Health scan

 


Source :Hindustan Times:Aug 27:2011

A snapshot of the current thinking in medicine, fitness and lifestyle trends that impact your life Driving her crazy
Greater responsibility of looking after children and home makes daily commuting to and from work more stressful for women than men, reports a British study .Men are generally

unaffected, despite commuting taking up more of their time.

The study, published in Journal of Health Economics, said that women with pre-school children were affected the most, with the psychological impact of commuting being four times greater for them than it was for men with pre-school children.

"Women, especially those with children, are more likely to add errands to their commute, such as groceries and dropping off and picking up children from childcare. These time constraints and reduced flexibility make commuting stressful in a way that it wouldn't be otherwise," said co-author and economist Jennifer Roberts, from the University of Sheffield.

Caffeine protects skin from sun damageInstead of just drinking that morning cup of Java, you may soon lather it on your skin to prevent sun damage or skin cancer. Caffeine guards against certain skin cancers at the molecular level by inhibiting a protein enzyme in the skin, known as ATR, reports a US study.

When applied directly to the skin, caffeine can prevent causing skin cancer by killing off a large number of skin cells damaged by UV rays, thus reducing the risk of their becoming cancerous.

Cake and cookies raise womb cancer risk
Women who snack on biscuits and cakes regularly are at an increased risk of developing womb cancer, a new study claims.

A 10-year study that looked at the eating habits of more than 60,000 women in Sweden found that those who treated themselves two to three times a week were 33% more likely to suffer the disease.

Those exceeding a total sugar intake of more than 35 gm of sugar a day - equivalent to about seven teaspoons - faced a 36 % increase in tumour risk.

Coriander oil proves to be a natural antibioticAdding coriander to foods - as is done in Indian and Mediterranean cuisines - or having it as medicine can prevent food-borne illnesses and treat antibiotic-resistant infections, reports a study in the Journal of Medical Microbiology.

It found coriander oil kills 12 deadly bacterial strains, including E. coli, Salmonella enterica, Bacillus cereus and meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which cause of food poisoning and drug-resistant hospital infections.

Exercise helps to work off your blues
A regular exercise routine, combined with antidepressant drugs, can make the symptoms of major depressive disorders go away. Moderate to intense levels of daily exercise works as well as prescribing a second antidepressant drug, which is often used when initial medications don't move patients to remission, reports a US study in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

The type of exercise needed, however, depends on the overall health, age and gender.

Samosas that don't drip oil

Source :Parvathy Menon:The Hindu:Aug21:2011

You can have the cake and eat it too! Here is a heart-friendly recipe that tastes good too

Baking is verily a heart-friendly, low-on-calories option .These recipes are heart-friendly and delicious. They are almost oil-free too.

Baked Samosas

This recipe makes a dozen samosas.

Ingredients

Flour - 1/2 cup

Wheat flour - 1/2 cup

Butter - 1 tbsp, softened

Yoghurt - 1 tsp

Carom seeds, regular cumin - a pinch, crushed

Water at room temperature - 1/3 cup

For the stuffing:

Onion - 1

Ginger-garlic paste - 3/4 level tsp

Green chillies - 1-2 nos

Tomato - 1, chopped

Curry leaves - 1 sprig, sliced

Turmeric, Kashmiri red chilli powder, coriander powder - a pinch

Carrot - 1 small

Green peas - 1/4 cup

Potato - 1, medium

Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp, minced

Lemon juice - A few drops

For the garam masala -

Ajwain/ carom seeds - A pinch

Saunf / Fennel - 1/4 tsp

Clove - 1 no.

Cinnamon - 1 piece

Cardamom powder - 1-2 pinches

Method

In a bowl, sift both flours. Sprinkle salt, crushed carom and cumin. Mix well. Add soft butter, yoghurt and ply the dough , pouring water to make a soft and supple dough. Keep it covered with a moist cheesecloth for an hour.

Meanwhile prepare the stuffing for the samosa cases.

Crush all the items for garam masala to a coarse grainy texture using a mortar and pestle

Pressurecook carrot, green peas and potato, roughly chopped, in some water for 3 whistles. Drain the liquid and slightly mash this mixture.

In a heavy-bottomed wok, heat 1 tbsp oil. Saute the onion slices, ginger-garlic-green chillies, curry leaves until the onions turn crimson.

Add the tomato cubes and saute until the tomato turns dark. Now, add turmeric, Kashmiri red chilli powder and coriander powder, all in pinches.

Tip in the garam masala. Roast well. Add the crushed vegetables, salt, a pinch of pepper, lime juice. Stir well and take it off the fire.

Check the flavour. If tomato lends enough sourness, skip the lime juice. Sprinkle minced coriander leaves.

Divide the ball of dough into three balls. Roll out as thinly as possible like chapathis. Slice one into four parts with a knife. Take a qaurter. Dab water along the rim and margins. Place a teaspoon of filling in the middle.

Close the dough and press together. You will get a triangle. Press the rim edges in place using a fork. Prepare all the samosa cases this way. Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 160 degrees for 1 hour 5 minutes.

At mid-time, brush butter or oil on both sides of the samosas. This step is optional. The samosas will be golden and crisp.

Serve hot with hot and sour tomato ketchup.

Keywords: low calorie diet

Teens growing addicted to junk food: Study

75 percent of California teens live or go to school in neighbourhoods taken over by junk food outlets

Source :Washington :The Hindu :July 29:2011

Fast food joints, sprouting up in your neighbourhood, are not healthy signs for your teenaged son or daughter. They tempt and habituate kids into snacking regularly on burgers, fries and sodas.

A study by the University of California—Los Angeles Centre for Health Policy Research, investigated the effect of junk food on adolescents.

“You are what you eat. You are, also, where you live,” said Susan Babey, study co—author and senior research scientist at the Centre for Health, according to a statement.

“And if you live in a place where there’s a fast food restaurant or convenience store on every block, with few healthier alternatives, you are likely to eat more junk,” Babey said.

Consequently, 75 percent of California teens live or go to school in neighbourhoods taken over by junk food outlets, relative to the number of healthier food outlets, such as grocery stores, produce vendors and farmers markets.

And unsurprisingly, teens who live or go to school in such neighbourhoods are more likely to drink soda and eat fast food.

Research has shown that the consumption of fast food and soda has been linked to taking in excess calories and can contribute to diabetes and obesity.

Keywords: Fast food

Tradition comes calling!

Onam sadya season is on. Photo: The Hindu Special Arrangement

Source:The Hindu:Parvathy Menon:Sep 2:2011

The Onasadya is a big spread of traditional curries.

 Here are some must and most popular ones

Hardly a week more for Onam and preparations are in full swing. Time to forget all other cuisines and concentrate on the Malayali style of cooking. But even in Kerala, every area has its own set of recipes. So, you may disagree on some points but generally, the recipes have very few differences, areawise. This is the Kochi style. Sambar, avial and thoran are everyday curries and so that can be skipped. Look at these recipes that are part of Onam sadya and make sure you make them this Onam!

Kootu curry

Yam, cubed-1 cup

Brown chickpeas - Soaked overnight

Raw banana - cubed

Coconut for grinding

Coconut scrapings, a handful

Cumin

Red chillies

Pepper powder

Mustard seasoning- coconut oil, mustard seeds, dried red chillies, curry leaves

Method

Boil the yam and chickpeas and raw banana cubes in pressure cooker for 15 minutes. After grinding the coconut paste, mix in to the cooked vegetables. Make mustard seasoning and roast the coconut in coconut oil. Add salt. Mix all the ingredients and serve hot.

Kurukku Kaalan

Beat 7 to 8 glasses of sour buttermilk and mash all lumps. Put this in a vessel on the fire. Add turmeric, red chilli powder, curry leaves and pepper powder. Let this cook, stirring every now and then till it has reduced to half .(Do not add salt as it will turn the mixture watery.)Add jaggery syrup and stir well.

Pressure cook moderately big sized chunks of two raw bananas and half kg yam adding salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and pepper powder for 2 whistles. Add the vegetables to the reduced gravy and stir. Let this simmer.

Grind half a coconut, grated, 1 to one and a half tbsp jeera and 3 to 4 green chillies with boiled water to a smooth paste. Add the ground mixture to the gravy on boil and stir well.

In a wok, heat a little coconut oil. Add mustard seeds. When these splutter, add fenugreek seeds and red chillies. Finally add curry leaves and stir fry. Add the tempering to the the gravy and stir well.

Tip: The buttermilk used must be sour for best results.

This curry keeps for long, and tastes even better, aged. Keep refrigerated.

Pineapple pachady

Pineapple slices - cubed

Turmeric and red chilli powder

Coconut, cumin, green chillies

Coconut oil, mustard seeds, red chillies,

curry leaves

Salt

Red grapes

Jaggery syrup - 1 tsp

Method

Boil the pineapple pieces with the syrup in a little water with turmeric, salt and red chilli powder, a pinch each. Grind the coconut, green chillies and cumin and do the mustard seasoning. Boil the coconut paste with the pineapple pieces and add the mustard seasoning. Stir in a little jaggery syrup, if the pineapple is not too sweet and toss in the red grapes before transferring to a serving dish. Serve hot!

Erishery

Pumpkin, slightly sweet - 1 small, cubed

Red gram – three-fourth cup, soaked overnight

Coconut scrapings- 1 cup

Green chillies - 1 or 2

Cumin seeds – half tsp

Coconut scrapings - to roast - 2 -3 tbsp

For mustard tempering:

Mustard seeds, red chillies, curry leaves, coconut oil

Salt - to taste

Method

Boil the pumpkin and red gram for 10 minutes in a pressure cooker or in a pan till cooked with turmeric, red chilli powder and salt. Grind coconut, cumin seeds, green chillies to make a smooth paste. Add the coconut mix to the boiled vegetables and stir. In a wok, roast the coconut in 1 tsp coconut oil. Reserve, crackle mustard seeds in 1 tbsp heated coconut oil, toss in dried red chillies and curry leaves. Stir in the mustard tempering to the curry and sprinkle the golden brown coconut on top.

Lady's finger Kitchady

Ladies finger - 8, cut into half inch cubes

2 tbsp coconut/ refined oil to fry the lady's

finger

Green chillies - 3 medium sized, chopped

Yoghurt – Two and a half cups, slightly sour

Coconut, grated – One and a half cups

Mustard seeds – Half tsp

Salt - To taste

For seasoning, coconut oil- One and a half tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp

Dried red chillies - 2

Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

Method

Clean and wash the lady's finger. Chop into half inch pieces. Heat 2 tbsp oil. Sauté the lady's finger, green chillies and curry leaves till it turns crisp and brown. Keep aside. Grind the grated coconut and mustard seeds in quarter cup water into a fine paste.Add salt and yoghurt to it and stir well.

In a wok heat oil. Add mustard seeds. When these crackle, add curry leaves and dried red chillies. Add the ground paste. Warm it nicely. Finally add the fried lady's finger.

Keywords: traditional recipes, Onam cuisine

Meals that Heal - Try turmeric

Source :The Hindu:Chandrassekaran V K: sep 4:2011

Lentils are invariably cooked with a dash of turmeric.

Make a nutritious soup combining lentils and pomegranate

Turmeric has so many medicinal properties, it is a wonder we still consider it an everyday kitchen spice rather than a herbal sensation.


 It has been used in traditional Indian medicine for centuries, as a home remedy for sprains, swellings and wounds and to treat stomach ailments and infections
.

In ancient India, all ayurvedic physicians used turmeric (haldi) to treat injuries and wounds. It is such an efficient antibiotic that it not only kills dangerous bacteria in the human intestine when it's cooked with food, but it can also neutralise parasites when applied as a paste on wounds.

 And adding haldi to dals is a simple way to allow the body to digest dal better; most dals are difficult to digest and cause gas.

Recently, Austrian scientists reported that haldi protects against liver damage 

 that eventually causes cirrhosis. Curcumin, the active ingredient that gives turmeric its characteristic yellow colour, reduces inflammation that causes liver cell damage, blockage and scarring in eight short weeks, reported Gut, a British medical journal.

Turmeric has been used since ancient times to boost the body's immune response.

 In fact, it is one of the few spices allowed in khichidi for babies above six months of age.

 In 2007, U.S. researchers reported that curcumin helped stimulate immune cells among people who had Alzheimer's, slowing the progression of the degenerative disease. 

Later that year, Clinical Cancer Research reported that curcumin effectively blocked the activity of a gastrointestinal hormone implicated in the development of colorectal cancer.

Its anti-inflammatory properties were not only found to relieve the aches and pains of arthritis, but also prevent it, said a study in Arthritis and Rheumatism, the American College of Rheumatology journal. International studies have also shown it suppresses cancer tumours and that people who ingest a lot of turmeric are less prone to the disease.

So how do you include turmeric in your diet?

 Here's how: Add it to dals and vegetables. Add it to milk for children along with jaggery. Add it to rice or atta dough, stews and soups, especially if you have runny stools or any infection. Add it to milk if you have bruises and internal injuries.

Now, for a recipe.

Pomegranate and Lentil Soup

Ingredients

Lentils (gram dal): 120 gm

Butter: 3 tbsp

Onion, diced: 1 (medium-sized)

Garlic, minced: 2 cloves

Water: 400 ml

Long-grain rice: 50 gm

Turmeric: 1 tsp

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Fresh basil, chopped: 30 gm

Green onions, chopped: 30 gm

Pomegranate juice: 80ml

Chopped fresh mint or 2 teaspoons of crushed dried leaf mint: 2 tbsp

Raisins: 2 tbsp

Method: Rinse lentils several times. Set aside to drain. Melt 2btsp of butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and toss to coat. Gently sauté onions until soft, for about 3 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic and sauté for two additional minutes.

Add water, drained lentils, rice, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer on low for about 45 minutes, until lentils and rice are tender. Add basil, green onions, and pomegranate juice to the soup. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the rest of the butter in a small skillet, add mint and sauté until the butter turns golden. Divide the soup into serving bowls. Drizzle each with the browned butter and sprinkle with a few raisins to serve.

Executive Chef

Vivanta by Taj – Connemara

Binny Road

Keywords: medicinal food, health food, turmeric