Archives for June 2020

June 30, 2020 By Neha Sharma 2 Comments

Tips To Reduce Bloating And Gas In The Stomach

Bloating and gas are the most common discomforts of the digestive system. There are many reasons why they can happen but it is important to understand the exact one so you can apply the required remedy. What causes bloating and gas though? What happens when one feels bloated?

Bloating is a build up of gas in the stomach and the intestine. The belly swells up after eating one can feel bloated. Bloating causes burping, abdominal discomfort, feeling of fullness.

Reasons for Bloating and Gas

Lack of physical activity or a sedentary lifestyle
Less intake of fiber
Less intake of water
Food allergies
Eating too much or eating too fast
Lactose or gluten intolerance
Eating food that creates gas in the intestinal tract

Some other reasons also include pregnancy, GERD, smoking and menstrual period as well.

Preventive and Easy Home Remedies

Now that we know some of the reasons for bloating and gas, let’s check out some preventive measures and easy home remedies.

Have smaller portions of meals at a time. This will help you digest food faster and in a proper manner. More so, your stomach will have some space to breathe.
Make it a habit to walk around after meals at least for 5-10 mins as it will increase the metabolic rate and aid digestion.
Have salads on your plate as these are rich in fiber, absorb water and prevent indigestion.
Always have lukewarm lemon water with a pinch of rock salt (Not for hypertensive’s) or with a tsp of honey (Not for diabetics) after heavy and oily meals.
If one is experiencing a regular episode of bloating after eating a particular food, then an allergy test needs to be done.
Proper cooking of cruciferous veggies is required. Other veggies can be mixed with cruciferous veggies. Avoid eating them at night.
If bloating is because of gluten, then go for gluten-free food and rice products. Don’t forget to check food labels and ingredients every time you buy anything.
If you are allergic to lactose, then go for soy curd, soy milk and soy cottage cheese.
Include probiotics in every meal as these will improve the gut environment for bacteria and help in reducing bloating and gas. Try adding yogurt, curd, buttermilk with a pinch of rock salt & roasted cumin powder.
Some yoga poses can be tried 4-5 times in a week to strengthen stomach muscles and can relieve gas as well.
Make it a habit of chewing fennel seeds after your meal as it improves digestion. you can even have fennel tea (Just add 1 tsp of crushed fennel seeds or whole fennel seeds to a cup of boiling water for 10 min & after it can be sipped).
Few pieces of ginger can be taken with lemon and a pinch of rock salt to increase digestion (Not for those who have GERD) & ginger tea can be taken without milk.
Ripe bananas aid digestion. The potassium in bananas manage fluid levels that cause bloating and gas.
Chamomile tea settles an upset stomach. It has anti-inflammatory properties. So try chamomile tea or an infusion of chamomile, peppermint, lemon, balm & fennel seeds.
Cucumber water is good as it acts as a natural diuretic and contains silica which helps in removing gas.
Aloe Vera juice can be taken 1-2 times in a day to relieve gas.
Have Cumin water (Put 1-2 tsp of cumin in a cup of boiling water and have it empty stomach after 10-15 min of straining it).
Start giving priority to these natural gas releasing agents in your kitchen like asafoetida, cumin seeds and carom seeds.
Baking soda can be taken with hot water and fresh lemon to ease from bloating.
Half a tsp of Triphala powder with hot water can be taken before going to bed to make digestion faster and for a happy & healthy gut.

Last but not the least, manage stress well, as stress can affect the stomach right from the time you start thinking under pressure.

We hope this article helps you find relief from and prevent bloating and gas in the stomach. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below!

For more tips, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to live sessions by experts on GOQii Play within the GOQii app.

#BeTheForce

June 25, 2020 By Dr Supriya Vhatkar 1 Comment

Light and White Skin Patches? All You Need to Know About Vitiligo!

Have you ever come across someone with lighter or white skin patches? Ever wondered what was wrong with them? Ever been curious enough to research? What these individuals suffer from is called Vitiligo. As today is World Vitiligo Day, let us understand this skin disorder.

Vitiligo occurs when pigment-producing cells (melanocytes) die or stop producing melanin — the pigment that gives your skin, hair and eyes color. The involved patches or affected area of the skin become lighter or white.

Common Symptoms of Vitiligo

Patchy loss of skin color
Premature whitening or graying of the hair on the scalp, eyelashes, eyebrows or beard
Loss of color in the tissues that line the inside of the mouth and nose (mucous membranes)
Loss of or change in color of the inner layer of the eyeball (retina)

Onset: Vitiligo can start at any age, but often appears before the age of 20.

Different Types of Vitiligo

Generalized Vitiligo: This is the most common type. The patches appear on most parts of the skin. The discolored patches often progress similarly on corresponding body parts (symmetrically).
Segmental Vitiligo: In this type, only one side or part of the body gets affected. It tends to occur at a younger age and progresses for a year or two, and then it stops.
Localized (Focal) Vitiligo: In this type, one or only a few areas of your body get affected.

It is difficult to predict how the disease will progress. Sometimes the patches stop forming without treatment. In most cases, pigment loss spreads and eventually involves most of your skin. In this condition, the skin rarely gets its color back.

What Causes Vitiligo?

The most common causes of vitiligo may be related to:

A disorder in which your immune system attacks and destroys the melanocytes in the skin
Family history (heredity)
A trigger event, such as sunburn, stress or exposure to industrial chemicals

Diagnosis

Medical History and Examination: If your doctor suspects you have vitiligo, he or she will ask about your medical history, examine you and try to rule out other medical problems, such as dermatitis or psoriasis. He or she may use a special lamp to shine ultraviolet light onto the skin to determine whether you have vitiligo.
Skin Biopsy & Blood Draw: Take a small sample (biopsy) of the affected skin, draw blood for lab tests to look for underlying autoimmune conditions, such as anemia or diabetes

Treatment

Many treatments are available to help restore skin color or even out skin tone. Results vary and are unpredictable. Some treatments have serious side effects. Your doctor may suggest that you first try improving the appearance of your skin by applying self-tanning products or makeup.

If you and your doctor decide to treat your condition with a drug, surgery or therapy, the process may take many months to judge its effectiveness. And you may have to try more than one approach or a combination of approaches before you find the treatment that works best for you.

Even if treatment is successful for a while, the results may not last or new patches may appear.

Medications

No drug can stop the process of Vitiligo — the loss of pigment cells (melanocytes). But some drugs, used alone or with light therapy, can help restore some skin tone.

Creams That Control Inflammation: Applying a corticosteroid cream to affected skin may help return color, particularly if you start using it early in the disease. You may not see a change in your skin’s color for several months. This type of cream is effective and easy to use. But it can cause side effects, such as skin thinning or the appearance of streaks or lines on your skin. Milder forms of the drug may be prescribed for children and for people who have large areas of discolored skin.
Medications That Affect The Immune System: Ointments containing tacrolimus or pimecrolimus (calcineurin inhibitors) may be effective for people with small areas of depigmentation, especially on the face and neck. This treatment may have fewer side effects than corticosteroids and can be used with ultraviolet B (UVB) light. However, the Food and Drug Administration has warned about a possible link between these drugs and lymphoma as well as skin cancer.

Surgery

This may be an option if light therapy doesn’t work. Surgery can also be used with those therapies. The goal of the following techniques is to even out your skin tone by restoring color.

Skin Grafting: In this procedure, your doctor removes very small sections of your normal, pigmented skin and attaches them to the areas that have lost pigment. This procedure is sometimes used if you have small patches of vitiligo. Possible risks include infection, scarring, a cobblestone appearance, spotty color and failure of the area to recolor.
Blister Grafting: In this procedure, your doctor creates blisters on your pigmented skin, usually with suction. He or she then removes the tops of the blisters and transplants them to an area of discolored skin.
Tattooing (micropigmentation): In this technique, your doctor uses a special surgical instrument to implant pigment into your skin. It’s most effective in and around the lips in people with darker complexions.

Lifestyle & Home Remedies

The following self-care tactics may help you care for your skin and improve its appearance:

Protect your skin from the sun and artificial sources of UV light. If you have vitiligo, particularly if you have light skin, use a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30. Apply sunscreen generously and reapply every two hours — or more often if you’re swimming or sweating.
Seek shade and wear clothing that shields your skin from the sun. Don’t use tanning beds and sunlamps.

Protecting your skin from the sun helps prevent sunburn and long-term damage. A bad sunburn can make your condition worse. Sunscreen also minimizes tanning, which makes the contrast between normal and discolored skin less noticeable.

We hope this article helped you understand the symptoms, causes and treatment of Vitiligo. Do you have any doubts? Let us know in the comments below! For more information, you can tune into our experts on GOQii Play.

#BeTheForce

June 24, 2020 By Swati Savla 6 Comments

Can Moringa Help You Fight the Coronavirus?

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been many suggestions on boosting immunity against the virus. These include lemon, ginger, citrus fruits, vegetables, turmeric, etc. all of which are high on antioxidants, have anti-inflammatory or anti-bacterial properties – aiding the fight against the virus and helping us maintain optimum health. Imagine getting all these properties under one umbrella. Sounds interesting? One superfood can provide you all of these and that superfood is Moringa – vouched for by our ancestors as well.

Why is the Ayurveda Prescribed Moringa Valued Globally?

Almost all parts of this tree (roots, leaves, pods, flowers, seeds) are utilized in varied ways.
It has Vitamins like A, B complex (folic acid, pyridoxine, choline), C, D, E & K (4 times Vitamin A of carrots), 7 times Vitamin C that of Oranges, 2 times the protein of Yoghurt, 25 times more iron than spinach.
It is abundant in protein, calcium, potassium, iron, chromium, magnesium, selenium and zinc.
Phytochemicals present in Moringa include tannins, phenolics, saponins, anthraquinones, etc. and flavonoids like Quercetin, Isoquercetin, kaemfericitin, isothiocyanates, all of which have shown to have antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
These nutrients are not destroyed after drying or boiling.
It doesn’t leave behind hygiene as well. Moringa oleifera leaf powder was as effective as soap for washing hands when wetted in advance to enable antiseptic and detergent properties from phytochemicals in the leaves.

With all these benefits and properties, the magical Moringa can help you boost your immune system as well as ward off illnesses. Give it a try now but before you do, do consult your doctor or nutritionist.

We hope this article helps you. For more articles on moringa, nutrition et al, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to experts on GOQii Play.

Stay home, stay safe, eat healthy and #BeTheForce

June 23, 2020 By Hajra Mithani Leave a Comment

How To Control And Fight Hunger Cravings

While we’re in lockdown, for most of us, our lifestyle has become sedentary. We are undergoing mental and emotional stress which often leads to binge eating. It is natural, when we are stressed, we find outlets to overcome it and the first thing that comes to mind is eating! A sedentary lifestyle coupled with irregular sleep leads to hunger cravings which ultimately leads to gorging on unhealthy food such as junk food, chocolates, refined foods, bakery products, juices, soft drinks, pizza, etc. that lead to weight gain. Let’s take a deeper look.

How Much Time Does It Take Food To Get Digested?

After having a meal, our GI tract slowly empties by pushing food through the stomach and from there it goes to the small intestine where it gets absorbed and then it reaches the large intestine. It takes approximately 2 hours for this entire process.
Hunger cravings occur 2 hours after having a meal when food gets digested. So, our brain picks up messages from the stomach and tells us that it’s time for our next meal.
This entire system is regulated by 2 hormones in our body which are known as hunger hormones – Ghrelin and Leptin.
Ghrelin stimulates appetite and is produced in the stomach when it’s empty and promotes fat storage.
Leptin controls appetite and signals the brain to stop eating.
If we eat after every 2 hours, ghrelin will not be released and there won’t be any overeating.

Tip To Control Hunger Cravings

Eat before you feel hungry at an interval of 2 hours.
Have 6 meals in a day: 3 main meals and 3 mid meals and eat slowly. Have a fruit as a mid meal and avoid having fruits with the main meals.
Snack on nuts like foxnuts, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, mixture of various seeds to help you stay full.
Add spices and chillies in your food as it increases the satiety.
Avoid fasting: Skipping meals can cause your body to go into a fat storing starvation mode, making it harder to burn calories.
Have jaggery, jaggery powder, stevia leaves and honey to curb sugar cravings.
Include proteins in all your meals. Proteins are the building blocks of our body. It takes longer to digest than carbohydrates and is considered to be more satiating than carbs and fats. It keeps your energy levels up and appetite down.
Have fiber rich foods since it helps in regulation of bowel movements and helps you feel fuller for a longer duration. It doesn’t add calories to your diet and cannot be converted to glucose. Include leafy green vegetables, fruits with the peel like apple,pear, plum and even berries, sweet potatoes with skin, potatoes, oatmeal, fenugreek seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, cinnamon powder, drumstick, garden cress seeds, sesame seeds, peanuts, figs, raisins and prunes.
Quench your thirst to control your appetite by drinking plenty of water. Drink 12-15 glasses of water throughout the day. Have 1 glass of water before and 1 after having your meal, as water is a no calorie quencher, you’ll be able to decrease your hunger before you start eating so you aren’t starving at the table. In case you don’t like the taste of plain water, have green tea, cinnamon tea, buttermilk, coconut water, lemon water or detox water.
Exercise for 30 mins everyday: since it lowers the level of ghrelin. It increases the feeling of fullness, increases your metabolism and helps in burning more calories. Indulge in yoga, pilates, cardio, stretching, skipping, dancing, etc.
Have a wake up and sleep schedule: To avoid midnight hunger pangs, don’t stay awake for a longer time post dinner and have soups, salads and protein rich meals for dinner to avoid eating junk food. Make a habit of having 1 tsp flax seeds post dinner since it has fibers that will make you feel satiated.

We hope this article helps you understand your hunger cravings and helps you curb them. For more tips on controlling hunger cravings, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to expert nutritionists on GOQii Play.