Archives for June 2017

June 8, 2017 By Komal Mehta 8 Comments

How to eat to beat high blood sugar

Moderation is key holds true for all including people who are diabetic. There is no specific diet plan or pattern for Diabetes. It’s the small changes that you make with foods that will in turn help you normalize the blood sugar.

Here are few pointers for you to take note of

Have small and frequent meals: Having small meals will control the sugar spikes. Long gaps between meals can increase as well as drop the sugar. Long gaps also leach out energy and makes you tired. Having 4-5 small meals with balanced carbohydrates helps managing sugar well.
Choose the right carbs: All the grains have carb, be it potato or oats, it’s the quality which matters. Opting for carbs allowing slow release of sugar are best to choose. Carbs with high fiber content like whole wheat flour, Jowar, Ragi, Oats can help control sugar as it will release the sugar slowly and control blood sugar not showing those spikes.
Avoid processed foods: We all know refined foods; packaged foods are not that great for our health. With diabetes, it affects the blood sugar directly. The refined food gets absorbed very easily as it lacks fiber and can help increase sugar. Always add lots of vegetables or protein rich food if you have to have a packaged food and portion control always works for best results.
Add more proteins: Protein rich food are not readily available to raise blood sugar. You will see the positive impact on blood sugar once you add protein foods with every meal. Having more sprouts salad, paneer bites, curd raita fills you up as well as stabilizes sugar
Include Fiber: Fiber plays an important role in digestion of food. Fiber not only delays sugar absorption but also binds cholesterol and reduces the risk of obesity, heart ailments. Don’t think twice add those raw salads, soups to major meals.
Cut down fat: There is nothing wrong if the fat is coming from right source. All vegetable fats from avocado, seeds, nuts like peanuts, almonds, home- made ghee are all good to go. Just make sure it is in moderation. Good fat helps you manage weight which has direct relation with sugar control and in a way also helps release sugar slowly as fat takes time to digest.
Exercise: How much ever you control over food but if the muscles are moving you get to see the best results. Just a 40-minute brisk walking increases blood circulation, manages weight and fat metabolism. Every 5% reduction in weight has positive result with diabetes, heart health and overall wellbeing.
Cut out the refined sugar: Aim to have as less sugar as possible. Direct form of sugar results in major spikes. Cutting on refined sugar, cadies, cakes, pastries definitely gets the sugar high and it stays for 3 months as the blood RBC is made every 3 months. High HbA1c is associated with long term complication. It is best to try and keep the HbA1c in control by having a good portion control with right choice of food.

Don’t fall for that diabetes friendly, sugar free products. Just choose from the natural foods available to have desirable blood sugars. It’s not as difficult just a few choices that will make you feel better and keep you in best of health.

June 7, 2017 By Trishala Chopra 17 Comments

Is DOMS stopping you from workout?

The moment I recommend intense workout to my players, they start saying this:-

“My body is paining, the workout which we did yesterday was not for me”

“I guess I did wrong workout, my body is paining today”

“I guess I pushed it beyond my capacity, is that the way it should be?”

In none of the above cases my players said, let me workout today and see if it is still there. Everyone says that I just cannot do the workout today, I need a break. So a question arises here is, should you workout with so called post workout pain?

Let me clear out some facts!

Technically, Soreness is of 2 types:-

(1) Acute muscle soreness

– Which is felt shortly after the workout but it disappears in few hours.

(2) The pain or the numbness which you feel post workout is not a pain. It is DOMS!

DOMS- Delayed onset muscle soreness.

– DOMS is typically begins within 12-24 after exercise and it can last up to 72 hours.

What happens during DOMS?

DOMS develop as a result of microscopic damage to muscle fibers which are involved in the type of exercise you are doing.

This damage can be because of the excess stress on particular part of the body during the exercise regime. DOMS is basically a side effect because of damage to the repairing process of the body.

Does lactic acid play an important role in DOMS?

Well, I have heard this quite often that the pain in my body is because of lactic acid accumulation. Just to get the facts out lactic acid does have an important role in acute soreness but not DOMS.

It has absolutely nothing to with your DOMS.

What causes DOMS?

Activities which leads to lengthening of muscles with excessive force leads to DOMS.

These are the most common examples of activities causing DOMS:-

– Jumping exercises.

– Aerobic exercises.

– Jogging.

– Crossfit.

– Strength training exercises.

– High intensity interval training.

Severity of DOMS completely depends upon the type and intensity of force applied on that muscle during that activity. Higher number of repetitions causes more DOMS then lower number of repetitions.

Can DOMS occur to everyone?

Well, yes DOMS can occur to everyone who is exercising. It is a myth that DOMS can occur to only those people who are new to exercises.

It can happen to people who are working out since ages as well but, the only difference will be the severity of DOMS.

If you are exercising since long time, your body gets adapted to it as a result your performance will not be affected completely.

If you keep training yourself for the same activity for years, you become less susceptible to DOMS in that particular exercise or activity.

Is soreness the only cause of DOMS?

Well no. Here are some most common symptoms of DOMS other than soreness:-

– Swelling in the area of extreme pain.

– Stiffness of joints.

– Tenderness.

– Reduced strength.

Should you workout the next day with soreness?

Most of players say, they just can’t workout because of the pain. If the pain is extreme and unbearable it is okay not to do extreme exercise but, it completely okay to do some light workouts or something as simple as stretching.

If you try and workout the next day, the symptoms of DOMS will start vanishing while you are performing the activity but there are chances that they might reoccur post workout (In your recovery process).

Don’t work out on the same muscle groups after DOMS. For example, if you are having severe soreness post jogging then you can workout on your upper body the next day. There is absolutely no need for – NO WORKOUT!

If the symptoms are extremely unbearable and excruciating then yes, do not workout.

How to ease DOMS?

To reduce the symptoms, apply ice pack on the area where it is paining.
Gentle massage.

These are just to reduce the symptoms but the complete healing can take place only after the exact diagnosis.

How to prevent DOMS?

If you undergo severe DOMS on your first day of your workout you probably have might done something wrong.

Check for these points before doing your next workout:-

* Proper form:-You need to be extremely careful while doing exercises especially the one with weights.

* Progression should be extremely personalized:- It should always be started at a slow pace and it should be light with least repetitions (2 different people cannot do the same intensity exercises- It should be personalized)

* Intensity plays a very important role:- It should be started with low intensity depending upon the muscle strength and then it should be gradually increased.

Once you start taking care about these points and train yourself, your body will start preparing itself for the same exercise in future.

Remember the old adage that says there is NO GAIN, WITHOUT PAIN!

DOMS cannot be completely avoided but, the severity can be reduced by taking care about the points mentioned above!

– Light pain cannot stop you from working out.

– Sometimes working out the next day makes you to recover faster!

So the crux of this entire article is, please do not skip workouts because of your soreness! Go ahead and do some light exercises or target a different set of exercises!

June 6, 2017 By Trupti Vyas (Pandya) 16 Comments

Healing Hands: 5 hand Yoga Mudra to rescue

Everyone knows about yoga and the benefits it can bring to your life. This ancient form of exercise started in India and, has now reached far and wide across the world. Most want to be physically more active but, due to work pressures, stress and travelling schedules, workouts get disturbed and track of an individual’s fitness our progress is lost. So what can be done in such cases?

I have few ways on how we can be more active during the day by sparring few minutes in a day for our health. Just do simple ‘Hand Yoga’.

The importance of specific hand position is common in spiritual and healing arts tradition. India is home to perhaps the largest collection of such hand gestures. The Sanskrit word Mudra means “gesture”. These Hand gesture (Mudras) stimulates the flow of vital energy in unique ways, affecting organs, glands and nervous system of the body. Such gestures mainly used while doing yoga postures (Asanas), Pranayam (breathing practices) and Meditation.

Let’s learn about different types of Hand gestures (Mudras) and their benefits –

JNANA/ GYAN MUDRA- In this hand gesture (Mudra) thumb and index finger are touching and form a circle; the other three fingers are stretched casually. The palms are facing upwards. This hand gesture (Mudra) is known as the gesture of knowledge and wisdom. The Index Finger symbolizes the ego that is beaten by the universal wisdom, which is represented by thumb.

Benefit

It stimulates brain functions, the sense of touch and harmonizes the nervous system.
Calms the soul gives inner peace, promotes concentration as well as memory and helps in insomnia and depression.

AAKASH MUDRA- To perform this -the thumb and middle finger are brought together. The other fingers are casually stretching. Aakash stands for The Element of room or ether.

Benefit

It helps to overcome obstacles and blockades that is, stress related to personal or professional life.
It also helps with heart diseases, toothache, a stiff jaw, ear ache and weight regulation, strengthening bones, intuition and awareness are strengthened and feeling and thoughts are cleansed.

SUNYA MUDRA – In this you bend middle finger until it touches the ball below the thumb. The thumb performs light pressure on middle finger. The other fingers are stretched. Put your hands, palms facing up, on your thighs. Sunya Means “sky” or “zero”.

Benefits

It has a healing effect on the ear area and helps with different complaints such as ear aches, ringing in ears.
It can help with imbalance, dizziness, travel sickness, sea sickness and nausea brought by movement.
It helps in healing throat and nose infections.

– It is formed by folding the ring finger so that it touches the lower end of the thumb. The thumb pushes the ring finger slightly down and other fingers are casually stretched upwards. Surya Mudra activates the fire element of the body.

Benefits

It activates the metabolism therefore suited for people who want to lose body fat/ weight and improves their cholesterol levels.
It helps to heal cold by creating warmth inside the body.
It Helps To Strengthening the eyes and improve the eyesight.

JALODAR NASHAK MUDRA – To perform this, the small finger is bending towards the thumb. The thumb pushes the small finger slightly down. The thumb pushes the small finger slightly down. The Name of this hand gesture (Mudra) is made up of from three words JAL for “water”, UDAR for “ stomach”and NASHAK for “ finish”. The small finger represent the water element.

Benefits Of it-

It reduces excess water in the body. Swelling, excessive salivation, watering eyes, runny nose and heavy periods.

Apart From These 5 main hand gestures (Mudras), the other important hand gesture (Mudras) is DHANYI MUDRA which is a classical mediation gesture where hands lay causally in your lap which gives feeling of contentment and ATMANJALI or NAMASKAR which symbolises gratefulness or respect which lead to inner balance. Of mind and soul, and many more hand gestures (Mudras) are in the list.

You can try these hand gestures (Mudra) anywhere and anytime. Just Relax and be gentle. Activating the energy in your hands will in turn activate the corresponding energy in the rest of body and evoke sense of overall vitality. If you are new to yogic practices, then these hand gestures (Mudras) will be a great way to start practising this ancient form of fitness.

June 2, 2017 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

‘Finding Your Everest with Kuntal Joisher’

“Mountain Climbing is my life and Veganism defines me. However, Veganism supersedes Everest”, says Kuntal Joisher in a conversation with Vishal Gondal on his newly launched podcast ‘Vishal Gondal Show’- Beneath the Force.

From quitting his plush MNC IT job, reducing from 110 kg to 80 kgs to climbing some of the toughest mountains in just a span of 8 years, Kuntal, a Gujarati from Ghatkopar (a Mumbai suburb) stood on top of the world on May 19^th, 2016 at 9:30 am as the first vegan.

Prior to Kuntal, there have been many non-vegetarians and vegetarians who have summited the highest peak in the world, but when Kuntal started his journey to scale the Everest it was unheard of that a vegan could climb as well. It was a natural scepticism as most climbers and especially those climbing 8000 meters peak are recommended meat and dairy rich foods. For a Vegan being on plant-based foods requires that much more hard training than a traditional climber it was concluded.

However, Kuntal has dispelled all myths. With no altitude sickness and fit throughout his 60 days climb, he has shown and inspired the world that mountaineering can be done on healthy wholefoods vegan diet. For Kuntal its ethical reasons to be Vegan and not any health reasons to go Vegan. He says that Vegan food is not bad as everyone things. “Nor am I an extreme Vegan,” he says. But, he is so much of a Vegan that his Mountaineering Gear is 80% Vegan as well.

“My diet has never been an issue. I’ve been part of over ten serious Himalayan climbing expeditions, and I’ve never had any problems being a vegan, even on this last attempt to climb Everest,” says Kuntal.

Kuntal in his in-depth conversation on‘Beneath the Force’ show talked about everything from his life, to his profession to how he decided to climb mountains and about a few life hacks that he uses to help himself.

Before climbing Everest, he scaled many incredible mountains in India and Nepal. Just to names some important ones he has climbed Mt Elbrus in Russia (one of the peaks of the Seven Summits) and Mt Manaslu, another 8000 mt peak in Nepal and is the 8^th highest peak in the world. Kuntal is the only second Indian civilian after Arjun Vajpai to have scaled Manaslu.

On his achievement in Mountaineering and conquering Everest the third time around Kuntal says, “I have conquered my fear of height. Before climbing Everest I actually had the fear of heights.” “If you win in your mind, you win over your fears”.

According to Kuntal, mountaineering is a combination of training and experience. One cannot leave anything to luck. One has to push themselves physically to get that mental edge. He admits and says, “While mountaineering is a risky sport and that I do take risks by climbing mountains but, I would in the same breath say that I am a very risk averse climber. In my 8 years of climbing career, I have trained so much and also gained considerable experience to be able to understand what is going wrong and take the right decisions”. He says, ‘getting up on a mountain is optional but climbing down alive is mandatory”. Most climbers get up and then become complacent. Most accidents in the mountains take place while climbing down.

But, training for Everest was not easy. Kuntal emotionally detached himself from his family to be able to focus on his goal.

When asked both being vegan and being a mountaineer are two extreme things and isn’t it like being insane. To this Kuntalchuckles and replies, “Not at all. However, he adds, “I get my insanity from my dad. But, unfortunately, today, my dad cannot understand any of these insane things I do as he suffers from Dementia (LBD) for the last 15 years. Kuntal is working towards creating awareness about this disease in his own ways by climbing mountains. Kuntal says his dad also did some crazy things and went out of his way to do new things. His father used to farm earthworms.

One of Kuntal’s life hacks that helped him survive on his way up to Everest was ‘Oreo’ biscuits. Whoever knew that Oreo that people hog on is a vegan biscuit? Once at a high altitude above 26000 ft beyond the death zone and from camp 3 to camp 4 to summit and back to camp 2, Joisher ate only two Oreo biscuits he says. Towards, the summit, Joisher had Unived’s vegan energy gels. These gels contain electrolytes and carbohydrates that are instantly released into the blood. “They kept me going,” saysKuntal.

Some of the clear learning from this interview which all of us can take with us –

Be focused towards your goal
Prioritise what is more important for you. Select a few things to do and give your 500% to it.
Training and Experience are very important for climbing and leave nothing to chance.

About the Vishal Gondal Show-Beneath the Force

The show encapsulates the lives of successful and inspirational people. The in-depth profile is the show staple — a nuanced look at a personality on a bi-monthly basis, revealing the person’s workout regimen, their struggles, their habits, thoughts on their latest project and, if we’re lucky, some as yet unrevealed factoid to file away in our collective unconscious. Whether we want to be like them, be with them, or just find out what it feels like to try on a different persona for a while, ‘beneath the force ‘we’ll always be drawn to Q&As about other people’s lives.If you want to get your fix of stories about fascinating lives but tired of staring at screens or loathe the paper pileup of discarded monthlies, listen to this podcast.

Listen to Episode 1 – Find your Everest with KuntalJoisher by The Vishal Gondal Show – #BeneathTheForce #np on #SoundCloud

https://soundcloud.com/vishal-gondal-show-beneaththeforce/vgs-episode-1-find-your-everest-with-kuntal-joisher

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ2Sm2lDodg&utm_source=GOQii-Youtube&utm_medium=SMM&utm_campaign=GOQii-Youtube-Podcast-Kuntal-Joisher&utm_term=Podcast&utm_content=Kuntal-Joisher

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hoiv9nMCF4