Fitness Fundamentals

Excluding sugar from your diet may be good for your health - but bad for the economy. Globally, over 100 million people depend on sugarcane cultivation and sugar processing for their livelihoods. Without sugar, for many of us, life would lose its charm - no cakes, no ice cream, no chocolates… Health-conscious people say no  to added sugar in any form.   Sadly, the world of the extremely health-conscious can sometimes feel as dull as the world of the extremely religious. Beware of both. After all, what is life without a little indulgence? Safe Indulgence Limit There is no RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) for sugar because it is not an essential nutrient. The ICMR-NIN (Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition) 2024 guidelines advise that you limit your daily sugar intake to a maximum of 25 g, approximately 6 teaspoons , or, about 5% of  your total daily calories. Sugar Is More Than Just Calories A medium-sized apple provides about 95 kcal,...

Neo-poverty Looks can be deceptive. ⚠️  The shabbily dressed visitor you see might be your millionaire client in expensive distressed jeans ... Similarly, someone living in a tiny rented apartment with almost no furniture, having no car and possessing only 2 T-shirts and 2 pairs of jeans could be a minimalist .  If someone goes without bread on most of the days, he might be on a keto diet .  Someone surviving on just one meal a day (OMAD) might be practicing Intermittent Fasting. .! These are some of the new fashion statements! A. What is new about IF? "I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills..." ( Mahatma Gandhi ) What Gandhi said about truth and non-violence is equally applicable to IF. People have been fasting for ages for various reasons.  Our poor, nutritionally illiterate hunter-gatherer forefathers had to go without food for days without realizing that it was so good for their health!  Most religions advocate...

If you boast that in your life you always went to bed at the same time every night and woke up at the same time the next morning, it only  indicates that you never fell in love, you were never driven by the thought to change the world, you never read a good book, your soul was never charmed by a starlit sky, and you never opened your window to the sobs of the homeless family across the street... Why do we  sleep? (i)   It is during sound sleep that the body performs various maintenance functions such as the repair and growth of cells ( fitness enthusiasts may pay special attention to this), clearance of unnecessary garbage by brain , etc. (ii) Sleep temporarily takes us away from a world that is so boring and intolerable. If the world were different, we wouldn't imagine paradise in our religious and political texts! (Sadly, by creating paradise, we inadvertently made something more boring and intolerable...!) (iii) Occasional sleep deprivation may be unavoidable. Ho...

 "He (Jean-Christophe, the child) opens the piano, and brings up a chair, and perches on it. His shoulders just about reach the keyboard...His heart beats as he lays his finger on the key...Suddenly a sound issues from it; there are deep sounds and high sounds...they seem to call to you, to draw you away farther - farther and farther into mysterious regions...They are like spirits... [But when his father commenced piano lessons] "There was an end of the magic sounds, and fascinating monsters, and the universe of dreams felt in one moment...Nothing but scales and exercises - dry, monotonous, dull..."  ( Jean-Christophe ,  Romain Rolland) Researching the health benefits of tea and coffee triggered a similar sentiment within me. To me tea and coffee were not merely beverages; they always came as an experience. Tea reminded me of animated discussion with my friends about Rawls' theory of justice, leisurely sitting on the university lawns. It brought back memories of wak...

Your grandpa buys the most expensive tiles for his bathroom floor. A few days later he slips in the bathroom, fractures his hip and gets himself admitted to the most expensive hospital in the city. You become wiser .  You ( still ) buy the most expensive tiles for your bathroom floor. Then you cover the floor with the most expensive ani-skid mat. And, you walk on it in your anti-skid slippers. This only shows that you have a lot of money, and no common sense! Sadly, this is how capitalism grows... A. Don't ignore your bones Bones have three major functions in our body - (i) They carry our muscle frame; (ii) They are important source of minerals, mostly calcium and phosphorous; (iii) They protect our internal organs. Of all the bones you should take particular care of your backbone and funny bone. That will add joy to your life and (sometimes) misery to others' lives!  B. Bones, bridges and banks Strong bones are to our body what high quality steel frame is to a bridge . Yo...

  A.  Effects of eating raw sprouts, as told by a nutrition neophyte Enthused by an article, forwarded to me by one of my ('naturopath') friends, I have been eating raw sprouts for last 3 months. These are the effects of my experiment - 1.   My wife's sleep quality has improved. She does not have to wake up early in the morning to prepare an elaborate breakfast for me. I wake up, rinse the sprouts and eat them. The whole procedure hardly takes more than 5 minutes. 2.   I have lost 3 kg during last 3 months. The very sight of the sprouts is enough to kill my appetite. The earlier breakfasts of aloo-paratha, puri-sabzi, idli-sambhar-chutney...are a thing of the past!😞 3.   My guests have stopped visiting me. I would serve them sprouts - the wonder foods, full of excellent nutrients.  B.  What do the experts say? 1.   The process of germination causes release of  enzymes in the seed which help in improved digestion of carbohydrates and prot...