I am a medical professional who is an enthusiastic writer. I enjoy writing about health, inspirational thoughts, beliefs and trust about life, healing, happiness. Our life is what our thoughts shape it. My intention of writing is to help readers, moving each day with new thoughts, new strengths en route to enhancing life and better health. I am also a mom and a wife.
I recently visited an old Dutch city of Haarlem. The city is just next to Amsterdam. It is famous for it’s historical relevance, the old wind mill, canals around the city. It was a busy port from the 13th Century. As old as from the 13th Century, you can enjoy the city ‘s delightful center place , the simmering Dutch good living and the typical quintessential European experience.
It is this beautiful Haarlem, which gave America’s Harlem, it’s name back when New York was “New Amsterdam”, a dutch colony.
I have tried to capture some scenic beauty of this centuries old city. Hope you will like them.
Researches show Gut health accounts to almost 70% of the body’s immunity. It’s an ecosystem of about 40 trillion microorganisms, living inside your body plays a vital role in almost every biological functions in your body. Therefore, it goes to show, how important a role, gut health plays every day to keep you healthy and strong from any kinds of diseases and sickness.
Too many information, too many dietary advice floating on the internet, not only makes you confuse but sometimes even give wrong information or just misleading information.
7 basic science backed recommendations for gut health :
1.There is no such thing called “The healthy diet”. If one diet works for one person may not work for another person. Therefore, the only basic dietary advice can be you should eat enough of plant-based food. You should feed yourself with varieties of veggies and fruits, preferably fresh and locally available. Probiotic foods are also gut friendly. Remember, you have a huge colony of microbes in your gut. If some may prefer some kind of food, other microbes may like some other kind of food. This way, you can make them happy and they work together for your stronger health.
Sugar foods
2.Big “NO” to sugar: Just say, “NO” to sugar and all artificial sweeteners. The natural sweetness in fruits and veggies and also natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup is not that harmful. Otherwise, sugar alters the composition and functions of natural gut microbes and becomes the feast for harmful bacteria and fungus-like Candida.
3. Say “NO” to processed food and food with preservatives. Harmful preservatives (Like polysorbate 80, carboxymethylcellulose ) alter the composition of gut microbes. Genetically Modified food (bioengineered food) are also very harmful to gut health because they use some kind of pesticides while growing them. Common GMO food is corn, soy, some veggies like zucchini, squash. So, organic, or naturally grown veggies and fruits are best.
3. Avoid popping up pills: Say no to antibiotics and NSAIDs (aspirin, Advil ) as far as possible. Both these drugs alter the composition and function of the gut microbiome. Use it only when necessary.
4.Please quit smoking: Studies have shown that smoking causes alteration in the composition of the gut microbiome. Therefore, another reason added to the list to quit smoking.
5 Get out in Nature: People living the sedentary city lives, hardly come across varieties of microbiomes. So, the only way to expose yourself to varieties of microbes, a wider ecosystem is going out in nature, spending as much time, going hiking, biking and lot more of physical activities.
6.Have a pet at home, that also helps to increase your microbiome diversity.
7. Routine advice: Get plenty of quality sleep of 7-8 hours, exercise and eat in scheduled time preferably. All of them contribute to your gut health.
Hello, my dear friends, I had the opportunity to visit an old medieval Castle in the Netherlands. The castle is situated at the centre of Netherlands, near Utretch. It is the most luxurious and biggest castle in Netherlands. It has the old European historic charm. Visiting the castle, took me back straight to my childhood fairy tales world. It is an ideal image of medieval fortress where the rich and famous Dutch family of early 20th century, Van Zuylen family used to reside.
I have taken a couple of pictures of this beautiful Castle. Hope you will like them .
Hello, my dear friends, today, I am writing on a topic which I am not very familiar but finds it very interesting. I am not a religious expert or have tons of spiritual knowledge. I am just a person who is always inquisitive to know and understand the deeper meaning of life and our existence.
Right from childhood, I have been hearing the word “Karma”. May be with much casualness, from parents and elders. Anything bad you do, you will be punished, and anything good you do, you will be rewarded. This has been taught to us not only at home but also in school, not just as spiritual lessons but also as moral science lessons. Anything good or bad happens in life, it’s either the good or bad fortune or the good or bad Karma. This shows that we have no personal control over our lives, it is as though we are experiencing some consequences of some past life destiny.
As I grow older with times, matures with experiences, the word ‘Karma” seems to hold some deeper meaning for me.
1.First, yes, there is always a divine force, an Universal Truth whom we call “God” or named Him with different faiths and who is beyond anything. He is our Creator. Another reality is that we are not just a body with a mind but a soul inside a body. As the law of gravity rules the physical world, the law of Karma determines the spiritual world. It is our direct connection, our sole responsibility towards our Creator.
2.As a spiritual being, we are accountable with our thoughts, intentions, actions in our day to day life towards our creation. Whatever, we do, goes out to balance the karmic debts, the responsibilities we have towards our creation. Therefore, Karma is not physical or time-bound. It is believed (in many religions) that the karmic debts can pass on from one lifetime to the next. Therefore, every moment, every thought, every action, every intention that we go through, experience and perform in our everyday life has accountability towards our creation and the Creator.
3.Karma is not about punishment, reward, revenge, retribution. It is all that is a memory. Whatever we sow, we reap the harvest accordingly. There is no good or bad harvest. Whatever we have sown, we get the result. That is what the karmic cycle is about ” what goes around, comes back around ”
By ego, it means simply, our identity of “self “. It is neither negative nor positive. As a human being to live and survive, we need a strong sense of identity to develop relationships, to thrive, to make a living, to succeed. So, there is nothing wrong with it. Chasing your dream, wanting to own a big house, an expensive car, to earn money, going for adventure is not at all bad.
But, when ego turns into pride, we become over conscious of our identity. When “self” rules life and when fear craves to overprotect our self-identity, then, ego can be disastrous to both us and the people around with whom we live. We become completely blinded of our true identity (soul identity) in order to protect our fake self or ego. We fail to understand, acknowledge and hold no room for other’s opinions and feelings as we think we are always right.
Fake self identity
So, religious practices like Buddhism preaches to conquer the ego and lead a life of our true self. Because, the ego is often identified as our false self, materialistic state, social status, the success which can never lead to happiness and peace within. So, how do we control our ego? Monks and yogis practised meditation for years to get into their true self and tarnished their ego. But, neither you and I have that much time or patience in our everyday life to practise to let go of our ego.
1.So, the easy way to control our ego is being aware of our existence, the limited time we live in this world. And to remember that death is inevitable and inescapable.
2. Staying grounded, and being in company of people that keep you grounded.
3.Realising the present moment, being grateful for it. To understand that living every moment is a blessing and gift.
4. Being aware and avoiding our egotistical pattern of thinking and reactions. (e.g. I am superior, I am better than others, No one can compete with me ….. so on). Reminding myself, that this world has been created by perception, not reality and everything here is transient, not permanent. Our real self and true nature is our relationship with the Universe and the Divine.
All these steps help us to be close to our true self and remind us that our ego is simply, a self-identity tool, just a survival trait in this competitive world and nothing else. We know when to draw the line and not losing our true self and peace.
Hello my dear friends, I was in this beautiful Swedish capital Stockholm last week. The city is very vibrant, beautiful , has the old European charm , an excellent travel destination. It encompasses around small 14 islands , situated along the Baltic Sea. Apart from historical relevance, it has the Nobel Museum which focuses on Nobel Prize.
Well, I have tried to capture the beauty of this magnificent city. Sharing with you some of my favourite clicks. Hope you will like them too.
City’s old town view.Another view of old city of Stockholm.Old City view at night .City Town HallRoyal Palace CathedralMarket street at Gamla StanA toy Gaul
Some 50 – 80 years ago, people rarely used the word “stress”. Maybe the word was just another word in the dictionary whose meaning had the least relevance in their lives. But, today, it is the most common widely used word in every individual’s life.
Today, everywhere, you go, stress can follow you. At home, at the office, stuck in traffic, getting late and the list goes on. Therefore, the most common causes of stress in people’s lives nowadays.
4 points of clarifications as to how genes are linked to stress.
1.Genetical predisposition: Often seen, some people tend to battle more with day to day stress than some other people. So, how are genes related to our body’s psychological response? Genes produce proteins which influences our body’s reactions to different psychological responses and, stress being one of them. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), are tiny differences in the genes which affect the release of hormones and proteins in the body and determine the psychological responses. This is a reason, different people react differently and have a different level of stress for the same particular situation.
2.COMT gene: Catechol – O– methyltransferase is an enzyme which causes the body to break the stress hormones like epinephrine, norepinephrine and dopamine.Epinephrine and epinephrine are hormones produces during extreme stress, under fight and flight response whereas dopamine is feel good (reward) hormone which also function as a neurotransmitter. So depending on which version of the COMT gene you have, your genotype can be a :
Warrior gene: Those who perform well under stress or under pressure.
Strategic gene: Those whose performance suffers during stress but performs well in calm situations. Combination of both: Those who are quite in between.
3.BDNF ( brain-derived neurotrophic factor): BDNF normally function as protecting and creating new neurons, strengthening the signals between neurons. As far as stress is concerned, this protein acts as a resilience factor. This helps you to tolerate and resist the stressful situation and can still act and make you perform without affecting your health and wellbeing.
4.Managing stress level: This is the most important part of this topic. So how do we manage stress level? Depending upon, genetic predisposition, you may be the either high or low level of stress resilience. So, easy steps to handle routine stress are: Breathing/relaxation: Deep breathing is a simple step that can be effective to control stress. Because, when you breathe deep, this makes the brain to relax and calm down. Exercise: When you exercise, your body releases endorphins, your body enters the feel-good phase. 2 types of endorphins: Anandamide and serotonin.
Exercise increases your level of anandamide which helps the body to produce BDNF which in turn helps to regulate stress. Serotonin is a feel-good chemical which makes you happy, motivated which can be boosted by exercise, walking, running or any physical activity which you enjoy doing. When serotonin is level is maintained, stress is less likely to occur.
3H:health,happiness,healing 