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Shifting to Healthy food is easy
Eating right need not to be complicated.
Shifting from unhealthy food that makes you feel lethargic, overweight and moody to healthy food that makes you happy, light and energetic is the best and simple option.
How do you make this shift? Shifting to healthy food is easy.
Here are grandma’s tips…
“Healthy food is not a fad – it’s a movement that is happening and existing from many centuries”. You have a chance to make a healthier choice whenever you:
Open your fridge for a snack
Shop in the grocery store
Stand at a vending machine
Pack a lunch
Look at a menu in a restaurant
Cook a favorite recipe
Eat foods that are familiar to you and which makes your body feel great. Most of these foods should be natural.
If you are eating processed food, check for the first few ingredients. If sugar is the first ingredient think again before purchasing processed food. Too much sugar is added to the food can make you feel satisfied temporarily.
You will find healthiest and natural food outside the aisle in your grocery shop.
Daily eat three different colored vegetables or fruits for each meal (if possible).
Start your morning eating fresh fruit or fresh fruit juice like orange, tomato juice or lemonade.
Cereals with walnuts, raisins or almonds are great with fruit for the morning breakfast.
When you look at food labels, if you have not heard or read about an ingredient then don’t buy that food. Always study the ingredients and understand whether it suits your system or not.
Reduce eating out in fast food restaurants. Set a goal for reducing the number of visits to fast food restaurants and see changes in yourself.
When you are in a restaurant, if you are not familiar with the food in the menu – ask what are the ingredients.
Reduce consumption of alcohol, soda and other carbonated drinks. They can only do harm to your body.
Never overcook vegetables and greens. It will take away their good substances.
Fresh and frozen produces are better than canned foods
Limit use of margarine, shortening and refinedvegetable oils. These cannot be digest by the system easily and it takes time to process them.
Use olive for salads. Do not heat olive oil. Use vegetable oil, canola oil for cooking.
Drink water, buttermilk or consume yogurt every day.
Prepare your own detox, that suits your body system- once a while to keep away toxins.
Emphasize fruit, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat or fat-free milk and milk products.
Make sure your diet is low in saturated fats, trans fats, salt (sodium) and added sugars.
Make Your Calories Count – understand the serving size and calories from various nutrients.
Make shifts in your food choices like a cream-based pasta dish to one with a lighter sauce and more vegetables for dinner
Asthma is a respiratory condition that makes breathing tough. An asthma attack is a result of an allergic reaction to dust, pollen, and other forms of hypersensitivity. It is marked by spasms in the lung’s bronchi.
It is important to strengthen the lungsand immune system to reduce asthma. There are many home remedies and Ayurveda remedies are available to reduce the asthma condition. Apart from these remedies practicing yoga and staying fit is critical for the body to fight asthma.
Home remedies for asthma symptoms prevention:
To ¼ tsp dry ginger powder, add ¼ tsp pepper powder, ¼ tsp rock salt and about 5 -6 Holy Tulsi (Holy basil) leaves. Boil all the ingredients in 250 ml water and reduce the content to half. Drinking this during an asthma attack helps to reduce the severity and gives some relief.
Grate one-inch ginger and boil in water. Drink this occasionally.
Consume one tsp of lehya made of dates, raisin, honey, long pepper, and ghee with milk. This improves lung function.
To reduce chest congestion, boil 3-4 garlic cloves in 250 mil milk. Drink this after cooling it down to room temperature.
Applying and rubbing mustard oilon the chest will help to clear respiratory passage. Add camphor to slightly warmer mustard oil and mix well. Apply this on the chest as well as back. This helps to reduce asthma symptoms.
Onion has anti-inflammatory properties and opens up the air passage. Eating raw onion or onion with honey is good for the lungs. Sulfur in onion decreases inflammation.
Figs are known to promote lung health. Figs drain phlegm. Soak dried figs overnight in water and eat soaked figs in the morning on empty stomach. Drink the water.
Ajwain or carom seeds is another remedy for asthma. Add one or two tsp of ajwain to boiling water and inhale the steam. It dilates the air passage and reduces spasm. Also, one heat ajwain seeds by wrapping them in cloth and keep them on the chest to get the benefit of ajwain.
Vitamin C is essential for people who suffer from asthma. Include citrus fruits especially lemon in the diet. Add lemon juice, little sugar, and a pinch of salt to water and drink.
Drinking hot liquid helps too. Especially coffee which is a bronchodilator helps to relax the muscle and clears the phlegm. Drinking a small cup of strong coffee helps. (do not exceed the volume that you cannot handle). Hot water, herbal tea, or hot ginger-Tulsi tea are also options.
Do not smoke, drink, avoid tobacco products.
Honey and dry ginger powder are good for the lung. Honey is one of the oldest medicine that is recommended for stronger lungs.
Eucalyptus oil is a decongestant. To boiling water add few drops of eucalyptus oil and inhale the steam. Adding few mint leaves, camphor to the boiling water also have added advantages to release nasal congestion and to ease breathing.
Avoid soft drinks and other forms of soda
Stay away from dust, pollen and keep the house clean. Avoid removing dust, cleaning carpet or furniture. Seek help from family members and stay away during cleaning.
Avoid smelling essence, applying perfume or mosquito repellants. These will cause allergies.
Stay away from strong chemical odors. Use less harsh and plant-based cleaning products.
If you have a cat or any other pets, take precautions while you care for them.
Go for regular walks in the morning hours. If it is pollen season wear a mask when you step out. Practice yoga asanas and be active as much as possible to keep up good health. Click here to know how to increase lung capacity.
An asthma attack needs immediate attention. Home remedies will help to improve breathing and reduces symptoms. Do not mix your prescription medicine with home remedies.
Daily Routine, General Care, Mental Health, Prevention Tips for Parents to Protect Children During Pandemic
The Ayush Ministry of India last week released a detailed document titled “Home care guidelines for children and Advisory for AYUSH Practitioners about prophylactic care in Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic”.
While adults are getting vaccinated, for children vaccination drive just initiated. Though infection is generally mild in children when compared to adults, those children who have underlying conditions like Type-1 Diabetes, obesity, chronic cardiopulmonary disease, compromised immune system might be at higher risk of suffering. Prophylaxes seems to be the best approach to save children life from Covid. Ayush ministry has come up with prophylaxes of Covid-19 and parents can consider using this to build stronger immunity in children to fight the deadly disease. This protocol will provide understanding of approach for care of children at home and support parents, caregivers, and practitioners totake care of children during the pandemic of COVID-19 and be ready for situations.
General Care for children under parent’s supervision
Handwashing- Regular hand-wash for a minimum of 20 mins, alcohol-based sanitizers,
Proper Mask- mask mandatory for children above the age of 12, mask mandatory for children age between 5 to 12 under parent’s supervision, mask desirable for children age between 2 to5 years under parents’ supervision and no mask for children below 2 years.
Social Distancing – preferably 6 feet or at least 3 feet, avoid travelling and crowded places.
Respiratory hygiene- children should be educated to cover their nose and mouth with tissue paper/handkerchief, droplets should not touch the palms or liberated in air and proper disposal of tissue paper
General guidelines for daily routine
Give them lukewarm water to drink according to their capacity
Maintaining oral & dental hygiene
Oil massage followed by a warm bath
Physical activities like Yoga and meditation
Diet- Children should have a balanced diet in suitable amount according to their appetite
Adequate sleep
The daily regime should be followed that should involve academic, hobby and family time
Mental Health of Children
Parents should maintain their physical and mental health to support children
COVID suspect children should not be in contact with the grandparents as elderly people are at high risk
Teleconsultation for a child from a doctor rather than going to the clinic
Parents should keep them updated with the latest relevant guidelines from authentic sources
Prophylaxes (preventive) measures for COVID-19
Samshamani Vati crushed and mixed with honey- twice a day (Samshamani vati is a an ayurvedic medicine useful in treatment of all types of fever and viral infections).
Amla Murabba(mashed) (made of Indian gooseberry) or Chyavanprash Avaleha twice a day
There are numerous reasons in life to be unhappy, sad, and have a broken heart. Likewise, there are many ways one can heal oneself to get back to normal life and be happy. Self-love is one reason that helps us to heal fast. If we learn how to repair our heart by taking loving ourselves, by respecting our inner self it will take us to the road of recovery very soon.
What we need to keep in mind is, we need to have patience, self-compassion, and practice to get there. Healing process- depending on the situation the process takes time. Loving oneself will keep negativity away.
Focus on healing: Instead of worrying about what others say or think about us, focus on healing. We cannot control what others think about us, we can only focus on our energy and positive thoughts. This will enhance the process of healing.
Positive thoughts: Allow your mind only to positive energy, positive thoughts. Surround yourself with people who encourage and help you with their uplifting energy. If you feel you are vulnerable to some talk, then move away and stay away from negative talk. Positive thoughts will bring the best out of you.
Discourage negative thoughts: Train yourself to be away from negative thoughts. If you are falling into the negative thought, force yourself to move to positive thought by breaking the negative loop. The best is to find a way to distract negative thoughts before you settle in the loop. Do something about it – go for walk, find a good friend, shake your head, dance – just move out from negative thoughts.
Compliment yourself: To uplift your mood, think about the best qualities you have. Remember the incidents where and when you were praised. Talk about it- even if nobody is around you, just talk to yourself about it. Get the reassurance of your ability and capacity to do stuff and this will help you to heal fast by bringing confidence.
Help those who are in need: Expressing kindnessis good for the nervous system. When you are there for someone when they need it most it makes you feel better by knowing that you are making another person who is at receiving end is feeling better too.
Music, dance, and entertainment:Music and movement are soothing. When we listen to music that we love to hear, it uplifts the energy. Similarly, dancing is good for the body as moving with music brings joy and ultimately helps to heal.
Smiling:When we smile, we not only look attractive, also will get connected. We receive positive vibes from people who feel connected with us. This brings joy and peace to mind.
Meditation:Both prayer and meditation helps to focus on one’s inner self and keeps centered. Meditation makes us less vulnerable to negative energy and prayer boosts our confidence.
Spending time with nature: Nature is anatural healer. Spending time in hiking, gardening, bird watching, or such activities where you feel nature welcomes you, you will feel healed.
Exercise, yoga, Pilates: Any physical activity should bring cheer to your life. If you are practicing yoga and you achieve a perfect pose or challenge yourself to a balancing pose and achieve success or completing that 5K walk will bring self-discipline. Self-discipline increases inner strength and the healing process.
These are few ways to love oneself to heal oneself. Because both mind and body are inner connected any positive physical achievement influences the mind and vice versa. Ultimately, if we heal ourselves, it leads to success and growth.
Keeping home organized is a skill. Some people naturally have the tendency to manage and organize the house. Some people need help. One way to keep house organize is, downsizing the home. Means, removing the unwanted things, getting rid of clutters, and possibly shifting to smaller house.
Once a while it is essential take time to do this task to make life simple and feel better.A clutter free house will make you feel happy and better.
Make a list of things that you want to get rid of. Attend to one category per day. Make list like – clothes, books, furniture, vessels, items of sentimental values, papers, plastic bags etc.
Separate all the items into four boxes – to keep,to donate, recycle/throw and selling items.
When it comes to clothes, we all have tendency to keep all clothes for many years. Start putting clothes in hanger and face hangers away from you. After wearing a cloth, turn the hanger towards you. If you have not touched a hanging cloth in six months, get rid of it – give away or use as rag.
Focus on one room at time. -Start with living room where you might keep old CDs, video games etc. -Move onto shoes, discard torn/spoiled shoes. Give away the ones which you don’t like wearing. – Organize storage room, remove stuffs you are not using even the bottles, boxes that are empty and not in use can be removed. -Go through bed sheets, towels, pillowcases, curtains – remove the ones that you are not using in a longtime. In the process, you may find the new ones that are hidden and not used at all. -Take time to match up lids and containers. -Organize clothes according to seasonal use, -Go through dresser and find items that you don’t use at all. -Old nail polish, hairbrush, make up kit, hair clips, perfume bottles – remove junks that you don’t need any more
Set a strong ground rule for yourself to declutter house once in three or six months based on the amount of stuffs you have. Always keep few boxes to fill the unwanted things. Mark boxes to Keep, sell, donate, recycle, trash, or pass it down (to family)
Some items that are non-sentimental and you don’t want to keep anymore and that are in good condition – put them on eBay, marketing place or have a yard sale. Or you can donate it to one of the charities.
Sentimental items – It is hard to leg to of sentimental items. Think is there any items that you can share with a good home who needs it. Try reaching to your extended family and friends who would like to have it and will take good care of it. Some items you can sell and put money in your savings. If an item is in good condition and looks brand new, use it as a gift item for someone you love. You can also take photos of the items before you give them away. This way you will have memory of the items.
If you are moving to a new home or apartment know what style and size apartment you’re moving into. If so, then measure all the furniture that you have and see what you can take with you. Sort clothes, separate clothes that you don’t want anymore. Old shoes that you don’t want, kitchen vessels that you can give away etc.
In case if your children moved out and you have more space than you want, think of shifting to small house – this is a big downsizing task and needs more planning and time. But it will help you to keep your life simple and gives more time to get involved in other activities.
Downsizing, decluttering, organizing the house is a big task. Doing it often will help you to keep house clean, dust free and get rid of things that you don’t need any more. Downsizing also reduces anxiety and helps to relax.
CDC Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People
People in many countries are either getting vaccinated with one shot or fully vaccinated with both shots. If you have any doubts what activities you can participate in if you are fully vaccinated then CDC has given several answers. Vaccination helps to reduce pandemic spread and if someone gets infected after vaccination, suffering will be less.
According Center for Disease Control, US there are many activities one can go ahead with if you are fully vaccinated. These recommendations are provided for those who are fully vaccinated in USA. Other countries are coming up with their recommendations. Still following social distancing, wearing masks wherever it is necessary and practicing hygiene is important to stop spread Covid-19
Below is list of recommendation provided by CDC for those who live in US and travel within US and outside US or traveling to US.
If you’ve been fully vaccinated:
You can resume activities that you did prior to the pandemic.
You can resume activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.
If you travel in the United States, you do not need to get tested before or after travel or self-quarantine after travel.
You need to pay close attention to the situation at your international destination before traveling outside the United States.
You do NOT need to get tested before leaving the United States unless your destination requires it.
You still need to show a negative test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before boarding an international flight to the United States.
You should still get tested 3-5 days after international travel.
You do NOT need to self-quarantine after arriving in the United States.
If you’ve been around someone who has COVID-19, you do not need to stay away from others or get tested unless you have symptoms.
However, if you live or work in a correctional or detention facility or a homeless shelter and are around someone who has COVID-19, you should still get tested, even if you don’t have symptoms.
For now if you’ve been fully vaccinated:
You will still need to follow guidance at your workplace and local businesses.
If you travel, you should still take steps to protect yourself and others. You will still be required to wear a mask on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States, and in U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and stations. Fully vaccinated international travelers arriving in the United States are still required to get tested 3 days before travel by air into the United States (or show documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in the past 3 months) and should still get tested 3-5 days after their trip.
You should still watch out for symptoms of COVID-19, especially if you’ve been around someone who is sick. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should get tested and stay home and away from others.
People who have a condition or are taking medications that weaken the immune system, should talk to their healthcare provider to discuss their activities. They may need to keep taking all precautions to prevent COVID-19.
Recommendations for Indoor and Outdoor Settings
Risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection is minimal for fully vaccinated people. The risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from fully vaccinated people to unvaccinated people is also reduced. Therefore, fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance. Fully vaccinated people should also continue to wear a well-fitted mask in correctional facilities and homeless shelters.
Fully vaccinated people with COVID-19 symptoms
Although the risk that fully vaccinated people could become infected with COVID-19 is low, any fully vaccinated person who experiences symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should isolate themselves from others, be clinically evaluated for COVID-19, and tested for SARS-CoV-2 if indicated. The symptomatic fully vaccinated person should inform their healthcare provider of their vaccination status at the time of presentation to care.
What We Know
COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing COVID-19 disease, especially severe illness and death.
COVID-19 vaccines reduce the risk of people spreading COVID-19.
What We’re Still Learning
How effective the vaccines are against variants of the virus that causes COVID-19. Early data show the vaccines may work against some variants but could be less effective against others.
How well the vaccines protect people with weakened immune systems, including people who take immunosuppressive medications.
The term “jam” refers to a product made of whole fruit cut into pieces or crushed, then heated with water and sugar to activate its pectin before being put into containers. Jam is a thick mixture of fruit, pectin, and sugar that is boiled gently but quickly until the fruit is soft and has an organic shape, yet is still thick enough that it spreads easily and can form a blob. In addition to being a spread, jams are also good for fillings. Jam has an organic shape to it, and often has chunks of fruit in it.
Jam can be used for spreading on the bread, roti and chapati. It is a good item for lunch for kids, if they carry bread sandwich for lunch. Jams are a way to consume good amount of fruits. The natural fruit jams without artificial preservatives are good for consumption. Whether it is individual fruit jam or combinations of fruits – the taste of jam is always wonderful and delicious.
Next few slides will give you some simple ways to make various types of fruit jams. If the recipe calls for sugar, one can try preparing jam without sugar or can use brown sugar or jaggery.
Image credit: Image by silviarita from Pixabay (cc by 0, Free for comemrcial use)
