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Is Acne just a skin problem or a diet problem?

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Acne is a common problem that we have all had while growing up or continue to have it. It’s irritating, we hate it and have also tried to beat it with the numerous types of skin care treatments. For a few these treatments have proved good but, for many the acne burst returns back may be at the same spot as before even after taking the utmost care.

One tends to wonder what is the cause for acne to keep occurring and re-occurring? The heightened cause of acne is a complex interaction of changing hormones, sebum, overgrowth of bacteria and inflammation.

To get a better understanding of this, let’s get deep into the skin structure,

We all individuals have a small sebaceous glands which lie just under the skin surface. These glands make the oil (sebum) that keeps the skin supple and smooth. Tiny pores on the skin allow the sebum to come on to the skin surface. Some of these pores get blocked due to the skin on top of the pores get thicker by combining with the dead skin cells that are shed into the pores. Thereafter, we notice tiny spots known as blackheads and whiteheads that block the pores.

As a rule, the more sebum that you create, the greasier your skin feels and the worse acne is likely to be trapped and this is an ideal situation for a germ (bacterium) to live and multiply on that. If a large number develop in the trapped sebum, the immune system may react and cause inflammation.

Often in women, the acne will break out in the exact same area mostly around their menstrual cycle. This may be related to hormones. This may be called as ‘stress’ area – a certain area on your face where whenever your immune system is compromised due to stress or illness, acne occurs. That pore may be damaged from picking or squeezing it in the past or a ‘natural’ weakness in the pore walls. It is unable to keep oil and infection out as easily and inflammation takes place frequently. Sometimes, a recurring pimple is because there is inflammation still very deep within the skin. While the surface may disappear temporarily, it is still there under the surface.

We can’t do much when it comes to the hormonal changes but, the other causes of acne is food intake. Certain foods like bad fats in fast foods and junk foods, processed and refined foods especially sugar, white bread, processed breakfast cereals, white rice, chips, cookies and cakes, full fat dairy products causes spike in blood sugar levels and lead to acne.

The key is to eat foods that keep your blood sugar and body pH alkaline steady. Here are few tips…

*Vegetables namely cucumbers, peas, cauliflower,beetroot, broccoli, lemons, leafy vegetables. The more vegetables you have the clearer skin you get.

*Omega 3 oils namely walnuts, flaxseeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, fish and fish oils.

*Antioxidants mainly like VitA, Vit E and zinc like pumpkins, sweet potatoes, carrots, papaya, nuts like almonds, peanuts, shellfish, avocados and mushrooms.

*Water and High Fiber Foods for adequate hydration and detoxifying the body.

It never happens that one plan suits all, so you can experiment to find a perfect balance between the skin and body changes, maintain a diary, observe the changes, track them and carve out the best suitable food plan for a healthy and clear skin.

There are many factors that contribute to acne and diet is just one of them. Along with eating clean and avoiding acne triggers, a good skin care routine like using correct face wash, sporting a sunscreen daily and moisturizing your skin  is vital to maintaining a clear complexion.

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The 6 tastes- the balanced nutrition in your diet

How to have a balanced diet

Did you know that the taste has a direct energetic effect on digestion?

The sense of tasteis a natural guide towards proper nutrition.For ages, humans relied largely upon taste to discover healthy foods in nature and avoid toxicity. Every taste has a long term effect on our metabolism after digestion is complete, and all the nutrients have been assimilated in the tissue. There are six tastes in nature by which all foods can be categorized. These are sweet,salty,bitter, pungent and astringent. These six tastes are unique and naturally guide us towards body’s nutritional needs. Each taste has its own therapeutic effects and changing impact on our body from the time it enters the body till it is absorbed.

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Let us know these tastes in detail…….

Sweet- The sweet taste is highly nourishing, infact the most nourishing of all tastes. Sweet food is excellent for building the bodies seven vital tissuesplasma, blood, fat, muscles, bones, marrow and reproductive fluids. Sweet food also increases the saliva, soothes mucous membranes and burning sensations, relieves thirst and has beneficial effects on skin, hair, voice and fertility. Sweet taste is found in milk and milk products, legumes like beans and lentils, sweet fruits like mango, banana, and certain cooked vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes and beets. The source being carbohydrates, protein and fat.

Sour- The sour taste wakes people up and ensures their thoughts and emotions become clear. Sour food stimulates and boosts digestion, helps circulation and elimination, strengthens the heart, maintains acidity, sharpens the senses, and helps to extract the iron from food.Sour taste is commonly found in citrus fruits like lemon and oranges, yoghurt, cheese and sour creams and fermented foods like wine and vinegar. The source being organic acids, ascorbic acid, citric acid and acetic acid.

Salty-The salty taste provides solidity and structure to people, improves digestion, liquefies the mucous, maintains mineral balance, aids in elimination of waste and calms the nerves. It also improves the radiance of the skin and promotes overall growth in the body. Salt is mainly found in minerals and not in plants, such as sea salt, rock salt, sea vegetables like sea weed and kelp. The source being mineral salt.

Pungent- The pungent tasteis the hottest of all six tastes. The pungent taste in food stimulates our digestion, boosts food intake and makes sure our waste products are burnt. Pungent food ensures that we think quickly and clears the sinuses, promotes sweating, aids circulation, improves metabolism and relieves muscle pain. The pungent taste is found in certain vegetables such as chilly peppers, garlic and onions, and in spices like black pepper, ginger and cayenne. The source being essential oils.

Bitter- Bitter is a dehydrating taste, thus increasing the strength and vigor in an individual. Though the bitter taste is often not an appealing one, it stimulates the appetite and helps to bring out the flavor of other tastes. It is a powerful detoxification agent, and has antibiotic, anti-parasitic and antiseptic qualities. It is also helpful in reducing the weight, skin rashes, burning sensation and nausea. Bitter taste is found in green leafy vegetables such as spinach, green cabbage, bitter guard, herbs and spices like fenugreek and turmeric, coffee, tea, and certain fruits such as grapefruit, olives and bitter melon. The source being alkaloids.

Astringent-Astringent taste is classified more in relation to its effect on the tongue than its actual taste. It has a very cooling effect on the body. Astringent taste is found in legumes like beans and lentils, fruits such as cranberries, pomegranate, pears, vegetables such asbroccoli, cauliflower, asparagus andturnip. Grains such as rye and quinoa, spices such as turmeric, coffee and tea. The source being Tannins.

One should incorporate all these six tastes in each meal, which keeps one balanced and satisfy each of the major dietary building blocks. This can thus avoid food cravings and over consumption of certain foods.

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All you want to know about Green Tea and its Benefits

japanese-green-tea

Although tea drinking has been associated with health benefits for centuries, only in recent years have its medicinal properties been investigated scientifically. One must recognize the healthy power of tea while getting the most out of their cups.

Tea’s health benefits are largely due to its high content of flavonoids — plant-derived compounds that are antioxidants. Green tea is one of the healthiest beverages and the best food source of a group called ‘Catechins’. Catechins are more powerful than vitamins C and E in halting oxidative damage to cells and appear to have other disease-fighting properties.

Of course, there is no single super food which can protect you from disease, how healthy are your eating habits and how active you are makes a big difference.

Here are some pointers giving information on various aspects of green tea varying from how to select a particular brand to its health benefits.

  • While looking for a Green Tea, look for brands that use all-natural ingredients and have no artificial preservatives. Also, try and opt for these 2 varieties of green tea whenever possible:

(I) Matcha: The green tea leaves are ground into a fine powder, which you can whisk into water for tea. Since  you consume the actual leaves, you get more antioxidants than from other green teas.

(II) Hojicha: Made from green tea leaves that are roasted until they’re dark brown. Because it’s picked at the  end of the season and roasted at a higher heat than other teas, hojicha contains lower levels of caffeine.

  • Ideally, skip the tea bag and opt for fresh leaves. That’s because, with green tea, you want to pour hot water directly over the leaves to extract their essence. Using a tea bag reduces the potency of the chemical reaction. If bagged tea is the only option, cut open the bag and pour water over the contents directly. As for the brewing bit itself, don’t let the water come to a full boil. Instead, pour the water over the tea right before it boils and then let the tea steep for 3-4 minutes.
  • One can take 3-5 cups of green tea in a day. It is advisable to drink green tea in between meals i.e. more than one hour after breakfast and lunch because it contain tannin which may decrease the absorption of iron and folic acid.
  • Green tea apparently helps regulate glucose levels slowing the rise of blood sugar after eating. This can prevent high insulin spikes and resulting fat storage.
  • Green tea contains less caffeine than Coffee but enough to produce an effect. It also contains the amino acid L-Theanine, which can work synergistically with Caffeine to improve brain function.
  • Green tea has the properties to lower total and LDL Cholesterol, as well as protects the LDL particles from oxidation. Observational studies show that green tea drinkers have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
  • Green tea also boosts the metabolic rate and increase fat burning. This in turn helps in reducing weight.
  • Green tea has power anti-oxidants that may protect against cancer. Multiple studies have indicated that green tea drinkers have a lower risk of various types of cancer. Tea catechins are strong antibacterial and antiviral agents which make them effective for treating everything from influenza to cancer. In some studies green tea has been shown to inhibit the spread of many diseases.
  • The bioactive compounds in green tea can have various protective effects on nervous system and may reduce the risk of both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, the two most common neuro degenerative disorders.
  • Green tea gives a feeling of satiety thus reducing the quantity of food one eats.

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Tips to prepare quick and nourishing meals

Sauteing Vegetables

In today’s competitive world every human being is striving for a good career combined with a good healthy lifestyle and this can be achieved through exercise, proper sleep and above all good nourishing and healthy nutrition. Managing work and home for both men and women with dwindling time is increasingly becoming difficult. The last thing that we want to compromise is our health. With little planning, ingenuity, and organization in advance can make cooking a pleasurable experience.

It has been said many times that all tasty and nutritious meals need not require too much of elaborate cooking, too much time and usage of lot of spices or oil.

Try these life saving hacks for a week and enjoy yummy and ready in minutes recipes!

-Pre-preparations: If there are some recipes that are time consuming and elaborate then these can be pre-prepared during the weekends when one has some extra time to spare. During the weekend you can mentally plan the foods, dishes that you intend to make during the week. Pre-preparation of these dishes help a great deal thus saving lot of time during week days.

-Learn to Deep Freeze!!! A good size freezer compartment always comes in handy.

Cutting onions every time is very cumbersome. The much used mixture of tomato and onionin most Indian dishes can be cooked in bulk, and tucked away in freezer. Whenever needed take a few spoonful out and cook it with your vegetables. This paste comes handy for pasta as well. Similarly, Indians use lot of ginger and garlic in their food. You can pre prepare this paste as well and deep freeze it. This will save a whole lot of time when you’re cooking next.

-Partly cooked vegetables like roasted Brinjal or Aubergine or also called Eggplant, Okra (Lady’s Finger), Bitter Gourd, pressure cooked pulses such as, Kidney Beans, white chick peas, black eyed beans etc can be partly cooked and tucked away in the freezer(for fresh taste prepare the seasoning at the time of serving).

-Leafy vegetables Preparations: Leafy vegetablescan take a lot of time to clean, wash and chop. With a tight work schedule this might get difficult. To make it easy for you, wash, clean and chop the leafy vegetables in advance and store them in containers and keep them in the fridge. Add these to your daily wheat dough to make nutritious breads or in battersfor other preparations etc.

-Meats can be marinated, half cooked and frozen:These can be freshly pressure cooked with additional spices or baked to get perfectly cooked dishes.

– One thing that I very often do is make large batch of rice-pulse batter. This batter can be conveniently stored in refrigerator, and can be used for over a week for make steamed rice cakes.Try mixing some oats powder to this mixture for healthy alternatives top up the batter with chopped vegetables for greater variety.

-Other than freezing, vegetables can also be washed, cut up, cleaned and stored in airtight containers for a busy morning. Use these to make healthy multigrain sandwiches, subs, etc.

So no more will you have morning blues of cooking and rushing to work if you follow these easy tips.

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From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

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