components in it. Let’s understand what are those types of whey proteins listed on the supplements?

1. Whey protein concentrate

Whey protein concentrate is also labelled as WPC.
WPC label is only given to those supplements which has 90% or less than 90% of protein by weight.

How to read the label of the protein supplement to understand if it is WPC or something else?

Check the protein % on the label. If it is less than 90% then it is WPC.
The ingredients which are listed on the top of the label are in more quantities as compared to the ones which are mentioned at the bottom of the nutritional label.
For example, if a supplement box has 40% WPC84 written on it, this means that the supplement has 84% of the WPC and rest all the ingredients is a combination of lactose, milk derivatives, minerals and fats.

Advantages of choosing WPC: –

It is cheaper as compared to the other types of whey protein and fits in the budgets of fitness freaks.

Disadvantages of choosing WPC: –

It has low bioavailability.
Supplements with WPC contains lactose or milk derivatives in it which cannot be used by lactose intolerant people.

2. Whey protein isolate

Whey protein isolate is also labelled as WPI.
It is the purest form of protein which eliminates all the lactose and fats present.
WPI label is only given to those supplements which has 90% or more than 90% of protein by weight.

Advantages of choosing WPI: –

Its high-end techniques are used to eliminate the lactose and fats which makes WPI the purest form of protein.
As there is no lactose in it, lactose intolerant people can choose this supplement.

Disadvantages of choosing WPI: –

It is expensive.
As it has no carbohydrates and fats, the taste often becomes an issue for the people.

3. Whey protein hydrolysate or blends

They are the blend of WPC and WPI which mostly commonly available in the market.
The cost for these blends are neutral. It depends on the ratio of WPC and WPI.

Advantage of choosing whey protein hydrolysate or blends: –

Neutral cost. Neither too expensive nor too cheap.

Disadvantage of choosing whey protein hydrolysate or blends: –

WPC: WPI ratios can be misleading so as explained above, which ingredient comes first is more in the supplement as compared to the one which comes at the bottom.

How does whey protein work in the body?

Whey protein is a complete source of protein having all essential amino acids including leucine. Leucine is a very important amino acid when it comes to muscle building and toning of the body. Thus, whey becomes the most popular source of protein!
Bioavailability (Ability of animal to utilize that protein in the body) of whey is very high as compared to other protein sources!

Let’s have a look: –

Protein sources	Bioavailability
WPI	159
WPC	104
Whole egg	100
Milk	91
Cheese	84
Fish	82
Chicken	79
Soya	74
Casein	71
Yogurt	68
Egg white	88
Oatmeal	58

The above table shows that whey protein has the highest bioavailability, which becomes the most favourite protein of all times!

How much whey protein you need every day?

A healthy adult requires 0.8-1g per kg body weight protein in a day depending on the physical activity. If you are into intense working out like athletes and sports person, the protein intake can go up to 1.5 g to 2g/per kg of body weight in a day.
For example, an average man with sedentary lifestyle whose weight is 60kgs requires 0.8 g per kg body weight per day.

So, it is calculated as,

Weight x requirement of protein as per physical activity= Ideal protein intake per day.

As per the above example,

60 x 0.8= 48g per day.

Protein can be obtained from natural sources as well. If the person can get the ideal protein intake through natural foods, then he might not require a supplement for the same.
But if the person is a vegetarian, he might need to add up a supplement because vegetarian sources have low bioavailability as compared to non-vegetarian sources.
Fitting his/her ideal protein requirement, 1-2 scoops per day can be taken to complete the requirement.
If a person does heavy workout, he might need to alter his intake of whey protein depending upon the meal pattern he follows.

“Keep a check on your protein intake, overdoing anything won’t help!”

What are the benefits of whey protein?

There is a myth that whey protein leads to weight gain but that is not true. On the contrary, whey protein helps in weight loss (It has fat loss enhancing property).
It helps in muscle building.
It helps in faster recovery post workout.
It promotes growth of lean tissue mass.
It improves muscle protein synthesis.
It boosts immune function.
It helps in controlling sugar cravings.
It has high bioavailability as explained above.

What are the side effects of whey protein?

Like a coin, everything has 2 sides. With benefits, whey protein also has some side effects.
Bloating, upset stomach, increased bowel movements are some side effects of whey protein.
You need to check yourself for allergies before starting off with whey protein.
Check your total protein requirement before including whey protein in your list!

PS: – Whey protein is soluble in water so if in case it doesn’t dissolve in water, that protein supplement is not a right choice then! Read the label before choosing any supplement for you.

March 21, 2017 By Ranveer Allahbadia Leave a Comment

Best fat loss exercise for Indian women

In India, most women have only one fitness goal – WEIGHT LOSS.

From my experience as a fitness coach, most young girls/women have similar goals – flat stomach or that thigh gap or those toned arms.

One of the biggest mistake women make in their fitness pursuit is that they are chasing “weight loss” when they really should be chasing “fat loss”.

Young girls and women have a very clear picture of their fitness targets. But, too many women are misinformed about the CORRECT way of achieving those targets.

KEY: CARDIO will not get you to your goals fast.

Losing WEIGHT by purely starving yourself and doing exhaustive cardio workouts, but neither is good for your overall well being, nor is it the most effective means of burning fat.

Let’s break it down. When you do any form of CARDIO exercise. Running, jogging, even some hipster cardio exercise like some form of dance or martial arts, you’re burning calories. You’re burning off the fat that is stored in your body and using it for energy.

So it is burning fat but, keep in mind that the fat burns only WHILE you’re doing that particular exercise. Once you go home, your body enters a period of rest and things are normal.

Now let’s consider what happens to your body during and after WEIGHT TRAINING. So weight training is like any other EXERCISE. In order to go through with it you need to exert your body. You need to spend calories.

While you’ve undergone resistance training, while you’ve done squats or push ups or a bicep curl, your muscles are made to fight against that resistance. In doing so, your muscles undergo a number of minute tears.

After your exercise, when you go home, and you’re resting, these tears in your muscles are repaired by your body. In order to repair them, your body spends calories, and continues to burn fat even when you’re on your couch, watching TV and even when you’re asleep.

SIMPLE CARDIO – Burn calories only while you exercise.

RESISTANCE TRAINING – You’re burning calories while you exercise AND you’re burning calories even after the exercise, while you’re chilling at home.

The added advantage of resistance training is the lean muscle you put on in the long term. The more muscle you put on, as a woman, the more fat you’ll burn.

The other big issue I’ve seen in India, is that many women are afraid to take up weight training because they think they’ll end up looking like a “bulked up bodybuilder”. They don’t wanna get “Bulky”. You need to know that these overly bulky women have taken a LOT of steroid injections to make their bodies turn into THAT.

Many of them have used testosterone, the male hormone. The testosterone is what makes those women bulky and it’s also what makes mens’ muscles bigger.

Rest assured you won’t become like that UNLESS you take testosterone injections. As a woman, your natural biological make up will make you look beautiful always, it will make you look “girly”, unless YOU mess around with it.

Priyanka chopra, Bipasha Basu, Alia Bhatt. All these women lift weights and have been lifting weights for a long time. They aren’t bulky by any means.

If you still aren’t convinced about this, I urge you to at least try it out for a couple of months. Go to a good gym, get a good trainer, see the results for yourself. As a woman, especially if you’re someone who has never tried resistance training, you owe it to your body to give it a shot. You have only one body, its time to maximize its potential.

THIS IS THE FASTEST WAY TO BURN FAT.