Dragon Fruit Benefits

Dragon Fruit

Dragon Fruit Benefits

It is commonly called as Pitaya. It is a beautiful fruit with red colored skin and green petals. The center part of the fruit consists of white colored pulp in rich of small black seeds.

The dragon fruits are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants which helps to block the side effects of free radicals, thus, it helps to fight the cancer and aging. It is also rich in dietary fiber with 1 gm per 100 gm of dragon fruit pulp, prevents constipation, hemorrhoids and colon cancer. It does have a small amount of monounsaturated fats.It is very essential to replace bad cholesterol such as saturated and trans fats in blood which helps to lower the risk of heart diseases and stroke.

Have plenty of dragon fruits, lead a healthy life...

Dragon Fruit

Plantain Benefits

Plantain

Plantain Benefits

A plantain is rich in starch, potassium, dietary fiber and less in sugar. Plantains are different from ripened edible bananas, which means only cooked plantains are edible.

These are high in calories, 122 calorie per 100 gm banana. As it is rich in high dietary fiber content (2.3 gm per 100 gm), very helpful to relieve constipation. It also boost up immunity of the body because of vitamin C (18.4 mg/100 gm). It also rich in vitamin A, helpful to prevent blindness, xerophthalmia and enhances the skin complexion. Potassium content in plantain (499 mg/100 gm) helps the body to control heart rate and blood pressure and counteracts the effects of sodium.

Like bananas, these are rich in vitamin B complex, especially pyridoxin, which has a beneficial role in the management of anemia, coronary heart diseases and strokes. Include a plantain in your daily diet and lead a disease free and healthy life....

Ground Nut Benefits

Groundnuts

Ground Nut-Benefits

The ground nut or peanut is a species of Arachis Hypogea, which belongs to the family of Fabaceae. Peanut have many uses and in various forms such as peanut oil, peanut flour, roasted or boiled peanuts and peanut butter.

The peanuts consist of 570 kcal per 100 gm, 24 gm of monounsaturated fat,25 gm of protein including Tryptophan(0.25 gm), Leucine(1.5 gm), Tyrosine(1gm), Valine(1gm), Glutamic acid(5 gm) etc.It is also rich in Niacin(12.9mg), Folate(246 microgram) with high amount of Phosphorous (336 mg) and potassium(332 mg).

• As peanut is rich in folate, it promotes infertility
• Tryptophan in peanuts helps to prevent the depression, an aminoacid which catalyzes the production of serotonin involved in mood regulation
• Niacin in peanut reduces the chance of memory loss
• It can prevent gall stones
• Phytosterol in peanut reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer
• It contains high amount of anti oxidants, which doubles during boiling

Caution on use

It may be contaminated with aflatoxin produced by fungus with greenish yellow appearance, which is very toxic and carcinogenic.

Milk and Calcium

Milk Packets

Milk and Calcium

Milk is an ideal food for all the age groups.The milk is a very good source of calcium, protein, vitamin A,vitamin B12,vitamin D, Niacin, Riboflavin, Potassium and phosphorous. Nowadays, milk is available in different colored packets with different brand names. Here, my aim is to explore the types of available milk varieties and nutritive values.

When you buy milk, check the value of fat and S.N.F(Solids-Not-Fat). S.N.F means, the amount of proteins, vitamins and minerals other than the fat. Mainly four varieties of milk packets are available such as double toned milk, toned milk, standardized milk and full cream milk. The double toned milk means the removal of creamy layer twice and toned milk is the process of removing fat layer once. These two varieties may have less amount of vitamin A and vitamin D, as it is dissolved in fat layer. It is mainly preferred to adults, who have in the risk of high blood cholesterol level.

The standardized milk contains fat and S.N.F content according to legal standards. In full cream milk, no fat layer removed. As full cream milk is rich in fat and vitamins, it is considered as the best milk  for children.

In all varieties of milk has more or less the same amount of calcium. I have responded to the question corner in The Hindu, regarding the amount of calcium in different types of milk (http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/question-corner/article6658861.ece).

Annual Health check up

(Image by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Nowadays, regular health tests are able to identify the risk of non communicable diseases, as it is very helpful to prevent morbidity and mortality. It is very important to know when to be done and what to be done. Here, I am going to write about the annual screening tests to be done, if your age is above 30 years of age. 

Check fasting blood sugar, fasting lipid profile and blood pressure once in a year. To see the normal and abnormal range, visit http://understandhealthtips.blogspot.in/2014/11/blood-sugar-interpretation.html. If fasting blood sugar is high, check postprandial blood sugar and HbA1c.

If blood pressure is high in first reading, check blood pressure in alternative days for a week at rest. The reading is remain high, consult doctor immediately. For more details, visit http://understandhealthtips.blogspot.in/2014/11/understanding-blood-pressure-reading.html.

To see the interpretation of fasting lipid profile, visit http://understandhealthtips.blogspot.in/2014/11/cholesterol-test-interpretation.html. If you are at high risk, consult doctor soon.

If you are a known case of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cardio-vascular diseases or stroke, check urea, creatinine, liver function test, thyroid function test and electrocardiogram annually.

   

Understanding Blood Pressure Reading

Blood Pressure is referred as arterial blood pressure, is the pressure exerted by the circulating blood on its vessels. It is checked by an instrument called Sphygmomanometer, usually expressed as systolic and diastolic blood pressure and measured as in Millimeters of Mercury (mm Hg). Normal blood pressure of an adult at rest is 120(systolic)/80(diastolic) mm Hg.

Systolic Pressure indicates the pressure exerted on arteries when heart pumps the blood into the body during beating.Diastolic pressure is the pressure of arteries when heart rests between the beats.

You have to check the blood pressure periodically. Once reading shows more than the normal, check the blood pressure thrice in alternative days at rest. If the three readings are high, consult the doctor immediately.

Categories of blood pressure 

• Pre-hypertension means the blood pressure is between 120-139/80-89 mm Hg.
• High blood pressure means the blood pressure is between 140-180/90-110 mm Hg.
• Hypertensive crisis means the blood pressure is above 180/110 mm Hg.

Blood Sugar Interpretation

Blood Sugar Interpretation

Interpretation of Blood Sugar

Blood sugar concentration is the amount of glucose present in the blood of human being. The four tests help to determine the ability of the body to metabolise  the blood sugar.  

• FBS- Fasting Blood Sugar
• RBS- Random Blood Sugar
• PPBS- Post Prandial Blood Sugar
• GCT- Glucose Challenge Test
• GTT- Glucose Tolerance Test
• HbA1c- Glycosylated hemoglobin

Fasting Blood Sugar

Blood must be checked after 12 hours of fasting. Normal value is 60-110mg/dl.

Random Blood Sugar

Blood samples will be taken at any point of time irrespective of the consumption of food. Normal value is 60-130mg/dl.

Post Prandial Blood Sugar

Blood must be checked after 2 hours of eating.Normal value is 60-140mg/dl.

Glucose Challenge Test

It measures the blood glucose level 1 hour after the woman has drunken the 50 gm or 70 gm of oral glucose.It usually done to screen for the diabetes in pregnancy. Normal value is below 130mg/dl.

Glucose Tolerance Test

It is a 3 hour test, usually done if GCT value above 140mg/dl in pregnant woman. It consists of drinking 100 gm of oral glucose and taking blood samples at 1hr,2hrs and 3hrs intervals. Normal values will be 

• Fasing -<95 mg/dl 
• 1 hr -180 mg/dl 
• 2 hrs -<155 mg/dl 
• 3 hrs -<140 mg/dl 

HbA1c- Glycosylated hemoglobin

Recommended HbA1c value for non diabetic patients will be less than 4.5-5%.It indicates that in every 100 blood cells, 4 to 5 cells have glucose attached to them. In diabetic patients, less than 6.5% will be the normal range.