The first commandment of healthy living is to eat plenty of fresh fruits. However, did you know that some fruits are healthier than others? Fruits do not have any added sugars but many fruits are rich in natural sugar. However, here are 11 fruits which have lowest sugar content.

Limes and lemons: Limes and lemons are known as sour fruits. While they are rich in vitamin C, they do not contain a lot of sugar. Freshly squeezed lime juice and hot water is the perfect drink to curb your appetite and raise metabolism.
Raspberries: Raspberries are rich in fiber but have only a little more than a teaspoon of sugar per cup. This makes them the perfect fruit to start the day with.
Strawberries: Strawberries may taste sweet but a cup of fresh strawberries has only about 7 grams of sugar. However, a cup of strawberries has enough vitamin C to take care of your daily requirements.
Blackberries: A cup of these berries also has minimal sugar. Along with fiber, these fruits are also rich in antioxidants. These berries also help lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and other such conditions.
Kiwi: Did you know that kiwis are technically berries? Each kiwi has less than 6 grams of sugar but is very rich in vitamin C.
Grapefruit: A grapefruit is a perfect breakfast. These citrus fruits are rich in fiber and low in sugar. Half a grapefruit contains only 52 calories and minimal sugar. They are also rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, and potassium.
Avocado: Avocados are naturally low in their sugar content. One raw avocado has less than a gram of sugar. However, they are full of vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, and potassium.
Watermelon: Summer would be incomplete without watermelons. Though they taste sweet, watermelons are very low in sugar. A cup of watermelon has less than 10 grams of sugar.
Cantaloupe: Cantaloupes are rich in vitamin A but a cup of this fruit has only about 14 grams of sugar. They are also rich in vitamin B, magnesium and fiber.
Oranges: Eating an orange is the best way to boost our vitamin C levels and keep infections away. One orange typically contains less than 70 calories and 12 grams of sugar.
Peaches: A medium sized peach has less than 13 grams of sugar. This is an example of how taste can be deceptive when it comes to calories.
Given the sugar content in these fruits, it would be a great idea for the diabetics and weight watchers to include them in their diet and have a healthy and hearty meal. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a General Physician.

11 Best Fruits That Are Low In Sugar Content!

There s a lot that nutritionists around the world don t agree on, but most of them advise you to have more vegetables than fruits and more water- based vegetables like bottle gourd in summers.

Let s take a look at why this is so.

Bottle gourd keeps you hydrated and cool in summers: Bottle guard has always been regarded as one of the healthiest vegetables, and for a reason. This versatile vegetable is full of about 92 % water and minerals and is the best that nature can offer to keep your body hydrated and cool. It s a good idea to have bottle gourd or  lauki  as a juice because cooking deactivates the minerals and vitamins found in it. The juice keeps your stomach cool and reduces body heat or  pitta . You can also eat boiled lauki with curd to get its cooling benefits. This vegetable helps replenish the water lost due to sweating during summers and is also a great remedy for any kind of heat-related ailment like nose bleeding, pimples or ulcers according to Ayurveda.
Helps control weight: It helps control weight as Bottle gourd is excellent for you if you are trying to lose weight. The vegetable is packed with fibre which helps in keeping you full for longer, thus reducing food cravings that make you pile on the kilos. It is also a low-calorie vegetable with no fat and thus helps you lose weight too. Bottle gourd is prescribed by Ayurvedic medicine to reduce flab as fibre is the key to weight -loss.
 Storehouse of essential vitamins and minerals: Bottle gourd contains essential vitamins and minerals like Vitamin C, B, K, A, E, Iron, Folate, Potassium and Manganese. These play a critical role in metabolism and body functions.
Treats urinary tract infections: Freshly made bottle guard juice mixed with lime juice is one of the best natural remedies for treating pesky UTIs.
Cure for stomach problems: Bottle gourd helps in curing constipation and also treats diarrhea. This is due to the fact that the vegetable contains a lot of water and fibre which helps in cleaning your digestive track and allows easy bowel movement. One of the best home remedies for treating diarrhea is to drink bottle gourd juice with a pinch of salt. This helps in maintaining the electrolyte balance of your body, as well.
Bottle gourd helps in controlling diabetes: Bottle gourd juice is also beneficial for diabetic patients as it stabilizes blood sugar levels and maintains optimum blood pressure. The best time to have it is in morning before breakfast to reap this benefit. Also, take care to consume the juice immediately as it oxidizes quite fast.

Bottle Gourd (Lauki) - 6 Amazing Health Benefits You Never Thought Of!

There is a commonly held view that eating disorders are a lifestyle choice. Eating disorders are actually serious and often fatal illnesses that cause severe disturbances to a person's eating behaviors. Obsessions with food, body weight, and shape may also signal an eating disorder.

Signs and Symptoms of Common Eating Disorders are discussed below...

Anorexia Nervosa-

People with anorexia nervosa may see themselves as overweight, even when they are dangerously underweight. People with anorexia nervosa typically weigh themselves repeatedly, severely restrict the amount of food they eat, and eat very small quantities of only certain foods. Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any mental disorder.

Symptoms:

Extremely restricted eating
Extreme thinness (emaciation)
A relentless pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain a normal or healthy weight
Intense fear of gaining weight
Distorted body image, a self-esteem that is heavily influenced by perceptions of body weight and shape, or a denial of the seriousness of low body weight
Other symptoms may develop over time, including:

Thinning of the bones (osteopenia or osteoporosis)
Mild anemia and muscle wasting and weakness
Brittle hair and nails
Dry and yellowish skin
Growth of fine hair all over the body (lanugo)
Severe constipation
Low blood pressure, slowed breathing and pulse
Damage to the structure and function of the heart
Brain damage
Multiorgan failure
Drop in internal body temperature, causing a person to feel cold all the time
Lethargy, sluggishness, or feeling tired all the time
Infertility
Bulimia Nervosa-

People with bulimia nervosa have recurrent and frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food and feeling a lack of control over these episodes. This binge-eating is followed by behavior that compensates for the overeating such as forced vomiting, excessive use of laxatives or diuretics, fasting, excessive exercise, or a combination of these behaviors. People with bulimia nervosa usually maintain what is considered a healthy or relatively normal weight.

Symptoms:

Chronically inflamed and sore throat
Swollen salivary glands in the neck and jaw area
Worn tooth enamel and increasingly sensitive and decaying teeth as a result of exposure to stomach acid
Acid reflux disorder and other gastrointestinal problems
Intestinal distress and irritation from laxative abuse
Severe dehydration from purging of fluids
Electrolyte imbalance (too low or too high levels of sodium, calcium, potassium and other minerals) which can lead to stroke or heart attack
Binge-eating Disorder-

People with binge-eating disorder lose control over his or her eating. Unlike bulimia nervosa, periods of binge-eating are not followed by purging, excessive exercise, or fasting. As a result, people with binge-eating disorder often are overweight or obese. Binge-eating disorder is the most common eating disorder.

Symptoms:

Eating unusually large amounts of food in a specific amount of time
Eating even when you're full or not hungry
Eating fast during binge episodes
Eating until you're uncomfortably full
Eating alone or in secret to avoid embarrassment
Feeling distressed, ashamed, or guilty about your eating
Frequently dieting, possibly without weight loss
Unspecified Eating Disorder-

This happens when the behavior do not meet the criteria for any food or eating problems but still pose significant threat and problems.
This also happens the clinician is not able to assess whether an individual is affected by a certain disorder.
Treatment-

Treatment is available. Recovery is possible...

Eating disorders are serious health conditions that can be both physically and emotionally destructive. People with eating disorders need to seek professional help. Early diagnosis and intervention may enhance recovery. Eating disorders can become chronic, debilitating, and even life-threatening conditions.

When you begin to notice that disordered eating habits are affecting your life, your happiness, and your ability to concentrate, it is important that you talk to somebody about what you are going through.

The most effective and long-lasting treatment for an eating disorder is some form of psychotherapy or psychological counseling, coupled with careful attention to medical and nutritional needs. Ideally, this treatment should be tailored to the individual and will vary according to both the severities of the disorder and the patient's particular problems, needs, and strengths.

Eating Disorders

How Acupuncture can help beat Indigestion?

Indigestion or dyspepsia may not be a disease in itself, but it may be symptomatic of digestive tract diseases such as peptic ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), etc. If you are among the individuals who suffer from acute bouts of belching, nausea, heartburns and discomfort after eating, take action before it becomes a nuisance to the quality of your life.

Mostly related to unhealthy dietary habits, clinical statistics show indigestion, especially functional dyspepsia, can be potentially cured by ancient Chinese acupuncture techniques. In the rare cases of research that has happened in this field, acupuncture showed greater effectiveness compared to the use of conventional medicinal drugs such as mosapride.

Causes of Indigestion

Indigestion may result from various factors that cause an imbalance in our body. Acupuncture relies on the ability of the acupuncturist to detect the cause of indigestion and treat it likewise. The major causes of indigestion include -

  An unhealthy diet including excess alcohol, excess caffeine, fatty foods etc.
  Chronic physiological conditions such as GERD.
  Stress eating

How acupuncture cures indigestion

  Acupuncture is an 8000-year-old technique that uses needles inserted at specific points in the body, depending on the ailment, to ensure a balanced flow of energy or qi. When this flow of energy is disrupted, we suffer from physiological disorders.
  In acupuncture, it is believed that indigestion results from increased energy flow to the liver that impairs the functioning of the spleen. Specific puncture points on the abdominal region help to redistribute this energy imbalance.
  Besides curing indigestion, acupuncture improves your overall digestive health by stimulating blood flow to the various organs related to digestion.
  The efficiency of acupuncture in curing indigestion has been verified by research to have substantial and long-lasting effects in combatting indigestion.
  Although acupuncture sessions can cause mild soreness and fatigue, it is often a better alternative to using medications regularly.
  The role of the acupuncturist is crucial in the treatment of indigestion as the efficiency of a session depends on the correct identification of the underlying cause.

If you are suffering from chronic indigestion that leaves you uncomfortable and irritated for large parts of the day, consulting an acupuncturist can relieve you from having to resort to medicines regularly. Acupuncture cures indigestion by focusing on your specific needs and improving the overall efficacy of the concerned organs and consequently our general wellness.


How Acupuncture Can Help Beat Indigestion?

If you have been that extremely skinny guy in your high school days, never getting picked for the soccer team, then it is time to fix that stubborn weight issue. Worry not, it s fairly easy, all you have to do is make changes in your diet. Diet is the primary component that can help gain weight.

Some tips you can follow and design your diet plan accordingly are mentioned below: 

Increase your appetite by eating more to gain weight. But do it step-by-step and not by stuffing yourself too much at one go. Add one extra chapatti or more rice than you normally consume, or you even start with fruits by eating an extra one every day. Ghee, oil or butter can not only help increase your weight, but it may increase weight by increasing your fat percentage in your body. Rather you can eat a proper well-nourished diet and increase your muscle mass and not only the fat accumulation in the body.

Carbohydrates are needed to gain weight but include healthier options like banana, potato, mango, whole grain, rice, etc. Instead of sugar-rich food items like chocolates and other junk food items. Carbohydrates are classified into simple and complex carbs. Reduce on your simple carbs like sugar and sweets which later on converts to fats. Complex carbs like whole grains, beans or fibre-rich vegetables and fruits can be consumed for a healthy weight gain.

Consume protein-rich food items after your workout to increase your muscle mass. And eat good fats like nuts and seeds in your diet. Eating a handful of pumpkin or flaxseeds is a good way to give your body the fat intake it needs. Though junk food items like vada pav or burgers are loaded with calories, they only increase body fat and not muscle mass. This is not the right way to go around. Every meal should comprise of carbs and protein. Post-workout nutrients and a well-balanced diet with the proper combination of carbohydrates and protein is the most important to maintain your muscle mass and weight gain process.
Sample Meal Plan -

To give you more opportunities to get the calories to gain weight, aim to eat 3 meals and 2-3 snacks a day. For breakfast, enjoy generous servings of whole grains like whole-wheat bread with beans or egg whites, paneer or Cereals and a glass of milk with nuts will be a good combination.

Mid-morning can be fruit juices, fruit milkshakes, 1-2 serving of fruit or granola bars. Lunch and dinner can be incorporated with 3-4 wholegrain chapattis with a serving of pulses, paneer, chicken or fish and a serving of vegetables with a portion of rice OR 1 bowl of khichdi which serves you with good cereal pulse combination. In between meals if you feel hungry you can have sprouts or roasted channa. Evening you can either grab a whole wheat sandwich, a whole wheat roll or a whole wheat sub.

Bedtime you can either have a glass of milk or either banana /mango/strawberry milkshake.

Right Ways To Gain Weight!

3 symptoms to identify vitamin d deficiency

Vitamin d deficiency is caused when your body does not get enough exposure to the sun that is the primary source of vitamin d for your body. It is crucial for the health of your bones, skin and neurological system, therefore, its deficiency may lead to a number of problems and risks such as rickets, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis etc.

Here is a list of four symptoms that can help you to identify if you suffer from a deficiency of vitamin d.

1. Bone pain and muscle weakness

Adults who suffer from a deficiency of vitamin d feel a lot of achiness and pain in the bones and muscles of their body. Also, they are troubled with joint stiffness and fatigue that lowers the overall quality of their life.

2. Fits of sadness and grief

Exposure to the sun (and hence, vitamin d) improves the level of the neurotransmitter serotonin in your body that is responsible for lifting your spirits. However, deficiency of vitamin d prevents you from having a more positive outlook towards life. So, another symptom that can help you identify that your body is deficient in vitamin d is that you've got a lot of blues.

3. A lot of head sweat

If your head sweats a lot, you can be assured that you suffer from an acute deficiency of vitamin d. Head sweating is another prominent symptom associated with vitamin d deficiency.

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on 'consult'.
Related Tip: Why Drastic Deficiency of Vitamin D is Becoming Increasingly Common Among Urban Indian Youth?

3 Symptoms to Identify Vitamin D Deficiency

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