Let you Heart Sing !

 

 

A healthy lifestyle will make your heart healthier. Here are 10 things you can do to improve yours.

Get active 

Do 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week. One way to achieve this target is by doing 30 minutes of activity on five days a week. Fit it in where you can, such as by cycling to work.

 

Give up smoking

Smoking is one of the main causes of coronary heart disease. A year after giving up, your risk of a heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker.

 

Manage your weight

Being overweight can increase your risk of heart disease. Stick to a well-balanced diet low in fat and high in fruit and vegetables, combined with plenty of physical activity.

 

Ditch the salt

To maintain a healthy blood pressure, stop using salt at the table and try adding less to your cooking, or cut it out completely. You’ll soon get used to it. Also watch out for high salt levels in processed foods. Check the food labels – a food is high in salt if it has more than 1.5g salt (or 0.6g sodium) per 100g.

 

Get your 5 A DAY

Eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Add dried fruit to breakfast cereal, and add vegetables to your pasta sauces and curries.

 

Eat oily fish

Eat oily fish twice a week. Fish such as mackerel, sardines, fresh tuna and salmon are an excellent source of omega-3 fats, which can help protect against heart disease.

 

Walk off stress

If you’re feeling under pressure, clear your mind with a walk. It will help put your ideas in order and reduce tension. If it’s a brisk walk, it will also count towards your daily activity.

 

Cut saturated fat

Small changes to your diet can have positive health benefits. Choose semi-skimmed over full-fat milk, leaner cuts of meat, and steam or grill foods rather than frying. Find out the facts about fat.

 

Drink less

Alcohol can be fattening. If you added three or four gin and tonics to your usual daily diet, you could put on nearly 2kg over four weeks.

 

Read the food label

When shopping, look at the food label on food packets to see what the product contains. Understanding what is in food will help you make healthier choices.

Make Coconut Water A Top Beverage On Your List !

Regulates blood pressure

According to research, coconut water helps improve blood circulation, lowers high blood pressure levels, thereby reducing the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular issues. It is also said to control your blood sugar levels.

 

Help lose weight

If you are on a weight loss spree, coconut water should be a must-have in your diet chart. Low in fat, drinking this beverage can help one feel full and reduce cravings.

Increases immunity

Rich in nutrients and vitamins like riboflavin, niacin, thiamin and pyridoxine, and folates, coconut water has anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties that can help increase your body’s immune system and fight viral infections like flu.

 

For pregnant women

Doctors often recommend coconut water during pregnancy as it helps fight constipation, heart burn and slow digestion.

 

Improves kidney function

Due to its minerals, potassium and magnesium content, coconut water is beneficial to a person suffering from any kidney disease. This water also acts as a diuretic and increases the flow and production of urine.

 

For your skin

If you have acne or pimple problems or want to retain its youthfulness, apply coconut water on your face and leave it overnight. Due to its repairing properties, it can even be applied to hands and nails.

 

Unhealthy Food Cravings are a Sign of Mineral Deficiencies

Unhealthy Food Cravings are a Sign of Mineral Deficiencies

 

 

Most of us have, at one point in our lives, experienced intense cravings for unhealthy foods. Whether it be for chocolate, donuts, salty snacks or refined carbs, our bodies appear to want them — and we’re often all too happy to submit. There’s just one problem: Eating these foods doesn’t seem to end the cravings. What is going on here? Are our bodies playing a cruel joke on us? Well, not quite.

 

 

Science now understands that these cravings are a sign that your body needs certain minerals that can be found in unhealthy foods but are best acquired from whole foods. Indeed, only by acquiring minerals from natural sources, in which all nutrients are optimized for superior absorption, can we hope to finally end the cravings that plague our lives.

 

Chocolate: magnesium

Chocolate is the most commonly-reported craving in the Western world, so it shouldn’t surprise us that it is linked to a nutrient in which a huge number of us are unknowingly deficient: magnesium. According to recent statistics, up to 80 percent of Americans are lacking in this essential macromineral, which is needed for over 300 biochemical reactions in the body, including reactions that relate to relaxation. In fact, magnesium is nicknamed the “relaxation mineral,” since anxiety, irritability, insomnia and high blood pressure are its main deficiency symptoms. This is the reason why magnesium-deficient people temporarily feel better after eating a chocolate bar: the small amounts of magnesium in it (derived from its cacao content) relaxes them. But, of course, there are far healthier sources of magnesium than processed chocolate. Dark leafy greens, seeds and nuts, fish, beans and blackstrap molasses are all excellent sources of magnesium and will help end chocolate cravings.

 

Sugary foods: chromium, carbon, phosphorus, sulfur and/or tryptophan

The second most commonly reported craving in the West is high-sugar foods. This is the most complex craving to pin down, since deficiencies in no less than five nutrients could be causing it: chromium (helps to regulate blood sugar levels), carbon (one of the elements from which sugar is made), phosphorus (helps the body produce energy), sulfur (helps remove toxins) and tryptophan (a serotonin regulator). Therefore, the best way to end incessant sugar cravings is to simply improve your diet, which will help remineralize your body in all areas.

 

 

 

Food

 

Refined carbohydrates: nitrogen

A craving for refined carbs like pasta and bread signals a deficiency in nitrogen. Nitrogen compounds are an essential component of nucleic acids and protein, and deficiencies in them can result in malnutrition due to a related protein deficiency. Therefore, if you find that you’re craving a lot of refined carbohydrates, add more nitrogen-rich foods to your diet. Most foods contain nitrogen in organic or non-organic form, but fruits and vegetables are especially rich in it.

Other cravings

The following cravings are less common than those detailed above, but are still regularly reported in today’s society:

 

Oily and fatty foods: You are deficient in calcium. Good sources of calcium include raw milk, cheese, turnip greens and broccoli.

 

Ice: You are deficient in iron. Eat more iron-rich foods like leafy greens, meat, blackstrap molasses and sea vegetables.

 

Salty foods: You are deficient in chloride and/or silicon. Try adding more fish, nuts and seeds to your diet.

10 Common Habits that Damage Your Kidneys

The kidneys are one of the most important body organs, because they are responsible for the urination process in our organism by filtering the excess of water and body waste.Even though they are so important for our bodies, we don’t take proper care for them, which is testified by the fact that millions of people die of kidney disease every year. In order keep our kidneys healthy many of us must give up of their habits.

This is a list of some habits you need to avoid for healthy kidneys:10 Common Habits that Damage Your Kidneys

 

1. Pain-killer abuse

 

A bad habit that many people have is taking pain-killers for low-grade pain, because most pain-killers can damage different organs, such as kidneys and have severe side effects. A recent research has shown that taking pain – killers pills for a longer period of time reduces blood flow and deteriorates kidney’s function.

 

2. Too much protein

 

Over-consumption of protein-rich foods and red meat can deteriorate the damaged kidneys condition. A protein-rich diet is essentially healthy unless you suffer from kidney damage and your doctor recommends a protein-restricted diet. The intake of too much protein through the food increases the metabolic load on our kidneys.

 

3. Smoking

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that smoking is bad for almost every organ of the body, including the kidneys. The connection between kidney disease and smoking has been shown in several studies.

 

4. Consuming too much sodium

 

Another job for our kidneys is metabolizing the sodium we consume. The majority of our sodium intake needs to be excreted, andthe salt we eat is the prime source of sodium, which means that when we eat excessive salt the kidneys are kept busy excreting sodium, causing long term stress on our kidneys.

 

5. Ignoring flu and colds

 

A habit that can cause kidney damage is ignoring the common flu and cold. Studies show that people whohave a history of avoiding resting while sick,have kidney disease.

Body Image

Body image is . . .

• What you believe about your own appearance (including your memories, assumptions, and generalizations).
• How you see yourself when you look in the mirror or when you picture yourself in your mind.
• How you feel about your body, including your height, shape, and weight.
• How you sense and control your body as you move. How you feel in your body, not just about your body.

Negative body image is . . .

• A distorted perception of your shape–you perceive parts of your body unlike they really are.
• You are convinced that only other people are attractive and that your body size or shape is a sign of personal failure.
• You feel ashamed, self-conscious, and anxious about your body.
• You feel uncomfortable and awkward in your body.

Positive body image is . . .

• A clear, true perception of your shape–you see the various parts of your body as they really are.
• You celebrate and appreciate your natural body shape and you understand that a person’s physical appearance says very little about their character and value as a person.
• You feel proud and accepting of your unique body and refuse to spend an unreasonable amount of time worrying about food, weight, and calories.
• You feel comfortable and confident in your body.

People with negative body image have a greater likelihood of developing an eating disorder and are more likely to suffer from feelings of depression, isolation, low self-esteem, and obsessions with weight loss.

Major Cause – Eating Disorders

Eating Disorders are about feelings, not food.

Eating Disorders are not just about food and weight. They are an attempt to use food intake and weight control to manage emotional conflicts that actually have little or nothing to do with food or weight. Eating disorders do not occur in an otherwise satisfied, productive, and emotionally healthy person. People with eating disorders are struggling with a number of emotional problems. This may be a hard concept to accept. Many people with eating disorders appear to be functioning at a high level, such as enjoying success with school or work. Often, the only problem appears to be with eating. However, healthier eating habits or stronger willpower are not the missing ingredients that will make the problem disappear. AN EATING DISORDER IS AN EXTERNAL SOLUTION TO INNER TURMOIL.

Psychological Factors that can contribute to Eating Disorders:

• Low self-esteem
• Feelings of inadequacy or lack of control in life
• Depression, anxiety, anger, or loneliness
• Interpersonal Factors that Can Contribute to Eating Disorders
• Troubled family and personal relationships
• Difficulty expressing emotions and feelings
• History of being teased or ridiculed based on size or weight
• History of physical or sexual abuse
  

Social Factors that Can Contribute to Eating Disorders:

• Cultural pressures that glorify “thinness” and place value on obtaining the “perfect body”
• Narrow definitions of beauty that include only women and men of specific body weights and shapes
• Cultural norms that value people on the basis of physical appearance and not inner qualities and strengths

 

Other Factors that can contribute to Eating Disorders:

• Scientists are still researching possible biochemical or biological causes of eating disorders. In some individuals with eating disorders, certain chemicals in the brain that control hunger, appetite, and digestion have been found to be imbalanced. The exact meaning and implications of these imbalances remains under investigation.

Eating disorders are complex conditions that can arise from a variety of potential causes. Once started, however, they can create a self-perpetuating cycle of physical and emotional destruction.

 

All eating disorders require professional help.

The ideas below present some alternatives to patterns of eating disordered behavior. Remember, changes make a difference, no matter how small you believe those changes are.

• If you feel the urge to binge, try taking a few moments (it may be seconds at first) to identify feelings. You can still binge later – remember you are simply trying to change the usual patterns of behavior.
• Get a journal where you can write your feelings throughout the day. You may want to focus on meal times or even one meal at first.
• If you are afraid of eating, make a list of “safe” foods for you. Supply your home with these foods so that you are prepared to let yourself eat.
• Grow your support system. The point is to find safe people to help you feel supported.
• Start calling safe people. As you become more accustomed to making calls, you will find yourself turning to others more easily.
• If you live with someone, plan a discussion about your needs. There may be changes the other person can make to help you.
• Make a list of safe people with phone numbers. Carry the list with you.
• Get a list of feelings if you have difficulty identifying your experience. Refer to the list throughout the day, especially meal times.
• Notice meal times and content. If you record your level of satiety, urges to binge/restrict/purge, you may learn if there are foods that trigger you or length of time between meals that triggers you.
• Notice the way you speak to yourself about your food, body, or behaviors. Begin to add positive statements, gradually letting go of the negative. No eating disorder was ever cured through self-blame.
• Consider your spiritual life. Spirituality means different things to different people. Find out what it means for you and start to draw upon this part of you.
• Do you let yourself have needs and limits in your work or personal life? Holding back anger and resentment and stifling your needs leads to self-punishment through more eating disordered behavior.
• Find your voice. Practice with safe people. Start by telling them you’d like to practice saying “NO” to them about something that doesn’t matter. Let yourself start in a comfortable way.

Why Green Tea?

Green tea has been used as a medicine for thousands of years, originating in China but widely used throughout Asia this beverage has a multitude of uses from lowering blood pressure to preventing cancer. The reason that green tea has more health benefits attached to it than black tea is (apparently) due to the processing. Black tea is processed in a way that allows for fermentation whereas green tea’s processing avoids the fermentation process. As a result, green tea retains maximum amount of antioxidants and poly-phenols the substances that give green tea its many benefits.

 

Here’s a list of some of its amazing benefits — benefits that you may not have been aware of. Some of these benefits are still being debated, so please do your own research if you want to use green tea for medicinal purposes.

 

Weight Loss. Green tea increases the metabolism. The polyphenol found in green tea works to intensify levels of fat oxidation and the rate at which your body turns food into calories.

Diabetes. Green tea apparently helps regulate glucose levels slowing the rise of blood sugar after eating. This can prevent high insulin spikes and resulting fat storage.

Heart Disease. Scientists think, green tea works on the lining of blood vessels, helping keep them stay relaxed and better able to withstand changes in blood pressure. It may also protect against the formation of clots, which are the primary cause of heart attacks.

Esophageal Cancer. It can reduce the risk of esophageal cancer, but it is also widely thought to kill cancer cells in general without damaging the healthy tissue around them.

Cholesterol. Green tea reduces bad cholesterol in the blood and improves the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol.

 

Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. It is said to delay the deterioration caused by Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Studies carried out on mice showed that green tea protected brain cells from dying and restored damaged brain cells.

Tooth Decay. Studies suggests that the chemical antioxidant “catechin” in tea can destroy bacteria and viruses that cause throat infections, dental caries and other dental conditions

Blood Pressure. Regular consumption of green tea is thought to reduce the risk of high blood pressure.

Depression. Theanine is an amino acid naturally found in tea leaves. It is this substance that is thought to provide a relaxing and tranquilizing effect and be a great benefit to tea drinkers.

Anti-viral and Anti-bacterial. Tea catechins are strong antibacterial and antiviral agents which make them effective for treating everything from influenza to cancer. In some studies green tea has been shown to inhibit the spread of many diseases.

Skincare. Green tea can apparently also help with wrinkles and the signs of aging, This is because of their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Both animal and human studies have demonstrated that green tea applied topically can reduce sun damage.

How Much?

 

These are some of the many benefits but the reality is one cup of tea a day will not give you all the abundant gains. The jury is out on how many cups are necessary; some say as little as two cups a day while others five cups — and more still say you can drink up to ten cups a day. If you are thinking of going down this route, you may want to consider taking a green tea supplement instead (it would keep you out of the bathroom).

 

Another thing to point out is that there is caffeine in green tea — so if you are sensitive to caffeine then one cup should be your limit. Green tea also contains tannins (which can decrease the absorption of iron and folic acid), so if you are pregnant or trying to conceive then green tea may not be ideal for you. You can try mixing green tea with other healthy ingredients such as ginger.

 

For the rest of us with all these abundant benefits…it’s a wonder we drink anything else.

Improving Your Eating Habits

When it comes to eating, we have strong habits. Some are good (“I always eat breakfast”), and some are not so good (“I always clean my plate”). Although many of our eating habits were established during childhood, it doesn’t mean it’s too late to change them.

Making sudden, radical changes to eating habits such as eating nothing but cabbage soup, can lead to short term weight loss. However, such radical changes are neither healthy nor a good idea, and won’t be successful in the long run. Permanently improving your eating habits requires a thoughtful approach in which you Reflect, Replace, and Reinforce.

• REFLECT on all of your specific eating habits, both bad and good; and, your common triggers for unhealthy eating.
• REPLACE your unhealthy eating habits with healthier ones.
• REINFORCE your new, healthier eating habits.

Reflect, Replace, Reinforce: A process for improving your eating habits

1. Create a list of your eating habits. Keeping a food diary for a few days, in which you write down everything you eat and the time of day you ate it, will help you uncover your habits. For example, you might discover that you always seek a sweet snack to get you through the mid-afternoon energy slump. Use Food Diary – Track Habits to help. It’s good to note how you were feeling when you decided to eat, especially if you were eating when not hungry. Were you tired? Stressed out?
2. Highlight the habits on your list that may be leading you to overeat. Common eating habits that can lead to weight gain are:

• Eating too fast
• Always cleaning your plate
• Eating when not hungry
• Eating while standing up (may lead to eating mindlessly or too quickly)
• Always eating dessert
• Skipping meals (or maybe just breakfast)

3. Look at the unhealthy eating habits you’ve highlighted. Be sure you’ve identified all the triggers that cause you to engage in those habits. Identify a few you’d like to work on improving first. Don’t forget to pat yourself on the back for the things you’re doing right. Maybe you almost always eat fruit for dessert, or you drink low-fat or fat-free milk. These are good habits! Recognizing your successes will help encourage you to make more changes.
4. Create a list of “cues” by reviewing your food diary to become more aware of when and where you’re “triggered” to eat for reasons other than hunger. Note how you are typically feeling at those times. Often an environmental “cue”, or a particular emotional state, is what encourages eating for non-hunger reasons.

   Common triggers for eating when not hungry are:

• Opening up the cabinet and seeing your favorite snack food.
• Sitting at home watching television.
• Before or after a stressful meeting or situation at work.
• Coming home after work and having no idea what’s for dinner.
• Having someone offer you a dish they made “just for you!”
• Walking past a candy dish on the counter.
• Sitting in the break room beside the vending machine.
• Seeing a plate of doughnuts at the morning staff meeting.
• Swinging through your favorite drive-through every morning.
• Feeling bored or tired and thinking food might offer a pick-me-up.

5. Circle the “cues” on your list that you face on a daily or weekly basis. Going home for the Thanksgiving holiday may be a trigger for you to overeat, and eventually, you want to have a plan for as many eating cues as you can. But for now, focus on the ones you face more often.
6. Ask yourself these questions for each “cue” you’ve circled:

• Is there anything I can do to avoid the cue or situation? This option works best for cues that don’t involve others. For example, could you choose a different route to work to avoid stopping at a fast food restaurant on the way? Is there another place in the break room where you can sit so you’re not next to the vending machine?
• For things I can’t avoid, can I do something differently that would be healthier?Obviously, you can’t avoid all situations that trigger your unhealthy eating habits, like staff meetings at work. In these situations, evaluate your options. Could you suggest or bring healthier snacks or beverages? Could you offer to take notes to distract your attention? Could you sit farther away from the food so it won’t be as easy to grab something? Could you plan ahead and eat a healthy snack before the meeting?

7. Replace unhealthy habits with new, healthy ones. For example, in reflecting upon your eating habits, you may realize that you eat too fast when you eat alone. So, make a commitment to share a lunch each week with a colleague, or have a neighbor over for dinner one night a week. Other strategies might include putting your fork down between bites or minimizing other distractions (i.e. watching the news during dinner) that might keep you from paying attention to how quickly — and how much — you’re eating.
   Here are more ideas to help you replace unhealthy habits:

• Eat more slowly. If you eat too quickly, you may “clean your plate” instead of paying attention to whether your hunger is satisfied.
• Eat only when you’re truly hungry instead of when you are tired, anxious, or feeling an emotion besides hunger. If you find yourself eating when you are experiencing an emotion besides hunger, such as boredom or anxiety, try to find a non-eating activity to do instead. You may find a quick walk or phone call with a friend helps you feel better.
• Plan meals ahead of time to ensure that you eat a healthy well-balanced meal.

8. Reinforce your new, healthy habits and be patient with yourself. Habits take time to develop. It doesn’t happen overnight. When you do find yourself engaging in an unhealthy habit, stop as quickly as possible and ask yourself: Why do I do this? When did I start doing this? What changes do I need to make? Be careful not to berate yourself or think that one mistake “blows” a whole day’s worth of healthy habits. You can do it! It just takes one day at a time!

Maintain positive health in the winter – Let’s do it!

The Zeit

Let’s stay healthy this winter – image courtesy of stockimages

I wrote this post with people who live in parts of the world, where winter is cold, gloomy and bleak in mind. During the winter months, this is the time of year where many are susceptible to being the unhealthiest. While summer yielded endless days of blazing hot sunshine, women unveiled their bikini ready bodies whilst the men displayed their ripped physique.

The impact of summer on health

Summer is the quintessential time for putting our best foot forward. Our clothing shifts into a direction where the entire body is accentuated or exposed. It is also a time of year where people are more body conscious, be it comparing ourselves to the latest hot celebrity or observing the body type of our male or female counterpart(s). This combination of image awareness, soaring temperature and determination to look flawless enforces the…

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Pizza Hut: The Old World

I don’t know about you but I have been suffering from flu and freezing. People I meet outside have lost their summer smiles and glow. I can’t put a smile on every one I come across but I can sure as hell try to put a smile on you today. Why? Well it’s because I love you.

-Ziet

Assessment – Indepth Body Analysis

Transformation programs are tough but equally fun if done the right way! it is not going to be easy, transformation program changes your lifestyle, diet plan and your inner self too.

Only if you are willing to discover new you, Here’s an oppotunity.

We will work on your body profile in-depth and since we are only free-lancing it, undersdtand it is too much of hardwork managing along with our current job and lifestyle. However, we are equally passionate about transforming lives. If YOU are not enough passionate this certainly isn’t for you since we can only serve limited audience at once.

Click Here to download your > assessment-form < and leave us your contact details.

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Good Luck !

 

Richa Dhutia                                                                                                                         

Clinical Dietician in Nutraceutical Medicine

+91 767 801 0316

 

Akshay Bhagat

Corporate Fitness and Lifestyle Consultant

+91 9930 912 220

 

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