All posts by HealthyLife

HealthyLife is a part of www.WeRIndia.com, an all India – centric website (https://healthylife.werindia.com) and is solely owned and operated by WeRIndia.com. It is a Indian nutritional portal providing educational articles.This nutritional port was launched on February 5th, 2015.
Reasons to cook at home

Grandma’s reasons to cook food at home

With busy and crowded schedules families are finding it difficult to find quality time together.  Commute to job in many major cities is each way two hours due to traffic.

Evening as it becomes late and hardly there is any time to cook, parents take easy path of getting food from outside restaurant or canteens.

Moreover, there is no time for buying groceries, vegetables and no time to cook. This gives good business to restaurants. But what effect it has on family life?

Entire family is all the time apart and depends on unhealthy food for survival. This can damage mental and physical health of children too.

Here are grandma’s reasons to wake up and consider squeezing some time to cook at home even if it is simple food.

  1. Save health: Home cooked food or meals are perfect for all who wants to remain healthy. When we prepare meals at home from the scratch, we know what ingredients goes in. If children or adults are allergic to some foods, we can avoid adding those ingredients unlike the outside food. We even can take control on adding salt or sugar. One need not to cook varieties of food on week days. Try something simple and quick. There are many quick recipes available that can be prepared within half an hour. Another option is, free up two hours during week end and cook for 3 days. Store food in refrigerator.
  2. Save money: This could be one the most practical reasons for many families. Takeaway and restaurant foods cost more than weekly grocery bill for many. Shop for grocery during week end – have a list for the week. Nonperishable items can be bought once in a month or so. This saves time and money. Plan for the meal for an entire week. Stick the list on refrigerator. This way you know what ingredients you need and there won’t be any waste or will be less wastage.
  3. Family spends quality time together: Family who likes to spend time together will find it attractive and it also helps young people at home to interact with each other and with parents. If you make it a point to sit together to eat dinner as often as possible, you can catch up on various activities and understand what is happening in each other’s life – school or work life. Suggest or act on to make dining table a smartphone free zone. Encourage all family members to smile and have a healthy meal.
  4. It increases knowledge of food: Food is much more than an “item that fills stomach”. What goes in the meal influences human body which can be positive or negative. Cooking our own meal helps us to understand our body’s requirements in terms of nutrients and energy. It boosts the morale and keeps us creative.
  5. Savor the food: Preparing our own meals will lead to newfound appreciation for the items that we consume. Mindless munching and eating junk food can only harm our physical health leading to weight gain. But, by cooking the food at home, we will be conscious about what we eat and how much to consume.
  6. Food safety: Food borne illness mostly happens when we eat outside food. You never know how long the food would be sitting out or when for example, flies might be sitting on the food. We all know what insects can do to the food. Cooking food at home gives peace of mind and we are assured that food is stored properly. Apart from storage, we will be conscious to keep cooking area and utensils clean.

Listen to grandma’s advice for better and happy life !

www.healthylife.werindia.com

Image credit: Photo by Alyson McPhee on Unsplash

Author: HealthyLife | Posted on: January 16, 2018
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Sweet and Spicy Pongal Recipes

Sweet and Spicy Pongal

The festival of Sankranthi and Lohri are approaching. Both these two festivals marks the harvesting season and change in the path of Sun. Makara Sankranti marks the transition of the sun into the zodiacal sign of Makara (Capricorn) on its celestial path. With this days are going to be longer, more bright and activities will increase. To mark the harvesting season people of India traditionally prepares two dishes made of rice and moong dal. These are spicy (khara) pongal and sweet pongal.  Both these are  delicious with high carbohydrates and lot of protein.

Sweet pongal recipe:

Jaggery is the traditional sweetener of sweet pongal and gives good fragrance and taste for the sweet dish.

Ingredients

  1. Sona masuri rice – 1/2 cup
  2. Split moong dal – 1/4 cup
  3. Jaggery – 1 cup grated
  4. Cashew nuts -2 tbsp
  5. Raisins -2-3 tbsp
  6. Cardamom powder -1/4 tsp powder
  7. Ghee (clarified butter) -1/2 cup

Preparation:

1. Roast moong dal in a pan by adding 1/4 tsp of ghee. In a pressure cooker, cook both rice and moong dal by adding 2 and 1/2 cup water.

2. Once the mix is cooked, using a spoon mash the mix and keep aside.

3. In a pan heat 1/4 cup of water and add jaggery, Once jaggery dissolves remove the impurities settled at bottom by filtering jaggery water.

4. Again boil jaggery water by adding 1/2 tsp of clarified butter. Let the jaggery syrup become little thick *.

5. Now add mashed rice and dal to jaggery syrup followed by cardamom powder.

6. In tsp of ghee fry cashew and add to above mix.

7. Allow raisins to puff up in the ghee and add it at the end to pongal.

8. Add rest of the ghee and cook for few minutes under low flame.

9. Serve hot as a sweet dish for Lohri or Sankranthi festival.

*Not sticky consistency

 Spicy (khara) pongal

Ingredients

  1. Spicy (khara ) Pongal
  2. Sona masuri rice -1 cup
  3. Split moong dal – 1/2 cup
  4. Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp
  5. salt
  6. Cumin seeds -1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
  7. Curry leaves – few
  8. Black pepper – coarse powder -1 tsp whole black pepper, coarsely crushed fresh
  9. Asafetida or hing -1/4 tsp hing/asafoetida (I use SSP brand powdered asafoetida)
  10. Desiccated coconut – 1/4 cup (optional)
  11. Broken cashew – Few
  12. Ginger – 1 inch (cut into small pieces or grate)
  13. Ghee (clarified butter) -1/4 cup

 Preparation:

1. Dry roast the yellow lentils in a thick bottomed pan over medium heat until fragrant and golden brown.

2. Pressure cook both rice and roasted dal using 4.5 cups of water, salt and chopped ginger. Leave it for 6-7 whistles.

3. Remove the mix and mash it well and keep aside.

4. In a pan on medium flame, add ghee and add cumin seeds, pepper powder, curry leaves, turmeric.

5. Transfer the cooked rice and dal mix into the seasoning and mix well.

6. Now add salt and hing and mix well again.

7. In a small pan heat a little ghee and fry cashew and transfer it to pongal.

8. Serve hot and spicy pongal with coconut chutney!

Reference: www.werindia.com

Author: HealthyLife | Posted on: January 12, 2018
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Turmeric and Honey Mix

Turmeric and Honey Mix

Turmeric is one of the strongest antibiotic herb that is described in Indian ancient texts and medicines. Alone or in combination with other ingredients it is one of the most preferred herb for various conditions. Indian kitchens use turmeric on daily basis. Without Turmeric, there is no curry. Similarly, the use of turmeric to keep skin healthy is traditional aspect of Indian culture.  Turmeric often combined with honey, milk, lemon juice, black pepper, curd or lemon zest to use for various conditions. The blend of turmeric with honey and /or any of other ingredients has powerful healing capacity. Turmeric has anti-inflammatory property and controls allergies. It is a immune booster.

Raw honey also has anti-inflammatory property and reduces chronic pain. It is a powerhouse of all good characters and just like turmeric can be used externally as well as can be used as food. Whether it is cold, burns, wounds, skin problems, cough – for various condition raw honey can be included in the home remedies.

Now imagine what happens when these two ingredients combined? You will have a wonderful mixture in your hand that can be used for various conditions and it is strongest antibiotic mix !.

If you consume orally,

  • Turmeric powder – 1 Tbs
  • Pinch of black pepper – it optimizes turmeric absorption by body
  • Raw honey – 100 grams
  • Lemon zest – 1 tsp

Mix turmeric powder and black pepper. Add this to honey and keep stirring using a spoon until you get a smooth semi-solid liquid. Add lemon zest and continue mixing. Transfer the mixture to an air tight container and store. Avoid storing in fridge as it might give an odd odor. Use it within few days of preparation for following conditions.

  • For flu, asthma, bronchitis and lung problems: Take half tsp three times a day before food.
  • For dry cough and cold –Evening a tsp before going to bed with warm milk (or roast turmeric root and prepare powder – mix with honey, black pepper powder and lemon zest and take a tsp with warm water twice a day).
  • For energy and immune system booster: Take one Tbsp of the mix daily morning or at night
  • For body inflammation: Daily morning a tsp of the mix with warm water or half glass milk

For external application: Don’t add black pepper. Instead of lemon zest, add lemon juice and mix three ingredients and use it same day.

For skin: Apply this on face, hands, legs – leave it for 20 minutes and wash using warm water. Repeat 2 to 3 times a week or alternate days.

Remember: If adulterated and not well processed turmeric is used, it might give problem. People who have gall bladder problem should consult doctor before consuming turmeric. Honey is not recommended for children below age 1.

Grandma’s remedies: www.healthylife.werindia.com

Author: HealthyLife | Posted on: January 9, 2018
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Recipe for Sathyanarayana Prasadam

Recipe for Sathyanarayana Prasadam

In India, people often perform Sri Sathyanarayana Puja at homes and temples. People gather to celebrate the puja and offer a special dish to Lord Sri Sathyanarayana. It is a unique and delicious sweet dish prepared using coarse wheat, sugar and ghee. The dish which is offered to Lord will be served to all devotees at the end of the puja in small amounts. People wait to have this Sathyanarayana prasadam (dish after offering to God).

With the beginning of the New Year and to celebrate the festival of harvest, try this special traditional sweet dish at home. Recipe is simple, easy and quick to prepare.

Ingredients:

  1. Chiroti rava or medium rava (coarse wheat) – ¼ cup (Also known as semolina or upma rava)
  2. Sugar – ½ cup
  3. Clarified butter / ghee – ¼ cup
  4. Boiled milk – ½ cup
  5. Raisins – Few
  6. Cashew pieces – Few
  7. Water – ½ cup
  8. Banana – ½ (big banana)
  9. Cardamom powder – A pinch
  10. Saffron – Few strands

Method:

  1. Heat a pan on medium heat and add little ghee. Add raisins and cashew pieces and fry.
  2. Add rava to pan and fry rava till it releases fragrance and turns slightly golden brown.
  3. Meanwhile boil milk and water in separate containers.
  4. Add boiled milk and allow rave to cook in the milk on medium flame
  5. Once the rava cooks in milk, add sugar, chopped banana, little water and remaining ghee and continue mixing the rava.
  6. Add cardamom powder, saffron and mix well. Turn off the heat when get that divine fragrance from the Naivedya that you are going to offer to God.

Recipe: www.werindia.com

Author: HealthyLife | Posted on: January 8, 2018
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Eight Angle Pose Ashtavakrasana

Eight Angle Pose Ashtavakrasana

With age, our mind and body both tend to lose focus and balance. Body of course, slowly will lose its flexibility and strength. This is where practicing yoga helps. It is never too late practice yoga to achieve overall wellness. Start with basic poses and once you understand how to get into pose properly, then with proper guidance you can move to advanced pose. Ashtavakrasana or Eight angle pose is an advanced pose that needs lot of concentration, focus, strength and flexibility. While practicing this pose one can also achieve balance and perseverance. While performing this pose, most yogi’s get frustrated as it is a bit difficult pose. But learning eight angle pose helps us to develop patience and insight with strength and flexibility. – Healthy life

LEVEL : Advanced

Anatomy : Abs, Arms, Feet, Hands, Legs

Pose Type : Arm Balance, Twist

Sanskrit : Ashtavakrasana (AHSH-tak-vah-KRAHS-anah) shata = eight vakra = crooked, bent

 BENEFITS

  • Strengthens the inner thighs, triceps, and pectorals
  • Tones and stimulates the abdominals organs
  • Strengthens the spinal rotators
  • Strengthens the forearm, wrist, and hand musculature
  • Improves balance

 CONTRAINDICATIONS

  • Hip pathologies
  • Shoulder pathologies
  • Wrist injury
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Avoid straining the elbows and low spine

HOW TO

  1. Start in a seated position. Bend your left knee and ground your palms down into your mat with slightly bent elbows. Draw your right knee over your right shoulder as high as possible.
  2. Cross your left ankle over the right and press the feet together to bind.
  3. Inhale, ground your palms, and bend your elbows—making sure they don’t splay out to the side.
  4. On an exhale, begin to draw your body forward and lift your hips, feeling the weight transfer into your hands. Allow your elbows to bend deeper to bring the chest parallel to the floor.
  5. Squeeze your thighs together to hug the upper arm, and press through your heels to extend the legs.
  6. Stay in Eight-Angle pose for 5-10 slow breaths.
  7. To exit the posture, exhale and slowly draw your body back to a sitting position. Gently release your legs. Repeat on the opposite side.

MODIFY OR REPLACE

  • If triceps strength is an issue, place a block underneath the bottom hip and outer leg to give you extra lift into the arm balance.
  • Practice lifting the hips and transferring weight into the palms.

SEQUENCING TIPS

Before:

  • Bhujangasana (Cobra pose)
  • Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog)
  • Bakasana (Crow pose)
  • Parsva Bakasana (Side Crow pose)

After:

  • Parighasana (Gate pose)
  • Eka Hasta Bhujasana (Elephant’s Trunk pose)

TEACHING CUES

  • Keep the upper and lower spine lifted through the crown and firm your abdominals.
  • Squeeze the thighs together and press through the feet to extend the legs. Keep the palms active.
  • Be careful not to overstretch the shoulder joint by letting your chest sink through the arms.
  • Be cautious of your low spine and release if you feel any strain or tension while rotating or lifting.

WATCH OUT FOR

  • Wrist, spine, shoulder, or hip pain/ strain
  • Chest sinking through the arms
  • Elbows splaying to the sides

This article and image is published here with permission from www.beyogi.com

 

Author: HealthyLife | Posted on: January 3, 2018
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Easy to prepare veg fried Rice

Easy to prepare veg fried Rice

Adding vegetable to rice is one way to consume vegetables to keep our self healthy.

One easy, fast, delicious recipe helps us to eat varieties of vegetables is “Veg Fried rice”.

Call it Indian or Chinese or Indo-Chinese veg fried rice (it depends on the ingredients), veg fried rice is always delicious and yummy.

It can be prepared in less time and needs less effort.

All you need is couple of ingredients that you need to grab from super market –Soy sauce and vinegar – if you have it in your kitchen, then you are good to go!

Try Veg Fried Rice for lunch, breakfast or dinner.

Ingredients:

  1. Basmati rice – 2 cups (you can use long grain rice too)
  2. Soya sauce – 1 Tbsp
  3. Vinegar – ¾ Tbsp
  4. Salt – as per your need
  5. Crushed pepper – 1 tsp
  6. Garlic – 2-3 cloves
  7. Vegetable oil – 2 Tbsp

Vegetables:

  1. Carrot – Small cut pieces ½ cup
  2. Bell pepper – ¼ cup
  3. Finely chopped beans – ½ cup
  4. Finely grated/chopped cabbage – ¼ cup
  5. Spring onion chopped – ¼ cup
  6. Green peas – ¼ cup
  7. Cilantro – 2 Tbsp
  8. Option: Anise seeds (1/4 tsp for flavor)

Method:

  1. Wash and cook rice with little oil. Addling little oil helps rice to be lose and not sticky.
  2. Heat oil in pan and add chopped garlic and saute for a minute.
  3. Add chopped vegetables and green peas- except bell pepper and fry them for couple of minutes. Add bell pepper and fry for few seconds.
  4. Add vinegar, soy sauce and salt to fried veggies and mix.
  5. Add cooked rice and pepper powder and mix well on medium heat.
  6. Garnish with cilantro and spring onion.
  7. Serve hot fried rice with your choice. Generally side dishes like chutney, sauce, gobi Manchurian, chilli-pepper fry or raita goes well with Veg fried rice.

www.werindia.com

Author: HealthyLife | Posted on: January 2, 2018
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Diabetic foot care tips

Diabetic foot care tips

One the pressing issues for people who suffer from diabetes is risk of foot ulcers. Nearly 15 % of people with diabetic condition suffer from diabetic foot ulcer. It is an open sore and commonly located in bottom of the foot. It can result in hospitalization of the patient. If not taken care properly it can result in greater risk. Keeping this in mind, diabetic people must pay special attention to their feet.

Some of the foot care tips that should be included by diabetic patients in daily routine are as follows:

  1. Inspecting feet daily: Nerve damage caused by diabetes is called neuropathy. It can cause numbness that makes it difficult to feel when there is lesion in lower extremities. For this reason, one should check for cracked skin, sores, discoloration in the feet. Use a hand mirror to see the bottom of the feet and between toes as thorough examination needed to see every bit of feet.
  2. Protect feet: Avoid walking barefoot outside especially. Indoor wear proper home foot ear. Wearing diabetic shoes helps in protecting from nicks, cuts, splinters and scratches. The small injuries that go unnoticed and neglected can become big problem. With neuropathy, these small injuries can be not felt and lead to severe issues – infection and amputation.
  3. Keep feet dry: The space between toes should get more ventilation. This is the area where bacteria and fungus hide due to moisture accumulation. More ventilation means, space between toes dries. It is airtight moisture skin breakdown leading to infection. To prevent infection towel off feet thoroughly after showering and washing legs. Use talcum powder between toes. Don’t wear wet and sweaty socks.
  4. Less and non-impact exercise: Active life style is important for diabetes. However, it is also important to go with activities that is harmless for feet. Avoid workouts that include lot of jumping, leaping as these types of exercises can damage nerves and increase risk of feet injury. Best exercises are yoga, Pilates, walking and tai chi.
  5. Orthotics: Sometimes depending on how severe is diabetic condition is, basic foot care might not be enough to defend against diabetic foot ulcers. Orthotic footwear is prescribed to people with peripheral neuropathy and it helps to increase blood flow to extremities.
  6. Buy the Right Shoes :

According to NIH, it is important for people with this condition to protect feet from any injury by selecting shoes that are snug fitting. It should not be too tight.

  1. Do not buy shoes thinking shoes will stretch eventually
  2. Tight shoes causes blisters – to avoid this buy snug fitting shoes
  3. Wear new shoes one or two hours per day for first couple of weeks and breakdown shoes slowly
  4. Change shoes often – wear another set of shoe after four or five hours to reduce risk of ulcers
  5. Examine the insides of shoes to ensure that there are no pebbles, objects, stones or loose particles that could rub on skin causing wounds.
  6. Avoid shoes that are create pressure points.
  7. Wear clean and dry socks
  8. Orthopedic shoes or inserts can improve blood flow to feet and increases nerve response – talk to your doctor about orthopedic shoes

Be aware of fatal symptoms associated with diabetic ulcer and improper foot care. With diabetic it is important to take precautions  of all wounds and ulcers in the feet. Talk to your doctor if you see any wounds or abrasion in your feet. Make changes in your foot care by talking to your doctor.

For more visit:

Image credit: By MoreMed – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46930997

Author: HealthyLife | Posted on: December 28, 2017
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Roasted Red Bell Pepper Hummus

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Hummus

Hummus is a famous, traditional Middle Eastern dish and commonly served with pita bread. It is made of chickpeas.  Garbanzo beans is another common name for chickpeas in Western market. Chickpeas available cooked in cans in salt water. One can use these chickpeas or soak dry chickpeas to prepare dishes. Hummus being so popular because of its somewhat bland taste is available in market with different additional ingredients – cilantro, garlic, bell pepper, mint hummus etc. Roasted red bell pepper hummus is slightly darker color and has a tangy taste to it. It is easy to prepare.

Chickpeas serve plant based protein in good quantity and is a good replacement for meat. It also known to contains less calories and good for heart health. It has good fiber content. It also supplies iron, phosphate, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, and vitamin K all contribute to building a proper body structure and helps in overall health.

Recipe for Roasted bell pepper hummus

Ingredients:

  1. Chickpeas (cooked) – 1 cup
  2. Cilantro leaves – 1 Tbs
  3. Parsley leaves – 1 Tbs
  4. Red pepper – 1 medium size
  5. White sesame seeds – 1 Tbs
  6. Cumin powder – ½ tsp
  7. Lemon juice – 2 Tbs
  8. Olive oil – 1 Tbs
  9. Garlic clove – 1 or 2
  10. Red chilli powder – ¼ tsp
  11. Salt – as required

Method:

  1. Soak chick peas till they expand. It might need overnight soaking or 8 to 10 hours soak.
  2. Cook soaked chick peas in pressure cooker, drain water and keep aside
  3. On medium heat / flame, burn (roast it using tong ) the red pepper until skin turns slightly black on all side. Open and remove seeds. Cut bell pepper into small pieces.
  4. Roast sesame seeds on low flame.
  5. In a food processor or mixer puree chick peas and add roasted bell pepper, cilantro, parsley, garlic cloves, lemon juice, roasted sesame seeds, cumin powder, olive oil, red chili powder and salt.
  6. Grind all ingredients until it becomes smooth and fluffy.
  7. Transfer the content into a bowl and keep in refrigerator for an hour or so.
  8. Before serving sprinkle little chopped cilantro leaves.
  9. Serve red bell pepper hummus with pita bread, bread, roti, veggies like cucumber, carrot, celery or give with crackers.

It is a good side dish or dip for lunch items too!

www.werindia.com

 

Author: HealthyLife | Posted on: December 26, 2017
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