How stopping sugar and desserts affects your health

December end 2016. My annual blood test came up with spiked fasting glucose levels. Never before in my life had I not been normal. My doctor was concerned and asked me to stop sugar and desserts and high glycemic load foods. OK I thought. I am an engineer. I can research foods and figure this out.

Next I went out and bought myself a good glucose meter. I planned to measure my fasting sugar every morning and analyze data over the next 6 months.

Found a great repository of information on foods and their glycemic index and (more important) glycemic load. https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glycemic-index-and-glycemic-load-for-100-foods

I went and purchased low glycemic index bread (you get it in Sprouts, WholeFoods) https://www.foodforlife.com/product/breads/ezekiel-49-sprouted-whole-grain-bread. I bought a high fiber wheat flour https://shop.communitygrains.com/products/hard-red-winter-wheat-flour and started making my own tortillas(Indian Rotis).

I stopped rice, sugar, sweets and desserts. And alcohol as well. I even reduced my coffee intake from 3 cups a day to 1 cup a day. The reason being caffeine brings up the blood sugar level ! Yes I have stats to prove that.

The first thing that happens over a couple of months when you stop sugar is you start losing weight. But there is something else that happens that is amazing. I used to take blood pressure pills and on one day I randomly measured my BP. It was showing pretty low like a 100ish/60ish ! I said no way, my BP meter is possibly broken. Went to my doctor and compared his readings with mine. Similar ! OK so here was the diagnosis. The low sugar resulted in lower body weight and lower body weight resulted in lower BP. Doc asked me to stop BP medicines ! I was like - Thank God !

Idlis and Dosas are usually made with parboiled that is a lower glycemic load than white rice like basmati. So in moderation is what I would recommend...Or substitute the dough. Instead of rice make the dough out of lentils.

Now its been 10 months since my modified no rice, sugar, sweets, desserts, alcohol lifestyle. I am back to eating everything else. But in moderation.

A healthy gluten free lunch

Nowadays you get many popped versions of ancient grains. Today I am going to talk about an easy lunch option with popped millets.

What you need

- 1 fistful (size of a tennis ball) of popped millets
- 1 cup of greek fat free or plain fat free yoghurt
- 2 chopped tomatoes
- 1 ripe avocado chopped
- 1/2 onion chopped (don't add this if you have a date soon after lunch ! )
- 1 green chilli for spice
- A touch of salt

1. Gently mix up the yoghurt , tomatoes, avocado, onions, chilli, salt
2. Add the popped millets and mix gently till the popped millets get mixed well
3. Refrigerate and enjoy for lunch
 

A delicious gluten free breakfast

A delicious gluten free breakfast of amaranth pops, mashed bananas and almond milk. Amaranth is an ancient protien rich cereal and recently you get pops (much like popcorn) in the market.

This is an 5 minute recipe for you. You need the following
- a fistful of amaranth (say about half a tennis ball)
- one ripe spotted banana. (more spots = more sweet)
- one cup of almond milk (330 ml)

1. One a side plate, gently smash the banana with a fork till it becomes as pulpy as you would like it. 2, Transfer the banana pulp to a bowl.
3. Add almond milk gently on to the pulpy banana in the bowl while stirring so that the almod milk and the banana pulp mix evenly.
4. Add the amaranth pop and gently stir it with a fork till evenly mixes in
5. Let it stay for 10 minutes.
6. Enjoy your cereal.

I found that  this breakfast keeps me full without any hunger pangs for about 6 hours.

Mixed veggie soup

Step 1
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Boil the following for 30 minutes.(close the pot while it boils)
- 2 large tomatoes 
- handful of kale
- 1 onion
- 2 pods of garlic
- a piece of ginger
- couple of handfuls of baby carrots
- 6 tbl spoons of boiled whole barley
- dash of thyme
- dash of oregano
- 2 green chillis
- 10 black peppers whole seeds
- 1 tea spoon phenugreek seeds
- 1 tea spoon coriander seeds
- 1/2 teas spoon Ajwain seeds

STEP 2
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- Keep the Vitamix ready
- Carefully take out the boiled veggies (avoid putting the hot water into the Vitamix) and put it into the Vitamix jar
- On the lowest variable setting , start the blender. slowly increase the speed to about 1/2 of maximum
- The idea is u dont want to create smooth texture. Thats like gerber food. I like my soups a little chunky so that I can bite into the little pieces of veggies

Step 3
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Pour the blended soup into the hot water left from boiling the soup.
Avoid adding salt to the entire contents. Not everyone likes their soup salty

STEP 4
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- Dim the lights
- Light the candle
- get out some real nice china ware
- Soup tastes most horrible in throwaway paper bowls
- Surprise your spouse/partner/friend
( Let them add salt if they like)

Water solves post running hip pain

I have been averaging 18-21 miles of jog/run per week for the past 5 years now. Occasionally I will push and do about 10 miles (on tar roads). I have no training on all the required stretches etc so pretty much I just run. The 10 mile run never gave me hip pain. But one day  I grew ambitious and ran 14.6 miles. And then it started....hip pain on both sides...I thought the first few days post running was normal since I had not run that long a distance but the pain never really went away. I even had trouble sleeping on my side. I stopped running for about 2 months. Even half a mile would increase the pain.

Since I am not the one to pop medicines like peppermint (since I also run www.medicalsidefx.org) I decided hot and cold packs...temporary relief but the pain would come back....Then I read something on hydration helping with joint pain.

I started drinking about 3-4 liters of water every day and after about 2 weeks my pain began to subside. Today I ran 5 miles and no joint pain...

H2O...Simple molecule....but a cure and the giver of life ! 

Home Made Power Bars

Earlier I had posted power bars prepared with roasted flour and mashed dates (as a binder). Yesterday I wanted to create something crunchy and prepared this. The binder is still the same - mashed dates. I prefer mashing them manually rather than putting them into VitaMix (actually dates are so sticky they might ruin the VitaMix !).

This powerbar contains a blend of three grains - millets, teff and buckwheat
1. Heat a large (12") iron skillet on a gas stove to full heat.

2. After about 15 minutes of heating, put about a handfull of  millets.

3. Make sure you stand there and keep stirring the millets so that they dont burn. Keep stirring till they turn light/orangish brown. Pour the roasted millets into a wide stainless steel container ( this helps to cool it down)

4. Do the same kind of roasting with buckwheat and Teff.

5. Mix up the roasted grains in the stainless steel continer

6. Allow to cool down completely

7. Get your mashed dates ready

8. When the grains are cool  then mix the mashed dates with the roasted grains into a dough like consistency.

9. Put some wax paper on a shallow rectangular baking tray and spread the mixed roasted grain and dates and flatten it out.

10. Put in the fridge for  2 hrs.

11. Then cut and store and ENJOY !

Cancer Patients Need a Healthy Diet

Eating a healthy diet is important at any stage in life, but it's especially important during a serious disease or infection, such as cancer. Having a good nutrition plan and sticking to it is an important part of successful cancer treatment.

Awareness of the quality of the diet is especially important during cancer treatment because the mental and physical stresses can make it difficult to focus on getting good nutrition. The side effects of chemo and radiation therapy for cancer such as mesothelioma can reduce appetite and interfere with digestion. The physical changes cancer causes in the body can also affect the ability and desire to eat. This means that it's vital to plan ahead for good nutrition as soon as a diagnosis is made, in order to prepare for the challenges ahead.

While proper nutrition can't cure cancer by itself, it can help to mitigate its effects. A well-fed patient will have more energy, which makes it easier to exercise and stay physically active and keep the patient's body strong and healthy. Good nutrition is also the first step in keeping up the patient's quality of life, which in turn supports the positive psychological outlook that's important for the fight against cancer.

If the body is well prepared with nutrients, it will also be better able to ward off any infections that might crop up, as well as resist the negative side effects of cancer treatment and heal faster after surgery.

A good cancer diet is not much different from a good diet in general. Avoid fatty foods, which are difficult to digest, and get plenty of fruits, vegetables, and water or other clear liquids. It's a good idea to discuss specifics with a nutritionist or dietitian before beginning nutritional treatment, as well as during treatment when it may become necessary to adjust the diet. If your cancer treatment causes constipation, diarrhea, or other digestion problems, your doctor may suggest changing the amount of fiber in your diet.

During cancer treatment, the patient will probably need extra fluids, protein, and calories to help deal with the stresses that treatment puts on the body. High-calorie, high-protein foods such as milk and milk products, beans and other legumes, and eggs can be beneficial, as well as commercially produced dietary supplement drinks. Talk to a doctor or dietitian before using supplements.

The National Cancer Institute's Nutrition in Cancer Care page has many other topics and in-depth discussion of the role of nutrition in cancer care.

By: Jillian Mckee from The Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance

Teff - Just discovered this awesome grain

Last week I bought a packet of "Teff" grain from my local neighborhood health shop. (Still prefer these shops to the mighty heath food supermarkets !). The sight of the smallest grain in the world was love at first sight for me and I could hardly wait for my next meal when I could try this out.

At home we make "dosas" (Indian version of crepes) and I decided to add 1:1 Teff grains by weight to the dosa batter. To that I added freshly chopped cilantro, green long chilli pepper, onions and tomatoes. As a preference I dont add salt :-) .  I also added a sprinkling  of oregano and thyme to the batter.

Preheat a nonstick pan for about 3 minutes on full gas stove heat and with pour 3 spoons of batter in the center and gently spread it with a wooden soup ladle so that it is as flattened as possible. Cover the pan with a glass dome and put the stove on HALf the heat. After 5 minutes flip it and then after 5-10 minutes it is ready. Keep it on the pan a little longer (but on slower heat) if you like it crispy.

I like my Teff crepe with Karoun non fat yoghurt....mmmmm...delicious and filling !  
      

If they look like cookies, smell like cookies, they must be cookies...
I have been wanting to create a healthy substitute to cookies or in general some dessert like thingy ! This is what I came up with.

1. Take equal parts of flour - buckwheat / quinoa / barley/ oats and mix them up dry
2. Roast  the mixture on a skillet at low/medium temperature while constantly stirring it to avoid the flour burning.
3. Keep roasting till medium brown/golden color
4.  Switch off gas stove and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
5. This mixture after cooling down can be stored in glass containers inside a fridge
6. Soak whole grain amaranth in cold water for about 24 hours till the amaranth soaks in the water and becomes soft.
7. After the soaked amaranth softens up , decant the water and store it in the fridge
8. To create healthy cookies : These cookies can be created when you want it and in as small quantity as possible. No need to premix. No need to create large quantities. To make 4 cookies (of say diameter 3 inches) 
• Take 2 tablespoons of water softened amaranth
• Add 2 table spoons of roasted flour
• Add Splenda to your taste
• Add water and mix till the consistency seems like mixed hot chocolate fudge ! 
• In general don't make the mix "Amaranthy".
•  Heat a "non stick" pan on a stove turned to Max
• Wait till pan becomes hot
• With a nonstick compatible spoon pour out 4 cookie portions on to the pan.
• Flatten out the cookies as much as you can with  the spoon 
• After a few minutes when its easy to flip them over, do that
• Check to see that the cookies are not burning
• Remove cookies with a flat spoon and serve   

More Tortilla and snack bar options

Last few days I have been successfully experimenting with many different kinds of flour to make tortillas and snack bars

Amaranth and Dates Snack
Roast Amaranth flour (available in many health food stores) in a pan or a skillet over a medium fire till about golden brown. Make sure you are standing next to the gas stove stirring the flour so that it does not burn. After its nice and roasted, switch off the gas stove and let the  roasted flour cool down. Next take a box of medjool dates (available in Costco) and first remove the seed from each date. Then mash them till they become a uniform paste. Keep 1/4 cup of flour aside. We will use this  to powder the snack bars After the amaranth flour cools down, mix the mashed dates and flour till its well mixed. (If you don't mind nuts then you can add slivered almonds and walnut pieces into the mix, but that increases the calories as well !). I roll them into small balls(called "laddus" in India). Then I roll the snack balls in flour kept aside to make sure they get a dry coating on the outside and don't stick to each other. Put the snack balls in a box and refrigerate them. Take them out when you feel hungry and eat and enjoy !

The next step - The "no-added-salt" diet

After I successfully conquered the temptation of overdosing with food, I looked around...Ah there I saw...Salt...another thing I was (kind of) loving and overdosing on. Less salt is a healthier option and soon I realized a tastier option as well. I have started taking baby steps towards no-added-salt diet. And I avoid salt substitutes like potassium chloride added salt. I resorted to spices for help. Here is an example of a breakfast food if you enjoy omlettes for breakfast.

1. Beat two eggs.
2. Sprinkle a little Rosmary and  Thyme into the eggs and mix(I use the ones from Trader Joes)
3. No salt to be added
4. Cut up 1 slice of bread (I love SF Sourdough) into about 15 pieces
4. Keep a non stick pan (8" diameter) on the stove. Dont light the stove yet.
5.Pour the beaten eggs into the pan.
6. Place the pieces of bread on the surface of the beaten eggs
7. Light the stove and keep it at the bare minimum heat.
8. Cover the pan with a glass top dome. The steam generated will cook the top of the omlette.
9. Set a timer  for 15 min.
10. After 15 min pry the omlette with a wooden or teflon spatula and turn the omlette. The bread would have now firmly attached themselves to the omlette.
11. Switch of the stove.
12. Wait for about 5 minutes.
13. Serve and enjoy. PLEASE....NO KETCHUP. It will most certainly ruin the taste.
14. See how good an omlette tastes...without added salt and ....ketchup

Maintaining ones weight during a months vacation in India

Long time since I wrote so here goes.

As we all know its very easy to let loose in India and just pig out and gain weight and often fall sick of an eating overdose. I can speak for myself and I can tell you that my stomach size has definitely shrunk...maybe not physically but I cannot stomach four parathas for breakfast and follow it up with another four for lunch. eating right and less is still the key that will work here.


I found my sponsor right at home. My mom...never forces me to add ghee to daal and rotis. Never forces me to eat sweets. But when i go home I definitely relish the things that mom prepares absolutely the best tasting in the world. [1] Idlis [2] Bhakris [3] Murukkus [4] Coconut Barfis


The secret is to still control quantity and select the time of the day when I would have these. All my breakfasts were the following choices
- Fruit  (Mostly bananas)
- Cereal
-  Poha
- Idlis

I would have the Bhakris always for lunch. Often a coconut barfi after lunch.

I almost always had a 1-2 murukkus a day at tea time with my tea.

Dinner was frugal with some home made porridge and milk

Another thing to do is to take as many opportunities to walk as possible, at least in the internal routes. To keep that little bit of exercise going.

While going out to eat at restaurants or at people's houses, just stay with munching carrots and salad and some lemonade. I used to eat prior to going out so that I don't feel attracted to nice smelling foods. I have better control over my tongue now but for a newcomer to this lifestyle its difficult.

And remember don't believe people when they say "Its holiday...You can pig out with no restrictions."

All this frugal eating, does it cause low energy ? Most certainly NOT. In fact in this present visit to India, I was working four to five hours a night to stay current with my office stuff. So less food translates to an alert mind. Also staying awake each night helped to beat the jet lag on my return. I never really changed my mental clock.


And another thing...India is often too warm to have a scotch or wine if u prefer these drinks and could often mess up the system. A beer is a better drink for the weather if u must let down your guard and get that C2H5OH in your system :-)

Very tasty and nutritious of the shelf breakfast cereal

I have been having this with my morning tea for the past two weeks. I found it in Trader Joe's. Its called High Fiber Cereal. 

A (almost) buttered toast thats delicious and not that many calories

So once in a while a (almost) buttered toast is a treat and also a nice mid day snack or a snack before I go to the gym. This is what I use for making it. I toast a slice of Sprouted Barley bread (Trade Joes) thats about 70 calories. Spread a teaspoon of 2% fat sour cream on it. Think of it like old fashioned freshly made white butter but far less calories. Sprinkle some salt and pepper and enjoy every bite.

Another great veggie protien source

I used to always love eating Rajgira laddoos which are available easily and are very popular in the state of Maharashtra in India. As I was eating them (at first guiltily because these ladoos contain sugar/jaggery) I decided to read more about them and learnt that Rajgira is called Amarnath. 100g of this cereal comtains 15g of protein. Thats impressive.
Well, I am going to start getting this flour and seeing I can make tortillas or dosas out of this.

Importance of being hydrated at all times

I have realized the benefits of drinking lots of water throughout the day and keeping myself hydrated at all times. I used to drink one liter of water soon after walking up in the morning (after brushing my teeth). This is over and above the water I drink during the course of the day. I used to feel fresher than ever all day. One thing I can say with certainty is that I get lot fewer headaches as a result of keeping myself hydrated.

Point of no return

What I realize after being in this new eating style for 16 months is that its virtually impossible to go back to the old eating style. Not that I want to but even the couple of times I felt like indulging at a party or at a restaurant. Both times it resulted in a bad stomach upset. Whether it was Italian ravioli or Indian Samosas outside. The only kind of restaurants that I can eat with no fear of a stomach upset these days is Sweet Tomatoes / Fresh Choice. Also I can safely indulge :-) in the tapioca pudding - my favorite.

Healthy teeth as a side effect

A year into my new eating habit, I visited the dentist for my regular cleaning. I was pleasantly surprised when the dentist told me that there was very less plaque on my teeth. He attributed this to my eating lots of raw veggies like carrots, celery, radish and fruits such as apples.

Make your own power bars at home

This is how I make snack bars at home. The raw materials you need are walnuts, almonds, dates, sunflower seeds , dried figs and "roasted" whole chickpeas. All these you should be able to get at Costco with the exception of chickpeas which you will get in an Indian grocery store.

I keep a couple of these home made snack bars to much on during a mid day / mid afternoon snack. Or an hour before I go to the gym.

Lower calorie power bar
=================
- Crush the roasted chickpeas into a powder using a blender or mixie (I use the Indian faithful Sumeet).
- Mash the dates into a dough like consistency. Wear rubber gloves to avoid dates getting into finger nails.
- Mix the roasted chickpeas flour and dates dough till everything mixes evenly.
- Shape the power bars into shape of your choice.


Higher calorie power bar
=================
- Crush the almonds, walnuts (and or sunflower seeds) into a powder using a blender.
- Mash the dates (add figs if you like the taste) into a dough like consistency.
- Mix the nuts flour and dates dough till everything mixes evenly.
- Shape the power bars into shape of your choice.

One can add more stuff to the above like dried fruits like cranberries, blue berries(Trader Joes has some real cool dried blue berries), or sultans/resins

Self restrain at parties

This is another challenge. How to "not upset the host" :-) and also have a nice time at the party or at a restaurant or in someone's home ? The best strategy is to eat at home before you step out. Nothing beats this. However here are a few ways to have fun from starters to dessert.

Also keep a box of Splenda minis dissolvable tablets in your car. In case the place you are going to does not have it.

Starters(Drinks/Snacks)
==================
Request for a cold club soda and squeeze a lemon into it and add Splenda. Munch on carrots, tomatoes, salad and celery along with your drink. Go easy on the dip.Its likely that it is not fat free.

The Buffet
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Focus on lentils, soups, beans, veggies, yoghurt. Greens and beans are better than potatoes.

Dessert
=====
Fresh fruits like oranges, strawberries (with some fat free cream if possible). If yoghurt is available then add Splenda to it and have it as a dip for your fresh fruits