Happy Ramadan

Happy Ramadan 2015

With Ramadan starting soon…it can be a good time to regain lost health or lose weight, detox, pray, do charity.

So from the information that I have got from friends and patients is that people who do observe fast they can eat from Sunset to Sunrise.

And then they can’t eat or even drink water nothing for the whole day till sunset.

Scientifically speaking and in the diet world Ramadan maybe based on the principle intermittent fasting. You fast for about 15 hours and eat only between sunset to sunrise.

Fasting for this long can really dig into your glycogen and fat stores to be used up as energy.

So what diet to follow during the permissible eating hours?

You must have your balanced meal when you break the fast.

I suggest you have 2 small meals from sunset to sunrise and then a heavy meal at sunrise.

Make sure evening meals have a balanced nutrition: So based on a 60 kg person: A decent portion of carbohydrate (1-2 starch like roti/rice/bread) at least 1 serving (cup) of vegetable, 1 cup salad, 1 portion (your palm) protein. Have low fat yogurt or some low fat milk, grab a fruit (a slice or a cup).

Make 2^nd meal (low salt) a bit smaller than fast breaking meal you can minus the dairy and fruit and from there as you will prepare to sleep.

Have a really heavy meal at sunrise: make sure its rich in protein (based on a 60 kg person should be around 30 grams example egg whites), fiber and a whole carb (in form of oatmeal or whole grain bread, add fruit and some good quality fat (light butter/peanut butter/almond butter(thumb size)

You have to last a day on that so make this the heaviest meal.

Disclaimer: Views are author’s own, always consult your own doctor before you begin any program/diet/exercise.

Watch out for signs of undiagnosed Diabetes

Prevent diabetic complications by getting it diagnosed early

Diabetes has become a very common illness in our society, often diagnosed at a very late stage. Often it’s the most common cause of blindness and kidney failure.

I often see patients who are diagnosed with diabetes at my clinic at random, Usually it’s a silent disease, don’t wait till complications of diabetes have set in,

its best to watch out for the signs beforehand.

·      Gaining too much weight in a short span of time.

·      Getting too thirsty

·      Going to bathroom to pee more than usual

·      Feeling very hungry all the time

·      Recent onset of sugar cravings

·      Numbness in the arms or feet

·      Cloudy urine

·      Non/delayed healing wound

·      Strong family history of Diabetes or unknown reason of kidney failure/heart attack.

Go see a doctor right away.

Don’t Delay!!

#HormoneBalancing after #menopause

Post menopausal women will often develop low energy, loss of muscle mass, mood swings, skin changes, sleep problems, low libido, weight gain and hot flashes as well as weight gain

Therefore its important to balance these as age takes over.

The hormones that drop post menopause are Estrogen (responsible for bone density and hot flashes), Progesterone ( mood ) a and DHEA( decreases sooner in females as they age and help Produces androgens like testosterone and estrogen),Testosterone (muscle mass and energy)

Most important part of ageing is exercise especially weight bearing for stronger bones, mood, energy and avoiding weight gain.

Estrogen favoring foods :

Apple

Green tea

Pomegranate

Flaxseeds

Spinach

Testosterone enhancers

Weight training with/trainer physician consultation

B vitamins

Lean meats

Beans

Almonds

Chick peas

DHEA enhancers:

Chromium picolinate

Omegas from fish and kale

Salmon

Nuts

Green leafy vegetables

High fiber sources of foods like vegetables and whole grains, fruits

Soy: in form of tofu, tempeh, miso paste

No No foods are:

Sugars

Alcohol

Trans fats

If none of the above help: you can consult a specialist (like me) who knows how prescribe Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy. #BHRT

Counting calories- the dead end.

Counting calories: the dead end!!

Counting calories is not only tedious it's also inaccurate most of the time.

It was a tool created to know and learn what foods contain more calories.

Even I have been a victim of counting calories at some point.

Making your plate a mathematical calculation is unfair,

Just eat food, not a plate of numbers.

We all know when we are over eating, we all know if one day our junk food intake has gone up.

We all know sometimes we eat more but do we eat less some days?

We see many people who eat junk and are still thin and many we know are eating really heathy and still remain chubby

There are no rules but there is one rule- move move move.

Don't just go to the gym, don't just work out for 1/2 hour or 1 hour.

Please move all day long. Moving more increases your basic thermogenesis ( ability to burn calories).

Don't sit and order around-

GET UP.

Fix your sugar cravings with foods!! continued from yesterday

Fix your sugar cravings with foods

Magnesium:

Alfalfa

Amonds

Brown rice

Dates

Fish

Parsley

Calcium

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Sesame seeds

Split peas

Sunflower seeds

Tahini

Chromium 

Black pepper

Broccoli

Mushrooms

Green Beans

Legumes

Banana

Nuts

Proteins : From plant sources like legumes and beans, vegetables, soy.

Animal proteins: good choices are egg whites, lean chicken, fish, shellfish.

Vitamin C:Most Fruits are rich in vitamin C, Amla(indian Goose berry)Lemons.

Fix the Sugar Cravings now!!

Fix the Sugar Cravings now!!

Magnesium: 300-400 mg of chelated magnesium (glycerinated) per day

Calcium: 1000 mg of calcium(combined 400-600 IU with vitamin D) in divided doses per day

Chromium : 100-200 mcg of chromium picolinate per day

Proteins: 1g per kg of body weight per day

Vitamin C: Juice of 1 lemon per day should be enough

Tune in soon to see how diet can help if you not a supplement person.

5 surprising reasons causing #SugarCravings

5 surprising reasons for #SugarCravings are #nutritional #deficiencies of the following 

Magnesium

Calcium

Chromium 

Proteins

Vitamin C

Tune in tomorrow to see how you can fix them asap

10 reasons why ancient #Indian #food/lifestyle may have been best #AntiInflammatory #diet for #ChronicDiseases and #Obesity.

1.Terrific Spices

Turmeric
Cardamom big and small
Cumin
Fenugreek
Fennel
Cinnamon
Coriander
Black Pepper

2. Probiotics
Chach(buttermilk)
Home made yogurt
Fermented bajra in north India and fermented rice and lentils in south India in form of idli and dosa

4.Glutenfree grains
Jowar
Bajra
Millet
Ragi
Besan(gram flour)
Rice
Amaranth(Ram Dana)

5. Lean proteins cooked in low calorie ways was a common thing
Tandoori Fish
Tandoori Chicken

6.Herbs
Cilantro sprinkled on most dishes
Mint used with yogurt and and low calorie dressings called chutney

7. Nuts and seeds
Kashmir for its almonds, figs
Goa for its cashews (used in curries as well as snacking)
Coconut used in South India and western India.
Grand mother's pumpkin and water melon, melon seeds(called magaz) even the new chia which in native language( Subza) resembled chia seeds.
Flax seeds are also very ancient seeds(Alsi). Their oil was used for cooking.

8. Fruits
All kind of fruit was the usual snack! We didn't have 100's of options in snacks that time.
Banana and mango is feared as a weight gainers now but was a full breakfast in older times.

9.Oils:My grandma told me they used only ghee for cooking.
Refinement of cooking oils is likely because of industrialization and to meet demand of heavy consumption. Ghee (clarified butter) remains expensive even now.
 Unrefined sugar was used for desserts.

10. Fasting was a common phenomenon at least twice a year and was limited to super foods like Amaranth and fruits. Now there are zillion snacks, fried and processed for these fasting days.

And obviously there were no cars and they used to walk for miles.

Makes us think..... Has modernization done more harm than good?