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The Miraculous Health Benefits Of Horse Gram

horse gram

Horse gram, also known as Kulthi Dal, is neither unique nor ordinary. It is lesser-known and most still don’t recognize this precious ingredient. Its medicinal effects are enormous. It doesn’t play an important role in any cuisine but it can make any cuisine healthier and might enhance the nutritional value once it is fully adopted by any regional cuisine.

Medicinal Uses of Horse Gram

  1. Anti Hyperglycemic: Horse gram seed possesses antihyperglycemic properties which control the glucose level in the blood. It lessens the absorption of carbohydrates and has copious amounts of soluble fiber.
  2. Hemolytic Activity: The seeds make anti-inflammatory drugs that efficiently neutralize indirect hemolytic activity.
  3. Diuretic activity: Kulthi Dal increases the flow of urine. It creates pressure on the deposited stone and thanks to this pressure, the stone comes down and gets removed through urination. One of the studies published in the Journal of the Association of Physicians of India in 2010 compared the effect of Kultha and potassium citrate on 47 patients with renal stones. It has been concluded that Kultha is often used to reduce the recurrence of calcium oxalate stone and had better results than the utilization of conventional potassium citrate.
  4. Treats Jaundice: Horse gram water is being used in Andhra Pradesh for the treatment of Jaundice.
  5. Relieves Cough and Cold: When consumed as soup, it helps relieve congestion by liquifying mucus and opens up the nasal tracts, allowing the mucus membranes to melt-up. Thus, horse gram water has been found effective in relieving cough and cold. This helps with easy breathing since the specified nutrients are boosting the metabolism of the body and immunity as well.
  6. Helps Weight Loss: Consuming this miraculous gram helps reduce body weight. Also, if we add powdered horse gram with sour buttermilk and apply it to the fat deposited area, it helps to cut back the fat.
  7. Treats Leucorrhea: Kulth is also used as a treatment for leucorrhoea (discharge from the vagina) and menstrual disorders in the hilly regions. According to Ayurveda, if we soak a handful of these overnight in a bowl of water, and boil it the subsequent day and use this water for consumption thrice daily, it will help treat the symptoms of leucorrhea. Being rich in iron, proteins, and calcium, is really good for kids too.
  8. Treats Piles: Piles happen when the veins in the rectum swell up and get inflamed, causing a lot of pain. Despite rushing to the pharmacy for medication and treatment, experts recommend the utilization of horse gram. Soak a cup of these overnight and consume the water the next day. Eat the gram steamed as a salad as well. The roughage in it, together with the fibre, helps treat piles effectively.
  9. Rich source of various natural bioactive substances: such as phytic acid, fibre and phenolic acid, etc. These bioactive substances have immense potential for curing different types of diseases such as cold, streptococcal sore throat, fever, urinary stones, asthma, bronchitis and leucoderma, etc.
  10. Skin Rashes and Boils: Horse gram can also be used as a topical pack to treat rashes, boils, and disorders of the skin to some extent. This is because it is antimicrobial and antibacterial, and has plenty of antioxidants in it in conjunction with minerals to nourish, replicate the healthy lipid layers of the skin and more.

Best Recipes

  • Kulthi Water: It is a lengthy process but truly natural without any side effects. Soak 25 grams in 250 ml of water overnight and in the morning, strain the water and drink this water on an empty stomach. Later, add the same amount of water in the same soaked horse gram and drink it for lunch. Continuing this process for 6 months will help break kidney stones. Later on, you’ll make thin dal of this soaked horse gram and can be consumed along with rice or roti.
  • Kulthi soup: Take 200 grams of kulthi dal with 2 liters of water and boil it on a slow flame for around 4-5 hours. When it’s reduced to half, consume it for lunchtime. Try having this soup alone at that time. Within a week or two, it will start working.

That’s a lot of nutritional and health benefits, don’t you think? Go get your horse grams now! We hope this article helps you. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below! For more on nutrition and food, check out Healthy Reads or speak to a certified expert by subscribing to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce 

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This is What Binge Watching is Doing to Your Health!

binge watchingI’m writing this blog with a pinch of salt because recently, I’ve been binge-watching as well. While stuck in this trap, I realized that this is something serious and needs to be addressed. Binge-watching may not be a new concept but it is quickly becoming the new normal. Thanks to the online streaming boom, you no longer need to watch a single episode with multiple commercial breaks and a cliff-hanger that keeps you biting your nails for another week.

Imagine having an entire series at your fingertips minus the ads. Now imagine what this much entertainment might be doing to you. We all remember Uncle Ben’s quote from Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility.” If you’re not responsible enough with your time, can you imagine what binging can do to your personal and professional health?

How Binge-Watching Affects Your Health

  • Kills Time: The humour or suspense in the story will make you want to spend hours watching episode after episode without even realizing. Binge-watching may result in slipping grades, being late to work or class and most of all, not being active.
  • Hello Heath Risks: Sitting for long stretches of time increases your risk of health issues (including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer), even if you also exercise regularly. If you must binge, make it healthier by standing, stretching, and taking mini-breaks for physical activity.
  • Addiction: While binge-viewing can be fun and feel satisfying, there’s always the danger of becoming too obsessed. Behaviour also becomes addictive when it begins to negatively affect other aspects of your life. For instance, if you neglect other activities or responsibilities to binge.
  • Antisocial Alert: Binge watching tends to be a pretty isolating activity. You’re taking time away from other essential things in life like hanging out with friends or working.
  • Binge Watching = Binge Eating: While watching an entire season of a show that caught your eye, you often tend to munch on a bag of chips, bowl of popcorn or multiple chocolate bars at the same time with an accompaniment of a soft drink or two. This happens due to mindless eating which ultimately leads to weight gain and health issues.

Is There a Way to Stay Healthy?

If you must binge, then here are a few tips that will help you be more mindful and make healthy choices consciously.

  1. If you binge, make it healthy by standing, stretching, and taking mini-breaks for physical activity.
  2. Try having breaks between episodes and not snacking while you watch. This would avoid mindless eating, and thus, avoid weight gain.
  3. Prefer watching with family & friends. Chatting with fellow fans about the show can also make your binge habit healthier since it pulls you away from the main screen and allows you to reflect on what you’ve just watched.
  4. Use Time Management as a tool to avoid wastage of time. Prefer setting a particular time slot for your favourite series in your daily routine.

However, Binge Watching is incomplete without Binge Eating. The only option left here is to choose healthier alternatives such as baked kale chips, simple roasted chickpeas, apple chips, salt and vinegar Zucchini chips, nuts and seeds mix, etc.

If you’re looking for more tips to live a healthier lifestyle, you can explore Healthy Reads or connect with a GOQii Coach by subscribing for Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

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The Rainbow Diet: Decoding The Color Of Foods For Good Health!

the rainbow diet

Different foods have different colors, this is because of the different coloured pigments in them. These pigments, also called phytonutrients (phytoplants), provide various benefits to our body. Specific phytonutrients have specific functions, each playing a crucial role in the well being of humans. While immunity and good health is just a play of a well functioning organ system, it is very important to take care of each organ and function in particular. This can only be made sure when the diet is diverse and sufficient in all essential nutrients and in moderation. Hence, the Rainbow Diet! 

What Is The Rainbow Diet?

The rainbow diet focuses on the consumption of a variety of colourful and fresh produce in your meals. Ensuring a colourful diet, ensures indiscriminate intake of all nutrients and also protects from any deficiencies that may have detrimental health outcomes. As a low or high of any one specific nutrient can disturb the peculiar balance of the optimum nutrient complex imperial to maintain good health.

The mantra of “eating the rainbow” inspires to add more color and colourful plant foods to the diet. It is a health based trend rather than the fads that provoke masses to avoid gluten, fats, lactose, carbs and what not! Here, all you need to do is add as many colors to your diet as possible in the form of different coloured plant based foods and that’s how you make sure you are doing right to your body! That way, one never has to worry about balancing as the rainbow diet is naturally balanced and with no side effects.

How Does It Help?

The abundance of supply of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory molecules from the rainbow diet, translates to a good immunogenic response by the body and allows effective combat against biological stressors and oxidative stress. In addition to this, plant foods are rich in fiber and prebiotics, both of which improve digestive function and gut health, making sure the best absorption of all available nutrients.

In all, the rainbow diet is beneficial for avoiding cardiovascular diseases and maintaining heart health, protecting against cancer, building good immunity and restricting infections. Additionally, it also helps in reducing weight, keeping away obesity related disorders, helps maintain good hair, skin and nails, keeps your energy levels high and improves overall good mood!

The Color Code Of Foods 

Here you may find options of foods under each color and health function category and learn about its role.

Red Immune health Cherry, cranberry, raspberry, watermelon, pomegranate, red plums, strawberry, red grapes, dragon fruit, apple, tomato, red pepper, beetroot, kidney beans, red amaranth Anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immune modulating
Orange Reproductive health Orange, papaya, sweet potato, persimmon, pumpkin, cantaloupe, mango, muskmelon, peach, apricot, almond, paprika Endocrine modulation, fat-soluble antioxidants, role in ovulation and fertility
Yellow Digestive health Banana, pineapples, ginger, lemon, yellow zucchini, corn, sweet lime, yellow pepper, cinnamon, turmeric, honey, whole grains and husk Anti-inflammatory, binders, fibres, catalysts, gastric motility, glycemic response, prebiotic
Green Cardiovascular health Spinach, kale, fenugreek, radish leaves, micro greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cucumber, green beans, olives, avocado, kiwi, grapes, green apple, pear, parsley, pumpkin seeds Clotting, detoxification, methylation, vasodilation, binders, antioxidants
Blue- Purple Brain health Purple grapes, fig, purple jam, blueberry, mulberry, jamun (java plum), prunes, plums, eggplant, purple cabbage, purple onion, lavender Anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, brain protective, cognition support, neuronal support
White Skeletal health Cauliflower, milk/curd/paneer (cottage cheese), coconut, sesame, radish, soyabean, turnips, white onion, garlic, sunflower seeds Probiotic, strengthening, absorptive, energising

We hope this article on the Rainbow Diet helps you choose and adapt these foods to your diet! Do try it and let us know in the comments below! For more on nutrition, check out Healthy Reads or to get nutrition information, tips and recipes directly from your GOQii Coach, sign up for Personalised Health Coaching here. 

Eat healthy and #BeTheForce 

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The Importance Of Knowing If You’re Thirsty Or Hungry

thirsty or hungryAm I thirsty or hungry? That’s the question I have started asking myself when I get hunger pangs. This has happened to me quite often when I have just had a meal and I feel hungry within an hour. One day, I decided to conduct an experiment on myself wherein I just placed a glass of water and a bowl of almonds in front of me on my work desk and continued working. I had just finished my meal and was waiting for the hunger pang to hit me. I got the pang and before I reached out for the bowl of almonds, I grabbed the glass of water and gulped it down. Thereafter, I did not feel the need to eat the almonds.

Why Do We Confuse Thirst & Hunger? 

What exactly happened? Let’s get into the science behind it. There’s a little part in our brain called the hypothalamus which controls hunger, thirst and many other bodily functions and behaviors. Because hunger and thirst are controlled by the same area of the brain, it so happens that thirst produces a similar reaction in our body as hunger does. For instance, we get those grumbling and growling noises in the stomach or may start feeling dizzy or low on energy. In all probability, when we get the hunger feeling, we may not necessarily be hungry at all but that we’re actually thirsty! In fact, research shows that about 40% of people mistake thirst with hunger.

This confusion causes many people to overeat and put on those extra kilos. Therefore, it’s very essential to react wisely to save yourself from the extra load of calories. The best way to clear the confusion is, when you feel the hunger pangs creeping in an hour after a meal, rather than breaking into some snacks, drink a glass of water and hold on for 15 minutes as it might take that much time for the hypothalamus to send a signal to let the nervous system know that the body was just thirsty and that the thirst has been quenched. Then, you will not feel the need to eat and the growling and grumbling noises or the feeling of dizziness and weakness will be totally shooed away. In this way, you can also cut down on unwanted food intake/or unnecessary snacking which then gets stored as fat. But, if after 15 minutes you still feel hungry, then you ought to eat as you may be actually hungry.

Another interesting trick is that if you stay hydrated through the day, you won’t even get trapped in this cue-confusion dilemma. Because you know you have already satiated your thirst and you can be sure that the signals that you are getting are surely for hunger. I would say you must try both the experiments and check which one works the best for you. You see it’s absolutely essential to differentiate between the dilemma of thirst or hunger before we fall prey to overeating and gain weight.

We hope this article helps you differentiate between thirst or hunger. For more interesting articles on improving your health, check out Healthy Reads or for further guidance, reach out to our certified experts by subscribing to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce 

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