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9 Hidden Benefits of Coffee You May Not Know

hidden benefits of coffeeWhat makes your morning better? Is it the bright morning sun, ushering in a new day with its warm rays? Or the melodious chirping of birds? Is it the fresh aromas of flowers or morning dew? If you thought of a freshly brewed cup of coffee, a newspaper and sitting under a blue sky, then we have a lot in common!

Yes, I orchestrate my mornings with Coffee! If coffee is considered bad and me being a nutritionist, you might wonder why I am starting my day with it? Well, today I am writing to make you believe that, “A bad day with coffee is better than a good day without it!”

Surprisingly, coffee has some amazing hidden benefits which we don’t often address. Apart from the warmth, the energy boost, and freshness, there are a lot more benefits that coffee beans offer.

Let’s Brew the Hidden Benefits of Coffee 

  1. Keeps the Body Cells Healthy: Sipping coffee every morning is like flooding our body with antioxidants that help eliminate free radicals. Not every antioxidant has this power. Only Coffee antioxidants are blessed with the ability to fight and delay the death of cells, so keep sipping!
  2. Digestion of Carbs Gets Easier: Coffee and carbohydrates work really well together. A few chemicals in coffee beans help the body turn those wonderful bread nutrients into energy. Antioxidants such as chlorogenic acid, quinic acid found in coffee help the body process and utilize carbs effectively. Isn’t that wonderful! Now we know why coffee and sandwiches makes the best pair! It’s all scientific.
  3. Sip to Kick Stress & Depression Away: Caffeine impacts neurotransmitters in the brain, including the “feel good” hormones serotonin and dopamine. The mental boost we get after the first sip of coffee isn’t all due to caffeine.
  4. Aids Hair Growth: Growth-promoting effects of caffeine on human hair follicles encourage hair growth in both men and women. Caffeine helps to block the effects of DHT, the chemical hormone responsible for hair loss.
  5. Improves Performance on Tracks: Sipping coffee as a pre-workout allows muscles to better convert fat to fuel, making you more energized. Try this amazing bulletproof coffee recipe, made popular by our Founder and CEO Vishal Gondal! Trust me, it does wonders!
  6. Coffee-licious Daily Scrub: What else to ask for? Coffee does wonders as an exfoliant! Mix fresh or ground coffee beans with olive oil or coconut oil, and scrub to get clean, softer skin.
  7. Good for the Liver: A cup of coffee a day, keeps cirrhosis away. Yes! That is true! Researchers say that coffee protects the liver and reduces the chances for cirrhosis by 80%.
  8. Green Coffee is a Multitasker: Green coffee is unroasted coffee beans that grow on the coffee plant, called Coffea Arabica. It is rich in antioxidant, increases metabolic rate by 3% to 11%, encouraging weight loss. It is also a natural detox, controls unnecessary food cravings and stops us from overeating.
  9. White Coffee is NEW in Town: White Coffee comes from the same hard green coffee beans as regular coffee. Not to be confused with the creamy coffee we get in coffee shops, this one is different.  The main differences between the two are in the roasting process, roasting time, and the resulting flavor. White Coffee has up to 50% more caffeine, but is less acidic making it easy on the stomach and retaining more antioxidants.

Do these awesome hidden benefits of coffee make you feel like brewing a cup? Just remember that having anything in excess is bad for your health. Drinking too much coffee may do more harm than good. So, limit your coffee intake to only 2 cups a day and avoid sipping on coffee after 7 PM, or it may end up hampering your sleep.

We wish you all a Happy International Coffee Day! How do you enjoy your coffee? Tell us in the comments below.

To know more hidden benefits like this, speak to your GOQii Coach by subscribing for Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce  

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Your Heart and You: Signs of Heart Disease to Watch Out For

heart diseaseMishita, 55 years old, had been feeling low and depressed for a few months. For the past 2 days, she began experiencing slight restlessness, palpitations, and a suffocating feeling followed by mild chest pain radiating to her left shoulder. Being alone, she called her daughter to share these symptoms. Her daughter immediately alerted a neighbour who had basic knowledge about heart symptoms and helped save Mishita from a major heart attack. Early signs of arteriosclerosis were detected, and with lifestyle changes, Mishita is now happy, healthy, and almost off medication!

How & When Does Heart Disease Develop?

Heart disease often develops over time due to an unhealthy lifestyle. Early signs or symptoms can manifest long before a serious heart issue arises. In my practice, I have seen that the body, including the heart, will give several signs before it deteriorates. It’s up to you how much you listen to your body.

Heart disease describes a range of conditions affecting the heart. It could relate to blood vessels, such as coronary artery disease—especially arteriosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the heart, which can lead to myocardial infarction)—or arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats due to issues with the heart’s electrical system). Some people are born with heart conditions, such as congenital heart defects. Two major factors that affect heart health are a person’s physiological and emotional constitution.

Psychoneuroimmunology has proven that individuals who are sad, depressed, unhealthy, or unhappy are at greater risk for heart attacks and other diseases. Emotional, mental, and physical well-being are key to leading a healthy life.

Signs To Watch Out For

I’ll be discussing common symptoms of a heart attack, as the number of people affected continues to rise. If you experience any of the following symptoms at any age, it’s crucial to seek medical advice:

  • Chest Pain: Discomfort or pain in the chest, which can be felt on the left, center, or sometimes even the right side, and may radiate to the left shoulder, upper back, jaw, or chin. There are many causes of chest pain unrelated to the heart, but it remains the most common symptom of poor blood flow to the heart cells, leading to a heart attack (myocardial infarction).
  • It can feel like crushing pain or mild discomfort.
  • It might feel heavy, or like the heart is being squeezed. Some may feel a sharp, burning sensation in the chest or upper stomach area.
  • Chest pain may occur during activity, after emotional experiences, or at rest, and may improve with rest or nitroglycerin.
  • Bad indigestion can also cause chest pain, but it doesn’t necessarily indicate heart trouble. However, any symptoms are the body’s way of communicating, so do not ignore them.

Additional symptoms to be aware of include extreme anxiety, fainting, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, palpitations (feeling like your heart is beating too fast or irregularly), shortness of breath, and heavy sweating.

For individuals with comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, or high cholesterol, symptoms may include fatigue, shortness of breath, general weakness, or changes in skin color.

Symptoms That Need Cardiac Attention

  1. Shortness of Breath: When the heart can’t pump blood as well as it should, blood backs up in the veins that go from the lungs to the heart. Fluid leaks into the lungs and causes shortness of breath. This is a symptom of heart failure. One may notice shortness of breath during activity, while resting or when lying flat on the back – it might wake you up from sleep.
  2. Continuous coughing or wheezing could be a sign that the fluid is building up in the lungs. One may also cough up mucus that is pink or bloody.
  3. Swelling in the Legs, Ankles, or Feet: because the blood flow slows and backs up in the veins in the legs. This causes fluid to build up in the tissues. One may also experience swelling in the stomach or notice some weight gain. This is mostly seen in congestive cardiac failure.
  4. Narrowed Blood Vessels could mean a higher risk of a heart attack & can occur when cholesterol and other fatty material (plaque) builds upon the walls of the arteries. It is also the cause of hypertension.
  5. Fatigue: Tiredness can have many causes. It could be a sign of heart trouble when one feels so tired that regular activities are not conducted or when the feeling is sudden and leads to severe weakness
  6. Palpitations: If the heart can’t pump blood normally, it may beat faster to try to keep up. It might feel that the heart is racing or throbbing. A fast or uneven heartbeat can also be a sign of arrhythmia. This is a problem with your heart rate or rhythm.

The heart is an organ that never rests until you do. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is essential for maintaining heart health. Your diet, sleep, stress levels, emotional state, and physical activity all play key roles in your heart’s well-being. If you experience any of the symptoms mentioned above, seek medical attention immediately.

Don’t let the rhythm of your heart be disturbed. In most heart-related cases, prevention is the only cure!

Watch out for Part 2 of this article. For more on heart health, check out Healthy Reads or speak to a certified expert by subscribing to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

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Everything You Need to Know about Alzheimer’s

alzheimer's dayIf you’ve read ‘The Notebook’ by Nicholas Parks, later adapted into a film by the same name, you might have a fair idea of what Alzheimer’s really is. The book is centered around Allie and Noah, an all-time romantic couple. There’s a beautiful scene in the film where Noah, who is an old man now, narrates a story to Allie about a couple and how their love blossomed through hardships. Amazed by this story, Allie only realizes later that this story is about them. Noah read this to her as he had promised before the disease set in. The disease was Alzheimer’s!

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Alzheimer’s is a progressive neurological disorder which results in memory loss, personality changes, global cognitive dysfunction and functional impairments. It is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly. The disease begins at a slow rate. Initially, it captures the brain and slowly overcomes human thoughts, activities, and language as well. People start having trouble in remembering things and the one evident sign is forgetting the names of people.

What Causes Alzheimer’s?

The exact etiology is unknown, but a few risk factors can be marked out.

  • Age: Incidence and prevalence increases after the age of 60
  • Family History: First-degree relatives at greater risk
  • Genetic: ApoEepsilon 4 gene
  • Lack of Sleep
  • Regular and high consumption of junk food

Clinical Features 

  1. Progressive memory loss and decline of higher mental functions
    Example: problem-solving small issues, confusion in time, date and month, the problem faced in doing family activities of daily routine, misplacing things, poor judgment and problem in speaking and writing as well
  2. Difficulty in naming and understanding what others are speaking
  3. Apraxia: The inability to carry out skilled motor activities, inability to recognize objects, places and people
  4. Behavioral changes: Agitation, aggression, wandering and persecutory delusions, loss of insight, depression
  5. Loss of inhibition leading to inappropriate social behavior
  6. In advanced stages, a person may be mute, inactive and can succumb to different infections
  7. Inability to recognize color and visual picture
  8. In case there is an underlying cause, additional clinical features may be present

Management

The most important management for Alzheimer’s is support – Physical, mental and moral support from family members and caregivers.

  • Antioxidants (Vitamin E) can slow the decline of cognitive function
  • Drugs like anticholinesterase inhibitors (like donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine), memantine, N-methyl-D aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist
  • Ginkgo biloba, a plant extract has been shown to be useful
  • Treatment of the underlying cause, if any

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Alzheimer’s and Ayurveda

According to the principles of Ayurveda, Alzheimer’s is caused as a result of the imbalance in vata – this imbalance is quite common as a person begins to grow in age. It affects the vata – in the tissues of the central nervous system of the body – mainly the brain which then slowly becomes imbalanced.

Treatment begins with a Vata balancing diet. Withania Somnifera (Ashwagandha) in the powdered form along with either ghee or milk is included in the patient’s daily diet. This helps charge and soothe the Vata. Herbs such as Brahmi and Ashwagandha that serve as nerve tonics are mainly used.

An oil massage daily, prior to a bath is also considered significant in this form of treatment. Ayurveda specialized preparations for Alzheimer’s treatment that are made from rice have proved highly beneficial to the patients besides providing the required nutrients to the old age person.

How Can Turmeric Help?

Turmeric or Haldi, as it’s known in Hindi, is a part of almost every Indian recipe. It is known all over the world for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-spasmodic, anti-allergic properties and hence is used in medicines, cosmetics etc.

Curcumin that is found in turmeric has radical scavenging properties thereby preventing damage that can be caused to the cells of our body by free radicals. Alzheimer’s alleviation could be based upon the ability of curcumin to combat the development of amyloid plaque (accumulation of protein) in the brain leading to inflammation and impairment of cells.

Prevention

There’s no real guarantee when it comes to preventing Alzheimer’s. The only way to minimize your chances is by living a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

  1. Make sure you don’t stop learning new things. Continuous learning like a musical instrument, a new language or any subject that you didn’t have knowledge about keeps the memory intact.
  2. Forget your phone and start memorizing important numbers like bank accounts, mobile numbers, life insurance/investment policy numbers, credit and debit card numbers, passwords and recalling them when needed is an easy way of jogging your memory.
  3. Make sure you get your hands on challenging puzzles like Sudoku, different crosswords, etc.
  4. Consumption of antioxidants via diet/supplements is helpful in preserving memory function.

We hope this blog helped you lean more about Alzheimer’s and what we can do in case a loved one is ever affected by it. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below!

For more informative topics, check out Healthy Reads or speak to an expert by subscribing for Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

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Understanding Dengue and Chikungunya: Prevention and Treatment

Dengue and ChikungunyaMumbai has witnessed a significant outbreak with 1,700 cases of Dengue and 267 cases of Chikungunya reported from July to mid-September 2024 as per the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (BMC’s) health update. BMC attributes this rise to erratic monsoon patterns contributing to increased mosquito breeding.

Global and Environmental Factors

The World Health Organization highlights that factors such as global travel, unplanned urbanization, and climate change significantly influence the spread of these vector-borne diseases.

The Culprit: Aedes Aegypti Mosquito

Both Dengue and Chikungunya are transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. This mosquito is most active during daylight hours, particularly around sunrise and sunset, increasing the risk of bites during these times.

Symptoms and Diagnosis

Chikungunya symptoms include:

  • High fever (101-105°F)
  • Severe joint pain
  • Additional symptoms may include chills, headache, nausea, and rash.

Dengue shares similar initial symptoms with Chikungunya, such as high fever and severe pain, but can also lead to:

  • Hemorrhagic manifestations
  • Severe abdominal pain
  • Persistent vomiting

Blood tests are essential for diagnosing these diseases, with specific tests available for each.

Treatment Guidelines: (Consult the Doctor and do not administer medicines on your own)

Treatment primarily involves managing symptoms:

  • Fever and Pain: Paracetamol is recommended; Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can be used carefully to manage joint pain.
  • Hydration: At least 3 liters of water per day to counter dehydration.
  • Severe Cases: Hospitalization may be necessary for severe Dengue symptoms, including low platelet count and significant blood pressure drops.

Preventive Measures

Preventing mosquito bites is crucial:

  • Wear long-sleeved shirts and trousers.
  • Use mosquito repellent and nets.
  • Avoid water stagnation, which is a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Community Action

Proper disposal of waste like plastic bottles and ensuring no water is pooled in places such as plant trays or coolers is essential. Covering water containers can prevent mosquito breeding.

As Mumbai battles these health crises, timely community engagement and adherence to health advisories will play a pivotal role in controlling the spread. Awareness, prevention, and timely medical intervention are key to managing Dengue and Chikungunya effectively.

#BeTheForce

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