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Include these locally-available foods that are rich in fibre, antioxidants, essential vitamins, minerls and healthy fats in your diet.

GOOSEBERRY

 Few can resist the joy of eating a gooseberry preserved in brine. Offering a delicious mix of salty, sour and sweet after tastes, the gooseberry has always had a place in our hearts. Had as pickles or plucked directly off the tree and eaten, this every-day berry has a number of health properties. It is a natural blood purifier, boosts immunity, helps in weight management and is good for the skin and hair. Next time you find gooseberries, make sure you eat them.

MORINGA

 Packed with anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals, the moringa is a powerhouse of nutrients. Containing seven times more Vitamin C than oranges and 15 times more potassium than bananas, in addition to iron and amino acids, it helps build muscle and helps the body heal. Eat it as a simple curry or add it to a salad. You could even add moringa leaves to your pasta.

JACKFRUIT

 The humble jackfruit is today celebrated for its multiple health benefits. It is considered more nutritious than other fruits because consuming a small cup of sliced jackfruit can give you carbohydrates, protein, fibre, Vitamin A and C, riboflavin, magnesium, pottassium. copper and manganese that your body needs. It helps prevent diseases, especially diabetes. You can eat it ripe or cook raw jackfruit into a stir-fry. Jackfruit is used to make chips, too, and its flour is now used to make cakes, biscuits and even papads.

RAGI

Also known as finger millet, ragi is a cereal rich in protein and minerals. Known for its anti-microbial properties, ragi helps boost immunity and bone health. Ragi is also known for its ability to prevent cancer. Normally had as a porridge or dosa or steamed like an idli or mudde, ragi ncan be had in fancy forms too - it can be added to cookies, muffins, and even in cakes.

BANANA BLOSSOM

A rich source of vitamins, minerals and fibre, the banana flower helps in development of a healthy body and mind. It has the power to cure infections, too and aids digestion. If you don't want to have it as a traditional stir-fry, you could make an interesting salad out of it, by adding other vegetables or fruits, as the banana blossom can also be had raw.

TURMERIC

 Many of us started consuming more of turmeric during the first wave of COVID-19. This is because turmeric can help build immunity against viral infections. It contains curcumin, a substance that helps reduce inflammation. In addition to turmeric's anti-spectic and anti-bacterial properties, it can also help relieve pain. So, next time you have your favourite curry, add an extra spoon of turmeric to it.

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Gardening has been around for as long as humans have been growing plants for their personal needs. Through the years, gardens have served not only as places to grow plants but as spaces for people to relax, to focus, and to connect with nature and each other.

Gardening can improve many aspects of mental health, focus, and concentration and also enhance the positive well-being of an individual. Some of the ways in which gardening helps include:

1. Enhancement of mood: Gardening can make you feel more peaceful and content. It enhances a positive mood and also helps in directing your attention towards immediate tasks and details of gardening that can reduce negative thoughts and feelings.

2. Self-esteem development or boost: Self-esteem is how much you value and feel positively about yourself. When you see your work pay off with healthy plants, your sense of pride gets a boost. Many people find a sense of purpose and meaning in looking after plants and feel that plants are like children that they are rearing.

3. Improves attention and concentration: Gardening can change how well you pay attention to any activity. If you struggle with staying focused on any task, gardening can help you learn to concentrate on what's right in front of you without getting distracted. The gardening process involves multi-tasking and improves co-ordination and attention to tasks and minute details.

4. Serves as a source of exercise: Weeding, digging and raking are good exercises. Regular exercise reduces anxiety, depression, and other mental issues, and can help prevent dementia. If you don't like going to the gym, gardening can be an enjoyable task to still get these benefits as it includes a lot of movement and lifting of plants and pots.

5. Promotes social bonding: Gardening with others at a community garden or as a family takes teamwork to achieve shared goals. Being part of a larger group can benefit your mental health by increasing your social connections and your support systems. Appreciation from others on gardening also enhances social interactions.

Gardening reminds us of our connection to nature, and helps us focus on the bigger picture, which can alleviate symptoms of depression. Also, the physical aspect of gardening releases feel-good chemicals in the brain such as serotonin and dopamine. In short, working with soil makes us happier.

Flowers and ornamental plants increase levels of positive energy and help people feel secure and relaxed. Adding flowers to your home or work environment reduces your perceived stress levels and makes you feel more relaxed, secure and happy. Many flowers help filter out carbon dioxide pollution for oxygen (which helps keep us alive); they also eliminate chemical toxins (benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, etc.) and their effects found in our homes. Health professionals should therefore encourage their patients to make use of green spaces and to work in gardens, and should pressure local authorities to increase open spaces and the number of trees, thus also helping to counteract air pollution and climate change. Therapeutic gardens have been used in hospitals for many years, and were strongly supported by Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, as they improve the surroundings for patients, visitors and staff. Few complementary therapies have been convincingly shown to be effective, but gardening and nature, which are alternative therapies, offer a proven, cheap and nearly universally available means to improve a nation's health.

So, get a plant and enhance your mental health today!

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Care for a soft drink? Now, have you wondered how it was chilled? Dry ice is nothing but frozen carbon dioxide. It sublimates (turns to gas without first turning into a liquid) and that is why it's called dry ice.

There is no harm in cooling a drink with dry ice as long as it is food grade. It will turn to gas and though a little may get dissolved in the drink it won't poison you. Don't we drink soda? Soda is nothing but water that has carbon dioxide dissolved in it.

However one should not try to hold dry ice in the hand for too long. It is very, very cold (-78.5 degrees C) and it can cause a burn. For the same reason, one should not eat or swallow pieces of dry ice.

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Municipalities around the world have used chlorine to make water safe for drinking for decades. Chlorine kills deadly bacteria and viruses including those that cause life-threatening diseases like typhoid fever, dysentery and cholera.

Chlorination is not only the most effective way of making water safe for drinking; it is also the most economical method. Other methods like ozonation are far too expensive and far less effective.

The amount of chlorine used in the water treatment process is too small to pose any danger to health, even if the water smells of chlorine. However, chlorine reacts with organic matter in the water such as decaying leaves, and forms a group of chemicals known as disinfection by-products. The most common of these by-products are trihalomethanes (THMS) that include chloroform.

Some studies have found a link between long-term exposure to high levels of chlorination by-products and a higher risk of cancer.

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Bananas are versatile fruits and are eaten all over the world. But did you know they are radioactive? Bananas are rich in potassium, and this makes them slightly radioactive. Potassium-40 (or K-40), a radioisotope, is naturally occurring and can be found in plants and animal tissue, and accounts for 0.012% of the potassium in bananas. Is it safe to eat bananas then? Yes. If at all one were to die from radiation poisoning by eating bananas, then he will have to eat 10,000,000 bananas at once, according to an estimate. In fact, you are radioactive too! A typical adult contains around 140g of potassium, of which about 16mg is potassium-40-making you 280 times more radioactive than a banana!

Everything in the world is composed of elements, (remember the periodic table?) which in turn are made of atoms. Some of these atoms are unstable and decay, or break apart. When this happens, they emit what we call “radiation” that can take the form of subatomic particles such as electrons, alpha particles and neutrons, or electromagnetic waves known as gamma rays. All of these carry energy and are capable of breaking down, or “ionizing,” molecules they encounter. It is damage to important biomolecules such as proteins or DNA that can trigger radiation sickness or cancer. As with chemical toxins, extent of exposure is critical and that is dependent on the nature of the radioactive element in question, the amount of the element, the distance we are from the radioactive material and the presence of shielding substances that may be between us and the source.

Potassium (K) is a widely encountered element with a very small fraction of its atoms, about 0.012%, being radioactive. These K-40 atoms spontaneously decay, releasing electrons (beta radiation) as well as gamma rays. Both of these are capable of doing damage to tissues. However, K-40 is not very radioactive, having a half-life of 1.3 billion years, meaning that only a few thousand atoms decay each second The question is how much damage can this do? What is the actual risk of eating a banana? That can be determined by the dose of the radiation that is absorbed by relevant human tissues as measured in “rem,” a unit that takes into account the amount of radiation absorbed and the medical effects of that radiation.

Rem measurement is complex, suffice it to say that a 10 millirem (mrem) dose increases an average adult’s risk of death by one in a million. (That is said to be an increase of 1 “micromort,” with the understanding that 1 mort means certain death.) A banana contains about 450 mg of potassium, and when eaten exposes the consumer to about 0.01 mrem due to its K-40 content. For comparison, a chest x-ray delivers 10 mrem. A quick calculation (10/.01) shows that it would take an ingestion of at least a thousand bananas  to result in an exposure of 10 mrem, which would then increase the risk of death by 1 in a million. In other words, for death to ensue, a million times a thousand, or a billion, bananas would have to be consumed. And that would have to be at one sitting. Quite a challenge.

But what about the risk of eating bananas over a lifetime? Cumulative damage? That doesn’t happen since our bodies contain potassium as a natural component (about 120 grams), and the body maintains the amount of potassium at a constant level (homeostatic control). Some potassium is always taken in via the diet, and some is always excreted, meaning that there is no buildup of radioactive potassium. So, while bananas are indeed radioactive, the dose of radioactivity they deliver does not pose a risk. There is a greater, but still insignificant, exposure to radioactivity by sleeping next to someone. And if they are breathing heavy, exposure is increased due to C-14 in their exhaled carbon dioxide.

Credit : Mc Gill

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World Health Day is celebrated every year on April 7 to draw attention to a subject of major importance to global health. The theme for 2013 is high blood pressure, also known as raised blood pressure or hypertension. One in three adults worldwide has high blood pressure.

In recent decades, enhancements in health services, environmental protection, economic development, and other factors have led to improvements in the health of people across the Region of the Americas. Nevertheless, an estimated one million premature deaths per year are attributable to known avoidable environmental risks. 

Air pollution, contaminated water, inadequate sanitation including solid waste management, risks related to certain hazardous chemicals, and negative impacts of climate change are the most pressing environmental public health threats in the Region. These threats to public health are compounded by weak governance practices and potential inequities in health as well as by limited leadership, expertise, and resources in the health sector. 

However, this theme of Our Planet, Our Health should be a powerful reminder to us that the resolution of many of these issues are beyond the exclusive purview of the health sector and, as a consequence, an effective response will demand whole- of- government and whole- of- society approaches. 

Credit : PAHO

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Are you a fan of energy drinks? Well, a new study says they may increase blood pressure and disturb your heart's natural rhythm. Researchers analyzed data from seven previously published studies to determine how consuming energy drinks might impact heart health. They examined the QT interval of 93 people who had just consumed one to three cans of energy drinks. The QT interval is a segment of the heart's rhythm on an electrocardiogram; when prolonged, it can cause irregular heartbeats or sudden cardiac death.

They found that the interval was 10 milliseconds longer for those who had energy drinks. "Doctors are concerned if patients experience an additional 30 milliseconds in their QT interval from baseline," said Sachin A. Shah, lead author from the University of the Pacific, California. "Everything is good in moderation. Drink them within the limits that have been provided and be vigilant of what else you're consuming with it."

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 Stroke is a medical condition in which blood supply is severely reduced to parts of the brain resulting in cell death. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures and bleeds, or when there’s a blockage in the blood supply to the brain. The rupture or blockage prevents blood and oxygen from reaching the brain’s tissues. Without oxygen, brain cells and tissue become damaged and begin to die within minutes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source, stroke is a leading cause of death in the United States. Every year, more than 795,000 U.S. people have a stroke. There are three primary types of strokes:

Transient ischemic attack (TIA) involves a blood clot that typically reverses on its own.
Ischemic stroke involves a blockage caused by either a clot or plaque in the artery. The symptoms and complications of ischemic stroke can last longer than those of a TIA, or may become permanent.
Hemorrhagic stroke is caused by either a burst or leaking blood vessel that seeps into the brain.

Stroke symptoms can include: ,paralysis numbness or weakness in the arm, face, and leg, especially on one side of the body, trouble speaking or understanding others, slurred speech,confusion, disorientation, or lack of responsiveness, sudden behavioral changes, especially increased agitation, vision problems, such as trouble seeing in one or both eyes with vision blackened or blurred, or double vision, trouble walking, loss of balance or coordination, dizziness, severe, sudden headache with an unknown cause,  seizures, nausea or vomiting

Proper medical evaluation and prompt treatment are vital to recovering from a stroke. According to the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association, “Time lost is brain lost.”

Credit : Healthline

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A new study has discovered that chewing gum can improve thinking and alertness. Regular chewers benefit from increased levels of alertness, a boost in thinking power and enjoy reaction times up to 10 per cent faster, say scientists from the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan in the journal Brain and Cognition. They said the boost in brain power could be due to temporary improvement in blood flow to the brain.

"Our results suggest that chewing induced an increase in the arousal level and alertness in addition to an effect on motor control and, as a consequence, these effects could lead to improvements in cognitive performance." Up to eight areas of the brain were affected by chewing, they added.

Volunteers' brains were scanned as they carried out tasks while chewing and not; they then had to press a button with their right or left thumb in direct response to the direction of an arrow on a screen. Those not chewing took 545 milliseconds to react, whereas those chewing took just 493 milliseconds.

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