Archives for June 2018

June 5, 2018 By Trishala Chopra Leave a Comment

Know about your gut health- PART 2!

Picture Source: The Biome Clinic

In my previous blog, I talked about healthy and unhealthy microbes, in the present blog I am going to tell you about all the different aspects that can impact our gut in a better way!

Let’s talk about different probiotic sources!

(1) Yoghurt

Yoghurt is a very good source of lactobacillus (The healthy microbe which we discussed in the previous article)
Fermented from milk by adding probiotic bacteria

(2) Cheese

Well, processed cheese has no good bacteria but different cheese types like gouda, mozzarella, cheddar and cottage cheese are very rich in healthy gut microbes.

(3) Miso

Fermented foods are very rich in healthy gut microbes!
Miso is a sauce which is made out of fermented soya beans and barley/rice malt

(4) Sauerkraut

This is finely cut cabbage which is fermented by lactic acid bacteria

(5) Kefir

It is a milk drink which is fermented using lactic acid bacteria and yeasts.

(6) Kimchi

It is a Korean dish which is made out of fermented cabbage, radish, spring onion and cucumber.

(7) Apple cider vinegar

Easily available fermented food
Always prefer apple cider vinegar with mother culture.

Let’s talk about prebiotic sources!

Prebiotic is a special plant fibre which human body can’t digest but this encourages the growth of good bacteria in your gut. So in short prebiotics are “Good Food “for probiotics. Good gut bacteria will turn that plant fibre into butyrate. This chemical butyrate works as an anti-inflammatory in the bowel. In short, they are fertilizers to cultivate good gut bacteria!

Gut_bacteria_heath

Sources of prebiotics:

(1) Foods rich in inulin

* Onions and garlic

Chicory
Dandelion
Bananas
Asparagus

(2) Foods rich in resistant starch

Unripe bananas
Green peas
Potatoes
Cashew nuts
Rolled oats

Which probiotics work for which issue?

Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus are 2 most common strains which are found in fermented foods like yoghurt, kefir and cheese.

These 2 common strains have different species which works on different issues.

Strain: Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus

Constipation : Bifidobacterium longum

* Available in fermented foods or in the form of a capsule

Helps in increasing the bowel movements in adults

(2) Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS):

Combination of Bifidobacterium + Streptococcus + Lactobacillus

Bloating is the most common issue in people suffering from IBS and this probiotic combination helps in reduces bloating

(3) Lung infection: Combination of Lactobacillus acidophilus + Bifidobacterium

* Combination of these probiotics helps in reducing symptoms of infection like fever, cough, running nose

(4) Diarrhoea: Combination of Bifidobacterium + Lactobacillus acidophilus/ bulgaricus

Combination of these probiotics helps in reducing diarrhoea frequency.

What to look for a product when you are buying a probiotic?

* High colony forming units (CFU) Count

* Your microbiome contains about 40 trillion microbes so you need a probiotic which has lots of healthy microbes’ in short high CFU counts.

Always look for a product which has at least 20 billion CFU and more.
Probiotics available in the markets are not even close to this number but fermented foods will cross the number for sure!

(2) Multiple Strains

You need different strains in your gut for good health so you should find a probiotic which has multiple strain.
The best thing about fermented foods is vast diversity!
When you purchase the probiotic supplement from outside make sure it has 6 different strains in it.
Make sure you take care of the substrains in the supplement. Lactobacillus acidophilus is not same as a Lactobacillus casei so if the supplement just mentions lactobacillus then the product might not be that effective.

Gut-friendly Recipes :

Pumpkin porridge

Ingredients:

* 300 g of pumpkin (Make sure it is diced and cooked)

50 g of extra virgin coconut oil
225 ml of pure milk
1 tsp of vanilla extract
Pinch of rock salt or himalHimalayan salt
½ tsp of cinnamon (dalchini) powder
A handful of pomegranate/watermelon seeds

Method:

Blend all the ingredients except the seeds.
Make a smooth paste
Warm the mixture in cast iron pan.
If you want to make it thin then you can add milk
Serve it warm with seeds!

(2) Cashew and banana pot

Ingredients :

250 grams of unsalted cashews
1 medium banana
200 ml of milk (Depends on your preference)
½ tsp of cinnamon powder (dalchini)
2 tsp of peanut/almond butter
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Method :

Take a bowl and soak cashews for 6 hours (prefer overnight)
Drain the water and then blend it with all other ingredients
Make a smooth paste
Refrigerate it for 15 mins
Serve it with some diced bananas

(3) Green gut-friendly smoothie

Ingredients :

1 cup of spinach leaves
250 ml of water
½ avocado (optional)
1 banana
1 tbsp of tahini paste
1 tsp of ginger powder
1 tsp of lemon juice

Method:

Blend all the ingredients together.
Serve chilled.
Top it with seeds as an additional topping.

(4) Turmeric latte

Ingredients :

½ tsp of ginger powder
1 tsp of turmeric powder
300 ml of milk (prefer according to your choice)
2 cardamom pods (elaichi)
1 tsp of manuka honey
2 tsp of extra virgin coconut oil
1 pinch of cinnamon powder

Method:

Take a cast iron pan, add milk, cinnamon powder, cardamom pods and bring it to boil.
Add rest of the ingredients and boil it for 10 mins
Serve hot and sprinkle some cardamom powder.

(5) Rainbow hummus

Ingredients :

250 grams of chickpeas (Kabuli Chana)
1 lemon juice
1 tbsp of tahini paste
1 tsp of salt
1 garlic clove
5 tbsp of olive oil

Method:

Blend all the ingredients in the food processor or with a hand blender till you make a creamy paste
Store it in the refrigerator.

(6) Tahini paste

Ingredients:

1 cup of sesame seeds
4 tbsps of olive oil
Pinch of rock salt

Method :

In a cast iron pan, add sesame seeds and toast it till it becomes light brown
Sesame seeds can burn quickly so make sure you are extra careful about it
Add sesame seeds to the food processor with 4 tbsps of olive oil.
Blend it till it becomes smooth
Make sure tahini is smooth, if required you can add some olive oil.

“If it doesn’t come out of the bowels, it will come out of your skin so make sure your gut is healthy”!

June 4, 2018 By Trishala Chopra 1 Comment

Know about your gut health! –Part 1

Gut health word cloud on a white background.

“All diseases begin in your gut”-Hippocrates

Why is it that we pay attention towards our digestion only when something goes wrong? Oxford dictionary defines,‘digestion’ as the person’s ability to digest the food. There is a whole physiology behind how the digestion takes place? But, what is more, important is, maintaining a good digestive health!

Have you heard about probiotics and prebiotics?

Probiotics are live bacteria which are good for health! I recently had a query where a person asked me bacteria is supposed to be harmful then how is it that you term this as good for health? This is when I started researching the world of bacteria to understand more and also be able to make others understand the goodness of bacteria.

Whenever you have stomach upset, curd rice is something which is always preferred. Curd rice is old-time grandma’s remedy. Have you ever wondered why curd is recommended? Well, curd has live bacteria which helps in settling your gut which helps in improving the stomach upset!

There are different types of microbes which work in different ways, some are good for the gut and some are not. These microbes together are termed as MICROBIOME.

Now let’s get into the depth of the topic!

Microbes are brilliant chemists which take up a small thing from our body and convert them into chemicals which are sometimes used for our body and sometimes they are not.

Gut-Bacteria

Healthy and unhealthy microbes

Healthy Microbes:

1. Firmicutes

* Firmicutes are microbes which are used in the fermentation of beer and wine.

* Firmicutes help in clearing up the toxic wastes

* These microbes are found in your gut and its main function in the gut is to help in digestion of fats in your diet.

Bacteroidetes

Bacteroidetes helps in maintaining the lean body and helps in reducing the inflammation in the gut.
They help in regulating immune responses which protects you against the autoimmune diseases (Autoimmune means body starts attacking its own cells)
Bacteroidetes helps in breaking down of undigested fibre which we obtain from vegetables.

Akkermansia

Akkermansia is a rare type of microbes found in the gut,
They don’t live on food remains.
They live on mucus which is a slimy substance that is secreted by the gut lining to protect itself.
It helps in reducing inflammation, so the count of akkermansia should be higher in your gut.

Christensenella

* This bacteria is inherited from your mother.

This bacteria helps in keeping your body lean in spite of poor diets.

Lactobacillus

This bacteria helps in lining your intestine to protect against harmful microbes.

It also helps in protecting the intestine from a fungal infection, heard about candida albicans?
Lactobacillus works like a pesticide on these pathogens.
Lactobacillus count in your gut will go down if you are on antibiotics which is why I always prescribe probiotics and prebiotics with lactobacillus with an antibiotic course.
It is a very popular probiotic!

Bifidobacterium

Bifidobacterium helps in breaking down the indigestible fibre in the body and also protects your intestines against harmful microbes.
This bacteria is inherited in you from your mother’s breast milk.
It is a very popular probiotic!

Unhealthy Microbes:

As I had mentioned earlier, if there are some microbes which can help in maintaining the gut health then there are many microbes which help in creating gut problems!

Let’s talk about the unhealthiest microbes:

Campylobacter

Campylobacter is a very common cause of food poisoning with symptoms of abdominal pain, severe diarrhoea, and vomiting.
Campylobacter is strong enough to be one of the reasons for miscarriage in women.
This harmful bacteria is found in raw chicken available in the supermarkets.
The most common mistake we do is washing the chicken thoroughly before cooking it. This makes the bacteria spread everywhere. The best technique is to rinse it with water from the top and cook it properly.

E. coli

Not every E.coli is harmful but there are some strains which can cause severe anaemia. They are also one of the leading causes of UTI (Urinary Tract Infections)
coli in the gut mostly comes from uncooked meat. Catching it up from a raw milk is also quite common.

Salmonella

Another common cause of food poisoning induced diarrhoea and stomach cramps are salmonella.
You will start getting the symptoms within 72 hours after swallowing this unhealthy bacteria and it can last up to a week.
Sometimes the food poisoning gets critical and hospitalization is required to recover from extreme dehydration caused by diarrhoea.
I am sure you must have heard about Salmonella typhi which causes typhoid which can be fatal if left untreated.

Clostridium difficile

This bacteria is always found in abundance in your gut lining which causes minor infections. If these minor infections flare up and start to give you symptoms, your doctor will give you a list of antibiotics to get rid of it. Because your healthy microbiome cannot cope up with those antibiotics, they are swiped out of the body which gives a chance to Clostridium difficile to capture all the gut space.

Clostridium difficile is a very antibiotic resistant bacteria so it’s not very easy for antibiotics to swipe this off.
Symptoms like watery stools, fever, and abdominal pain are common because of C.difficile flaring up.

Functions of healthy microbiome :

It helps in regulating your body weight. Microbes can actually decide how much energy your body extracts from different types of food you eat. If you are unable to lose weight, one of the main reasons could be unhealthy microbiome.
The microbiome helps in regulating your immune system. There was a research which proved that healthy microbiome helps in reducing the occurrence of cold and cough episodes. It also helps in reducing the inflammation of the body.
The microbiome helps in taking the bits of food which our body cannot digest and it actually converts them in hormone and chemicals.

How to make your healthy microbiome diverse in your body?

Please avoid antibiotics as much as you can because a week of antibiotic course can destroy your healthy microbiome for 3 weeks.
Increase your outdoor activities, try to open your house windows. It helps in increasing the diversity of healthy microbes
Include different types of seasonal fruits and vegetables in the diet.
Try to connect with nature whenever you can. Put your hands into the soil. This connects your body to healthy microbiomes.
Include foods rich in different healthy microbiomes as mentioned above.

Foods that nourish your gut:

(1). Olive oil

Healthiest fats.
Rich in polyphenols and antioxidants which helps in reducing the inflammation.
Extra virgin olive oil is good to try!

(2) Oily fish

Rich in good fats, omega 3
Anti-inflammatory benefits
Fish oil capsules available in the market are not as good as eating fish because of the poor quality. It might not give you the same effect as oily fish.

(3) Cocoa

Excellent source of flavonoids and polyphenols which helps in increasing the population of healthy gut bacteria!
It’s good for your cardiovascular system.
Always go for raw cocoa powder.

(4) Wine

Polyphenols are chemicals which are found in tea, coffee, wine, fruits, vegetables and dark chocolates. When you eat any of these foods, half of it passes through the small intestine to the large intestine where it is extremely beneficial to increase the population of healthy microbes.
Red wine helps in reducing the inflammation in your body.

PS: I normally get this question that how do you know about inflammation in your body? Well, there is a blood test which is most commonly done called as CRP- C reactive protein which gives you an idea of the levels of inflammation in your body. Research has shown that consumption of anti-inflammatory foods reduces inflammation by 45% in the body.

(5) Turmeric

Turmeric is a gut-friendly spice. There are other herbs and spices like thyme, oregano, basil, ginger, cumin which are having anti-inflammatory benefits but turmeric works in increasing the population of healthy microbes,
The best way to consume turmeric for gut health is 1 tsp of turmeric with ½ tsp of honey in 150 ml of lukewarm water before bed.
An active component of curcumin is also available in capsule form but make sure about the quality of curcumin used to prepare the product is genuine.

Foods to avoid for better gut health:

Sugar

Sugar is cheap which has an excellent addictive effect.
It increases the cravings for particular food which encourages the growth of unhealthy microbes in the guts. All these unhealthy microbes need more sugar to survive which increases the population of unhealthy microbes in the gut and decreases healthy microbes!

(2) Artificial sweeteners

They have a huge impact on your body, especially on your gut. It depletes the population of akkermansia (The healthy microbe which I have mentioned above!).
Addition of probiotics with artificial sweeteners might not give the required effect!

(3) Monosodium glutamate (MSG)

MSG or monosodium glutamate works as a leptin blocker. Leptin is a hormone which tells your brain “I am full”. That’s how you crave more foods which have MSG!

My next upcoming article will cover different probiotic and prebiotic sources, how to choose your probiotics and gut-friendly recipes!

To be continued……..

June 2, 2018 By Anusha Subramanian 1 Comment

“I am now more focused and there is the much-needed clarity in my health”

SWAROOP AND HIS MOM AT BKC run 10k

From being lazy and waking up at 10.30 am in the morning to crushing finish lines at various runs across the city for the last two years, he has surpassed his goals-beyond what he even thought possible! He is today a GOQii Champion and leads the Powai Chapter of GOQii Active Sunday. His mother accompanies him on Active Sundays. Here is Swarup Choghale success story, in his own words.

I was very active till I was in college. I was into a lot of adventure activities and Taekwondo. I wanted to join the army. I applied and got through the test but I failed in medical. They said I had a defective nose that was not suitable for high altitudes. But, I went and got my nose operated and tried again but, I still did not make it as they said this problem could not be rectified through a surgery. I gave up the idea of joining the army. I went ahead to do my CA and after passing out got a regular job. Once into a regular job, everything took a back seat and it only worked and work.

I seemed to have reached a personally unacceptable plateau, which I couldn’t improve on without devoting too much time to fitness in an already hectic lifestyle.

I currently am a fund accountant with a Mumbai based Hedge Fund. I work in shifts and due to this hectic work schedule my sleep and food habits were completely haywire and had taken a toll on me. I had no form of activity as I would wake up not before 10.30 am in the morning and I used to be so tired that I would laze around for a bit and then have a brunch and again leave for work. This routine continued for few years.

I was aware that I had to get back to a fitness regime to turn things around for myself and see some positive results. Unfortunately, how to achieve the necessary levels of fitness in a structured and progressive manner was something I was struggling to understand. I naturally presumed this would require a personal trainer, lots of time and money.

Then one day sometime last year, I was browsing news channels and I happened to watch Vishal Gondal’s interview on NDTV where he was talking about himself and how GOQii started.

After seeing that interview I could relate to Vishal’s story as I was also in the same state where I had a regular job, bad food habits-I ate whatever and whenever and I had no form of exercise and I was putting on weight. I didn’t realize how much my overall fitness had steadily and declined over the past few years. Then I went on the net and read more about GOQii and tried to understand what is GOQii and how it works?

After reading the introductory material, it was apparent to me that this was exactly what I needed. I needed a band to track my fitness also a personal coach or trainer who could help me keep track of my fitness at all levels. It was also clearly obvious that this was not only radically different approach from anything I had come across before.

Soon after I came across an advertisement that said if you spend Rs 1.5 lakh on your SBI Credit Card you can get a free 6 months GOQii subscription. I was quite taken by GOQii and the benefits it could provide. So I got all my family and friends and told them if they wanted to buy anything they could give me cash and I would buy it on my SBI credit card and I managed to shop for Rs 1.5 lakh in a month and I got a free 6-month subscription in May 2015. My coach is Heta Kothari and my health goal when I signed was to get into better shape. Get better waistline and hips.

I went for my first GOQii Active Sunday to Sion Fort and really liked what we did and I completely got hooked on to it. I decided I will never miss an active Sunday. I also met many similar people like me at this event who in their middle age (mid-30s and early 40s and 50s) were trying to get into fitness.

Sundays have never been better Swarup training with Goqii at Active Sunday

Thereafter my first big event was to enrol for the 100 km Oxfam trail walk in November 2015. I completed the trail walk successfully. Soon after the trail walk I took to running and was consecutively running marathons. I took part in every run that came my way. I did my first 21 km than Half Marathon and prior to that the Powai Marathon 10 km run, followed by IFS BKC run.

Since getting on the GOQii platform the results have been nothing short of outstanding. Today, my day to day routine has drastically changed. I am part of a group called ‘you2can run’ so on alternate days I go for a run (6-7 km) and other days I go to the gym to work out. My workout lasts for about an hour daily. My coach has been guiding me very well.

On an average, I clock 10000 steps daily and on weekends I would easily do over 20,000 steps. I also have a trekking group with whom I go trekking on weekends.

Besides getting active, the biggest benefit that has come through because of GOQii is the impact it has had on my mental wellbeing. Today, I can handle any stressful situation very well. I am mentally better prepared now. For me, it has been a paradigm shift in my approach to fitness, nutrition, sleep etc. It’s something revolutionary that it completely changed my understanding of the subject.

On the nutrition front, I have been health conscious but did not know a whole lot of things. I did not know that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. I used to never have breakfast as I would always get up late. Now I make it a point to have breakfast daily. I got to know when to eat fruits and when not to. Have frequent but small meals. Never had salads but, now in mid-afternoon meals, I have salads.

Earlier, I would not have proper sleep because of which I would feel drowsy at work. Now that does not happen as I get at least 7 hours of sleep daily. Over the last one year of using GOQii, I have achieved my goals and also learnt a lot in the process. This year my goal is to run 21 km consistently and after that do a full marathon (42Km) and I am working towards that.

My journey has not been for too long, but certainly, GOQii has changed my attitude towards life. I have started enjoying this stage of middle age. With all the activities that I am doing, I am excited and positive. The change and the positive attitude is reflecting in my work and at home

The one person who has been happy and also inspired by me is my Mother. She is 65 years of age and she runs along with me. She has been participating in the 5 km runs and has also started going to the gym to work out.

What does coach Heta Kothari have to say about Swarup?

Swarup has been my player since May 2015. Right from the intro call I learnt that he is someone who loves exercising and the outdoors. On and off he had been into gym workouts, taekwondo and earlier was with NCC as well. His long-term goal is to run a full marathon and improve his fitness levels. We started with working on regularizing his exercise, making it smarter (interval training) rather than extensive and then graduated to a gym routine.

Alongside, his diet needed a few tweaks which we worked on one after the other; small changes like 1) Replacing proprietary drinks with healthier nuts 2) Regular breakfast (earlier he would skip this important meals, at times) 3) Portion control (cutting down on fried stuff particularly) 4) Trying to make him eat more variety 5) Clarifying his concepts of carbs (there were myths he associated with) 6) Adding a Pre workout meal to his schedule 7) Adequately increasing his protein intake 8) Adding fibre to his meals, multigrain, veggies, salads and fruits 9) Adding 2 healthy snacks to his meal schedule All these changes he has beautifully adapted to. With regards to workouts my challenge right from the beginning was never to push him towards exercising, rather it was (and still remains) to get him into a structured and a dedicated schedule. From the first week that he came on board, he has always made it to the ACTIVE SUNDAY events.

2 months ago he wrote to me, ”Sundays never felt better, a good workout, better breakfast and best sleep!”. Treks, outdoor camping, river rafting, waterfall rappelling….he has done it all while on board with GOQii. Several months later one Sunday I messaged him “Did you make it to the Active Sunday event today?” he wrote back “ It’s ingrained in my system now, thanks for the push”…that’s when I knew we have made a lifestyle change here. Post this he has been a part of The Powai Marathon 10 Km run, The Oxfam Trailwalker Event, and he has completed The Thane Hiranandani HALF MARATHON!!!

In his own words, “I am now more focused and there is the much-needed clarity in my health.