Role of parents in keeping a healthy family

Role of parents especially mother in keeping a healthy family.





A healthy flower is a joy for all.
A healthy family is a happy family

Health is a personal and joint responsibility of a family. All family members should be health conscious. Parents especially mother has got a major role in keeping good health of whole family. Mother plans and prepares the food for the whole family. This determines the health and sickness of the family. In addition to teaching the best values, mother has a major role in teaching the best eating habits too. Most of the illnesses are due to bad eating habits. The best eating habits is to be taught from child hood. Teach the children that the best nutritious, natural, and unadulterated food is from the nature not from the supermarkets or food factories. The best cooking is the simple cooking, where the nutrients are not lost, not the complex one. High temperature cooking spoils the enzymes and nutrients. Boiling is better than deep fried, or baked. Teach our children to cook at least ten healthy dishes. Giving unhealthy diet, making the children obese and unhealthy is a kind of  child abuse. Children need our wisdom till they grow up. Sometimes we have to sacrifice taste for nutrition. There is no gain without pain.

Grow food in your backyard.

In a study it has been observed, children in US schools study more about health, but at home as well as outside they eat more junks. There are many families who suffer from ill health and realize it at a later stage. So it is better the whole family has to read and learn good health books at the earliest possible on: how to cook without losing the nutrients, what are the nutritional foods, how to eat, when to eat and what to eat and what not to eat. Simple cooking is better than complex cooking.



Love nature.
 Enjoy the beauty of it.

To drive a vehicle we should be a certified license holder who has passed the driving test. To run and manage a family efficiently the mother has to learn   nutrition, eating habits, healthy cooking habits etc. to keep the whole family healthy. Good books will be the best guide in this. Learn the traditional wisdom. If our grandparents lived over 90 years, with very less medicines throughout their life, learn the wisdom from them. Their wisdom is  worthier than  a university degree. Remember mother holds the key to eating habits, and health of a family. Find the wisdom in this old saying “you are what you eat.” Mother keeps and lubricates the wheel of life to role  it freely and continuously. The wheel of life is powered by many gears. The gears are healthy food, better relations, good habits, discipline, organizing, planning and values. 

We, Keralites are living in a society where anything sweet is considered as food and anything bitter or pungent is not food. (Read the article on tastes of food).We teach our children that way. We got the highest density of bakeries in the world. We are the only people on earth who fries fruits. We make fried banana chips from riped banana fruits.  We want everything oil cooked. Nenthra kai (Big banana) is eaten by South Americans, Asians but only we make the banana fruit chips.  Are we wise or stupid? We eat maximum starch and trans fats (fried food), with very less vitamins and minerals in it. We are overfed, overstressed, undernourished, and under exercised. These are the reasons for increasing obesity, diabetes, frequent illness and cardiac problems at an early age. We claim to be educated than our old generations. Yes, we got degrees, but we are short of wisdom on simple and  happy living. These are not taught in universities. Do we use our time proven traditional wisdom, or holding on to the ego that "I know everything" because I got a few university degrees?

Organic food is the best. It is  from kitchen garden.
 Kitchen Garden food is better than farm food (no pesticides)
Good food comes from the farm, not from super market shelves.
 Processed food is  engineered, contaminated by inorganic chemicals .

Let us be a part of shaping a  healthy and happy family, a community, and a nation. Healthy life is a team effort. Healthy living starts at kitchen, mother is the doctor and food is the medicine.  Let us teach our next generation food is food, and medicine is medicine. We can avoid medicine if we take healthy food and follow healthy lifestyle. Do we want  a future generation with lots of money and ill-health, or a generation that is healthy and happy? We hold the key for it. Show them the light.

Papaya- One of the best Indian fruit in nutrient content

Which is the best Indian fruit  in nutrient content?

The nutrient density is the ratio of nutrient content to the total energy content. The following nutrient Density index is made  from  100 gms of the fruit.

Nutrient Density index ranking

1. Kiwi fruit




Papaya tree- So beautiful  and nutritious

2. Papaya
3. Strawberries
4. Mango
5. Lemon
6. Orange
7. Grapefruit
8. Pineapple
9. Grape
10. Plum
11. Banana
12. Watermelon
13. Peach
14. Cherry
15. Apple

 One of the recent report says Guava is the best fruit.  In the above chart guava is not shown. Any way papaya ranks one of the top three.

It is really amazing why we don't realize the importance of this exotic fruit. The following table shows the price of papaya in different countries. The price in India is less because of very less demand. People are unaware of its value.

Papaya is so cheap in India
Papaya price for 1 Kilogram

Country	Price of 1 KG papaya in Rupees
India	20-35
UAE	100
Canada	250
USA	250
Caribean island	170

For the price of 1 kilo apple in India, we can get 5 kilos of papaya which may be ten times more nutritious. It was an old saying in the west that 'Apple a day keeps the doctor away'. But in India it is “ Papaya a day keeps the doctor away”. Kiwi is not common in India, and is expensive. Papaya is very cheap, grows locally  and best in nutrient content and Vitamins. It does not have any pesticides too. 
 

Nutrients in Papaya
Papaya contains an enzyme called papain. Papain helps digestion, tenderizing meats, clear beverages, prevent adhesion during wound healing.

Papaya is an excellent source of vitamin A , Potassium, vitamin C and bioflavonoids. It is known as the No.2 fruit in nutrient content. 100grams of Papaya contains 39-calorie energy; 234 mg potassium 1750 IU of Vitamin A and 56 mg of Vitamin C.  Studies show that high intake of potassium can help keep blood pressure normal.

 Encourage papaya farming.

 Papaya is a fast growing short-lived tree. It requires full sun, windbreaks, well-drained fertile soil and warm and humid climate. Peak production life of papaya is only a few years.

It can be used as vegetable as well as fruit. The green one can be used as vegetable and to tenderize meats.   Fruit can be eaten fresh, squeezed, candied, dried and make in to jellies.

Let us grow minimum three papaya trees in  a house to get regular supply of fruit and vegetable. Or grow two trees per person.You can grow them even in your garden. A small tree in between the bushes, and flowers looks beautiful.  Look at picture of the tree above. If you are student grow  a few trees in your school or college  grounds near the fence. Plant on the yards of churches, temples, offices, parks, police stations etc, where ever there is little land. Students and adults can form a club to grow this fruit tree in public parks like Trivandrum park, Ernakulum parks,  and Thekinkadu maidan, Trichur etc.

This is one of the fruit which does not require pesticides to grow, and rich in vitamins.

How to market it.
 Arrange to sell in the local shops. Form papaya growers society. Sell direct to the customers to get good price. Put a sign board "Papaya for sale"  Now  we are importing papayas in Kerala  from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. If we grow more we can export papaya to other parts of India or  Gulf countries.

How to grow more new papaya trees from the  existing tree or  from the one you like to cut?




Mount layering papaya tree to produce new one.

Mount layering.       1 Cut the papaya  tree      2. Wait for the shoots to grow.  3,Mount with soil,
                                          4) New roots emerge                        5) Cut the each shoot  and plant it.

 

Free tomato plant from the sucker branch cuttings?

Free tomato plant from the branch cuttings?

We have to prune the tomato plants for getting more yield. Cut the sucker leaves and branches. While cutting the branches keep the branch shoots for developing new plants. Cut the bottom leaves. Keep them in bottle for a week. You will see new roots are forming.  Plant them in ground as a new plant . It will start flowering with in two to three weeks. You save your time too.

Happy gardening.



Cut unwanted branch shoots



Keep in bottle of water for one week
- immerse 1.5 inch  in water




Watch it. New roots are  developed



New plant grown from branch is planted on ground. This is cherry tomato growing in the middle of kale.
Tomato fruits from the bottom of the plant. It saves time too.