Onion Health Benefits

Read More

Happy World Breastfeeding Week

After the birth of the baby in the first few months of her mother's breast milk is the only food. The doctors had made aware many times about this. Philippines and Colombia are celebrating the "World Breastfeeding Week”. The worldwide event, called the “Big Latch On,” is part of World Breast Feeding week from Aug. 1 to Aug. 7, started by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action. The annual event, launched in 1992, is a partnership of global organizations looking to promote breast feeding around the world. Each year, the week is organized around a theme, and the theme for 2015—”Breastfeeding and Work: Let’s Make It Work!”—is designed to help promote policies that make it easier for women to breastfeed and work at the same time. This year, the week will be celebrated 176 countries.

Thousands of mothers are breastfeeding their babies in an open environment.

However, many mothers do not want to breastfeed to their children to maintain herself.

This camp will inform about the advantages of breastmilk.

Read More

A Good Nutrient Morning :: Oats and Carrot Kheer

Ingredients:

• 30 gm roasted oats
• 600 ml skimmed milk
• 100 gm grated carrots
• 2 tea spoon full sugar
• 1 green cardamom

Method

1. Boil milk, add carrots and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Add oats and cook on slow fire stirring continuously.
3. When kheer thickens to an even consistency, add sugar and green cardamom powder.
4. Cook for a few four minutes stirring constantly.
5. Remove from fire and serve hot.

Read More

Childhood Obesity – A Silent Epidemic

A recent research has found alarming facts about childhood obesity. Almost 16-30% of the children in the age group between 6 to 16 years are obese worldwide. These figures have dramatically increased in the last two decades. Expectedly, 70% of these children will grow into obese adults. These obese adults would carry a 30% risk of developing Type II Diabetes, Hypertension, High Cholesterol, Syndrome X leading to Heart Diseases, Depression, Poly Cystic Ovarian disease, to name a few.

The scenario in India is of extreme concern. Due to rapid urbanization and changing life style, childhood obesity here is growing at a colossal pace. This is unfortunate, because we as a nation, were still struggling to get rid of malnutrition amongst children.

Overweight is defined as Body Mass Index (BMI) >85 and <94 percentile. BMI>95 percentile at a given age and gender constitutes Obesity.

Common triggers of obesity are consumption of high calorie food, inadequate exercise, some hormonal imbalances and children born to obese parents.

Once diagnosed, the doctor can get a few blood tests done like Blood Sugar, Lipid Profile and Hormonal Assays

The mainstay of treatment is to control weight gain rather than aiming for a weight reduction. However, a weight reduction of 0.5 kg per month or 1 kg per week is advised in a high risk obese child. Medications and surgery are not usually advised in childhood obesity except in extreme cases.

Dont’s	Do’s
Avoid Sweets & Sweetened Beverages	Eat Healthy – increase intake of fruits and vegetables
Avoid Eating Fast Food and eating at Fast Food Restaurants	Exercise –Physical activities should be moderately vigorous type for 1 hr a day
Restrict TV and other screen time like gaming to less than 1 hr a day	Encourage Family Meals Together Motivate and encourage the child

It is better to adapt a holistic family approach rather than targeting the obese child.

Read More

It's Thyroid ~ Symptoms of Thyroid

What is thyroid?

Thyroid is a gland located just below the voice box in the trachea. It is very important because the hormones secreted by it play vital role in the body. The primary hormone secreted by the thyroid gland is called thyroxin. It is also known as T4.  Iodine is being used by the thyroid gland to produce hormones by the thyroid gland. In the blood stream T4 is converted to T3 which is the most active hormone.

Thyroid’s mechanism is controlled by the brain. When the thyroid hormone level is low the brain gets active to maintain it. The hypothalamus in the brain produces TRH (thyrotropin releasing hormone) which actives the pituitary gland to release TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone). TSH stimulates thyroid gland to release T4 hormone.

Thyroid disorders:

The abnormal conditions of the thyroid which affect its shape or functions or both are called Thyroid disorders.

Different types of thyroid disorders are as follows:

 Goiter: The condition of the thyroid in which it is swollen. [Causes: ]

 Thyroiditis: Painful inflammation of the thyroid from viral infection or autoimmune condition.

 Hyperthyroidism: Production of excessive hormone. [Causes: Most common cause is the Grave  diseases]

 Hypothyroidism: Production of the thyroid hormone is very low. [Causes: Autoimmune diseases which damage the thyroid].

 Thyroid nodule: A small abnormal mass or lump in the thyroid. It’s very common. It may cause excess secretion of T4 or may not be harmful.

Thyroid cancer: This is a rare form of cancer of the thyroid. This type of cancer is curable by surgery, radiation or hormonal treatment.

 Thyroid storm: An uncommon form of hyperthyroidism. In this condition the secretion of hormone is extremely high and causes severe illness.

Symptoms of Thyroid disorder:

It's estimated that as many as 10% population of the world suffers from thyroid disorder. But common people are not aware about it. Only in America around 59 million people have a thyroid problem, but the majority doesn’t know it yet.

There is a wide range of symptoms of thyroid disorder. Some of them are as drastically weight loss/ gain, heart problem, hair loss, weakness, infertility, depression, anxiety, sexual disorder etc.

Generally thyroid symptoms are not clear so we must consult our family doctor and get blood test in regular interval of time. 

Read More

Vitamins protect us from diseases:

There are different components of foods, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals.  All of them are essential because of their unique functions.

According to their functions they are categorized as

1.    Energy giving foods: Carbohydrates and fats

2.    Body building foods: Proteins

3.    Protective foods: Vitamins and minerals

Vitamins are protective foods because they protect us from various deficiency diseases. If anyone will not take sufficient amount he/she may suffer from various deficiency diseases. Vitamins are named as A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, B12, C, D, E and K.

Vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, B12, C and D are water soluble where A, D, E and K are fat soluble.

Every day we see lots of people fall ill due to intake of insufficient quantity of vitamins in their diet. Doctors prescribe them medicines which full fill the vitamin quantity and also advice them to eat foods rich in vitamins.

To keep the diseases away we must take the adequate quantity of vitamins.

Vitamin table:

Vitamins	Chemical Name	Sources	Deficiency Diseases
A	Retinol	Carrot, papaya, broccoli, sweet potato, spinach, pumpkin, collard greens, egg, apricot, cantaloupe, melon, milk, liver, cod liver oil etc.	Night blindness, (a person can’t see at night or dim light)
B1	Thiamine	Yeast, cereal grains, brown rice, pork, sunflower seeds, asparagus, cauliflower, potato, orange, liver, eggs etc.	Beriberi
B2	Riboflavin	Asparagus, meat, fish, eggs, banana, cheese, milk, green beans etc.	ariboflavinosis
B3	Niacinmide	Liver, heart, kidney, chicken, beef, fish, milk, eggs, dates, tomatos, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatos etc.	Pellagra
B5	Pantothenic acid	Meats, whole grains, royal jelly, fish ovaries etc.	Paresthesia
B6	Pyridoxal	Meats, whole grains, bananas, nuts	Anemia, peripheral neuropathy
B7	Biotin	Egg yolk, liver, some vegetables	Dermatitis, enteritis
B9	Folic acid, folinic acid	Green leafy vegetables, legumes, liver, yeast (beakers), grains, sunflower seeds, fruits etc.	Pregnancy deficiency, birth defects etc.
B12	Cyanocobalamin, hydroxycobalamin	Fish, shellfish, meat, poultry, eggs, milk and dairy products, cereals, soy products, yeast etc.	May cause megaloblastic  anemia
C	Ascorbic acid	Citrus fruits, vegetables, kakadu plum, liver etc.	Scurvy
D	Ergocalciferol, Cholecalciferol	Sunlight, fatty fish, eggs, mushrooms, beef liver	Rickets, osteomalacia
E	Tocopherols, tocotrienols	Almonds, avocado, eggs, milk, nuts, green leafy vegatables, unheated vegetable oils, grains etc.	May cause mild hemolytic anemia in new born babies.
K	Phylloquinone, menaquinones	Green leafy vegetables, kiwi fruit, parsley etc.	May cause bleeding diathesis, excess bleeding

Read More

Let's welcome Monsoon with the Hilsa

Monsoon at doorstep.You can find plenty of hilsa fish during the rainy season. So let us welcome this monsoon with the recipe of hilsa-pineapple.

Ingredients:

1 medium sized hilsa fish, 1 medium sized pineapple, 1 cup chopped onion, A table spoon of onion paste, 1/2 teaspoon ginger paste

1 teaspoon cumin paste,  1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder,

A quarter cup of white oil, Two cups of coconut milk, Salt as required, 5-6 green chillies slit.

How to cook?

Cut the hilsa fish into large pieces and mix turmeric powder. Leave it for 10 minutes. Cut the pineapple into smaller pieces.

Heat the fry pan over gas stove.

Put oil in the fry pan and heat it. Now pour the chopped onion and fry it upto brown colour. Now mix all the spices mentioned above. Then mixed the chopped pineapple and fry it well. then add small quantity of coconut milk.

As it starts boiling, mix the fish pieces and salt according to the taste. Incase of sour pineapple add a small quantity of sugar.When it seems to be cooked add green chillies. Leave it for 10 minutes and take out from the frypan in a dish.

Delicious cooked hilsa fish is ready to be eaten with rice/fried rice/zeera rice.

Read More

Summer's Important Foods

Summers are extremely hot and dry in India. Days are extremely hot. Temperature & humidity content varies from place to place. Some where it is very tough to go out during day time. Still we have to move out for schools, colleges, market, offices, hospitals, railway station, bus stand, etc.

In every season we must be careful regarding our health. Due to hot and dry weather we sweat a lot. Sweating causes loss of water and salts from the body. So, we must be known about the foods which maintain our health in hot and dry summer.

Drugmarch suggests you some foods which may be helpful to live us comfortable and keep us away from diseases, such as diarrhoea, dehydration,  heat stroke, eye burning, skin infection, headache, high blood pressure etc. These foods are mango, melons, cucumber, orange, gourd, lemon, mints etc.

Mango: Mango, the king of the fruits, is common in summer season. Yes, when we talk about mango we start watering in our mouth feeling its delicious taste. There are lots of varieties of mangoes. Mango is rich in vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates. It contains big quantity of fibres/ roughage.  Soup of burnt (raw) mango prevents from heat stroke.

Water melon: Water melon is rich in water. You can say the water content in water melon is more than 90%. It protects our skin from extreme heat. It is good for stomach. It also protects from high blood pressure, acidic problem, indigestion, heart related diseases cold, flues, constipation etc. It keeps our liver and heart healthy.

Musk melon: It is also very useful and advantageous in summer season because water content in musk melon is high. Besides this it contains vitamins & minerals which improve our immense system and protect several diseases.

Orange: A very common fruit which is being used by maximum part of the world. Orange is rich in almost all kinds of vitamins, but vitamin C is very high. Minerals such as thiamin, foliate, potassium are also present in orange which help in muscular cramps. Oranges also have Beta carotene, lutin and cryptoxanithin which help to keep us away from infection. It maintains water balance, adds good quantity of minerals and improves our immune system.

Cucumbers: Cucumbers are available in all seasons. But eating cucumbers in summer season is extremely good for our good health. This is due to high content water and nutrients such as vitamin (A, C, folic acid), Minerals (magnesium, molybdenum, silica, fibres). Cucumbers is good for our digestive system, skin disorder, eye burn and eye swelling, prevent constipation, good to body weight etc; cure gas problem. Raw cucumber is better than cooked.

Lemon: It is rich in vitamin C. It boosts our metabolism, increase appetite and keeps our skin, gums, stomach and liver healthy. It reduces acidity in the stomach and reduces gas problems. Gas is a common problem which is caused due to over eating, junk foods, oily and spicy foods, over working, indigestion, low content of fibres in the diet and lack of balanced diet on proper time.

Mint: Mint leaves are used in making food items. It is also used in salad. Drinking a glass of water in summer is advantage. It keeps our stomach cool, increases metabolism and appetite.

Gourd: Gourds are common in summer season. It contains minerals such as Calcium and magnesium and rich in vitamin A and vitamin C. Gourd cooked using less spices and oil is a good very good for health. It keeps the body cool and maintains normal blood pressure and water balance in the body. It helps in blood purification. Gourd helps to keep the liver, heart, stomach healthy. Content of water and roughage are high in gourd. So, consumption of gourd prevents constipation.

Onion: Without onion the kitchen looks empty. Onion is used in almost all foods except sweet dishes. It is a modified stem and an important spice to make food delicious. Onion is also used as raw to make salad. Consumption of raw onion and keeping raw onion in the arm bits in extremely hot and dry climate region is the best way to protect from heat stroke.

Read More