How to stay Healthy During The Summer?

With the weather in the city turning hot and sultry, it is a good time to increase your intake of fluids and take special precautions if spending long hours outdoors. 

Drinking the right kind of fluids is important. Water is the best option and carrying a bottle with you while travelling will prove beneficial. While we all love our daily cup of chai and coffee, try to keep caffeine drinks to a minimum. They may quench your thirst but do not give the necessary salts and nutrients the body needs. Further, energy drinks are full of sugar. Stick to nimbu paani or fresh fruit juices. 



Keeping yourself well-hydrated throughout the day is important. Don't wait until you feel thirsty, keep sipping on liquids in between. For those who indulge in rigorous outdoor exercises, taking a water break every twenty minutes is essential. 

Be aware of the signs that your body is giving out. Notice if your heart rate is increasing or if the colour of your urine is darker than before. If yes, get out of the sun and start consuming the right foods. 



Dehydration usually happens when the body has lost too much fluid and electrolytes (the salts potassium and sodium). Keep your electrolyte levels in check, by consuming chicken broth or soups. Eating salads rich in fresh fruits, and vegetables can help. Coconut water and aam panna is good too. 

Salty snacks can help. Try adding some salt or chaat masala to sliced apples or cucumbers as a refreshing snack. 

It's also low in fats and carbohydrates and makes for a healthy option. What you wear also plays a role. Light clothing is important to help the skin breathe. Cotton or light fabrics like linens are a good option. Such materials let the body sweat, yet keep it cool and airy. Save all your silks and satin outfits for the night. 



Other few things we need to take care in Summers:

• During summers eat less spicy food, if you have the more spicy food the more difficulty for your stomach to digest it. 
• Whatever you take your meal do take a glass of buttermilk it gives you cooling effect.
• If you get time clean your feet, underarms and face. 
• Eat curd in summer season. 
• During Loo time you have to take raw onion. Onion has power to protect you from loo in the summer season.
• Whenever you come to home and you faced scorching heat outside ..never drink chilled water it harms you a lot. Do keep a pot and try to drink that pot water only in whole summer. If you want to keep the water cool cover the pot with a wet towel and check it every hour or two whether it is wet or dry. You have to keep the towel wet. 
• In summer try to always cover your head and face. 

Benefits of Yogurt

गहरी नींद के आसान उपाय

* रात्रि भोजन करने के बाद पन्द्रह से बीस मिनट धीमी चाल से सैर कर लेने के बाद ही बिस्तर पर जाने की आदत बना लेनी चाहिए। इससे अच्छी नींद के अलावा पाचन क्रिया भी दुरुस्त रहती है।

* अगर तनाव की वजह से नींद नहीं आ रही हो या फिर मन में घबराहट सी हो तब अपना मन पसंद संगीत सुनें या फिर अच्छा साहित्य या स्वास्थ्य से संबंधित पुस्तकें पढ़ें, ऐसा करने से मन में शांति का भाव आएगा, जो गहरी नींद में काफी सहायक होता है।

* अनिद्रा के रोगी को अपने हाथ-पैर मुँह स्वच्छ जल से धोकर बिस्तर पर जाना जाहिए। इससे नींद आने में कठिनाई नहीं होगी। एक खास बात यह कि बाजार में मिलने वाले सुगंधित तेलों का प्रयोग नींद लाने के लिए नहीं करें, नहीं तो यह आपकी आदत में शामिल हो जाएगा।

* सोते समय दिनभर का घटनाक्रम भूल जाएँ। अगले दिन के कार्यक्रम के बारे में भी कुछ न सोचें। सारी बातें सुबह तक के लिए छोड़ दें। दिनचर्या के बारे में सोचने से मस्तिष्क में तनाव भर जाता है, जिस कारण नींद नहीं आती।

* अपना पलंग मन-मुताबिक ही चुनें और जिस मुद्रा में आपको सोने में आराम महसूस होता हो, उसी मुद्रा में पहले सोने की कोशिश करें। अनचाही मुद्रा में सोने से शरीर की थकावट बनी रहती है, जो नींद में बाधा उत्पन्न करती है।

* अगर अनिद्रा की समस्या पुरानी और गंभीर है, नींद की गोलियाँ खाने की आदत बनी हुई है तो किसी योग चिकित्सक की सलाह लेकर शवासन का अभ्यास करें और रात को सोते वक्त शवासन करें। इससे पूरे शरीर की माँसपेशियों का तनाव निकल जाता है और मस्तिष्क को आराम मिलता है, जिस कारण आसानी से नींद आ जाती है।

* अच्छी नींद के लिए कमरे का हवादार होना भी जरूरी है। अगर मौसम बाहर सोने के अनुकूल है तो छत पर या बाहर सोने को प्राथमिकता दें। कमरे में कूलर-पँखा या फिर एयर कंडीशनर का शोर ज्यादा रहता है, तो इनकी भी मरम्मत करवा लेनी चाहिए, क्योंकि शोर से मस्तिष्क उत्तेजित रहता है, जिस कारण निद्रा में बाधा पड़ जाती है।

* सोने से पहले चाय-कॉफी या अन्य तामसिक पदार्थों का सेवन नहीं करें। इससे मस्तिष्क की शिराएँ उत्तेजित हो जाती हैं, जो कि गहरी नींद आने में बाधक होती हैं।

Obesity - The Negative Effects

Butter vs Margarine - Which one is Better?

Butter and margarine serve the same purpose. They are used for cooking, baking and as spreads.



Butter has been a dietary stable for centuries.

It is made by churning the fatty portion of cow’s milk until it turns into the final product… butter. That’s it.

Margarine is totally different. It is a highly processed food that was invented to replace butter. The primary ingredient is vegetable oil along with emulsifiers, colorants and various artificial ingredients.

Vegetable oil is liquid at room temperature. This is why margarine is often hydrogenated, which gives it a harder consistency and extends shelf life. Hydrogenation also turns some of the vegetable oils into trans fats.

Butter has been demonized by the media and nutrition professionals because it contains large amounts of both saturated fat and cholesterol.

They found absolutely no association between saturated fat and cardiovascular disease. Other studies lead to the same conclusion.

Eating saturated fat actually improves the blood lipid profile. It raises HDL (the “good”) cholesterol and changes the LDL from small, dense LDL (very bad) to Large LDL. Eating cholesterol rich foods like eggs leads to the same improvements in blood lipid profiles. The LDL pattern improves and HDL goes up.

Neither saturated fat nor dietary cholesterol harm the blood lipid profile. They raise the good (HDL) cholesterol and change the LDL cholesterol to a benign subtype that is not associated with heart disease.

Margarine is loaded with vegetable oils and (sometimes) trans fats. Excess consumption of these fats is associated with many serious diseases, including heart disease. It is true that margarine lowers total and LDL cholesterol in the short term. However, it also lowers HDL (the good) cholesterol. Reducing cholesterol doesn’t necessarily reduce the risk of heart disease.

Both Margarine and butter contain the same amount of calories present in them. On the contrary butter contains natural fats, which are essential for the strengthening the bones and has many nutritional benefits. 

Excess intake of margarine can worsen illnesses such as colitis and arthritis. The hardening agents used in the production of margarine include nickel and cadmium. Nickel is a toxic metal that when consumed in excess, causes lung and kidney problems. Cadmium is among the most toxic of the heavy metals. It may contribute to serious diseases such as arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure and malignancy.

Solution

The best way to control the rising cholesterol levels, is by eating everything in moderation and not anything in excess. All products such as eggs, full cream milk, etc. contain minerals and proteins which are essential for the bones and cutting out these products will only lead to further health hazards.

85% of private sector employees- a laggard in healthcare: ASSOCHAM Survey

Friday, April 05, 2013

Due to demanding schedules, high stress levels and performance linked perquisites in private sectors, nearly 85% of employees in private sectors are afflicted to life-style, chronic diseases and acute ailment than the government employees ranging below 8%, according to a recent survey conducted by ASSOCHAM on the occasion of ‘World Health day’.

ASSOCHAM’S survey reveals that 42% identified themselves are afflicted to lifestyle disease, followed by 38% suffering from chronic disease and remaining 15% have an acute ailment in the private sector.

While releasing the ASSOCHAM survey on “Government vs. Private employee health scenario”, Mr. D S Rawat, Secretary General ASSOCHAM said, there is due compensation for increased inflation by way of dearness allowance (DA) to government employees whereas, the private sector is by and large out of this facility.”

Employees in private sectors are afflicted to life-style, chronic diseases, acute ailment are:

The findings on the government employees reveal very positive features ranging from reasonably good health, family stability, cordial relationship etc, adds the survey. The survey further points out there are many schemes in healthcare for government employees in addition to pension which reflects better health standards in government jobs.

Around 55 %of the survey respondents fall under the age bracket of 20-29 years, followed by 30-39 years (26 per cent), 40-49 years (16 per cent), 50-59 years (2 per cent) and 60-69 years (approximately 1 per cent).

The report included the major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabd, Pune, Chandigarh, Dehradun etc. A little over 200 employee were selected from each city on an average. Mumbai ranks first afflicted to high levels of stress in private sector followed by Delhi (2nd), Ahemdabad (3rd) Chandigarh (4th), Hyderabad (5th ), Kolkata (6th ) and Chennai (7th) etc.

The survey was able to target private employees from 18 broad sectors, with maximum share contributed by employees from IT/ITes sector (17 per cent).

*Others include employees from those sectors that have contributed >= 1 %share in the survey (consumer durable, construction, energy, healthcare, steel, HR and Misc)

Employees working in engineering and telecom sector contributed 9% and 8% respectively in the questionnaire. Nearly 6% of the employees belonged from market research/KPO and media background each. Management, FMCG and Infrastructure sector employees share is 5% each, in the total survey. Respondents from power and real estate sector contributed 4% each. Employees from education and food& beverages sector provided a share of 3% each. Advertising, manufacturing and textiles employees offered a share of 2% each in the survey results.

“Rising cases of marital disputes and aberrated relationship contributing to high level of stress as reflected in increased serious health problems”, adds Dr. B K Rao, Chairman of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and ASSOCHAM Health Committee.

The increasingly demanding schedules and high stress levels are leading to sleep disorders in private sector. Loss of sleep has wide ranging effects including daytime fatigue, physical discomfort, psychological stress, performance deterioration, low pain threshold and increase absenteeism. The survey further points out that nearly 45% of the corporate employees in private sector sleep less than 6 hours on a daily basis due to work related pressure.

Around 58% of corporate employees in private sector are deeply concerned about their future health, 38% are most of the time fearful regarding their future health conditions and rest 4% are not at all fearful about their future health, adds the ASSOCHAM Survey.

Chronic condition that forced them to absenteeism from workplace are:

{April-March 2013}
Health condition	Private Employee (in %)	Government Employee (in %)
High B.P	65%	13%
Stress	45%	7%
Spondolysis	25%	5%
Heart ailment	45%	12%
Asthma	55%	6%
Arthritis	65%	20%
Slip Disk	45%	3%
Diabetes	45%	7%
Others*	12%	11%
* Others include: stroke, minor paralytic attack, skin disease, chronic liver disease, stomach disease

According to the survey, only 10% employees in private sector have medical insurance, and much of it is inadequate. Nearly all private health service providers require families to spend out-of-pocket at the point of service. This leaves people, highly vulnerable. “Without adequate financial support from the private organization, health remains a major cause of financial insecurity”, adds Mr. Rawat.

In terms of the physical fitness, it was found that around 57% of the employees in the private organization said they ‘do not exercise at all’, 23% do physical workout devoting less than 1 hour/week, 12 %of the employees exercise for 1-3 hours/week, 8% of employees exercise for 3-6 hours/week and merely 7% stay fit by exercising for more than 6 hours/week. The majority of the government employee said that they ‘do exercise’ and physical workout to stay fit by exercising for more than 8 hours/week.

Work related stress can be defined as any level of mental or physical strain that is gained due to pressures in the profession. Work stress is given much impetus since it directly affects the private sectors, adds Mr. Rawat.

For details:
http://www.assocham.org/prels/shownews.php?id=3957

Acidity & Ayurveda

Due to depressed mental condition, there is continuous secretion of digestive juices (which contains a greater quantity of Hydrochloric Acid). The capacity to digest food gets weaker. Therefore undigested food in the stomach starts to get toxicant. This is the reason why the parson suffering from this problem feels heaviness in the stomach immediately after taking meal.

Sometimes, he also feels pain in the stomach. Burning sensation is felt in the stomach and throat. It may cause vomiting which is a way to release the toxicant stuffs out of the body otherwise it would lead to ulcer in the stomach which can be very dangerous. In case of ulcer, there happens unbearable pain in the middle part of the stomach but after vomiting, the patient feels relaxed. But some patients feel pain after taking meal. If dark brown clots of blood is released in vomiting, the patient should such ice which will give cooling experience to him. Perform Kunjar Kriya in case of hyper acidity which will give relaxation to the patient. Give evening and morning clay on
the stomach, also give anima. Then according to the condition of the patient, let the patient bath till his or her waist. Regularly massage backbone for 15-20 days. In case of hyper acidity, don’t give acidic chemicals like soda as it is harmful. Anima of baking powder gives relaxation to the patient. Also perform steam wash for the patient twice a week. The patient should perform light asanas in airy space.

May laboratory tests and experiments in different countries of the world, following fruits juices and vegetables have been found very useful in ulcer:
1. Cabbage juice added with water
2. Cucumber juice
3. Carrot juice
4. Bottle gourd
5. Coconut water
6. Milk
7. Very ripe banana
8. Bael (stone apple or wood apple) juice added with water.

When the patient shows the signs of recuperating, then he or she can be given fresh curd, orange, vegetable juices, Papaya, watermelon, raisin, Munakka (Blackcurrant), boiled fruits and vegetables. If acid formation is low, then give lemon and honey. If it is required to lower the level of acid, give one spoon pure olive oil after 15 minutes of meal. Never take heavy meal and maintain a gap of three hours in taking meal.