Archives for September 2018

September 29, 2018 By GOQii Editor Leave a Comment

WHOLEHEARTEDLY HEART HEALTHY

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Death rates due to heart diseases continue to rise in India, claiming 1.7 million lives in 2016, as per the Global Burden of Disease report released exactly a year ago in September 2017. Recently, a national daily in India published a report stating that deaths in India due to heart disease have risen by 36% over the past 26 years. GOQii India fit report released early this year finds that there has been a rise in the number of lifestyle diseases among Indians. Of these, an increased number of people have high cholesterol with data showing an increase from 9.4% in 2016 to 10.1% in 2017.

Given the above statistics, Heart health is something that needs immediate attention. Today is World Heart Day and let us all be responsible and consciously make simple changes to our life to improve our heart health. In this blog, we have jotted down few simple lifestyle tweaks that you can implement in your life if you already have not done so.

Love your couch a little lesser:

After a hectic workday at your desk, we love to get cosy on the couch, even though it isn’t the best thing to do. Did you know that people working desk jobs are more prone to contracting a heart disease than the others? You might begin to see the connection here. Yes, being physically active has a big impact on achieving a healthy heart. Start slow, even a short walk after every meal will help you in many ways. Along with improved blood circulation, factors like obesity and blood pressure can also be controlled by giving your body the exertion it craves.

2. Toss the butt for good:

Kicking the butt is always tougher than picking up smoking. Smokers who try to quit, regress many times before leaving it completely and this is totally natural. But the determination to come back on a healthy track is what really matters. If you think you can’t do it alone, try counselling or other methods like nicotine patches, nicotine gum etc. Forget heart health, if you want to be healthy in general, the time has come to say goodbye to your cigarettes.

3. Stop stressing out:

We totally understand why you think it is impossible, considering our busy schedules and the endless deadlines which are caught in a loop. The problem is that high amounts of stress cause strain on the heart due to the release of adrenaline, making the heart beat faster and also narrowing your arteries. It also harms your heart indirectly by contributing to factors like blood pressure, cholesterol and obesity. To keep your stress levels in check, choose a program such as yoga, meditation etc. that’s convenient and suitable for you and stop stress from overpowering you.

4. Keep the weight under control:

Overweight and underweight conditions like obesity or anorexia attract heart diseases easily. So calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) to check for the category you fall in and if you do not fall under the normal category, you need to gain or reduce some weight. More than being healthy, a change like this will boost your self-confidence and help you feel more comfortable in your own skin.

5. Eat Healthy To Stay Healthy:

This is one of the most important steps towards achieving a healthy heart. At the end of the day, it is what we eat that constitutes the state of our body. Most importantly, stay clear of saturated fats and oil as this increases the level of bad cholesterol in the blood, which is extremely bad for your heart. Foods like red meat and processed food with high sugar and corn syrup content are all to be frowned upon, to achieve a healthy heart. Eat a lot of fruits, vegetables and lean protein foods like skinless chicken and fish (not fried). This not only helps in maintaining a healthy heart but also increases your quality of life.

Alcohol Consumption:

In the book “The Heart Truth” by Dr Aashish Contractor, it is stated that alcohol may be beneficial in raising good cholesterol (HDL) as well as other anti-oxidant properties when consumed moderately. If you are someone who hasn’t consumed alcohol before, please don’t start now thinking it’s good for your heart! But if you are someone who enjoys a drink or two, then do so in moderation. Dr Aashish personally defines moderate as one or two drinks, three days per week and the optimum amount of liquor to be 45ml a drink. It is important to remember that excessive consumption can cause harm and damage your heart and other organs. So drink responsibly folks!

Stay positive, Stay Motivated:

Pessimism lurks in each and every one of us. Sometimes, we decide to give up not realising how close we have come to our goals. When maintaining a healthy heart or being healthy in general, it is very important to know what you want and be clear about it. Self-doubting is natural but steering through that phase keeping a positive mind towards it is difficult. Don’t be another brick in the wall, be the one to achieve and prove it is possible. GOQii wishes the best for all of you on this World Heart Day!

September 20, 2018 By Navnee Garg Leave a Comment

5 signs you’re not getting enough Protein

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The food market is constantly advertising about adding protein to all edibles, and this might mislead you into thinking that you are consuming an abundance of this key micronutrient in your diet. This might not be the actual scenario and a lack of protein may be ruining your health and your effort in the gym.

While protein requirement varies for every individual depending upon body weight and activity levels, there is no doubt that an adequate amount of protein keeps the body lean and preserves muscles strength as we age. If you are unsure about the amount of protein you are getting and wondering if it’s enough to fuel your fitness goals, here are a few ways to know.

Your hair starts Thinning

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Hair thinning is a major concern these days and it haunts both genders equally.

But why? And how is protein linked to it? So, here is the answer. If you don’t nourish your body with adequate protein, then it looks for “non-essential” body parts like hair to pull protein from. The body needs nutrients for the basic functioning. Once your hair is deprived of the nutrient it needs, it starts thinning and even falling out. Next time when you observe hair fall or thinning, consume a high protein diet.

2.Constant Injuries

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Injuries, as we all know, are barriers we have to overcome amidst our fitness journey. But why do people get injured so frequently? Let’s solve the query. Apart from muscle loss, a lack of protein in diet precipitates several perils such as loss of bone mass and osteoporosis. The body tends to face difficulty in absorbing calcium which most likely will make you prone to injuries. This is the reason why we lack stamina during high-intensity workouts. So, if you are constantly injured, you may need to increase your protein intake. Some rich sources of protein are Seafood, white meat, eggs and green vegetables. Hog on them to keep the doctor away.

3. Workout Doesn’t Entail Results

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It takes a lot of dedication and effort to wake up each morning and workout. Still, the scale in the weighing machine is not changing? So, here’s the answer to “But why?” Protein is crucial for building new muscle mass and also important in sustainable energy and motivation. It adds up the strength to recover the muscles post workout. A low protein diet may make you suffer muscle atrophy which is a condition when your body starts cannibalizing the tissue for fuel. If you don’t serve your muscle composition with adequate protein, no matter how much you work out, the results will always be below your expectation. Therefore, always consume a protein-rich pre/post workout meal for faster and better results.

4. Unexpected Anxiety and Food Cravings

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Do you often lash out at your co-worker or others around you? This is not always stressing. Let’s dig deeper. Serotonin is a hormone that regulates calmness, and protein plays a vital role in helping the brain synthesize serotonin. Also, if you don’t consume enough protein, your body causes spikes and crashes of insulin, resulting in a craving for carb-rich snacks. Your body’s demand for biscuits and other oily snacks is not because of taste but because of lack of protein. Serotonin also helps in regulating the spike of insulin in your blood, so a lack of serotonin will result in imbalanced amounts of insulin in the blood. So, if you are unable to tame your temper or are craving for greasy and unhealthy snacks, it could be a sign of protein deficiency. When you feel anxious next time, you know what you need.

September 17, 2018 By Sweta Karia Leave a Comment

All you need to know about DENGUE

How often do you come across people suffering from Dengue? I came across a lot many cases around recently so I thought to pen down a little piece of Information that can help you prevent and recover from Dengue.

Most of us are unaware of what Dengue is except for the fact that it is associated with fever.

The name Dengue originated from the Swahili word for “bone-breaking fever” or the word for “the walk of a Dandie” in Spanish. Dengue virus belongs to family Flaviviridae, having four serotypes that are transmitted by mosquitoes of Aedesaegypti species.

In recent years, the spread of unplanned urbanization, with associated substandard housing, overcrowding and deterioration in water, sewage and waste management systems, has created ideal conditions for increased transmission of the dengue virus in tropical urban centers.

As estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) approximately 50 to 100 million infections of Dengue to be seen each year worldwide.

Symptoms of Dengue fever:

It causes a wide spectrum of illness from mild asymptomatic illness to severe fatal dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome.

Symptoms, which usually begin four to six days after infection and last for up to 10 days, may include sudden high fever, severe headaches, severe joint and muscle pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, skin rash, mild bleeding ( such as bleeding nose, gums), blood pressure drops down as the circulation of blood in the vessels is also affected.

A decrease in the platelet count is also observed after 3 days of the starting of the fever.

In the case of having severe infection, viral reproduction rate gets increased and the vital organs like bone marrow and liver are affected.

As the old adage goes “PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE”!!

Let’s take a glance to the preventive measures:

1) Stay away from heavily populated residential areas, if possible.

2) Use mosquito repellents, vaporizing mats, mosquito coils.

3) Wear appropriate clothing: Minimize areas of exposed skin by wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants tucked into socks.

4) Use bed nets during sleeping and tuck them properly under the mattress.

5) Make sure window and door screens are secure and free of holes.

6) Eliminating or avoiding stagnant, standing water where the mosquitoes can reproduce are some of the effective strategies to prevent it.

7) Maintain proper Hygiene and Sanitation.

Treatment:

This viral disease being self-limited, adequate hydration and pain control can help the person through the infection.

Also in severe variations patients often require hospitalizations and intensive care measures.

However, most of the Doctors prefer home remedies for Dengue fever.

Home remedies for Dengue:

As such there is no prescribed diet for Dengue, but one can follow the mentioned home remedies for quick recovery along with the alleviation of the symptoms.

1) Water: This is of utmost important as extreme dehydration is very prominent in Dengue. Water can heal symptoms like headache, muscle cramps and furthermore help to eliminate toxins from the body.

2) Papaya leaf juice or Papaya leaf extract: They have an ability to increase the platelets in bone marrow. Here is the way to use them: Wash the leaves, take out the center vein and crush leaves in a grinder with adding little bit of water and consume every 6 hours daily.

3) Neem leaves: Steeping the leaves and drinking its brew helps to increase the platelet and WBC count thereby improving the body’s immunity.

4) Carrot Juice: Taking 2-3 spoons of carrot juice having mixed with beetroot juice twice a day helps to boost up the count of platelet count very soon.

5) Omega 3 rich foods like walnuts, flaxseeds, fish boost your immune system.

6) Fresh Fruits and Veggies typically orange juice, amla juice, and grapefruit can promote the antibody production, release the toxins, stimulates cellular repair because of Vitamin C content.

7) Eating Garlic: Chewing two cloves of garlic or drinking hot garlic vegetable soup can decrease the multiplication of viruses.

8) Eating a well- balanced diet with majorly focusing on green leafy veggies can ward off the infection.

9) Also a simple solution to the monsoon Illness is to boost up our immunity by our popularly known

“DadjijikaKadha- Grandma’s home remedy concoction”. You can check out this link on how to prepare the concoction:

Decoction Syrup (Kadha) – Out of Grandma’s books

10) Most importantly REST. The more your rest, the better the production of platelets.

11) Since it is an Infection, have cooked vegetables instead of raw.

Foods to be avoided:

First and foremost, stay away from unhealthy food like refined sugars, junk food and processed food. Having these foods can cause drop in platelet count.

Secondly, try to avoid the food which is oily, spicy and salty. I know it may spoil the taste of your mouth, but lime juice plays the trick here.

Thirdly, caffeine and alcohol should be avoided to prevent dehydration.

Lastly, avoid meat as it is difficult to digest.

So let’s prevent ourselves from Dengue before we catch hold of it!

September 15, 2018 By Neha Morche Leave a Comment

The Biological clock- Is it ticking?

You must have heard many say ‘biological clock is ticking’. Did you ever know what is the phenomenon behind biological clock is? Biological clock is nothing but an internal mechanism which controls the rhythm of the activities and rest within 24 hours.

Why do we sleep, eat, and wake up, clear bowels at the same time daily? We call it a routine. Basically, it is a Biological clock that has been set to our body over the years. That’s how our body reacts or starts giving us signal at a specific time. A “master clock” in the brain coordinates all the body clocks so that they are in synch. It is nothing but a group of nerve cells in the brain located in the hypothalamus.

Two internal systems interact to regulate when we sleep and when we are awake. These systems monitor our need for sleep based on how long we have been awake that’s how it counterbalances with each other. However, because they operate independently, they can become misaligned by external factors as light and temperature, suggesting that they are somehow caused by the external changes. Disruption to daily rhythms usually has a negative effect in the short term.

Studies have also shown that light has a direct effect on human health because of the way it influences the circadian rhythms. Research has been finding that the body’s clock is responsible for more than just sleep and wakefulness. Other systems, like hunger, mental alertness, and mood, stress, heart function, and immunity also operate on a daily rhythm.

Why the biological clock becomes disrupted in certain people, or naturally with age, is not completely clear. There are many reasons for our body clocks to go out of sync, which probably involves a combination of genetic predisposition and lifestyle choices, such as alcohol consumption.

Environmental disruptions to the body’s clock

Jet Lag

‘Living out of your suitcase’ is a phrase we often use for people who travel a lot. Constant travelling outside of the country is a prime example of how we can disrupt our own body clock. When jet lag sets in, we feel disoriented, foggy, and sleepy at the wrong times of the day because, after changing time zones, our body clock tells us it’s one time and the outside environment tells us it’s another. In fact, jet lag can be considered one type of circadian rhythm disorder. It can be treated simply by allowing the body to adjust to the new time, although it may take several days for external cues (light) to help the internal clock catch up or fall back with its new cycle.

Working in Shifts

Working in shifts is another example of how we can get ourselves off-routine, and this too can develop into a circadian rhythm disorder over the long term. People who work the night shift not only have a hard time with their sleep patterns (feeling sleepy at work or experiencing insomnia during the day), but other systems in their bodies can also feel the effects and they can be chronic. It’s not clear exactly why this connection exists, but weight gain or metabolic changes may be involved.

Biological and genetic disruptions and their implications on health

The Rhythm of the Heart

The heart is one organ that, although it can keep time by itself to some degree, it relies a lot on the brain’s biological clock for cues. For years doctors and researchers have noticed that heart problems like fatal arrhythmias are more likely to occur at certain times of the day. It can occur wither in the early morning and to a lesser degree or in the evening hours. Taking blood pressure medication in the evening seems to improve its effectiveness because it works with the body’s circadian rhythms.

Immunity and Vaccinations

Most of us have experienced being more susceptible to getting sick when sleep-deprived. The reason for this appears to be that certain chemicals responsible for immune function, like cytokines, wax and wane throughout the day and sleep deprivation deprives us of their best effects. Body rhythms don’t just enhance vaccine’s ability to provide immunity; they can affect the body’s ability to battle infection on its own.

Rhythm and Moods

Our internal clocks controls whether we feel up or down emotionally. People with mood disorders like depression, bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) have altered circadian rhythms. In fact, sleep disturbances, both sleeping too much and too little, are one of the key symptoms of depression and other mood disorders.

The relationship between body rhythms and mood is an intricate one, and it has to do with how the brain chemical serotonin fluctuates in relation to the light-dark cycle and throughout the year as the days become longer and shorter.

The circadian rhythm-mental health connection has also been linked to disease states like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s, and even autism spectrum disorder. Researchers are finding that disrupted daily rhythms can be good predictors for the development of mild cognitive impairment that comes with age, and even for dementia.

Keeping Time

Paying attention to the body’s natural rhythms is probably more important to our health than we realize. It’s not just sleep deprivation that affects our well-being, but it’s also the alteration of our biological rhythms that can interfere with so many body functions, making us more prone to health problems like infection, mood problems, and even heart disease. But keeping your schedule on track as much as possible is probably the best advice.

Avoid disruptions to your eat-sleep cycles. Practice good sleep hygiene, and stick to a sleep schedule that works well for your body to keep the system in its natural rhythm. Turning in a little earlier, cutting back on caffeine late in the day, and saving that last bit of work for the morning rather than staying late up to finish it, can make a big difference in how your internal clock functions and in how you feel.

Our clocks influence alertness, hunger, metabolism, fertility, mood and other physiological conditions. For this reason, clock dysfunction is associated with various disorders, including insomnia, diabetes and depression. There’s only so much we can do until our body and its clock are in equilibrium again.

So, watch your clock and maintain the rhythm!!