Make your meal nutrition rich

Experts suggest how you can fortify your child's meals so that they are wholesome 

We are a health-conscious generation and in theory, know the nutritional value of almost every food. But our taste buds are not slaves of the information we've gathered. In fact it's clearly the other way round! Some fruits are just non-seasonal the year round, while some veggies can never make it to the menu. If we don't like the taste of one, the smell of the other makes us say "eew" (the calcium-rich milk has my vote!). Well, we all may just get to keep our lists of outcasts without having to ever hear the doctor announce the deficiency we invited ourselves. Just grasp the tricks of food fortification. 

A pinch of this and a pinch of that! 
Fortification is not new to Indian cuisine. Our spices are a storehouse of vitamins and other nutrients, informs nutritionist Naini Setalvad. Think of an ailment, and our good old turmeric's ready to fight. She reminds us of its anti-septic, anti-histamine and even cancer fighting properties. And indeed, the yellow power is rich in tonnes of nutrients - dietary fiber, vitamin C, vitamin B6, niacin, manganese, iron, potassium, magnesium, omega 3 fatty acids, omega 6 fatty acids and phytosterols. 

Sow the seeds for a healthy heart 
Cardiologist Dr Dhanashri Chonkar prescribes sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds to ensure that bad cholesterol doesn't come knocking. These seeds contain good monounsaturated fats that help keep cholesterol levels low and also lower blood pressure. While in the Western countries these seeds often land on buns and bakes, she suggests that we can incorporate them in our chutneys. "In fact, the traditional Maharashtrian diet serves interesting chutneys made from these seeds with bakhri." 

Substitute nutrition 
While for the non-vegetarians, fish serves as a great source of the very important omega 3 essential fatty acids not produced by our body, those not into seafood can include in their meals flaxseeds, says Setalvad. "And to ensure that your family's diet in rich in calcium, mix oats and barley to the flour," she suggests. For sulphur, onions are very good, woch the Indian cooking uses almost be default. For a dose of zinc, she counts the other seeds already suggested by Dr Chonkar. 

Fortifying desserts 
Nutritionist Namita Jain says honey makes for the perfect topping sauce thanks to glucose, B complex, C vitamins and some antioxidants. What's more, honey is always welcome to our taste buds, and works well practically with all the desserts says, Chef Arindam Bahel. More concerned with the taste aspect, he suggests marrying honey with cream, nuts and even chocolates. 

For the kids 
It's the kids who are the most fussy, agree all mothers worried about ensuring that their little ones receive a balanced diet. Paediatrician Dr Deepa Bhandarkar shares some sneaking tips for them, "Mix jaggery in dal. It's a rich source of iron." She also says that if kids don't likevegetables, prepare a blending and knead the dough in that liquid. "Like this you can sneak in their requirements of vitamin A and B, she says. And according to her, allow them to indulge in bhel. If made with chana, peanuts and sprouts, it's not really junk food."

Coffee lowers depression in women

Depression risk in women may decrease with increased consumption of caffeinated coffee, according to a new study. 

Caffeine is the most frequently used central nervous system stimulant in the world, and approximately 80 per cent of consumption is in the form of coffee, according to background information in the article. 

Michel Lucas, Ph.D., R.D., from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues studied 50,739 U.S. women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study. 

Researchers measured caffeine consumption through questionnaires completed from May 1980 through April 2004. 

During the 10-year follow-up period from 1996 to 2006, researchers identified 2,607 incident (new-onset) cases of depression. When compared with women who consumed one cup of caffeinated coffee or less per week, those who consumed two to three cups per day had a 15 per cent decrease in relative risk for depression, and those consuming four cups or more per day had a 20 per cent decrease in relative risk. 

Compared with women in the lowest (less than 100 milligrams [mg] per day) categories of caffeine consumption, those in the highest category (550 mg per day or more) had a 20 per cent decrease in relative risk of depression. No association was found between intake of decaffeinated coffee and depression risk. 

"In this large prospective cohort of older women free of clinical depression or severe depressive symptoms at baseline, risk of depression decreased in a dose-dependent manner with increasing consumption of caffeinated coffee," write the authors. 

They note that this observational study "cannot prove that caffeine or caffeinated coffee reduces the risk of depression but only suggests the possibility of such a protective effect." 

The study was recently published in archives of Internal Medicine , one of the JAMA/Archives journals .

7 Lifestyle Behaviors Linked to Alzheimer's

Taking good care of yourself has always been at the top of my list as the best retirement investment. Out-of-pocket health expenses are the biggest and most uncertain drain on our retirement nest eggs. Diet and exercise thus can yield enormous financial and quality-of-life returns.

[See 10 Steps to Fine-Tune Your Retirement Plan.]

I'm back to beat this drum again, following last week's report that Alzheimer's disease may be heavily linked to preventable lifestyle factors, mostly involving health issues. Research released at an international Alzheimer's conference in Paris found that seven risk factors may contribute to as many as three million cases of Alzheimer's in the United States. The operative word here is "may"—more about that later.

Three million is more than half of all current Alzheimer's victims, according to the Alzheimer's Association. And this latest research could be particularly good news for the Alzheimer's train wreck that is heading toward middle-aged Americans. According to research from the association earlier this year:

"It is expected an estimated 10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer's. Of those who reach the age of 85, nearly one in two will get it. And because there is no way to prevent, cure or even slow the progression of the disease, every one of these 10 million baby boomers will either die with Alzheimer's or from it."

[See 8 Alzheimer's Financial Protection Tips.]

The research identified potentially modifiable Alzheimer's risk factors in the United States, and the proportion of cases that are potentially attributable to each factor:

Physical inactivity: 21 percent

Depression: 15 percent

Smoking: 11 percent

Mid-life hypertension: 8 percent

Mid-life obesity: 7 percent

Low education: 7 percent

Diabetes: 3 percent

"In the U.S., about one third of the population is sedentary, so a large number of Alzheimer's cases are potentially attributable to physical inactivity," said researcher Deborah Barnes in a prepared statement. "Smoking also contributed to a large percentage of cases because it is unfortunately still very common."

"This suggests that relatively simple lifestyle changes such as increasing physical activity and quitting smoking could have a dramatic impact on the number of Alzheimer's cases over time," she added. Barnes is an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California in San Francisco.

[See Alzheimer's Research Efforts Need Volunteers.]

The big unknown about the research, she noted, is whether the presumed relationship between the risk factors and Alzheimer's holds up in actual studies of people with these risk factors who eliminate or reduce them through lifestyle changes. "The next step is to perform large-scale intervention studies to really find out whether changing these risk factors will lower the risk of developing Alzheimer's over time," Barnes said.

There are, of course, lots of reasons why all Americans don't immediately go on diets, quit smoking, and put on a happy face. But these findings hopefully will add yet another strong argument in favor of taking better care of ourselves.

Alzheimer's may represent the ultimate trump card for better health. It devastates families and friends, as well as its direct victim. Among my 60-something friends, it is far and away the most feared aging development. That's particularly true among financially secure people who have prided themselves on achieving their goals and having control over their lives. Alzheimer's is the ultimate loss of control.

If you could do anything to minimize the odds that this dreadful disease would attack you and cause so much pain to the people you loved, you'd do it, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you?

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Caffeine consumption linked to fertility problems

Experts have always suggested cutting back on caffeine if you aretrying to conceive or if you are pregnant, but recent studies show that caffeine reduces muscle activity in the Fallopian tubes that carry eggs from a woman's ovaries to her womb.

According to Sean Ward, professor of physiology and cell biology at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, drinkingcaffeinated drinks can reduce a woman's chance of becoming pregnant.

Ward and his team studied the fallopian tubes of mice and discovered that caffeine stops eggs from moving freely down the fallopian tubes.

Human eggs are microscopically small, but in order to move down the fallopian tubes and towards the womb with ease, the egg is helped along its way by tiny hair-like projections called cilia. These are assisted by muscle contractions in the fallopian tubes, which move the egg through the tubes and closer to the womb.

Also read: Coffee: A Friend or a Foe?

It is these muscle contractions that help the egg on its journey towards the womb that are inhibited by heavy caffeine intake.

Ward says: 'This provides an intriguing explanation as to why women with high caffeine consumption often take longer to conceive than women who do not consume caffeine."

He added: "As well as potentially helping women who are finding it difficult to get pregnant, a better understanding of the way Fallopian tubes work will help doctors treat pelvic inflammation and sexually transmitted disease more successfully."

Most practitioners will err on the side of caution and tell you to avoid caffeine or cut back on your caffeine intake if you are trying to get pregnant, during pregnancy or whilst breastfeeding. Try to limit your coffee consumption to about 300 mg per day (about 2 to 3 cups of coffee). Don't forget caffeine can be found in tea, soft drinks, some headache, cold and flu remedies and chocolate! This doesn't mean avoiding them altogether but it does mean cutting back. If you suffer from caffeine withdrawal symptoms, cut back slowly, or only fill your coffee cup half way with coffee and the other half with milk. Gradually you will be able to cut caffeine out of your diet altogether.

There are steps you should take to cut caffeine out of your diet if you are having any kind of fertility treatment such as IVF.

Evidence shows that caffeine reduces a woman's success rate when using reproductive technology and whilst no one knows why this actually happens, it's likely to be because high levels of caffeine affect your hormone balance that can affect ovulation from happening. Read MOre

7 Health Benefits of Massage

All the health benefits of massage can be obtained if done with proper technique. Actually massage is human reflex, the most widely arise when hit by hard objects. Do you remember when one part of your body hit the door? instinctively you will rub the body part that hit it. By the rubbed and massaged the pain will be reduced. Touch is one of the human need for attention.

First massage only based on comfort posed, but is now evolving science and anatomy massage therapist can determine which points can be stimulated to get comfortable as well as the health effects. The Health Benefits of massage, such as:

Reduces muscle tension
Massage on the head, neck, shoulders and back will reduce muscle tension so that the body and mind become more relaxed

Relieve stress
When muscle tension is reduced, of course will relieve stress. Stress hormone levels were detected in the urine after the massage are more than before the massage. That means after the massage stress hormone will deficits. People who have completed a massage will also feel more calm and comfortable.

Increases blood circulation
pulling, pushing and pressing on the massage will help the blood to flow smoothly into the body massage. And remove small blockages caused by the waste products of metabolism.

Reduce edema and pain
Edema or swelling that can be reduced by massage is not the edema caused by injury or struck a hard object but the swelling caused by accumulation of lactic acid.
Heavy activity will cause soreness, is usually felt in the back,  hands or feet. Massage will eliminate the accumulate of lactic acid so it can be reabsorbed by the body.

Increasing peristalsis
Another benefits of massage is to increase intestinal peristalsis. Peristalsis is wringing movements and encourage the food in the small intestine which is then pushed into the colon.

Facilitate defecation
Massage the belly with the aim of launching a bowel movement performed circular clockwise. Given pressure also should not be too hard. Someone who will perform the massage on the stomach should be someone who knows the anatomy of the stomach. Wrong massage  or too hard on this section may be fatal.

Enhance immunity
When done correctly, massage will enhance immunity in infants. This can be evidenced by increased antibody in infant urine after massage. With high immunity to babies is not easy to get sick or allergies.

All the health benefits of massage that can be obtained with just one time massage, but to get maximum results do massage on a regular basis. Do not have to go to a salon, spa or reflections message center to get the benefits of massage but you can also buy a massage machine to use at home or just do it by yourself. More

Health Diet to Lowering High Cholesterol

High cholesterol is a risk factor of various diseases related to blood vessels. Thickening of the blood vessels will not impact the blood vessel before it is narrow enough, that’s why high cholesterol is often called the silent killer. Diet to lower cholesterol levels discussed here can be applied not only in people with high cholesterol but also can be used as a preventative and healthy diet. The important part is must know the contains of fooe we eat. Combination with exercise and other healthy lifestyle will give satisfactory results.  in the food consumed.

Foods should be avoided
To normalize cholesterol levels, avoid foods that contain high saturated fats. Ideally 25% of calories requirement derived from fat and no more than 7% from saturated fat. Red meat is a source of high saturated fats. Eat nuts instead of meat as a source of protein.

Avoid prosessed foods like biscuits, margarines, cakes and pastries because they contain trans fats. Consuming trans fats not only increase bad cholesterol but also damage the blood vessels.

Food recommendation
Fats to consume are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. they consume will lower cholesterol levels. extra virgin oil can also be added during cooking because it contains anti-oxidants and can lower cholesterol levels. Fish containing omega-3 acids such as salmon can also lower cholesterol levels and good for heart health.

Like usual the daily menu, vegetables and fruits need to consumed in adequate amount. High-fiber diet will also lower LDL levels.

Lifestyle changes
Stop consuming alcohol and smoking both are not good for people with high cholesterol. Regular exercise will help reduce levels of bad cholesterol and improve overall health. The ideal exercise 2-5 times a week with moderate intensity-high but can increase heart rate significantly. exercise between 30 minutes to an hour per session is enough to reduce levels of bad cholesterol. More

Tips For Easy and Healthy Weight loss

It is already been mentioned that ” Personal care is health care is globe care. ” This means that when you live healthy the globe will live healthy. This can work when anybody can care for his or her health, preserve his perfect bodyweight.

To keep the perfect Bodyweight it is very important keep up with the good health. These days we could find a big number of unhealthy individulas they’re just over weight or they may be someone with anorexic thinness.

Variety of illnesses get assosiated with overweight for example diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, gout, liver health problems, malignancy and more. So it is far better to lessen extra weight from the body and avoid such hurtful illnesses.

Here are a few quite simple and basic solutions to reduce weight and keep a healthy body for a long time.
You need to have true want to lose weight and get healthy and balanced. Need to change your life habit and eating habits. Improve workout (at least 30 min daily other your routine work). Workouts rather than munching while you’re watching TV or PC. Consider healthy low calorie meals. Stop missing meals, get 4-5 little servings then 1-2 large meals each day Take in slowly and in clam enviroment so the rain gets a chance to tell us we need to stop eating now. Waters is the simply non calorific beverage anyone must ideally take in 8-10 glasses of it each day. Start using cool water, green tea extract, orange water to burn the body fats (avoid cool water with meals). Get your good 6-8 hours sleeping, not enough proper sleep will causes fat gain. Never ever select crash diet for fat loss, they have only a quick term method fat loss plus they will not perform within a long term. More