Tag: diet

Gut Health 🙌

by drjurisharma, posted in life

Hello everyone ! Have a wonderful and safe day 🙋🏻

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Why is gut health so relevant these days ? Because, in the majority of the diseases, researches have shown that the underlying cause is due to an unhealthy gut.

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Most of us are not aware of the fact that within the twist and turn of the internal coils, that is the intestines, there is often a war between the good and bad bacteria. This struggle results in gut imbalance and thereby cause several health issues like autoimmune diseases, hormonal imbalances, mental health issues, metabolic diseases and even skin problems like acne, depigmentation and psoriasis.

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As we must have already known, the digestive tract carries millions of colonies of bacteria. The right bacterial flora within the coiling of the intestines is bestowed upon many functions to perform to maintain a healthy body. They are responsible for breaking down food into energy, eliminate waste and toxins, and most important is to support the immune system. So, our gut health is under immense pressure to perform well.

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The gut, when encountered with a burst of harmful bacteria from any food sources, there is a war between the good and the harmful bacteria, and a sudden state of imbalance arises. Therefore, this gut imbalance may lead to different health issues, as mentioned above.

Common symptoms and diseases of improper functioning of the gut are:

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1. Slowing of metabolism: This may result in decreased energy production, less absorption of nutrients and deposition of toxins in the different parts of the body. So, there is a lack of energy, tiredness and fatiguability. We may suffer from vitamin and mineral deficiencies as absorption of nutrients is poor.

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2. Digestive issues like gas bloating, diarrhoea as the good bacteria are continuously struggling to restore the balance. Irritable bowel syndrome, acid reflux, colitis are some symptoms of invasion of harmful bacteria.

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3. Mental health issues like depression, anxiety, mood fluctuation may occur. As toxins get deposited in different parts of the body due to the harmful bacteria, they may interfere with the production of happy hormones like serotonin and other neurotransmitters that can elevate the mood.
4.Lack of sleep: The gut imbalance causes hormonal imbalance, and the serotonin cycle, which regulates the sleep cycle gets wholly disrupted. So, the person with gut issues may suffer from sleep disturbances.

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5. Autoimmune diseases like Lupus, Crohn’s diseases, rheumatoid arthritis appear where the underlying issue can be an unhealthy gut.
6.Skin issues: When gut inflammation start spreading to other areas of the body, including the skin, there are issues of acne, eczema, psoriasis, complexion disorders, especially on the face.
7. Metabolic problems like diabetes type 2, stubborn weight gain, and obesity are common with gut issues.

Some useful ways to keep a healthy gut:

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1. Eating less or no sugar at all as the sugar becomes the medium of growth of harmful bacteria.
2. Drinking lots of water dramatically helps to eliminate the toxins and also facilitate the digestive process.
3. Chewing food with each bite, about 30- 50 times. Though it may sound tedious, this mastication process may help the food to digest and absorb the nutrients properly.
4. Consuming more fibrous food help to form the stool bulk and help eliminate waste and toxins.

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5. Mono meals as preparing a single meal with combining many food ingredients which allows the body to digest food better.

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6. Consuming fermented food (pickled vegetables) and probiotics help to flourish and restore the good bacterial flora.

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7. Effective foods are bone broth (contain collagen which cleanses the gut), ginger, blueberries, peppermint oil, healthy fats like omega-three fatty acids, all benefit the gut.

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8. Low impact exercises: Low intensity exercises like rebounding, stretching, walking, yoga and low impact cardiac workout can be helpful for gut health.

Thanks for reading.

Blessings and much love 💐

Brain fog 🙄

by drjurisharma, posted in life

Hello everyone! Have a wonderful and safe day 🙋🏻

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Brain fog is a state of foggy, ambiguous thinking. It may be associated with a lack of concentration, a short span of memory loss, anomic aphasia, susceptible to distraction. Brain Fog is a loosely framed term not in medical terminology. There is no evidence of neuropsychological evidence. So, it has no proper medical diagnosis. As far as symptoms are concerned, we may all relate to the concept of brain fog from time to time.

But, yes, when such symptoms are stable and have been steady for quite some time, we surely need clinical assistance. When the difficulty with cognitive functioning becomes problematic, interferes with daily activities, people surrounding you have noticed the symptoms, and slowly they are progressive and declining, we surely need neurological evaluation.

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Common symptoms:
Slow thinking
Difficulty focusing
confusion
Lack of concentrating.
Forgetfulness.

Common causes of brain fog :

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1. Depression is a state where there is pre-occupied thinking of sadness, worries, hurt, loss, persistent failure. This thinking pattern progresses to affect mood and impair cognitive and behavioural functionalities.
2. Anxiety is a state when there is ruminating about failures, lows of life, worries and so on.
3.Chronic illness or continuous physical pain.
4.Untreated sleep apnoea.
5.Alcohol, drug abuse
6.Chronic Fatigue syndrome.
7.Medications: Benzodiazepines, topiramate, anticholinergic drugs.
8.Sleep deprivation
9.Pregnancy.
10.Appetite disturbances, poor nutrition.

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A neuropsychological evaluation is necessary by formal testings of Core battery tests, a general cognitive assessment like memory, attention, language, motor function and visual-spatial and so on. Treatment is based on the underlying cause and symptoms.

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Any one of us can have brain fog at some point or the other. The general lifestyle of living in stress, anxiety, overthinking, sleep disturbances can easily affect our thinking and behavioural pattern from time to time. It’s essential to be more aware of our mental state and be proactive to notice and correct the gap or shortcomings by bringing out changes in our lifestyle. Some changes lifestyle like :

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Improving diet with more brain-boosting foods and probiotics.
Cutting down inflammatory foods
Improving sleep cycle.
Increased physical activity.
Try not to be self-critical.
Socializing.
Self-care to de-stress ourselves. (developing hobby, being creative, sports)

Thanks for reading.

Blessings and much to all 💐


 

8 truths of Leaky gut syndrome 🙌

by drjurisharma, posted in life

Hello everyone ! Have a wonderful and safe day 🙋🏻

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Time and again, it has been proved by extensive Medical researches that most of the chronic illnesses, including autoimmune disorders, type 1diabetes, irritable bowel disorders, migraine are all associated with gastrointestinal disorders. A patient who suffers from chronic symptoms’, the history should be thoroughly investigated for an underlying food or lifestyle habits that may be co-related.
Our body is not a single entity, nor each of its organs works independently of each other. Every structure, including the skin, tissues, mucosal lining, organ, system including a huge colony of microbiota are all interconnected and work together as a biological system. Not only this, the immune system, biochemical processes, endocrine and the autonomic nervous system, are all very much interdependent. Therefore, while considering any chronic disorder, the entire system has to be taken into account, including food habits and lifestyle in the process of management of such illnesses.

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1. The food, we eat reaches the intestines where they are bind to enzymes where filtration and absorption take place. Then, the nutrition of the food is absorbed in the bloodstream through the intestinal barrier. Without digestion, the food cannot escape directly through the intestinal/gut wall. The intestinal lining is typically intact and tight. It doesn’t let food, bacteria or toxins to escape directly to the bloodstream. Nutrients of food also absorbed through small villi on the intestinal wall. Usually, there are tiny holes of 1-7 microns in the gut lining through which the nutrition permeates into the bloodstream. When there is Leaky gut, the holes become bigger about 200-300 microns, and the intestinal villi are damaged too because of which the intestinal integrity is lost. That is the reason leaky gut is also called intestinal permeability. There is directly permeability on the gut lining through which the food material, bacteria, toxins escape into the bloodstream. The immune system comes into play and starts reacting. There is extensive inflammation of the intestinal lining and its structures. There is swelling and slowly scarring of the intestinal walls.

2. Evidence has proved that genetic predisposition is one of the leading causes of leaky gut. But, emerging researches have shown the not only DNA is to be blamed alone. Lifestyle conditions like high gluten diet, fat, sugar-rich diet, smoking, alcohol, stress, pain killers (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and food intolerance are some of the common conditions predisposing leaky gut. Therefore, leaky gut commonly found in chronic conditions like Celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, HIV/AIDS, cystic fibrosis, chemotherapy and radiotherapy patients. Leaky gut not only creates symptoms in bowel disorders but also linked to most conditions of autoimmune origin. It may be associated with autoimmune diseases like Lupus, Type 1diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma, allergies and mental illness. Autoimmune disorders are difficult to diagnose and treat. They can be managed and controlled but has no permanent cure.

3. Trigger factors of leaky gut are like a gluten-rich diet, dairy-rich, soy food or drugs like antibiotics or over the counter pain killers like aspirin, acetaminophen which may disturb the intestinal lining and cause leaky gut. Such triggers lead the immune system to be activated, causing an immune response in the body to produce antibodies against our own body’s intestinal tissue lining, causing inflammation. This inflammation can increase the intestinal permeability that is the escape of food and toxins directly into the bloodstream leading to symptoms like pain, diarrhoea, joint pain, fatigue, headache and depression. As Leaky gut is associated with a number of symptoms, so, it is called Leaky Gut syndrome. 

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4. Common symptoms are
Diarrhoea, Constipation
Pain abdomen, bloating
Skin rashes like acne, eczema, rosacea
Brain fog, memory loss
Depression
Chronic Fatigue
Joint pain.

5. Though strong evidence shows that many chronic conditions are associated with an underlying cause of leaky gut. Leaky gut is still not considered an official medical diagnosis, nor it has a standard protocol of treatment. A proper detailed history of the patient can detect the leaky gut condition. Therefore the management also differs from individual to individual depending on the full range of trigger factors.

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6. Diet and lifestyle changes do help a great deal in such conditions. Drugs that suppress the immune response and also to control the inflammation are required in some cases. The most important message is that we know our body better than anybody else. Even if we go to the best of the specialist physician, we should do what works best for us. Never stop self investigating and self-analysing yourself about why and what may trigger or lead to such symptoms. Be your observer, and make changes accordingly, which may be very helpful.

7. Hold on to basics. As, from my own experience, the best thing is leading a simple life; more fundamental is food and lifestyle, less is the list of complications or symptoms of chronic illnesses. Stick to the essential food habits that you may have inherited from your ancestral lineage because that’s how your genetic makeup and your body is comfortable. Follow work, exercise and sleep balance. Always maintain calmness of mind by using techniques of meditation and mindfulness because a healthy mind has a high impact on the physical body.

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Other measures that can be beneficial are:
To limit the amount of carbohydrate from the diet.
To eat more of fermented food (Kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, yoghurt)
Limiting dairy products and using more probiotics in the diet.
Eating more of soluble fibres in the diet.
Limiting the use of antibiotics and pain killers and using them only when necessary.

8. Vitamin deficiency of D, A, C, Zinc are related to increased intestinal permeability. So, dietary sources and vitamin supplements can be helpful to some extent. Vitamin D also suppresses inflammation in the gut. Certain supplements like Curcumin, L glutamine, collagen peptides, Zinc and probiotics are also helpful in some instances.

Thanks for reading.

Much love and blessings for all 💐

 

Post: The Mind Diet 😇

by drjurisharma, posted in Uncategorized

Hello everyone! Have a great Monday 🙋🏻‍♀️

We need both mind and body equally to carry out our daily activities. As we age, we face the challenges of ageing, living, working, struggling to have a fit mind and a body. Therefore, food being an important source of energy, we need to give our undivided attention to what we consume daily. This Mind diet is a routine plan of what we need to consume daily to keep our mind healthy and prevent us from Alzheimer’s, dementia and other age-related illness.

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Thanks for reading.
Blessings and much love to all 💐

Post: Fivesome – The effective medicine 🙌

by drjurisharma, posted in healing, health, mental health, Science, wellness

Hello everyone ! Have a great Monday 🙋🏻

Chronic diseases contribute to huge healthcare expenses. Regular doctor’s visits, buying the prescription drugs, undergoing procedures, hospital treatments and stay, all of them incur huge expenses.

We know by now that inflammation is the key to all chronic diseases in the body. Chronic diseases like diabetes, heart diseases, lung diseases like COPD and asthma, Crohn disease, arthritis, HIV, Cancers and the list goes on. Not only these, even brain diseases like Alzheimers, dementia, and Parkinson are also related to inflammation in the brain.

The only solutions to this huge health issues are prevention and controlling the chronic conditions. So, how do we do that? Researches have already proved that most chronic conditions are caused by food and unhealthy lifestyle. So, the easiest and efficient way to reach our goal to prevent and control chronic conditions is by switching on to a healthy diet and making lifestyle changes. 80% of our immunity comes from good gut health. So, eating right, removing stress, active physical life, all contribute to a healthy gut. Therefore , the five some ….

1.Food:The problem is that too much information on food flooding the internet, conflicting information, different diet regimens like keto, paleo, vegan, Meditteranean and the list is long. Too many lists of superfood come out daily. So, how do we know what is right for us?

I think following any diet, there is always pros and cons because you eat some and skip something else. Depending on your goal, whether to lose weight or maybe for some chronic conditions like diabetes, your diet is scheduled and designed. Though following a particularly strict diet, do benefit like losing weight in case of a Keto diet. Sometimes, it can lead to unhealthy outcomes. And, following a particular diet seems to be like, you are doing for a temporary phase. But, to have a goal of a healthy life, the food and lifestyle changes has to be permanent and adopt it as a way of life. It has to be a mentality shift.
Again, not every type of grain, vegetables, fruits available in every part of the world. Different regions grow different crops according to their climatic conditions. So, the best food is preferably,organic (devoid of pesticides) and locally produce grain, vegetables and fruits so that they are fresh. And locally produce grains, veggies, fruits are usually affordable.
Your daily consumption should be a majority, about 70% of plant-based food like greens, veggies, fruits, nuts. About 30% should be whole grain fibres, low fat and protein like eggs, chicken and fish. This is how simple a daily healthy diet plan can be.

2. Exercise: Right from evolution, we, humans are meant to be active. So, being active is essential. Follow your daily routine exercise of at least an hour. Do whatever you like, running, walking, swimming, cycling, gymming., dancing. The workout you enjoy doing. There is no hard and fast rule.

3.Meditation/ Mindfulness: I have already written posts on meditation and it’s benefits. it is important to empty our mind daily, at least for some time.Spend a few minutes in silence every day. If you can, be mindful (being aware ) as much as you can. Being mindful means, paying attention to your thoughts, emotions without being judgemental. Staying mindful, by following your natural breaths, simply just being aware of, at least 20 mins or more is very beneficial. It reduces your stress level.

4. Support: Have always a support system. Loneliness is a major factor in many health issues. People with a good support system can better control chronic conditions. Rely on your spouse, partner, friends or a social support group where you can open up.

5.Sleep: Though ideally recommended in adult as 7-8 hours of sleep. But the fact is, the quality of sleep is more important than the quantity.
When you follow sleep hygiene of going to bed and getting up from bed at a routine timing, whatever hours of good sleep, you get is enough.

All these 5 steps can guarantee you for a healthy life for the longest time. Even, if you suffer from a chronic condition, it can be maintained better with a disciplined lifestyle.

Thanks for reading. Take care

Blessings and much love to all 💐

Post: 7 basic advice 🙏 for gut health 🤗

by drjurisharma, posted in canned food, constipation, bowels, colon, bowel movements, bowel disease, dairy, curd, yogurt, deep fried food, Food, french fries, gut health, gut bacteria, hormones, Gastrointestinal, GI tract, healing, health, Science, wellness

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.

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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.

Thanks for reading.

Much love to all 💐

Post: 7 Dangerous side effects of ketogenic diet.

by drjurisharma, posted in health, wellness

Ketogenic diet is the most popular diet that is followed by thousands for losing weight and maintaining a lean body.

The simple physiology behind this diet plan is as the carbohydrate is cut down from the diet, the body start metabolising the stored fat for daily energy fuel to carry out activities. But in the process of ketosis, there are some serious potential dangers for the body to which many may not be aware of. See the link below 👇

https://www.health.com/weight-loss/keto-diet-side-effects?utm_source=emailshare&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-share-article&utm_content=20190720&utm_term=531800

Therefore, before following any kind of diet plan like Atkin, vegan ,paleo, Zone, south beach or raw food diet, it is important to understand the Gastrointestinal health like GI motility, intestinal permeability, test for enzyme deficiency or any existing detoxification abnormalities apart from food intolerence tests. Therefore expert supervision is highly recommended before following any kind of diet plan.

Post:10 tips to slow down ageing.

by drjurisharma, posted in healing, health, wellness

10 tips to slow down ageing.
Ageing is natural so inevitable. But why ageing occurs ? Our body is made up of a community of living cells, functional units which function individually as well as in harmony with one another. The basic cause of ageing is cell damage. Each living cell continue to replicate again and again. But with each time, the cell dies and replicate, the telomere in the DNA strand of cell shortens. So as ageing start progressing, the telomere start shortening. The old cell function slowly and start declining. This telomere of cell can determine our actual biological age.

Other important factors of ageing are free radical damage, exposure to heat, radiation, sunlight, emotional stress and unhealthy lifestyle. Inspite of all these factors, the question is, can we slow down ageing ? The answer is yes. We can control some of these factors and slow down the ageing process. 


So, comes the key points to at least slow down this natural process…

  1. First, the most important key is loving yourself beyond anything . Love yourself and accepting the way you are. This gives you an immense strength to take care of yourself, your body ,mind  and soul. Once this feeling is ingrain in you, you will naturally take utmost care of yourself and also the people around you. 
  2. More than physical stress, emotional stress is the commonest cause to trigger ageing. Troubled relationship, work stress, lonliness are some common triggers. Try look out for solutions whenever you are in a messy situation. Maintaining a calm mind, would surely give some solutions. Hard times do come. But good times always come. Once you move on from your mental stress, not only physically, as well as mentally you will start feeling better. 

3 Completely avoid a sedentary life style. Follow a routine exercise regime. Any form of physical activity like walking, jogging, gymming, cycling are all beneficial. Yoga is a very useful form of practise. Sometime, due to time constrain for busy work life, routine exercise is difficult , then incorporate more and more physical activity like climbing stairs, body movement to keep boosting the body’s metabolism.

4.Maintaing a healthy lifestyle is very important to slow down ageing. Life style factors like smoking, alcohol and sugar intake should be reduced. Avoiding them completely, is a boost to slow down ageing. 

5. Eating habits should be routinely scheduled. Have meal at regular timings with no intermittent snacking. But yes, a fruit or handful of nuts whenever hungry is just normal. Try drinking plenty of fluids, mainly water. This gives you a naturally glowing complexion. 
6. Meals should be composed of good portions of veggies and fruits which would give you the natural dose of antioxidants to combat the free radical damage.

7. Greying of hair is normal. Nutritious food and fluid intake regularly would surely enrich your hair texture and prevent hair fall. Coconut and almond oils are good for head massage as they help in hair growth. Too much of hair colours and chemical treatment can prove harmful in the long run.

8. To keep your skin look younger even when ageing is the diet and a good night sleep. Big portion of fresh fruits and veggies with fluid intake daily would surely help. Do follow your routine skin regime to keep your skin clean and hydrated. Organic /nature based products are good for skin. Applying sun screen lotions and wearing protective clothing during sun exposure are beneficial for skin.

9.Follow your hobbies, passion or any interest you have. This gives you the freedom of expressing your thoughts, emotional outlet to let out. This also gives you joy and peace within. To age slowly, mental calmness and peace are very important. 


10. Lastly, give yourself a few minutes everyday, to meditate, to go within, to the person you are, or the one you want to become. Money and materialistic success are not enough for a calm and happy state of mind. Be grateful always, spiritually, stay connected to your higher self, for having a beautiful life.