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The Bipolar Journey

bipolar (1) (1)

In 2013, the celebrity world across the world was shocked when they heard that Catherine Zeta-Jones of Mask of Zorro, ‘Chicago’ and ‘Ocean’s Twelve’ fame declared she was suffering from ‘Bipolar II disorder’ and had checked into a hospital for treatment. There were a lot of discussions in media related to Bipolar Disorder- a kind of mood disorder which even the elite cannot escape away from if it grips them.

Similarly, I had a patient named Jalaj (name changed) who was detected with bipolar mood disorder. He got to know of his condition in a fairly unpleasant way. It began with him having trouble in his married life due to his unexplained aggression. Initially, his parents and wife were apprehensive to consult a psychiatrist because they considered seeking help for mental health a taboo. They thought he was stressed due to the financial burden. But, eventually, when his behaviour got worse, they consulted a psychiatrist who after diagnosing declared him to be ‘Bipolar’. His family, wife and friends stood by him in his trying times and he recovered in 6 months without medication. Unfortunately, most of us consider taking anti-depressants to be a sign of mental weakness.

When fights and Jalaj’s behaviour went out of control, it was on the insistence of his wife that the family consulted a shrink for professional help. On taking Jalaj’s history, the psychiatrist found that he had suffered a bout of depression 4 years ago also which was his first episode. He was 20 years old then.

Bipolar mood disorder typically starts in early adult life, between 18 to 22 years of age. Jalaj’s first episode of depression was also for no obvious reason. His wife Dimple reported that during the two years of their married life she did feel he had a lot of mood fluctuations. These mood fluctuations are called cyclothymic mood changes in medical terminology. The person swings between a mildly good and mildly low mood throughout the day and entire life. When his father came to know of his son’s diagnosis he confirmed that Jalaj’s grandfather was also bipolar. He used to have the bout of depression every 3 years and recover from it in 6 months. Bipolar Disorder is strongly hereditary and runs in families.

Let’s understand what is Bipolar?

A person afflicted with bipolar mood disorder goes from mild depression into moderate and then severe depression followed by a return to normal state for few months and then goes into mild mania and then hypomania in a cyclical and periodic manner throughout adult life. The word BIPOLAR means having two extremes which are poles apart. The medical reason is that the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine fluctuate for no explainable reason. Hence it’s a chemical imbalance.

5% of world population is estimated to be bipolar. Impulsiveness is another hallmark feature of a bipolar. They hardly think before doing most things. When in an excessive happy mode, a bipolar tends to go on a buying spree. A bipolar person is also prone to aggression, alcohol, smoking and drug addiction, hypersexuality or promiscuous behaviour in mania phase.

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Treatment

Treatment for Bipolar is psychiatric counselling and regular medication to control mood swings. Jalaj was counselled by a psychiatrist who made him understand that if he doesn’t take medication he will be jeopardizing his family life and career. Bipolars need daily and regular medication to function normally. The medicines called mood stabilizers prevent the mood fluctuations and prevent mania and depression.

Jalaj takes medication as prescribed and follows up with the shrink once every 3 months. Thankfully he is leading a happy married life again and Dimple also understands what he goes through and is able to counsel him. Daily meditation also helps Jalaj deal with his mood fluctuations. 8 hrs of sound sleep is essential on a daily basis for him so that he does not lose his sanity.

It is critical that bipolars’ take treatment because there are chances of attempting suicide during a major depressive phase. Many bipolar utilize the hypomania phase to be more creative and productive and achieve professional stardom. In a way, they turn it into a gift. Bipolar can be well controlled and one can lead a healthy life. On a lighter note, a bipolar person has a happening life with lots of ups and downs.

 

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Confused about healthy snacks….why not go for some scrumptious yogurt recipes

In my earlier blog I talked about the importance of yoghurt, which prompted me to write this second blog on recipes made from yogurt that can be healthy snacks. Many times we are in dilemma to have the right kind of healthy snacks as mid-meal snacks. I too get confused at times. To ease this dilemma, I have here some good and quick recipes for healthy snacks to suffice your hunger.

  1. Strawberry yogurt ice-cream:

1. Strawberry yogurt ice-cream

Ingredients:

1 cup- Plain unflavoured low-fat yoghurt

3 pieces medium sized -Fresh Strawberry

1 tablespoon -Organic honey

Chopped Nuts- to taste (optional)

Preparation

  • Chop strawberries into 4 pieces
  • Grind plain yogurt and strawberries in mixer or juicer.
  • Add honey while mixing in the juicer.
  • Keep it to freeze in deep freezer for 2 hours and again grind it once in the juicer. You can again freeze it or store it till 2 days.
  • Top with chopped nuts to taste.
  • Enjoy your tempting ice-cream

Tip: you can use any fruit from your list of favourites….to enjoy different antioxidants and multivitamins….like blueberries, pomegranate, banana, papaya etc. Any flavour you like to add….

  1. Yogurt veggie bread spread

2. Yogurt veggie bread spread

Ingredients:

Plain unflavoured low-fat yogurt -1 cup

Carrot, cucumber, beetroot chopped- ¼ cup

Black pepper powder- to taste

Cold pressed coconut oil- 1 teaspoon for taste (optional)

Salt to taste

Honey 1 teaspoon

Preparation

  • Beat the yogurt till it becomes creamy.
  • Add honey salt and pepper powder to it and beat again
  • Little strain chopped veggies to remove extra water
  • Add chopped veggies and mix it well …
  • Enjoy your bread spread with brown bread for quick breakfast.

Tips- you can add any flavours seasonings to make it tangy and tasty.

  1. Anti-inflammatory Garlic-spinach Yogurt

2. Yogurt veggie bread spread

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon any vegetable cooking oil
  • 8-10 baby spinach
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 1 1/2 cups plain low-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coriander
  • Sea salt and black pepper powder to taste/ one green chilli paste

Preparation

  • Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a pan. Add spinach to toss it to remove excess water, then coarsely chop.
  • Mix chopped spinach, garlic, yogurt, coriander, and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium bowl; season it with salt and pepper or chilli. Cover and chill at least 1 hour before serving.

Tip- you can store it for two days.

4.     Yogurt veggies soupy delight

 

soupy delight

Ingredients

  • Low-fat plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoons sesame seeds, coriander seeds, and cumin seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 2 whole black peppercorns
  • 1 clove
  • 1 carrot, 4 medium tomatoes, 1-inch ginger
  • 1 tablespoon butter or homemade butter
  • Rock salt to taste

Preparation

  • Toast cumin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, sesame seeds and chopped garlic in ½ teaspoon ghee or butter in a pan.
  • Boil carrot, tomato, clove, ginger, peppercorns into pressure cooker, let it cool down
  • After cooling grind all boiled mix veggies and tossed spices into a fine paste add water to make a thin soup.
  • Once again boil the ground mixture till one boils and add rock salt. Remove from flame.
  • Serve hot topped with desi ghee and add a scoop of low-fat plain yoghurt middle of the soup bowl. Enjoy the delight.
  1. Chickpea-Yogurt Dip

baked-chickpeas

Chickpea-Yogurt Dip- with wheat nachos do you want a tasty dip. Here you go –

Ingredients

  • 2 small garlic cloves
  • Half cup chickpeas, rinsed
  • ½ cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt
  • A large pinch of ground cumin
  • 3 tablespoon olive oil plus more for serving
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Pomegranate seeds (for serving)
  • Coarsely chopped fresh mint (for serving)

Preparation

  • The first step to puree garlic, chickpeas, yogurt, cumin and 2 Tbsp. Oil into a thick paste.
  • Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Top with 1tbsp oil, pomegranate seeds, and mint.
  • Enjoy the treat with wheat nachos.

6.     Rose delight with Beet Yogurt

beet-yogurt-dish-delicious-persian-borani-food-cooking-recipe-fig-quince2

Ingredients

  • 3 medium red beets, trimmed or grated
  • Sea salt
  • 1 1/2 cups plain low-fat Greek yogurt
  • 8-10 fresh or dried rose petals for aroma and flavour
  • 1 teaspoon rose water

Preparation

  • Just parboil the whole beetroot and grate them coarsely.
  • Beat yoghurt and add rose water, sea salt, mix well.
  • Add grated beetroot in yoghurt.
  • Garnish with rose petals.
  • Rose delight is ready to delight your day.

Health benefits of these recipes:

  1. Boon for improving Gut Microflora.
  2. Acts as anti-inflammatory food,
  3. Loaded with antioxidants.
  4. Veggies provide dietary fibre for better digestion and best for fat loss.
  5. Helps to improve HDL (good cholesterol) and reduces bad cholesterol
    (LDL, VLDL, Triglycerides)
  6. Improves glow of skin
  7. Loaded with multivitamins and nutrients for better health.

CAUTION: Choose the low fat and unflavoured yogurt to get all these mentioned benefits, as flavoured yogurt have more sugars.

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Mind It: Eat slowly, do not gobble down

mindful eating

I had just about done with my daily routine of a brisk walk in a park. And, I hear some noises- what is it that I hear…it was my stomach growling. Sending me hunger cues and reminding me that I should be eating something. And, yes I was so hungry that I could probably eat a horse.

I quickly walked up to the nearest café to grab some snacks so I could calm down my growling stomach. While I was awaiting my order, I started to look around the café. One of the best things to while you are alone in a café is to observe others sitting there.  What do I see?

I see this young man eating at breakneck speed. Probably he was in a hurry to just grab some food and rush out to work. While he was eating a break neck speed he was also fidgeting with his phone. Ain’t we all good at multitasking of this nature? As he was eating he also managed to engage himself in few calls. If he could do that to me it came across as he wasn’t in such a hurry as it seemed! Then I thought to myself why would somebody be eating at such a speed? Probably, just a habit I thought to myself!

This is true though. There are many people whom I know have developed these fast eating habits. They are most often in a hurry to get over and done with their food to get away from the table. Most often one develops these habits during childhood and it continues through your adulthood.

But, let me tell you that gobbling down the food quickly without realizing what just went in, does no good to your body. In fact, eating too fast could nearly double your risk of being overweight or obese. A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association shows that women aged 40-50 years who eat the quickest are more likely to be obese than slow eaters.

Once you start eating, it takes about 20 minutes for the “stop eating” signal to reach your brain. Fast eating overrides the mechanism of stimulating the satiety center in the brain. Thus, if you eat too quickly or say within 20 minutes, you tend to overfill your stomach and overeat, paving way for overweight and obesity and other related disorders.

Rather than thinking about food in terms of number of calories and nutrients, it would be more beneficial if you eat it mindfully. Eating slowly, chewing the food thoroughly, and savoring every bite of it are some important aspects of Mindful eating which contribute to your health in several ways.

Digestion: chewing well promotes the release of salivary enzymes in the mouth which in turn start off the digestion process, thus making your further digestion smoother and simple. Hence it is said that slower you eat, the faster and more efficiently you metabolize the food.

Portion control leading to weight control: Portion control is easily achieved when you slowdown your pace of eating. When you eat slowly you become aware of when you stomach gets full and you also know how much to serve yourself and when to stop. Portion size and eating speed can be well explained through the famous ‘French Paradox’ which says that despite high intake of calorie rich and fatty foods in France as compared to the US, the incidence of heart disease  and overweight is relatively low in France. It is well documented fact that the French eat much slower than the Americans thus ending up taking smaller portions. Sensible eating therefore works miraculously for the weight-watchers.

Taste and Enjoying: Eating sensibly also involves relishing your food thoroughly by feeling the flavour on your palate. Sensible eating lets you experience the textures and the aroma of the food overall, making it a wonderful experience focused more on the impression and less on the health effects of eating.

In an age which is clouded by distractions, sensible or mindful eating gets difficult for many. It requires a conscious effort on an individual’s part to make sure that he or she is eating in an environment which is less distractive. To enable yourself eat mindfully, ensure that you are away from the television, mobile phones and other devices so that the focus is completely drawn towards eating. You can have some soft music playing in the background to make the eating experience more delightful.

When you eat, JUST EAT! Be mindful and Stay Healthy.

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Know the exercises for pool workouts –Part 2

water spinning 2

In my previous blog, I explained how pool exercises are beneficial and what precautions should be taken before starting off on them. In the current blog, I am going to tell you about few aqua exercise that you can do.

Let’s get started with some amazing Pool exercises

  1. Aqua walking: You might start with water walking. In water about waist high, walk across the pool swinging your arms as you do when walking on land. Avoid walking on your tip toes, and keep your back straight. Tighten your abdominal muscles to avoid leaning too far forward or to the side.
  2. Aqua jogging: This is deep water running and mimics. You wear a buoyancy belt, which helps you maintain an upright position as you jog or you would also need to wear a flotation vest as a beginner. One of the easiest and most effective pool workouts is water jogging. At a high intensity, you’ll burn 17 calories per minute — more than on land. It also makes you stronger.
  1. Water spinning: Stationary bikes are placed in a pool and one has to combat the waters resistance and pedal to go faster which can pose a challenge. Water cycling gives your legs good massage as the water hits the fat deposits on the leg and thigh muscles. It’s a high-value workout where you may burn 750 calories in just 45 minutes.
  1. Spiderman— Climb the pool wall like Spiderman climbs buildings. How do you do this: Stand in the water on the side of the pool. Stabilize your upper body by sweeping your hands back and forth as you run your legs up the side of the pool and back down to the pool floor. Do four Spiderman exercises, alternating the leading leg each time you reach the end of one jogging circuit.
  2. Arm exercise using hand webs: Hand webs can help you strengthen your biceps and triceps in the water. Wearing hand webs, stand in waist-high water with your arms down, your palms facing forward and your elbows close to your body. Raise your forearms to the level of the water, keeping your elbows close to your body and your wrists straight. Then switch direction and push your hands down until your arms are straight again. Repeat 12 to 15 times or until you’re fatigued.
  1. Pool plank: Planks are a proven core-strengthener on land. But, if you don’t have a strong upper body it’s hard to hold it long enough to give abdominal muscles a good workout. All that changes in a pool. Hold the noodle in front of you. Lean forward in a plank position. The noodle will be submerged under the water, and your elbows should be straight down towards the pool floor. Your feet should still be on the pool floor. Hold as long as comfortable, 15-60 seconds depending on your core strength. Repeat 3-5 times.
  1. One-Legged Balance

This strengthens your leg and core muscles and helps in balance. Standing in waist-high water, lift your left knee up and place the middle of a noodle under your left foot. (Its sides will float up into a U-shape.) Keep your hands by your side and balance with your left foot on the noodle for one minute. Then move your left knee out to the side and balance for another minute. Switch legs and repeat with the right knee lifted and the right foot resting on the noodle. For an extra challenge, lift both arms up over your head as you balance.

8. Fly-Backs

In the water, as on land, fly-backs work the muscles in the upper chest, back and arms. They also improve posture. Start in a lunge position with your right knee bent and your left leg extended straight behind you in the pool. Reach your arms straight out in front of you at chest height — palms touching, fingers extended and thumbs up. Open your arms straight out to the sides in the water, then return them to the starting position to complete one rep.

  1. Forward and side lunges:  Stand near the pool wall for support, if necessary, take an oversized lunge step in a forward direction. Do not let the forward knee advance past the toes. Return to the starting position and repeat with the other leg. For a side lunge, face the pool wall and take an oversized step to the side. Toes should be kept facing forward. Repeat on the other side. Try 3 sets of 10 lunge steps. For variation, lunge walk in a forward or sideways direction instead of staying in place.
  2. Leg exercise using a noodle: To strengthen your leg muscles, tie a water noodle into a knot around your foot or water shoe. Stand with your back to the side of the pool in waist-high water, placing your arms on the edge of the pool for stability. Straighten your leg in front of you, and then flex your knee to about a 90-degree position. Return to the starting position and repeat 12 to 15 times or until you’re fatigued. Tie the water noodle into a knot around your other foot or water shoe and repeat with the other leg.
  1. Resistance exercise using a kickboard: Kickboards provide another type of resistance. Standing up straight with your legs comfortably apart, and tighten your abdominal muscles. Extend your right arm and hold the kickboard on each end. Keeping your left elbow close to your body, move the kickboard toward the centre of your body. Return to the starting position and repeat 12 to 15 times or until you’re fatigued. Then extend your left arm and repeat the exercise on the other side.
  1. Pool kickboxing: It is great for sculpting arms and torso. Lift one knee and kick the foot upwards which you punch forward with your other hand. Punch throughout the water resistance and kick without worrying about keeping your balance.
  1. Deepwater bicycle: In deeper water, loop 1-2 noodles around the back of your body and rest your arms on top of the noodle for support in the water. Move your legs as if you are riding a bicycle. Continue for 3-5 minutes.
  1. Push-ups: While standing in the pool by the poolside, place arms shoulder-width apart on pool edge. Press weight through your hands and raise your body up and halfway out of the water, keeping elbows slightly bent. Hold 3 seconds and slowly lower back into the pool. (Easier variation: Wall push up on side of pool: place hands on edge of pool shoulder width apart, bend elbows, and lean chest toward the pool wall.

15. Aqua Tai Chi: This water inspired version of tai chi. It involves series of deep breathing, relaxing movements that challenge balance using tai chi and Qigong (breathing techniques).Try the arms uplifting pose, moving arms from side to centre, and floating. The slow, fluid exercises reduce tension, stretch the spine and allow the chi (life force) to flow through the body. They reduce fibromyalgia and chronic pain.

Aquatic exercise can be fun at any age, size or fitness level — whether you practice it on your own or sign up for a class. Jump in. The water’s fine! Stay healthy and stay fit!

From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

As we observe World Cancer Day under the powerful theme ‘United by Unique’ (2025-2027)**, we are reminded that every individual’s journey with cancer is distinct, yet united by shared resilience, hope, and the collective fight against this disease. This theme places people at the centre of care and their stories at the heart of the […]