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Showing posts from March, 2019

Choose a lifetime of healthy eating habits over short term dietary gains - 4 tips to nudge you towards health via food

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To most people health is an ‘absence of disease’. But of course, it goes far beyond that. Funnily enough, though it’s easy to define disease, health almost defies definition. Renowned poet and activist Wendell Berry defines health as unconscious wholesomeness, while to the World Health Organization ( WHO ) health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being. So what brings on disease and is also the dominant cause of death? Why Health via Food is better than Health Fads Avoid excessively refined and purified food: Rice, for example, is a time tested cereal for at least 15 thousand years . But its refinement and devitalization by extraction of most of its nutrients through polishing lead to easy digestion and flooding of sugar into our blood, culminating in blood sugar disorders. Refining whole wheat strips it of its natural layers of bran and germ, reducing its nutritional value simply to improve its appearance and prolong shelf life. What’s more, the dieta

Superfoods - Indian vs International : Dietary Diversity is a basic bedrock of good nutrition & health

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The concept of ‘super foods’ is a new one, created by the marketing hype. Each food has its role in nutrition. Each food can become a superfood. Unfortunately, over the last few years, some foods have gained recognition as ‘super food’. For a balanced diet, we always need varied set of items. These ‘super foods’ are mostly international foods, and have come into India at the cost of the rich variety of Indian foods that have existed for centuries. Lest we forget, people used to come to India in search for spices & food items. Currently, the definition of super foods is limited to omega 3 fatty acids, antioxidants and dietary fiber rich foods. QUINOA Vs AMARANTH Both these are cereals. More appropriately, pseudo cereals (both are non grasses that are used in much the way as cereals which are in the form of grass eg: rice paddy, wheat field ). Quinoa has been marketed globally as a rare and exotic food whereas amaranth remain subdued and sidelined. Amaranth, also known as R

Tiny Seeds : Nutritional Powerhouse | Omega 3 Seeds | Pristine Organics

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Nutritious Omega 3 Oil Seeds  Oh! So now that you have swallowed the seeds, you will start growing a plant inside your stomach, was said to me by my mother. So instead of eating them, I confess that I was discarding them. So did a lot of you. But next time think before you toss! Oilseeds  are among those categories of foods which did not play a very important role in our diet for a very long time. Frequently we throw away the seeds we find in vegetables and fruits, completely unaware of the high nutritional value of what we are discarding. Modern scientific research pointed out the benefits of the seeds and its back again onto our plate. Seeds can be incorporated in various forms either as toppings, snacks, bars or in the form of salads or as suggested in a recipe. Oilseeds are now known as  Superfoods : Chia seeds, Flax seeds, Garden cress seeds, Basil seeds. And also the humble Pumpkin seeds, Sunflower seeds, Watermelon seeds are a dense

Eat your way to beauty - Your guide to a healthy skin

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We have tried everything to deal with our fussy skin, including expensive facials, lotions, antibiotics and other painful procedures. The umpteen cosmetic products designed, from natural extracts to chemical concoctions for the perfect skin were just not enough. It was clearly time to look beyond remedies that were merely skin-deep and get to the root of the matter. What is a skin type diet? How does it work? Let us walk through  how a diet for healthy skin works. Certain factors regulate skin characteristics – lipids, the natural moisturizing factor (NMF), sebum, Hyaluronic Acid (HA) and Aquaporin (AQP). Each has a different role to play for your skin. The NMF is responsible for hydration, desquamation and plasticity of skin. A well-balanced NMF production and secretion would require intake of proteins, lipids and water. Sebum, on the other hand, is responsible for the oil secretion from the sebaceous glands onto the skin – it controls the sheen, texture and elasticity