Summer Archives - Page 3 of 5

April 14, 2022 By GOQii 1 Comment

Welcome Summer With Sunscreen

We all know the Ozone layer is depleting, making the Sun’s harmful rays stronger than ever. It is only natural for us to take the necessary steps and protect ourselves from these rays. In this article, we will help you understand the importance of Sunscreen and why they are necessary to face Indian summers. Before we get to why you should be using sunscreen, it is also important to pick out the right product for you.

Choosing the Right Product

There are numerous brands out there which sell sunscreen. The key to choosing the right one is to know your skin type. Based on your skin type, you can opt one for oily skin, sweat-proof, etc.

You might have seen the term “SPF” on sunscreen bottles. This stands for “Sun Protection Factor”. The SPF rating determines how much protection you will receive from the sun’s UVB\UVA radiations. A SPF of 30 gives you 97% protection, and SPF of 50 gives you 98% protection and an SPF of 100 gives about 99% protection. SPF between 30-50 is good enough for Indian skin.

Reasons Why You Need Sunscreen

The summers in India are often very ruthless. The most important thing to understand is that nobody is excluded from the use of Sunscreen. People who tan easily, people who don’t, fair skinned, dark skinned, children and everybody else, should use it if you are going to be exposed to the Sun.

The UV rays from the sun are one of the major enemies of our skin! While Vitamin D is necessary, these UV rays damage our cells which results in wrinkles, dark circles, premature ageing, inflammation and acne. UV Rays can even cause skin cancer.

These are enough reasons for you to start using sunscreen. Even though sunscreen doesn’t avoid these conditions completely, it is a very important step towards protection from the sun. Remember that a higher SPF won’t have any effect on sensitive skin. To get 100% protection from the sun’s powerful rays, you will need clothes that cover your entire body, sunscreen, and a hat or something to cover your head.

How To Use It the Right Way

Take a small amount, approx a small coin size of sunscreen on your palm
Apply it gently on your face
It should look white when you apply it on your face
Apply it 15 minutes before you step out so it can be properly absorbed by your skin
You can apply it twice a day

If you are someone with any kind of allergies or other skin problems, consult a doctor. With expert advice, you can choose the right product for yourself and make the most out of it.

Now you’re all equipped to welcome summer with a smile! For more summer tips, check out Healthy Reads or ask a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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April 12, 2022 By Mrinali Dwivedi 1 Comment

What Should You Eat and Avoid During Summer?

The rising degrees often leave us irritated and low on appetite. We may feel it’s because of the heat, but often, our lifestyle and food habits are also responsible for this change. In this view, continuing with wrong food choices may lead to skin eruptions, profuse sweating, summer strokes and gastric disturbances like indigestion, diarrhoea, bloating, stomach aches, vomiting and dehydration. Let’s look at what we should eat and avoid during summer!

What Should You Eat?

Fluids: It’s no secret that water is required in ample amounts during summer to keep ourselves hydrated and replenish the lost water via sweating. But it doesn’t have to be plain water. Include the lesser boring and interesting options of Aam panna, coconut water, infused waters and lemon water to fulfill the daily fluid requirements along with the goodness of vital minerals!
Melons and cucumbers: Water melons, musk melons and cucumbers are found abundantly during summers. They are profusely watery and chock-a-block with vitamins, minerals, fiber and essential antioxidants. Having them will make sure you avoid dehydration and summer strokes.
Leafy and gourd vegetables: These are easily digestible vegetables and contain all the necessary minerals and vitamins needed to keep your strength during summers intact. You may never see anyone overeating a leafy or a gourd vegetable. Light on the stomach and simpler to process by the body, make them the staples of summers.
Onion and garlic: Allium and Sulphur compounds from onion and garlic are antidotes to heat strokes. They are age old methods to cure summer sickness and work just right till date. Include them in your meals and witness the headache caused because of being out for long in the sun wearing off.
Curd or buttermilk: Packed with calcium, protein and probiotics, yoghurt can be the rescue for all digestive troubles and generally running it smoothly. Make a bowl of plain home made curd or buttermilk with fresh mint, cumin and black salt, a regular in summer afternoons.
Sabja seeds: soaked for 10 minutes in water are a potent ease to the digestive system and cool the body down from the inside like a whiff of cool air would do from the outside. Besides that, it is also a source of essential fatty acids like omega 3 and fiber.

What Should You Avoid?

Commercially sold ice creams: The idea of avoiding ice creams during summers might sound bizarre, yet, there can be healthier options for this chilled indulgence! Conventionally, ice creams contain high amounts of fat and sugars that make them difficult to digest but easier to cause weight gain. Also, due to frequent change in the temperature of cold storages, ice creams often develop disease causing bacteria and should be avoided during summers. Consuming ice cream just after being exposed to sunlight might cause sore throat and fever due to sudden temperature fluctuation. Having home frozen yoghurt, kulfis or crushed fruit pulps can be occasional substitutes.
Hot drinks: While the external heat has already led our body temperatures to rise, consuming anything beyond room temperature causes further increase in the overall temperature and results in disturbances of the digestive system causing bloating and bitter burping. Keep beverages like hot tea and coffees to the bare minimum.
Fried foods: Fried and greasy foods are not easy to digest and often leave us bloated. Fried food makes the skin oily during the humid times, giving rise to skin problems like acne and also harms the digestive system.
Spicy foods: Capsaicin found in chilies adversely boosts the body heat and results in excessive sweating, leading to dehydration and sickness. When the body is already fighting off heat, adding hot and spicy food irritates the stomach lining and may cause hyper acidity and belching.
Meat: It is known to all that meat and meat products are not easy to digest. Excessive consumption of meat in the summer season increases the pressure on the digestive system. It contains high amounts of fat, proteins and carbohydrates which heat up the body while digesting it.
Over indulging on mangoes: Excess of anything is bad and mangoes are no exception to this rule! Filled with healthy antioxidants and vitamins, mangoes are a must have for summers. However, they are high in natural sugar and overindulgence can cause skin infections, increase in body heat and a number of undesirable symptoms such as diarrhoea, upset stomach, and headaches etc.

We hope this article helps you understand what you should eat and avoid during summer! Do let us know your thoughts in the comments below. For more on staying healthy during summers, check out Healthy Reads.

To get these tips directly from an expert, subscribe for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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March 30, 2022 By Megha Mahajan 2 Comments

Can Pranayama Techniques Cool Your Body During Summer?

Are you using lots of water, cool drinks, air-conditioning or beach parties to beat the heat this summer? Would you be interested to know about an easy and inexpensive way to chill instead? If yes, then read this article to learn three different breathing techniques to cool down your body. Yes! You read it right. All you need to do is breathe! Here’s how Pranayama techniques can cool your body during summer!

Pranayama Techniques To Cool Your Body

1. Increased Rate & Depth of Breathing
Preferably lie down in Shavasana and practice deep diaphragmatic breathing, allowing the belly to rise with each inhalation. Make sure to increase your breathing rate too. A modified version of doing it is panting like a dog. Just open your mouth and stick out your tongue as far as it can go, then start panting. Make sure that your stomach goes in or contracts immediately with each exhalation.

Why does it work?
We sweat a lot during the summers. The evaporation of sweat cools down our body. In the same ways, with an increased rate and depth of breathing, we exhale a lot more water vapour. It enhances the cooling effect of the body. Now you know why dogs don’t sweat? They stick out their tongue and release the heat. More breaths and less movement ensures the double advantage of cooling your pace.

2. Sheetali Pranayama
Stick your tongue out and roll it like a straw. Inhale air through this straw as if you were sipping in a cool beverage on a hot summer day. Exhale through the nose. Sheetkari pranayama is a modified version of Sheetali, which can be done if you are unable to roll your tongue. Here you have to open your mouth with clenched teeth to inhale through them and exhale through the nose.

Why does it work?
When we breathe in through the nose, the air gets warmed up on its path to the lungs to match the internal body temperature. While we breathe in through the mouth, this doesn’t happen. On the contrary, the air gets moistened when we inhale through the mouth, enhancing its cooling effects.

3. Left Nostril Breathing
Use your right-hand fingers to block the right nostril and breathe through the left nostril. An easier way to activate the left nostril breathing is to insert a cotton plug in the right ear.

Why does it work?
Our body temperature is maintained by the movement of air through the right and left channels. The right channel is associated with sun, heat and activity. Whereas the left channel is associated with the moon, cool and rest. It is like the accelerator and brake pedals of a car. Applying the brakes gently slows down and cools off the overheated car engines. Similarly, when we deliberately breathe in through the left nostril, the brakes get applied to activate the parasympathetic nervous system to produce a cooling and calming effect on the body.

And there it is! We hope these 3 pranayama techniques will help you cool your body during these hot summer days. Try them and let us know your experience in the comments below. For more summer tips, check out Healthy Reads. To get these tips directly from a GOQii Coach, subscribe for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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March 25, 2022 By Vaishali Vibhute 3 Comments

Benefits Of Eating Watermelon During Summer

Summers are incomplete without the red and juicy watermelon. Watermelon is a large, sweet, and refreshingly low calorie fruit. It is grown in a favorable climate from tropical to temperate regions worldwide. Besides cantaloupe, honeydew and cucumber, watermelon is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family. All parts of this fruit are edible. There are lots of nutrients from the seeds to the white flesh closest to the rind. The rind contains more amino acid citrulline than the flesh. Rind is edible after cooking. Watermelon rinds are often cooked as vegetables in most parts of India. Watermelon seeds are also loaded with nutrients. They are high in protein, fiber, vitamin B and omega 3 fatty acid.

Healthy Reasons To Eat Watermelon

Each bite contains 92% water and 6% sugar. It’s name makes perfect sense, as it consists mostly of water. So apart from keeping you hydrated, what else does this healthy summer fruit offer?

Rich in nutrients: It is an excellent source of a wide variety of nutrients specially Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Potassium, Dietary Fiber and Antioxidant Compounds.

Nutrients present in 100gm of watermelon are as follows :

Sr.No.	Nutrients	Units	Quantity
1	Energy	Cal	30
2	Carbohydrate	Gm	7.5 including 6.2 gm sugar
3	Fiber	Gm	0.4
4	Magnesium	Mg	10
5	Potassium	Mg	112
6	Choline	Mg	6.3
7	Vitamin A	Mcg	27
8	B – carotene	Mcg	467
9	Lycopene	Mcg	4532
10	Vitamin C	Mg	8.3

One ounce i.e 28.5gm of seeds provide around 8gm of protein.

It helps you to shed extra kilos: Watermelon is the best fruit to eat if someone is trying to lose weight. It is rich in lycopene. It will increase your body’s Arginine level, an amino acid, which helps burn fat quickly. Due to its low calorie and highwater content, it keeps a person full for a long time and helps promote weight loss.
Good for eyes: Lycopene, an antioxidant present in watermelon keeps the eyes healthy and protects against age related macular degeneration (AMD).
Keeps your kidney healthy: Watermelon is a natural diuretic. Potassium present in watermelon removes toxic substances from the body and reduces the percentage of uric acid present in the blood.
Prevents constipation: It is high in water and a good source of fiber that helps prevent constipation and promotes good bowel movement.
Promotes a healthy heart: It is the best source of Citrulline – an amino acid that our body converts to Arginine, an essential amino acid that plays a key role in relaxing blood vessels and helps improve blood flow. It also helps control blood sugar and helps lower blood pressure.
Keeps your skin and hair healthy: Watermelon contains vitamin C, which the body needs to produce collagen – a protein that keeps your skin supple and hair strong.
Helps in cancer prevention: Being a source of numerous antioxidants and flavonoids, watermelon consumption helps in protecting against certain types of cancer such as colon, breast and lung cancer.
Helps with sore muscles: Due to the presence of amino acid, citrulline in watermelon, muscle soreness can be treated. Watermelon may enhance performance and speed of recovery post exercise.
Reduce asthmatic attack: An antioxidant lycopene present in watermelon helps reduce asthmatic flares up in both children and adults.
Keeps you energetic: Potassium present in watermelon has electrolyte properties that leaves you feeling energetic for a long time.
Enhances the immune system: Vitamins and antioxidants present in this fruit, aids the production of RBC (red blood cells) which keep the immune system strong.
Good for the brain and nervous system: Being rich in Choline, an antioxidant present in this fruit, helps in learning, memory and brain development.

It is the best cooling fruit to eat during the summer season. Apart from the above benefits, Watermelon also has Vitamin B6 and potassium. Potassium maintains water balance in the body while Vitamin B6 improves immunity. Citrulline prevents muscle cramps. Remember that Juicing breaks down the fiber, making sugar easier to absorb and you may not get the benefit of fiber. People with diabetes should consider eating fresh, whole watermelon rather than drinking the juice.

We hope this article helps you head to the market and pick this amazing fruit now! For more on nutrition and healthy summer eating, check out Healthy Reads or you can ask a GOQii Coach for more tips and guidance by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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