Shimpli Patil, Author at GOQii

She is passionate about Nutrition and that explains Shimpli’s Master’s degree in Foods, Nutrition and Dietetics. This topper from Mumbai University also has a certification in Food Processing and Preservation and in Nutrition and Exercise for Fitness. That’s not all; she has a keen interest in the area of product development and has worked on the development of protein fortified chocolates in collaboration with Cadbury India Pvt Ltd, as a part of MSc. RnD. For over 3 years now she has been practicing as a clinical nutrition consultant. Shimpli is also a trained dancer from Shiamak Davar Institute of Performing Arts and strongly believes that dance is the best exercise for Mind and Body and when dance is combined with the right nutrition it is the correct recipe for a healthier and fitter lifestyle.

August 13, 2015 By Shimpli Patil 2 Comments

MCTs: The Good Fats

Most of us are ignorant about fat. The moment we hear fat, we associate it with high calories, weight gain, obesity, heart diseases, etc. But, the fact is, we need fat in order to live!

Having said the above not all fats are alike. The devil and angel concept applies here very well. We have good fats which are the essential fats and are needed for healthy brain functioning, immune system, hormone production, and energy production. There are bad fats too that can clog our arteries and lead to internal inflammation. All that we need to do is, choose the right kind of fat and consume it in the right way!

Heard of MCTs aka Medium Chain Triglycerides? Well these good fats are gaining fame in the health sector these days. They have received considerable attention in the past too.

MCTs, are the major fat components in coconut oil. We can find varying amounts of MCTs in olive oil, ghee, palm oil, butter and nuts too.

To understand why MCTs are so wonderfully beneficial for us, we need to get into a bit of chemistry.

MCTs are composed of only 6 to 10 carbon links, unlike other fats which have up to 22 carbon links, and because of their shorter chain length, they are absorbed faster by the body and are quickly metabolized (burned) as fuel/energy. Thus, rather than getting stored as fat, the calories contained in MCTs are very efficiently converted into fuel for instant use by our body.

Let me share some astonishing benefits that MCTs have to offer:

* Aid in weight loss:

This is one reason why most people are eager to get their hands on MCTs. Apart from being minimally stored as fat, MCTs are knows to induce thermogenesis and wake up the sluggish metabolism, which thereby accelerates the calorie-burning process. This makes it useful in case of Thyroid too, where the metabolism is terribly slowed down.

*Good for diabetics:

MCTs reduce the glycemic index of the meal to which MCT Oil is added as they have a slight hypoglycemic/blood sugar lowering effect.

* Good for heart:

It’s often said that fats are bad for heart. But, MCTs have shown to prove it wrong. Since they are metabolized faster, more like carbohydrates than fats, they provide instant energy to the diseased and stressed heart which is usually energy deficient. That’s not the only thing, MCTs also have an anti-coagulation and cholesterol lowering effect that safeguards our heart.

* Good for brain:

MCTs are like rocket fuel to the brain as they release ketones when they are metabolized. Ketones are an efficient fuel for brain and can boost cognitive performance. Thus, MCTs are considered beneficial in case of epilepsy, seizures and alzheimer’s disease.

*Powerhouse for Athletes:

Athletes usually depend on carbohydrates for instant energy. Carbs however provide lesser energy than fats. Since fats are absorbed slower than carbs, athletes choose to go for the latter. MCTs pick up the positive aspects of both- They are absorbed faster plus provide instant energy, which is an ideal combination to bolster an athletic performance.

* Malabsorptive conditions:

In conditions like liver and gastrointestinal issues, where absorption is severely affected, MCTs are a boon. After consuming MCT containing food, they are absorbed quickly from the small intestine and taken straight to the liver and are converted into energy without requiring a single drop of bile (produced by the liver), thus reducing the workload of the organs of an ill person.

*Cancer:

MCT containing oil is a super food for cancer as it heals the damaged cells, improve immunity and provide instant energy to the weak body.

The benefits of MCTs are incredible, aren’t they? Now the question is how to use MCTs containing oil in our day to day life?

Best way is to make use of coconut oil in your meal preparations OR you can bake some popcorn or foxnuts (makhanas) using ghee/coconut oil OR You can add it into your coffee or smoothie OR simply use it as a salad dressing.

1 tbsp a day is more than enough.

July 2, 2015 By Shimpli Patil Leave a Comment

Your Stair-case can be your gym!

Stair-case is the best saviour when it comes to missing workouts due to time constraints/busy schedule/no access to gym and all possible reasons for not working out (of course, pains and injuries are an exception).

Climbing up the stairs has many incredible advantages. It not only helps burn fat, but also strengthens the core and the lower body muscles along with improving stamina and endurance. Check out the detailed benefits in Master Coach Luke Coutinho’s blog- https://goqii.com/blog/stair-climbing-one-of-the-best-exercises/.

To make the stair workout adventurous and to prevent any possible chances of monotony, we can bring about certain variations and create a whole set of workouts on a staircase. All you need is just enough stairs on which you can run continuously for 10 to 15 seconds.

Check out these 10 staircase workouts to multiply the benefits of a regular stair-climbing workout:

1) Stair jog:

* Jog up the stairs but on descending walk to avoid falls

* To make it advanced, you can take 2 steps at a time

* Continue for minimum 5 minutes

2) Stair sprint:

* Sprint as fast as you can

* Make sure you take just one step at a time

* Breathe deeper while you sprint

3) Step ups:

* Step ups are simple, like you usually do on the stepper. But, doing it on a stair-case requires an extra effort.

* Make sure your knee doesn’t cross the toe. Apply maximum pressure on your heels to avoid any pressure on the knee.

* If you have no prominent knee pain, you can speed up a bit.

* Alternate the feet while you complete minimum 30 step ups.

4) Side step ups:

* This includes stepping up and stepping down sideways

* Complete minimum 30 step ups- 15 with right foot and the rest 15 with left foot

5) Stair lunges:

* Lunges are a great way to strengthen your quadriceps, gluteus, lower back and core

* You can either take one step or 2 steps for each lunge

* Do the stable lunges first and then try out the jump lunges alternating the left and the right foot. This is fun, I tell you!

6) Tricep dips:

* These help to strengthen the triceps and anterior deltoid (front part of the shoulder)

* All you have to do is, sit on the edge of the first or second step with your arms shoulder width apart. Keep your legs straight on the floor.Take your bottom up by pressing your palms against the step and then lower down your rear until your arms are at about a 90 degree angle. Continue with the up-down movement.

7) Double leg stair hops:

* Jump up on stairs with both the feet together.

* You can either keep your feet shoulder-width apart or keep both the feet together and hop. Maintain soft knees (slightly bent knees) and swing your arms backwards. Hop up the stairs and then come down walking.

8) Single leg hops:

* To add a twist to the hops, we can do it on one leg and make it more challenging

* This is going to engage your core big time as it works harder to stabilize the body

* Go one whole flight on your left foot, and then switch onto your right foot and perform the full flight

9) Incline push-ups:

* Incline push-ups help strengthen your chest, anterior deltoid and triceps too.

* Keep both the hands shoulder width apart on the step and extend your legs out. Maintain a straight back and feet close together and push push push!!

10) Skater steps:

* Keep your left foot on the left corner of the second step.Climb up with your right leg, bringing it to the right corner of the 4^th step. You skate through the stairs this way taking two steps at a time. Swing your arms and skate your way through this leg burner.

These 10 workouts form a whole set of workouts that train your upper and lower body both. Guess what? You have just turned a stair-case into a gym. You can perform a high intensity interval workout (HIIT) too using these stair exercises.

Pick any 4 or 5 exercises, perform each exercise for 20 seconds with a 10 seconds break in between and repeat the entire cycle once again. Believe me, you end up burning more calories in these few minutes than what you would have burnt in 1 hour of gyming.

Safety first! If you suffer from any knee/ankle pain, please avoid the exercises that involve these specific joints.

June 8, 2015 By Shimpli Patil 3 Comments

2 Minutes Healthy Snacks

When our mothers are out of town, when our workload is eating up most of our time, when studies are a priority and cooking finds less or no time at all, what do you do? You look out for some simple snacking options that can be prepared quickly and also satiate our hunger pangs.

When we talk of quick 2 minutes snacks, all that we can think of is the ready-to-eat processed foods. These are good when it comes to saving time but, little do we realize that they load us up with innumerable toxins in the form colours, flavours and preservatives. Of course their effects are not immediate but, they linger in our blood, reach our organs and initiate the degenerative process. Terrifying, isn’t it?

It’s time we make some healthier choices and protect our body from the distress that we have been exposing it to. We need to have some healthy alternatives to these ready-to-eat processed snacks. To feed this thought, I have penned down the top five 2 minutes snacks that would please your taste buds, satiate your hunger cues and save your time too!

Check out the super snacking options-

* Carrot Roast:

Slit the carrots and saute them in 1 tbsp Oil (olive oil would be a best choice). Add a few garlic cloves and season it with black pepper, oregano, red chilli powder and other seasonings of your choice. Your Beta-carotene rich Carrot Roast is ready to serve.

* Tempered Makhanas/Wheat puffs:

Makhanas (fox nuts) or wheat puffs are easily available in the market. Keep a stack of these ready at your place, so that you can grab a few, temper them and do the crunchy-munchy! As an add on, you can top it with chopped onion-tomato and squeeze a lemon to give it a tangy touch.

* Fruity-nutty yoghurt:

Chop your favourite fruits into small pieces, crush a few nuts (almonds/walnuts/pistachios/peanuts) and mix them in a cup of chilled yoghurt. Sprinkle some oregano or black pepper and enjoy this divine combo!

* Egg-o-Mania:

Make a scrambled egg, spread it on a slice of toasted whole wheat bread smeared with low fat cheese and garnish it with oregano/mixed herbs and black pepper. Being a perfect protein packed dish, it serves as a great post workout option. You can make this with one whole egg (with yolk). Yolk is rich in iron, vitamin A, B complex vitamins and amino acids too. We need not avoid it unless the person has high Triglycerides.

* Oats smoothie:

Blend half a cup of chilled yoghurt with half a cup of your favourite fruits, add 1 tbsp plain Oats and 4-5 pieces of walnut halves. Blend till smooth. You can add 1 tsp raw organic honey if you need it to be sweeter. It tastes better when served with mango, strawberries and fresh figs.

Easy, ain’t they? Some of these snacks can even be prepared on a long trek.

So you see, we need not rely on the ready-to-eat processed foods when we run short of time.

Enjoy these healthy ‘lip-smacking’ quick snacks and stay at your healthier best!

May 11, 2015 By Shimpli Patil 10 Comments

Kick your bad cholesterol with the top 10 cholesterol lowering foods

In my previous blog on Cholesterol, I had talked about the different kinds of cholesterol, including the good and bad cholesterol and the vital functions that it performs in our body (Refer-https://goqii.com/blog/the-truth-about-cholesterol/).

In this blog I am listing out a few foods which overstep the rest in lowering the bad cholesterol (LDL), out of which a few also help in increasing the good one (HDL).

A few key things that we need to look at when we are aiming at cholesterol reduction:

*A high fiber diet: Adding vegetable salads in the meals, having unstrained vegetable juices and soups, consuming whole fruits, choosing whole flour over the refined one etc. Fiber binds with the cholesterol and removes it out of the system through stools.

*An Omega 3 intake- Omega 3 has a wonder effect of reducing the LDL, total cholesterol, triglycerides and increasing HDL.

*Reduction of red meat consumption- Eggs, chicken and fish are a better choice.

*An overall low fat intake- Choosing a good quality fat and staying away from saturated and trans-fat. Full fat dairy products, red meat and some oils contain saturated fats which raise the total cholesterol level. Trans-fats found in bakery items (cookies, biscuits, cakes and crackers) increase the bad cholesterol and lower the good one.

Check out the list-

1) Omega 3 Containing foods-

This category includes flaxseeds, walnuts, fatty fish like salmon, sardine, tuna, mackerel, herring and halibut.

As per the American Heart Association guidelines, we need to eat minimum 2 servings of fish a week to get maximum Omega 3 for healthy cholesterol levels. Since Omega 3 is heat susceptible, make sure you do not overcook the fish, you can simply bake it or grill it.

If you do not eat fish, you can get your Omega 3 dose from 1 tbsp flaxseed once a day OR a handful of walnuts on a regular basis.

2) Lycopene-
Lycopene is a carotenoid pigment responsible for giving fruits and vegetables their red color. It’s seen in tomatoes, watermelon, guava, etc.

An intake of 25 mg of lycopene on a regular basis helps knock off 10% of LDL. It not only stops the LDL synthesis but also helps break down the existing LDL in the body.

1 cup of tomatoes provides us with 5 mg of lycopene, so imagine how many tomatoes we need to eat every day to get the 25 mg lycopene dose (Do the math)! One more interesting fact about lycopene is, it gets activated only when heat is applied to it. Thus, a raw tomato salad is good, but a better choice would be a tomato soup or a ravishing red tomato base in your meal preparations.

3) Green Tea

This antioxidant packed herbal beverage does good to our body in multiple ways. A regular intake of sugarless green tea has been shown to reduce cholesterol by 2-5% keeping the HDL levels untouched.

To make the cholesterol reducing efficacy of green tea even better (and to enhance its flavor), we can add half a tsp of cinnamon into it which has also shown to reduce triglycerides, LDL and total cholesterol levels.

4) Almonds

They are not only packed with good quality fat but also with fiber and Vitamin E which prevent LDL from getting oxidized. Now this is an interesting trait because once LDL is oxidized, it tends to choke the arteries, which restricts the blood flow to heart, leading to heart attacks and stroke. Almonds prevent all of it! Snack on it more often, mix them with walnuts to reap most benefits.

5) Olive Oil

It tops among all the oils in terms of fatty acid profile. Being rich in MUFA (heart healthy fat), antioxidants and phenolics, it lowers the LDL, increases the HDL and makes blood less likely to clot. 2 tbsp a day can be used for shallow frying or salad dressing purpose.

6) Oats and barley

They are rich soluble fiber, called beta-glucan which forms a gel in the intestine and prevents cholesterol from being absorbed into the bloodstream. 5-10 gm of soluble fiber a day is good enough to take care of the cholesterol levels. One and half cup of cooked oatmeal supplies 6 gm of fiber, top it with an apple or a banana to get the extra 3-4 gm of fiber and we are sorted.

7) Unstrained bottle guard juice with a dash of crushed garlic-

It’s the perfect mix for cholesterol reduction. Rich in soluble and highly alkaline in nature, bottle guard is very well appreciated in the weight loss segment. However, regular consumption of bottle guard also helps keeping the lipid profile in check. Adding crushed garlic while juicing this fiber rich veggie enhances the cholesterol reducing properties to a great extent.

8) Avocados

Generally, fruits do not contain fat. But, this is one peculiar fruit that is full of fat, but thankfully, a good quality fat- MUFA that helps kick off LDL and triglyceride and boosts up the HDL. You can snack on avocado, add it in the salads or sandwiches or make a spread out of it to smear on a whole wheat bread slice. Definitely, it’s the best substitute to butter and cheese.

9) Dark chocolate-

For all the chocolate lovers! Since it is rich in flavanoids and oleic acid, dark chocolate does good to our lipid profile. We can nibble on 2 pieces of 70-80% dark to get the most of its benefits.

10) Fenugreek seeds-

They provide a 3 way benefit- They contain saponins that reduce body’s absorption of cholesterol. These saponins also reduce cholesterol synthesis in the body. Apart from saponins, the fiber component of fenugreek also helps fight cholesterol in all the ways.

The best way to incorporate fenugreek is: To consume 1 tbsp of seeds soaked in 1 cup water overnight on an empty stomach in the morning OR you can dry roast 1 tbsp of seeds until they turn brown, powder it and add it in our meal preparations.

That was a comprehensive list of cholesterol lowering foods, however, for any of these foods to work, it’s necessary we make other lifestyle changes too, including a regular physical activity, adequate water intake and balanced meals.Now you know which foods to fill up your cart with, the next time you are at the grocery store.