Body – Page 3 – Health Edited

Friday Five: November 14th, 2014

I’m back with the Friday Five feature for this month. Here are five thoughts/ideas/things that are bringing joy and delight into my life. I had written about the possibility of including guest posts for this feature and it looks like it is going to happen. Stay tuned for exciting guest posts next Friday onwards!

Fresh Turmeric Root

The fresh turmeric root was an impulse buy. I have seen it sit next to fresh ginger root in grocery stores for years, but have ignored it thinking that powdered turmeric was all that I needed in my kitchen. Turmeric powder is good, but fresh turmeric root is extraordinary. The fresh version has a subtle taste, a slight peppery tang to it, but it would be remiss of me to call it turmeric lite. It is the creator of the powder after all. I have been julienning it, grating it and juicing it (in a garlic press) into my dishes, and my-oh-my, it adds glorious color, flavor and magic every single time. Just around the time I started buying fresh turmeric root, I had a scary-very-apt-for-Halloween cut on my finger. The few people who were allowed to peek under the band-aid said that it needed multiple stitches. Six weeks later, there are no signs whatsoever of the once upon a time cut. Our ancients were so certain of turmeric’s healing prowess, that they named the root, Kanchani, or the golden goddess in Sanskrit. You can also bring the goddess home today to heal your wounds, external or internal.

Medjool Dates

Deep brown in color with a caramel like flavor, medjool dates are embodiments of nature’s sweetness. Brimming with nutrients like vitamin A, B, potassium and iron, they make an energizing snack all by themselves or they make an excellent substitute for sugar. I have been using them to sweeten smoothies, truffles and puddings. Something magical happens when bananas, coconut milk and a touch of cardamom meet these dates in the blender. It is like they go on an awesome date (sorry, I could not resist) or something.

Hygge

It is that cold time of the year and if you are worried about plunging into Seasonal Affective Disorder, embrace Hygge. What is Hygge? It is a Danish word and it is hard to translate it into English. It is the reason why the Danes are considered the happiest people on earth despite long, dark and dreary winters. Describing the concept, Helen Dyrbye in the Xenophobe’s Guide to the Danes says that,

“It is the art of creating intimacy: a sense of comradeship, conviviality and contentment rolled into one.”

Simply put, it is the driving away of darkness and coldness through the luminosity and warmth of you and those around you. It is your everyday Deepavali or Christmas. Hygge is both a ceremony involving cozy candle light dinners as well as a feeling. So what will you do today to bring Hygge into your life?

Nag Champa Incense

Each stick weighs a gram and burns for one whole hour. Each stick is a special blend of resins, flower essences, herbs and natural sandalwood oil. Each stick is hand rolled. The scent is gentle, earthy and lingering, and is resonating with me, big time. I burn one stick every day; it wraps and cradles me with light, love and Hygge.

Maria Popova’s Literary Jukebox

It is a Brain Pickings project where quotes are imaginatively, reflectively and thematically matched with songs. When asked about the inspiration behind the project, Maria said,

“I have music on practically all the time and spend an inordinate portion of my waking hours reading, so it’s unsurprising that this synesthetic quality would manifest itself [for me] most powerfully in the relationship between literature and music.”

I have been spending an inordinate amount of time on this site. Here is one of my favorites, time seems to expand with this Proust with Murdoch pairing.

Sources:

California College of Ayurveda; Turmeric: The Golden Goddess
Dr. Mercola; What are Dates Good For?
Mother Nature Network; How ‘hygge’ can Help you Get Through Winter
Library Journal; Q & A; Maria Popova on Literary Jukebox

Squat

A scene from The Good Road, a film that I watched last weekend at a local film festival, was so evocative that it filled me with a visceral longing. What does one of the main characters in the film, a truck driver, do when he is at a difficult crossroads, both physically and emotionally? He perches on top a granite milestone, next to a never-ending highway, amidst an arid landscape, in a squat position and ponders.

Watching him squat on the milestone with ease left me with a yearning to feel that comfortable in my body again. I remember squatting with ease when I was a child to examine exciting objects on the floor or to play with sand on the beach. I squatted in malasana or the garland pose in my yoga classes. I also squatted regularly during my pregnancies in preparation for labor and birth. And then somewhere along the way, I stopped doing yoga, forgot about squats for years until I watched this film last Friday. It triggered a muscle memory of efficacy and familiarity with the squat position that I once possessed.

The benefits of squats are many. Touted as a complete workout in one single movement by fitness trainers and enthusiasts, the movement builds muscle not just in best online casino the lower half of the body, but deep down in the core and the upper half of the body too. Squats create an anabolic environment in the body that promotes the release of the human growth hormone, which in turn builds strength in the entire body. Just as it builds strength, the movement also improves flexibility in the joints, especially in the knees and the lower back. In addition, research studies link squats with increased athletic performance, specifically in the areas of jumping higher and running faster.

In its yogic version or malasana, the squat is considered grounding and centering. An ideal prenatal exercise, it helps stretch the ankles and feet and open up the hips, groin and inner thighs. This pose is useful for decreasing tension from the lower back and also relieving lower back pain. It is said that practicing the pose regularly, improves balance, coordination and concentration. In addition it helps with digestion and elimination. In fact, malasana is considered supreme for metabolism and digestion.

That got me thinking. On a daily basis, we digest so much more than the food we eat. We digest and metabolize the books we read, the music we hear, the air we breathe, the sights we see and the emotions we feel. Is that what that truck driver in the film was doing? Did the squat on the milestone help him metabolize the difficult circumstances around him? Is squatting elemental to the human condition? Without spoiling the film for you (just in case you decide to watch it), I’ll say that he decided to do the right thing. He decided to choose light over darkness.

Life poses big and difficult questions, and sometimes getting into a pose can help us process them. These days you will find me squatting or at least trying to squat with childlike glee. I have examined the contents of all the lower cabinets in my kitchen in the squat position (with support). I’m also brushing my teeth in the squat position. At least for me, the benefit of squatting is squatting itself, it is a reward in itself. It is deeply satisfying in and of itself. Strength, musculature, elasticity, balance, increased mobility, concentration, enhanced digestion and a better metabolism are just bonus.

Sources:

Dr. Mercola; Squats: 8 Reasons to do this Misunderstood Exercise
Mark’s Daily Apple; Why Squatting Is So Important (plus Tips on How to Do It Right)
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research; Concurrent strength and endurance training effects on running economy in master endurance runners.
Love my Yoga; Squat Pose
Image Credit: Rediff.com

Why Women Experience more Hair Loss in the Fall

Have you noticed an increase in hair fall in the Fall? For me, the increase in hair loss begins in mid-October and continues until the beginning of December. I joke that I’m so tuned in with nature that my hair cannot help but mirror what the leaves of trees do around this time of the year, they fall. It turns out that the observation is not just a result of my active imagination; research confirms that healthy women lose more hair in the autumn months than any other time of the year.

In a study published in the journal Dermatology in 2009, scientists from Sweden tracked more than 800 healthy women over six years and reported that they lost most hair in the Fall. The study explains that the seasonality of hair loss is linked to the human hair growth cycle. The Swedish researchers say that human hair grows for a period of two to six years. At any given time, 90 percent of our hair is growing and the remaining 10 percent is, in what is called a telogen (resting) phase. The telogen phase lasts for 2 to 6 months before hair starts falling out and growing again. It turns out that the women in the study had the highest proportion of their resting or telogen hair in July. The telogen state ended 100 days later and started falling out in October. After all the telogen hairs fell out, the increased hair fall stopped in the beginning of winter, and a new phase called the Anagen (growing) phase started and the whole process was repeated again.

This is going to be a short post. If you notice increased hair loss in the Fall, please don’t stress. In the autumn months, the light is softer, colors more vivid, and your hair loss, more pronounced. Your hair cycle has a rhythm, just like everything else in the universe.

The Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore said,

“The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.”

For now, continue to eat foods that nourish your body, be gentle with your hair and surrender to the seasonality of the natural hair growth cycle. New growth is just around the corner.

Sources:

Journal Dermatology; Seasonality of Hair Shedding in Healthy Women Complaining of Hair Loss

Goodreads; Rabindranath Tagore Quotes

Zen in a cup of Green Tea

I would like to make a case for green tea today. In today’s world of Vitamixes and exotic super-food smoothies, a cup of green tea is a simple, affordable and accessible source of drinkable nourishment.

The Japanese tea ceremony is a beautiful one. Also called chanoyu, it traces its origins in Zen Buddhism. Seeking to purify the mind and experience oneness with nature, the ceremony involves carefully choreographed steps, using special ceramics and performed in an intimate space, designed to hold no more than four to five people. The tea-room is usually modeled after a hermit’s hut and surrounded by a Zen garden; intended to give the participants, a space to retreat from the everyday world.

Although, we may not be able to regularly participate in elaborate ceremonies in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, taking the time to brew and drink green tea in a mindful way brings in a moment of contemplation and beauty into an ordinary day. Moreover, brewing the tea carefully, extracts more antioxidants from it and brings out its maximum healing potential.

The healing powers of green tea have been known in Asia for thousands of years and in recent times, all over the world. Green tea has been widely researched for its role in preventing and treating chronic medical conditions such as arthritis, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. The antioxidants in green tea have wonderful little compounds called catechins, the most angelic among them, epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG, which is at the heart of green tea’s medicinal fame. Recent studies indicate that EGCG may play a strong role in keeping dementia and Alzheimer’s disease at bay. The compound not only provides neurons with strong protection against the cognitive and memory impairments, but also encourages the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus (seat of memory and learning) region of casino online the brain, essentially reversing the disease.

The EGCG content of your cup of tea totally depends on how you brew your tea. Learning to brew tea with care is key; It not only helps in releasing the most antioxidants from tea leaves, but also gently nudges to you savor the mindfulness and serenity that is at the center of tea. Here is how you do it, both for medicinal and spiritual benefits.

Use good quality loose green tea leaves rather than bagged tea to release more antioxidants into your cup. However, if you have to use tea bags for convenience, make sure that the bag is completely immersed in the hot water.
Brew green tea in boiling water to extract higher polyphenol content from the leaves. Tea steeped in a temperature of 100 degrees centigrade or higher is reported to release more antioxidants than tea brewed at lower temperatures.
Allow tea to steep for at least for two minutes and up to five minutes to release the most polyphenols from it. The levels of three polyphenols in green tea called catechins, theaflavins, and thearubigins increase directly in proportion to steeping time.
Add lemon juice to green tea to increase its health benefits. Antioxidants in green tea that don”t survive the digestive process have a better chance of doing so with the addition of a citrus juice. Purdue researchers report that lemon juice, and other citrus juices like orange, lime, and grapefruit juices help in optimizing the antioxidant power of green tea.
Use filtered water to bring out the best taste of tea. Drink your green tea as soon as it is prepared to maximize its benefits. That is, don’t microwave it because your tea cooled down.
You may not have a tea-room, but you can allocate a quiet spot near a window with a view of a garden to savor your cup.
Hold the cup of green tea in both your hands. Savor its warmth and linger in a place of contentment where your thoughts and feelings gently reveal themselves to you, one by one.

The great tea master Sen No Rikyu said, “The Way of Tea is naught but this: first you boil water, then you make the tea and drink it.”

That to me is the simple wonder that is green tea.

Sources:

Zen Stories of the Samurai

The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Japanese Tea Ceremony

Life Extension; How Green Tea Protects Against Alzheimer’s Disease

Purdue University; Citrus juice, vitamin C give staying power to green tea antioxidants

The World’s Healthiest Foods; Can you still benefit from canned or bottled green tea or does green tea need to be freshly steeped?

Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture; Factors affecting the levels of catechins and caffeine in tea beverage: estimated daily intakes and antioxidant activity

Dr. Weil; How to Boost Green Tea Benefits

Five Healthy Orange Foods for Halloween

Living both a healthy and a colorful life, are pursuits, that can go hand in hand. Mother nature, it turns out, can be a little bit of a drama queen. She loves to put on a show by enticing us with colorful fruits and vegetables that dazzle us with their innate radiance. Brightly colored orange foods that are inherently attractive, are the very ones that contain all kinds of healthy compounds. It turns out that we eat with our eyes too, and foods that nourish our aesthetic eye, also create physiological changes deep down to nourish our bodies.

Let us tune in to the color orange today, the color of Halloween and the color of happiness. Tae Yun Kim, the author of The First Element; Secrets of Maximizing your Energy says,

“Orange strengthens your emotional body, encouraging a general feeling of joy, well-being, and cheerfulness.”

Deanna Minnich, author of Chakra Foods for Optimum Health also emphasizes the importance of orange colored foods for our emotional and creative bodies. She says,

“Viewing or eating orange colored foods can restore the sacral chakra (the seat of emotions and creativity) to its correct vibration.”

Nutrients-wise, orange colored foods are rich sources of carotenoids like beta-carotene, which are superb antioxidants that promote radiant skin, healthy vision and a rock solid immune system. Ready to dive in? Here are five orange hued foods, three tried and tested, two relatively new, but all of them, stunning.

Carrots are quick, easy and inexpensive sources of beta-carotene. Eat them cooked with a little bit of fat for enhanced absorption of their natural form of vitamin A. They are nourishing when cooked as a soup or a stew and shine in them as carotenoid angels. However, they are also cleansing and liver protective when eaten raw. So don’t forget to have them raw in a salad or as a juice also.

Saffron is an expensive spice, but I like having it around in my pantry, both for its gorgeous color and its distinctive taste. It is called the happy casino online spice for good reason. Known to bring relief for mild to moderate depression, a 2008 study from Iran published in the prestigious British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, also reported the spice’s role in warding off PMS symptoms. I use saffron mostly in desserts, as a garnish for puddings or as a sprinkle for cookies. It brings instant happiness.

Sweet Potatoes are the quintessential autumnal food. I would eat them just for their names. Garnet, Jewel, and Beauregard. And they bring nothing but sweet news when it comes to health. While they are an outstanding antioxidant food in terms of their carotenoid profile, they also have other benefits such as blood sugar regulation. Although they are starchy, sweet potatoes increase blood levels of adiponectin, a protein hormone responsible for insulin metabolism, according to World’s Healthiest Foods. They are easy to incorporate into your dishes; I just cut them into thick slices, steam them and use them in stews and soups.

Goji berries are not as mainstream as say strawberries in the Western world, but their nutritional and medicinal prowess has been acknowledged for thousands of years in Tibet and China. Time to bring them into our lives too. They contain more carotenoids than carrots (sorry carrots) and more vitamin C than oranges. They also contain 18 different amino acids and several trace minerals. Known to be life extending in Chinese medicine, legend has it that a Taoist hermit lived for 500 years due to his daily consumption of the berries. I like them for their lovely color, a pinkish orange and dunk a few into my cup of ginger tea.

Mention mangoes and my eyes light up. Maybe it is because of carotenes (they are vision friendly after all) or maybe it is because the fruit is inextricably tied to my roots. The botanical name of the mango is Magnifera indica, indica indicating ,that it comes from India. Traditional Indian medicine hails the mango as a calming food full of prana or life force. Nutritionally speaking, mangoes are great sources of for their vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber and potassium. In addition, they also contain proteolytic enzymes, similar to the enzyme papain in papayas that calm the alimentary canal and promote digestion.

So which of these delicious gems are you going to eat today?

Sources:

Tae Yun Kim; The First Element; Secrets of Maximizing your Energy

Deanna Minnich; Chakra Foods for Optimum Health

BGOJ; Crocus sativus L. (saffron) in the treatment of premenstrual syndrome: a double-blind, randomised and placebo-controlled trial.

World’s Healthiest Foods: Sweet Potatoes

Care 2; Goji Berries; Worthy of the Name ‘Super-Food’

Ratna Rajaiah; How the Banana Went to Heaven

Three Ideas for Spectacular Breast Health

Every October, what if we focused our attention on breast health instead breast cancer? What if, during this month, we send love instead of fear to this beautiful area of our body? I have wanted to write a post about breast health (a subject close to my heart) this month, and it is the 24^th. Phew! These three ideas are a starting point for what you can start doing today for spectacular breast health in the near future.

Reach an Optimal Vitamin D Status

Even if you have a family history of breast cancer or have mutations of the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes, there is much you can do today to heal yourself. Remember, that biology is not destiny and healing is possible, anytime, anywhere.

Dr. Mercola says, “The KEY to remember here is that it is NOT your genes that dictate your health but rather the expression of your genes. You have the ability to easily turn genes on and off with your lifestyle and emotional state.”

Vitamin D does much more than helping us achieve a phenomenal skeletal system. It has a profound effect on the expression of genes. A 2010 study done at the Genomics Unit of the University of Oxford found that Vitamin D had a wide-ranging effect on health and influenced the expression of 229 genes! Isn’t that all kinds of amazing?

Symbolically, our Vitamin D status represents the energy of sunlight, of universal light, in the body. “Sunlight and crown chakra energy can permeate our physical being and spark certain cell processes”, says Deanna Minich, author of Chakra Foods for Optimum Health.

Even if you can’t commit to the Crown Chakra line of thought just think about how good it feels to spend time soaking up some sunshine. You feel like a new person right? That same feeling goes all the way down to the elemental cells that you are made of and rejuvenates them. Schedule blood work, and do whatever it takes, a vacation in the Tropics or a quality Vitamin D3 supplement, to reach optimal Vitamin D status.

Improve Estrogen Metabolism

While not that much can be done about the amount of estrogen you have in your body, some of us naturally have more than others, much can be done about how your body breaks down or metabolizes that estrogen. It turns out that estrogen metabolism, and not the quantity of estrogen, is key to breast health.

Suzy Cohen, America’s Most Trusted Pharmacist says,
“When estrogen breaks down in the human body, it can form several smaller molecules. The safest by-product is called “2-methoxyestradiol.” Other estrogen by-products are not as friendly in the body, and may increase your risk for cancer. I’ll call those ‘bad’ forms 4 and 16 estrogen to keep things simple.”

So what should you do so that your body makes more of the safe estrogen molecules? You may have heard that broccoli prevents breast cancer. The reason it does so is because, it breaks down estrogen into the friendly #2 metabolite, rather than the #4 or #16. All cruciferous vegetables help, but you may want to look into a supplement called DIM, which contains a compound called deiindolymethane, a phytonutrient found in cruciferous vegetables to catapult this process. Other supplements that may help, according to Suzy Cohen, are rosemary extract, folic acid, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B 12, magnesium and an amino acid called methionine. Talk to your doctor about taking one or more of these supplements, especially if you have symptoms of estrogen dominance like fibroids, ovarian cysts, etc.

Break the Cycle of Martyrdom

Women often take on the role of nurturers in the family without taking the time to nurture themselves. Love and compassion for others can quickly turn into a downward spiral, turn into suffering and martyrdom, when the mother or mother-figure lavishes love on everyone in the family, but does not feel worthy of receiving kindness herself.

You don’t have to turn into a narcissist overnight, but you have to decide that you are worthy of care and compassion. Treat yourself just like you treat your beloved child or a lovely friend. This could mean anything from claiming and expressing your creativity to spending time in nature just by yourself or cooking a multi-course meal of your favorite foods.

And how does this relate to breast health? Good question.

Dr. Christiane Northrup, author of Women’s bodies, Womens Wisdom says, “The energy of giving and nurturing others unconditionally draws on all the organs of the fourth chakra, or energy center: the breasts, heart, lungs, upper spine, and shoulders. But the love that makes maternal nurturance so life-affirming must be replenished regularly—otherwise it leads to health problems in those same organs.”

Even if you have a difficult time aligning with this energetic suggestion for breast health, practicing self love can only do great things for body, mind and soul. Feeling gorgeous in your own skin and experiencing deep happiness is not selfish, it is healthy and it is important.

Sources:

Dr. Mercola; At Least Two Thirds of Breast Cancer Cases are Likely Avoidable

Phys. Org; Vitamin D found to influence over 200 genes, highlighting links to disease

Deanna M. Minich; Chakra Foods for Optimum Health

Dr. Christiane Northrup; Energetic Breast and Heart Disease Prevention

Suzy Cohen; Breast Cancer Ebook

Image Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Have a Yummy Diwali!

Diwali is here! Well, it is almost here; I enjoy the days leading unto Diwali as much as the days of the festival themselves. We gather in the kitchen, the entire family gets involved and whip up some sweets that often get consumed before d-day(s). I think that indulgent treats, especially when they are home-made with love, should be a part of everyone’s diet. Absolutely no guilt involved. Here are some treats that we have been making.

Date-Almond-Walnut-Laddoo

Ingredients:
1 cup of almonds
1 cup of walnuts
12 Mejdool dates
A tablespoon of ghee
Cardomom Powder 1/2 a teaspoon
Saffron: a few strands soaked in a tiny bit of almond milk

Pan roast the almonds and walnuts for a slight crunch. Leave them raw, if you don’t desire the crunch in your munch. Grind the nuts into to a coarse powder, so that they resemble breadcrumbs. Pulverize the dates and ghee in a food processor until you have smooth buttery paste. Transfer the nut flours and the date paste into a large dish. Add the cardamom powder and saffron slush. Mix until the ingredients mingle and unify. Taking small balls of the mixture, roll between the palms of your hands to form soft laddoos. So simple, no? Bursting with energy, eat one(or four) to trump over the afternoon slump. Or whenever you feel like it.

Almond-Coconut Cookies with Saffron Sprinkles

Ingredients:
2 cups of almond flour
1/4th cup of coconut oil
1/4th cup of honey
A splash of vanilla extract.
Cardamom powder
Saffron strands

The first three ingredients are sourced from Costco. Convenient. Mix the first five ingredients until they are combined, cut into circles, stars or whatever you fancy, and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. I decorated my cookies (before baking) with saffron strands to give it a festive Indian twist. Try making them, they are unbelievably easy and rather tasty. The original recipe is from Ms. Detoxionista, I just gave it that saffrony sprinkle. And skipped the frosting.

Halvah

Ingredients:
A jar of Tahini (mine was 26 oz)
3 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil
1/2 a cup of maple syrup
A teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 teaspoons of black elderberry syrup
Bee Pollen for rustic decoration and nutrition

Gently melt the coconut oil. Mix it with the maple syrup, black elderberry syrup and vanilla. In a large mixing pot, scoop out all the tahini and add the coconut-maple-elderberry-vanilla liquid. Integrate the ingredients until you have a aromatic slush. Pour it into a stainless steel thali like I did, or into any other container. Wrap it with seran wrap and freeze for 2 hours. Bring the dish out, sprinkle with bee pollen and cut into pieces. Put it back into the freezer and freeze for a few more hours. The original recipe is from the phenomenally talented Susan Jane White. I skipped the nuts since the other two sweets were nut based. And added the blackberry syrup for a dose of color and immune-supporting flavonoids. The sprinkle of bee pollen adds an additional dose of immune support to this treat. Pop one of these into your mouth, and you’ll be led, from darkness into light. Instant nirvana guaranteed.

A happy and yummy Diwali from our family to yours! May the festival of lights bring joy, peace and harmony into your life.

Featured Image Credit: Sridhar Chandrashekar

Friday Five: October 2014

I have five thoughts/ideas/things this Friday that you might want to add to your arsenal – for warmth, health, joy, serenity and inspiration. These five ideas/things have been rocking my world the past few days. I hope to make “Friday Five” (monthly feature for now) a permanent feature in my blog and possibly invite people to share their ideas too.

Traditional Medicinals Organic GingerZingiber officinale has to offer. If you love the taste of ginger, this tea is for you. It is spicy with just the right amount of bite and great for fighting all types of chills, whether they are real or perceived. It is soothing as an after or before meal drink for its ability to promote digestion. I have a cup or two just by itself and sometimes add a stronger brew to my stews and soups. I buy loads of fresh ginger, always have ginger paste and powder in my spice cabinet and also have this tea around to keep my days bright and gingery.

Walk

I celebrated a birthday recently and the only two things that I wanted to do on my day were to write and to walk. Putting one foot in front of the other is a primal need; it nourishes me deep down and fosters a true sense of joy. Mark of Daily Apple makes a moving case for walking by calling it an integral part of the human condition. He says, “Those walking genes, those urges best online casino to explore remain within us. We should honor, respect, and indulge them.”

This Photo Editor

An online photo editor called pho.to that not only performs basic functions like cropping, rotating and resizing, and correcting pictures, but also has fun filters, art effects and much more. It is fun, free, quick, and easy to use. You can download your masterpiece immediately (like I did for this post), and makes a handy little tool for bloggers, wherever you are.

Clear Clutter

Although I only manage to clear only a small area like a drawer or a cubicle in the closet, I have been consistently doing it for the last few days and the impact on my energy and wellbeing have been huge. Channels, that had not existed before, have opened up leading to new paths and delightful experiences! If you need inspiration, read this, Get Rid of Clutter and Change your life. Try it today, you have nothing to lose but clutter.

The Maptia Blog

You may have read the Maptia Manifesto and may have even signed it. I did. It is a great way to stay open to new experiences, follow your curiosity and trust your instincts. Their blog is brimming with wonderful posts like this one. You”ll learn more about the Scandinavian word Arbejdsglæde and get inspired to tell your own stories about spaces and places.

So this was my Friday roundup. What is yours? Do share. I hope to make “Friday Five” (do it once a month for now) a permanent feature in my blog and possibly invite people to share their ideas too.

Four Health Reasons for Eating Okra

I have been crushing on okra for as long as I can remember. Lady’s finger (as we called it in India) was love at first bite, and family stories confirm that it has always been my favorite vegetable. As a child, I probably had a gut feeling that okra was good for me, and now it turns out that okra is indeed, phenomenal for the gut! Here are four important reasons why you should make this vegetable a part of your diet.

It has mucilage, darling!

What do slippery elm, marshmallow root, chia seeds, aloe, prickly cactus and okra have in common? It”s mucilage! What is mucilage? Mucilage is a polysaccharide, a gelatinous substance present in some plants and seeds and has tremendous healing potential. Due to its slippery nature, it can soothe and heal irritated and inflamed tissues in our digestive systems, making it particularly beneficial for digestive ailments like gastritis, ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, etc.

A recent 2014 study published in the journal PLOS One showed that polysaccharides in immature okra pods possessed an anti-adhesive property that had the ability of dislodging harmful bacteria from the stomach lining. The study reported that okra’s polysaccharides were particularly effective in inhibiting the adhesion of Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) to stomach tissue. H.pylori is that notorious spiral shaped bacteria; it penetrates the stomach’s protective lining, weakens it and makes it vulnerable to damage from stomach acids and left unchecked, increases the risk of stomach cancer. Eat okra regularly to send H. pylori and other harmful microorganisms on their merry way down the colon!

It has Fiber, the nice kind.

We all know that fiber is good for us. It helps with maintaining a healthy weight, normalizes blood sugar levels, lowers cholesterol, prevents constipation, etc. Fiber is so much more than the ‘roughage’ that we normally associate it with. From a satiety perspective, fiber is that part of a food that makes us feel full, whole, grounded and strong. When we use the phrase, ‘with every fiber of my being’ it describes something deep-down, it means, down to the tiniest, finest thing you made of. Structurally and symbolically, fiber in foods is similar, a component that keeps a food together and imparts it with integrity and strength.

Okra has both types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. It has a good amount of soluble fiber, to promote healthy cholesterol levels, and insoluble fiber for a healthy digestive tract. One hundred grams of the vegetable contribute towards 10% of our daily fiber intake. In addition to the quantity of fiber, okra gives us quality fiber. Unlike the hard corrosive fiber in some grains, okra contains a smooth benevolent fiber (thanks to its mucilage content), that gently slides along the colon, sweeping up toxins along the way.

It Helps with Kidney Function/Disease.

A 2005 study from China published in the Jilin Medical Journal reported that okra was beneficial for patients suffering from kidney disease. The study divided the participants into two groups, group 1 ate a traditional diabetic diet, while mobile casino group 2 ate okra daily in addition to following the traditional diabetic diet. Six months later the okra group not only saw a reduction in their urine protein and uric acid levels, but they were significantly happier too. I’m kidding about the happy part, but it might as well have been a side effect, right? Okra, thanks to its stellar nutritional profile, makes you healthy and joyful, which brings me to the next reason why you should regularly eat it.

It is Incredibly Nutrient Dense.

A cup of okra provides 50% of the daily requirement of Vitamin K! In addition to aiding in blood clots, new research suggests that Vitamin K is just as important as Vitamin D in immune support, bone health and has the potential to protect against several cancers.

Dr Mercola says, “Vitamin K has also been found beneficial in the fight against other cancers, including liver, colon, stomach, nasopharynx, and oral cancers, and some studies have even suggested vitamin K may be used therapeutically in the, treatment of patients with lung cancer, liver cancer, and leukemia.”

And Vitamin K is just the beginning.The vegetable also contains massive amounts of Vitamin C (a potent antioxidant and excellent for immune support), Folate (a must for women of child bearing age), Vitamin B6 (for those dreaded PMS mood swings and blood sugar control) and magnesium (for PMS, anxiety, migraines, and much more)!

What is Left to Say?

Okra is a super-food. It is super because it has substantial amounts of fiber, vitamins, minerals and it has that wonderful mucilage that I raved about earlier. It is one of those foods that is more texture than taste. If you are scared of the slime, sautee or pan fry it, but please don’t ignore it. This health edit is a must-try.

Sources:

Web MD: H. pylori (Helicobacter pylori)

PLOS: A Peer Reviewed Open Access Journal; Antiadhesive Properties of Abelmoschus esculentus (Okra) Immature Fruit Extract against Helicobacter pylori Adhesion

Jilin Medical Journal: The clinical research of Okra in treatment of diabetic nephropathy

Spirit Foods; Okra: A Mucilaginous Vegetable That Sweeps the Colon of Waste

Dr. Mercola; Could Vitamin K Hinder Future Cancers?

Greens 101: Fantastic Fenugreek

We love a good green! Chockfull of health-giving chlorophyll, vitamins, minerals and fiber, they have a permanent spot on our plates and in our hearts (green symbolizes the heart chakra, after all). After spinach, kale, collards, chard, and watercress, you’d think that that our plates and our (green)hearts would be full, but no. Medicinal and delicious, fenugreek leaves (fenugreenery) make an excellent addition to any green repertoire, even if it is already extensive. These leaves, also known as methi in Hindi, helba in Arabic and menthya in Kannada have been rocking traditional Indian and Middle Eastern diets since ancient times. They can rock your world too, starting now. Continue reading Greens 101: Fantastic Fenugreek