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Body Postures and Health Issues

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Hey guys!!! I was watching Femina Miss India today (I know I’m late so just felt like catching up). One thing which you notice very soon in these kinds of pageant contests is the carriage of the contestants. They not only talk well and look beautiful but carry themselves pretty well and a major part of that comes with their body postures. Body Posture is a study in a itself and it is extremely important to maintain a good posture. A good posture can make you look thinner, appear taller and enhance your personality; not to mention help you in losing your weight and increases your confidence levels.
Personally, I did try for a week or so maintaining a proper sitting posture with straight back and no slumping at all and honestly, I could tell the difference in my weight, in my height and carriage and also it helped me relieve some of the stress too. Now, I do work on computer a lot and so do a lot of my friends and peers and almost everyone today spends a lot of time on computers. And, of course, its not very easy to sit in front of computers in the swivel chairs so we tend to lose the correct posture after a certain amount of time. And, then there is a matter of office furniture (or a lack of it!!) and we do tend to forget to relax while working on the computer. Yes, concentrating for a long time on computers does play havoc with the minds too in increasing the stress and making us forgetful. So, we forget that we can relax ourselves of the strain by getting up from the chair or looking beyond the screen in front of us. Oh, btw, in case you think getting bigger screen is better, let me tell you bigger the screen more is the strain coz you are very close to the screen.
So, one of my friend always keeps on complaining about back pain or leg aches or wrist strains or neck-shoulder stiffness and she sits in front of the computer for like 8 hours a day on average. I know its lot less if we compare to some of the software geeks but still it is a lot and I do not blame our work for that coz our work can be divided into two parts – in front of computer and away from computer. So, one just have to remember to stay away from computer when not needed. But, then I am not even blaming my friend!!! Its just that the workplace is designed so. Not fair at all.
Then, there is another of the lady who has all sorts of medical issues just due to the bad furniture in her office. She is pretty short so when she sits in a swivel chair, her legs don’t reach the ground so they just remain hanging. Now, you might be aware that no part of your body should be left hanging because the blood circulation stops in those parts of the body. Same thing happened with her legs and now her legs are pretty much weak. Not fair at all, right?? Offices should take care of their employees too.
Now, the next generation is all addicted to video games and computers and who has any time to go outdoors and play some games and have fun!!! The social life today has become restricted to facebook and twitter. So, body problems are bound to arise. How to prevent all these kinds of problems??? Watch out for the next post.

Apple Cider Vinegar Health Benefits {Health}

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Some days back, I posted on how drinking Apple Cider Vinegar helps with breakouts. In the post, I had mentioned very briefly that even people who do not suffer from breakouts can drink it. Why?? Because of the various health benefits it poses.
What is Apple Cider Vinegar???
As the name says, it is made from apples. It is actually made from apple skin and apple cores but not the meat and then it is actually double fermented using yeasts or bacteria. So, it is especially rich in nutrients and minerals due to the presence of apple and the enzymes created during the fermentation process. It is golden brown in color and has really high levels of acidity so it is used only in garnishing instead of intaking it raw.

Apple cider vinegar contains valuable minerals such as Phosphorus, Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, Iron, Magnesium, and Chlorine. It also contains Sulfur, Copper, Silicon, Fluorine, Provitamin beta-carotene, Pectin and malic acid. (Source: Wikipedia)

Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar

  • Weight Loss – It suppresses the fat accumulation in the body especially around the tummy
  • Skin – It prevents against breakouts and acts as an anti-inflammatory
  • Improves immune system
  • Controls the cholesterol levels
  • Increases the stamina
  • Increases metabolism
  • Improves digestion
  • Prevents stone formations in the body

These are just a subset of the health benefits which can be acquired from drinking Apple Cider Vinegar regularly. You will get plethora of results when you google it so I have just summarized a few here.

Risks of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)

  • Acetic Acid (present in any vinegar; ACV has high concentration of acetic acid) can lower potassium levels in the body and reduces the bone density making the bones weaker in the process
  • Since ACV has high acidity, it shouldn’t be taken raw

How to drink Apple Cider Vinegar??
The above mentioned risks are associated with intaking of ACV  on a regular basis for a very long time. Thus, keeping this in mind, I had advised to intake ACV during breakouts and dilute only a tablespoon of ACV per day in a liter of water.

To reap the benefits of ACV, drink ACV only once in three days (when not facing breakouts; during breakouts make it once a day) diluting only a tablespoon of ACV in a liter of water. This is safe and would give the amazing benefits of ACV.

P.S.1: Happy April Fools Day!!! Sorry for the belated wish. In fact, I had totally forgotten  about it. So, how many of you got fooled today???? Do share your amusing experiences 🙂
P.S.2: Finally, the world cup is here. So, lets hope India wins!!! All the best guys 🙂

Beware of where you are eating!

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Hopefully, you have seen Blood Brothers which I had posted a few days back. If you missed it, watch it here. Now, I was talking that I was having a discussion with my friend about HIV-AIDS. Durign the convo, he narrated an incident which happened almost a decade back in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.
The incident went something like this. There was a panipuri guy who used to serve really good panipuris in Banjara Hills. One day he got a cut in his hand which he did not bother to cover or treat and obviously he could not stop serving panipuris coz of a cut so he continued with an open wound. And, a month later some person was detected positive for HIV. So, ultimately a trace was run on how he got the disease and it was found that the panipuri wala was the cause. That day around 80-85 people who ever had panipuri at that guy’s stall were detected positive for HIV. This incident garnered a lot of media attention though I could not find any details on the net. If you do or know anything about the incident (even if I am wrong), please do share the news.
This incident whether true or not had raised a lot of questions in my mind. I am a person who loves to eat junk and all the road side crap (even if I stop you from dong so). I try to curb my junk food cravings but chat and panipuri are my loves and I can’t leave them totally. Now, I donno how many of you would agree with me on this but I always found roadside items to be more tasty than the same items available at a posh restaurant. Well, that might be psychological too. But, whatever the case be, I wanted to warn everyone including myself from eating too much outside because the food can be unhygienic. Even the cutlery is enough to transmit the viruses and bacteria from one person to another.
I know that this post of mine would have an impact for at max a week. It is not easy to leave the habit of eating outside. So, I would just list down certain tips which can help you maintain a decent level of hygiene.
  • Avoid using cutlery in places where you can. Going to road side stalls, sweet shops, small local restaurants and dhabas are places where you can avoid cutlery easily.
  • When the plates are put in front of you, wipe them with a tissue once on your own.
  • Where you are doubtful about the quality of water, order a mineral water bottle or better yet, carry your own bottle of water.
  • Check the seal of mineral water bottle and always order bottles of cokes and other drinks.
  • Do not worry about the quality of water used in cooking coz temperature destroys many bacteria.
  • Always wash your hands before you eat. Prefer to carry a small tube of hand wash or a cheap face wash will also do the job. Anti-bacterials are not as effective as soaps.
  • Try to choose a hygienic place where self-service is allowed.
  • Avoid anything given in newpaper wraps (road side chats and other things).
  • If you are really interested in eating them, carry your own tiffin box and ask him to put the item in your box. Newpapers have a lot of germs.
  • Similarly, do not ever put your hand in your mouth after handling cash. Cash notes change a lot of hands so always avoid handling cash before eating.
  • You can wear gloves to keep your hands clean when using public transports.
These are certain precautions which can be taken to avoid unnecessary diseases. And, I am not just talking about AIDS, Hepatitis and TB but also simple cold and coughs and other unnecessary complications.
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