About Trishala Chopra

Trishala Chopra believes a lot in fitness not because she is a lifestyle coach but because she has personally got into a fitness regime when she was constantly being ridiculed for being on the heavier side at 135 kgs. The ridicule and criticisms were the tipping point for her to change herself and today she is glad she has reduced by more than 50%. By qualification she is a graduate in Life Science and a post-graduate in Nutraceuticals and both these degrees has helped her gain extra knowledge about all fields in the Health Care industry. She has additional skills in the areas of Therapeutic nutrition and Ayurveda. Her fitness mantra is practice what you preach. She believes that for a healthy lifestyle, it is very important to have a healthy body and mind. This according to her can be attained through balanced nutrition and proper exercise. As a lifestyle coach, she helps individuals achieve their targets with respect to nutrition and exercise.

January 17, 2019 By Trishala Chopra 1 Comment

Effect of different medications on exercise!

statins (1) (2)

Either you or somebody you know might be on some kind of long term medications! I am not talking about somebody who takes an aspirin or a paracetamol or some antipyretic. When I say long term medications-I am talking about cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar lowering drugs. When a patient usually gets on any of these drugs there are high chances that they are on them forever!

Each one of these medications has a tremendous impact on the body which comes as a blow if you an exercise person!

Every medication has a different set of action, here are some points for you to keep in mind!

(1) Cholesterol medications

statins

Most commonly used cholesterol medication is statin.
The generic names of these drugs mostly available are Rosuvastatin, Atorvastatin, Fluvastatin, Lovastatin, Pravastatin, Simvastatin, Pitavastatin.

(To check which statin is your medication- check behind the tablet. Salt name is always mentioned. If in case it is not mentioned, check it on company’s site)

Statins deplete CoEnzyme Q10 in the body which is very important for muscles to make energy. This will affect your strength training routine. Post strength training recovery will be slow.
It might also lead to rhabdomyolysis which means muscle death is definitely not good!

So, what can be done?

The first thing which you should always try is getting off statins as soon as possible with some changes in your diet and exercise routine. You can ask your coach to help you with this! (Let your doctor change your medicines and coach can guide the path to that!)
While you are on a statin, you should always try a gradual progress. Do not rush into any kind of exercise routine. Give your body enough time to get adapted.
Take longer recovery time. Instead of having a 1-day gap between your strength training schedules you can take 2 days gap which will give your muscles more time to recover! You can do light workouts on the day when you don’t plan to do strength training.

(2) Beta blockers

beta blocker

This is a group of medications used for lowering down the high blood pressure.
Most commonly used beta blockers are atenolol, bisoprolol, propranolol, metroporolol.

(To check which beta blocker is your medication- check behind the tablet. Salt name is always mentioned. If in case it is not mentioned, check it on company’s site)

People who are on beta blockers see that their heart rate is always less no matter what form of exercise they do. Maintaining a proper heart rate during different activities is very important for having a good cardiac health.
People taking beta blockers witness that their heart rate after a sprint and after a moderate jogging is exactly the same. In fact, this shouldn’t be the case. It has to be more while sprinting than jogging.

So, what can be done?

Instead of checking your heart rate for your exercise progress, start checking your exertion timing.
If you start panting very soon, note that time. Work on your stamina and then go ahead. Beta blockers will always keep your heart rate low.

(3) ACE inhibitors

pharmacology-of-ace-inhibitors

These are another set of medications which are used in the treatment of lowering your high blood pressure!
Most commonly used ACE inhibitors are fosinopril, lisinopril, quinapril.

(To check which ACE inhibitor is your medication- check behind the tablet. The salt name is always mentioned. If in case it is not mentioned, check it on company’s site)

There are 2 types of people- One who has high blood pressure and is not taking any medication and another one who has high blood pressure and is on either beta blocker or ace inhibitor. If the person without the medication exercises, his blood pressure will come down automatically post exercise. This is called as post exercise hypotension.
This even happens with someone who is a blood pressure medication, but then it can go really very low! That’s the reason people feel dizzy, shaky, nauseous, blurred vision post exercise. Sometimes the person can faint as well.

So, what can be done?

For obvious reasons, you cannot skip the medications and neither can you skip your workout but you can definitely manage it.
For people on BP medications, you should cool down a bit longer than an average person. Instead of a 5-minute cooldown, do a 10-minute cooldown.
Your heart beat tracker can help you in this!
For example, if your heart rate is 140 beats per minute- Post workout it can drop to 110 which is ok. After another minute it might go further low to 90. Hold on. Breathe it. Stretch yourself. Your targeted heart beat should be only 10% more than your RHR (Resting heart rate) which is around 60-70 beats per minute.

(4) Blood sugar lowering medications

lower blood sugar

There are different blood sugar lowering medications which affect the body in different ways.
Either they increase the insulin function, or removes excess sugar out through urine or decreases the amount of carbohydrate absorption in the body
For a non-diabetic person, while exercising there are different hormonal fluctuation which happens. Adrenaline is released followed by a surge in the cortisol levels and these hormones rise the blood sugar levels. To bring this down, pancreas secretes another hormone called as insulin which brings the elevated sugars down. So, the fluctuation is not seen whereas this is not the case in people with diabetes.
Some medications can cause hypoglycemia (Blood sugars below 70) in diabetics.

So, what can be done?

Well, in this case, nothing much can be done apart from monitoring.
Check your blood sugar levels before exercising, middle of the exercise and after the workout gets over.
Keep half glass of fruit juice or 1 glass of milk always with you and if the sugar drops please consume either of this.
Do strength training, reduce your carbohydrates, add enough proteins to your routine and ask your doctor to reduce your medications!

Questions for me? Please drop in the comments below!

November 23, 2018 By Trishala Chopra 10 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.

October 23, 2018 By Trishala Chopra Leave a Comment

Do you really need a multivitamin?

Multivitamins

The topmost questions on the mind of all my patients are “I am getting so tired these days, doctor do you think that I should take a multivitamin?” and “I am taking these multivitamins which I got from the US, do you think it’s good enough for me to have?”

These are just 2 such questions but trust me, I get loads of such questions on Multivitamins. Based on these questions, I decided I should talk about it in my blog and present the facts on the matter.

Let us first understand

What is multivitamin?

If I just try to understand the word in literal terms, a multivitamin is a supplement that contains more than one vitamin. But is it just vitamins? Certainly not. Multivitamin is a supplement that contains many vitamins and essential minerals which helps you fight against different nutritional deficiencies and their symptoms.

Who actually needs a multivitamin?

You need a multivitamin if you are not able to get adequate nutrition from your diet.
You need a multivitamin if you are severely deficient in different nutrients as detected in your blood reports
You need a multivitamin if you are looking for micronutrients for specific symptoms.

Apart from this, there are other population groups as well which might need a multivitamin in addition to a variety of foods in their diet.

Pregnant women

During pregnancy, consumption of multivitamins reduces the risk of birth defects in the foetus.
There are different kinds of research which are done taking multivitamins into consideration but since multivitamins consist of various vitamins and minerals, we don’t exactly know which nutrient is giving the maximum benefits.
Folic acid perhaps is the most important micronutrient but doctors anyways give it in a completely separate form so talk to your healthcare professional before starting on any multivitamin.

Senior citizens

People over the age of 65 are generally low on B- vitamins, vitamin D, iron and magnesium.
Supplementing senior citizens with a multivitamin can definitely help in reducing their nutritional deficiencies to a great extent.

People who are on different food restrictions

People who are on a gluten-free diet are usually low on calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin D.
Vegan people are usually low in calcium, iron, zinc and vitamin B12.
People who are on low carb diet are usually low in calcium, copper, magnesium, potassium and vitamin E

Multivitamin in these cases will help in overcoming these nutritional deficiencies.

People who have undergone bariatric surgery

During bariatric surgery, size of the stomach is reduced which reduces nutrient absorption which can further lead to nutritional deficiencies.
Even after taking a multivitamin, nutrient absorption is not very high but this will be much better than not taking a supplement and remain extremely nutritionally deficient

The above is related specifically for people with some health issues. Let us now look at the general population! Does the general population need a multivitamin and what can be the possible benefits?

Multivitamins can help in increasing the quality of life
Multivitamins can help in reducing mood swings
Multivitamins can help in reducing complications related to eyes

These are some points which researches have come up with however nothing is claimed so far.

Normally what I have seen is that when people are taking multivitamin they are okay to substitute it for a balanced diet but a multivitamin is a SUPPLEMENT and not a SUBSTITUTE.

Let’s understand about how to select a multivitamin for you.

Your healthcare professional can suggest you one but, you should always know how to pick up one for yourself!

Consider the following points when you buy a multivitamin

Choose a multivitamin that contains close to your recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamins and minerals. Sometimes a particular multivitamin crosses much more than your RDA per day.

For example:

Excess of potassium at one go on an empty stomach can lead to elevated potassium levels in the body which can affect your heart rhythm that is why your potassium in a multivitamin should always be limited to 99 mg.
Magnesium in your multivitamin should be limited to 350 mg because higher doses of magnesium in the body can lead to diarrhoea and other stomach issues.
Excess of calcium in your multivitamin might increase the risk of kidney stones, and too much total calcium can result in hypercalcemia in the body.

B. If a multivitamin supplement is only having vitamins and minerals then its fine to pick it up but usually this doesn’t happen. A single multivitamin is full of special ingredients which can put a body into negative balance hence avoid taking multivitamins which has too many extra ingredients.

C. I have seen my patients doing this a lot that they get confused between the pill and serving.

For example: A multivitamin pack might mention that it contains 300 mg of vitamin C per serving. When it is said so, please understand that a serving does not necessarily mean that 1 pill equals 1 serving. Serving completely depends upon how the company is depicting it. It could mean a whole pack is 300 mg.

D. I have seen this quite often that many people are usually only deficient in one or 2 nutrients in such cases taking a multivitamin is not a very good option. Pick up those nutritional supplements only which are on the lower side.

Hence, it is always good to take Vitamins after you speak to your doctor. Do not indulge in self- medication.

You might need a multivitamin but, it is not necessary that everyone might need it.

June 14, 2018 By Trishala Chopra 6 Comments

8 healthy food pairings to boost your health

Milk-And-Yolk

This must have happened many times that some food products taste horrible when eaten alone and tastes too good when combined with some other food products?

That’s the way nature has designed it for us. Nature has pre-planned the best food combination for us, it just takes the right time to know it! Well, it’s not just about the taste but, it is also about the nutrients which you get out of those food combinations!

Have you heard of food synergy? Different components in a single food can work together to benefit our health, and so can components in different foods that are eaten together. David Jacobs, PhD, a researcher from the University of Minnesota, loosely defines food synergy as the idea that food influences our health in complex and highly interactive ways. Simply put, Food synergy is nothing but nutrients that work together better.

It reminds us of how a variety of foods in our diet will help us live a healthy life! At GOQii we are celebrating Food Synergy….Let me take you through some food synergies that you adopt in your daily life.

(1) Rosemary and meat

Not many people must have heard about rosemary but, it is a very useful herb which is an excellent antioxidant having a good amount of carnosol and carnosic content. This herb is native to Mediterranean. People who cook non-veg might have no idea about what happens to the meat when it is cooked at a very high temperature. Well, when meat gets exposed to high temperature, carcinogenic compounds such as heterocyclic amine is formed which is very dangerous. If meat is marinated with rosemary herb, these carcinogenic compounds will be neutralized because of its antioxidant properties.

A study by Dr. J. Scott Smith of Kansas State University in Manhattan further endorses the above statements. He studied Heterocyclic Amines (HCA’s), which are carcinogenic compounds that form when meat is cooked at high temperatures. He found that adding rosemary extract to ground meat reduced the amount of cancer-causing compounds created during grilling. He attributed this to the antioxidants found in the rosemary extract.

(2) Green tea and lemon drop

Green Tea is a great elixir and did you know that by adding lemon to your cup of Green Tea you can reap a lot of benefits. Various studies have also proved this to be right. Catechins, the main health compound in tea tied to reduced risk of cancer, heart attack, and other diseases, unfortunately, isn’t absorbed very well in the intestines. After digestion, less than 20 percent of catechins remain.

In two studies, by Purdue University, researchers found that adding lemon juice, other citrus juice, or vitamin C helped the body absorb as much as 13 times the healthy catechins than normal. The addition of lemon juice caused 80 percent of the catechins to remain. The studies tested the effects of absorption with both rats and a human digestive model.

Lemon is rich in vitamin c (water soluble vitamin) and green tea is rich in antioxidant compounds such as catechin. When both of these are combined, lemon will increase the absorption of antioxidants making this combination the most widely used combination among people!

(3) Virgin Olive oil and tomatoes

How many of you are aware of the benefits of mixing Olive oil and tomatoes? I have seen many people using this combination mostly as their salad option. Why and how is it healthy we shall find out?

The bioavailability of olive oil and tomatoes is very high. These two Super Foods protect, energize and satiate; together, they amplify each other’s already extraordinary benefits. Tomatoes are rich in lycopene which is a phytochemical/phytonutrient which will help in maintain heart health and can reduce the risk of having prostate cancer drastically. Tomatoes basically have carotenoids which are fat soluble and only with fat, these carotenoids would be available in the body. Virgin Olive oil is very rich in good fatty acids and there is nothing better than choosing olive oil as a support for better absorption of fat soluble vitamins.

Merritt Rosen who holds a Masters in Health and Consumer Psychology from New York University calls Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Tomatoes- the hottest power couple. According to her pairing virgin olive, oil and tomatoes are the best thing one can do. Not only does heart healthy EVOO protect cells against damage and inflammation and promote healthy skin from the inside out, it also helps ensure the absorption of these fat-soluble carotenoids.

(4) Milk and eggs

Milk-And-Yolk

Did you know that Marilyn Monroe’s daily diet consisted of two raw eggs whipped in warm milk for breakfast? Rebecca Harrington, in an article in ‘The Cut’ magazine, quoted an old interview of Marilyn Monroe in 1952 to the now defunct Pageant Magazine in which Monroe describing her daily diet said, “I doubt any doctor could recommend a more nourishing breakfast for a working girl in a hurry.”

Milk and eggs are so far the best examples of perfect food synergy! There is nothing like having a glass of milk and boiled egg for your breakfast. Egg yolk is very rich in vitamin D and milk is rich in calcium. Vitamin D helps in increasing the calcium absorption which will keep your bones healthy and thus it reduces the risk of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis in the body.

(5) Garlic and Fish

Facing cholesterol issues? You must give this food synergy a try. For all non-vegetarians, this food synergy is a boon. Here is why it is a boon?

Garlic is rich in sulphur compounds which help in fighting diseases and fights against the inflammation in the body. Fish is a very rich source of protein. If these 2 super foods are combined together, their power of fighting diseases drastically increases.

Adding garlic to fish will help in lowering bad cholesterol and also maintain your triglyceride levels!

(6) Curcuma longa (turmeric) and pepper

There are many types of research and articles which are being published on benefits of turmeric. Although the therapeutic use of Curcuma was recorded as early as 1748, the first article referring to the use of curcumin in human disease was published in 1937 by Oppenheimer. In this study, the author examined the effects of “curcumin” or “curcunat” containing 0.1 g to 0.25 g sodium curcumin and 0.1 g calcium cholate in human biliary diseases.

Curcumin has various properties like lowering bad cholesterol, prevents cancer, boosting liver function and more. But, when it comes to its absorption, only curcumin might not benefit. Adding pepper to it will boost the absorption of curcumin ( the active ingredient in turmeric) and bring out major benefits to the body.

(7) Spinach and lemon drops

We might have heard about spinach being rich in iron and we should include it in our daily diet but we might not know that iron is spinach is not readily absorbed in the body. Absorption of iron is very poor but, if you add lemon drops to it, iron absorption will be increased. Vitamin c helps in increasing the absorption of iron in the food.

(8) Rice and vinegar

There are many myths about rice and one of them is that a diabetic should avoid taking rice. It is said that rice spikes up the sugar levels. Adding, vinegar to your rice will slow the blood sugar spike. So, diabetics can take rice to some extent and this is also good for people looking for weight loss and loves eating rice!

Conclusion:

It is always good to know about food combinations which will help in boosting your health! Vitamin D & calcium and Iron and vitamin C combination must be taken care off. There are food combinations which should be avoided which will be covered up in my next blog. Until then stay tuned!