All posts by Sumana Rao

Don't worry about the people in your past; There's a reason they didn't make it to your future.
Tips to find lost items

Tips To Remember Various Things In Day To Day Life

It is a common thing that happens to everyone in their day-to-day life – losing things or cannot remember where we kept something. Not all people are tech savvy to use smart gadgets or cannot afford to buy one. Here are few tips to remember, retrace lost items or to remember the stuffs that one need to.

  1. Remember where you last time saw the lost item – Walk through the location, try to retrace your steps. This will help you to locate the item.
  2. Check places where the item should be: Do you a careful search where generally you keep the item. Instead of keeping the item in its place you would have slightly misplaced it nearby.
  3. Parked car- Write down the place or landmark where you parked the car. Parking places are numbered, note it down. Street parking – note down street name/ cross street or nearby store, house number
  4. Cannot remember item name? Start visualizing. Run through alphabets and vowels. This could help.
  5. Use smartphones or tablets – If you want to remember something, make a list. Put it on your phone as an image or store in notes
  6. Put it on paper- To remember something that is critical for you, writing on piece of paper helps.  It helps you to memorize.
  7. Studying hard & can’t remember? Use common Mnemonics. For example:  To remember names of the planets  use “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas” where the first letter of each word stands for Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, respectively! You can formulate your own Mnemonics using popular songs!
  8. Close your eyes, take few deep breaths – calmly do this, it could bring back memory of where you kept an item.
  9. Make it a habit of keeping things in same place  whether it is home or work.
  10. Place labels where you need to keep things and always place items in the respective places.
  11. Get in the habit of saying locations or place name loud when you put something there in a place, instead of waiting until you need to remember it. This will also draw attention of your spouse or family member who can say later you kept it there.
  12. Keep your home and work desk uncluttered – There are more chances of losing items when house is cluttered. Keep things uncluttered and place item in same designated place.
  13. Sleep on it – Do you know, if you can’t remember about something, after a good night sleep or a nap, brain will reset, and you would be able to remember what you need to.
  14. Moving around – Walking or doing some activities that helps to bring more oxygen and blood to brain will trigger memory.
  15. If you are a person who is losing stuffs often, probably you should focus on your diet. Cut down on fried items, fat and meat. Cholesterol built up plaques can damage not just heart , brain cells as well.
  16. While looking for an item, that is critical and you must have it,  then do not get distracted by phone or talk. Focus on searching. Mute social media notification for sometime.
  17. If something is not that critical to find or to remember immediately, give sometime. Memory will come back after a while and you could find the stuff or remember the things that you have forgotten.
  18. Get help – if you need to remember or find things urgently, seek and ask your family or friends help. They probably would know where it is, what it is etc.

Image credit: age by Karolina Grabowska from Pixabay  (Free for commercial use)

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: August 20, 2021
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Green banana flour benefits

Green Banana Flour For Better Health

Green banana flour is familiar to people who lookout for gluten-free flours. It is popular with those who are intolerant to gluten protein. We know both ripened and raw banana contain rich amount of fiber and other important nutrients like potassium. Green banana flour gives similar benefits and much more.

In countries where the wheat flour is much pricier people use green banana flour as an alternative. It is produced by processing green banana – washed, peeled, chopped, dried to remove water content, and then ground to fine powder. Green banana flour contains resistant starch that does not break down into sugar and helps the gut. Resistant starch is fermentable fiber. This characteristic of green banana flour makes it useful to get many health benefits.

It is a more consumer friendly flour. Green banana flour is much popular in Africa, Jamaica, Haiti and central American regions.  It gives slight banana scent and earthy flavor when cooked.

  1. It is used in promoting digestive health. It is natural prebiotic and promotes gut friendly bacteria such as Ruminococcus, Akkermansia and Bifidobacteria. It is helpful in maintaining intestinal mucosal barrier.
  2. It is low glycemic starch and reduces negative effects of metabolic syndrome
  3. Because it is dietic starch, it helps to improve blood sugar level and reduces insulin sensitivity
  4. It reduces cell damage a process that happens with high blood sugar level. Polyphenols in green banana flour has good impact on oxidative stress
  5. Reduces cholesterol level in blood and supports heart health. It is a good replacement for wheat, rice, corn and potato starch.
  6. Being prebiotic, promotes healthy colon. It exerts protective effects to prevent colon cancer, enhance absorption of nutrients and promote satiety and weight loss and prevent obesity.
  7. It supplies potassium, magnesium, iron, phosphorous, dietary fiber and is low in sugar
  8. It contains pectin that helps in controlling diarrhea.
  9. It is a nutrient rich vegan food and could be used in many types of diet programs. It is a grain free source of complex carbohydrates.
  10. Some amount of 5-hydroxytryptophan presence in green banana flour makes it a desired food for mood control, stress, anxiety and depression.

How to use green banana flour?

  1. Use in smoothies and milk shake for better texture and additional nutrients
  2. Add it to baked goods such as brownies, cookies preparation, crackers
  3. As salad dressing – some use banana flour in salad dressing, soup and stews as a thickening agent.
  4. Use for making rotis, chapathis or other types of Indian breads. Mix with regular flour as you desire.

Image credit: Photo by Daniele Franchi on Unsplash (CC by 0) – Green banana image

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: August 17, 2021
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Teach kids to cook

Why Kids Should Learn Cooking

Sometimes cooking can be intimidating and to keep family happy we could order food from outside. Another reason for ordering or eating food from outside could be lacking basic cooking skills or could be no time to cook. During pandemic, people who has not stepped into kitchen often started cooking at home. It saved money but finding varieties of recipes to keep family happy is intimidating too.  

If you are into cooking and have kids, then you are obliged to prepare varieties of food whether pandemic or no pandemic. Instead of cooking all by yourself, teach your kids few simple recipes this will help them to thrive through life and teaches valuable skills.

How learning cooking helps kids:

Kids learning cooking helps them to explore their creativity, prepares them for pandemic kind of situations and teaches them important life lessons like the efforts to cook, not to waste food etc. .  

  1. It boosts kids’ development: Mixing, measuring, kneading, arranging helps to improve their cognitive skills.
  2. Learning hygiene: Washing groceries, vegetables, fruits, cleaning the countertop, getting ready for dinner or lunch, will help them to understand the importance of hygiene and science behind microbial infection.
  3. Improves language development: While assigning kids small work, you need to communicate, and kids must respond. If they have questions, they must clarify with you. If you tell kid to write down the ingredients of a recipe it improves and increases child’s vocabulary.
  4. Improvement in math: All most all recipes call for measurements. Kids will learn to use cups, tablespoon, kitchen weighing machine, teaspoon etc. that helps to improve their basic math skills that is essential in day-to-day life.
  5. Attention and focus improvement: While cooking we need to be attentive and focused. Any small mistake spoils the taste of food. Focusing on food preparation helps kid to be attentive in learning and keeps them focused on studies or whatever they are going to learn.
  6. Improves motor skills: Using cookie cutters, rolling chapatis, using ladle, pouring ingredients, mixing ingredients helps to improve their motor skills.
  7. Reading skills: While cooking, have kid read the recipe and follow the instruction. Reading loud and following the cooking directions, helps kids reading ability.
  8. Science concept: Talking about ingredients, vegetables, fruits, groceries, and chemistry behind the ingredients will help child to understand the scientific world of food. It helps them to understand the healthy food and nutrition science and to focus on their health.
  9. Sense of accomplishment: When cooking completed using a recipe, it builds self-confidence. A small success yields positive result. A sense of happiness, accomplishment, pride, and confidence boosts self-esteem.
  10. Healthy eating: As mentioned earlier, kids will start noticing the calorie value of foods. They will start noticing the difference between fatty food, junk food, healthy food, how it is important to eat certain food that provides good nutrition for the body to be healthy.
  11. Improves relationship and family bonding: Spending time with siblings, grand parents and parents is the best part of cooking. It develops a strong bond between the family. Agreeing to cook something interesting and liked by all is the fist step to bond. Second step is to gather ingredients and cooking together. It brings joy to kids and adults in the family.
  12. Improves kids taste buds: If you have picky eaters, exposing them to various flavors and tastes helps kid to explore to new foods, flavors and expands their palate.

By helping and learning cooking kids will learn most valuable lessons  of life. In case, parents are not around or sick, using simple recipes kids might be able to prepare something to eat. Even simple sandwich or mixing cereal with fruit when they are hungry will keep their stomach full. Learn what are the age-appropriate cooking skills you can teach your kid and help them to improve their life skills.  

Image credit: Photo by August de Richelieu from Pexels (Free for commercial use)

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: August 13, 2021
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INFLUENCE OF PETS ON HUMANS HEALTH

Influence of Pets on Humans Health

People are owning pets like never before. During Covid-19 pandemic, those who stay at home, work from home, who are staying away from family are getting pets to fill the absence of family around. Pets are like family members. Owning a pet is bigger responsibility. Once you understand the presence and role of the pets and how they bring happiness no one will let go the pet. Having pets around improves health in various ways.

When it comes to pet ownership, there are a number of proven health benefits for people, including physical, mental and emotional improvements, from enhancing social skills to decreasing a person’s risk of heart attack. Keep reading to find out nine reasons to open your home to a pet cat or dog or a fish tank.

Image credit: All the images that are used in this slider article are free for commercial use (from pixabay, pixel).

A Healthier Heart

Healthy-heart_HeathyLife_WeRIndia

Your dog may make you less likely to get heart disease. Why? Dog owners walk more and have lower blood pressure than people who do not have dogs. Pets can also be good for you if you already have heart problems. Heart attack survivors and people with serious abnormal heart rhythms who own dogs live longer than people do with the same heart problems that do not have pets, studies show. You still have to watch your weight and exercise. However, having a pet can help you manage your blood pressure. In one study of 240 married couples, pet owners had lower blood pressure and lower heart rates during rest than people who did not own a pet. That held true whether they were at rest or undergoing stress tests. Another study showed that children with hypertension lowered their blood pressure while petting their dog.

Fewer Strokes among Cat Owners

Cat_HeathyLife_WeRIndia

Researchers are not sure why.  Cat owners have fewer strokes than people who do not own cats. It is partly due to the effects owning a pet can have on a person’s circulation. Nevertheless, researchers speculate that cats may have a more calming effect on their owners than other animals do. It may also have something to do with the personality of a cat owner. Cats often become the focus of their owner’s interest, which diverts them from other stressful worries.

Social Magnets & you are not Alone anymore!

Social Magnets & you are not Alone anymore!

Pets, especially dogs, can help you connect with other people. One key to a healthy mind is staying engaged with others. In addition, pet owners have a tendency to want to talk with other pet owners. A dog is a conversation waiting to happen. People, especially other people with dogs, will stop and talk with you when they see you walking your pet. Visiting a dog park lets you socialize with other owners while your dog socializes with their dogs. People who use wheelchairs say that other people make eye contact with them more often and ask if they can be of help when they are with their dogs, Beck says.

Pets are Natural mood Enhancers!

Pets are Natural mood Enhancers!

When you have a pet around you, it feels like you have a greater control of your life. People with pets are generally happier, more trusting, and less lonely than those who do not have pets. They also visit the doctor less often for minor problems. It only takes a few minutes with a dog, cat, or watching fish swim to feel less anxious and less stressed. Your body actually goes through physical changes in that time that make a difference in your mood. The level of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress, is lowered. And the production of serotonin, a chemical associated with well-being, is increased. Reducing stress saves your body wear and tear.

Benefits for Baby’s Immune System

Baby’s Immune System_HeathyLife_WeRIndia

Babies raised in families that have pets may be less likely to get allergies and asthma, some studies show. It has to start early, ideally before a baby is 6 months old. Research studies show that babies with dogs or cats at home have fewer colds and ear infections during their first year than babies living in pet-free homes. Researchers think that exposure to pet dander, as well as the microbes that pets carry into the home from outdoors, could prime babies’ still-developing immune systems and train them early to fend off assaults from common allergens and bugs, such as from animals or other bacteria and viruses (http://healthland.time.com). A research finding in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology — shows that children exposed early on to animals tend to develop stronger immune systems overall.

Social Support for Autistic & ADHD Children

ADHD Children _HealthyLife_WeRIndia

Kids tend to relate better to their classmates who have autism when pets are in the classroom a research finding says. Once the children get involved with animals, they view each other more positively and work together better. Kids with ADHD can benefit from working with and keeping a pet. Taking charge of the jobs on a pet care schedule helps a child learn to plan and be responsible. Pets need to play, and playing with a pet is a great way to release excess energy. That means an easier time falling asleep at night. And because the bond between a pet and a child is unconditional love, pets help children with ADHD learn about self-esteem.

Relief from that Chronic pain

Chronic pain_HeathyLife_WeRIndia

A Mexican hairless dog called a Xolo is known for generating intense body heat. An organization called Paws for Comfort trains Xolos to be service dogs for people with fibromyalgia and other forms of chronic pain that respond to heat. People get relief just by placing their hurting limbs against the dog’s body or lying up next to it. Some dogs have even been trained to ride around wrapped around the neck of a person with chronic neck pain.

Fitness with Pet

Fitness_HealthyLife_WeRIndia

People who own dogs and horses tend to be more physically active and less obese than people who do not. Taking your dog for a walk or riding horse for a daily 30-minute will keep you moving and ensure that you meet the minimum recommendations for healthy physical activity. Running with and chasing dogs and playing with dogs is a natural body exercise for those who do not want to go to gym.

Arthritis Pain Relievers!

Arthritis Pain Relievers _HealthyLife_WeRIndia

Stretching is very important if you have arthritis. You also know it can be hard to know when you are stretching enough. Cat owners may want to learn from their cat. Watch how many times she stretches every day, and when she does, you do it too. If you can, get down on the floor and go through the same motions. If you cannot get on the floor, sit on a chair and follow along by stretching your upper body. There are many YouTube videos are available to see how cats and dogs have fun while their humans perform yoga and other exercises.

References:

  1. http://www.naturalbirthandbabycare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/cheerful-baby-and-pet-700×434.jpg
  2. http://qvv.fr/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/bebe-rides-shar-pei-chiot.jpg
  3. http://static.thetechjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/baby-dog-playing-child.jpg
  4. http://islampfr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/cat-holding-hands-finger-paws-human-love-relationships-pets.jpg
  5. http://yostatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ashes-and-snow-humans-animals-6.jpg
  6. http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02632/Rubbing_a_cats_chi_2632074b.jpg
  7. http://modernlywed.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/11/11213/ModernlyWed_AdamAlli Photography_Modern MississippiEngagement_DogField_06.jpg
  8. http://bloggersdelight-dk.bloggersdelight.netdna-cdn.com/wp content/blogs.dir/79866/files/2015/03/dog-quotes-pinterest-2.jpg
Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on:
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A Healthier Heart

A Healthier Heart

Your dog may make you less likely to get heart disease . Why? Dog owners walk more and have lower blood pressure than people who do not have dogs. Pets can also be good for you if you already have heart problems. Heart attack survivors and people with serious abnormal heart rhythms who own dogs live longer than people do with the same heart problems that do not have pets, studies show. You still have to watch your weight and exercise. However, having a pet can help you manage your blood pressure. In one study of 240 married couples, pet owners had lower blood pressure and lower heart rates during rest than people who did not own a pet. That held true whether they were at rest or undergoing stress tests. Another study showed that children with hypertension lowered their blood pressure while petting their dog.

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on:
« »
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Fewer Strokes among Cat Owners

Fewer Strokes among Cat Owners

Researchers are not sure why.  Cat owners have fewer strokes than people who do not own cats. It is partly due to the effects owning a pet can have on a person’s circulation. Nevertheless, researchers speculate that cats may have a more calming effect on their owners than other animals do. It may also have something to do with the personality of a cat owner. Cats often become the focus of their owner’s interest, which diverts them from other stressful worries.

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on:
« »
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Social Magnets & you are not Alone anymore!

Social Magnets & you are not Alone anymore!

Pets, especially dogs, can help you connect with other people. One key to a healthy mind is staying engaged with others. In addition, pet owners have a tendency to want to talk with other pet owners. A dog is a conversation waiting to happen. People, especially other people with dogs, will stop and talk with you when they see you walking your pet. Visiting a dog park lets you socialize with other owners while your dog socializes with their dogs. People who use wheelchairs say that other people make eye contact with them more often and ask if they can be of help when they are with their dogs, Beck says.

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on:
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