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Fruit juices - adding colour and health to your life
Easy to prepare, a good friend of your taste buds, a hit all through the year and good for your health – that’s a glass of fresh juice, which can also add glow and energy to your life. Fresh juice is healthy and we all know that drinking the real thing is better than the sugary alternatives that are packed months before they reach the consumers. Fresh juices benefit us in the following ways:
They provide minerals, vitamins, essential fatty acids, carbohydrates and proteins
- Help improve energy levels
- Good for the skin
- Strengthen the immune system
- Make the bones stronger
- Despite all the benefits that fruit juices offer, there are certain things we need to know about fresh juice.
Is it OK to drink as much juice as we want daily?
No, water should be the main source of liquid and it is always better to have fruits in their natural form rather than as juice. Why? Because we all add sugar and salt to the fruit juice we make at home. This increases the amount of sugar in our diet and thus, the calorie load. But we don’t really perceive drinks to be food. Eating a whole pomegranate or having three or four oranges in a row is a cumbersome job. But we would gallop a big glass of juice in a few seconds and even forget to count them as calories. So, if you take two servings of fruit in a juice, ideally you should forego your evening snacks.
Should we drink juice daily?
Drinking juice is an easy way to have two fruit servings per day that is good for the daily quota of vitamins. But, keep a check on the sugar added to the juice. It’s best to have fresh juice without any sugar or salt. Though such juice might taste a bit bland and sometimes sour as in the case of orange juice, you would gradually develop a taste for them. The best choice for a daily habit of juice is carrot, apple and ginger, made with only one piece of fruit. Carrots are sweet but lower in calories and have about half the carbohydrates of fruits. Celery is also a nice low-calorie filler. Have a look at the amount of carbohydrates different fruits have.
- Orange –16 g
- Grapes – 28 g
- Pomegranates – 26 g
- Pineapple – 19 g
- Apple – 21 g
How to use the juicer?
Now the next thing is how to use the juicer at home to get the best juice. The foremost thing is to get a good quality juicer, preferably ISI marked. If you want the fibre benefits, then put all the vegetables and fruits into a blender and don’t use a juice extractor. While ordering fresh juice from outside, be sure about the hygiene and ensure that they are using a blender, not an extractor. Extractors make a smooth drink but they remove the all-important fibre from the juice.
Are juices good for children?
Replacing water with juice for children can cause diarrhoea. Having juice everyday can help to develop lifetime sweet tendencies in children. So, juices should be an occasional drink for children. Eating fruit in its natural form and relying on water, as the source of liquid, are better alternatives. Nevertheless, fruit juice is better than having aerated drinks.
Tips on getting best out of your juices
Always wash fruit and vegetables – even organic produce could carry bacteria.
Include the stems and leaves of vegetables because they have a high vitamin and mineral content.
Drink a juice within half an hour of preparing it, or it can get oxidised by exposure to air and develop a sour taste.
If you must prepare juice early, keep it refrigerated with a tight lid. Or freeze in daily-serving-size containers immediately and drink it straight after thawing.
Include the white inner skin of citrus fruits, as it is full of beneficial bioflavonoids.
Add lemon juice to preserve the natural colour and reduce the oxidation of essential nutrients.
If you want to lose weight, then drink vegetable juices, as they contain fewer calories than fruit juice.
If you have a sensitive stomach or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), ensure that you dilute juices with water (three parts of juice with one part of water).
Easy to make juice-based drinks
Watermelon drink
Ingredients - 3 cups watermelon (washed and cut into small pieces), sugar (as per taste), 3 tablespoon skimmed milk, ice cubes.
Method - Blend the ingredients in a blender and refrigerate. Pour the prepared drink into serving glass, add ice cubes and serve.
Nutritive value of the watermelon juice - Apart from providing energy, watermelon protects against age-related symptoms of vision loss, fights heart disease, reduces cancer risk and is loaded with anti-oxidants. So, a glass of watermelon drink everyday not only quenches your thirst but also offers a range of health benefits.
Carrot, celery and cabbage juice
Ingredients - 2 cucumbers, stalks of celery, a piece of ginger, a handful of parsley, piece of apple or citrus fruit
Method - Wash all vegetables and juice them together. Serve it fresh.
A glass of fruit or vegetable juice takes very little digestion. It goes right into your body and is a very yummy way of getting instant energy. Fruit juices can energise your life.
Daily dose of aspirin prevents heart attacks
A daily dose of aspirin can help prevent heart attacks in middle age people, say experts. Heart attacks occurs when a clot blocks a blood vessel, but aspirin makes it harder for blood clots to form. An analysis led by researchers from Nottingham and Sheffield universities suggests that men from the age of 48, and women from 57 are likely to benefit from the drug. The study involving almost 12,000 patients between 30 and 75 years of age showed that by the age of 47 in men and 58 in women, the 10-year coronary heart disease risk is 10 per cent, which is worth treating.
Dealing with a urinary problem - Urinary incontinence in women
Incontinence, put in simple terms, is a state in which a person loses control over his/her bladder, leading to involuntary urination. It could either be a temporary phase, lasting a few hours or days, or, in extreme cases, can assume embarrassing proportions.
Incontinence is of various types and can strike any person, at any stage. The condition can be prevented or treated, yet it has been a cause for concern because it can lead to various other ailments. A stressed and sedentary lifestyle adds to the problem.
What are the main causes of urinary incontinence? Thinning and drying of the skin in the vagina or urethra, especially after menopause, weakened pelvic muscles, certain medicines, build-up of stool in the bowels, not being able to move around, urinary tract infection and diabetes are some of the major causes.
Types of urinary incontinence: There are two types of urinary incontinence. One is called stress incontinence, which occurs when urine leaks because of sudden pressure on your lower stomach muscles. Such pressures are there when you cough, laugh, lift something or exercise. It usually occurs when pelvic muscles are weakened. The other is the urge incontinence that occurs when the need to urinate is felt too fast — before you can get to a toilet. Your body may only give you a warning of a few seconds before you urinate. It is most common in the elderly.
How to prevent this disease? The best way to prevent and delay incontinence is to maintain a diet rich in protein and fibre, and have a regular exercise regimen. Young mothers should ensure that they regularly perform pelvic floor exercises to keep the urinary tract and bladder healthy.
Will medicine or surgery help? Medicine helps in some cases. In case of women who have mild stress incontinence, surgery, too, can be helpful. It is usually done if other things haven’t worked or if incontinence is severe. Surgery: A number of different procedures are available. Less invasive surgery to implant a sling to support the urethra may be suitable for some women.
Obstructive sleep apnoea — a snorer’s disease
Are you having a pause in breathing during sleep? If yes, you may be suffering from sleep apnoea. Complete or partial obstruction of the airway during sleep causes loud snoring, a fall in body oxygen and frequent arousals. As a result, the sufferer has unrestful sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness. Incidence of hypertension, heart attack and stroke is higher in such patients. These patients often have impotence and emotional problems, depression, mood changes, poor memory, irritability and impaired concentration.
What are the causes? Sleep apnoea is caused by repetitive airway obstruction during sleep as a result of the narrowing of the upper respiratory passages. Such patients are often overweight, with extra fats deposited in throat and / or with an increased size of the velum and tongue leading to decreased upper airway lumen. Decreased airway muscle tone during sleep and falling of the tongue backward in the lying posture further reduce airway opening, thereby hindering airflow.
Patients with a severe form of the disease may have such episodes hundreds of times in an hour. This sleep fragmentation causes sleep deprivation and hence excessive daytime sleepiness.
How to diagnose sleep apnoea? Even though sleep apnoea is as common as asthma and diabetes, it often remains undiagnosed. The studies suggest that middle-aged 2 per cent women and 4 per cent men have symptomatic obstructive sleep apnoea. Since it is associated with significant misery and mortality, the disease must be suspected in the patient who complains of snoring or daytime sleepiness to pick up such cases at the earliest.
All suspected cases must undergo the “polysomnography test’ [sleep study] to confirm the diagnosis. In this technique, multiple physiologic parameters are measured while the patient sleeps in a laboratory.
How does a typical case behave? Most patients are overweight and typically have a short, thick neck. Middle-aged men and post-menopausal women are at a higher risk for the disease. The patient is often brought to the doctor by a family member who is being disturbed by the patient’s loud snoring. The partner may describe episodes in which the patient stops breathing and then gives a loud gasp when aroused by the breathing cessation.
The snoring and breathing cessation episodes may be worse after the patient drinks alcohol or takes sleeping pills, because these decrease throat muscle tone. Frequently, the patient falls asleep during sedentary activities, such as watching television or movie. In severe disease, the patient may report falling asleep in embarrassing situations, such as during meals or when sitting in a car stopped at a traffic light. The patient also complains of being tired on awakening in the morning. The patient often has to nap during the day but typically wakes up unrefreshed.
What are the treatment choices? The options include Continuous Positive Airway Pressure [CPAP] treatment, wearing an oral appliance at night, surgery and lifestyle changes like smoking cessation and weight loss. However, CPAP is the most common, most effective treatment and is considered as gold standard for these patients. With CPAP, the patient wears a snugly fitting nasal mask attached to a fan that blows air into the nostrils to keep the airway open during sleep.
Actually, it serves as “air splint” that keeps the airway from collapsing, thereby preventing breathing cessation.
DO YOU HAVE SLEEP APNOEA?
If you snore excessively and have any of the additional problems listed below, you may have sleep apnoea. Please consider discussing a sleep evaluation with your doctor
- Do you snore loudly?
- Does your bedroom partner complain about your snoring?
- Does your snoring wakes you up at night?
- Do you or your bedroom partner notice that you make gasping and choking noises during sleep?
- Do you have a dry mouth, sore throat or headache in the morning?
- Do you often fall asleep during the daytime when you want to stay awake?
- Are you often tired during the day?
- Do you have high blood pressure?
Prevention is Better than Cure
These words of wisdom by the 15th century Saint Kabir, though said in a different context, stand true in terms of the 21st century lifestyle and is apt for Preventive Medicine. In the developed countries the focus on preventive medicine has brought down mortality rates and increased life expectancy. It has the potential of reducing costly medical treatments. Indians today are facing the twin threat of unhealthy life styles and changing food habits. Healthy life style accompanied by Preventive Health Checkups is therefore the solution to a happy, healthy and longer life span.
What is Preventive Health Check Up ?
The normal misconception about these health check ups is that they are a series of investigations. Sarvodaya Hospital offer a different perspective to the health check ups. We at Sarvodaya Hospital have a holistic view of Preventive Medicine. It is a combination of Medicine, Diagnostics, Diet Plan and healthy life pattern ( which includes Regular Exercise, Meditation, Yoga etc). It is our approach towards health which differentiates us from the numerous existing Health Checkups.
Who should go for health check-ups ?
Every individual should undergo regular health checkups after the age of 25. The age when disease catches you is regularly coming down because of stressful lifestyle. The interval at which these health checkups should be done is normally a year but for some special groups it would be lesser than a year. Our Preventive medicine team not only suggests the ideal package suited to each individual but also sets the frequency for these checkups.
Sarvodaya Preventive Health Check-up Includes the followings:
- Routine Health Check-Up
- Executive Health Check-Up
- Comprehensive Health Check-Up
- Sarvodaya Heart Check-Up
- Sarvodaya Diabetes Check-Up
- Pre-Employment /Domestic Help
- Well-Women Check-Up
- Child Check-Up
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