Tag Archives: Fitness

Author wellnation360 Categories Food Posted on

The Power of “Gut Feeling” in determining Human Health, Part-1

There is a new word in vogue these days in the booming market of health products i.e  ‘probiotic’ or  ‘Gut healthy’. Do we even realise that this new craze about focussing on the gut has its roots going back thousands of years. Ayurveda, an ancient science of treating the mind, body and soul always had its foundation in keeping the Gut strong. Hippocrates, father of medicine’s most popular adage, ‘All diseases begin in the gut’ is a most appropriate proponent of this connection between modern medicine and Ayurveda.

The talk about Gut focusses on the first organisms that evolved when the earth was formed. The microorganisms including the bacteria, viruses, fungi which were the first signs of life on earth are the ones that inhabit our inner core which plays the main role in the well-being of our human body. This collection of microorganisms form their own world called the microbiome. The microbiome is present in many parts of the body but the largest collection of over 30 trillion bacteria is in the gut. These seemingly microscopic organisms with their magnanimous army are a functional ‘organ’ in itself which can have an influence on an array of outcomes in the body.

The range of outcomes influenced by these commensals or pathogens can affect the entire functioning of our body. The stronger our gut health is the better will be the functioning of our mind. In fact 90% of the serotonin gets produced in the Gut. That is the power of ‘Gut Feeling’. The Gut becomes our second brain. The human microbiome is constantly evolving in response to host  of factors. Factors such as age, nutrition, lifestyle, hormonal changes, inherited genes, medication and underlying disease are major determinants of the human microbiome at any given point in time.

The injudicious intake of antibiotics (anti- biota) and other drugs can disrupt the Gut microbiome. Conditions such as asthma, atopy, childhood obesity, and autism spectrum have been correlated with excess antibiotic use and a resulting alteration in the microbiome in childhood. Microbiome of an individual is unique just like the fingerprints which are unique to each individual. So, it is very important to live in harmony with ones microbiome, our Inner World.

Author wellnation360 Categories Lifestyle Posted on

Sound Sleep is the key to a sound body along with a sound mind

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man (also woman) Healthy, Wealthy and Wise. As a child, I remember hearing this innumerable times. This adage very effectively captured not only about having a disciplined sleeping routine but implicitly the importance of sleep itself for our well being. However nowadays, to pursue the much glorified 24*7 lifestyle, the first thing that gets de-prioritized is our precious sleep. After all who wants to sleep for 7-8 hours when you must fulfill all the deadlines of work or exams, partying commitments, and staying in touch with friends and peers. Hence before you know it, by the age of 30-35 you have lost a major reserve from your sleep account.

Apart from this driving feeling of FOMO (“fear of missing out”) here are a few other key causes that result in getting insufficient sleep – 1. Stress, 2. Irregular sleep schedule, 3. Unhealthy lifestyle habits, 4. Chronic pain or chronic illness, 5. Overuse of electronic devices, 6. Side-effects of certain medications, 7. Neurological disorders, 8. Hormonal imbalance, 9. Sleep disorders

Typically, when the body and mind are under continuous stress, which unfortunately is the truth with most of us today, getting good sleep becomes a luxury for several people. This problem has seeped so deep in our society that to address it an entirely new marketplace has now emerged for enabling ‘sound sleep’. It ranges from sleep mattresses to food supplements to soothing oils, and even sleep studios, each of which is supposed to help in enabling better sleep.

It’s high time for most of us to re-memorize that a sound sleep gives our body a chance to recalibrate, rejuvenate and reenergise us for the next day, and hence essential to ensuring a very basic quality of living. The time that you sleep at, and the duration of “good quality” sleep achieved makes all the difference. The period of sleep that is most vital for you is between 10 PM and 2 AM in the night, and between 10 AM and 2 PM during the daytime. The 4-hour duration in the daytime slot is good news for those who are working in the night shift, meaning thereby that all is not lost for them.

Also do remember that a balanced diet has a very important role to play for ensuring a “good quality” of sleep. Be aware that on the one hand there are lots of foods that help us in achieving sound sleep while unfortunately on the other hand there is an even higher availability of foods that significantly degrade the quality of our sleep. The healthiness of our lifestyle and our quality of sleep are interdependent – our lifestyle (including of course, our diet) primarily determines the quality of our sleep, and our quality of sleep critically determines whether we will end up with lifestyle health issues or not.

Happiness, misery, nourishment, emaciation, strength, weakness, virility, sterility, knowledge, ignorance, life and death – all these occur depending on the proper or improper sleep. Charak Samhitha, Sutrasthan-21/36.

Author wellnation360 Categories Exercise, Food, Lifestyle Posted on

Does Diet Modification holds the power to reverse Lifestyle Related health issues ?

In an Age, where we are rapidly being run down by a variety of lifestyle related health issues, like diabetes, hypertension, thyroid problems, cancer, fatty liver(even in non-alcoholics), sleep disorders; it is time that we realise that something very basic and common to all of us is the cause behind it.

Human body, since its birth and even before birth is nourished by the food that you give to it. Food and its nutrients have the power to affect the expression of genes in the DNA of each individual, as it is studied in Nutrigenetics. That goes to say, though a person can be born with the genes which increases his chance of having a particular disease, but the right nutrients that he consumes and other environmental factors  have the power to modify the genetic outcome.

Hippocrates, who is known as the ‘Father of Medicine’ 460 BC-370 BC is quoted as saying “ “If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.”

India, today is facing the dual challenge of undernutrition as well as overnutrition. With India emerging as one of the growing economies of the world, the parity to buy food is going to increase and hence comes the need to ensure conscious eating across generations. In Hippocrates words again “Let food be thy medicine”.