Free radicals

All About Free radicals!!!!!!

One of the most frequent types of damage done to your body is caused by molecules known as free radicals. What are free radicals? Let’s look at the current typical daily lifestyle. You are constantly exposed to the outside world environmentally, physically and mentally. Environmental wise - sun rays (ultra violet rays), air pollution, water pollution, preservative food or poor nutrition diet choice and medications; Physical wise – excessive exercise; Mental wise – stress due to work, relationship and financial problems. All the above factors cause free radicals andyour body is continuously being bombarded by these free radicals.

Free radicals, also known simply as radicals, are organic molecules responsible for aging, tissue damage, and possibly some diseases. These molecules are very unstable, therefore they look to bond with other molecules, destroying their health and further continuing the damaging process. 

Free radicals are "free" because they float around until they stabilize, and "radical" in the sense that there are a wide variety of molecules from which they can take an electron. The damage doesn't stop there, however, as the new molecule, say a piece of a cell wall, is now also missing an electron and has become another free radical. This snowball effect can wreak havoc on healthy tissue. Scientific studies now show that all of those symptoms we normally associate with aging, as well as just about every disease there is, are caused by the damage of free radicals on your body.

Let's look at how the free radicals damage your cells. Here is an analogy: imagine yourself in front of a burning charcoal. What happen to the burning charcoal? The charcoal produces ashes and occasionally cinders. Let’s say the cinders and ashes land on the wooden floor, the sparkling cinders burn a hole on the floor, ashes covered the floor. May be a one cinder or one time burn of ashes does not pose so much of the problem to the floor but if the situation continues day after day, month after month, year after year, without doing any cleaning and removing of the ashes on the floor, the floor will be spoiled and eventually have to change a new one.

Your body is much the same thing like the burning charcoal, just that we never see the ashes or cinders, but they are there! The ashes or cinders are called the free radicals, the more you stress, the more you exposed to UV sun rays, the more free radicals your body produce. The floor represents your body. The part of body receives the most free radicals is the first one to break down and lead to degenerative diseases. If there's more free radical damage in your blood vessels, you'll get heart disease. If there's more in your eyes, you'll get cataracts. If there's more in your brain, you'll get dementia or Alzheimer's. If there's more in your breast tissue, you'll get breast cancer. And so on and so on...Unfortunately, your body or organ does not have spare part, unlike the floor which is replaceable.

If you think about it, it makes sense. For example, why are smokers more likely to get lung cancer, asthma and COPD (all diseases of the lungs)? Because cigarette smoke is a major source of free radicals.

Antioxidants, present in many foods, are molecules that prevent freeradicals from harming healthy tissue.

Watch out next for…..what are antioxidants…how they work!!!

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CANCER PREVENTION - WORLD CANCER DAY

World cancer day 4^th feb 2013 

CANCER PREVENTION

CONCERNED about cancer prevention? Take charge by making small changes in your daily life, from eating a healthy diet to scheduling regular cancer screenings.

Here are some pointers to help you cut your cancer risk

Dairy products: drinking one cup of skimmed milk a day cuts your risk of ovarian cancer by 40 percent. Dairy products (especially when combined with vitamin D) are also linked to a lower risk of developing colorectal cancer.

Eggs: women consuming six eggs a week cut their risk of breast cancer by 40 percent.

Green Tea: two cups a day can cut your risk of digestive cancers by 32 percent, and can also reduce your risk of skin, lung, kidney and liver cancers.

Exercise: working out 30 to 60 minutes per day protects against bowel and breast cancers.

And, breastfeeding for at least six months has been shown to reduce risk of both breast and ovarian cancer by about 7 per cent for every baby you feed.

EAT HEALTHY STAY HEALTHY

BAJRA KHICHDI

BAJRA KHICHDI

enjoy this steaming hot khichdi in such a chilly weather high fibre content helps in weight loss, controlling cholesterol, triglyceride.

INGREDIENTS Black millet (bajra), soaked or bajra daliya 1/3 cup Split green gram skinless (dhuli moong dal) 3 tablespoons Salt to taste Oil 1tsp Cumin seeds 1 teaspoon Asafoetida 1/2 teaspoon

METHOD Grind the bajra coarsely in a mixer, if you are using bajra daliya use it directly. Roast it on slow flame for 5-7 mins. Combine the bajra daliya with moong dal add salt and two and a half cups of water in a pressure cooker and cook under pressure for three to four whistles. Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and asafoetida. When the seeds change colour pour it over the cooked bajra khichdi and mix well. Serve hot with kadhi .

SESAME SEEDS (TIL)

SESAME SEEDS (TIL)

                              Sometimes, small seeds can sprout large health benefits. This can certainly be said about til (sesame seeds). In addition to their popular use in making crunchy til ladoos, gajjaks, as dips or as a garnish for breads and desserts, these seeds are abundant in lesser known health promoting properties.

Lets have a look at its health benefits.

Did you know that half a cup of sesame seeds contains three times more calcium than half a cup of whole milk? Just 100 gm of white sesame seeds provides approximately 1,000 mg of calcium.

In addition to being an excellent dietary source of calcium, sesame seeds are also a good source of manganese, copper, magnesium, zinc, iron, phosphorus, vitamin B1 (thiamin), zinc, vitamin E, healthy protein, and fiber.

Sesame seeds contain methionine and tryptophan — two important amino acids that most other vegetarian foods such as peas, groundnuts, rajhma, chowli and soya bean are deficient in. These fine quality amino acids are essential for growth, especially in children.

Sesame seeds are rich in EFA’s(essential fatty acids) that are of help to prevent dry skin, mood swings, PMS, pain and inflammation.

Black and red sesame seeds are particularly rich in iron, folic acid and are effective in treating anaemia. 100 g of sesame contains 97 mcg of folic acid, about 25% of recommended daily intake. Folic acid is essential for DNA synthesis. When given in expectant mothers during peri-conception period, it may prevent neural tube defects in the baby.

In addition to these important nutrients, sesame seeds contain two unique substances: sesamin and sesamolin. Both of these substances belong to a group of special beneficial fibers called lignans, and have been shown to have a cholesterol-lowering effect in humans, and to prevent high blood pressure and increase vitamin E supplies in animals. Sesamin has also been found to protect the liver from oxidative damage.

Watch out for Culinary uses of Sesame seeds (til) in the coming post

Jaggery or Gud

Jaggery or Gud

Jaggery is prepared from sugarcane molasses; it’s the unrefined brown sugar. Better known as the medicinal sugar. It’s available in many forms like blocks, liquid, powder or small random pieces.

Lets first see what is the difference between  jaggery and sugar, and why should we replace sugar with jaggery.

JAGGERY	SUGAR
It is far complex than sugar, as it is made up of longer chains of sucrose.	It is simplest available forms of sucrose
It is digested slower than sugar and releases energy slowly	It is instantly absorbed in blood and releases a burst of energy
It is rather a tastemaker and colour maker	It is just a sweetner
It contains iron, cacium, potassium, phoshorus	It is source of empty calories
Jaggery helps in calcium absorption	Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium
Jaggery  is ecofriendly	Sugar industry pollutes air, water and soil.
Jaggery aids in digestion, as jaggery breaks and becomes alkaline in the digestive system.	Sugar becomes acidic.

Following are the benefits of jaggery
Energy Food: Carbohydrate being the main nutrient supplied by jaggery, foods  high in carbohydrates  fuels  our body  to  produce  sustainable  energy  through  oxidation. Jaggery has  more complex form of carbohydrate than plain sugar. So, it is digested and absorbed gradually and releases energy gradually. This provides with warmth and energy for a longer period, without harming the internal organs. This could be a good food supplement for fitness lovers. However it provides roughly around the same amount of energy and carbohydrate as sugar. So excess intake of jaggery is not advocated.

Cleansing Agent Jaggery effectively cleans the respiratory tracts, lungs, food pipe, stomach and intestines. It pulls out dust and unwanted particles from the body. It also helps in giving relief from constipation, perhaps due to presence of fiber in it.Jaggery has strong antioxidant properties and protects our body cells from the damage caused by free radicals. Apart from this, the presence of mineral potassium  helps to assists kidneys to remove waste by the process of excretion.

Digestive Agent: This may sound strange but it is true and it has sufficient scientific explanation behind this. In India, it is recommended to take a few grams of jaggery after a heavy meal of after eating meat. This facilitates digesting. What happens is that jaggery activates the digestive enzymes this speeds up digestion.

Jaggery helps in bile disorder - According to ayurveda, jaggery helps in treating bile disorders thus is useful in treating jaundice. It  strengthens the liver.

Jaggery helps in maintaining acid balance - Jaggery is high in Potassium and low in Sodium helps to maintain blood pressure and reduces water retention.. This also helps in maintaining balance in your body. Infact, jaggery, when taken along with dry ginger is a known cure for acidity and gas.

Jaggery is eco-friendly - According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF), sugar industry pollutes air, water and soil. While jaggery is produced by cooking sugarcane juice in an iron vessel, sugar undergoes various treatments, purification, crystallisation which not only wastes several gallons water, but also pollutes natural water source, where the wastewater is dumped! Jaggery is healthier and greener.

Jaggery helps to treat Cramps: due to the presence of magnesium and potassium. Muscle cramps result due to low level of potassium in the blood, a condition called as hypokalemia, also due to magnesium deficiency symptoms of cramps in leg as well as fatigue are normally visible.

Keeps bone healthy – due to the presence of magnesium, which is directly related to the bone density. Inadequacy of this mineral could be a cause of osteoporosis. Magnesium helps in regulation of calcium levels in the body along with vitamin D, copper, zinc etc.

May help to prevent Stroke: due to the presence of Potassium, which plays an important role in keeping the working of brain in normal state. It is of great importance in preventing the occurrence of stroke in human brain.

Prevents Asthma - Chronic asthma patients may be able to normalize their breathing with help of jaggery due to magnesium present in it  that aids in relaxing bronchial muscles and normalize breathing. Even wheezing and breathlessness can be relieved through.

Increases haemoglobin - Jaggery is rich in iron and thus is highly recommended for anaemic people, helps in increasing haemoglobin., most of the iron in it comes through processing in iron vessels.

Culinary Uses

- In Maharashtra most vegetables curries and dals contain jaggery, also a pinch of jaggery is sometimes added to sambar, rasam and other gravies.

 
-Jaggery is specially used during Makar Sankranti for making sweetmeat called tilgul. 

-It is regularly consumed as a sweetener and is a part of many sweet delicacies such as gur ka chawal (rice with gur) which is a traditional Rajasthani dish.
- Jaggery is also added to lentil soups to add sweetness to balance the spicy, salty and sour components, particularly in Gujarati cuisine
- Many sweet dishes are made by mixing jaggery with milk and coconut or with nuts like cashew.

- can be added to porridges esp in weaning food, can replace sugar in milk with jaggery for young children’s and adults.

-can be used as a preservative.

-can be added to lemon water, tea.

-Minimize your sugar intake and replace with jaggery when you prepeare sweet dishes at home.

So r u still thinking …..go Go ahead make a start replace white poison,sugar with jaggery.