How to reduce/relieve stress from mind?

Thursday, 13 February 2014

How to reduce/relieve stress from mind? I was stressed for almost all the days of 2011. Reasons were both personal as well as professional pressures, from hectic work schedules, project related deadlines, problems at home and many others. All this resulted in lack of sleep, disturbing routines, deprived of energy, headaches and weakness which further stressed my life.

Sometime in August 2012, I received a call from my school friend who said that she had some work around the area I live, so I invited her at home for lunch. We were about to meet after almost 3 years. After the call I was thinking about those wonderful school days. How mischievous and talkative girls we used to be. School teacher used to make us sit in different rows so as to we talk less. We remain best of friends all the school life. However we both got busy in our lives with our jobs and family commitments. We hardly could take time out to meet each other. Thanks to emails and phone that we kept in touch. I was really excited to catch up with her and talk all about school days.

When she arrived we both were so happy and gave a tight munabhai type hug to each other. We spoke at length about the time spent together at school and even after school. Then we spoke about each other life and how stress has taken a toll on our life. We both literally puked everything that was on our mind. After having lunch I opened the medicine box to take out the headache pill. She asked me what happened. I told her headache as usual. She asked me not to take it. I told her it is ok. I am not able to handle it. She took the tablet and kept it in medical box again. The conversation happened after that is what has relaxed me. This is what she explained to me on that day.

Check how to reduce stress through Meditation

There are two types of stress in life. One motivates you and the other de-motivates you. Certain kind of stress brings excitement and interest. Example – We used to compete with each other during exams and as a result used to study more. That is good stress and you should continue with it. On the other hand there were few students who used to think about only marks. This result in less of concentration on studies which is de-motivated kind of stress. She said negative stress and depression usually results in diseases including headache. What we do next is more harmful – having the medicine. We tend to have these pills and ignore to cure what is the base root problem. Headache is not the big problem. Problem is stress which we should tackle first.

She continued it is easy to tackle these stress related headaches. Give 10 minutes to yourself every morning and evening to relax. This will give you extra energy and relieve you from stress. She pulled the chair and asked me to sit on it with legs stretched. She asked me to close my eyes and I obliged. Think about nothing, just nothing. She further continued life is beautiful. We make it stressful by thinking and doing unnecessary tasks. Avoid taking tensions. God will always be there for us. Forget everything and relax as much as possible. Clear your mind from all the problems you have in life. Be calm. Concentrate on breathing pattern. Feel the inhale and exhale. Inhale deeply and exhale slowly and relax.

Since that day I have been devoting some time of my day to relax. I cherish that meeting even today and I am so thankful to her for all the guidelines she gave me. Truly relaxation is the key to have the healthy life.

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Do you know our body fat is of which color?

Wednesday, 12 February 2014

Do you know our body fat is of which color?
15 to 20% of our weight is comprised of Adipose Tissue, better known as fat. Do you know our body fat aka adipose tissue is of what color? Do we have multiple fats with different colors? Yes. Body fat comes in different colors – White, Brown and Beige. They are responsible for different functions and storing different levels of lipids.

Brown Adipose Tissue / Brown Fat:

They are termed as Good Fat, are darker in color and derived from muscles. Its main function is to transfer energy from food to heat. It keeps body temperature stable by generating heat. It does not store calories rather burns them because of the heat produced and the resulting decrease in metabolic efficiency and increase in thermogenic capacity. Brown fat helps in weight loss and gives you toned body. Brown fat if activated, you can experience the weight loss even without exercise and dieting. So how and when it is activated? Many researchers have found out that it activates when we feel cold. So when you are suffering from flu and sleeping all the day and night under the blanket yet lose weight than thanks to brown fat. However the quantity of brown adipose tissue is very less in human body when compared with other mammals.

 

White Adipose Tissue / White Fat:

It is most commonly found in human body. It serves three functions – heat insulation, mechanical cushion and a source of energy. It has a single large membrane enclosed lipid droplet. It does not help in burning any calories as its metabolic rate is very low. It is the storage unit for extra calories and is found in the problem zones of overweight people.

 

Beige Adipose Tissue / Beige Fat:

In 2012, researchers had found out another fat and they termed it “beige fat” which is similar in nature as brown fat. Most interesting point is that they can form from the undesirable white fat cells. It is in between white and brown fat in terms of its calorie burning ability. Researchers are finding out the ways to shift white cells into more metabolically active beige fat by diet or exercise or supplements. Some foods like seaweed, licorice root and hot peppers can help in converting white cells to beige ones.

 
Is one fat color healthier than other fat color? Brown body fat is healthiest among all other colors.
 

Is Brown Fat the Key to Lasting Weight Loss?

Various pharmaceutical companies feel that it could be the magic bullet for weight loss. Dr. Francesco Celi told Time magazine that brown fat may allow a person to burn more calories with the same amount of consumption—without having to hit the gym or sweat through a workout. He emphasized that science has very few interventions that can increase energy expenditure, which is exactly the purpose of brown fat.

How can we increase Brown Fat?

Research and various studies are going on to find out ways to promote the growth of brown fat and beige fat to tackle the weight and obesity problems in human being. One of the researchers has found out that protein called PRDM-16 is present in every brown fat but not in white cells. Fat changes in muscle cells when the protein activity is turned off. Studies are on to identify the genes that may turn PRDM-16 on. Another researcher has found that protein BMP-7 increases the production of brown fat in mice. Studies are on to use the same protein in the human to test if boosts brown fat. If it works we would find the easiest way to lose fat.
Another point of view: However there is opposite point of view as well. Some researchers have argued saying that that amount of brown fat naturally declines when we age. So rather depending on it we should go with other natural fat burning ways – Exercise and Proper Diet.

 

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WORK PRESSURE...

Saturday, 25 January 2014

WORK PRESSURE...

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Once I was flashing my ID card instead of unlocking the house door with keys..

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Me and my friends went out for dinner in one of the best restaurants . And as I finished..
I started walking towards the wash basin with Plates in my hand..

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Once I was on call with my father and mom was not around. I went on to ask, "Why is she not attending the weekly status call?"

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I don’t login to facebook, youtube, etc.. at my personal internet connection at home… thinking it will be blocked any way. Till I realize – I am at home.

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Once after talking to one of my friends
I ended the conversation saying, "Ok bye…in case of any issues will call u back"

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Sometimes when I mistakenly delete a message from my mobile, I hope for a second, maybe it’s in the recycle bin!

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Once I went to a pharmacy n asked for a tab. pharmacist asked whether I want 250mg or 500mg….. I replied 256mb….thank god he didn’t notice.

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And I – after a hectic week, went to a movie. In the middle of the movie, when I wanted to check the time, I kept repeatedly glancing at the bottom right corner of the Theatre Screen…

So avoid working so hard ! Have a great work-life balance..

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Autonomic Nervous System

Monday, 20 January 2014

Do you feel extremely satisfied with food on certain days while lack of satisfaction on other days in spite of having same quantity and quality of food? Do you overeat when you are stressed? Today’s article is going to explain you how our digestive system works. Also it will explain the relation between our mood and our eating process. Our body works in two ways with regards to digestive system. Either it is in digestive mode or in non digestive mode. The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is the part of Central Nervous System (CNS) is responsible to control organs, heart, lungs, stomach, blood vessels and brain. It communicates with body with the help of nerves. The sensory impulses from the blood vessels are passed to the brain and vice versa because of the ANS. Today we are talking about one of the ANS function – Digestive Process and how it passes the nutrients from the food to the various parts of the body.

ANS divides every situation in two ways and accordingly works on it.

1. Emergency situations which causes stress and require us to either fight or run away.
2. Non emergency situations where our mind is relaxed.

Consider the situation when you are enjoying the wild life or enjoying the adventures. Suddenly you saw the tiger or the snake coming towards you. Though it is lifetime achievement to experience such things but they are scary too isn’t it? At that point of time it is better that our nervous system works on guiding us on how to run from that situation instead of putting energies into digesting the food that you had at lunch.

Two parts of ANS in scientific terms are - Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). SNS is responsible to put off the digestive mode and put the thinking process on to face the emergency situation. PNS is responsible to actively work on the digestive mode. When SNS is active, PNS is inactive and vice versa. This means when PNS is on digestive system works actively and when SNS is on digesting system does not work. This is the reason we are satisfied when we eat food in the relaxed manner and less satisfied when we are eating anxiously or in stressed manner.

Main functions of SNS includes accelerates heart rate, conversion of glycogen to glucose, increasing blood flow to vital organs like heart and brain, limits blood flow to stomach to thereby preventing digestion, etc. PNS main functions include reducing blood pressure; stimulate saliva which is the first step towards digestion, increase blood flow to stomach and liver that aids in digestion process. Are you thinking why both do not function at the same time? Let me clarify.

Why our body requires switching between these two processes?

1. When there is no food in our stomach there is no need for our body to work on digestive process.
2. Situations where we require our thinking process to work faster for instance in conference meetings. More energy and blood flow is diverted to brain to think faster instead of working on the digestive mode.
3. Our digestive system needs to work more actively when we eat food and less at other times.
4. Eating in the stressed or challenging situations surpasses the digestive mode so as our mind can think faster and find the solution of the situation that is faced.

Hence it makes sense that when there is no requirement or during emergency situations our body should not waste energy on digestion process. Also digestion works to its maximum extent when eating takes place in relaxed manner.

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Lupus erythematosus Disease - Sunanda Pushkar

Sunday, 19 January 2014

Lupus erythematosus Disease - Sunanda Pushkar

Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Shashi Tharoor. found dead in the hotel room diagonised with the disease named Lupus.

What is Lupus?
Lupus is a disease generally found in the women affects the immunity in the human body. It is an autoimmune disease that has negative impact on the body tissues. Generally its symptoms such as inflammation, swelling and damage to tissues of joints, skin, blood, etc.

In autoimmune diseases, the immune system does not identify what are body's healthy tissues and foreign invaders and creates antibodies that destroy healthy tissues. This in turn causes pain in joints and much more.

Lupus cannot be transferred from one human body to another.

People suffering from the systemic form of the disease are mostly fatigued, depressed and in pain. It can also have effects on the heart and blood vessels.

There is currently no cure for lupus, nor has there been a new drug to treat the disease in the last 50 years, although there are a number of new drugs currently being researched or in clinical trials. However, early diagnosis and proper medical treatment can significantly help control the disease and its symptoms.

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Healthy Snacking Options

Monday, 13 January 2014

Whenever there is party around and we look ourselves, we wonder how to shed those extra kilos. Well, we follow the strict diet till the time party date and then get ourselves indulge in the not so good junk food again. Habit of constantly munching while watching movies is just a favorite time pass for us. Anyways, not all the things are bad for your health. Today, I am going to list down few food items which will not only fill your appetite but also keep you healthy and fit.

Healthy Snacking Options

1) Let me start with the yummy health food. Dark Chocolates. Beauties, yes, you heard it right. Though bitter in taste, dark chocolate is the great snack which can be enjoyed in between meals or whenever you feel low. Chocolates has the tendency to make human being happy. So whenever you are low or feeling to have anything, ponder on dark chocolates.

2) Plain Popcorn is also a good friend for us with regard to the snacking option. However, not with the buttered and cheese flavors one.

3) Fruits like apple, papaya, banana, watermelon, strawberries, etc are not only filling but also healthy too. It helps in keeping away the hunger pangs and your body will love it if you have fruits instead of chips and fried pakoras.

4) Milk is another good option to have it as the mid time snacks. If you do not like milk mix it with fruit of your choice and have the milk shake. However avoid adding sugar and artificial flavors. Also green tea is the good option.

5) Munching on Dry Fruits is anytime healthier than munching on junk food. I always keep some dry fruits in my bag. So, whenever on my way, if I feel like having something, I do not have to rely on the unhealthy chips packet.

6) Groundnuts is also the good option. However it is not advised to have it regularly. Once in a while is fine.

7) Salad is the best way to keep your body and mind satisfied. Slice or grate or chop onions, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, beetroot, etc.

What all snacks you are having now a days? Do share with us via comments.

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Celebrating World Vegetarian Day and Vegetarian Awareness Month

Tuesday, 1 October 2013

Today is World Vegetarian Day - a day to recognize and promote the ethical, environmental, health and humanitarian benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle.

1st October is celebrated as Vegetarian Day around the world and month of October as a Vegetarian Awareness Month. This day was established in 1977 by North American Vegetarian Society. In 1978, it was endorsed by International Vegetarian Union. World Vegetarian Day initiates the month of October as Vegetarian Awareness Month, which ends with November 1, World Vegan Day, as the end of that month of celebration.

Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat - red meat, poultry, seafood and the flesh of any other animal; it may also include abstention from by-products of animal slaughter. So let us celebrate this month of October with a healthier diet of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds.

Benefits of Vegetarianism

1) Not eating meat saves animals from gruesome factory-farm conditions.
2) Abstaining from meat helps in reducing comparatively the risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer.
3) Having plant based food also prevent global warming. This is because animals emit certain gas that prevent environmental pollution.

Here is the post on Top Diet and Weight Loss Books in Vegetarian Way - Part 1 and Part 2

I would like to close this article by saying that your health and the health of the planet are worth the effort to eat a more plant-based diet. And every single time you make a choice to not eat meat, you are making a difference! :). Let us join hands and spread the awareness. Are you saying cheers to plant based diet?

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