Archives for November 2018

November 29, 2018 By Navnee Garg 2 Comments

QUICK BREAKFAST IDEAS FOR BUSY MORNINGS

Breakfast, widely considered as the day’s most important meal, is often skipped due to various reasons. Usually, mornings in most households are a little chaotic, as people roll out of their beds, feeling hungry. This is because of fasting all through the night with the need to eat something good, to get refuelled for an active morning.

Though patience is a virtue, it’s not true for many, especially picky eaters. Difficulties add up when breakfast options are limited and almost the same thing is served every day! So here are some quick healthy and nutritious breakfast ideas to satisfy your taste buds each morning.

1. Omelette Muffin: Unlike scrambled eggs that have become a little boring, this is identical to an omelette, but in the shape of a muffin. You can make a batch earlier night and simply grab it.

omlette muffin
RECIPE:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or lines with paper liners.
Beat eggs together in a large bowl. Mix cheese, shredded chicken, bell pepper, onion, salt, black pepper and water to the beaten eggs.
Bake in the preheated oven until muffins are set in the minute for 18-20 minutes.

Banana Bites

banana bites

This is one of the quickest breakfast sandwiches with or without bread! Simply use banana slices to sandwich your seed butter or nut butter of your choice.

RECIPE

Toast whole/multigrain bread slices.
Apply peanut butter/ seed butter of your choice on it.
Slice banana into small pieces and place it on the spread.
Sandwich with another toasted bread.

WHOLE GRAIN PANCAKES

flour pancakes

Almost every family loves pancakes which can be kept in the refrigerator for microwaving during busy mornings.

RECIPE:

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup milk
3 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola oil)

Add wheat flour and milk to a blender and blend on high for 3 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth,.
Cook on a hot greased griddle for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. (The batter will be very thin and you may start to question my judgment, but a few minutes later you would see they will puff up, and perfectly light and tender.)
Serve hot or prepare the batter ready in the fridge and toss it in the morning for hot steaming pancakes.

FRENCH TOAST STICKS

french toast

You only need to make the French toasts, cut each of them into four strips and serve with the dip of your choice.

RECIPE:

Whisk the eggs and skimmed milk together in a bowl.
Dip each piece of bread into the egg mixture and then press gently into the cereal, turning to coat completely.
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat, cook the coated breadsticks in melted butter until golden, about 4 minutes each side.
Serve with a healthy dip such as Strawberry Yogurt Dipping Sauce.

5. OATS AND HONEY BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE

oats

A perfect glass to start your day by just blending all things together.

RECIPE:

Add ripe pear, ripped and peeled banana, boiled porridge oats, honey, yogurt in a blender and blend on high 5 minutes.
Add ice cubes if required.
Garnish with Roasted oats.

BENEFITS OF HEALTHY BREAKFAST

Weight Control: It can lower your hunger throughout the day and help you choose healthy foods at other meals.
Improved Concentration: It keeps you productive and alert throughout the morning, by improving your attention span, creativity, problem-solving skills and concentration.
Sticking to a Healthy Diet: When you eat a healthy breakfast regularly, you are more likely to stick to a healthier day. It acts as an encouragement to have the next meal balanced too.

November 28, 2018 By Ranveer Allahbadia 2 Comments

How Vegetarians can put on Muscles?

PS : By bodybuilding, I don’t mean bodybuilder bodybuilding. Bodybuilding is simply putting on lean muscle and becoming a STRONGER individual. So ladies, this topic applies to you as well.

India has a population of over 500 million vegetarians. When I began my fitness YouTube channel-BeerBiceps, I promised to put out content for INDIANS especially. And, even though the other 800 million of us maybe enjoying our chicken once in a while, our diets are PRIMARILY vegetarian. We are possibly THE MOST vegetarian country in the world.

But, when you combine the worlds of muscle building and pure vegetarian food, the muscle-building game definitely becomes a little more difficult, but NOT impossible. If you’re smart about it there’s a way of building muscle without harming animals!

GROUND RULES THAT A VEGETARIAN BODYBUILDER MUST KNOW:-

1)You CAN BUILD MUSCLE with a pure vegetarian diet. Animal welfare for the win! Too many non-vegetarians in India keep dissing their vegetarian friends, WITHOUT being informed about the scientific aspects of dieting.

2)YOU NEED PROTEIN in your food to build muscle. And, standard Indian food is unfortunately very low in protein. Standard Indian meals (Roti, rice, subzi, dal) contain VERY little protein. Dal/Sprouts alone, WILL NOT help you put on muscle.

3)I don’t see GREAT vegetarian lifters or bodybuilders in this country, primarily due to either a lack of knowledge or wrong knowledge. So get educated about it first. It IS very possible. Get smarter to get STRONGER.

These are the introductory points. Let’s get straight to VEGETARIAN STRENGTH SCIENCE.

1^st thing you need to understand is BODYBUILDING & STRENGTH BUILDING are primarily 2 dietary factors – Calories & Protein.

1^st-your calories:Calorie levels vary depending on your height, weight, age and activity level. There’s no fixed number. If you want to get a rough estimate of how much you need, you can google a calorie calculator. If you don’t want to use too much math, you can go by a rough estimate. Look at how your daily diet affects your weight. Keep a track of your numbers on the weighing scale & see how your weight responds to your diet.

MAINTENANCE CALORIE LEVEL:If on a particular day, you go above your MAINTENANCE calorie level, you’ll put on weight that day. If you stay below it, you will lose weight.

If your goal is to build LEAN muscle, your job is to stay JUST above your maintenance calorie level. This is the case for all vegetarians, UNLESS you’re overweight. If you’re overweight, your job is to stay just below your maintenance calories for most of the time. But at the same time, you NEED to hit your PROTEIN goal. More on protein later.

How should you fill up these calories?

CONSUME a LOT of food.

Now this doesn’t mean that you go to your local general store and buy all the lays, maggi and coke. They’re high calorie but you need to fill your daily calories with CLEAN food.

As far as possible try filling this with protein rich vegetarian food. Don’t consume too much fat, but consume protein and good amounts of clean, complex carbohydrate (eg. Oats, sweet potato, wheat, brown rice).

The PROTEIN game

2^nd Get educated about COUNTING YOUR PROTEIN. In order to build even the slightest form of muscle, the rough estimate that gymmers take is around 0.4 into your body weight in pounds.

So if you weigh 50 kg (110lbs), you need have AT LEAST 0.6×110 = 66g of protein

But, if you want GREAT results, you should be going for around at LEAST a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. A 110lbs person should have 110g of protein.

SMART FOOD SELECTION

One of the REAL downsides to being a vegetarian is that MOST vegetarian protein sources are considered “incomplete protein”.

Any protein derived from animals – Chicken, eggs, fish is a COMPLETE protein. When you break down a molecule of COMPLETE protein, it is made up of ALL the essential amino acids. Without getting too deep into the science of it – In order to build muscle optimally, you need to consume all 9 essential amino acids through your protein consumption.

Animal protein – Has all the essential amino acids: It’s a complete source of protein. Optimal for building muscle.

Plant protein – Does NOT have all the essential amino acids. It’s an incomplete source of protein. Different plant sources will give you different amino acid profiles.

To counter this, you need to VARY your protein sources. So have dals, beans, pulses, mushrooms, leafy veggies, tofu and nuts!

Also, your best friends as a vegetarian strength junkie are :-

1)Unprocessed Soya – THE ONLY Complete plant derived protein

2)Paneer – India’s biggest gift to the world of fitness.

DAIRY IS YOUR FRIEND

Amp up your intake of paneer cheese, milk, curd! The only issue is – with dairy, you’re also taking in a lot of fat, so you need to keep a tab on how your dairy intake is affecting your calorie intake. Having skimmed milk dairy products is a great way to counter this problem.

JUST KEEP AT IT

As much as I want to promote vegetarian bodybuilding, the truth of the matter is that in most cases, putting on muscle as a vegetarian is a slower process than it is for your meat fuelled counterparts. But in my experience, the harder you work for something, the sweeter the result is. In this article, I’ve only touched upon the basics you need to know as a vegetarian strength enthusiast.

Your job is to educate yourself further and keep at it with your exercise regime. Things will only work if YOU DO!

November 23, 2018 By Trishala Chopra 12 Comments

Ice therapy or Heat therapy- which one should you use after a minor post workout injury or soreness

Whether you run a marathon or go for a trek, you come back with some amount of soreness of the muscles. This is not a factor of only a marathon or a trek, even after your strenuous gym workout there is a possibility of soreness.

Just recently, the players who ran a marathon had some minor aches and pains in their calf muscles. Before approaching me, they had already applied some pain relief ointments but it wasn’t relieving enough. They then got in touch with me to suggest them some kind of instant relief from their ‘Post-Marathon Pain’

My instant reply to them was,

“Drink lots of water & stretch yourself”

This is inevitable, both of this is very important but for a minor post workout injury or soreness, there has to be some kind of support system.

There are 2 things which is commonly used for relieving pain:

Cryotherapy (cold therapy) or more commonly called as ice therapy.
Thermotherapy (Heat therapy)

Which therapy needs to be used completely depends on the kind of injury.

Here are some markers which might be useful for the readers!

What happens when you apply ice?

Our body has skin receptors which pick up different sensations. Different sensations include touch, pressure, pain and temperature.
If you study more about the skin receptors, you will get aware that our body has more of cold receptors than heat receptors.
Whenever you apply ice, your skin activates the cold receptors and once they get activated, they block the sensation of the pain.
After an injury, the area might be red and swollen. Applying ice will help in reducing or preventing the inflammatory response. Ice causes vasoconstriction (narrowing of blood vessels) which reduces blood flow temporarily.

When should you use ice therapy?

If the injury is sudden and acute then ice therapy can be used. Ice will help in preventing the swelling and giving pain relief by reducing the blood flow to that area.

For example: –

If you sprain your ankle during a marathon or trekking or while working out in the gym; apply a pack of ice to reduce the swelling. The earlier you apply ice, better would be the effect in healing.

Ice pack can also be applied on soft tissue injuries.

For example: –

Applying ice after a strenuous workout will help in relieving the muscle soreness and aid the recovery process.

Try using ice for 4 times day for 2 days, if the pain persists you can visit your doctor or physiotherapist.

When you should avoid ice therapy?

“Ice is good, but not always!”

Avoid applying ice on open wounds.
If you are a high B.P patient, avoid icing on the shoulder and near the neck region. It will raise up the systolic and diastolic pressure because of decrease in blood flow.
Do not apply ice before a workout but if your workout consist of stretches for healing the acute injury then apply ice will help in faster recovery.
If you are having issues with blood circulation, avoid icing.
If you have stiff joints, applying ice will increase the stiffness.
If the pain becomes chronic that is more than 72 hours, icing is not a good option as now ice is not needed to stop the blood flow.
If you have a low back pain for a long time, icing won’t work.

For how long should you continue with the ice therapy session?

For a minor post workout injury, 15 mins is the most optimal time.
To deal with acute soft tissue injury, 10 mins’ session is optimal.
Deeper the injury, longer is the icing time. For example, hamstring injury might need longer icing time then injury on the finger.
Be careful about the icing duration because excess of icing might cause pain due to lack of blood flow. If you have sensitive skin, applying ice directly to the skin might not be a good option.

How to use ice therapy?

Ice packs (frozen packets) are the best and most portable option as it will adapt and mould to the body part accordingly.
You can also hold ice in a towel and apply it on the injury. The towel here will give bee an addition to compression.
For the people who have sensitive skin, they can keep a barrier between the skin and ice. Thin cloth or light cotton can help in this case.

This was all about cryotherapy which is most commonly used, but what about thermotherapy (heat therapy)? Here is some basic information about the same!

What happens when you give heat therapy?

Heat therapy is also used for relieving pain and aid the healing process.
When you apply heat to the injury, unlike ice therapy which first causes vasoconstriction and then vasodilation whereas heat therapy directly causes vasodilation which increases the blood flow to the injured part.

When should you use heat therapy?

You can use heat therapy for chronic pain. After 72 hours, once the injury has crossed the acute stage and the inflammation is reduced, heat can be giving to aid the healing process.
Heating can reduce your stiffness as well because it increases the blood flow to the stiff part making it more flexible.

In what cases, you should avoid heat therapy?

Do not apply heat to the fresh injury. This can cause increase of blood flow which can increase the inflammation.
Never apply heat to the places where it is swollen. Only ice should be used till the swelling has come down.

For how long should be the heat therapy session?

18-20 mins is the most optimal time for heat therapy session but this doesn’t remain the same for all.
It entirely depends on the type of heating method used.
It is advisable to keep a barrier between the skin and the heat pack to avoid the direct contact and burning sensation.
Comfort level is very important in heat therapy sessions. You should get optimal heat, excess of it might make you uncomfortable.

How to apply heat therapy?

Whole body heat therapy like steam, sauna and jacuzzi can also be used to give you complete relaxation.
Applying heat pack without direct contact to the injured part is a great way to aid the healing process.

This basic knowledge on Ice and Heat therapy should help everyone who is working out or running a marathon or goes for a trek very often. So, next time before reaching out to any painkillers or pain relief ointments; reach out to the things mentioned in this article! But if you are not sure about your injury, it is always better to get in touch with your trainer, doctor or any physiotherapist.

November 15, 2018 By Dr. Viral Thakkar 5 Comments

Turmeric- ‘Haldi’- for Health

Bablu disliked ‘Haldi Dhoodh’ (Turmeric Milk) to no extent. He could endure anything but turmeric powder in his milk. But alas, his mother insisted and as a child he could not do much about it. Bablu’s mother believed that turmeric is a wonder ‘drug’ for numerous ailments. As he got a bit older he also got aware and realised during winters he never succumbed to common ailments like cough and cold. His immune system was stronger than many of his friends. He enjoyed his health! But, always wondered how!

Turmeric is derived from the rhizomes of the plant Curcuma longa, which is a member of the ginger family. It has the compounds with medicinal properties which is Curcumin. Even though Curcumin is 3% of turmeric, the use of turmeric is not lessened in anyway. Curcumin is the most active component of turmeric and has powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This is precisely the reason that ‘Haldi’(turmeric) finds a special place in India (Ayurveda) for many ailments.

Turmeric is Anti- inflammatory

Turmeric contains more than two dozen anti-inflammatory compounds including six different COX-2-inhibitors (the COX-2 enzyme promotes pain, swelling and inflammation).
External application of turmeric is beneficial for sprains and swellings because of the Curcumin compound.
Due to its anti-inflammatory properties and pain relieving properties, Curcumin and turmeric is used for arthritic pain.
Because inflammation is closely linked to tumor promotion, Curcumin with its potent anti-inflammatory property is anticipated to exert chemopreventive effects on carcinogenesis. Hence, the past few decades have witnessed intense research devoted to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of Curcumin.

Turmeric Prevents

The antibacterial and anti-viral action of curcumin makes it the best remedy to treat cough and cold naturally. The anti-inflammatory action of curcumin aids in relieving the chest congestion that develops in people suffering with chronic cough. It is advised to include turmeric in a daily diet during winters to prevent viral and bacterial infection. The dosage could be –one tsp turmeric with a glass of warm milk.One can also have a 1-2 tsps of turmeric powder without mixing it for the same effect.

Turmeric Heals

Curcuma has natural antiseptic and antibacterial properties and can be used as effective disinfectant in case of cuts and minor burns. Turmeric also helps repair damaged skin and may be used to treat psoriasis and other inflammatory skin conditions.
Turmeric with other constituents has a great effect- Having haldi (Turmeric) mixed with mustard oil and onion juice every hour stops rectal bleeding in piles in most of the cases.
As a rich source of iron, turmeric is valuable for anemia.
Curcuma has protective action on intestinal flora. Curcuma is beneficial in Crohn’s disease (an ailment that affects the digestive tract) and ulcerative colitis.

Turmeric Boosts General Health

Curcumin Detoxifies the liver- It helps in stimulating bile production in the liver and encouraging excretion of bile via the gallbladder, which improves the body’s ability to digest fats.
It balances cholesterol levels, fights allergies, stimulates digestion, boosts immunity and enhances the complexion.
Studies suggest that curcumin has several properties that could make it effective at preventing Alzheimer’s disease.

Turmeric is Anti- cancer

Curcumin powder mixed with pure cow’s ghee(Clarified Butter) might wade away cancer cells in most cases and also regenerates new cells in the body.
Curcuma has been demonstrated to inhibit tumor growth and stimulate apoptosis, an intracellular mechanism for cells of all types to “kill” themselves. It neutralizes those substances and conditions which can cause cancer.
It directly helps a cell retain its integrity if threatened by carcinogens.

Turmeric is an Effective Cosmetic

Turmeric paste mixed with aloe vera, water and milk will clear your skin as well. Turmeric mixed with gram flour (besan) is an effective & cheap scrub, and is known to clear tan.

So if you say yes to your health, haldi (Turmeric) has to find some space in your scheme of affairs!