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Effective Home Remedies For Sinus Congestion

sinus congestion If you’ve suffered from sinus congestion at any point in your life, you’re well aware of how painful an experience it can be. Let’s deep dive into what it exactly is as well as learn some home remedies for sinus congestion.

What is Sinus Congestion?

Sinus congestion is a condition in which the cavities around your nasal passage get inflamed and congested. Symptoms appear in the form of a stuffy nose, pain around the nose, cheeks, jaw or forehead. One may even experience swollen or watery eyes and a sore throat.There’s a surge in sinus congestion cases during winters primarily due to the dry, cold weather accompanied by an increase in pollutants and allergens in the environment. If there are no obstructive pathologies for the sinus blockage like polyps or deviated nasal septum, then a few home remedies for sinus congestion can help us soothe the inflamed nasal passage and reduce the intensity of the symptoms.

Effective Home Remedies You Should Try

1. Maintain Humidity: Dryness in cold weather is amplified when you are using a room heater. Dry air makes the mucus thick. This clogs sinus cavities and causes pain and pressure on the surrounding tissues. Using a humidifier while running a room heater and keeping yourself hydrated can help in reducing the viscosity of the mucus, making it easy to drain it out and open the cavities up.

2. Drink Warm Fluids: Warming your body with hot soups, curries and teas is an ancient measure, followed traditionally and ritually for ages! This is found to be quite effective in alleviating the symptoms of sinus congestion. Here are a few simple remedies which can be easily prepared at home:

  • Ginger-Turmeric Tea: Boil one-quarter teaspoon of dry ginger and turmeric in one cup of water and have that tea by adding lemon and pepper. It is very effective in soothing the sore respiratory mucosa and boosting immunity levels.
  • Immunity Booster: Take 2 black peppers, 2 cloves, 2 cardamoms, a small piece of cinnamon, small piece of ginger, Tulsi leaves, 2 garlic cloves and ½ teaspoon of ajwain. Boil it till the water becomes half in quantity, strain it and then have it hot with honey (preferably organic). Have this immunity booster drink two to three times a day. It will help you fight off various bacterial and viral infections.
  • Whole Leaves Green Tea: Being rich in antioxidants and polyphenols, green tea is found to be one of the most effective immunity booster and detox drink!

3. Warm Compresses: Apply warm compresses by covering your face with a clean, warm and wet cloth which will moisten the nasal passages, thin out the mucus plug and help in easing its drain, thus opening the cavities up!

4. Steam Inhalation: Steam inhalation is found to be quite effective in moistening the air passages and reducing the congestion by loosening the mucus. Use a bowl of hot water, add a few drops of an essential oil like menthol, eucalyptus or lemon juice and cover yourself with a thick towel to trap the steam inside!

5. Nasal Irrigation: Nasal irrigation simply means flushing out the nasal pathway with a saline solution. It helps remove allergens, irritants and excess mucus! You can use a nasal irrigation system like a Neti Pot, squeeze bottle or bulb syringes filled with saline solution, which you can get at a medical store. You can also make a saline solution at home by mixing 3 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Use sea salt or pickling salt and not iodized salt or table salt which is added with additives. Store it in airtight container!

  • How to Do Saline Irrigation: Put the above mixture into a clean Neti Pot or bulb syringe and stand near a sink. Place the spout in the top nostril and pour or gently spray a liberal amount of solution into one nostril, while tilting the head at 45 degrees, so that it flows through the nasal cavity and out of the other nostril! Blow your nose to get rid of any remaining water. Repeat the process on the other nostril.

6. Eliminate the Causative Factors: Factors which can aggravate the symptoms are allergens like smoke, dust particles, perfumes, hair spray, cleaning products and anything which releases fumes! Try to keep the air around you clean from all these irritants!

While these home remedies for sinus congestion are effective, they only tackle the symptoms. If the issue persists, you should consult your doctor. For more home remedies, you can check out the Healthy Reads section in the app or ask a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr 

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Should You Follow Veganism?

veganismVeganism has spread like wildfire in India and is being followed by numerous people! For those who do not know, Veganism is a strict vegetarian diet which excludes milk, eggs, and dairy products. In fact, it excludes any other animal-derived ingredients such as honey which makes it different from a vegetarian diet. But, I often get to hear mixed reviews about following it.

Positives of a Vegan Diet

Do you know that every vegan saves nearly 200 animals per year? What’s better than saving animals on this planet? Veganism is a great way to shed extra kilos as well. Unlike other fad diets, veganism does not leave you tired. It allows you to keep extra fat off and gives you plenty of energy. This also promotes healthier living, reduced risk of any heart disease, cancer, diabetes, blood pressure issues and so on. Being vegan also helps one feed the world. When you opt for grains over animal products, you help many farmers earn their daily bread!

What Are Some of the Issues With It?

Talking about some negatives, following a plant-based way of life can be extremely difficult! Primarily, you are not left with many food options to enjoy. Grocery shopping gets difficult while looking for vegan options because those options are either unavailable or heavy on the pocket.

Traveling also becomes difficult as they can’t eat or drink anything on the go and will have to prepare well in advance. Most importantly, going vegan can make one protein deficient unless you can gain access to vegan sources of protein such as beans, nuts, seeds, tofu, chickpeas, lentils and some legumes which are limited in itself. Along with it, Vitamin B12 deficiency is very common in vegans and they end up depending on supplements for it.

It is Your Choice!

Choosing Veganism is totally up to you! If you want to do something for our environment, then go ahead! You have probably made the right choice but ensure that you are opting for the right food and avoiding deficiencies. If you want to follow veganism, do it because you want to and not because it is a trend or because of peer pressure.

In the same vein, if you are a foodie, you love eating and tasting different cuisines, following a vegan diet might not be the best choice for you. If you’re afraid of weight gain, remember that one can lose weight even while following a balanced diet.

We hope this article helps! If you do end up going Vegan, start with this delicious Almond Milk which is dairy-free and vegan-friendly!

Leave your thoughts in the comments below and wish all my vegan folks out there a Happy Vegan Day!

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Heal Naturally From Monsoon Illnesses

heal naturally With the monsoons here in full swing and given the current pandemic circumstances, each one of us get worried about our and our loved one’s health. Most of us worry about getting sick with an infection. With the weather change, the virals in the air also start reacting. The side effects of cold, fever, viral, sore throat get rampant with drastic changes in weather. A strong immune system will help you recover quickly and mostly without the need for medication. The lower your immunity, the longer the healing process and you may have to resort to antibiotics.

Natural Remedies That Work

  1. Take a 1-inch piece ginger mashed, 1 clove garlic, 3 peppercorns, 2 cloves, 2 cardamoms and a cinnamon stick. Boil in water and reduce to half, strain and add organic honey. Drink this concoction twice or thrice a day, or actually as much as you need to.
  2. Be aware of your body and feelings. Usually, when sick, your appetite may reduce, and that’s a good sign. It means your body is using energy to repair and heal. So if you can, don’t eat until you feel your appetite slowly increasing. This is one of the best ways to heal rapidly and completely.
  3. Stay warm, wear socks even while in bed. Cover your head to prevent contact with dew when out at night.
  4. Sip on hot liquids through the day.
  5. Breathe a lot! Almost all viruses and germs cannot survive in highly oxygenated cells so help your body create an environment that’s unfavorable for these germs.
  6. Rest, rest, rest – This is the most natural and effective way to heal. It’s natures cure.

It’s good to fall sick once in a way, your body replenishes the white and red blood cells and it also strengthens immunity. So stay positive, don’t feel low and know you are doing the right things to get better.

We hope this article helps you. If you find these tips useful, let us know in the comments below! For more on managing illnesses during monsoon, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to classes by experts on GOQii Play.

To get these tips directly from your GOQii Coach, subscribe to personalized coaching now: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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Stroke: A Few Untouched Aspects

stroke

Stroke is the sudden death of some brain cells due to lack of oxygen when the blood flow to the brain is lost by blockage or rupture of an artery to the brain. According to the WHO, it is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of disability. Stroke is also a leading cause of dementia and depression. For commonly known causes of stroke, please refer to the article “Stroke: Straight Dive or Pavilion” published earlier. While you might have read a number of reasons which lead to stroke, this article focuses on the importance of emotional health to prevent stroke.

 There Are 2 Main Types of Stroke  

  1. Hemorrhagic Stroke: is caused by bleeding in the brain due to a weak spot in the wall of the vessel, which can cause an aneurysm (bulging of the vessel wall). The vessels can also be weakened by chronic or very high blood pressure and break from force. When the vessel breaks, blood leaks into surrounding tissue, and the brain doesn’t get the oxygen and nutrients it needs.
  2. Ischemic Stroke: results from blocked arteries, which often occur from cholesterol build-up, called plaque. Plaques on the inside of the vessel can be fragile when blood flows past, causing the plaque to lift.  But in the blood vessel, when a plaque lifts-up and the body tries to heal it, like it would scab on your arm, it makes a clot where that plaque lifted up, which blocks blood flow and can lead to ischemic stroke.

The human body is magical. When the mind perceives a threat or stress, the body releases cortisol and adrenaline to cope with it. These hormones impact the homeostasis of the body; the other parameters get deranged and affect the healing processes of the body. Now, if your personality is to take constant stress, cortisol and level of other stress hormones will be high to ensure the body deals with stress. This could cause retention of salt which might increase blood pressure. Stress also causes an increase in blood sugar, which means the vessels can’t dilate or contract to better control blood flow. Increased cortisol is also known to disrupt sleep cycles leading to fatigue.

Anyone Can Be At Risk…

…for many reasons, not just stress. Sometimes, it just how your body responds.

While there is no concrete reason to state that positive emotions, a stress-free life or a balanced psychological state will not lead to stroke. However, there are numerous research studies to indicate that there might be a relationship between negative emotions, stress & stroke. In my practice, I have usually seen stressed people holding negative emotions fall prey to issues like stress, heart ailments, etc.  A University of Michigan study found that men who were more physiologically reactive to stress were 72% more likely to suffer a stroke.

Regardless of how your life or your job is, if you feel you are stressed, you most probably are.

If you’re still unsure, ask yourself these questions:

  • Does your significant other tell you, you seem stressed?
  • You tend to pick up fights and arguments with your family and co-workers more than normal?
  • You resort to alcohol, drugs, smoking to alleviate stress?
  • Do you find less joy in things that normally make you happy?
  • Do you find it difficult to fall or stay asleep compared to normal?
  • You don’t like to get up in the morning, especially on days you know you will come across stress causing situations

If the answer to the above is yes, then it’s time for you to work on yourself. Contemplate on the reason, give attention to the little things in life… It is the little things which lead to bigger changes! Some attitude changes like acceptance and forgiveness make a lot of difference!

Quick tip: Whenever you feel stress, start taking deep breaths. Mentally count till 5 & inhale, count another 5 and exhale. Make it as slow and steady as possible. Taking in more oxygen allows more oxygen to be available to the brain tissues. Some research suggests that deep breathing helps to rehabilitate the brain after a stroke. This style of breathing also helps to relax and calm the mind and whole being.

While everyone faces issues in life, it is the ability to cope with it, be in sync with one’s body which determines health!

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