Archives for September 2017

September 20, 2017 By Zehra Fatima 12 Comments

Know about the Caffeine in your tea?

Tea pix (2)

We live in a country where our day starts with a cup of tea or a conversation starts with a cup of tea. Tea is offered to every guest who comes at home. In offices or any workplace, we just grab a cup of tea when we feel tired or exhausted. Tea is the most consumed beverage in India at present. But, is your tea making you healthy or is it making sick?

Many Indians have a habit of having tea as soon as they finish their meal. Let me start with saying while there is no harm in consuming tea, when you consume is what matters.

Tea contains “CAFFEINE” which is a psychoactive drug. It inhibits calcium, iron, vitamin D, zinc, copper, manganese and many other nutrient absorption. When you consume food along with tea all the micronutrients that are essential for the body are not absorbed and are directly excreted in urine. Milk should be ideally consumed as plain milk without flavours.

Evidence also suggests that caffeine may lead to harmful effects on health. It may interact with satiety and is also associated with stress levels in individuals. Caffeine may have an adverse effect on insulin-dependent glucose uptake, irrespective of obesity, type 2 diabetes and exercise, heart rate and blood pressure. The risk of myocardial infarction with caffeine is higher in present or past smokers. Caffeine may increase blood pressure, the risk of negative cardiovascular consequences and may enhance stress responses in men as well as women. If combined with a high dosage of sugar, may cause obesity and overweight.

Caffeine can cause insomnia, nervousness and restlessness, stomach irritation, nausea and vomiting, increased heart rate and respiration, and other side effects.

This is one of the major reasons 80% of Indian population especially women are osteoporotic. The main reason is they are deficient in calcium and vitamin D. When you mix milk with tea powder you are mixing calcium and anti-calcium ingredient together.

Your body requires at least 2 hours to digest your food. An ideal time to consume tea is 2 hours before and 2 hours after you consume your meal. The same implies to coffee or any beverage that contains caffeine.

How much caffeine is present in your tea?

There are many factors influencing caffeine levels in tea, including brewing time/ temperature, tea grade, and tea varietal.

Tisanes or “herbal teas” (including many of Celestial Seasonings’ “teas”) are usually caffeine free. Similarly, teas blended with other ingredients (such as mint green teas or masala chai) will often have lower caffeine levels than unblended teas. Most studies show that black tea has between 40 and 120 mg caffeine per eight-ounce serving. Decaf black tea usually contains about two to ten mg of caffeine.

The information below comes from a very interesting article on tea and caffeine by Bruce Richardson, who has been instrumental in debunking caffeine myths surrounding tea.

Each seven-ounce cup of tea was steeped for three minutes.

Assam Black Tea (FTGFOP Grade) – 86 mg
Bai Mu Dan / China White Tea – 75 mg
Chinese Ti Kuan Yin Oolong- 37 mg
DarjeelingAutumnal (SFTGFOP1 Grade) Darjeeling White Tea – 56 mg
Indian Green Tea – 59 mg
Kenyan Green Tea – 58 mg
Ceylon Black Tea (OP Grade) – 58 mg.

Up to 400 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, a day appears to be safe for a most healthy adult. Bringing desirable change in this habit may make a lot of difference in your health.

September 18, 2017 By Ami Shah 1 Comment

Love Sweets! Take the Sugar free challenge – a personal account

How difficult it is when you love something beyond a limit and have to suddenly let it go? It’s very difficult. I went through this very recently when I let go of eating ‘Sugar’ for few days. Here is what I went through.

Being a qualified nutrition and dietician, the important aspects that are top of the mind for me is food, fitness, nutrition and everything that is necessary for a healthy lifestyle. Moreover, Challenges always attracts me. I have always liked to challenge myself as it gives me an insight about how strong my will power is and my potential to handle tough situations.

The Sugar Challenge was one such challenge that was thrown open to me. At GOQii office, we come up with challenges at frequent intervals related to fitness for our coaches and players. And, Sugar Challenge was one such challenge that was thrown open to us. I just could not resist taking it up more so given the fact that I love sweets- chocolates/pastries and everything else that is sweet. In a way I was a ‘Sugar Addict’.

I wanted to check whether I could stay away from eating sweets as the sugar challenge meant complete abstinence from refined sugar and food items that is either made of sugar or contained sugar like chocolates/sweets/bakery items. Why bakery items? Yes because even bread/toast/buns does contain SUGAR in good quantities.

Sugar is an addiction and you could call it a poison which makes you sluggish and gets stored as fat! I thought to myself it can’t get any better than this. This challenge could only keep me away from sweets specially chocolates. Some of my colleagues also joined me in this challenge. I guess when you know you have company to take up such a challenge it becomes a fun activity and you do not tend to perceive it as a challenge anymore. Also you are motivated to push yourself daily to keep at the challenge.

The next big question that popped was for how many days should we go for this challenge? 1 day was too less. (how I wish).. so we decided we would take it up for a week. At the back of my mind the top most thought was are 7 days too much? Will I be able to complete it successfully? But, then I felt no harm in giving it a shot.

With all enthusiasm, we started with the challenge. First 3 days were easy as still the excitement was at its peak. However, on the 4th day, it was a friend’s birthday and all the efforts went down the drain.. as I ended up having a piece of cake. The very next moment I was feeling extremely guilty about breaking the challenge.

Then, I thought there is always a next time and this time I was very sure that I am gonna follow the challenge diligently for all 7 days.. I gave the challenge another shot and this time around more strictly. So what did I do to keep to the challenge and not cheat?

First I stopped taking sugar in my teas. Secondly, as and when I used to get a sugar cravings I used to opt for healthy alternatives like dates/dried figs/fruits/chikki (as all of these sweets have jiggery in them which is a healthy alternative to refined Sugar).

Jaggery is not counted as sugar. It is comparatively healthier than sugar due to its trace mineral composition. Ideally, sugar is acidic in nature where generally pathogen breeds. When I took this challenge my constant effort was to make my body alkaline by having more of veggies/fruits/whole grain etc. Sugar makes you crave for more sugar and if you restrict it, it leads to mood swings and behavioural changes. Also, it makes your body dehydrated and fastens ageing process.

I found sweet substitutes as I said earlier, or set small milestones during the challenge to reach my goal. The benefits of staying off sugar made me feel lighter, increased my metabolic rate, made me more active and helped in getting rid of the toxins. Imagining a better me kept me motivated. And thus, I was able to successfully complete my sugar free challenge for 7 days.

It was a big accomplishment for me as never in my life, had I imagined that I would be able to stay away from chocolates for so long! This challenge has motivated me to the next level of consuming less or no sugar at all in the future.

Anyone can take up this challenge, if they want to get off their addiction and lead a better life. Even, people suffering from hypertension, diabetes can take up this challenge. For a diabetic, if the person’s sugar drops, a fruit would do. For individuals suffering from severe hypoglycemia, I would not recommend this challenge. Even otherwise I would advise that this challenge should be done under the supervision of your dietician, personal trainer or doctor. After this challenge, I do not get any more sugar cravings which has made a Happy me!

September 17, 2017 By Hardika Vira 11 Comments

Hungry Kya! Here are 5 nutritious snacks recipes

Along with being a lifestyle coach and nutritionist, I play one more dual role that of a homemaker and a mother. The big question that always arises is what snacks can we make which are healthy and quick to make at the same time, right?

Here are few recipes from my recipe book which are not only healthy but fast.

1. OATS PATTIES

Ingredients	Amount
Oats	1 cup
Capsicum	1 small
Carrot	½ no
Tomatoes	1 no
Spring Onions	½ cup
Gingerchilli paste	1 Tbsp
Lime	½ no.
Turmeric powder	¼ tsp
Red chilly powder	¼ tsp
Salt	To taste
Oil	1 tsp

METHOD:

Sprinkle water on oats. Continue this till it absorbs the water and becomes a bit sticky.
To this add chopped capsicum, carrot, tomatoes, fresh onion with leaves, ginger chilli paste, lime, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt. Mix well.
Divide the mixture into two equal halves. Make a flat (pattice) pieces of it and cook in a nonstick pan on both sides.
Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Nutritional Benefits: Oats is rich in fiber and the veggies are a source of vitamins and minerals, lime juice makes the food alkaline. Overall it is a great dish to start your day with which will surely improve your immunity and overall health

2. Steamed Spinach breads (PALAK DHOKLA)

Ingredients	Amount
Rawa	1-2 TBSP
Gramflour	1-2 TBSP
Spincach (palak) (finely chopped)	1 bunch
greenchilli paste	½ Tbsp
Salt	To taste
Oil	1 tsp

METHOD:

Mix all the dry ingredients in a vessel.
To this mixture add 1 tsp of warm oil.
Add luke warm water to make the batter of some flowing consistency.
Pour this mixture into a greased tin and steam the mixture for around 30 minutes.
Garnish with Spinach leaves. Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Nutritional Benefits: This can serve as a super evening snack as it contains goodness of fiber, calcium, B vitamins of the spinach and is also a cereal pulse combination which improves the protein quality. Wholesome meal which is low in calories and has high satiety value.

3. FENUGREEK PANCAKES (METHI PUDLA)

Ingredients	Amount
fenugreek leaves (chopped)	½ bunch
Wheat flour	1 TBSP
Bajra flour	2 TBSP
Onion	1 no.
Gingerchilli paste	1 Tbsp
Garlic paste	½ tsp
Turmeric powder	¼ tsp
Salt	To taste
Oil	1 tsp

METHOD:

1.Mix all the ingredients except oil in a vessel.

2.Add water to make the batter of pouring consistency

3.Make two pancakes on a nonstick pan

4.Serve hot with tomato ketchup/ Mint sauce (Pudina chutney)

Nutritional Benefits: It is not only rich in B vitamins (fenugreek leaves) and helps in improving hemoglobin but due to the addition of onion, ginger, garlic it is highly anti-inflammatory and good for gut health. Researches prove that consumption of ginger, garlic and onion helps fight GI infections too.

4.Bottle Gourd and Semolina Pancakes (DOODHI-RAWA PANCAKE)

Ingredients	Amount
Semolina	3 TBSP
Bottle gourd	100 gms
Curds (skim milk)	3 TBSP
Gingerchilli paste	1 Tbsp
Carrot	For garnish
Salt	To taste
Oil	1 tsp

METHOD:

Grate the bottle gourd.
Add semolina, ginger chilli paste, curds, salt and make a batter of pouring consistency by adding water.
Make 3 small pancakes on a nonstick pan by adding oil.

4.Garnish with grated carrot and coriander.

5.Serve hot with green chutney

Nutritional Benefits: Bottle gourd has multi benefits like it is high in fiber, helps curb the acidity too, good for heart, and the list goes on. Curds are rich in probiotics which improves the gut bacteria.

5. COTTAGE CHEESE VEGETABLE WRAP ( PANEER VEG WRAP)

Ingredients	Amount
Gramflour	2 TBSP
Capsicum	½ no
Carrot	¼ no
Tomatoes	1 small
Spring onions	½ cup
Paneer (COTTAGE CHEESE)	200 ml(20 gms)
Coriander leaves	Few sprigs
Lime	½ no.
Turmeric powder	¼ tsp
Red chilli powder	½ tsp
Pavbhaji masala/ Garam masala	½ tsp
Salt	To taste
Oil	1 tsp

METHOD:

For the Wrap:

To the gram flour add chopped coriander leaves, red chilli powder, salt and make a batter by adding water

Pour this batter on a nonstick and make a chilla

For the filling:

In a nonstick pan, take 1 tsp of oil. Add chopped capsicum, carrot, spring onions, tomatoes, paneer cubes and cook for a minute. To this add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, lime juice, pav bhaji masala or any garam masala (blend of ground spices like peppercorns, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, bay leaf, caraway). You can even use herbs instead of this . Mix well. Cover the pan for 1-2 minutes. Cook until done.

Place this filling into the centre of the chilla and wrap it. Cut it into pieces. Garnish with spring onion leaves and tomatoes.
Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Nutritional Benefits: It is high in protein with cottage cheese and gram flour. It contains goodness of fiber, Vit C, vitamins and minerals and other phytochemicals too. Children love this most as it looks like a frankie/roll but the base is super healthy here. Also helps in improving immunity, hemoglobin, better growth.

September 14, 2017 By Dr Akshat Chadha 3 Comments

When was the last time you had a complete health check?

The week began on a sad note. Monday morning was a morning, I would like to erase out of my memory as soon as possible. I was sitting at the breakfast table with my wife when I got a call from my mom saying that one of my cousins-Raj had suffered a major heart attack and had passed away even before reaching the hospital. It was an untimely death. He was barely 40 years of age, young and happy with no major worries. Nobody, in the family, had seen this coming, not even his wife.

He displayed no signs of stress, worry or any kind of illness. He was not fat nor did he lead a sedentary lifestyle. Then what happened? This thought kept bothering me ever since I heard of what had happened. Being a Doctor, I was determined to delve deep to find the root cause of the problem. After probing some of the family members, I found that there was a family history of heart disease and diabetes. Despite this, he had not done a single blood check in the last 3 years. Whenever I would enquire about getting a health checkup, he would brush it aside and say, “I am healthy and I do not see a need to get pricked unnecessarily”.

What upsets me more is that we are a family of doctors and within my own family, I have people who think otherwise about health check-ups and feel it’s unnecessary to have one done regularly more so when you do not display any symptoms of illness. The importance of health checkups is highlighted only when you encounter health problems you really can’t predict. Isn’t it better to be safe than sorry later?

Let me be loud and clear here when I say there is a reason why blood tests have been invented and have a huge diagnostic value. But, unfortunately, getting a blood test today, is considered as a money making a source for the Doctor. I don’t want to talk about blood tests today, I just want to emphasize the importance of getting a whole body check-up done once a year especially if you are over 30 years old. Timely medical checkups could make all the difference between prevention and cure; especially when each decade comes with its own set of lifestyle ailments.

What is the harm I ask? What do you have to lose? If it’s the money, then maybe you can cut down on eating out one weekend or reduce your shopping one month and instead utilize that money to get to know about your health?

A lot changes in 30 days leave alone in 365 days. We go through several ups and downs and our body goes through a lot of wear and tear process be it physical or mental. Our internal organs such as the heart, liver, kidneys are designed to work non-stop and there is no harm in knowing the state of our organs and bones in real time so that the necessary lifestyle changes can be made if needed.

One does not have to necessarily pop pills, more often than not lifestyle changes can make a huge difference. If a machine works well with regular maintenance and check-ups then why do we leave the most important machine (our body) to chance?

You need to listen to your body, feel the pain when it happens, and address the breakdown in a way to avoid its re-occurrence. You need to give your body a good fighting chance by living a good healthy life which is supported by well-functioning internal organs.

Personally, a good comprehensive screening package including CBC ( Complete Blood Count), Lipids, Renal (Kidney) and Liver profile, Sugar tests, Thyroid and basic Vitamins like D and B12 is a must for every individual once a year even if he or she is absolutely healthy. Make sure you are working fine inside so that you can do everything you want outside.

Age is not a factor. Anybody at the age of 30 years and above should get their blood tests done once a year at least. This is an excellent comprehensive screening of your entire body including heart, liver, and kidney along with important vitamins. We are putting in a lot of effort taking care of our bodies but, if our organs don’t support it then we will always fall short of results.

The prerequisite for leading a healthy life is a comprehensive health check-up once a year.