Did You Know - About Cherries

Did you know that cherries ease joint pains and alleviate headaches and migraines?  A study by researchers at East Lansing's Michigan State University showed that if you have arthritis or chronic headaches, having a bowl of cherries a day might alleviate your pain, minus the stomach upset so often triggered by painkillers.  Eating cherries can also reduce uric acid in the blood, which is the cause of arthritic pain and swelling.

Definitely have a bowl everyday.

Consultation With Me!

Now that most of you have been familiarized with Ayurveda and if you're in the New York City area, contact me for an Ayurvedic consultation.  This consists of your past medical history, pulse diagnosis and recommendations for specific diet and herbs.

Looking forward to hearing from you!
Have a great weekend!

TMseema@aol.com

Dosha Sleep Recommendations

For those with a vata sleeping disorder  -

• favor more sweet, sour and salty foods
• eat three warm cooked meals at the same time every day
• bed time should be before 10 pm and rise by 6 am
• take your time with day to day activities - do not rush

For those with a pitta sleeping disorder - 

• avoid spicy foods in the night
• favor more sweet, bitter and astringent tastes
• avoid skipping meals
• eat enough dinner so you won't feel hungry
• if you feel lots of heat in the head during the night time, mix 3 tablespoons of coconut oil with 5 drops of lavender oil and massage it on the crown of your head

For those with a kapha sleeping disorder - 

• rise before 6 am
• favor to do self massages in the mornings before shower
• exercise everyday
• avoid eating heavy, sweet, sour, salty foods
• favor a light and warm dinner 

Your Dosha And Sleep

"The goal of the Ayurvedic approach is to create more Ojas, the finest product of digestion that provides energy, enthusiasm, happiness, clarity of thinking, better coordination between the heart and mind and immunity.  Only the deepest, most restful sleep, called Stage Four Sleep by researchers, creates ojas," says an Ayurvedic expert from The Council of Maharishi Ayurveda Physicians.

Ayurveda identifies 3 types of sleep disorders -

1 - Vata sleep disorder - this is when you find it difficult to fall asleep (this is caused by a vata imbalance or mental stress).  You tend to toss and turn a lot, mind is over active, tends to correlate with worry and anxiety of day to day stresses.

2 - Pitta sleep disorder - this is when there is intermittent awakening - you fall asleep fine, but wake up every 90 minutes due to muscle tension, racing heart, emotions, fear, anger, sadness.  Or there is another pattern where one wakes up between 2-4am and has a ton of energy.

3 - Kapha sleep disorder - this is when you sleep long hours and wake up unrefreshed.  You feel sluggish, tired and completely exhausted even though you had a full nights sleep.

Which one most relates to you?
Look out for tomorrow's post, I'll give you some recommendations for each of the doshas.

Benefits Of Sleep

Sleep -

• reduces stress
• makes you smarter
• may reduce risk of depression
• prevents cancer
• makes you more alert
• keeps the heart healthy
• clears up under eye circles
• improves memory
• increases lifespan
• curbs inflammation
• boosts creativity
• sharpens attention
• maintains weight
• lowers stress

Hope you all get a good night's rest every night! 

Did You Know - More About Sleep

Here are some disturbing statistics about sleep in America -

• America is increasingly becoming a society that lives to work, not works to live
• 40% of adults report getting so little sleep that resulting daytime drowsiness interferes with productivity several days in a month
• over half of adults surveyed said they have driven while drowsy in the last year
• almost 70% report having one or more sleep problems several times a week

Did You Know - About Sleep

Did you know that the body heals itself during sleep?
Ayurveda recommends sleeping by 10 pm.
And by eating a light and well cooked dinner helps ensure a good nights sleep.
Your body knows best, listen to it!

Cold/flu Remedy

Spring is almost here and the change of weather gets most of us sick.

Here's a great way to get rid of any cold or flu like symptoms -

- juice 6 fresh lemons
- 1 bulb garlic
- 2 teaspoon ginger powder
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 3 cups pineapple juice

Blend all the ingredients and store in a glass jar.
Drink 1 cup two times a day till symptoms subside.

Water On An Empty Stomach

It's a new week!
For those who haven't tried it yet, do it.
Drinking water on an empty stomach is very important for the body.

Problems such as - headache, body ache, excess fat, bronchitis, kidney problems, urine problems, diarrhea, diabetes, menstrual disorders, asthma, throat infections - all these and more can fixed with just some water on an empty stomach.

Sick Care - Health Care

This is a good one.
And so simple.

Sweet & Spicy Balancing Smoothie

Here's a great Maharishi Ayurvedic recipe for balancing your doshas.

• 1/2 cup of spicy sprouts
• 1 tbsp ginger root
• 1 cup turnip greens 
• 2 lacinato kale leaves
• 1 pear
• 1 apple
• juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 2 pinches of cayenne (optional)
• 1 tsp, raw unheated honey (optional for extra sweetness)
• 1 1/2 - 4 cups filtered water

Place all ingredients into a blender, blend until smooth and enjoy! 

Love This.

10 American Meals That Are Hurting Us

Obesity, heart diseases, type 2 diabetes — recent studies have reminded us about something we have known for awhile: the Standard American Diet isn’t doing anyone any good. It has the acronym SAD for a reason.

Certainly what we eat is paired with a lack of physical activity, and bad health can’t solely be blamed on eating poorly, but when it comes down to it, we can blame a lot of our modern day problems on our modern day diet.

So what are we eating that’s so bad for us? Here are 10 dishes and meals that symbolize everything that’s wrong with the modern diet.

1. The Burger

Let’s get one thing straight: a burger can be made with good products. At its core, it’s not that bad of a concoction, and if you eat one once in a great while it’s simply an enjoyable indulgence. Unfortunately the fast food version that so many of us eat in succession is another thing entirely. Filled with additives and sugars, it’s no wonder that we’re addicted. A McDonald’s Big Mac has 550 calories, 29 grams of fat and that secret sauce is full of tasty ingredients like Propylene Glycol Alginate and Calcium Disodium.

2. The Smoothie

Purchased smoothies, that is. When you make them at home you can ensure that you’re only adding in fresh ingredients and enough fruit that you don’t need to add in any additional sweetener. A medium Pina Colada smoothie from Orange Julius/Dairy Queen comes in at 340 calories (about two thirds of a Big Mac). It might actually be better for you to just eat the fruits themselves; a recent studyshowed that people who ate whole fruit were less likely to get type 2 diabetes, but those who drank fruit juice were at increased risk. Know where your sugar is coming from and how much you’re ingesting.

3. The Toast with Margarine

New flash: if you want to eat butter, eat real butter. Trans-fat loaded margarine isn’t good for your heart and you’re better off eating the real stuff.

4. The Bowl of Pasta

Refined white flour and not much else, the staple diet of a bowl of pasta is high in carbohydrates and not much else. As with everything, a balanced diet can include pasta, but opt for freshly made and cover it with good things like olive oil and fresh vegetables.

5. Anything That’s Branded as Low Fat

Want to blame the obesity epidemic on something? Blame it on the low fat craze, because around the time that low fat foods started being marketed, waistlines started growing exponentially. Of course, this could be a mere correlation, but it’s an important correlation. As people chose fat-free desserts and low-calorie snacks, they filled their diets full of added sugars and empty carbohydrates. We need fat in our diet, we just need to make sure it’s the good fat. Even saturated fat is much less harmful than we have been led to believe.

6. The Lunch Sandwich

A sandwich made with whole wheat bread and stacked with meat and cheese? Unless you baked your own bread, made your own sausage and bought your cheese from the farmer next door, chances are that lunch isn’t just a sandwich, it’s a bomb of processed foods. Not to mention all the mayonnaise spread on it. Buy bread that is made fresh, so it doesn’t have the preservatives to keep it on the shelf for ages, and opt for fresh vegetables and leafy greens as well as spreads like hummus which will make that sandwich ten times tastier and better for you.

7. The Meal That Isn’t Actually a Meal

Credit: bokeh burger via flickr

I’m talking about all those snack foods on the market that don’t constitute real meals, but have just as many calories, if not more, as eating a real meal. Not to mention all the processed ingredients that they include. Nobody should be eating Deep-Fried Doritos Stuffed With Nacho Cheese.

8. The Breakfast Cereal

Don’t be fooled for a second that most breakfast cereals are part of a complete and nutritious breakfast. Things like Reese’s Puffs and Lucky Charms (both of which are about 41% sugar) simply shouldn’t qualify as “breakfast.” In fact, one study showed that cereals marketed to children had 85% more sugar in them.

9. The Chicken Nuggets

Those McDonald’s Chicken Nuggets? Only about 50% actual chicken meat. And if you got fries with that, you might want to imagine what’s happening to your heart.

10. The Coffee and Pastry

You’re pressed for time in the morning so you figure a coffee and pastry is your quickest and easiest breakfast. Well, watch what you order. If you want to drink coffee, drink coffee, but stay clear of anything that entails turning coffee into something else entirely, like a Grande Starbucks Mocha which has 240 calories in it. And if you think going for the whole wheat scone or the bran muffin is your best bet for staying healthy, think again. They’re simply one of those things that sound too good be true. Better opt for oatmeal with a hefty dose of nuts, seeds and fresh fruit. 

Tip Of The Day

Make sure the Ayurvedic herbs you take are prepared in the traditional Ayurvedic way.

This is when the entire herb is used rather than the active ingredient.

This improves assimilation, creates holistic balance and prevents negative side effects. 

Healthy Snack Ideas

Snacking helps keep your metabolism up throughout the day, helping you burn calories and keep your energy levels up.

Here are some great snack options -

Greek yogurt
Avocado
Dates
Figs
Sweet potato fries
Dark chocolate
Sunflower seeds
Almonds
Walnuts
Pumpkin Seeds
Bananas
Apples
Dried fruits
Glass of milk
Carrots
Basically all fruits

Best Ways To DeStress

Meditate!

Do yoga!

Exercise!

Sing out loud!

Listen to music!

Eat nutritious foods!

Get a good night's rest!

Go for walks!

Keep in good company!

It's really that simple!