Health

11 Reasons not to eat dairy products

Swathy · July 21, 2010 · 2 Comments

Yesterday I was just browsing through the internet and looking up on certain articles on eating dairy products and their effects on health. Well, let me inform you if you do not have an idea that eating dairy products cause us to age quickly because the dairy products are acidic in nature. Avoid milk and milk products if you want to look young. But, I actually came across an article which put forth a total of eleven arguments in favor of not eating dairy products and some of them, I must say, are really compelling and made me rethink about milk, milk products and the consequences.

The main argument is the condition in which the cows and buffaloes are kept and the food they are given to eat. And, personally, I have seen some cowsheds within my city and I acquiesce with the condition. The cattle is generally fed

Milk has also been linked to osteoporosis and arthritis. And, one more thing which I want to add is the milk in the cartons and packets we get now are pasteurized and deprived of all the nutrients so you drink milk or not, it is not going to make any difference to you. You can read the entire article here.

There is something more I would like to bring to your attention. I did some research on milk and discovered that there is a growing craze of drinking raw milk these days as it is deemed to be highly beneficial for the body. For that, I just have to say that one should never drink raw milk and please never feed it to your children. There are lot of viable reasons for that. Firstly, the cows are no longer getting their feed from clean green fields as they used to when there was less pollution during the time of our grandfathers. Secondly, the food they are fed might have bacteria which is not good for our bodies so you really need to kill that bacteria. And, finally, you do not know about the hygienic conditions in which the cows are milked. Thus, boiling raw milk is the best way to consume milk and if you use the milk cartons available in the markets, you can drink straight from the carton as that milk is already pasteurized and does not need to be boiled. Drink a glass of boiled milk everyday to stay healthy.

Do you check the expiry dates of your products?

Swathy · July 18, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Checking Expiry dates of the products is really very important. Be it a face cream or a chocolate or any other processed eatable, there is a limited time in which these products should be used up. Otherwise, there are just worth discarding. It is very obvious that one spends a lot of hard-earned money buying favorite edibles or cosmetics and no one really feels like discarding the stuff. So, always make sure you buy only the required amount of things and finish them before buying another lot. This applies for both cosmetics and eatables. And, before you buy, make sure that the product is fresh so that you would not have to end up discarding it.

Expiry Date poses problems most for eatables and sunscreens. And, any other product which has active ingredients in it like enzymes or vitamins. Sunscreen formulations always degrade with time so it is always best to buy a fresh product and use it up before you buy another batch. Similarly, check on the expiry date for the eatables because generally the eatables are in edible condition for only six months from the date of packaging. So, next time, pick the freshest batch of snacks or biscuits. Even the fresh veggies have their own expiry date as you well know. So, do not bother keeping foods in your refrigerator. Instead, go and buy the freshest vegetables and fruits you can. And, do not forget to compost all the raw food if you are discarding instead of throwing into the dustbin.

Best ways to beat stress

Swathy · July 15, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Stress is an inevitable threat in today;s lifestyle. Be it jobs or college or schools or even taking care of the family. especially, children, it has become rather difficult task. Even small gestures and events like getting struck in a traffic or chaos with office colleagues can cause a huge amount of stress. And, every small thing which goes wrong or unexpected causes stress. Stress is something which should be avoided at any cost. At least, you should not let it become a part of your life, if you can not avoid it. There are some simple things you can do to keep stress at bay. I will discuss today as many as I can think of.

Meditation: One of the oldest and most preached ways to get rid of stress and get back into a normal routine of healthy life. Even a 15 minute meditation can turn your day upside down. It makes you more calm, helps you think clearly in tight situation ans inspires you to deal with calmness in critical problems.
Deep Breathing: Works the same way as meditation. The scientific reason for this is that due to stress, the oxygen intake by our body decreases and deep breathing allows your body to take a lot of oxygen, there by, making all the organs work smoothly and helps clear the brain. Even counting from 1 to 10 or 100 works pretty same way as meditation and deep breathing as it allows the brain to think rationally rather than responding instinctively (which can be pretty harmful at times).
Writing down a list of things and Prioritizing: Before starting of to do any work, write down the lost of things you need to do that day. Make sure your list has all the works you really need to do whether you want to do it or not. Now, prioritize the list. Put the most difficult and hateful jobs at te top of the list. Making a list gives you a clear idea of what all you need to do and prioritizing makes sure that you do the most important ones before others. Review the list at the end of the day and check out all the jobs you have finished. If you have prioritized correctly by placing the worst jobs on the top of the list, you should be left with only very simple jobs by the end which you can actually do next day also. And, getting rid of the horrendous jobs gives you an immense sense of relief. An exercise for you: Next time you make a list of things, try prioritizing the things you are interested in and are easy to do and leave the uninteresting jobs to the end. Review your list at the end of the day. More often, you will be left with the very job you have avoided doing that day and trust me the sense of relief would not be that great. Treat Procrastination as a sin.
Eat Regularly and nutritionally: A regular routine of having food is a great stress buster actually. So, you ever feel stress, instead of going for coffee, go for a small nutritional and healthy meal which will make you feel wholesome and re-energized.
Sleep Well: Sleeping properly is one of the ways to avoid stress as our brain relaxes when we are asleep.
Laughter: Laughter is always said to be the best medicine. Join a laughter club or go on an outing with friends and watch a funny movie.
Socialize: Having a social life is very important. Make friends out of your work place too. And, spend time with them on weekends or whenever free. This would give you a different atmosphere and divert your mind.
Playing: Yes, indulging in sports or physical activities produces adrenalin and other hormones which exhilarate your body and kill stress.
Indulgence: Oh, there are so many kinds of indulgence. A sweet tooth to an ice cream, a spa treatment to shopping your heart’s content. So, feel free to indulge in all your cravings when you are stressed out. Some people like cleaning their house or cupboards, some like eating, some like cooking, some like having a bath, some like working out, some like getting a professional massage or other beauty treatments to feel good about themselves. And, believe it or not, these things do work.

These are just some of the ways I can think of avoiding stress for now. Would definitely share with you in case I think of more. In the mean time, you go ahead and comment on how you deal with stress.