Health Care Blog

 Adults not having fruits   Eat out and still lose weight Contrary to what many believe, people can frequently go out to eat and still shed those extra kilos, researchers say. Investigators from The University of Texas at Austin enrolled 35 healthy, perimenopausal women aged 40 to 59 years who eat out frequently. Participants took part in a 6-week program called Mindful Restaurant Eating, a weight-gain prevention intervention that helps develop the skills needed to reduce caloric and fat intake when eating out. The focus of the programme was on preventing weight gain in this population, not weight loss. It is important to prevent weight gain in this population as increasing abdominal waist circumference from weight gain is greater during the perimenopausal years, which in turn increases the risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Even though the focus was on weight maintenance, the researchers found that participants in the intervention group lost ...

   While external care (shampoo, conditioner, keeping the scalp clean etc.) are a must for keeping the hair healthy, a balanced diet containing hair-friendly nutrients is also of paramount importance. Minerals like iron, calcium, potassium, selenium, magnesium etc. play a vital role in keeping the hair and scalp healthy. Protein is also crucial for ensuring good healthy hair growth.Protein deficiencies or low-quality protein can produce weak and brittle hair, and can eventually result in loss of hair color. Let’s take a look at five super foods for hair:     Whole Grains It is widely known that whole grains have more nutrients per unit than their refined counterparts. Add to this the large quantities of fibre they have which makes them really good for our digestive system. They can be easily digested, contain a lot of antioxidants and help keep chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, obesity and constipation at bay. All these qualities also make them ‘super-food...

Yellow marking in the skin around the eyes can be a sign of heart disease, according to scientists. A study of almost 13,000 people found people with the patches, known as xanthelasmata, were more likely have a heart attack or die within 10 years. The spots are deposits of cholesterol which are soft and painless. They don't interfere with vision and people often get them treated at a dermatologist. However, people with xanthelasma should go to their doctor as well, according to the research published online in the British Medical Journal. The heart disease link was most acute in men aged between 70 and 79. Those with xanthelasmata were 12 per cent more at risk than others without the condition. The corresponding risk for women in this group was eight per cent. However, the raised yellow patches around the eyelids was a more reliable sign of heart disease in women because of their lower overall risk The yellow markings (seen just above and below the corner of the eye) are de...

here's how you can help a friend or a relative when he/she suffers from a heart attack. 1. Call an ambulance. That should be the priority. 2. Don't panic. Ask the person suffering from the attack to try and relax. This will help reduce the damage to his/her heart. 3. Give the person an aspirin (300mg). Ask him/her to chew it or keep it under the tongue. If consumed with water, the tablet will take longer to react. Aspirin will reduce the aggression in the blood platelets (cells) and improve circulation. 4. You could also give the patient Sorbitrate (5mg). This tablet again, should be kept under the person's tongue. If the chest pain persists, you can give up to three tablets within the interval of five minutes. It is advisable for a person with heart-related disease to carry Sorbitrate (5mg) tablets with him/her. The tablet could reduce blood pressure and cause giddiness. If the patient feels giddy they should stop taking the tablet. 5. Other symptoms of a heart at...

Nutritionist Naini Setalvad and Consultant Dietician Sunita Dube whip-up a list of 100% vegetarian foods that will keep your heart fit and fab. Berries Berries like strawberries and cranberries are rich in antioxidants. “Antioxidants reduce the risk of heart disease,” says Consultant Dietician Sunita Dube. Antioxidants also help in reducing stress and thus prevents high blood pressure. Other sources of antioxidants are tomatoes, red bell peppers, prunes and green tea. “Fruits with high water content, like watermelon are also recommended as they contain lycopene (a powerful antioxidant),” says Naini. Nuts Nuts like walnuts, almonds and pistachios are a good source of protein, fibre and are cholesterol-free. “They provide your body with the ‘good’ fat or monounsaturated fat that increase HDL or the good cholesterol which keeps your heart healthy,” says Sunita. Seeds “Include a good amount of seeds (up to 2 table spoons) like flax seeds ( alsi ), sunflow...

Developing a lean, flat stomach takes time and patience, especially when it comes to those last few kilograms in those hard to lose places. There is only one way to lose fat in the so-called ’stubborn areas,’ and that is with the correct combination strength training (with a extra focus on mid-section), cardiovascular exercise (short, hard workouts), and stable blood sugar (keeps you from adding additional fat and makes it easier for the body to use body fat for fuel). Spot Reduction is a Myth - The first thing you need to realize is that it is impossible to ’spot reduce’ fat from one specific part of the body. Fat loss occurs systemically, meaning that you can’t control where the fat comes from. When you burn fat for energy, you will draw it from all areas of the body, and the first place you tend to put it on will be the last place it comes off. Cardio, cardio, cardio - Doing all the abs exercises in the world will do nothing if you have a layer of fat covering it. Doing strength...