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latest buzz Medical Nutrition

10 Tips to Strengthen Your Immune System

10 Tips to Strengthen Your Immune System
10 Tips to Strengthen Your Immune System
Man fighting virus image.

Overall your immune system does a very good job of keeping you healthy and well, but you’ve got to do your bit to keep it at it’s a game.

It could never hurt to take some care of your immunity! You could eat well, go for regular checkups and always eat your vitamins.

But is that bare minimum enough to keep it on track? Diet, age, exercise, lifestyle as well and environmental factors play a huge role in the working of your immunity system.

10 Easy Tips That Will Help You to Boost Your Immunity

1. Get Some Sleep 

As per research, your immunity system only produces half the amount of antibodies than it usually would when you haven’t got enough sleep.

That will ultimately increase your susceptibility to any illness. The easiest and most relaxed way to boost your immunity is to get 7-9 hours of sleep every night.

2. Stress is Never Good

Everyone has problems in life – home, family, financial, but they should be avoided as much as possible. When you stress, your body produces ‘stress hormones’ which suppress the working of your immunity system. Join a meditation class but don’t let the stress get to your body. 

3. Kale is the New Spinach

Vegetables like broccoli, kale and cabbage support the liver’s ability to flush out toxins while also directly boosting your immune system. Go vegetarians!

4. Don’t Be a Couch Potato

Exercising, which could also be a 20-minute walk, will really stimulate the lymphatic system, increase oxygenation and increase the production of leukocytes – a cell that helps fight infection.

You’re going to be living healthy and helping your immunity! Win-win situation.

5. Mushrooms Are Good

Medicinal and Japanese mushrooms are filled with antioxidants and immunity boosters. There’s a wide variety so try a new one every time!

6. Avoid Sweeteners and Sugar

Consuming 75 grams of sugar will reduce the ability of the WBCs to overpower and destroy the bacteria. Opt for fresh fruits and flavored teas to complete your sugar cravings.

7. Bmi Matters

Shape and size really don’t matter, but having the right weight for your height and age really does. Use our BMI calculator to find your correct BMI.

Higher numbers of fat cells tend to trigger a series of events which eventually lead to a diminishing immunity system.

8. Eat Your Vitamins

Sounds like such a cliche but they’re really important. Each vitamin has a different property to boost one’s immunity.

9. Say Bye to Cigarettes and Alcohol

Well, that title would certainly ruin a Friday night for most people.

But apart from what these items do to your body, they majorly undermine your immunity system. It’s almost like causing intentional bacteria in your body!

10. Live, Love, Laugh

Well, the key word here is laugh. By laughing, you’re automatically distressing while also unintentionally allowing your body to produce more WBCs. Watch a good comedy and let the magic begin.

In case of any query related to diet or weight loss book an appointment with Dt. Silky Mahajan please send us a mail at info@foodsandnutrition.in or call on 080 6741 7780 (Dial Extension: 778).

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latest buzz Medical Nutrition

Pros and Cons of Coffee

Pros and Cons of Coffee
Pros and Cons of Coffee
Pros and Cons of Coffee image

What is your usual morning routine? Wake up, have some coffee, open your eyes and let the day begin.

Coffee is addictive and how! There are people whose day can’t end unless they’ve consumed their daily 5 cups of coffee.

It’s very important to understand when to take coffee & in how much quantity so that, you can benefit rather than health issues.

You could be the judge of that after reading these pros and cons of the effect of coffee on our health!

PROS

  • Coffee is made from seeds, and like all other seeds it has protective compounds.  Coffee can prevent strokes as well as lower our risk of Parkinson’s and dementia.
  • Coffee boosts our concentration and memory
  • Coffee lowers the risk of oral cancer. Decaf has a much weaker effect for the same while tea has no effect at all.
  • Studies show that high consumption of caffeine reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes.
  • The caffeine in coffee controls many brain functions e.g. mood, energy levels, vigilance and even reaction time.
  • Caffeine can boost one’s metabolic rate drastically, which basically means an increase in the burning of fat – weight loss!
  • A single cup of coffee contains vitamin B5, vitamin B2, potassium, manganese and magnesium – all essential and important nutrients.
  • Coffee contains stimulants which can drastically lower the risk of developing depression.

CONS

  • Coffee can disrupt sleep patterns which leads to restless sleep and finally insomnia.
  • Coffee can lead to spinal bone loss in those people who aren’t getting enough calcium on a daily basis.
  • The acidity in coffee can irritate your stomach lining which could eventually lead to ulcers, gastritis and even Crohn’s disease!
  • The overconsumption of coffee can lead to headaches, and sometimes even migraines.
  • Caffeine can cause a sharp increase in blood pressure levels – those with blood pressure problems must limit themselves.
  • Regular coffee drinkers are at a risk of dehydration – they must take measures to ensure they’re always hydrated.

You’ve got the rundown on its effects, now it’s your turn to choose your side.

In case of any query related to nutrition or weight management book an appointment with Dt. Silky Mahajan. Please send us a mail at info@foodsandnutrition.in or call on 080 6741 7780 (Dial Extension: 778).

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latest buzz Weight Management

Your Guide to Healthy Fat Loss Success

Your Guide to Healthy Weight Loss Success
Your Guide to Healthy Weight Loss Success
Now or later image

Harness the power of nutrition for effective and sustainable healthy fat loss. Elevate your journey to a healthier you today!

Self-discipline is a pattern of behavior where you choose to do what you know you should do, rather than what you want to do. It’s the inner power that pushes you to get out of bed to exercise rather than sleep in.

When you are consistent in doing the things you know you should do, when you know you should do them.

You will achieve your goals. When you are consistent in doing the things you know you should do, your odds of achieving your healthy fat loss goals will be dramatically increased.

Your self-esteem will soar. Every time you push yourself to do something you know you should do, you are building your self-esteem.

People’s respect for you will grow. This includes everyone from your spouse to your employer who witnesses your efforts. 

You will influence the lives of others. Every good and right thing you do influences the lives of those who are watching and can have a ripple effect on future generations

You will see greater success in all areas of your life. Always remember, for every disciplined effort there is a multiple return. Think about it. You will enjoy a more rewarding and satisfying life.

Set Your Weight Loss Target

This approach will allow you to adapt to your new healthy fat loss routine. As you make progress and witness results from these modest goals, your confidence will grow, prompting you to set higher targets for even greater fat loss

For example, your weight is 60 kg, height is 158 cm & age is 28 years. In this example, your BMR should be 1400 KCAL.

If currently, you are doing intensive exercise for at least 20 minutes 1 to 3 times per week then a rough estimate of the number of calories required per day based on your current activity level 1925 kcal/day.

Based on this activity level, after subtracting 500 calories your new target (calories/day) would be 1425 which should result in roughly 500 gms of weight loss per week.

Definitely, if you increase your activity levels then you can expect more weight loss per week.

Number Of Servings Per Day

It is essential to realize that not eating will only reduce your metabolism which will in turn hinder the process of losing weight.

Instead, eat 5-6 small meals a day which will keep your digestive system running thus it’ll keep burning calories. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and you must not skip it.

You notice the days you skip breakfast you will tend to be more hungry all day. Make sure your breakfast is rich in insoluble fibers since they contain almost zero calories.

Understanding Portion Size

Let’s do the math here. Say you’re asked to leave 25% of your food on the plate and just eat the rest. You need 2000 calories a day which means you’ll be leaving around 500 the whole day.

Now instead of leaving the food, serve yourself on a smaller plate. That way you can eat everything on your plate and you needn’t worry about leaving a certain amount.

This way you won’t even realise when you burn those 500 calories! Same way, you can set your target weight loss of calories per day and work your way accordingly.

Watch What Your Drink

Diet sodas and fizzy drinks are filled with calories – even though their advertisements state otherwise.

When you drink diet sodas which contain artificial sweeteners these trick your body into thinking that you haven’t consumed too many calories which in turn makes us eat more, thus consuming more calories than we already do.

Similarly, when you drink cup after cup of tea or coffee in the workplace you’re drinking more calories than you can even comprehend.

Thus it’s better to drink water or green tea to keep your mouth busy and to ward off unnecessary calories.

Read Nutrition Labels Before Buying Any Food

Not only diet sodas, you must make sure you read and understand the food labels of all processed products properly.

It is essential to know what is going into your body and the subsequent effect it will have.

Just because the cover might say it’s fat-free doesn’t make it totally true, you must read the nutrition label at the back and know what all the product really contains since there is enough margin for error allowed by the law in regard to trans fat, saturated fat, etc.

A lot of packets also provide information per cup serving or per 100 grams. In such cases, it is essential to consider these values in terms of your consumption.

Don’t Skip Meals

Skipping meals while aiming for healthy fat loss can result in significant weakness and fragility. Moreover, not eating regularly can lead to a decrease in TOR activity, which is a crucial regulator of muscle growth cells.

When you skip meals your muscle starts wasting away much faster than it normally would.

The brain’s exclusive fuel ie glucose is compromised within 4-6 hours of not eating.

Basically, the glucose stored in the liver as glycogen runs out during this time period. When blood glucose dips too low the liver converts glycogen into glucose and releases it into the blood.

But if this has depleted due to lack of food, the body and brain eventually run less efficiently. This could cause a major brain drain and will hinder your productivity.

Exercise Daily

Cardio exercise is the most important and easiest way to burn calories and start your fat loss journey. If you have time restraints you could burn these calories while doing daily household work! Cleaning the house for 2 hours or gardening for an hour and a half burns 500 calories.

You could even get some exercise in while you take your kids out to play or when you walk your pet! If you can barely manage to get an hour’s worth of free time join an aerobics, zumba or spinning class.

They’ll help you distress as well as burn off those calories without you even realizing how the time went by.

Based on this activity level, after subtracting 500 calories your new target (calories/day) would be 1425 which should result in roughly 500 gms of weight loss per week.

Definitely, if you increase your activity levels then you can expect more weight loss per week.

Having A Balanced Meal Is Essential

You cannot completely stop eating. Nor can you stop eating carbs and fat just to maintain a certain body weight. It’s essential to eat every type of food, just in balanced proportions.

Try eating more vegetables and salad instead of rice or roti – here it is important to remember you need both to maintain a healthy balanced diet, so you can’t just skip the carbs.

Another thing, you needn’t give up on your taste buds completely! Eat what you enjoy, just make sure you eat everything in a balance and you’re good to go.

It won’t kill you to have a slice of pizza, or even satisfy your sweet tooth by having some dessert. Plus once you’ve had a little bit, you won’t crave it anymore – that instantly cuts down the possibility of overdosing on any unhealthy sin.

Not only will you feel healthier and fitter, but you’ll also manage to imbibe somewhat of a healthy lifestyle. 

If you follow these small mantras on a daily basis, in no time they’ll seem totally natural to you. This way you need not make drastic changes in your routine, nor will you struggle with any eating disorders!

In case of any query related to nutrition or healthy fat loss book an appointment with Dt. Silky Mahajan please send us a mail at info@foodsandnutrition.in or call on 080 6741 7780 (Dial Extension: 778).

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Kids Nutrition latest buzz

Creative Ways to Get Your Kids Excited About Healthy Eating

Creative Ways to Get Your Kids Excited About Healthy Eating
Creative Ways to Get Your Kids Excited About Healthy Eating

We all know the rules – avoid junk food, eat healthily, say no to fizzy drinks and finish your veggies. But do kids listen? Who says eating right needs to be followed by the book?

Parents stress and worry about their children’s ‘bad’ eating habits day and night, just to find their child pigging out on that packet of chips they thought they managed to hide.

Instead of setting rules for what he/she can or cannot eat why not provide them with options they’ll gobble up happily.

SAY YES TO JUNK FOOD

No parent can eat healthy all the time, so how can you expect your kids to do the same? If they want chocolate, melt some rich chocolate in milk and serve it to them as hot chocolate.

When your child demands chocolate chip cookies, try making them at home with healthier alternatives like atta instead of maida and olive oil instead of butter.

And sometimes just give your kids a break, when they ask for a packet of chips or some silly overpriced chocolate, let them have it! 

SAUCE IT UP

Stop trying to force-feed icky green dry vegetables to your child! I’m sure you also couldn’t have eaten something that bland, happily as a kid. It’s unfair to ask your child to eat boiled broccoli and boring raw salads just to maintain that healthy “balanced’ diet“.

Instead, you could make all these vegetables yummy by adding different sauces and dressings to them. Load up any salad with some mayo dressing or Thousand Island or whatever you think your child might enjoy.

If they’re happy eating such yummy salads you probably won’t worry about the calories in the sauces! Serve beans, broccoli, cucumber and anything else you want them to eat in a creamy white sauce.

That way they’ll lick the bowl clean before you can even say green vegetables!

SERVE DESSERT AND FOOD TOGETHER

Won’t they just eat the dessert and skip dinner? If you give them just one serving of dessert along with dinner, they’ll still be hungry after that small amount of dessert.

So even if they attack the dessert first, odds are they’ll still be hungry and will end up having their dinner too. The trick here is to give a small portion of dessert so they can’t fill up on just dessert.

You could serve items like fresh fruit, apple crumble, oatmeal cookies, frozen yogurt etc to keep the desserts on the healthier side. 

SERVE DINNER FOR BREAKFAST

Whatever your child’s favorite dinner dish is, try serving that for breakfast. If your child loves pizza, serve mini pizzas for breakfast.

Just fill pita pockets with chicken, cheese and tomatoes and serve it up as a mini pizza. If your child loves eggs then make an omelette with vegetables and some cut pieces of meat. You could even add some cheese to it! This might make them finish breakfast in no time. 

PROVIDE ALTERNATIVES

If your child wants chips, offer tortilla chips with salsa. If they ask for French fries, make those at home using less oil and salt. When he/she asks for pizza, try making it at home instead of ordering it from outside.

Just by providing similar alternatives to food they crave you can improve their eating habits. Also when you’re cooking at home, you can toss in a lot of vegetables without them finding out! 

TRY NEW RECIPES

Not only kids, but every person gets tired of eating the same thing over and over again.

Try to find various recipes for one food item so that your child can keep eating the same vegetables without saying “The food is boring”.

You’ll find more than 5 ways to make healthy pasta and a zillion ways to make paneer ki sabzi.

This little trick might even spruce up your taste buds, not to mention cooking won’t seem like such a tedious task once you get tasty food as the reward! 

DON’T TRY TOO HARD

The more you push, the more they’ll push back. Using threats, bribes, punishments and anger isn’t going to make them eat vegetables.

Just sit back and let them eat their food without nagging in between. Eventually, you’ll notice the food that used to lie on the corner of the plate is now happily settled in their stomach.

This way they’ll learn to eat healthy on their own, especially in the long run. You won’t have to call them during their college and working years to ask “Did you eat your fruits and vegetables today?”. Phew, now won’t that be a relief?

In case of any query related to kids nutrition or weight loss book an appointment with Dt. Silky Mahajan please send us a mail at info@foodsandnutrition.in or call on 080 6741 7780 (Dial Extension: 778).

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latest buzz

Do’s and Don’ts for Weight Loss

Do’s and Don’ts for Weight Loss
Do’s and Don’ts for Weight Loss
Do’s and Don’ts for Weight Loss

Clean eating? Check. Regular workouts? Calorie counting? Well, yeah. Yet you can’t lose weight? No matter how hard you try, the weighing scale just doesn’t seem to reduce those double digits.

It’s like the fat in your body is refusing to leave, just like a clingy bf/gf. So we came up with a list to debunk the myths about losing weight.

Tips to Achieve Your Target Body Weight

Control Your Carb and Sugar Intake

Don’t fall for these zero-calorie drinks and 1 gm net carb “bread”. Even multi-grain bread contains carbs.

It’s all just a hoax. Be aware of what you’re eating, and portion size and don’t just believe what’s written on the label.

Anyway, after the whole Maggi wave that shook up our country and its youth; it’s time to be a little more aware about what is actually going inside your body.

It’s not possible to give up carbs completely, but try to have them in a balanced proportion. Processed foods and supposed “diet sodas” should be a total no-no.

Drink Lots of Water

Even when you decide to go on a detox or a cleanse, have lots of water and fiber-rich foods.

Loss of fluid without medical supervision is risky, but combining that with fasting is even worse. Make sure you have around 8-12 glasses of water a day!

The reason behind this is that if you stop having water then the kidney slows down which increases the workload of the liver.

If the liver is working too hard then it starts to store fat instead of burning it.

Get Adequate Sleep

A minimum of 7-8 hours a night is needed. Sleep deprivation causes the release of cortisol i.e. a fat-storing hormone.

The maximum amount of fat-burning hormone is released during deep sleep! Speaking of good habits, while you try to inculcate these it’s time to let go of the bad habits.

And that means alcohol, smoking and other such habits. Nicotine might be a weight suppressant substance but the withdrawal symptoms include major hunger binges.

Alcohol is basically the refined juice of natural foods which basically makes it pure concentrated sugar. That will, without doubt, make you gain fat easily 

It’s a proven fact that breakfast skippers weigh more than those who eat breakfast. The worst thing to do while attempting to lose weight is to skip any meal.

Those who skip a meal usually end up consuming more calories than those who eat all three meals. Breakfast is the most essential meal of the day and should never be missed! A good breakfast contains equal amounts of protein and fiber.

Apart from this, don’t over-exercise but don’t forget to have your daily dose of physical activity. Work on your willpower skills to give up the dessert-lover life and move towards healthy eating.

Good eating habits and regular exercise are a lifestyle; not only to lose weight but also to remain fit and healthy!

In case of any query related to nutrition or healthy fat loss book an appointment with Dt. Silky Mahajan please send us a mail at info@foodsandnutrition.in or call on 080 6741 7780 (Dial Extension: 778).

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Categories
latest buzz Medical Nutrition

Starving Vs Eating Healthy

STARVING VS EATING HEALTHY feature
STARVING VS EATING HEALTHY feature
Starving Vs Eating Healthy

You study one night before the exam but you manage an all night, thus you manage to pass. You study for a week for your exams but you manage a score little over 1800.

You sit down for a few hours and you manage to finish the work your boss asked for a week ago. You push yourself and get the desired results.

These results keep you happy, get the work done and turn out to be fast as well as effective! But, can you say the same in relation to starving to lose weight?

Yes it’s fast, but is it effective? Yes you might look thin, but internally are you happy when you’re hungry? Yes it’s got the job done but will it be a long term success?

The answer is NO. Starving yourself to lose weight isn’t the solution. WHY, you ask? Well here’s a piece of my mind.

Starving Vs Metabolism

Well the first ones an example of how slow your metabolic rate will be when you starve!

Since glucose and insulin play a major role in your metabolism levels, insufficient consumption of food will lead to a fall in their levels, eventually causing a decline in your metabolic rate.

Then comes the second kind, that fast paced metabolism – that’s because regular meals keep your digestive system running which in turn paces up your metabolic rates.

No Water Vs No Water Weight

When you decide to starve yourself, you say no to almost any item going into your mouth. You cant live on a peanut for lunch and one fruit for dinner!

Instead you need to trim the excess weight by getting rid of the water weight by cutting your carbs! For every gram of carb that you consume, your body retains 4 grams of water.

No carbs, no retention, no water weight? That’s right! Say no to carbs, yes to healthy food and bye bye to water weight.

Malnutrition Vs Nutrition

After a few months of starvation, there is a major cut in your staple food which leads to insufficient nutrients, vitamin and minerals.

Without all the essentials for a “balanced diet” your body cannot function properly which could lead to serious illnesses and problems.

On the other hand, if you eat right your body improves its immunity and keeps even the smallest cough away.

To Sleep or Not to Sleep

Those who starve themselves tend to get hungry during the odd hours of the night.

This either keeps them up late at night or keeps waking them up every few hours. OR, even worse – you binge eat at like 3 am.. carbs, fat and dessert!

Whereas those who eat a well balanced healthy meal end up getting a good night’s rest since their body isn’t short of food aka energy deprived!

Lethargic Lump Vs Energizer Bunny

After you skip some meals, your body is really low on energy so it uses stored fat as a replacement i.e. muscles. You’ll notice your muscles slowly start to fade away to compensate for the lack of energy in your body.

Eventually you won’t have the energy to do anything, not even eat. Actually no energy and no muscle might just make you fat and lazy.

If you decide to get off your lazy lump and cook breakfast, you will actually help kick start your body into fat burning mode! Also you’ll have the energy to exercise – which definitely provides better results than starving.

In case of any query related to nutrition or healthy fat loss book an appointment with Dt. Silky Mahajan please send us a mail at info@foodsandnutrition.in or call on 080 6741 7780 (Dial Extension: 778).