The fruity treat

In my previous posts also, you must have seen that I advocate eating fruits and vegetables. I am asked several times: ‘When there are millions of choices to eat, why do we stick to fruits and vegetables? Vegetarian diet is very limited in options. You just have fruits and vegetables and grains. On the other hand, the people who consume non- vegetarian food can consume both’. Another very common argument given by propounders of non-vegetarian foods is that vegetarian diet can lead to deficiency diseases. They even say it is not a balanced diet to eat only foods from vegetarian sources.

Now, let us assess the condition in a proper perspective. Let us recall my argument regarding natural food for man. I said since our ancestors used to eat fruits and vegetables and some nuts and were healthy, it proves that these kinds of food is suitable for man.

Let us compare the physical make-up of the herbivores (plant eaters) and carnivores (meat eaters) and see where does man fit in. Carnivores have shorter gastro-intestinal tract than both man and herbivores, which helps it to expel the toxins from the dead animal to leave its body sooner. Carnivores have sharp canines, meant for tearing flesh. Human dentures are similar to herbivores with strong wide molars and less sharp canines. Carnivores do not chew food. Herbivores ruminate. Mastication is one of the important steps of human digestion. A carnivore can run very fast for a short distance to hunt and kill. Whereas, herbivores can run not so fast but can run for a longer distance. Man, I need not repeat again, as we already know is not bound by limitations of nature. He has liberty to move beyond his limitations. He can run fast as well as run for longer distance. And man is not a killer by instinct. His reflexes are far slower than a tiger or cheetah. And he flinches when he has to kill.

 Further, fruits and vegetables fresh from the farm are full of life energy and provide this energy when we consume it. Try it for yourself. Be on fruit diet for a week and see the difference. 

As for variety, have you tried eating all the fruits and vegetables available in your locale? Leave alone fruits and vegetables imported from foreign places. Considering the Indian set up, you need not always run after the kiwi fruit or avocado. The locally available, plum, peaches, orange, melons, papaya, banana are good enough. Seasonally available and locally available fruits and vegetables are most suitable for consumption in an area. Mother Nature has selected with great care what suits a place and bestowed her bountiful baskets of local plants.

Regarding nutrition, fruits and vegetables and most grains and cereals contain all the necessary nutrients, if eaten in the right combination. A vegan diet is considered to be lacking in nutrients but not a lacto vegetarian (one who consumes milk and milk products) or ovo- vegetarian (one who consumes egg).

Taste can be improved by preparing it in different styles and in different combinations.

One more argument to get my stand grounded is plant based arachidonic acid gives rise to prostaglandins which are anti- inflammatory whereas animal based arachidonic acid gives rise to pro-inflammatory prostaglandins. Simply put, plant based food is anti- inflammatory while animal based food helps inflammatory process.

Again, moderation is my motto. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables in plenty but you can have other foodstuff in moderation. Today’s mantra would be:

• Include fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet.
• Select fresh stuff which is locally and seasonally available.
• Avoid imported or cold stored items.
• Preferably go for home-grown or organic sources.
•  If eggs or milk is included go for local products and unpacked ones.
• Eat fruits and vegetables raw or uncooked at least for one meal a day.

Enjoy your fruity diet.

Sarve bhavantu sukhinah (may all be blessed)

 Love and regards

Roshni

The MOSHy effect

Henry Lindlahr, one of the pioneers of naturopathy, proclaims that violation of the laws of nature is the prime cause of diseases. According to him, violation of nature’s laws can be in thinking, eating, drinking, dressing, bathing, resting, in moral aspects in social and sexual conduct. Thus, carrying on with the thread of Return to nature, let us see an aspect of dressing- make- up.

As I wrote on ‘dressing’, man has an inherent need to look good. For this he engages in many activities to beautify himself. The notion of a muscular man and graceful woman further emphasizes the gender specific concepts of beauty and aesthetics. And so men involve themselves in body building, weights, gymming and things like that. Women, on the other hand, use cosmetics to even the skin tone, colour the lips and enhance the eyes using eye shadows, kohl, mascara, and so on. This has been there since time immemorial. Cleopatra, the epitome of Egyptian beauty used to bathe in milk with rose petals. The ‘haldi rasam’, ceremony of applying turmeric powder to the bride and bride groom also stems from the same concept.

With advances in science and technology, we have easier and faster access to techniques and stuffs for beautification. We have n number of choices and almost anything can be done. The make-up artist’s brush is like a magic wand, a whirl in the air and you can change the ugliest hag into an attractive diva. You have an array of ‘magical potions’, which can work wonders. And everyone is so conscious, me included of how they look. I bet 90% of women, in cities especially, will not go outdoors without a lotion or cream with minimum of SPF 15 on them. Most of us will carry a lip balm or chap stick to apply in case our lips get chaffed.

But do we know the downside of this trend. We happily load ourselves with loads and loads of these lip balms, lipsticks, sunscreen lotions, fairness creams, foundations, concealers, eye shadows, kohls, mascaras, eye liners, specific creams for each part of the body- foot creams, hand creams, face creams, hair creams. Not to forget, the time specific products, day cream, night cream and what not. I am sure many of us are unaware what happens when we use all this stuff for a long time. You may get cancer.

There is something called MOSH- Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons. The body can take certain amount of these petroleum products which form the base for most of these products and expel it from the body. But with advancing age, the body will not be able to throw out these toxic materials from the body. It further leads to toxicity of liver and it is not news that coal tar products are carcinogenic (causing cancer).

Other products that we happily use to beautify ourselves will be shampoos, face wash gel, bathing soap, gels, hair conditioners, setting gels, perfumes, colognes, and a lot more. Haven’t you come across people who would say, ‘you know, I’m not much into make-up and stuff, I like being simple and ‘Natural’, I just want my hair and body clean and smelling good.’ Do you really think if you keep apple in that lotion of yours, it will remain fresh and smell like apple after being stored at the manufacturer’s, shops and your home. It is not apple there. It is a chemical which gives apple-ish smell. Same goes for all smells that the ad says is ‘pure apricot, pure aloe’, and many others. It has been found that certain colognes and perfumes were containing chemicals which are toxic and carcinogenic, which by the way will not be labelled on the container.

So? What now? Like I always say moderation is the motto. Use sparingly and of course substitution can be done for most of these stuffs with natural stuffs. Here you go with today’s mantra for healthful beauty:

Use natural shampoo like henna, shikakai, fenugreek or gooseberry powders.

Use ground gram or green gram for washing face. Even plain mud is a good cleanser.

Use aloe gel for hair conditioning. It can be mixed with curd.

Apply turmeric with sandal powder and a teaspoon of curd on the face at night.

Green gram paste or bengal gram paste can be used for bathing.

Apply pulp of fresh fruits and vegetables like papaya, plum, apricot, cucumber, tomato. Wash off and feel the freshness and skin tightness.

Eat plenty of fruits and fresh vegetables for skin and hair health.

Drink ample amount of water to keep your system clean.

Of course, you can use your soaps, shampoos, perfume but use it sparingly. Preferably, abstain from using excessively.

Sarve bhavantu sukhinah (may all be blessed)

Love and regards,

Roshni

Dressing up for nature

Hello people, I guess life is moving on smoothly for everyone out there. Let us now explore another way of ‘Return to nature’. I wrote in the first article about ways of returning to nature comprise in thoughts, words and deeds. Elaborating on that, it can be ways that we think, eat, sleep, breathe, dress, talk, bathe, rest, on moral aspects, conduct ourselves socially and sexually. For today’s topic, I have chosen dressing.

What I actually want to convey with this concept is how you can dress up naturally to be healthy. It does sound a little off the track and strange almost. But it is a very important factor which influences our health.

Dressing style has evolved over time and sometimes, we see retrograde fashion too. But mostly, dressing is influenced by the culture of the place which is affected by the climatic conditions of a place. For instance, we see people in the Polar Regions wrapping themselves with seal skin and jackets and boots with fur lining to protect themselves from the cold winds and chilly weather. In the Hawaii islands you see people in two-pieces or sarongs. They cannot bear the heat. In hot deserts of Rajasthan, India people are seen wearing flowy cotton dresses with huge turbans on the head to protect the head from the sun.  

Another strong influence is the need of man to look good. Over centuries, we have seen man trying all kinds of things, putting up with so much pain to look Good. There were the ladies of Elizabethan era, with hoops and loads of cotton around their waist to make a big petticoat. We have seen ladies of southern America during the 19^th century with the constricting whale bone corsets, which left them dyspnoeic, just to make them look bustier. The Chinese girls, who were forced to wear metal shoes to stop the feet growing as small feet was considered beautiful. On and on I can go on citing examples of fashion frenzy.

My intention in today’s article is to stress on dressing sensibly for good health. First rule would be the clothing should be comfortable and suitable to the climate. It should not be too tight or too loose. It should be made of preferably cotton. It is absorbent and does not cause prickly feeling and also allows free flow of air. Fabric apart from cotton can be chosen depending on the weather conditions. The cut of a dress also affects the way you carry yourself. This in turn influences you confidence level. It is not healthy to have fabrics like synthetic nylon, rayon next to the skin. And in sultry weather, it leads to sweat accumulation and may even cause fungal infections. Clothes should be well laundered making sure it is rinsed thoroughly and no detergent remains in the cloth. If not, it can lead to skin problems due to irritation. Clothes should be dried properly in the sun, if not should be ironed. Accessories which are constricting and uncomfortable are not advisable like tight belts, scarves etc.

The modern day corsets will be underwire bras. Again ladies, be informed of your choices. I agree an occasional day to look good is alright but do not sacrifice your health for good looks. It is a hushed up taboo-ish topic – undies- but one needs to choose one with care. I bet not many women know how to calculate the size and cup number. One needs to wear the right number for good dressing and to avoid the unattractive bulges at the wrong places. Same logic goes for the fabric here also.

 An important part of dressing is shoe. The shoe worn for fashion and the shoe worn for comfort are rivals I would say. Especially for women, fashion and footwear means inevitably heels, or as the character in an ad says, ‘get the uncomfortable one,’ when her boyfriend asks which shoe to get, pretty footwear means uncomfortable footwear. But, ladies beware the high heels that we wear are the culprits who cause back pain, calf muscle tenderness, bunions in the toes. Be it the stilettos, kitten heels, belly shoes, pump shoes, pencils, they all are the same. Wearing high heels disturbs the biomechanics of the body. It increases the lordotic curve of the lumbar spine, thus creating the fashionista’s chin out, chest out posture which is the cause of back ache. It creates excessive tension on the metatarso-phalangeal joint often leading to bunion formation. It also disturbs the longitudinal and transverse arches of the foot leading to foot pain.

All said and done, I would again stress on the ‘rule of moderation’. Yes, I know, certain sets of people are not able to give up on these things even if unhealthy for varied reasons. But there is always a middle path between two extremes. I never tell anyone to go wear barks or leaves and live in the jungle. Well let’s see, the middle path or the mantra for healthy dressing:

• Wear cotton as much as possible.
• Select shoes which support the arches of the foot.
• Avoid use of tight accessories.
• Protect the head with caps or hats if exposed to sun for long.
• Wear suitable warm clothes in cold climate.
• Always wash new clothes before wearing.
• Select undies of correct size.
• Use high heels sparingly.

Sarve bhavantu sukhinah (may all be blessed)

Love and regards

Roshni

The three white poisons

We all have heard of the three witches of ‘Macbeth’, the three aspects of godhead, ‘trimurti’, Bramha, Vishnu, Maheshvara, three doshas of ayurveda- vata, pita and kapha. But what are these three white poisons? According to Naturopathy, the three white poisons are- white flour (maida), sugar and salt. The three culprits cause so many health problems of which we are clueless.

And isn’t it a disturbing or rather alarming thing as we all have these three items in our kitchen shelves, laying there innocuously and almost inevitably. These three forms a part and parcel of most of our cuisine and it seems as though we cannot do without them. Here, I am reminded of an incident which made me realize how many wrong choices we make every day and the ubiquity of ‘the three white poisons’. I had gone to see my brother who stays in Bangalore with a friend. As we went for some grocery shopping, I saw his friend put a packet of white flour into the shopping cart. I could not help it. I had to tell them. I told it is not good for health and it will cause Diabetes Mellitus if you eat it frequently. The awareness about diet and health is so less in the common man and the ‘un-vulnerability’ feeling of youth got the better of him. He had to take the flour. In spite of my warning him, he has to take it. ‘Rotis are softer, you know, when you use white flour’ he retorted. And into the cart went a packet of biscuits, bread, cup cakes, Maggi, Yipee noodles, a bottle of jam, butter, to my utter dismay. The three white poisons staring at me and as though sneering at my futile efforts to fight them.  

You may now be curious why I called them ‘poison’, and here is the explanation. 

White flour or maida is the refined form of wheat. To improve the shelf life of white flour, the whole wheat is processed to remove its kernel and bran. This produces a white powder devoid of the natural oils, Vitamins and dietary fibre.

In processed white flour chemical substances like alloxan is added to make it soft and white. And alloxan is a chemical used in pharmaceutical experiments to induce diabetes in lab rats as it destroys beta cells of the islets of Langerhans. One can gauge the seriousness of the problem if he knew of the complications of diabetes, which ranges from numbness in hands and feet, blindness, gangrene in the foot, kidney failure to list a few. Also, refined carbohydrate can be easily over consumed leading to excess of calorie intake, a risk factor for obesity.  So, isn’t it poison that we are consuming so happily. One can list out the health problems that obesity can lead to but that would be never ending.

Why berate the poor bottle of sugar now? Again, sugar is consumed without any hesitation and with utmost relish in most homes. We have so frequently heard of the phrase ‘you know, I have a sweet tooth, can you please give me an extra sweet? Or I have diabetes, but I’ll have just one sweet before my wife sees’. The average person consumes about 24 kg of sugar every year. Sugar is made by refining sugarcane syrup or beet root syrup by diffusion, treatment with milk of lime, evaporated and crystallised. The most common form would be sucrose crystals. Other forms are liquid sugar, treacles, sugar alcohols, brown or unrefined sugar.  In the form of sweeteners, it is maltodextrin. Sugar is refined form being processed from the beet root or sugarcane stem to the sparkling white crystals. It is now devoid of any goodness a natural food could provide. And to add to that, sugar is hypothesized to cause diseases like obesity, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, tooth decay, and even Alzheimer’s disease. So, beware of the spoonfuls of white poison you add for your tea or the sweet meat you eat with so much pleasure.

Now, the third item in the trio- salt. Oh yes, the ubiquitous bottle of white powder on the dining table. In most dining places, it is considered not ‘up to the mark’, if the waiter fails to provide salt and pepper powder on the table. Salt, speaking of its importance, one is reminded of Birbal’s story when he answers ‘salt’ to Akbar’s question as to what is important and he proves his point by feeding his royal guest with a feast devoid of salt. And it is indeed true, salt adds to the flavour of things like nothing else. But do we know what havoc it wreaks inside your body when it is consumed. I suppose not. Salt or sodium chloride is considered inevitable whenever we cook anything. It is proven by research that overconsumption of salt can lead to diseases like hypertension, stroke and may increase the risk of heart attack. The body requires 2000mg of sodium chloride per day for its normal functioning. But we need not consume it separately as this much amount of sodium and chloride is available in the foodstuff that we consume daily. Also, preserved foods like pickles, butter, bread, and canned food all contain extra sodium chloride to prolong the shelf life of the products.  

Yes I agree life should be lived to the fullest with zest and not in fear of an impending doom. But what I want to emphasize here is ‘if you lose money, you lose nothing; if you lose health, you lose something; if you lose character, and you lose everything’. By being reckless in our eating habits, one has very high chances of acquiring diseases and with ailments; life is not so enjoyable anymore. The solution to the issue at hand is moderation and substitution. If we know that these three substances cause so many problems, should we continue being slaves to our tongue and bring on the problems upon ourselves. Wisdom lies in healthy choices. White flour can be substituted by whole wheat or brown rice. Sugar can be substituted by honey or jaggery. Salt can be consumed less.

Brahma astra against the three white poisons:

• ·         Use ragi (finger millet) powder or whole wheat instead of white flour.
• ·         Use honey or jaggery instead of sugar.
• ·         Decrease salt in food preparation and do not keep the salt bottle on the dining table.
• ·         Avoid bakery items like- bread, biscuits, cakes, muffins.
• ·         Avoid packaged noodles, soup powders, fruits juices.
• ·         Avoid pickles, ready to eat preparations, canned fruits and vegetables.
• ·         Avoid chips and snacks available in stores.
• ·         Prepare snacks at home and eat more of veggies and fruits.
• ·         And drink 3-4 litres of water a day.
•       Conserve your life energy, eat healthy and be healthy. Enjoy life the natural way.

Sarve bhavantu sukhinah (may all be blessed)

Love and regards,

Roshni