What Is Healthy Diet? Start With A Breakfast

We are often left wondering what is healthy living and to be healthy what should we eat. We come across conflicting news each day and amidst all that we succumb to the lures of fast food.

Let us try to deconstruct what is healthy eating. And today we touch healthy "Breakfast" 

Before we start with what you can eat and what you cannot eat, two thumb rules to guide you.

1. Eating at the right time is very important and adds significantly to your health when you eat right. Let us repeat- EATING AT THE RIGHT TIME!!

2. Middle path- Everything under the sun is poison, the quantity and quality matters. So eating in moderation has always been found to be beneficial. 

What can we eat? 

Our traditional food habits have been designed with a balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. So eating right when you are healthy allows you to stay healthy. 

1. Eating Idli , Vada, Sambhar and Chatni! - In this you have the right mix of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and essential nutrients. So taking two idlis, one vada should serve as a good breakfast for most people. 

2. Omelette with bread toast and butter- This has protein, carbohydrate and fat.

3. Dosa with smabhar and chatni- This may fall short of protein and you may want to add a boiled egg or a dal vada with it.

4. Poha - This has carbohydrate and if peanuts are there a bit of protein but you can supplement this with an egg or glass of milk.

5. Bowl of fruits with and egg.

6. Upma- if it has vegetables and ghee added to it,  becomes a more wholesome food. Check different types of Upma here.

What we are saying with above examples is that most breakfast are tailored to be healthy. You eat them at the right time, that is within 2 hours of waking up before 9 am and lo behold, you have ensured an healthy start. 

What we will not recommend for eating at breakfast-

1. Biscuits- very bad choice. Processed food with mostly carbohydrates. 

2. Only bread- again only carbohydrates.

3. Only milk- a good source of protein but will not give you the carbohydrates and fats required to start your day.

4. Only Juice- It will mostly be carbohydrates for you and in juice form the absorption of fructose/glucose is faster creating a slump soon. Eating fruits is much better. But the bowl of fruits need to be accompanied by milk or eggs. 

Share with us your favourite breakfasts. Or the kind of breakfast you have. 

Want to know more, write to us, tweet, or post a comment.

#StayHealthy

Does Having Wholesome Indian Diet Keep Alzheimer's At Bay?

With an ever increasing aging population we will be seeing lot of people battling Parkinson's , Alzheimer's, Diabetes, Cancer.



Is there something which can be done to protect oneself from these deadly diseases?

Yes!

1. Good diet. But what is a good diet? Traditional Indian food ? 
2. Exercise
3. Stress free life

Let us focus on food.

A recent study has found that western diet increases the risk for Alzheimer's.

US Diet- Highest Risk

Mediterranean Diet- 50% Less Risk

Indian Diet- 50% less than Mediterraneans! 

We of course need more holistic research and data gathering from across the country.

You may read the news article here

5 Common Challenges Faced By Elderly And What You Can Do!

Today is International Elder Day! Make life of someone better, if they are elderly much better, :)

We list 5 common problems faced by elderly and what we can do to help them. Your experience, suggestions or feedback are most welcome.

1. Elders feel lonely. Elders may not express this for various reasons but they also get depressed and feel lonely.
Spend quality time with them. When we say quality we mean, time spent with them without mobile (cell phone), laptop or any other gadget. Just sitting beside them and listening to them can reduce their pain and anxiety. Listen to their stories and concern. If you cannot visit them, give them a call. Studies have proven that even telephonic calls reduce the need for pain medication!

2. Elders may have hearing problem. Be patient with them and speak softly. Switch off all distracting noises when you speak to them.

3. Elders have lesser taste receptors and sense of smell. Because of this they may lose the ability to identify flavors in food and can complain about food. Be considerate when they say that the food is not tasty or has less salt. They are stating the truth. It also can be that the their dental status does not allow them to eat hard substances. Ensure that they get food which they eat easily. They also do not feel thirsty and can become dehydrated. Help them to stay hydrated.

4. Elders enjoy outdoor activities but would be shy to request you to take them out. Lose of independence, fear of driving, fear of traffic, fear of falling can make them to stay in their room/house. Facilitate their outdoor activities. Take them to park, movies, temples or relatives place.  And if you are busy, you can arrange for the same taking help of others.

5. Last but not the least, elderly couple also have romantic and sexual feelings. Give them privacy and space to enjoy their romantic and sexual life.


Sooner or later we all will be members of the "Elder Club"! Take care.

World Heart Day-5 Simple Steps To Keep Heart Healthy

To convert knowledge into action requires that things are kept simple and easy! Here are the five things to do to keep your heart healthy.

Happy World Heart Day.

1. Get away from your seat and go for a walk with your loved one. Walk, we evolved by walking. Walking protects the heart and the brain. The earlier you start the better it is. Even if you are just out of college or in college, you need to establish an habit of walking if not running or jogging.

2. Eat healthy and balanced food. Hmmm, that is too broad an advice. So here you go, avoid soft drinks/carbonated drinks, processed foods like chips, cookies, etc.

3. Get out of bad job and bad relationship. Having a bad boss can b harmful to your heart! Having a abusive partner too is bad for health. Love yourself  to love others.

4.  Smoking damages your heart and lungs. Stop smoking, your heart will thank you.

5. And we have saved the best for the last. Yup, have a good nights sleep and supplement that with an afternoon nap. Good sleep can protect your heart and brain

Now, isn't that simple steps to follow to keep your heart healthy!

Elderly Care Support-Food & Swallowing in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's is a movement disorder which impacts the affected person severely and also the person taking care of.


You can read more about Parkinson's here.

The video below from National Parkinson Foundation talks about mealtime and swallowing.

 

If you are taking care of an elderly and you need help or support, get in touch with us. care@pranaenablers.com

Food Safety- Is It A Joke?

How safe is your packaged drinking water?

How safe is your packaged food?

How safe is your carbonated drink like Coke, Pepsi?

How safe are your vegetables?

Do you know the chemicals being added to your food?

We all consume food to enjoy, relish and survive. We are what we eat, goes a old saying. Today it is becoming increasingly difficult to know how safe is our food and what all goes into making it. There are some short term consequences and some long term, which our brain finds it difficult to comprehend.

On occasion of "World Health Day" theme of Food Safety, we raise these questions and try to answer them.

"Water" 

Getting safe drinking water is becoming challenging day by day. They either contain contaminants like E.Coli, high iron and nitrate content, pH not adhering to guidelines. 
Research suggests that dry regions are going to become drier and wet regions wetter. resulting in unsafe drinking water for various reasons. The ground water, so called bore well water is also not safe with the minerals and lead being taken away from it.
Extract from article, 
"As wells are drilled deeper in pursuit of the falling water table, the water which is extracted frequently displays higher levels of arsenic, fluoride, and other harmful chemicals. The attendant health effects have been well documented throughout India"

Those who want to read more 

Packaged water..here, here, here

Ground Water ..here, here

General reading ... here, here, 

"Packaged Food"

For good or bad, we all consume packaged drinking water and packaged food. The chemicals which can leech into the food because the packaging material is a concern. Some of these chemicals are toxic to us. The ambiguity is how much of it is toxic, how long one should be exposed to it. The impact on pregnant women, foetuses and new born babies is being discovered with each passing day. 

The harmful chemicals found are formaldehyde, bisphenol A, tributyltin, triclosan, and phthalates. 

Formaldehyde, a cancer causing substance is present in plastic bottles and melamine tableware. 

Read more here

"Vegetables"

If you are thinking that eating vegetables is healthy, do not think twice , think 100 times! Common food items contain banned pesticides in quantities a thousand times more than the permissible limits.

Brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower, apples, oranges, bananas, name any vegetable or fruit , you are consuming different pesticides and insecticides along with them, more than permissible.

What you can do

• The first step in the removal of pesticide residues from the food products is washing. Washing with 2% of salt water will remove most of the contact pesticide residues that normally appear on the surface of the vegetables and fruits.
• About 75-80% of pesticide reduces are removed by cold water washing. The pesticide residues that are on the surface of fruits like grapes, apples, guava, plums, mangoes, peaches and pears and fruity vegetables like tomatoes, brinjal and okra require two to three washings.

Read more here, here, 

To read about how to prepare and cook food safely... here

To read about which foods to be cooked and which food to be eaten raw, read this article

Food industry is undergoing tremendous changes. It is not easy to keep tab on what innovations are happening to keep our food fresh looking and palatable. All the chemicals being used need more research which is going to be difficult. 

We need to ensure that we eat safe food. We need to question more, test more and demand more.

You Can Prevent Diabetes In Your Children

What do you think causes "Diabetes"?

Eating sweets or carbohydrate rich diet?
Bad genes or as some like to say hereditary?
Multiple factors.

Our understanding about what causes diabetes is improving everyday. It is very disturbing that Indians are more at risk and grappling with this chronic disease which affects eyes, heart, kidney and nerves.

Well, what would you say if we told you that you can avoid getting "Diabetes". If you are ready to heed some advice and incorporate it into your living, the odds of you getting diabetes decreases dramatically.

Diabetes is a silent killer which in epidemic proportion is affecting Indians and other developing country citizens. If you are ready to follow few simple things you can help your children, yourself and the Nation.

Two reasons why Indians are at higher risk for diabetes and what you can do?

1. Avoid refined, processed and so called junk food. If you consume coke, pepsi or any carbonated drink, eat chips, burgers or a diet rich in raw sugar, chances are that your gut microbiota changes leading to insulin instability and diabetes. Your energy metabolism goes for a toss when your gut microbiota changes.

2. Judicious and optimal use of antibiotics. People who take more courses of antibiotics are at increased risk of diabetes. Antibiotic over usage eradicates the good bacteria in your intestine making you more susceptible to diabetes.  Next time when you have a viral infection do not take the antibiotic. Whenever your doctor prescribes antibiotic question him whether you can get well without antibiotic.

We need not have to wait for more evidence to do the following things:

1. Prefer and give a chance for vaginal delivery whenever possible.

2. Stop feeding our children and ourselves "junk food"

3. Avoid antibiotic abuse and over use.

You have the power to prevent diabetes. Prevent it.



References:

1. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/842409?src=sttwit

2. http://www.eje-online.org/content/early/2015/03/24/EJE-14-1163.abstract

3. http://www.nutritionj.com/content/13/1/60

Prana Healthcare provides the general physician support as and when you need. Prana is you trusted "family doctor".

Prana Healthcare is a new age, compassionate, caring, primary healthcare provider. We send general physicians for home visits and run primary care clinics in Bangalore.