Dr. Dhuri Sharma

We have now reached that time of the year when we all look forward to the festivities and celebrations for Christmas. And, it goes without saying that celebrating Christmas is synonymous with parties, which not only involves a get-together but also unlimited dance, food, and drinks. It is also that time of the year when we all forget our resolution of sticking to a healthy diet. But, why waste your entire year’s efforts when you can balance your efforts and at the same time, enjoy the Christmas week?

Surprised? Well, here are some Christmas party tips that will let you enjoy every bit of it without inviting any troubles related to health.

Prepping up for the Party

The most important thing to remember before the party is that you must not skip meals anticipating the high-calorie food that you would have at the party. Stick to your regular meals and also don’t forego your exercise routine.

• General Tips
  • Keep yourself hydrated throughout the day. Consume not just water, but other healthy liquids as well.
  • Before hitting the party, have a small meal that will make you feel satiated. This will help avoid unnecessary snacking.
• Special Diet Tip: Take juice and tender coconut water as drinks and egg whites, a bowl of soup, fruits, or diet chivda as snacks right before leaving for the party.
• Cheat Tip: Drink a glass full of buttermilk before leaving for the party. It will keep you satiated and will also help prevent unnecessary bloating after the party.

The Party Day

When you are at the party, make wise choices rather than just gorging on unhealthy and fried snacks. It might seem to be a difficult task, but with a little effort, you can make healthier choices.

• General Tips
  • Keep your focus on the dance floor and the party, rather than just focussing on what is being served.
  • Refrain from having food items that are deep-fried and choose steamed, boiled, or grilled food items.
  • Choose vegetables and lean meat rather than the noxious red meat.
  • Have salads without the creamy and fat-laden dressing. If pasta is on the menu, go for pasta in the red sauce rather than the cheesy white sauce, extremely high in calories.
  • Keep a check on your portion size by choosing a smaller plate and by sharing your food .
• Special Diet Tip: Try fresh fruits, green veggies, steamed or boiled food items and whole grains.
• Cheat Tip: Keep chewing a gum until you really feel like spitting it out. This will help you keep away from high-calorie fried and processed snacks.

Post-Party Recovery

Once the party is over, it is time to detoxify your body and to get back to your original plan. However, it is important to realize that there is no need to have guilty pangs for the food that you had at the party.

• General Tips
  • Consume home-made food and limit your intake of oil, salt, and sugar.
  • Take green tea, infused water, or just plain water as it will help you to detoxify.
  • Eat whole grains and refrain from having processed food or any food item made of refined flour.
  • Choose whole fruits over fruit juice.
• Special Diet Tip: Consume idli, poha, upma, or muesli for breakfast, whole grains and fruits for lunch, and dal, soup, curd, and salad for dinner.
• Cheat Tip: Drink a glass of water as soon as you wake up, two hours before every meal, and one hour after every meal. It will detoxify your body fast and keep you energetic throughout the day.

What is matcha green tea?

Matcha green tea is a premium green tea from japan. Since hundreds of years the zen used matcha green tea to help in meditation as it helps in calming the mind. Matcha is shade harvested, steamed, air dried, destemmed and hand pounded green tea. There are no artificial colours or preservatives added. It is sugar free and gluten free thus can be consumed by most of the people around the world. Stone grinding retains matcha’s peculiar taste.

Benefits of matcha green tea powder –

Benefits of matcha green tea are more prevalent than general green tea. Matcha tea is powdered and mixed with water unlike other green teas which are just dipped in water and removed. Consuming powdered leaves helps in more availability of the antioxidants present. Hence matcha green tea benefits more than the general green tea.

Matcha is an antioxidant storehouse:

It contains 137 times more poly phenol than regular green tea. Epigallocatechin gallate (egcg) is the major poly phenol present. Egcg is believed to burn the fat stores in the body for energy. It also increases the body’s immunity towards the diseases. Studies show high antioxidant levels in matcha helps in fighting cancer. Ecgc also detoxifies the body and removes all the unwanted waste materials from the system. This improves the skin texture and health. Read – sources of antioxidants 

Matcha is a mind relaxant:

The amino acid l- theanine present in matcha relaxes the brain activity. It helps in sharpening the alertness and concentrating ability of an individual. This was mainly why the zen used matcha for meditation. L theanine also helps in enhancing the mood. L theanine along with chlorophyll imparts distinct taste and creamy texture to the product.

Matcha helps in weight loss:

Benefits of flax seeds on weight loss:

Matcha increases the body’s thermogenesis by 20 -25 % than normal. Increased thermogenesis raises the body’s metabolism. This burns the body fat and reduces the weight. Stone pounding of matcha green tea retains the fiber in the tea. High fiber content as we all know is beneficial in weight loss.

Matcha reduces blood cholesterol:

A study in american journal of clinical nutrition, says that matcha helps in reducing the ldl cholesterol and lowers blood pressure. The high antioxidant property also plays a vital role in enhancing heart functioning. Read – how to reduce triglycerides 

Matcha controls blood sugar:

Benefits of bitter gourd on diabetes:

The high fibre content maintains the blood sugar levels. The chromium present in the tea aids the insulin activity in the body. Matcha tea is sugar free and hence allows diabetics to consume it without worrying about the increased sugar.

How to select the best quality matcha green tea?

Now that you know about the benefits of matcha green tea powder on health, you would want to buy this immediately. Each and every individual has a different taste. Some prefer a neutral light taste, some prefer sweet or some prefer strong taste in green tea. Selecting matcha becomes very easy if we know our taste buds. The light colour green tea is more on sweeter side whereas the darker ones taste more astringent and strong.

Your selection of matcha green tea will also depend upon how you want to take it. Different recipes require different types of matcha green tea. Kitchens and cafes use the lighter green tea. Baking requires the stronger matcha green tea, as it is more stable in high temperatures. With baking, the taste of matcha green tea powder becomes very subtle. So, use a stronger green tea for baked products like cakes, muffins, cupcakes, macarons etc.

Where can I buy matcha green tea in india?

This questions seems to be breaking all google search records lately. Well, you can buy matcha green tea online on amazon. Unlike other green teas, matcha is actually been used in baking cakes and macarons. Matcha is also used in making smoothies and latte. If you like the cold pressed juices, you can also order your “lights “from raw pressery.

Where and how can I use matcha green tea?

You can use matcha green tea powder in various sweet and savoury preparations. Matcha compliments and enhances the taste of lattes, macaroni, smoothies, cakes, icing, milkshakes or soups.

Did you know? 

Traditionally japan uses matcha as usucha or koicha tea. Usucha is a thin consistency tea made of second best quality of matcha green tea. We just have to sift the tea powder in a bowl, add hot water and whisk till tea becomes frothy.

Whereas, koichais thick consistency liquid. It is made by adding half the amount of water to double the amount of highest quality powder. Generally, cafes serve koicha tea.

Recipes for using matcha green tea powder:

Here are some recipes in which you can use this and avail the wonderful benefits of matcha green tea.

1] Matcha iced tea

Ingredients:

• ¼ teaspoon – matcha green tea powder
• 3 teaspoon – hot water
• 1 teaspoon – honey
• 5-6 pieces of ice cubes

Method:

• Make a paste using matcha green tea powder and 2 – 3 teaspoons of hot water
• Add honey in the paste
• Fill the glass with ice cubes and pour the green tea paste over the ice
• Garnish with lemon rind and mint leaves and serve

2] Custard apple smoothie

Ingredients

• ½ teaspoon – matcha green tea powder
• ½ small – custard apple
• 150 ml – milk (skimmed)
• ½ teaspoon (optional) – sugar

Method:

• Mix matcha with few drops of hot water and make slurry
• Blend custard apple, green tea slurry, milk and sugar (optional)
• Blend again with few ice cubes and serve it chilled
   

3] Latte

Ingredients

• ½ teaspoon – matcha green tea powder
• 150 ml – milk

Method

• Mix matcha with few drops of hot water and make slurry
• Whisk the slurry till frothy
• Pour hot milk on this frothed green tea and serve hot
   

Apart from these recipes, you can use matcha green tea powder in macaroni. Add ½ teaspoon in white sauce of macaroni to get green gravy macaroni.

What are the Different Kinds of Arthritis and How to Treat Them?

Arthritis is a very common medical condition that affects a lot of adults as they age. It occurs due to inflammation of the joints, which can be caused by a number of factors such as aging, injury or infection.

There are over a hundred different kinds of arthritis that cause various sorts of problems to those affected. However this condition can be broadly classified into two major types, which include the following:

1.Osteoarthritis - Also known as degenerative joint disease, osteoarthritis is the most common kind of chronic condition to affect the joints. This occurs when the cartilage that surrounds the joint wears away and allows the ends of bones to rub against each other causing immense pain and is often accompanied by inflammation and swelling. The primary cause of osteoarthritis is aging and occurs mainly due to pressure on the joints from lifting heavy weights.

2.Rheumatoid Arthritis - This is the most common type of arthritis that occurs due to joint inflammation. It is an autoimmune condition, which means that it is caused by a dysfunction of the immune system that leads to inflammation of the joints. Chronic inflammation causes joint deformities and even the development of rheumatoid nodules on the skin around the joint. Two-thirds of patients affected by rheumatoid arthritis are women.

Depending on the nature of the condition and the age and medical history of the patient, diagnosis, and treatment of arthritis varies. Although there is no permanent cure for arthritis, especially the type caused by aging, a number of remedies exist that provide relief from pain.

Some of the common methods of treatment for arthritis are:

• Medication - Some medicines provide relief from the pain of arthritis if it is not too severe. These include painkillers, anti-inflammatory pills, sprays, and ointments, etc. In case of high-intensity pain, codeine is often prescribed.
• Stem Cell Therapy - This method involves drawing platelets from the patient's own blood and injecting it into the inflamed parts of the joint in order to repair damaged muscles and alleviate pain.
• Injections - A number of anti-inflammatory substances and lubricants can be injected into the affected joints to decrease pain. Ozone gas injections are an example of this.
• Surgery - In extreme cases, surgical procedures are resorted to for treating arthritis. However, successful surgery cannot always be guaranteed and it comes with its own set of risks.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!