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February 27, 2022 By Priyanka Mangla 1 Comment

Can Yogurt Help You Curb Acid Reflux?

People often complain of symptoms such as chest heaviness, burning in the sternal region (heartburn), frequent burping and sour belching, water brash, feeling as if food is stuck in the throat after swallowing and frequent pain in the throat. All these happen when stomach acid or bile irritates the food pipe lining. When prolonged, these symptoms may progress and lead to other complications.

What Causes Acid Reflux?

Stress, worry, anxiety, tension
Overeating, large meals or long gaps between meals
Obesity
Alcohol and smoking
Certain drugs like aspirin, antibiotics, painkillers, etc.
Bending, lying down or physical exertion soon after eating
After eating certain foods like onion, coffee, tea, tomatoes, citrus fruits, spicy food, chilies, deep fried food and aerated drinks.

I have found many people start taking a PPI (proton pump inhibitors) and keep continuing it for long because they find that as soon as they stop it, the symptoms recur. It’s quite clear that GERD, to some extent, is a lifestyle disorder and if taken care of, we can easily manage it. PPIs/antacids are not at all a solution for it. Moreover, their usage for a long term is going to harm the lining of the stomach, and as a result, the absorptive power of the stomach lessens, resulting in deficiency of vitamins. This paves the way to begin a multivitamin along with an antacid.

Can Simple Lifestyle Measures Help You Curb It?

Now, the question arises, if we can take hold of this by simple lifestyle measures, why not try at least? Simple, yet much beneficial changes you could make include:

Avoiding overeating: eat small meals at short intervals, little food at every 2 hours
Avoid drinking immediately before meals and drink sparingly during meals
Avoid fried food and fats: You can include sesame oil, mustard oil, oily fish, linseed oil, skimmed milk and low fat milk products in your diet in small quantities
Eat fresh fruits and salads and add ash gourd juice.

Can Yogurt Curb Acid Reflux?

Doubts come into our mind when we are advised Yogurt/Curd, which by nature is acidic. In spite of being acidic in nature, yogurt is a low acid-forming food since it doesn’t influence the acid-alkaline equilibrium of the body. You know soured milk is superior to sweet milk as it is in a predigested form and more easily assimilated. Yogurt is prepared by the bacterial fermentation of milk. It has a sour flavor because of the lactic acid produced by the fermentation of lactose found in milk. It is this acidic nature of yogurt which prevents the growth of other unwanted microorganisms in yogurt and improves our gut health. Several studies suggest that weakly acidic yogurt helps in diluting the strong acid present in the stomach, thereby reducing acid reflux episodes.

These days Greek Yogurt (kefir) is in the limelight. This is nothing but a thicker form of our regular yogurt (dahi/curd), with the whey drained out. If you wish to avoid starting a PPI/antacid or stop the already prescribed one, think about making some healthy dietary changes and I’m sure you will be amazed to see the results. Next time you sit for your meals , don’t forget to have a bowl of dahi, either plain or in the form of cucumber raita. You may also enjoy it in the form of lassi/buttermilk with a dash of jeera powder, salt, black pepper and 1-2 mint leaves to feel that soothing effect.

We hope this article helps you curb acid reflux. Is there a specific way you enjoy eating yogurt or curd? Let us know in the comments below! For more on nutrition, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to classes by expert nutritionists on GOQii Play. To get these tips directly from your GOQii Coach, sign up for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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February 26, 2022 By Neha Goyal Leave a Comment

Healthy Eating: Millet Soup

Believe it or not, Millets have been in the winter superfoods list since time immemorial. Millets are hardy grains and because they grow like weeds, they can withstand any temperatures (hot, cold and even drought). Let’s learn an interesting way to include this superfood in our diet with a healthy Millet Soup recipe!

What You Will Need:

Curd – 1 cup
Bajra flour – 3 tbsp
Water – 3-4 cups
Boiled sweet corn – 2 tbsp
Yellow & green bell peppers – 3 tbsp chopped
Carrot – ¼ cup chopped
Onion – ¼ cup chopped
Cabbage – ¼ cup chopped
Coriander leaves – ½ cup chopped
Desi cow ghee – 2 tsp
Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp
Green chilly – 1 tsp finely chopped
Ginger – 1 tsp grated ginger
Coarsely ground black pepper – ½ tsp
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Salt to taste

How To Prepare

Take curd and bajra flour in a bowl and whisk to make a smooth mixture.
Gradually add 3-4 cups of water while whisking the mix. Add salt & pepper to this mix and keep it aside.
In a pan, heat ghee and crackle cumin seeds. Add all the veggies except coriander leaves & sauté for a minute.
Slowly add bajra and curd mix into the pan with sautéed veggies while stirring. Cook this on medium to low flame for 15-20 minutes.
Turn the flame off, add lemon juice and fresh coriander. Your hot and tasty millet soup is ready!

Highlights of the Millet Soup recipe

This soup is the perfect option when you are hungry but want to have something warm and light.
It is high in iron content
It’s all organic as millets are naturally non-GMO and pesticide free
Millets are not only high in macronutrients like protein and fiber but are also a powerhouse of many vitamins and minerals too.

We’re sure this Millet Soup will become your go-to winter recipe. Try it now and let us know your thoughts in the comments below! For more healthy recipes, check out Healthy Reads or get the right nutritional advice from a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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February 25, 2022 By Priyanka Mangla Leave a Comment

Natural Antibiotics That Can Help You Fight Infections

Antibiotics are the medicines prescribed to treat bacterial infections. Invention of antibiotics has been a boon to medical science with which we can treat a number of bacterial infections that can be fatal. But the fact that overusing antibiotics can lead to ill-effects and lower natural immunity cannot be denied. There are certain infections which can be easily taken care of by the “Natural Antibiotics” commonly found in our kitchen cabinets. In this article, I am going to share a few most important natural antibiotics. These “Natural Antibiotics” boost your immune system and we all know, only good nutrition and a well-balanced diet can help our body fight against infective agents.

Natural Antibiotics That Fight Infections

1. Onion, Garlic and Ginger
Let’s begin with the frequently used food items used in preparation of gravy i.e. Onions, Garlic and Ginger. Onions and garlic do more than just add flavor to food. They are packed with immune-boosting nutrients which inhibit the growth of potentially harmful bacteria. Ginger extract reduces inflammation in those with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory gut disease, gastric ulcers, asthma, and certain cancers. One point to be remembered here is, we can get most of the benefits of garlic only when it is crushed or chewed. Very few of us know when sulphur compounds (from onion and garlic) are combined with Zinc, the outcome is strong immunity. Sulphur compounds help to boost absorption of the zinc that’s found in whole-grain foods. Good Sources of Zinc include: All whole grains, including brown rice and whole-grain breads; legumes. An excellent combo idea you can use: Brown (or wild) rice with caramelized onions.

2. Add Some Spice
Now, coming to the spices which we add to get flavour. But honestly, more than flavor, they all serve a very useful purpose. First, comes Turmeric! Many of us are already drinking turmeric milk daily knowing its magical powers. Turmeric contains curcumin which is highly anti-inflammatory in nature. It not only boosts immunity but is an effective pain-killer too. Another useful medicine in our kitchen pharmacy is Cinnamon, which is loaded with powerful antioxidants! In addition to improving immunity, it also helps in improving heart health, blood sugar levels and brain health. Only a pinch of cinnamon should be used at a time and not more than half a teaspoon a day. You can add cinnamon to your milk, tea or sprinkle over the salad. Next, comes Black pepper, which may help increase the good bacteria in your gut – which eventually helps improve your immunity. Try this combo for a sore throat: Mash 1 inch piece of ginger, 2 peppercorns, cinnamon and 1 star anise. Boil and sip hot with 1/4 tsp organic honey. Works like magic!

3. The Kitchen Garden
Now let’s move to our kitchen garden’s grace, Tulsi/Holy Basil. It protects against nearly all infections from viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. Another way to help a sore throat heal: boil tulsi seeds and ginger in water and drink this after straining.

4. Don’t Forget Vitamin C
Believe me, if you include vitamin rich foods daily in your diet, you will not require Vitamin C in the concentrated form. Sources include amla, green, yellow and red peppers (red bell peppers contain twice as much vitamin C as citrus. They’re also a rich source of beta carotene which helps keep your eyes and skin healthy), sweet potatoes, mangoes, melons, oranges, strawberries, tomatoes, papaya, broccoli and citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit. Vitamin C helps combat anemia too. Combining vegetarian sources of iron like chickpeas, sprouts, etc. with vitamin C–rich foods like lemon helps to enhance the uptake of iron. So, next time, you have chickpeas/sprouts, don’t forget to squeeze some lemon juice on them.

5. Fermented Foods
Foods like Yogurt, Curd, Buttermilk (plain kind), Fermented rice, Apple cider vinegar, Miso, Sauerkraut (chopped pickled cabbage), Kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage), Kefir and Kombucha tea have live microorganisms and when taken in sufficient amounts, they can help restore the natural balance of gut bacteria by improving gut flora and prevent, as well as treat multiple gastrointestinal infections.

Other antibacterial foods we can store in our kitchen are green tea, whole oats (rolled or steel cut), cold pressed coconut oil, cardamom, cloves, honey, thyme (ajwain) and rye. Honestly, the list is very long. Just remember, “Let food be your medicine and the kitchen, your pharmacy!” They are not the substitutes of any medicine but deserve a fair trial and if taken when the very first sign of an inflammation appears or along with prescribed medicines, all these could be really effective in either stopping the progress of a disease or cutting short the duration of illness. Moreover, if you are consuming them on a regular basis, your immunity is good enough to fight any infection.

NOTE: People on blood-thinning drugs should seek advice from their physician before having garlic and cucurmin because they have some blood thinning properties.

We hope this article on Natural Antibiotics helps you include them in your daily routine. Do let us know your thoughts in the comments below! For more on nutrition and immunity, check out Healthy Reads.

To get these tips directly from your GOQii Coach, and to learn more about nutrition and building immunity, sign up for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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February 24, 2022 By GOQii Leave a Comment

Is Apple Cider Vinegar Panacea for All Diseases?

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is gaining popularity these days as a wonder cure for diabetes, weight loss, heart disease and much more. The question however is – Is there science behind these claims or is it a classic case of excellent marketing? Vinegar has been used as a medical therapy for thousands of years. Recorded vinegar history starts around 5000 BC when the Babylonians were using the fruit of the date palm to make wine and vinegar. Vinegar residues have been found in ancient Egyptian urns traced to 3000 BC. As well, recorded vinegar history in China starts from texts that date back to 1200 BC.

During biblical times, vinegar was used to flavor foods, as an energizing drink, and as a medicine, and it is mentioned in both the old and new testaments. In ancient Greece, around 400 BC, Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, prescribed apple cider vinegar mixed with honey for a variety of ills, including coughs and colds.

Scientific evidence adds to age old wisdom by inferring vinegar’s significant role in key biochemical metabolic pathways –

Reduction in Postprandial Blood Sugar and Insulin Levels: When taken with or just before meals, Apple Cider Vinegar inhibits enzymes necessary for the digestion of starches and other complex carbohydrates, thus preventing them from being broken down into glucose and absorbed into the bloodstream. Vinegar also slows gastric emptying, so it delays the uptake of glucose and other nutrients. (Yusoff et al, Nutrients 2015, 7(8), 7012-7026 )
Like Metformin, Stimulates AMPK: Vinegar stimulates an enzyme called AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) that is a key player in glucose and fat metabolism, insulin signalling, and energy balance. AMPK increases fat oxidation, improves glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity, and lowers gluconeogenesis, or glucose production in the liver. This is similar to how common diabetic drug Metformin works (Zhou et al, Role of AMP-activated protein kinase in mechanism of metformin action. J Clin Invest. 2001 Oct 15; 108(8): 1167–1174).
Nitric Oxide Mediated Protection Against Heart Diseases: Vinegar-induced AMPK activation boosts Nitric Oxide (NO) release in the endothelial cells lining the blood vessels.NO relaxes the arteries, protects against an atherosclerosis-the usual cause of heart attacks, strokes, and peripheral vascular disease. (Sakakibara et al, BiosciBiotechnolBiochem. 2010;74(5):1055-61).
Blood Pressure Regulation: Animal studies demonstrated vinegar decreases blood pressure by down‑regulating AT1R expression via the AMPK/PGC‑1α/PPARγ pathway (Na Lixin et al, Eur j Nutr, April 2016, Volume 55, Issue 3, pp 1245–1253).
Protection Against Cancer: Vinegar is also a dietary source of polyphenols, compounds synthesised by plants to defend against oxidative stress. Ingestion of polyphenols in humans enhances in vivo antioxidant protection and reduces cancer risk.
Reduces Belly Fat: Researches demonstrated vinegar (pomegranate) consumption resulted in marked reduction in visceral fat as confirmed by CT scan(Park et al, Journal of functional foods, Volume 8, May 2014, 274-281).

While the evidence behind Apple Cider Vinegar and other vinegar seem promising, there are a few things to keep in mind. Always take your vinegar diluted (1 tablespoon in 180 ml water). Undiluted shots have been known to wear away tooth enamel and damage the esophagus. Also, too much apple cider vinegar may lower potassium levels in the body. If you are on medications, discuss with your doctor before starting vinegar supplementation.

Lastly, and most importantly – Making vinegar a daily habit won’t cancel out the effects of unhealthy eating. Think of it as one piece of your wellness puzzle, and not a panacea.

We hope this article helps you. For more articles like this, you can check our Healthy Reads or reach out to a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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