Sugary drinks linked to staggering 180,000 deaths each year: study | CTV News

Click below. It  will  help us   to learn  how sugar affects our health. A Harvard University research.



Sugary drinks linked to staggering 180,000 deaths each year: study | CTV News

The whole world is sinking in sugar and sugar products. Identify what is good for you. Are you living for your tongue, or are you living for your body. Sweet is a taste just  like any other tastes: bitter, hot, astringent, salt, or sour. Why do we give more importance to it? Stand against it. Let you be one of the pioneer! Lead the world. The world needs good leaders like you.

Don't make today's sweet tomorrows bitter life.

Nellikai or Amla or Gooseberry- Indian superfruit

Nellikai or Amla or Gooseberry,mother of all fruits.

Indian gooseberry is known as Nellikai in Malayalam, amla in Hindi, amlaki or dhatri in Sanskrit, and amlakkai in Kannada. February to March/April is the  season Amla  is available in market. Enjoy this fruit which is rich in nutrients. It is cheap and  worth more than you pay. It is the cheapest source of vitamin C. It is a nutritional supplement, rich in vitamin C, good for diabetes due to the chromium content,  antioxidant, detoxifier,  good for eyesight and abdominal distress. It is one of the rarest fruits with five tastes, bitter, sour, pungent, astringent and sweet. It is called "Dhatri" in sanskrit which means "mother of all fruits" due to its richness in nutrients. From Ayurveda to the modern nutritionists, all  admire it's excellence in nutrition.
How to make  juice?

Ingredients

1.       Amla – 4-5 nos

2.       Honey 3 Tbsp ( reduce if required)

Method

·         Chop the amla. Remove the seed.

·         Grind by adding ½ cup water.

·         Filter if required

·         Dilute with water as per taste.

·         Add honey ( if required).

How to make wine?

Ingredients

1.       Nellikai- I kg

2.       Water 3 liter

3.       Sugar 1.25 Kg ( reduce to 1 Kg if required)

Method

·         Wash amla remove or wipe water and keep in a sterilized bottle or jar or bharani

·         Boil sugar and water and add boiled water to amla. Try with less sugar if required.

·         When it becomes cool, place the lid . Cover  the lid  with  a clean cloth and tie.

·         Stir the mixture everyday, and cover after stirring

·         Keep for 21 days. Strain the mixture through a clean sterilized  Eerazhan thorthu or muslin cloth to a clean dry utensil.

·         Transfer to clean bottles and cork it.

·         Enjoy the nutrient  wine.

We think wine should be sweet. No. It should be a balanced  mixture of bitter, sour  and astringent taste. Only few wines like  British wines "wincarnis", "stone" some Port wines and Sherry wines are sweet. About 95% of wines which are healthy are not sweet. So don't add much sugar into wine.

How to make pickle?

Please see the separate blog on Nellikai Achar. Click the following.
http://motherkeralacom.blogspot.ca/2013/04/gooseberry-pickle-rosy-daniels-nellikai.html

How to make nellikai home made arishtam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqlbS19mDmc&t=14s

Is Kerala, diabetes capital of the world?

Is Kerala, Diabetes capital of the world?

"The doctor of the future will give no medicines, but will interest his patients into care of human body, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease"

                                                                                               Thomas Edison

Diabetes was a disease earlier associated with the rich mainly those who does very less physical exercise. Now it is spreading among the middle class and poor at an alarming stage. Kerala is turning to be the world capital of diabetes.

What is diabetes?

Diabetes occurs when our body is unable to properly process the glucose it gets from food. Glucose is simple sugar that provides energy for cells to carry out basic tasks. When the sugar can’t get into cells they remain in the bloodstream and cause problems like heart disease, kidney damage and vision problems.

Type1 accounts for 5% of diabetes cases.

Type 2 accounts for 90 to 95% of cases.

Mathew is a school teacher in Kerala. He lived a sedentary lifestyle. He became diabetic 40 years ago. Now, one of his leg is amputed, moves on wheel chair. Mohan worked in Kuwait, worked for Bechtel Corporation, an American construction company. He unknowingly followed the American junk food style. Being diabetic for over 35 years he has very little sensation on his leg. Anil worked for British Airways in Gulf . He got addicted to the Cola culture. His wife too followed him. Both are diabetic for over 25 years. Vijayan is a daily worker in Kerala. He is fond of the Kerala junk foods cooked  in oil.  He is diabetic for 15 years. His medical bill is beyond his limit. All of them have to take three times medicines, they have restrictions for food, they have to visit hospitals to get prescriptions, they have to pay for their  medical strips and medicines.
They all  may be increasing doses according to the degree of disease. They are facing  the risk of deterioration of organs and senses. Imagine their problems, and heavy medical bills and their deteriorating body condition. If they were aware of this disease and what are the reasons behind it earlier they could have prevented this disease. Can they reverse this. Yes to a certain extent. They did not know prevention is better than cure. Through this blog we are trying to create an awareness and education . This is our ( you and me )  role.

Reasons for increasing diabetes.

1. Lack of nutrition.
2. Lifestyle changes.
3. Less or no physical exercise.
4. Stress.

1. Lack of nutrition

Researches done by Pondicherry University and Harvard University shows that lack of nutrition is a major cause for diabetes. Nowadays  we eat more starch and less of required nutrients. We are overfed, under nourished. There is a shift in the staple grains. Earlier we used to eat ragi, bajra, thina,  millet, jowar etc. along with rice and wheat . Now we eat mainly polished rice. We don't know how old is the rice we are getting. There is no expiry on the rice packet. Highly polished rice is mainly starch, have less nutrients since the bran is removed. We used to eat tubers like yam, tapioca, and fruits like  jackfruit, breadfruit etc. before. Now we reduced that too. Our ancestors diet contained healthier food than ours. We eat more starch, more sweet, more fat, less vegetables and  less fruits.

2. Lifestyle changes

Our food

Traditional  balanced food 30  years back.	Now	What we lost
Breakfast Kanji +payaru Puttu +Kadala Pazhaya kanji + fish curry and chutney Yam, tapioca + fish curry Idli + sambar Used millet, Ragi etc along with rice	Breakfast- (mostly starch rich) Palaharam Puttu + pazham Appam+ stew idli/dosa +sambar, chutney (idli made of polished rice and polished urdu dal) Now we eat more of polished rice products or only rice with less of other grains.	The powdered grains lose its vitamins over the days.  We are not taking a balanced food. When we take Puttu +pazham- it is starch + starch The balanced food should contain starch, protein, fat, fresh vegetable leafy greens and fruits. We don't eat much fresh vegetables as salad. Only very few eats yam.
Lunch Rice + Sambar, avail , eriserry, Thoran, yoghurt, fish curry	Lunch Rice and Chicken+	We lost variety of fresh phyto chemical plant nutrient  from vegetable. Our food contains less leafy greens and fruits.
Dinner Rice + Fish curry, thoran, yoghurt	Dinner Rice + fish curry or chicken+	We lost fresh  home grown green nutrient foods.

We ignored our  traditional wisdom. We ignored our traditional super foods, like full bran unpolished rice, legumes, un-skinned pulses,  amla, sardine, pumpkin, yam, locally available fruits like papaya, gooseberry, pineapple, jackfruit, mango, jampakkai, guava, cashew fruit, different types of bananas  etc. From a wide variety of foods with varied nutrients  we limited to few. In this shift we lost multi vitamins required for the body. Most of the people eat only  banana as fruit, not any other local fruits. We ignored our traditional way of cooking- water based cooking to oil based frying.
The cultural shift. We ignored our heritage when the influx of gulf/foreign money, and the TV channel revolution changed our lifestyle in 1970s and 80s. There was a cultural shift from our traditional vegetarian oriented food to non vegetarian,  ayurveda  to allopathic,  home made healthy food to processed bakery items,  sadya with different curries to biryani . Moreover poratta, biriyani, chips, sweets, baked items become popularized. Earlier every household had  a few cattle, chickens,  little farmland and a kitchen garden. Now 100% of our food is from the market. We shifted from physical work to sedentary life due to automation of household jobs, TV shows and laziness. We moved from a hardworking society to a pampered society. Most of us got paper degrees. In that process we lost the aspiration to work with hand. Almost all physical jobs are done by immigrant work force. We are in a sinking  mindset. Now we are paying a heavy price by being diabetic. 

When we get away from our tradition, we cut our roots. When we cut our roots we lost the nutrient  source too.

 



No 2 and 3 are full bran unpolished rice. Next time ask the grocer to get that for you. Buy what you want and not what they sell.  
If you want to see the full bran unpolished rice buy 500gms of  "Ngavara Ari" from the shop.

We disregarded the traditional way of cooking. We shifted from simple cooking to complex cooking. We used to boil our foods. Now we overcook food. While overcooking, or deep frying the fibre and the nutrients are getting lost. We shifted from water cooking to oil cooking, which  means more frying. In addition we deep-fry most of the foods- like chips. Africans, Philippinos, Carribeans and South Americans eat boiled green banana, but we make chips and eat. Even the banana fruit is fried. This is done only in Kerala. Chips business was prevalent  only in  in 3 or 4 major Municipal corporations, like Trivandrum, Cochin, Trichur and Calicut before, around 30 years back. Now it has flourished in all the remotest villages of Kerala. We like more frys.  We fry fish more than before. We eat more meat than before like meat olathiyathu etc. Vegetable too is fried to make mezhukku varatti etc. We copy the TV shows cooking  which starts with sauting in oil instead of traditional cooking of adding oil just before completing cooking. When oil is reheated molecular changes are taking place , it becomes trans-fat and polymer.

I live in Vancouver, Canada. Recently I offered a  warm Samoosa to a Chinese neighbor. He refused it saying that he won't eat anything cooked in oil , he eats food cooked in water only. A great lesson for us with a piece of  wisdom. He is above 65 years old , but he looks around 55 and has no illness.

We refused to pay attention to traditional super dishes like sambar, avial, erissary, thoran, parippu ( lentil), etc.  which are balanced diet with  different types of vegetables that contains  lot of nutrients and fiber. Sambar is a three in one dish: a curry, a lentil soup and a vegetable soup. Now it is replaced with chicken, red meat and fish curry made of  large  fish like kingfish. Instead of highly nutrient small fish like sardine and  mackerel we eat large size kingfish. Nutritionists call King fish and other big fish the "broiler" among fish. Traditional way of curry is replaced by fries, where nutrients are lost while overheating the food in hot oil. We shifted from water cooking to oil cooking.

Eat multiple super food vegetables.

White sugar consumption is increased a lot. Sugar is one of the culprit behind increasing diabetes. Sugar depletes vitamins. We want everything sweet.

Consumption of bakery items increased. It is recently reported Kerala got the maximum density of bakeries. Most of the bakery items are made of fibreless white flour, which lacks the fiber and nutrients. Moreover the fried foods are rich in trans fats and sugar. They lose their nutrients while deep-fried in oil.

Alcohol consumption has increased a lot. We drink liquor with high percentage of alcohol in it like whisky, rum etc which is very bad for the body. We rank number one in India in alcohol consumption. We drink the maximum whisky in the world. Alcohol, like sugar  depletes multivitamins and minerals from the body. 

We ignored  or rather ignore foods which are bitter and pungent. Instead we encourage our children  and other people to go for sweet, sour and salty. Food with bitter taste is an essential daily requirement for the body according to Ayur Veda . North Indians, Europeans, Americans, Chinese eat bitter leaves like different lettuces, herbs, fenugreeks ( methi). Chinese take tea without sugar. North Americans take coffee with out sugar. Ayurveda recommends to have daily food with six tastes for a healthy living. Add at least a few a green bitter food in our daily  menu. Bitter gout we get are mostly pesticide infested . Methi  leaves (Fenugreek or Uluva), bitter gout leaves, coriander, mint are good choice.  Bitter regulates secretion of insulin and  glycogen by the pancreas, there by help to manage diabetes.
Read the blog "The wisdom in tastes and colors of healthy Food"

We take salad and fruits are taken very rarely.

3. No exercise

We watch games on the TV screen rather than playing on the ground. We do very less walking, cycling, or gym exercises or gardening. If we are watching TV more than two hours a day, chances of getting diabetes is more because of lack of exercise. Move our body or lose our body. The choice is ours. 
We stopped farming at home as well as home grown kitchen garden. We turned to pesticide infested vegetables transported from other states.

When automation has replaced manual work we use household pumps instead drawing water from the well, use cars instead of walking, use grinders instead of manual grinding etc. 
We sit more idle than our old generation, for watching TVs, Computers, or in the cars. Move your body or lose it. British Researches has shown people who are sitting more hours are on high risk of diabetes.

Lack of Vitamin D  is another reason  for diabetes. We get Vitamin D mainly from sunlight. We won't work or play outside like before. We like to stay indoors.

We watch more TV shows than others. We got the highest number of TV stations. Most of our TV serials are depicting  aggressive behavior, and material craziness. The world is already dark, we want light to replace darkness. How many hours a day we watch TV? Does it make us calm, peaceful  happy, or does it make us aggressive, angry, jealous, hatred and change our bio chemistry and create toxic chemicals in our body. If it  is the latter we are prone to stress and illness.

4. Stress - Mind matters most.

We shifted the focus of religion. If religion cannot discipline the mind it lost its purpose. We go to churches, temples, or mosques to get things done rather than learning how to calm the mind and discipline the life.  Mind matters most in health. Mind changes the bio chemistry of our body. We run to get material possessions rather than mental peace and harmony with fellow beings and other creations. We create divisions based on beliefs and hate others. Hatred creates stress hormones and toxic chemicals and slowly we become prone to diseases. Hatred, jealousy, anger worries are slow killers. The antidote is love. Love, patience, tolerance, compassion, simplicity etc. are free medicines, because they reduce stress hormones that  creates toxic chemicals. These are the godly multi-vitamins. These are intangible soups. These are divine powers. Om Namah Shivaya. Bow to God. Charge  us with the divine power. Show the grace of God: good thoughts, good feelings and good actions, dormant in us  to save us from illness.

 Let us pray to seek peace of mind , Shanti "Om shanti".  Prayer is talking to God. When we pray  next time pray to Clean, Clear, Calm our mind and ask god to make us creative. Calmness is energy. 

1. CLEAN mind is loving, caring, helping, non-critic, positive, optimistic, honest, open-minded, confident, creative, encouraging, motivating, and forgiving. It will admit and correct mistakes. It will be filled with respect, humility, happiness and team spirit.
2.  CLEAR mind is clear from laziness, fear, cynicism or pessimism, selfishness, ego, exhibitionism, lie, worries, anxiety, tension, hatred, negative thoughts and negative emotions.
3. CALM mind is relaxed and energetic. A calm mind saves energy. The above qualities can be achieved by regular physical exercise, sports, mental exercise, meditation, and yoga. Improve your inner strength by learning self-discipline, patience, relaxation, emotional intelligence. Believe in you  and say “ I CAN” change my present lifestyle.

Meditation is listening to God . Improve the quality of listening. Meditation is calming down ourselves while listening to God.  When we calm down our mind, we calm down our body. That is the way to relax or stress relief.
5. Food contains lot of pesticides and chemicals. We don't grow food , though we can grow. We import from other states grown mainly with lot of pesticides. We get old  vegetables, not fresh that contains not nutrients but poison.

What can we do to reverse diabetis?

1. Change from single grain of rice  to multigrains: rice, wheat, ragi, oats, barley, millet, jowar, thina etc. Use full bran unpolished rice as much as possible.
2. Change from single fruit (mainly banana) to locally available  multifruits: papaya, mango, gauva, custard apple, chambakkai, jackfruit etc.
3. Add salad and multi fruits in food. Reduce chips, bakery items, sweet and meat.
4. Eat as much home grown vegetables and fruits as possible. Reduce pesticide infested food.
5. Learn how too much sweet affects the nervous system. ( Read blog on white sugar)
6. Avoid alcohol. Switch to unsweetened wine.
7. Eat your daily bitter tastes. Not bitter-gout alone. Bitter gout bought from market may contain pesticides. Eat methi (fenugreek) leaves, kale leaves, gooseberry etc.  Eat all six tastes as a daily requirement suggested in Ayur-Veda. Ayur veda is not only a way of treatment, it is a way of living too.



Eat multiple fruits

8. Change our life style, eating habits, cooking habit  to a healthy eating habit.
9. Move your body or lose your body (exercise) . Change the sinking mindset.
10. Keep a healthy mind. Loving mind.
11. Control stress.
12. Do something for the society. It gives satisfaction. Love others, nature and universe.

What creative steps can we take as a community?

1. Learn from the lessons. We ignored education on healthy living. Educate people from school to colleges, communities, temples, churches, mosques etc. the importance of healthy living and the basics they have to know.
2. Start "Healthy living " as a mandatory subject from schools to Ph D and all have to pass that to complete their course. 
3. Do research. Participate students in all walks of life. Create a 'Diabetes Knowledge Bank'. Deposit and withdraw valuable information.
4. Educate each other. Having a  paper degree does not mean 'don't do any work with hand.' Let each of us educate  two or three people known to us, in our family, neighbors, or  work place. Together  we can reverse increasing diabetes in our community.
5. Educate the necessity of kitchen garden to avoid heavy import of pesticide infested vegetables from  other states.
6. Find out the locally available super foods. Grow them at home.
7. Stop or reduce  buying the junk foods. Encourage  healthier living. Buy whole wheat bread instead of white breads. Reduce three white angles: SMS , Salt, Maida and Sugar. 

Let us hold each other to strengthen our wisdom and values. Let us change our present lifestyle today, which has led us to this situation. We can reverse diabetes by changing the way we live. Now the choice is left with us. Do we want our present lifestyle or our life?  Change our lifestyle, change our world. Be the change. Lead others.

"Lokha samastha sukhino bhavanthu" (Let the whole world live happily) is my prayer.

Please read Related blogs

1. White sugar.http://motherkeralacom.blogspot.ca/2012/09/white-sugar-is-it-angel-or-slow-killing.html
2. Super foods
3. Meditation
4. Par boiled Brown rice
5. Colors and tastes of food
6. Sugary drinks

Grapes 2012 Burnaby backyard garden

Burnaby back yard garden- grapes 2012

These are our back yard  grapes "Vitis Vinefera" in 2012 in Burnaby. If we can grow this, you too can. If you want any help be in touch.

Ethics we have to learn

Ethics- we have to learn.

Ethics refers to essential elements like specific values, rules and agreements people adopt for their wellbeing. Ethical choice reflects what is right and wrong. Here are three cases of ethical behavior.

In Canada for all the professional careers, they have to pass professional ethics. Professional ethics is a compulsory subject. “What you do unto others is done unto you”. This is the golden rule of ethics.

Look at the following three different cases in different parts of the planet. Observe how ethics contribute to the well being and economic development of an individual and a nation.

Case 1 . Australia. One of my friend lives in Tasmania,  Australia. During his last visit he told me what the farmers used to do there.  In the morning the farmers keep their produce like eggs, vegetables and fruits in front of the farm in cartons with the price tag and leave for farming jobs. They leave a cash box too there. It is like a shop unmanned. In the evening they come back to collect the money and the unsold items. In the evening he tallies the account.

Case 2 .     In Canada I grow vegetables in the summer in front of my house. A young gentleman  in his 20's was passing by the road and stopped while I was watering the plants. He was returning home from music class. He told me his mother had a small garden before and he loves gardening. I offered him some vegetables. I collected a plastic bag and gave him a bag full of vegetables. The young man got surprised of my gift. In fact this is the first time we are meeting each other. Perhaps this may be the first time he may be getting something free from a stranger. He said  “I don’t have anything to  give you back” I told him it is free, it is my pleasure giving you free.  He looked around, put his hand in the pocket searching for money, but there was nothing with him. He had a guitar with him.  He asked me “shall I play a music”. I told him  "yes". He stood beside the road and played music with his guitar which he says one of Beethoven's composition. Mentally he wants to pay back. He feels he has to pay back for whatever he receives, which some people doesnot have. He wants to earn, rather than receive it free.

Case 3. Kerala, India.       A 83 year old mother lives alone in Trissur, Kerala. She had a drumstick tree full of drumsticks. She offered the drumstick free to a known friend in the neighborhood.. After a few hours the mother visited the location of drumstick tree. She got shocked to see that the whole drumstick plant is stripped out, and the branches are broken. The scene was a complete mess.  The whole tree is damaged and the  friend left without housekeeping too.

Look at the three ethical standards.
1st case. In the first case, the farmer doesn’t have to waste his time to sell the produce. He saves the time and works in the farm so the farm produce become cheaper for the public. When people are honest and trust worthy this will work better. Everybody is in a win win situation.

The 2^nd case tells a moral message. The youngster is not habituated to get free things. He has to earn it, though it is offered free. He is morally obliged to pay for whatever he receives.

The 3^rd case shows I don’t care even if you lose, or the tree is damaged. I am selfish. No gratitude.   I don’t have to earn, I want free. This is my ethics.

I was forced to pay bribe to renew driving license in Kerala, to get property  document in order in the local village office. Twenty-five years back one telephone  Engineer threatened  me , he will disconnect the line if I did not pay bribe. He did it once, but could  not succeed much, since I approached PMG Trivandrum.  Recently I heard he died of heart attack before retirement in Mavelikara. Our politicians' mantra is  "come on  enjoy the party today", spend  public's money , make deficit, tomorrow somebody else will pay. Who will pay tomorrow ? Our children. Is this our Ethics. We claim  as "God's own country". Yes it is God's own country, but the country lacks godliness.

We have to realize, having a govt. job does not mean to victimize the public, instead consider this as an opportunity to serve public. It is a relief that the young generation is  some what corrupt free.

In both the above 2 cases you can see there is development in society. They are obliged each other and keeps an ethical culture. We have to learn and practice this. Only then our society can develop. Stop saying "Give me, give me." Start saying  "take it." Learn to give whereever we are, whatever we can.

We create ethics for the society. We are the shapers of this society. Don't be a silent partner in this mad world. We are living for a purpose. Contribute something for the society we live in to make this world a better place to live in. Let it be sharing knowledge, time, or  any resource. Let it be a little smile on your face. It  can change the world.  YOU TOO HOLD THE KEY FOR OUR PROGRESS.

Super foods that can protect from diabetes, cancer etc

Super foods that can save you from cancer,
 diabetes etc.

 Lack of nutrients is the main cause of diabetics, according to studies done by scientists in Harvard and Pondicherry Universities. Same is the case with cancer and  frequent illness. We are overfed, but undernourished.  Mostly the food we eat does not contain the nutrients, or vitamins. They are getting lost while it is cooked in overheated oil. Overheating depletes vitamins. We eat mainly more starch than required, and  food that contain less nutrients  because we are less aware or ignorant of nutrient foods. The following are foods that contain more nutrients. They are the super foods that can keep us healthy and  protect from illness.

Why these foods are called super foods? They contain more vitamins, minerals and fiber. They contain less pesticides residue. While growing they don't require tender care and protection with  pesticides, They are easy to grow. They don't require much fungicides to extend the shelf life of the produce in the supermarkets.

Super foods	It's use
Oranges, grape fruit   ( Grape fruit is different than grapes)	Reduces blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart failure. Oranges contain the soluble fiber pectin, potassium.
Kale	“Kale has everything you would want in a super-food” Joel Fuhrman the author of bestseller “Eat to live". For more info read blog on Kale
Garlic	Reduces blood pressure and plaque.
Red wine-unsweetened	Boosts HDL,reduces unwanted clotting. But we  in Kerala drink maximum whisky in the world.  Change this whisky  habit to red unsweetened wine for a better healthy one. Rich in anti-oxidants too.
Dark chocolate without sugar or with very less sugar.	Reduces blood pressure.
Lentils or legumes- lentils with skin.	Reduces blood pressure. Rich in fiber.
Sardine	Reduces triglycerides and raise HDL. Sardine is one among the top nutrient fish  with highest level Omega3 fatty acids. In North America and  Canada sardine is available in cans in all the supermarkets. Very cheap too
Almond with its skin	Reduces LDL and fatal arrhythmias.
Pomegranates.	Reduces atherosclerosis.
Papaya	Rich in nutrients. Very cheap too.
Pumpkin or butter squash.	Rich in nutrients. Very cheap too.
Amla or gooseberry	Rich in nutrients. Tastes bitter, pungent, sweet, and sour.  Highest  nutrient score as per Ayurveda. Mother of fruits-Dhathri. Please read blog on amla (nellikai)  for more info
Carrot	Rich in Beta carotene.
Yam, Tapioca, potatoes	Rich in fiber, minerals and vitamins. But dont take other starch along with it . Be moderate .
Brown rice with full bran (unpolished)	Bran contains vitamins and minerals.
Pummelo (Kampili Naranga)	Rich in nutrients.
Turmeric	Anti-oxidant, anti-cancerous.
Onion	Reduce cholesterol- rich in fiber, chromium that  control sugar levels in diabetics, anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti- viral.
Ginger	Anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory. Contains essential nutrients and vitamins.

Meditation - a power booster, healer and stress reliever

Meditation- a power booster, healer and stress reliever

Major religions of the world, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Daoism, Judaism, practice some sort of calming the mind, which is a form of meditation, to gain insight and wisdom, by listening to God through silence, breathing and focus.

“Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46.10 Bible.

 Meditation is medicine for the mind. Like exercise builds the muscles of your body, meditation builds the muscles of your mind. Meditation is the act of listening to God. Prayer is the act of talking to God. It is the way to get rid of all negative emotions like hatred, jealousy, anger etc. It purifies and strengthens the mind. It can place you in a state of bliss and significantly reduce your level of stress, strengthen your immune system and overall well-being.

 Benefits of meditation

“Breath is the bridge that connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as a means to take hold of your mind again”           Thich Nhat Hanh- Buddhist monk

In Bible Psalms 39.5  it is described this way “Each man’s life is but a breath’’

Just as an engine which runs daily requires cooling down to avoid overheating, increased durability and efficiency, your mind is to be relaxed regularly through meditation after daily stress and mental pollution. As food is good for the body, meditation is good for the mind. Meditation has positive effects like inner peace, contentment, better responsiveness to stressful events, quicker recovery, more immunity, better sleep, reduced heart rate, and blood pressure, slowed rate of breathing, and more stable brainwave patterns. The mind is the software and the brain is the hardware.

To sum up

1. It enhances immune system, reduces frequent sickness, and heals sickness faster.
2. Reduces negative feelings of anger, depression, anxiety, and confusion.
3. Increases blood flow and reduce heart problems.
4. Increases calming of the mind, enhances peace, encourages harmony and balances life.
5. Helps to reverse cholesterol, heart disease, asthma, cancer etc.
6. Helps to control thoughts, especially negative thoughts
7. Increase energy, and happiness.
8. Reduce stress.

 
There is energy in calmness, clarity of thought and contentment. This is what we achieve in meditation. Researches done by Universities on the effect of meditation on human brain have proved it. Enjoy  meditation. Enjoy life. Live happily.