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Camomile Tea and its Benefits

chamomile-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 recognizes 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 benefits are known to many, but Camomile is yet to receive those kudos for its varied benefits that just a cup of it’s brew or the herb provides. Camomile is an ancient herb and has been in use since ages for its healing and soothing properties to fight problems ranging from alleviating stress to relieving an upset stomach.

Camomile, is a herb alike daisy. This flower is used in different forms to avail its benefits, ranging from a powdered preparation to brewing a cup of tea to using the used tea bags or tea leaves!

Let us see what are the multiple benefits of this little herb, that’s making it’s sipping a popular trend all over the world??

1.Sleep tea:

Camoile tea, off late has become extremely popular among the new generation, as they lead a fast paced and stressed life due to work pressures with increasing sleep deprivation.This tea is a good solution for all those insomniac’s or sleep deprived people!

Stress = Sleep disorders. Camomile = soothing, relaxing, sleep inducing effect!

A cup of steaming camomile tea is all you need 30 minutes prior to hitting the bed!

(Those who like cold tea, brew it hot and then cool it down. Savour and relax!)

2.Cold fighter :

I know it sounds strange but studies have shown that camomile has immune boosting elements, that boost up the immunity and help in keeping infections like common cold at BAY!

3.Upset Stomach:

Camomile tea can be used to relive the same. Brew yourself a steaming cup to get rid of that nauseous feeling, gassiness or to speed of your digestive track! It helps to relieve the discomfort, diarrhoea and is also a known remedy to cure colic in infants.

4.How about a pill free relief from those dreaded Menstrual cramps?

Yes, regular intake of camomile raises your amino acid glycine or ( IS IT GLYCOGEN) levels within the body and higher levels of glycine reduces muscle spasms and helps the uterus relax, thus relieving the cramps.

The tea is also considered to be an emmenagogue, and increases the flow of blood to the uterus and the pelvic region, thus helpful in cases of irregular menstrual cycle.

**HOWEVER, Pregnant women should those who are aiming to get pregnant should not have this tea as it can increase uterine contraction and lead to abortion.

5.Skin soother!

Apart from various health benefits, Camomile tea certain other benefits such as soothing an insect bite to a diaper rash or even sunburn.

It’s a well known remedy to soothe eczema and other skin infections.

6. That’s not all. It can effectively be used to give a lighten look to the brown hair by using it as a hair wash. Add it to your bath and unleash the spa experience.

It’s antioxidant rich. Not only these antioxidants boost the immune system but, also keep the body away from chronic diseases. It also exhibits anti-ageing properties.

It’s has anti inflammatory elements too.

Cold Camomile tea can be used as a gargle or mouth wash to relieve tooth ache, painful gums etc.

** Person can be allergic to it, so be cautious about its intake.

**It contains coumarine, so those on blood thinners or bleeding disorders, avoid taking it as it may increase the bleeding.

So still thinking?

Grab a cup ad brew yourself the hot steaming benefits of the Camomile!!

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What time is the best time to exercise?

exercise

Today, everybody is well aware of the importance of exercising. People want to come out of their sedentary and a very uncertain lifestyle routine due to constant travelling but, how and when to invest this 30 to 40 minute for exercise regime in such hectic schedules is a BIG QUESTION??

If you ask me, when is the best time to exercise, my answer would be in the MORNING, for several reasons such as

  1. It boost’s your metabolism and keeps it elevated for several hours; meaning you are burning more calories all the day long
  2. You psychologically feel healthy because you started your day in a healthy way which motivates you to make the remaining day healthy as well.
  3. If you have a fixed exercise time in the morning, you are eventually motivated to develop the habit of sleeping on time to wake up on time.
  4. Many a times it happens that people don’t find time to exercise. In such cases best thing to do is to sleep half an hour earlier at night then you usually sleep and wake up half an hour earlier in the morning and utilize that time to exercise. Research shows that people who exercise regularly have a higher quality of sleep and hence require less sleep.

But, friends this is not the end. If at all you miss exercising in the morning or many are not morning people and do not prefer to exercise in the morning, for them the next good time is in the evenings after office. Exercising in the evening can act as a stress reliever after a hectic day.

Due to erratic work schedules, keeping a fixed time for evening workouts can be difficult for some people and hence they end up missing the evening workout too. People end up saying Ohho, yet another day is over and I missed my workout once again. Can I go for a walk after my dinner? The answer is definitely YES but you have to take care that you keep a gap of 2 hours between your dinner and walk. The reason behind this is that, when you go for a walk immediately after your dinner, the blood flow is diverted towards your legs instead of stomach and then digestion is hampered which is not what we aim for.

A new interesting and fun part of exercise comes in when you have a large group working out with you. Start a healthy trend in your office. For some people, lunch time is the best time to exercise, especially in the office along with their colleagues. We do this at our workplace at GOQii . On the days, I am not able to exercise in the morning, I am not much worried as in the office we have developed this habit of working out together just before our lunch.

People who are still confused which time can be best, try to exercise in the morning for a few weeks, then try at noon and then evening. Find out for yourself which is the time you enjoyed the most and which time made you feel the best. Also consider the type of exercise and other daily commitments.

One day, you’ll reach a point where daily exercise comes as naturally as breathing. At that point, you may want variety. But, if you’re still at the point where exercise is hit or miss, scheduling it for the same time each day will help you make it a habit. Whether you choose morning, lunch time, or after work to exercise, make it part of your routine.

To conclude, any time is good time to be active , its just that you need to find out for yourself and be consistent till it becomes a habit for you.

 

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Squats and its benefits

squats

Human’s have been doing squats since time in memorial. Squat is a natural movement that humans have been doing since they existed. The great ‘ Gama’ became a world champion wrestler in 1910 using the Squat routine.

It is one of the important exercise and known as the ‘King of all exercises’. Squat is a compound full body exercise as more than one joint are involved during the squats. It works your whole body from head to toe.

You squat by bending through your hips and knees wit weight on your upper back until your hips come over your knees.

Squats targets Quadriceps, Gluteus ( hip0 muscle) maxims and hamstrings primarily and Gluteus medias, Gluteus minimus, Adductors , Gastrocnemius , soleus , Erector spine secondary muscles. Squats helps in gaining overall strength and muscles.

Even if you do not do aggressive workouts or gymming , doing squats daily is a good form exercise. There are several benefits of doing squats. Lets look at each of them

Benefits of Squats:

  • Burn More Calories
    As I have mentioned above, Squats exercise is multi joints or compound movement as it targets maximum muscles. Once maximum muscles are targeted it helps to burn more calories.
  • Burn Fats
    Squat targets multiple muscles at a time as a result of which testosterone level increases which in turn helps to burn more fats.
  • Build balance and Posture
    The Squats exercise enables to build balance as well as good posture.
  • Makes knee and hip joint strong and flexible
    Contrary to the popular belief that squats aren’t bad for your knees and lower back. In fact, if done properly under proper guidance you will strengthen the muscles surrounding your knees and lower back. Squats helps to make knee and hip joint stronger and flexible.
  • Improve blood circulation
    Squat exercise helps to improve blood circulation to the entire body due to which the muscles get more oxygen and essential nutrients.
  • Squat exercise increases core strength
    Squats with the proper posture will help to improve core strength.

How to perform basic squats

Stand with your feet, hip, back straight and shoulders apart. Move your hip back and bend your knees. Knee joint and hip joints should be moved at the same time. For better balance you can raise your arms in the front till shoulder level. Then return to the standing position. This should be repeated 10 times and 3 sessions of 10 each should be done.

Breathing during the Squats

Breathing is very important in any exercise. Inhale while going down and exhale while coming up.

To make this exercise more intense you can use dumbbells or barbells .

Who should avoid squats

The persons suffering from already existent knee injury and sleep disk (lower back pain) should avoid squats

Disclaimer: Before starting any form of exercise please take your physician and trainer’s advise

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Protein importance for muscles strength

protein-foods

Sometimes we wonder how to build up protein, one very important thing that crops up in every human’s mind in terms of muscle development is “weight training” which is in a way correct, weight training is very important to build those muscles but diet is equally important. Wight training — creates microscopic tears in your muscles.

The nutrients you eat determine how well your muscles repair these tears and, in turn, how much strength you gain. Apart from eating healthful food, you must get enough sleep and eat frequent meals for the greatest muscular strength. Do you know that your fitness is 70% of your diet and 30% of your workouts?

For an example you have your vehicle, a car but you don’t have its key… Will you be able to drive the car? Absolutely not… Similarly, here the weight training is the car, and the key is your diet, a perfect amount of protein is very necessary for your muscle development. The most important nutrient in muscle repair, which allows your muscles to become stronger, is protein.

The Amount of protein for a sedentary person would be Approx 0.5 to 0.8 Grams, and for a active person who do rigorous activities, he needs at least 1.5 to 1 gram of protein for 1Kg. Protein is a macro nutrient necessary for the proper growth and function of the human body.. Any excess protein is turned into energy by the body. A deficiency in protein leads to muscle atrophy, and impaired functioning of the human body in general.

Ideal sources for building strength are complete protein sources, rather than incomplete proteins, states the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Complete proteins contain each of the nine essential amino acids. Sources include milk, yogurt, eggs, cheese, soy products, poultry, fish and meat. For the best benefit to your strength, consume a source of complete protein within 30 minutes of finishing your workout

Some of the good protein options are:-

1-Turkey and chicken breast

2-Fish ( tuna, salmon, halibut )

3-Cheese ( Non-fat mozzarella )

4-Lean beef ( Low fat )

5-Tofu

6-Beans ( Mature soy  beans )

7-Eggs ( Egg whites specially )

8-Yougurt, milk and soy milk

9-Nuts and seeds (Pumpkin and watermelon seeds, peanuts and almond )

So the next time you are going to prepare for your muscle build up, try to keep these things in mind. And keeping these things on track doesn’t mean that you avoid the other nutrients. They are equally important.

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