Self Care - Post Delivery

Do's
----
- Drink only luke warm water for few months.
- Boil Carom Seeds (ajwain) and drink that water after straining out the seeds. However, don't use heavy doses of the seed (this might lead to UTI - urinary tract infection). A quarter teaspoon ajwain in a day should be sufficient.
- Consuming walnuts is believed to help in baby's brain development. Consume one walnut daily.
- Try to breast-feed the baby as much as possible. Not only, it is good for baby, but this will also help in regaining your figure.


Dont's
------
- Don't use cold water for bathing, washing hands etc. Always use warm water.
- If you've been operated, avoid long sittings for initial few months.
- Don't pick up baby for longer duration.
- Don't rush to workout to regain body shape.
Basically anything strenuous should be avoided for roughly 4-6 months.
Listen to your body; if something hurts, avoid it.

Dengue

A couple of weeks ago my wife was diagnosed with Dengue (NS1). She is recovering now and following are the things that we have learnt. This is just my experience and must not be used for jumping to any conclusion without talking to a doctor.

Symptoms:

• High Fever shooting upto 102 degrees. After taking some medicine (Crocin etc.) the fever comes down to 99 degress but doesn't completely go away. The temperature rises again in 6-8 hours.

• Shivering similar to Malaria

• Excruciating pain in bones and joints

• Itching in body accompanied with slight rashes

• Nausea

• Decrease in platelet count 

Treatment: As per doctors, there is no definite treatment for Dengue virus as on today's date. Instead proper monitoring and symptomatic treatment is the only option.

However, we applied following things:

• Blood test for platelet count on daily basis. When the count fell below 1 lakh, we started monitoring the count twice a day.

• Lots of liquid intake. In our case, we gave 2-3 coconut waters, oranges, apples and pomegranates on daily basis. Also as much water as possible.

• Papaya leaf juice. Take one fresh papaya leaf, wash it properly, grind it, filter it, add some water and drink as first thing in the morning. Typically half cup juice should suffice.

• Proper hygiene. The body becomes prone to catching infections, hence it is mandatory to keep everything as clean as possible.

• Although we were trying multiple things, hence its not possible to pin point what helped us, but from what we've heard, papaya leaf juice is the best thing.

• Complete rest.

Avoid:

• Outside food.

• Someone who had suffered from dengue told me that Brufane is as bad as poison in dengue. 

Happy Holi - Dry Holi

Holi is just around the corner & Rang Panchami at the next, so here are some things to keep in mind from environment point of view:

- Remeber the need of the hour (& every other hour in the queue): Save water.

- If you can, then go for Dry Holi. Indore has come up with an even better version: Tilak Holi.

- If you must use water, then try to keep the water wastage at a minimum.

- While kids are playing holi, be there to keep a vigil. That is not just important from safety point of view, it will put a little cap on amount of water being waste as well.

- If feasible, then arrange a gathering at some common place for playing Holi. This would significantly reduce the amount of water consumed.

- Go for herbal colours. Amount of water used to get rid of herbal colours is quite less than chemical colours.

- In case you are too reluctant to go out and purchase herbal colours, you can prepare some at home also.

- Apply lots of oil / moisturiser before going out to play colours.

- Wear full sleeve clothes, put on a cap or bandana also.

- If travelling then keep car windows closed.

- Avoid using two wheelers.

Self Care - Constipation

This has been long pending. Many people have asked me if I've any tips related to constipation. So, here is a small list; compiled from various sources (including grandma's tips).

First, some of the common causes of constipation:
- Irregular eating habits
- Lack of physical exerices
- Inadequate water intake
- Lack of roughage in meals
- Regualr intake of spicy food, junk food
- Mental tension

Now, some techniques to help in constipation:

- Increase your water intake

- Increase roughage in your meals

- Have at least 2 glasses of lukewarm water in the morning; then walk for few minutes

- Soak a teaspoon cumin seeds in water for 10-12 hours; boil the water, strain it & drink (when it becomes lukewarm) in the night before going to bed

- Drinking hot milk with honey in night also helps

- Isabgol husk can also be taken with warm milk / water before bedtime

- Grapes also help in constipation. Alternatively, soak few kishmish (golden raisins) for few hours; later chew them and drink the water in which those were soaked

- Have Amla (Goose Berry) during its season to get rid of constipation

Self Care - Breathing Therapy

This one came to me via a forwarded email:

The nose has a left and a right side and we use both to inhale and exhale. Actually they are different; the right side represents the sun, left side represents the moon. In other words, right side belongs to 'hot', so it gets heated up easily; whereas left side belongs to 'cold'.

During a headache, try to close your right nostril and use your left nostril to breathe. In about 5 mins, your headache would be gone.

If you feel tired, just reverse, close your left nostril and breathe through your right nostril; after a while, you will feel your mind is refreshed.

Vitamins & their functions

Here is a small ( & incomplete ) list of main vitamins and their main functions in human body:

Vitamin A (aka retinol):
- Good vision
- Hair growth
- Healthy skin
- Acts as anti-oxidant
- Guards against bacterial & viral infections
- Lowers blood cholesterol level

Vitamin D:
- Maintains levels of calcium & phosphorus in blood
- Helps in developing strong bones
- Prevent Rickets


Vitamin E:
- Powerful antioxidant
- Helps in smooth blood flow

Vitamin K:
- Essential for blood clotting
- Helps in absorption of calcium

Vitamin C:
- Helps in repairing of body tissues
- Helps in treating cold
- Reduces risk of getting certain kinds of cancer
- Helps in preventing cataracts
- Can regulate blood sugar to some extent thus helping in diabetes


PS: Please keep in mind that I'm not a health professional, this is the information that I've come to know about during normal day to day life. Please consult a qualified professional before making any decision. Also, if you find that any information mentioned here is inaccurate, please leave a comment & I will take necessary steps.

Self care - Tips for maintaining Immune system

- Be active; walk, work, play, exercise.... try to involve some amount of activity in your day to day life

- Get sufficient amount of sleep

- Eat fresh

- If you eat junk food, then limit the frequency (although ideal situation would be to give up junk food entirely, but that doesn't sound much feasible). For e.g., if someday I consume junk food, then I try to ensure that at least for next 1 week I stay away from junk food.

- Drink at least 8 glasses of water every day

- Avoid touching items available for public usage. For e.g., instead of using a towel in restaurant's washroom, carry your own hanky.

- Avoid taking anti-biotics every now and then; instead switch to natural products

- Take breaks during a stressful day

- Keep a positive attitude

Self Care - Sun Stroke

Here are few points to be kept in mind in order to avoid sun stroke:

- Don't stay empty stomach; also don't overstuff yourself
- While stepping outside, apply medicated oil to your legs
- Keep a raw onion in your pocket
- Don't drink ice cold water
- Include onion, mango-pana, sattu in your meal
- Include seasonal fruits in your meal

Self Care - Water Therapy (Usha Paan)

This technique that I'm going to mention is one of very basic yet very powerful techniques that can not only give you healthy life but also can treat various diseases.

I learned about this technique from a yoga class; it requires no investment & can be done at home.
Things you would need:
- 1.5 litres of lukewarm water

Here is what you need to do:
- The first step is the toughest one: get up early; & by early I mean before sunrise.
- Sit in squatting position (if you can't squat, then just sit on a chair comfortably)
- Without even brushing your teeth; just drink the water. No need to push yourself to drink whole 1.5 litres, you can start with whatever is comfortable (may be 2 glasses of water on 1st day).
- Do not eat anything for at least next 1 hour.
- That's it.

Some of the problems that this technique can address is given below (alongwith approx no. of days):

High Blood Pressure - 30 days
Diabetes - 30 days
Constipation - 10 days
Gastric - 10 days

I was told many other names as well, but don't remember them as of now.

This technique is not meant to be included as a routine task in your daily life; just try it for desired no. of days & then stop.

Tips to stay awake

Sometimes, you need to stay awake for some reason for long time. Following items help you for this; however, ensure that you don't outstretch the limits:

- Most common technique: having Tea / Coffee keeps you awake for long times
- Chewing gum also keeps you alert. It has been quite helpful for me while studying.
- Apple is known to keep your body alert for longer period than coffee (isn't it surprising).
- Have plenty of sleep beforehand :)

Infant Care - Interesting Facts about infants!

Here are several interesting facts that I came to know due to my recently acquired fatherhood :)

PS: I'm not sure about sanctity of many of following; please consult your doctor before taking any action due to any information provided here (and please do let me know if anything mentioned here is NOT correct).

- Babies are born without knee-caps. Knee-caps are created by the time they reach 6 months of age.
- Many babies are born with blue eyes, which are converted to shades of brown/black etc. within few minutes.
- A Baby's brain keeps developing till she is two years old.
- Babies start making their own haemoglobin after they are 3 months old; till then every nutrition is solely dependent upon mother's milk.
- It is ok if your infant does not pass motion till 7 days if she is urinating timely (provided breast-feeding is her only source of nutrition).
- Infants have poor hearing & poor eye-sight at the time of birth. These take a few months to develop.
- Infant's head is very soft. If a baby sleeps only on one side of her head then her head might get flattened at that particular side.

Self Care - Fitness Tips

Below are some tips that I have collected from various sources. These tips are especially useful for professionals who often have sitting job and usually don't get enough time for exercise. Please keep in mind that I’m not a health professional; tips mentioned here (or anywhere on my blog) are those that I’ve come across during my continuous search for a healthier lifestyle. Please use your own judgment & consult an authorized professional if required.

OK, enough disclaimers :) read on for tips...

EXERCISE RELATED TIPS

1. Exercise for 60 minutes at least 4 to 5 times a week.
2. Balance the food you eat with the physical activity that you do.
3. Exercising a little every day is better than trying to make up for a missed day or week by overexerting yourself.
4. Focus on fat not weight.
5. Exercise increases calorie burn.
6. Aerobic exercise-bike riding, running, long, brisk walks, swimming, vigorous dancing-is absolutely necessary to get blood moving through the lower body.
7. Let activity become part of your weekly routine.
8. Walk 10 Minutes a Day and Increase Your Fitness Level Old thinking was to work out in a sweat-filled gym for hours a day. No pain, no gain. New studies show that even short bouts of activity can increase your fitness level, especially if you're new at working out.
9. Before you even get out of bed in the morning, do 10 stomach crunches while lying flat on your mattress. Increase daily by one until you get up to 100. Think you'll never get there? Try it. You may eventually have to set your clock to wake up 15 minutes earlier, a small price to pay for a flatter stomach.
10. You cannot exercise the abdominal muscles hoping that you'll burn off your belly fat. You must exercise the entire body aerobically to lose fat.

TIPS RELATED TO EATING HABITS

1. Be careful about cutting your calorie intake too low. (No one should eat less than 1000 calories a day without supervision).
2. Drink eight glasses of water a day.
3. Avoid most weight loss supplements.
4. Monitor what you eat by keeping a food journal.
5. Avoid fried foods.
6. Eat 5 light meals rather than 3 heavy meals.
7. Don't eat two hours before sleeping.

MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

1. Reward your efforts, celebrate your success!
2. Brush your teeth after dinner to prevent you from evening snacking.
3. Always think positive even before you have not seen results.
4. Confide in a close friend or companion about your goals and the coming changes of your lifestyles.
5. Don’t keep water bottles with you; instead go to kitchen for this. This will involve little bit of movement in your routine.
6. Avoid situations that put you in temptation's path, meaning if you're on a diet, don't go to the ice cream parlor.
7. Keep a sticky note in a prominent place so that you see it every day, reminding yourself of your resolutions. (i.e., on your bathroom mirror, next to your bed, on the visor of your car, on the refrigerator)
8. Focus on positive self-talk. Congratulate yourself every time you take a step towards your resolution goal. Be your own best cheerleader.
9. Avoid berating yourself if you should fall back or break a resolution. Just brush yourself off and start over again.
10. Whenever you have an errand, park your car as far away as you can handle and walk to the store. At the mall, park at the farthest end and walk the length of the mall. Use every opportunity to walk.

I would update these and add more as and when I time. At the end of the day, it all adds up to better fitness.

PS: Don't ask me how many of these tips I follow regularly :)

Self Care - Home Remedies for Acidity or Heartburn

First some Do's & Dont's for avoiding acidity:

- Have plenty of water regularly to avoid acidity.
- Have proper sleep.

- Avoid raw onion while suffering from acidity.
- Avoid fried & spicy food.
- Avoid pickles.
- Stress, smoking, & over eating are also common known factors for causing acidity.
- Some pain killers also cause heart-burn as side effects.
- Don't stay empty stomach for long times.

Remedies
--------
- Chew basil leaves.
- Eat thin lemon slice and dipped in rock salt (sendha namak). This removes indigestion and heartburn.
- Boil mint leaves in 1 cup of water & sip slowly after meals.
- Keep a piece of jaggery in mouth & suck it slowly.
- Suck a piece of clove.
- Curd, Coconut water, banana, watermelon, cucumber are also helpful in reducing acidity.

Tips for increasing Haemoglobin

Dont's
--------
- Decrease your dairy products consumption because dairy products limit absorption of iron in your body. Try to maintain your calcium intake with non-dairy products.
- Avoid caffeine intake.

Do's
-----
Have lots of iron rich food like carrot, jaggery (gur), spinach, beetroot (chukandar), fig.

Few tips that I've been told are as follows:
- Take a small amount of jaggery & soak overnight in a cup of water. Next morning, filter out the water & consume it empty stomach. This technique is said to produces excellent results within a month.
- Soak 2-3 dry figs in half cup of water overnight & consume next day.

PS: These tips are what I've come to know from people around me, books, etc. You could say these are typical Grandma's tips (Daadi-Naani ke nuskhe :) However, these tips are not meant to replace a doctor. Please use your own judgement, or take doctor's advice in case of any doubt.

Self Care

- Mixing Aamla powder with oil for massaging helps in itching problem.
- Apply BitterGourd juice (or its peeling) to pimples.
- For headache caused due to dryness & heat; apply curd to roots of your hair. Don't do this if you're allergic to dairy products; or sufferring from cough, cold etc.
- To get rid of cold (jukaam), put 2 pinches sugar & 1 pinch salt in your mouth; then drink slightly hot milk on top of it. Cold would be gone in 2 days.

What to do when there is an insect in your ear?

Imagine yourself sleeping comfortably in your hammoc, or in your tent during a camping vacation and all of sudden you hear sound of an insect, drawing closer to your ear.... hey wait, that noise is not drawaing closer to your ear, it is coming from your ear!!!

First some Dont's...

- Don't put anything in your ear. This means, don't try to use any ear-bud, your finger, forcep or any kind of object to pull the insect out. You might hurt yourself & worsen the situation.
- Don't put any kind of medicine, oil or any kind of ointment.
- Most important - Don't panic.

Now the trick:
- Go to a place where it is really dark and hold a torch in front of your ear. In most of the cases, the insect would move towards light and eventually come out of your ear.

... and don't forget to see your doctor.

Self Care - Tricks to avoid Motion Sickness

I've been suffering from motion sickness for long, and frankly speaking, I haven't found anything that can cure it. However, I've come across various tricks that often help.
What I've read at various places is that motion sickness is caused due to confusion between what we are seeing and what we are feeling. Our eyes tell our brain that we're moving with respect to the whole world, whereas rest of the body feels that we're not moving (with respect to the vehicle). This leads to slight dizziness followed by nausea.
Anyways, enough theory, lets get to the points.

First, some Dos and Donts:

- Don't eat heavy food prior to traveling, but don't even stay hungry.
- Avoid smoking.
- While traveling don't read. Not even sms on your mobile phones.
- If possible, choose a seating location where you can feel some air on your face.
- While sitting, sit in a position such that your body is straight and you're leaning forward; as if you're paying attention in your class.


Now some tricks:

- Wherever possible, go for a nap.
- Eat ginger in any form; could be a toffee, some home cooked light food or even in raw form (if you can stand the taste).
- Mint is also helpful. For some people even chewing gum works.
- This one is slightly weird one: some taxi drivers even advised to sit on a newspaper. I don't know what's the reason behind it, but worth giving a try.
- This one is the most successful one for me: I purchase lots of lemon & orange candies, and keep at least one in my mouth all the time.
- This is another one that I found on internet; it sounds little weird but worth giving a try:
From the second you get onto the vehicle, start to chew gum.(About 3 pieces.) This helps with involving your jaw and ears both accumulate and it really works. Towards the middle of the trip, spit out your gum and snack on some saltines. These put more sodium in your body, which combines with the sugar, but also relaxes your jaws and forehead. Snack for about 10 minutes. When your done with your salty snack, put about 3 pieces of fresh gum back in your mouth and chew away. Once whatever you're in starts to stop, put in another stick of gum and chomp the gum like a cow, opening your mouth as wide as possible, circling and closing. Stick your fingers in your ears.
Once you start to exit the vehicle, keep going on with the cow chomps, but remove your fingers from ears.
About 10 minutes after landing, stomp your feet and your motion sickness should be long gone.