Archives for July 2020

July 31, 2020 By Sunita Arora 1 Comment

Homemade Hair Oil For Long and Healthy Hair

Dandruff and subsequent hair fall problems are like a plague. Despite the use of a myriad of shampoos, conditioners and serums, sometimes these problems just don’t go away. While you might be burning through your pocket to find a solution that works, have you tried making your own oil? Oiling your hair regularly is a fantastic way to keep your hair healthy and strong. In fact, homemade hair oil works better! It’s ideal for men and women and is a one-stop solution to all your hair problems! Most importantly, it is easy to make and light on the pocket.

How To Make Your Own Homemade Hair Oil

We can make homemade hair oil by mixing 2 oils, one base oil which is easily available like coconut oil and the second oil is a supplement oil that can be castor oil. You will need to add some herbs like amla, fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, etc. This oil acts as a tonic for your hair and rids you from many hair problems like hair fall, dandruff, dry scalp, premature greying, dull and rough hair, etc.

Ingredients

200g extra virgin Coconut Oil
50g Castor Oil
2 tbsp Amla Pieces (Dried)
1 tbsp Fenugreek Seeds (Methi Dana)
1 tsp Nigella Seeds ( Kalonji)
10-12 Curry leaves (Dried)
8-10 Holy basil (Tulsi) leaves (Dried)
8-10 Hibiscus flowers

How to Make and Use the Oil

Take an Iron pan and add coconut oil, dried amla, fenugreek seeds and nigella seeds, all types of leaves etc.
Heat it for 10-12 minutes on medium flame.
After some time, dried amla pieces will swell, Fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds and curry leaves too will turn black in colour.
Turn the flame off and let it cool down. If possible leave it like this for a day or two.
Once done, strain it. Though, I do not strain it and prefer it as it is.
Mix castor oil in it and store in an airtight, wide-mouthed bottle because during winters the oil gets hard and might be difficult to remove.
Shake well before using and massage gently 2-3 times in a week with this oil.
It’s better to heat it a little before applying.
After massaging, give hot towel treatment to your hair for more effective results.

Amazing Benefits of the Ingredients

Coconut oil: moisturizes dry hair, adds lustre and shine to the hair and prevents hair loss and split ends.
Castor oil: works as a natural hair conditioner to keep hair and scalp healthy.
Fenugreek seeds: helps in treating scalp issues like dryness, baldness and thinning of hair.
Nigella Seeds: promote hair growth, give shine and lustre to hair texture and reduce premature greying of hair.
Tulsi and Curry leaves: help in treating dandruff and itchy scalp problems, conditions hair and stimulates hair growth. It also strengthens hair follicles.
Hibiscus flowers: boost hair growth, stimulate regrowth from bald patches and treat hair fall.

Anyone irrespective of gender and age can use this hair oil to improve hair health and cure hair problems.

Caution: Some hair shed is normal when you oil your hair. All these will be dead or weak hair. No need to worry. With regular massage using this magic homemade hair oil, a lot of new hair will grow, your hair fall will be controlled and texture your hair will also improve.

Switch to regularly oiling your hair. It is essential and along with regular massage, eat a balanced diet. We hope this article on homemade hair oil helps you beat hair issues and say goodbye to stress, harsh chemicals and hair dyes! Do leave your thoughts in the comments below!

For more topics on hair health, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to sessions by experts on GOQii Play.

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July 30, 2020 By GOQii 1 Comment

Get Ready For The New Normal With the GOQii Vital 3.0

When 2020 began, we all imagined new beginnings, new resolutions, made a list of places to travel to, thought of picking up new hobbies and probably exploring new ventures. All those glorious plans came to a standstill when the COVID-19 pandemic came to our doorstep. With almost half a year in lockdown, all our plans had to be flushed in what we would like to call writhing anguish. But amidst all the chaos and fear, we did not stop innovating, rebuilding and taking caution. This led to the creation of something unique which proved useful during the crisis – the GOQii Vital 3.0.

What is the GOQii Vital 3.0?

In May 2020, we announced the launch of a major breakthrough in early COVID-19 detection tracing through our new device, the GOQii Vital 3.0 which is one of the world’s first major disruptions in COVID-19 prevention. The wristband comes with sensors to detect body temperature which is an early symptom of COVID-19. Apart from tracking body temperature, the device also measures your blood pressure, heart rate and sleep while keeping a check on your step count and calories.

The GOQii Vital 3.0 has an inbuilt temperature display and thermal sensor that has two ways of temperature monitoring – the continuous monitoring feature and the on-demand feature for users who would like to check at their convenience. The temperature range is 77°F to 113 °F with an accuracy of +/- 0.3 °F.

Other Features

Apart from detecting body temperature, the GOQii Vital 3.0 also has some other exciting features:

Tracking steps, distance, calories burned and active time
24×7 heart rate monitoring
Blood pressure monitoring
Exercise mode
Auto sleep tracking
Connect with phone for notifications

Partnerships and Study

Given the advanced preventive health capabilities of the platform, GOQii’s Brand Ambassador Akshay Kumar has donated 1,000 GOQii Vital 3.0 bands to Mumbai and Nashik Police who are at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19. The Mumbai Police department was the first organisation in the world enabled to remotely track and manage the health of its Personnel via the GOQii Preventive Health Platform.

GOQii has partnered with Thryve, a German healthtech company focusing on aggregation and analysis of health data generated by wearables, medical devices and other health data sources. Thryve’s machine learning-based algorithms provide actionable insights on infectious diseases like COVID-19, depression and other medical conditions. They help health services to uncover the underlying patterns, detect people’s health progress trajectory and lead health-care with proactive insight provisioning. Through this partnership, GOQii will conduct a clinical study in India to check the accuracy of early detection of COVID-19. Detection of characteristic changes in body temperature and other vital data enable early detection of COVID-19 symptoms. The combination of Thryve’s unique machine learning-based algorithms and GOQii’s Vital 3.0 Smart band will usher a breakthrough in technology advancement to address the current crisis in timely detection of COVID -19 that has engulfed the globe.

So what are you waiting for? Get ready for the new normal! Go pick your own GOQii Vital 3.0 now and say hello to good health and great healthcare!

You can get it here: https://bit.ly/3ij2nez

Or simply download the GOQii App and head over the GOQii Health Store!

Please note: this is only a screening device and not a medical device. It is recommended that it be used for screening purposes only. All data collected by GOQii is subjected to HIPAA, GDPR and relevant data privacy guidelines.

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July 29, 2020 By Trupti Vyas (Pandya) 17 Comments

Healing Hands: 5 Hand Yoga Mudras To The Rescue

Everyone knows about yoga and the benefits it can bring to your life. This ancient form of exercise started in India and has reached far and wide across the world. While we are slowly unlocking, we’re looking for new ways to be fit and active indoors. I have few ways on how we can be more active during the day – Hand Yoga!

The importance of specific hand position is common in spiritual and healing arts tradition. India is home to perhaps the largest collection of such hand gestures. The Sanskrit word Mudra means gesture. These Hand gestures (Mudras) stimulates the flow of vital energy in unique ways, affecting organs, glands and nervous system of the body. Such gestures are mainly used while doing yoga postures (Asanas), Pranayama (breathing practices) and Meditation.

5 Hand Yoga Mudras & Their Benefits

1. Jnana/Gyan MudraIn this Mudra, the thumb and index finger are touching and form a circle. The other three fingers are stretched casually. The palms are facing upwards. This Hand Yoga Mudra is known as the gesture of knowledge and wisdom. The Index Finger symbolizes the ego that is beaten by the universal wisdom, which is represented by thumb.

Benefits:

Stimulates brain functions, the sense of touch and harmonizes the nervous system.
Calms the soul gives inner peace, promotes concentration as well as memory and helps in insomnia and depression.

2. Aakash Mudra
To perform this, the thumb and middle finger are brought together. The other fingers are casually stretching. Aakash stands for the element of room or ether.

Benefit:

It helps overcome obstacles and blockades related to stress in personal or professional life.
It also helps with heart diseases, toothache, a stiff jaw, ear ache and weight regulation, strengthening bones, intuition and awareness are strengthened and feeling and thoughts are cleansed.

3. Shunya Mudra
In this Hand Yoga Mudra, you bend your middle finger until it touches the ball below the thumb. The thumb performs light pressure on the middle finger. The other fingers are stretched. Put your hands, palms facing up, on your thighs. Sunya Means “sky” or “zero”.

Benefits

It has a healing effect on the ear area and helps with different issues such as ear aches, ringing in ears.
It can help with imbalance, dizziness, travel sickness, sea sickness and nausea brought by movement.
It helps in healing throat and nose infections.

4. Surya MudraIt is formed by folding the ring finger so that it touches the lower end of the thumb. The thumb pushes the ring finger slightly down and other fingers are casually stretched upwards. Surya Mudra activates the fire element of the body.

Benefits

It activates metabolism, therefore, suited for people who want to lose body fat/weight and improve their cholesterol levels.
It helps heal cold by creating warmth inside the body.
It helps in strengthening the eyes and improves eyesight.

5. Jalodar Nashak Mudra
To perform this, the small finger is bent towards the thumb. The thumb pushes the small finger slightly down. The name of this hand gesture (Mudra) is made up of from three words Jal for “water”, Udar for “ stomach”and Nashak for “finish”. The small finger represent the water element.

Benefits: It reduces excess water in the body. Swelling, excessive salivation, watering eyes, runny nose and heavy periods are all reduced.

Apart From these 5 main Hand Yoga Mudras, the other important ones are Dhanyi Mudra – which is a classical mediation gesture where hands lay causally in your lap which gives feeling of contentment and Atmanjali or Namaskar which symbolizes gratefulness or respect which leads to inner balance.

You can try these Hand Yoga Mudras anywhere, at any time. Just relax and be gentle. Activating the energy in your hands will in turn activate the corresponding energy in the rest of your body and evoke a sense of overall vitality. If you are new to yogic practices, then these Hand Yoga Mudras will be a great way to start practicing.

Do leave your thoughts in the comments below! For more articles on yoga, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE yoga sessions by experts on GOQii Play.

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July 28, 2020 By Urvi Gohil 1 Comment

Spirulina: Nature’s Gift For Good Health

Spirulina may be the “most nutritious food” in the world! It is a blue green algae (cyanobacteria) and partly responsible for oxygen in the air. It is also amongst the world’s most powerful supplements. Spirulina was consumed by Aztecs in the 16th century, and came to light again after NASA proposed that it could be grown by astronauts in space. Spirulina can grow in extreme conditions and it is generally cultivated in natural or manmade lakes, harvested and freeze dried for use. Nutritionally, it has more protein than any other vegetable, it is an amazing source of beta-carotene, various minerals and essential fatty acids.

Dosage: 1-10 gram per day, it can be taken as 2-4 grams 2 times a day or a capsule which is usually 7 grams.

Major Health Benefits of Spirulina

Powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent: Spirulina can protect against oxidative stress which is one of the main causes behind various diseases like cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, etc. Oxidative damage can harm DNA and cells inside the body. Phycocyanin is the main active component of spirulina which is a potent anti-oxidant and gives that blue green color to the algae. This component can kill the free radicals and cease the production of anti-inflammatory molecules, and provides magnificent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Reduces LDL (bad) cholesterol and increases HDL (good) cholesterol: Many studies have suggested that daily supplementation of spirulina (2-8 grams) helps in reduction of triglycerides by 16 % and LDL cholesterol by 10 %. This is because fat in the body is more susceptible to oxidation which is known as lipid peroxidation. Spirulina with its amazing properties helps the body in protection against this.
Effective against Anemia: A single tablespoon of spirulina (7 gm) has 2 mg of Iron which is nearly 11% of RDA. This can help in improving mean corpuscular hemoglobin, improves energy levels and oxygen carrying capacity.
Improves Immunity: A number of researches suggest that spirulina increases the production of infection fighting proteins, antibodies, T-cells that help in improving immunity and save us from infections and chronic illness like cancer.
Excellent source of protein and healthy fats: A tablespoon of spirulina gives just 1 gm of fat, both omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. While the quality of protein is considered to be like eggs, it gives you all essential amino acids you need.

We hope you liked these facts on Spirulina. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below. For more on nutrition and healthy living, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play.

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