GOQii

Blog

  • HOME
  • HEALTHY LIVING
  • FITNESS
  • HEALTHY RECIPES
  • USER STORIES
  • KARMA
  • BUY GOQii

January 13, 2022 By Neha Goyal 1 Comment

3 Best Vitamins To Boost Immunity

vitamins to boost immunity

With cases rising cases and new, deadlier variants of COVID, it is important for us to take preventive measures and build our immunity. The food we eat determines our overall health and immunity. Immunity being our body’s first line of defense is much more needed now than ever. While a healthy balanced diet and lifestyle is the need of the hour, few nutrients play a very special role when it comes to boosting our immunity. Among different nutrients, today we will discuss the most potent vitamins to boost immunity.

Essential Vitamins To Boost Immunity 

1. Vitamin C 

Also known as ascorbic acid, Vitamin C is water-soluble. It helps kick start the action of our immune system by encouraging the production of lymphocytes & phagocytes, thus, helping the body protect itself from infections. The body cannot store this vitamin and being water-soluble, it’s easily lost through bodily fluids. Hence, it is important to consume foods rich in Vitamin C on a daily basis. Being heat sensitive, this vitamin is destroyed on heating, so it is better to get it from raw foods.

Food sources: Citrus fruits, kiwi, strawberry, amla, papaya, bell peppers, leafy greens, broccoli, black currants & tomato.

 2. Vitamin D:

This is definitely one of the most essential vitamins to boost immunity. It is fat-soluble and hence, can be stored in our fat cells. Which means that your body can mobilize its own reserves if your daily intake falters temporarily. Deficiency of this vitamin is highly associated with increased susceptibility to infections. Not widely available in vegetarian foods, it is hard to get enough of it. For most people, the best way to take this vitamin is through supplements.

Food sources: Cod liver oil, salmon, tuna, fortified orange juice, fortified cereals, egg yolk, dairy and plant milk fortified with Vit D, Sardines, swordfish and certain mushrooms.

 3. Vitamin E:

This fat-soluble vitamin is a potent antioxidant and helps reduce cell-damaging oxidative stress in our body. It has the ability to modulate immune functions at the cellular level which usually decreases with age. It helps in the rapid increase of the infection-fighting cells and boosts their infection-fighting capacity too.

Food sources: Sunflower seeds, almonds, peanuts, vegetable oils, spinach, broccoli, avocados, wheat germ oil, hazelnuts, pine nuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds

PLEASE NOTE: Though these vitamins play a crucial role in the functioning of our immune system, a balanced diet and attention to other aspects of good health like exercise, sleep and staying stress-free is also very important. You must make the most of your nutrition from natural foods as much as possible rather than being dependent on supplements. Before you switch to any foods you have not consumed before, please consult your doctor or nutritionist in case you have any allergies. 

We hope this article helps you. For more tips and to know more about foods and vitamins to boost immunity, check out Healthy Reads or ask a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce 

November 25, 2021 By Sunita Arora 1 Comment

How To Improve Sleep and Sleep Quality

sleepWith the pandemic still looming over us, it has become increasingly imperative to boost our immunity. While a healthy diet, exercise and hygiene play an important role, we should also focus on adequate sleep! Getting good quality sleep every night helps the T-Cells in our body fight off infections. Poor sleep increases inflammation and there’s a likelihood of developing cardiovascular diseases as well. 

How to Improve Sleep Quality

In case you are not getting adequate rest or aren’t getting any quality sleep or are facing issues falling asleep, we have some tips to help you out: 

  1. Bedtime and wake up time should be the same. Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time daily. Practice the same routine on weekends too. 
  2. Maintain Sleep Hygiene: Do not consume alcohol 6 hours before bedtime. Also avoid caffeine 4 hours before sleeping and do not smoke before going to bed.  
  3. Limit Screen Time: Stay away from your gadgets and mobile phones at least an hour before sleeping. Put your phones on DND mode for uninterrupted rest.
  4. Environment Is Everything: Keep your bedroom environment clean, calm, dark and quiet. Make sure that your mattress and pillows are comfortable. 
  5. Eat a Light Dinner: Strictly avoid heavy meals at night and finish your dinner 2-3 hours before going to bed. If possible, go for a light walk after dinner every day. 
  6. In case you find it difficult to fall asleep, you can listen to light to soothing music 45 minutes before bedtime. Music generally soothes our nerves, reduces stress levels, and helps us fall asleep faster. 
  7. Deep breathing is a very effective tool for inducing good quality sleep. Do deep breathing 10 minutes before bedtime daily to improve your sleep and reduce stress levels. You can also try these breathing techniques: https://goqii.com/blog/breathing-techniques-for-better-sleep/  
  8. A Lukewarm Shower 1-2 hours before bed is a well-known remedy for sleeplessness. It significantly improves sleep quality and reduces anxiety.
  9. Lavender oil is used for aromatherapy which improves sleep quality, especially for people who are fighting with insomnia, depression, and anxiety. You can put  2-3 drops of lavender oil on your wrist or pillow at night, it will soothe your nerves and help you fall asleep easily.

If you’ve tried the above techniques and still face issues with sleeping, start drinking warm milk with a pinch of nutmeg or turmeric 30 minutes before bedtime. It should help. If sleeplessness issues persist, consider speaking to your doctor. 

For more techniques on how to sleep and to learn about sleep-related issues, check out Healthy Reads or ask a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce  

September 2, 2021 By Kusum Soni 1 Comment

The Power Of Black Tea For Immunity

A powerful immune system not only prevents the attack of any foreign invaders like bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites but also can protect against degenerative diseases like cancer, heart disease. There are many beverages that can support a healthy immune system and black tea is one of them. The health benefits of black tea have been attributed to it’s decent amount of polyphenols and a wide range of flavonoids—particularly thearubigins, theaflavins, flavonols and flavones. These phytochemicals have shown antimicrobial, anti-viral, antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, anti-mutagenic and anti-inflammatory activities.

Black tea has beneficial physiological effects like the prevention of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease by easing inflammation and supporting the flexibility of blood vessels, which can reduce risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke. Researchers at Harvard University have found 10 times more virus-fighting interferons in the blood of people who drank black tea in comparison to people who drank placebo beverages. The researchers attributed this to an amino-acid, L-theanine found in ordinary black tea.

Various studies over the years have also linked drinking Black Tea to reduced risk of certain types of cancers, and increased number of immune cells, antioxidants that protect cells against free radical damage. The antimutagenic effect is well documented for the black tea polyphenols, namely theaflavins and thearubigins and attributed both to the inhibition of the oxidative DNA damage as well as, considerable literature demonstrates their inhibitory effect on the tumor cell proliferation. Latest research also suggests that these polyphenols even affect the balance of gut bacteria that enhances immune functions, encouraging short-chain fatty acids formation that support liver’s function.

Tea drinkers have shown lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, after an exposure to a stressful situation. Stress can suppress the immune response of the body. Thus, indirectly by managing stress, tea again improves the effectiveness of the immune system.

Tips To Include Black Tea In Your Diet  

  1. Infused Tea: Add 3-5g or one black tea bag into a cup. Fill to the top with 85-90c boiling water and steep for 3-5 minutes. Remove the tea bag or strain and serve hot or over ice.
    Optional: You can add half a cup of fruit pieces into a one-quart Mason jar with tea and, later cover and let the fruit steep for another ten minutes in hot infused tea, after removing the tea bags.
  2. You can add some lemon juice or crushed ginger or a pinch of cinnamon to infused black tea for additional antioxidant activity and flavour.
  3. Japanese researchers have found that even gargling with black tea extract twice a day was less likely to catch flu by flushing microbes trapped in the throat area.
  4. Inhaling boiling water mixed with Black Tea can facilitate the clearing of the passages towards the lung and facilitate the removal of bacteria/viruses trapped around the nasal area and opens a pathway for the Theaflavins to reach the lungs and protect it from infection.

 Word of Caution 

  • Adding milk may diminish the disease-fighting potential of the tea as various studies have not observed the beneficial effect of black tea consumption on the risk of coronary heart disease in subjects consuming tea with milk.
  • Avoid having tea with meals due to the presence of Tannins, an anti-nutritional compound, which has inhibitory effects on absorption of protein and certain minerals from food like, Iron, copper, sodium and aluminium.
  • Do not drink tea close to bedtime as another compound in tea called Caffeine could keep you from falling asleep.

Don’t miss on physical activity, adequate sleep and Dietary Diversification, that is, include a variety of food in your diet ranging from whole grain/pulses to coloured fruits/vegetables, nuts and seeds, lean meats, to add a wide spectrum of vitamins and minerals and antioxidants in diet, to enhance body’s disease-fighting capabilities. 

Enjoy your cup of tea 1-2 times a day in snack time away from meals. We hope this article helps you. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below. For more immunity-boosting tips, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to our experts on GOQii Play. 

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

Stay safe, boost your immunity and #BeTheForce! 

August 24, 2021 By Roopa Tandur 1 Comment

Foods That Weaken the Immune System

immune systemDo you experience high amounts of stress, get irritated by little things, aren’t able to concentrate on work, suffer from digestive disturbances or have a cold more often than usual? In fact, do your wounds take more time to heal than normal? Frequent infections? Do you feel tired all the time? All this could be due to a weak immune system!

Immunity is a balanced state of multicellular organisms having adequate defence to fight infection, disease or other unwanted biological invasion while also avoiding allergies and other autoimmune disease. The immune system also keeps a record of every microbe it has defeated so it can recognise and destroy the microbe if it enters the body again.

Bone marrow and thymus form the primary immune system and spleen, tonsils, lymph vessels, lymph nodes, adenoids, skin and liver form the secondary immune system.

  • Bone marrow: helps produce white blood cells (T cells, B cells) which defend the body against infectious disease and foreign materials.
  • Thymus: Situated at the base of the neck is most active in the neonatal and preadolescent period of development.

One of the best ways to build immunity is through nutrition. There are many foods that help us improve the immune system but there are also foods which can weaken it. During this Coronavirus pandemic, it has become increasingly important to take care of ourselves and build our immune system! In order to do that, we must avoid consuming things which can lower or harm our immunity levels. 

Foods That You Must Avoid

1. Soda and Carbonated Beverages
This includes sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose, which are all harmful to the immune system. These ingredients reduce levels of beneficial bacteria in your gut and have an adverse effect on glucose metabolism which has an extended effect on how well our body responds to potential threats.

Solution: Choose water with few slices of fruits if you do not like having plain water or choose green tea with lemon which has good antioxidants. Drink green Tea in moderation.

2. Processed Foods and Refined Carbs
The large number of calories in processed food may lead to health problems such as increased inflammation, reduced control of infection, increased rates of cancer, and increased risk for allergic and auto-inflammatory disease by changing the balance of bacteria in our gut – all of which weaken the immune system

Solution: Include whole grain healthy snacks which are baked or roasted and not deep fried

3. Foods & Drinks High in Sugar
Drinks high in sugar spike insulin levels which spike cortisol and suppress the immune system. Unwanted bacteria thrive on sugar and the more sugar they have to feed on, the safer they grow, which will outnumber beneficial bacteria. This can have a negative effect on our mood, blood sugar levels and immune function. Increased sugar intake makes it difficult for the body to absorb Vitamin C, which eventually decreases immunity levels

Solution: Choose whole foods and natural sweeteners like honey which promote growth of healthy gut bacteria

4. Alcoholic Beverages
Drinking alcoholic beverages affects hormones by disrupting the circadian rhythm. As sleep is closely connected to the immune system, changes in circadian rhythm can make one feel unwell by having a negative effect on the immune system.

Solution: Alternate alcohol drinks with water or choose healthy snacks to have with alcohol to limit intake of alcohol.

5. Caffeine
Increased intake of caffeine (present in coffee and coffee products) boosts cortisol levels which reduces your immunity levels. Regular increased intake of caffeine reduces the number of T cells which are responsible for destroying the infected cells of the body.

Solution: Switch to low caffeine beverage and keep check on your intake of caffeine rich foods

 6. Refined Oil
Oil can be incredibly healthy, providing much-needed fatty acids like omega-3 and vitamin E but only when they’re produced the right way. Refined oils go through a lot of heat processing which destroys the nutrients that we derive from fats. Eating food cooked in refined oils leads to production of free radicals that damage the tissues and cause temporary inflammation.

Solution: Switch to cold pressed oils and filtered oils which go through less or no heat processing, keeping the nutrients intact.

 7. Junk Foods
Foods high in fat, sugar and low on fiber other than creating cravings, also destroys the immune system. The body responds to fast foods the same way it responds to an infection. The moment one consumes fast food our body identifies it as a threat and starts attacking faster than usual as it would react to a bacterial infection. These repeated reactions of the body leads to development of diabetes and heart diseases.

Solution: Choose healthy homemade snacks which have no added namkeen/crispies or are fried in healthy oils 

We hope that this article helps you remain healthy during this time. It is crucial to keep our immunity levels in check and avoid foods that can destroy it. 

For tips on how to build your immunity, read more articles on Healthy Reads. To get these tips directly from your GOQii Coach, subscribe to personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr  

Do leave your thoughts in the comments below! 

#BeTheForce 

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • …
  • 8
  • Next Page »

Search

Recent Posts

  • Effective Stretches For Muscle Recovery After A Workout
  • Your Guide For A Happy Gut: Say bye to bloating, acidity and heartburn
  • Home Remedies For Women’s Health Issues
  • 5 Healthy Juices For Weight Loss
  • 10 Ways to Add Vegetables to Your Breakfast

Stay Updated

Archives

  • May 2023 (30)
  • April 2023 (30)
  • March 2023 (31)
  • February 2023 (28)
  • January 2023 (31)
  • December 2022 (31)
  • November 2022 (30)
  • October 2022 (31)
  • September 2022 (30)
  • August 2022 (31)
  • July 2022 (30)
  • June 2022 (29)
  • May 2022 (22)
  • April 2022 (16)
  • March 2022 (18)
  • February 2022 (22)
  • January 2022 (23)
  • December 2021 (15)
  • November 2021 (13)
  • October 2021 (13)
  • September 2021 (10)
  • August 2021 (15)
  • July 2021 (14)
  • June 2021 (19)
  • May 2021 (16)
  • April 2021 (15)
  • March 2021 (15)
  • February 2021 (9)
  • January 2021 (10)
  • December 2020 (9)
  • November 2020 (5)
  • October 2020 (12)
  • September 2020 (9)
  • August 2020 (6)
  • July 2020 (3)
  • June 2020 (8)
  • May 2020 (12)
  • April 2020 (14)
  • March 2020 (12)
  • February 2020 (6)
  • January 2020 (5)
  • December 2019 (7)
  • November 2019 (9)
  • October 2019 (9)
  • September 2019 (6)
  • August 2019 (9)
  • July 2019 (12)
  • June 2019 (13)
  • May 2019 (7)
  • April 2019 (13)
  • March 2019 (13)
  • February 2019 (13)
  • January 2019 (18)
  • December 2018 (13)
  • November 2018 (8)
  • October 2018 (11)
  • September 2018 (11)
  • August 2018 (22)
  • July 2018 (13)
  • June 2018 (22)
  • May 2018 (16)
  • April 2018 (22)
  • March 2018 (17)
  • February 2018 (13)
  • January 2018 (18)
  • December 2017 (13)
  • November 2017 (25)
  • October 2017 (21)
  • September 2017 (20)
  • August 2017 (7)
  • July 2017 (11)
  • June 2017 (12)
  • May 2017 (14)
  • April 2017 (9)
  • March 2017 (6)
  • February 2017 (7)
  • January 2017 (11)
  • December 2016 (10)
  • November 2016 (8)
  • October 2016 (9)
  • September 2016 (7)
  • August 2016 (12)
  • July 2016 (10)
  • June 2016 (10)
  • May 2016 (12)
  • April 2016 (17)
  • March 2016 (18)
  • February 2016 (8)
  • January 2016 (6)
  • December 2015 (4)
  • November 2015 (9)
  • October 2015 (8)
  • September 2015 (10)
  • August 2015 (13)
  • July 2015 (10)
  • June 2015 (12)
  • May 2015 (9)
  • April 2015 (13)
  • March 2015 (9)
  • February 2015 (6)
  • January 2015 (12)
  • December 2014 (14)
  • November 2014 (11)
  • October 2014 (6)
  • September 2014 (14)
  • August 2014 (14)
  • July 2014 (7)
  • June 2014 (3)
  • May 2014 (8)
  • April 2014 (5)
Ahmad Najib

How Ahmad Najib Controlled His Diabetes & Lost Weight With GOQii

It’s a well-established fact that unhealthy eating, lack of physical activity and an overall unhealthy lifestyle can lead to many health issues. To begin with, it is the biggest cause of being overweight, which comes with other issues such as high cholesterol, … [Read More...]

Digvijay Singh

How Digvijay Singh Reversed Chronic BP Issues & Lost Weight With GOQii

Do you feel that no matter what you do, you’re unable to lose weight? You go for walks, meditate and even eat right but that scale doesn’t budge while lifestyle diseases plague you. Our Player Digvijay Singh was stuck in a similar predicament.  Life Before GOQii  Digvijay Singh, a 63 year old retired public sector […]

GOQii Trail Challenge Kamal Chandran

Triumphing Over My Mind, Body & Soul At The GOQii Trail Challenge | Kamal Chandran

Imagine an event where each and every person has a unique tale to tell, despite having taken similar paths or adventures. Have you ever gone through it? We’re about to share the experience of Kamal Chandran, Group Head – HR at GOQii, who participated in the GOQii Trail Challenge, in her own words.   Seeking A […]

Rishikesh Ayre

The Right Guidance With Gradual Change – Rishikesh Ayre User Journey

Do you want to make a positive lifestyle change but don’t know how? Does it take every ounce of motivation for you to move? Do you need a nudge in the right direction? These are all valid questions and you’re not alone. Sometimes, we want to begin something new but don’t know where to start. […]

  • HOME
  • HEALTHY LIVING
  • FITNESS
  • HEALTHY RECIPES
  • USER STORIES
  • KARMA
  • BUY GOQii

Copyright ©2016 GOQii