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.
Body image and will power

“Will Powers” for Improving Body Image

Eating disorder is a common condition that we find in students and young adults. Many students struggle to fit with fellow classmates because they think that their body image is not great. They struggle to adjust because of low self-esteem. Eating disorders happens when they preoccupied with food, weight gain or weight loss and their physical appearance.

Michael Levine, PhD and Linda Smolak, PhD, have given ten will powers to improve body image.

  1. I WILL ask myself: “Am I benefiting from focusing on what I believe are flaws in my body weight or shape?”
  2. I WILL think of three reasons why it is ridiculous for me to believe that thinner people are happier or “better.” I will repeat these reasons to myself whenever I feel the urge to compare my body shape to someone else’s.
  3. I WILL spend less and less time in front of mirrors—especially when they are making me feel uncomfortable and self-conscious about my body.
  4. I WILL exercise for the joy of feeling my body move and grow stronger. I will not exercise simply to lose weight, purge fat from my body, or to “make-up” for calories I have eaten.
  5. I WILL participate in activities that I enjoy, even if they call attention to my weight and shape.I will constantly remind myself that I deserve to do things I enjoy, like dancing, swimming, etc., no matter what my shape or size is!
  6. I WILL refuse to wear clothes that are uncomfortable or that I do not like but wear simply because they divert attention from my weight or shape. I will wear clothes that are comfortable and that make me feel at home in my body.
  7. I WILL list 5 to10 good qualities that I have, such as understanding, intelligence, or creativity. I will repeat these to myself whenever I start to feel bad about my body.
  8. I WILL practice taking people seriously for what they say, feel, and do. Not for how slender, or “well put together” they appear.
  9. I WILL surround myself with people and things that make me feel good about myself and my abilities. When I am around people and things that support me and make me feel good, I will be less likely to base my self-esteem on the way my body looks.
  10. I WILL treat my body with respect and kindness. I will feed it, keep it active, and listen to its needs. I will remember that my body is the vehicle that will carry me to my dreams!

I WILL choose to take care of myself and my body!

Source: NEDA: By:  Michael Levine, PhD and Linda Smolak, PhD

 

Image credit: Photo by Zach Reiner on Unsplash (Free for commercial use)

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: July 22, 2016
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Stem cell Therapy For Knee Pain

Stem Cell Therapy For Knee Pain

Stem cell therapy for knee pain is gaining lot of attention! The human body is made of billions of specialized cells that form specific organs like the brain, skin, muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, and bone. Each day these cells go through a degenerative and regenerative process. As older cells die, new cells are born from stem cells with the unique capability of being able to create multiple types of other cells. However, when tissues are injured, the degenerative process exceeds this regenerative process, resulting in structures that become weaker, painful and less functional. While there are several types of stem cells, those that are best at promoting musculoskeletal healing (tendon, ligament, cartilage and bone) are found in bone marrow.

Stem-cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition. Bone marrow transplant is the most widely used stem-cell therapy, but some therapies derived from umbilical cord blood are also in use. Stem cell treatment takes advantage of the body’s ability to repair itself.

Stem cell therapy for Knee cartilage repair:

Knee osteoarthritis is a chronic, indolent disease that will affect an ever increasing number of patients, especially the elderly and the obese. It is characterized by degeneration of the cartilage substance inside the knee which leads to pain, stiffness and tenderness. The regular treatment of total knee replacement come together with high effort and costs and is not always successful.

Protocols based on the delivery of stem cells are currently applied in patients, showing encouraging results for the treatment of articular cartilage lesions (focal defects, osteoarthritis). These non-surgical stem cell injection procedures happen within a single day and may offer a viable alternative for those who are facing surgery or even joint replacement. Patients are typically able to return to normal activity following the procedure and are able to avoid the painful and lengthy rehabilitation periods that are typically required to help restore strength, mobility and range-of-motion following invasive joint surgeries.

How it works (in simple words):

The human body keeps a supply of stem cells available to help repair injured and degenerated tissues at all times, making it fairly simple to retrieve them for therapeutic purposes. As stem cells remain in reserve, in the marrow cavity of human bones, the easiest place to harvest these stem cells is from the back of the hip area or iliac bone.

The procedure involves withdrawing stem cells from bone marrow, or from the adipose tissue on the stomach. – A special needle is inserted into the bone to withdraw marrow blood, which contains the stem cells- concentrate them through lab procedures and then re-injecting them precisely into the injured knee tissue using advanced imaging guidance. During withdrawing of stem cells, a preparation of concentrated platelets are also gathered at this time for injection into the injury site to release growth factors that “turn on” the stem cells that will later be injected.   Use of Fluoroscopy and MSK ultrasound helps to ensure the cells are being introduced into the exact area of need.   Platelets are injected again 3-5 days later to keep the stem cells activated and promote additional healing.

When the stem cells are re-injected, they enhance the natural repair process of degenerated and injured tendons, ligaments, and arthritic joints – Turning the tables on the natural breakdown process that occurs from aging, overuse and injury.  In other words, when the patient’s own stem cells are injected into a damaged joint, they appear to transform into chondrocytes, the cells that go on to produce fresh cartilage. They also seem to amplify the body’s own natural repair efforts by accelerating healing, reducing inflammation, and preventing scarring and loss of function.

Advantages:

  • With this procedure, patients are far less vulnerable to the risks of surgeries, such as infection and blood clots.
  • The harvesting procedure is well tolerated by the patients and not considered difficult as many patients claim it is not painful.
  • The stem cells are from the patient’s own body so the risk of rejection is very low.
  • The biggest advantage stem cell injections seem to offer over more invasive arthritis remedies is a quicker, easier recovery. The procedure is done on an outpatient basis and the majority of patients are up and moving within 24 hours. Most wear a brace for several weeks but still can get around. Many are even able to do some gentle stationary cycling by the end of the first week.
  • In most cases, patients respond very well to just one round of treatment. However, 2-3 treatments may be needed in very severe cases. Treatments are never given more frequently than every 6-12 months.

More about the treatment: The injections are not approved by the FDA, which means they are not covered by insurance. At $ 4,000 a pop – all out of pocket – they certainly aren’t cheap, and many patients require more than one shot. Fact is, stem cell treatment uses your own body’s repair mechanisms and growth factors to promote healing. Restoration of a fully functional cartilage surface (native structural organization and mechanical functions) especially in the knee joint has not been reported to date, showing the need for improved designs of clinical trials and many clinical protocols are still under development.

References:

Image credit; Photo by Anna Auza on Unsplash (Free for commercial use)

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: July 14, 2016
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Reduce Salt intake For Weight Loss

Reduce salt intake to lose weight

Salt is important for human body. Salt is involved in regulating the water content of our body.  However, excessive salt intake can have negative effects and is dangerous for kidney, heart and it can even encourage high blood pressure. It also retains water in the body and can add to excess weight.

Sodium is a mineral found naturally in foods and is the major part of table salt. A healthy diet should include no more than 1500-2000mg of sodium per day. Salt is a taste enhancer of our food. Instead of using sodium packed and processed foods, we can try various ways to reduce our salt intake. Flavoring foods using various herbs, vegetables and spices helps in reducing salt intake.  Here are some good tips to reduce salt intake.

“Salt preference is an acquired taste that can be unlearned”

1. Do not add extra salt in salads, fruits. Instead use pepper, olive oil and cumin powder.

2. Reduce salt or use no salt in lemon water (nimbu pani)

3. Avoid canned foods, salted chips, preserves, salad dressing and other processed foods that contains excessive amount of salt.

4. Avoid salted snacks like- Crackers, Potato chips, Corn chips, Pretzels, Tortilla chips, Nuts, Popcorn, Sunflower seeds.

5. Use more of traditional, grandma’s rock salt for cooking. It contains less salt.

6. Avoid convenience foods like: TV Dinners, canned raviolis, chili, macaroni & Cheese, spaghetti, commercial mixes, frozen prepared foods, fast foods and go with low salt popcorn or spiced popcorn.

7. Select spices or seasonings that do not list sodium on their labels, i.e. choose garlic powder over garlic salt.

8. Several vegetables like carrots, cabbage, spinach, onion and mushroom don’t need salt, you can cook them with little or no salt

9. Use herbs such as parsley, ginger, basil, rosemary, cilantro, mint, cinnamon, chives, tarragon and flavored vinegar to enhance the flavors and reduce salt.

10. Use curry powder that is a blend of several spices for seasoning. It contains as many as 20 different spices, including turmeric, coriander, pepper, chilli and cumin, which are inherently healthy.

11. Spice up your salads with fresh juice – lemon juice, lime juice or orange juice.

12. Put citric pepper into your dishes instead of salt. This seasoning perfectly supplements vegetable soups and pastas.

13. Remember – If a food item keeps well in the fridge for days or weeks, that is a tip off that the sodium content is too high. Salt is a preservative!

14. Choose fresh fruit and vegetables, as well, since they are very low in sodium. Canned and frozen fruits are also low in sodium.

15. When buying frozen vegetables, choose those that are labeled “fresh frozen” .

16. Understand food-labeling system. By law sodium content should always be listed on the label.

17. Compare various brands of the same food item for sodium content and find out the one which supplies less sodium.

18. When you select bottle spices for seasoning choose the one that has no salt. For example use garlic powder instead of garlic salt. Instead of using – table salt, seasoning salt, garlic salt, onion salt, celery salt, lemon pepper, lite salt, bouillon cubes, flavor enhancers use following : Fresh garlic, fresh onion, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, lemon juice, low-sodium/salt-free seasoning blends, vinegar.

19. Ask restaurants to put less salt in your food when you are dining out.

20. Some products will have high salt content but do not taste salty. Do some search on these foods and consume them less. For example, cottage cheese has more sodium!

21. Avoid excess use of pickles – Many pickles are loaded with salt. Salt is a good preservative and this is the reason pickles can be stored for a long, long time.

If we are used for salt taste, it takes many weeks or months to unlearn the taste. Slowly reduce the salt intake and you will see the change in your taste and body weight for better!

Sources:

  1. www.werindia.com
  2. https://www.kidney.org/
  3. Image credit: “Killer Salt” by Zeyus Media is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: July 13, 2016
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Culinary Power of Flowers

Culinary Power Of Flowers

Plants have healing power and they are natural medicines. They have miraculous ability to heal our body and mind.  We eat most part of varieties of plants. Many flowers are edible.

Next few slides describe the best flowers that are edible.

Remember to:

  • Not all flowers are edible. Before tasting flowers do some search and get to know about the flowers.
  • All culinary herb flowers are edible.
  • Understand the science and scientific name behind the flower and whether it is safe to eat.
  • Do not expect all edible flowers to taste good !
  • Do not eat flowers from plants that are sprayed with chemicals.
  • Look for insects and pests before collecting flowers.

Neem Flowers: Click here to know more

Neem Flowers

Squash Flower: Click here to know more

Squash Flowers

Roses: Click here to know more

Paneer Rose Flower

Lavender (Lavandula): Click here to know more

Lavender Flowers

Agathi or Agasi Flowers: Click here to know more

Agasi Flowers (Sesbania)

Banana Blossom: Click here to know more

Banana Blossom

See more here: https://healthylife.werindia.com/vegetarian-recipes/fibre-rich-delicious-banana-blossom-curry

Images: Google and www.werindia.com

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: July 8, 2016
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Banana Blossom

Banana Blossom

Banana blossom is nothing but the inflorescence of banana tree. It contains flowers between the dark purple bracts. When you open these bracts you will find whitish tender bracts that is edible. The flowers present in-between are also edible. What are the health benefits of banana blossoms – many!

These blossoms are helpful in menstruation cycle – reducing the blood flow and controlling period pain. It is a good lactating agent and contains vitamin A, E and C. Traditionally for lactating mothers the dish prepared using these blossom was recommended by grandmothers . It is slightly bitter but once cooked tastes delicious. When you select the banana blossom make sure that the leaves of blossom are tightly overlapping to each other. When you peel the leaves the flowers inside present at bottom should be fresh.

One can prepare various dishes using banana flowers: banana curry, banana flower with green gram curry, spicy sambar, chutney, banana blossom salad, stir fry, fritters etc.

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on:
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Agasi Flowers (Sesbania)

Agathi or Agasi Flowers

Sesbania grandifolia, (agathi or agasi) also called the Vegetable Hummingbird Tree and the Scarlet Wisteria, has managed to work its way into warmer areas of the world. Originating in either India or southeast Asia, it grows best in hot, humid areas including south Florida. Sesbania grandifolia flowers are eaten raw in salads, boiled, fried or use in curries, stews and soups. They taste like mushrooms and are rich in iron and sugar. Vietnamese use both varieties (red and white flowers) to make soup. Both types of flowers are less bitter than sesbania sesban flowers, have a crisp texture when eaten raw in salty sweet salad and get a bit more chewy when cooked, when used as ingredients in sour soups.

For the soup one needs 300g agasi flowers, coarsely chopped fresh chives and 1 1/2 tablespoon tamarind juice. Heat cooking pot over a medium heat. Add 2 tablespoon of cooking oil. Once the oil is heated, add in the coarsely chopped fresh chives. Give it a stir. Add flowers and stir well. Add 2 cups of water, cover with the lid and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Add 1 1/2 tablespoon of tamarind juice to the boiling soup. Season with butter or ghee and serve hot!

One can prepare sesbania flower salad too. Cut flowers into small pieces, add strawberries, pineapple, lettuce and toss well. Add pepper and olive oil. Before serving add lemon juice and serve.

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on:
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Lavender Flowers

Lavender (Lavandula)

Though most varieties of lavender can be used in cooking, some varieties are more widely used, including Lavandula angustifolia, particularly the “Munstead” cultivar. These lavenders have the sweetest fragrance among all species of lavender, which creates flavor in cooking. Blooms accentuate sweet and savory dishes with a sweet mingling of floral, fresh pine and rosemary with citrus notes. English lavender varieties (L. angustifolia) have the best culinary flavor.

How to cook with lavender?

Lavender can be used to add flavor and color to culinary recipes in either fresh or dried form. To dry lavender for culinary use, snip the stems off the plant just after the flowers have opened and hang the stems upside down or lay them flat to dry. Wash the buds well, then dry-roast them to remove some of the floral taste or grind them in a coffee grinder to improve the texture. One can also make lavender-infused sugar for baking and swap it out for regular sugar in  favorite recipes (Katherine Barrington  in http://homeguides.sfgate.com/)

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on:
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Paneer Rose Flower

Roses

Roses are one of the most beautiful, traditional, and fragrant flowers that you can plant in your garden. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” says Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, which is so very true of the rose that has captured the minds and hearts of people through the ages. Roses have many culinary use and medicinal properties. Most rose flowers are edible.

1) Rose gulkan: Rock candy 1/2 cup, Honey -1/2 cup, edible rose petals – 1 cup. Wash rose petals in cold water and keep under good sunlight. Remove all water content from petals. In a bowl or bottle place a layer of little powdered rock candy, little honey and few petals and place 2nd and 3rd layer following same order of the 3 ingredients. Cover the bowl with clean muslin cloth and tighten the cloth so that no external moisture should go inside the bowl or bottle. Keep this bottle every day under sunlight for next three weeks. After three weeks delicious gulkan will be ready to consume. This preparation does not need any artificial preservative as honey is a natural preservative.

2) Rose sharabth: Add few edible rose petals to water and let it seep for few minutes. Add little lemon juice, sugar and cardamom -drink to cool down the body heat during summer.

3) Rose petal yogurt: Store dried rose petals in a air tight bottle. During summer months, mix fresh  edible rose petals or dried petals in yogurt, add little sugar for taste and have. This keeps body temperature under control and boosts the energy.

4) Rose buttermilk or lassi: For 1.5 cups of fresh yogurt or butter milk add 1/2 cup chilled water. To this add 8-10 fresh or dried edible rose petals and few drops of rose syrup (make sure to get good rose syrup). Add sugar according to your taste followed by few pistachio, almond and cashew. Blend everything using a mixer till the liquid becomes frothy. Serve when it is fresh. – This is another good drink for hot summer season.

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on:
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