Archives for April 2018

April 30, 2018 By Anu Acharya 1 Comment

Genomics for Better Health

genomics

The healthcare landscape in India is undergoing a paradigm shift, from symptomatic treatment to a consumer-leadership model, thanks to mobile apps, digitization of electronic health records, and wearable technologies. GOQii allows users to take charge of their health with proactive tools. As the genomics partner to this health ecosystem, Mapmygenome offers solutions that are personalized, predictive, preventive, and participatory. We help our customers understand their health risks early and make informed choices for mitigation. They go on to build healthy habits and to achieve their health goals.

Genomics 101

The first question that comes to the mind is – What is this technology and how does it work? Genomics is the analysis of your genome, your unique DNA sequence that governs your health, habits, metabolism, physiology and psyche. Advances in technology have made it possible to read the whole or parts of individual’s DNA sequence. Experts analyze your DNA for variants at specific locations that can affect health and wellbeing. This information can be used to predict your risk for a particular disease, to diagnose a condition, to optimize treatment, or to move to a healthy lifestyle!

Understand Risks with Personal Genomics

With a simple swab of saliva, a personal genomics test can give you a complete profile of your genetic predisposition to health and lifestyle. While the genetic component does not change, factors such as environment, habits, and lifestyle can be modified to mitigate any genetic risks. Many people opt for comprehensive genomics service such as Genomepatri, which predicts individual’s genetic risk for 100+ health conditions, physiological traits, lifestyle, beauty and response to drugs. There are also tests like the BRCA gene test that Angelina Jolie took to understand her genetic risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, which enabled her to make life-changing informed choices to prevent that risk from manifesting.

Weight Loss Genetics – A Case For Personal Genomics

Cutting down calories and physical activity are just two aspects of a successful weight loss program. There are other aspects – lean vs. fat mass, appetite and satiety levels, food interactions within your system, and genetic makeup have an impact on weight loss. Our genes have a significant role in functions such as fat tissue metabolism, excess fat storage, transport, brain signalling, and energy conversion. Individuals with certain variants of a specific gene have to work harder to burn calories than their luckier friends. Some people have a tendency to regain weight more easily. Nutritionists often recommend test such as Genomepatri Fit in order to recommend the most suitable diet and exercise plan for weight loss. They work in tandem with genetic counsellors.

Genetic Counselling to Know Yourself

It is not easy for a layman to predict hereditary risk for a particular condition or to interpret findings from a genetic report. Genetic counsellors help you understand your health history and family history, and guide you in making informed choices towards better health. They explain your genetic report, correlate this information with your health history, and formulate a preventive action plan that works for you.

Overcoming Fear

It is said that answers can be found by one who seeks, but there are many who are scared to find out what their genes say. While this is a personal choice, one should remember that screening and predictive testing can actually enable prevention and early treatment at much lower costs – financial and emotional. A session with a genetic counsellor can be a good starting point.

April 28, 2018 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

“Pursue one sport or an activity like dancing and choose to lead a healthy lifestyle”-Kashvi Khurana

kashvi 1

Kashvi during Active Sunday in Gurgaon

When we see kids playing on the playground, we know very well that these kids are active and love to move around. The benefits of being active as a kid are plenty namely developing strong bones and muscles, weight control, better sleep and a better attitude towards life as they grow up.

Today, we are featuring one such child – Kashvi Khurana, as one of our active Sunday players from Gurgaon.

All of 11 years old, Kashvi’s journey to be active started when she got selected in her school sports team (Athletics -Track and Field) and since then she’s been asking her mother for a fitness tracking device. Then one day her normal digital watch broke down and that is when her mother Nishi Khurana decided to replace the digital watch with a fitness tracker-‘GOQii’ after comparing many other trackers available in the market. Kashvi’s happiness knew no bounds.

Kashvi has made few lifestyle changes such as having at least one fruit each day. She has also increased the protein portions of her diet (especially dals). While she has made some progress on drinking at least 2 litres of water daily and reducing processed food intake, she has not completely achieved the target set for her on these two parameters.

kashvi 2

It’s nice to note that an 11-year-old is all gung-ho to wake up early on a Sunday morning and go for an outdoor exercise session. So what inspires Kashvi to do that? He mother says that initially, it was the 1000 GOQii cash that was an attraction to register for the first time. But, when she actually started attending she loved working out with the fantastic group. The Gurgaon Active Sunday group shares a great camaraderie, and they laugh and have fun while exercising. She made great friends despite being the only kid present among adults in the first few sessions.

It’s not only on Sunday’s that Kashvi is active. On a daily basis, she has a very active lifestyle. She is part of the school sports team and has daily practice (moderate to intense) every morning Monday to Saturday from 6:00 am to 7:30 am. Apart from that, Kashvi has been training in Kathak for 6 years and has classes twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays for an hour each. She has also been training in roller speed skating (professional inline) and classes twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday for an hour and a half. Sunday was actually the only free day on her calendar and she willingly chooses to participate in Active Sundays.

Kashvi has been focusing on being healthy and fit and loves all kinds of sports activities. Her message to all is at least pursue one sport or physical activity like dancing etc. and choose to lead a healthy lifestyle.

April 27, 2018 By Trishala Chopra 1 Comment

Are you breathing properly?

breathing technique

Before I start with the article, I want my readers to try this.

Let’s do a quick breathing test.

-Keep your hands free.

-Keep one hand on your chest, one had on your belly.

-Start breathing naturally.

-Which hand is moving more?

Hand on the belly or Hand on the chest?

Do this test without reading ahead because it is important to do this without knowing the interpretation of the test.

Which hand was moving more?

If it’s your belly than its right way! That’s how one should breathe.

If it’s your chest than its alarming, you might be inviting health issues!

If you are not breathing properly, you might not feel good. In this busy world, breathing which is perhaps the only important thing, if we don’t do that properly then it’s a cause for concern. None of us is consciously breathing which is what is leading to health issues!

I have come across this very often. Every 3rd person I know is having stiffness. Some part of the body is stiff (a Few years back, this was my case too!).

Are you having neck stiffness?

Is your back, shoulder, hamstrings, lower back tight/stiff?

Do you have that constant urge to stretch your body to get rid of that stiffness?

Stretching your muscles will definitely give you temporary relief but not for too long. The stiffness will come back in few hours sometimes even in two minutes. There are many therapies which help you in dealing with stiffness but it won’t be a permanent solution.

Why is it so? Because you are not addressing the root cause of the problem!

What is the root cause? Your improper breathing technique

There are many other causes of stiffness but the most basic one is improper breathing technique.

How does your improper breathing affect your stiffness/tightness?

Let’s do a practical (Helps in better understanding!)

Keep your hands free!

Put your one hand on your neck and one hand on your chest.

Start breathing from your chest consciously.

Do you feel that your neck muscles are contracting when you are breathing from your chest?

Now do one thing,

Put your one hand on your neck and one hand on your belly.

Start breathing from your belly consciously.

Do you feel anything on your neck muscles? Probably not because there is hardly any contraction because there is hardly any muscle tension in that place.

Not just the neck, similar reactions happen in your chest muscles, shoulders, lower back and to some extent even in the hamstrings. If you continuously breathe through your chest, those muscles will shorten, and you will get this chronic feeling of stiffness in your body.

You can stretch your tight muscles every day with different stretching exercises but until you correct the way you breathe, any corrective efforts which you take for getting rid of the stiffness will be useless, and at the end you will not be able to get rid of that sensation of tightness/stiffness which you keep getting in your body throughout the day.

Stiffness is just once such effect of poor breathing. Poor breathing can also lead to lower back pain, weight plateau, poor endurance, low energy throughout the day and some digestive issues.

What’s the solution? How to breathe properly?

Well, the solution is not as complicated as you might think.

Here is what you have to do:

Lie down for 5 minutes (this can be done first thing when waking up, or as you are lying in bed before you fall asleep or whenever you feel it is possible) put one hand on the belly and the other hand on your chest. Simply focus on making the hand on the belly move and keep the hand on the chest as steady as possible.
Point 1 should be done every day for at least 3 times a day daily for at least 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, you should naturally be breathing into your stomach by default.
It also helps if you set yourself little reminders throughout the day, like a little message on your iPhone/Android that asks you at regular intervals “how is my breathing?”

This trick has helped me definitely, try it out for yourself!

Try this for 3 weeks, and let me know what you feel! Would be happy to receive your comments! Share your experience!

April 25, 2018 By Trupti Hingad Leave a Comment

Know all about Yoghurt and its benefits

yoghurt 1

The summer heat is killing! Wish I could eat something that’s chilling and soothing for the stomach, is the thought process that most of us go through. There are lots of summer foods and coolants available but nothing as handy as yoghurt and yes it is also one of the best foods for weight watchers.

Let me share some facts about it!

Personally, Yoghurt has always been a part of my diet. The reason it was added to your meals is to have a healthy gut. As a child, I never understood these nutritional nitty-gritties, it is only when I started studying nutrition, I learnt about the benefits of curd.

Curd or Yoghurt as it is called is it same? While most think it’s the same thing, there is a slight difference between these two.

Yoghurt is a diary product that is created by fermenting milk using bacteria called yoghurt cultures. The bacteria ferment the lactose in the milk causing it to produce lactic acid, which gives yoghurt its tangy and acidic taste. The word ‘yogurt’ is derived from the Turkish word ‘yogurt’ which means “to curdle or coagulated; to thicken”

The curd is another type of dairy product. Curds are made by curdling or coagulating the milk. This can be done by mixing edible acidic substances into the milk, such as lemon juice or vinegar. Introducing this substance to the milk will allow the milk to curdle and separate into two parts. The liquid part is the whey and the milk solids will be the curds. The whey contains the whey proteins of the milk, whereas the curds are the milk proteins or casein

Curd also contains measurable amounts of vitamins A, E and K; thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, folate and vitamin B12. It also contains calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, fluoride and selenium, as well as saturated fats, and oleic acid, which is a monounsaturated fat.

We all know yoghurt is creamy and delicious. But, beyond that what else do we know about the yoghurt?

Yoghurt is a great source of high-quality protein, including both casein (80%) and whey (20%). Plain yoghurt made from whole milk contains about 8.5 grams of protein in each cup (245 g).

Yoghurt contains a family of trans fats called ruminant trans fats or dairy trans fats. Unlike trans fats found in some processed food products, ruminant trans fats are considered to have beneficial health effects. The most abundant ruminant trans fats in yoghurt are vaccine acid and conjugated linoleic acid or CLA. Yoghurt may contain higher amounts of CLA than milk.

Yoghurt contains small amounts of natural milk sugar (lactose). Many branded Yoghurts are also high in added sugar.

Yoghurt is an excellent source of several vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin B12, calcium, phosphorus, and riboflavin.

Yoghurts with live or active cultures contain probiotic bacteria (probiotics) that may improve digestive health.

Regular consumption can prevent aggravation of certain medical conditions namely High BP, IBS and antibiotic-associated diarrhoea.

Yoghurt is a rich source of calcium and protein and may reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

In Hindu worship, Yoghurt is added in Panchamrita. Yoghurt symbolizes strength and prosperity.

Did you know that yoghurt can make your workouts less tiring by reducing the muscular stress? If yoghurt is consumed on a daily basis, it facilitates the further functioning of the active T-cells (dominant cells responsible for maintaining the immunity of the body). In case of people who follow a regular workout regime, yogurt soothes the muscle stress and post workout recovery is faster and better.

When you make it at home, it’s safe. But, when you buy from the market…. BE AWARE: Yogurt is often marketed as a healthy food. However, the sugar and flavourings added to many yogurts can make them more like junk food.

Reading the label is the first thing you should do when choosing a yogurt. The nutrition facts and ingredients list can tell you a lot about what’s in your yogurt.

How to choose healthy Yogurt –

1. When possible, choose a yogurt without large amounts of added ingredients. Instead, try to choose a yogurt with few ingredients.

2. Although yogurt already contains some natural sugar in the form of lactose (milk sugar), food companies often add large amounts of simple sugars to make yogurt taste sweeter.

3. Probiotics are the friendly bacteria that turn milk into yogurt. Look for yogurt with the “Live and Active Cultures” seal and avoid yogurts that have been pasteurized after production.

yogurt-with-mixed-berries_1339-7892

You can also make your own chia seed yogurt to make plain yogurt less tart. And, as a bonus, you’ll get extra protein, fibre and healthy fats with the chia seeds.

Recipe – It is as easy as mixing 2 cups (473 ml) of yogurt with 1.5–2 tablespoons (22–30 ml) of chia seeds and letting it sit overnight in the fridge. This is the best post workout snack.

Well, you can flavour your cuppa of yoghurt with either fruits, berries, banana, chocolate, mint coriander, mango or cinnamon and cumin spice, granola mix.

Is Greek Yoghurt healthy?

Greek yogurt has almost double the protein of regular yogurt. Unless you’re using the non-fat varieties, Greek yogurt has about three times the saturated fat than regular yoghurt. Greek yogurt contains about half the sodium of regular yogurt. Greek yogurt is also an excellent source of iodine. Greek yogurt contains roughly half the carbohydrates of regular yogurt, so It is definitely healthier and keeps your waist in check.

Let’s enjoy the cup of yoghurt in our next meal.