Monday, July 27, 2009

Delicious and Healthy steam fish in 30minutes

Siakap -1 big fish
White carrot - 1
Garlic -1 clove
Coriander leaves -1 handful

Marinate the fish with light soy sos and dark caramel sos. If you like you can add also a drop of oyster sos. You can marinate for about 30minutes.

First cut the white carrots into small cubes and then fry them in low fire. Fry until it turns light brown then remove from the pan.

Use a steamer to steam the fish. Garnish the fish with garlic and the fried white carrots. Steam for about 20 to 30minutes. You can check by piercing a fork into the fish to check if the fish is cooked.

Once the fish is cooked garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Is too much sugar bad for your skin ?

Do you have sweet tooth? It has been reported that about 70% population of the people in Asia loves sugary stuff. As a result of this there are more people who are suffering from diabetes in Asia.

Recent studies shows that there has been lots of evident that sugar not only damages our health but also causes one to age faster than usual. This is because when someone consumes too much sweet stuff then your body actually needs, your body's natural process of glycation speeds up.This is when the excess of sugar elements and protein molecules combines and causes damage to the collagen.

In a recent research conducted by Paul J.Beisswenger, MD, a diabetes researcher and a Medical School professor, he ruled out that collagen damage can make your skin less elastic, more easily wrinkled and more vulnerable to sun damage.

This is why it has been often said that those who have a sweet tooth may not have a wrinkle-free face. The reason behind this is because of the clogging of the excess of sugar causes damage to the collagen and elastin proteins which are responsible to protect our skin from brittleness and dullness.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

How to lose weight in a healthy way?

Do you often hear those who are skinny saying that the eat a lot but they have slim frame. Research shows that water can help you lose weight. One of the ways are by consuming foods that are reach in water like cabbages, grapes, lettuce, radish, spinach, cauliflower. It has also been documented that frequent drinking of cabbage juices also helps in obesity.

In a recent study conducted at the University of Tokyo, it was reported that women who ate high water content foods had lower body mass indexed and smaller waistlines! This is due to the fact that each of this food contains at least about 90% water. The secret to the weight loss id because the water contained in these foods actually fills you up and as a result you will eat less.

The Sri-lankan’s believe that by adding dried ginger in our daily food helps to burn our body fat. It is quite easy to add ginger to our daily cooking. You should buy dried ginger and blend it fine into a powder form and then store in a air-tight container.You should add 1 tablespoon of this dried ginger in your cooking. You can also take 1 teaspoon adding it to warm water and drink this juice.

You should also cultivate the habit to do stretching for at least 20 minutes and also running on the treadmill or any other exercise machine for about 30minutes.If you do not have access to exercise machines, you can also go for brisk walking for about 45minutes. Other rules that must be observed are that you should try to exercise at least about 40minutes, this is because studies shows that you will start burning fats after 30minutes of exercising.

In India many research has been conducted on 'horse gram' or 'kolu' in tamil and they concluded that this grain helps one to lose weight. Take about 1 table spoon of this horse gram and then boil in 1 1/2 cup of water.You must drink the water and eat the horse gram on a empty stomach daily in the morning before eating breakfast. Make sure you give an interval for about 2 hours before you consume your breakfast.

Studies also shows those who consume hot beverages like tea and coffee tend to put on more weight.The better way to enjoy this beverages are by just consuming with milk and without any sugar. This is because sugar contains more fat calories that causes one to put on weight easily. You should reduce your intake of coffee or tea to 2 cups only per day. You should not consume carbonated and alcohol drinks which is also the lead factor in obesity.

Benefits of Juice-fasting

Juice-fasting is very popular among the Indians since ancient times. For the Indians, they practice fasting very frequently for spiritual purposes or to de-stress their mind and body.

On the other hand, juice fasting also helps one to detoxify and lose weight. The conservative method is to consume juices for a period of about 21 days to detoxify your body and should not eat any other food or drinks. Nonetheless now there has been lots of research conducted on juice-fasting since it has been reported that it may cure various disease if practiced strictly under the guidance of an expert in this field.

There are few effective methods that I have been practicing for along time:
On the first 3 days you should take about 250ml of juices five times at the interval of three hours. Hence the total quantity of juices to be taken on the first 3 days will be 1250ml. Then increase the amount of juices on the 4th day till 6th day gradually to 300ml of juices five times starting from 7.30 in the morning and the last should be about 7.30pm in the evening.

Once your body has adjusted to the juices, you can slowly increase the quantity everyday from the 7th day onwards. This means from the 7th day onwards you can increase the quantity of juices to 350ml and on the 8th days to 400ml and so on till 21 days. If you feel bloatedness in the stomach, it means that the quantity of juices taken is more than required. In such scenario, the amount of the juices should be slowly decreased.

It is safe to consume this juice-fasting for 21 days or till about 1 month. One word for caution, you may also experience dizziness, headache, stomach ache or body ache while practicing this juice-fasting. This is because the juices are actually detoxifying your body hence it will eliminate the toxic elements in our body.

The golden rule that must be observed by everyone during juice fasting are that one should be completely relaxed and calm to be able to get the full benefit from this programme.

The best time to observe this juice fasting is when you are away from all kinds of stressful work. One should also avoid smoking, drinking alcohol, tea or coffee during this period. You should only indulge in yoga and meditation to be able to get the full benefit from the juice-fasting.

Once you have successfully completed the 21days of juice-fasting, you must break the fast slowly by decreasing the amount of juice to three times a day and then to consume fruits like banana and papaya with a glass of milk. Then on the second day you can start eating moong dhall (green lentils) cooked with any vegetables. You must boil the moong dhall and vegetables. Please refer to my previous posting on July 13, 2009 on how to cook healthy moong dhall.

Try not to use oil in your cooking temporarily since your body needs time to digest after a long period of juice fasting. Try not to eat excessive spicy food right after you have completed your juice fasting. This is because your body may not be able to digest too much food and may cause you to have stomach disorder or vomiting symptoms. This is why you must gradually increase you food to allow your body to digest the food.

If you are doing juice-fasting to cure any particular disease then you should consult an expert practitioner.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Does exercise protect your vision?

There has been a recent study published in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, research conducted on runners has revealed that the incidence of age-related macular degeneration (also known as “AMD”), a condition that can lead to a severely impaired vision, was lowest in runnest who ran up the most miles.

In this research, men and women who ran an average of between 1.2 a 2.5 miles per day had a 19 percent lower risk of having “AMD”. In comparison to those who ran more than 2.4 miles per day had between 40 % to 50 % lower risk.

Now you must be thinking you need to run in order to have a lower risk of AMD. You don't have to do that. It has been reported that daily moderate exercises does help to prevent vision loss. You can also practise yoga asana's to improve your vision and relaxed tired eyes. Try learning from a experienced yoga guru on how to protect your eyes.

Another good habit that must be cultivated by everyone is to consume carrot juice daily and we should also eat nuts like almonds, sunflower seeds since it helps to protect our eyes from losing its vision.

On the other hand, Indians all around the world protect their eyes by consuming joyweed soup or juice once weekly to maintain their eyesight. It has been said by a known yogi that if one is able to consume the juice of the joyweed leaves continuosly for about 48 days, they will be able to gain their loss eyesight and may not have to wear glasses anymore!

Healthy 'Indian Rasam' Recipe

How to prepare a healthy rasam

'Rasam' is of the most nutritious meal and an antioxidant dish which is consumed by Indians all around the world daily in their meals. This meal helps to remove unnecessary gas, acidic and also neutralizes our stomach acidity. Rasam also heals excessive heat and wind in our system. Thus it helps to cure gastric problems.

Ingredients
Garlic - 3
Onions - 2
Cumin seeds - 1tsp
Fennel seeds - 1tsp
Coriander seeds - 1tsp
Curry Leaves - 1tbsp
Black Pepper seeds - 1tsp
mustard seeds - 1tbsp
Turmeric - 1tsp
Horse gram ("Kollu")- 1sp
Red dry chili- 2
Asiatic Pennyworth leaves("Valarai")-10g(optional)
Joyweed leaves ("Ponangani")-10g(optional)
Coriander leaves- 1 handful

Step 1: The core ingredients to prepare rasam is to pound coriander seeds, black pepper seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, garlic and onion. Add turmeric powder and horse gram. Now bring all this to boil under medium heat.

Step 2: Then on a separate pan, use little sesame oil and fry mustard seeds, curry
leaves and dry chili and add this into the boiling ingredients in step 1
(Be cautious don’t be frighten by the light explosion of the mustard seeds.

Step 3 Lastly add coriander leave, Asiatic pennyworth leaves or joyweed leaves to the pan.Switch off the fire.Just stir about 2-3 minutes.

Note :You should not overcook the pennyworth, joyweed leaves as a its nutritios will be lost if overcooked.

It only takes about ten minutes to prepare this healthy dish. You can refrigerate the balance up to five days.

The Indians normally practice eating the ‘rasam’ after eating the main meal to remove acidic in their consumed meals. It is often known as a 'healing food' for the Indians.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Menopausal women may be at high risk of cardiac problems

A study was conducted to more than 5,000 menopausal women found that the 50 percent who suffered from flushing and 50 percent suffered from night sweats were more likely to have high cholesterol and high blood pressure and to be overweight, which put them on a higher risk of having heart disease.

If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms, you should take steps to reduce your cholesterol and blood pressure and lose weight before menopause begins.

Those who have already finished menopause should have a monthly cardiac checkup and you should consult your doctor to advise you on your diet and lifestyle to keep your heart healthy.

On another study it was noted that women who go through menopause quickly may develop atherosclerosis more rapidly. It was also concluded based on a recent published study of women with no coronary artery disease before menopause found that those who have gone through menopause within two to three years have developed more plaque in their coronary arteries than those who took longer to make the transition.

These women should also be examined for other risk factors that may aggravate the coronary artery disease condition. Nonetheless one has to also bear in your mind that early menopause before the age of 50 also increases the risk of heart disease.

Traditional Indian home remedy that has been used ancient times to protect our heart includes consuming the juice from the lotus flower which is effective in healing heart related problems. You must boil the petals of the red lotus flower and drink the juice daily to strengthen your heart. The root of the petal flower are also edible. As for Asian Indians, we use the lotus flower to prepare spicy curry and we also fry the root of the lotus plant and we add into the curry or dal with vegetables. You can also stir fry the roots with celery and other vegetables.