Weight gain after pregnancy is inevitable and natural. However, it also goes away as naturally as it gets put on. One just needs to follow a few healthy lifestyle habits and watch their diet.
Besides, it is recommended to not rush and adopt a gradual approach to weight loss after pregnancy. Always adopt a gradual and effective and reliable post-pregnancy weight loss plan. Losing weight too rapidly after your pregnancy makes your body release toxins into your blood contaminating your breast milk.
Here are a few tips that can help shed those extra kilos and keep you healthy and fit in your motherhood journey.
Post-pregnancy Weight Loss Tips
Exercise
It is better to keep some time aside from your daily routine for exercise. Besides helping in post-pregnancy weight loss, it also offers various other benefits. Exercise helps in reliving the new mommy stress and pep up the mood.
Stay hydrated
Water boosts your metabolism and helps keep a check on your appetite by making you feel full. The best way to check if you are drinking enough fluid is to keep a watch over the transparency of your urine. Clear urine is an indication that you are drinking an adequate amount of water.
Sleep
Sleep-deprivation triggers unhealthy lifestyle choices like binge eating and drinking. Besides, insufficient sleep makes your body release the cortisol hormone, which aggravates the hunger pangs.
Keep healthy snacks close at hand
Breastfeeding spikes the appetite and causes hunger pangs. This has to be dealt with healthily by stocking up on healthy snacks instead of junk.
Post-pregnancy Weight Loss
Fibre
Fibre improves your digestive health. Consuming food rich in soluble fibre keeps your hunger hormones in check making you eat less.
Protein
Healthy protein can boost metabolism and bring down calorie intake by decreasing your appetite.
Complex Carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates provide you with energy all around the day, as they take longer to break down.
Unsaturated and Polyunsaturated fats
Do not avoid fats completely to lose weight post-pregnancy. Instead, opt for unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats to keep your body healthy and improve cardiac function.
Summary
Generally, nine months is the average time to lose the baby weight. However, every woman takes a different amount of time to lose her post-pregnancy weight depending on the diet and activity level.
Along with exercise, eating a healthy diet rich in proteins, carbs and fibre, drinking enough water and getting the much-needed rest is important to get back in shape.
Nutrition and exercise are two of the most important factors that define your overall health and lifestyle struggles. Besides, there is a strong connection between these two factors. Right food consisting of proper nutrients can fuel your exercise and help the body to recover and adapt to the muscle changes.
However, before you plan your diet and exercise regime, it would be good if you learn about what to eat when – before and after your workout sessions.
What to eat before Workout?
The right balance of all the required macronutrients is important while planning your pre-workout meal. Optimal nutrient intake before you begin your workout session will maximize your performance and minimize the damage caused to the muscles.
Protein, carbohydrates and fat are the three major macronutrients that should be consumed before a workout session. All three of these are the key sources of energy but contribute differently to a pre-workout meal.
Protein
The building block is essential for maintaining and repairing muscle fibres during the workout.
Carbohydrates
Consuming the optimum amount of carbohydrates before a workout gives the body the energy to perform well.
Fats
For long-duration and moderate-to-low-intensity exercises, fat acts as a source of fuel. Besides, the nutrient also helps in maintaining blood glucose and insulin levels during a workout session.
If you have had a full meal, wait for 2–3 hours before your workout. Else, choose simpler carbohydrates or proteins as a quick meal before your workout.
What to eat after a workout?
It is important to refill your body with the right nutrients within 15 to 30 minutes of your workout sessions for the muscles to recover faster. Eat a small healthy snack shortly after exercising to restore energy levels.
Given below are the nutrients which you should consume after your workout session.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates recharge the body, restore its fuel supply and help to promote glycogen storage.
Protein
Protein helps the muscles to heal and prevents the loss of lean mass which contributes to a muscular and toned appearance.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids boost the synthesis of muscle proteins and increase the size of muscle cells.
Water
Drinking a good amount of water during and after a workout promotes performance and recovery.
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Talk to the fitness and health experts at 8 Fitness Tips to plan a nutritional strategy that fits your health goal.
A very common saying goes like “precaution is better than cure.” And the same goes true for your body’s defence mechanism. The function of the immune system is to defend your body against various illnesses and diseases. So a strong immunity is a precaution you take to keep your body free from diseases.
The immune system is a complex system that is made up of cells in your skin, blood, bone marrow, tissues, and organs. These all work together to protect your body against potentially harmful pathogens like bacteria and viruses and limit the damage from noninfectious agents. Here every component has to perform according to the defence plan.
While there is no magic pill that makes these components function efficiently, it is important to plan your nutritional diet and lifestyle to have a strong defence mechanism.
Here’s how you can work on improving your immunity with the right diet and lifestyle.
There is no alternative to a healthy diet
The nutrients you get from food are essential to keeping your immune system functioning properly. Zinc, folate, iron, selenium, copper, and vitamins A, C, E, B6, and B12 are the nutrients your immune system needs to do its job.
Good sleep is important to prepare your body to fight against diseases
Insufficient sleep can make the body vulnerable to diseases. Besides, sleep also affects the body’s metabolism making you prone to illness. When we sleep, the body repairs itself thereby strengthening the immune system.
Also read: Importance of sleep in fitness & healthy living
Exercising lowers the risk of many chronic diseases and improves immunity
Regular moderate exercising improves immunity and lowers the risk of lifestyle-related challenges. 8 Fitness Tips experts recommend 30 to 45 minutes of regular workout session followed by a good nutritious diet.
Keep yourself stress-free by practising a stress-relieving lifestyle
Besides the physical factors like nutrition, rest and exercise, your immune system also has to do with your mental wellbeing. Anxiety, stress and unhealthy habits and affects how your body reacts to these harmful pathogens like bacteria and viruses.
Improving immunity with nutrition experts
All the above-mentioned tips will help you boost your immune system and fight against viruses. However, to ensure that you get the optimum amount of nutrients from your diet, talk to our nutrition experts to boost your immune system.
The relationship between nutrition, health and learning is undeniably strong. Nutrition is one of the three significant factors that impact a child’s development. Convenient and takeout food can harm your child’s health. These negative effects of unhealthy eating in childhood can develop into lifelong diseases.
Nutrition for children is based on the same core principles as nutrition for adults. Children need the same nutrients as adults but in different amounts. The key is a healthy and appropriate balance of diet and physical activity.
The major nutrient requirements for kids include protein, carbohydrates, fats, calcium, iron, folate, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C etc. The portions of each respective food group will depend heavily on age, genetic makeup, and physical activity. It is important to understand each food group to develop a well-balanced and nutritious diet for your child.
Let us understand the importance of nutrients in kids’ development:
Protein
Protein is a source of essential amino acids that contribute to the mental and physical health of children. Insufficient protein in kids’ diet can cause fatigue, lack of concentration, slowed growth, lowered immunity and more.
Iron
Iron is a mineral that forms haemoglobin, which carries oxygen to the body. If your child’s diet lacks iron, he or she might develop iron deficiency. Kids tend to look pale, experience poor appetite, slowed growth and development, feel tired, weak and irritable.
Calcium & Vitamin D
Children who get enough calcium start their adult lives with strong bones. That protects them against bone-related problems later in life. Similarly, deficiency of vitamin D causes delayed motor development, muscle weakness, aches and pains, and fractures.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C helps for the growth, development and repair of all body tissues. A child’s growing body can’t produce vitamin C on its own. Insufficient vitamin C may cause fatigue, inflammation of the gums, spots on the skin, joint pain and poor wound healing.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A serves a variety of purposes in both kids and adults. It helps growth, assists the eyes in adjusting to dim and bright lights, keeps skin healthy, and works to prevent infection.
Fats
Fats play an important role in the development of a child’s brain and helps them reach their maximum growth potential. They are important to the brain and play a role in the formation of hormones. Limiting a child’s fat intake deprives him or her of essential nutrients. Many low-fat diets are low in zinc and vitamin E.
Healthy eating habits are more likely to stay with the kids if they acquire them as a child. That’s why it’s important to inculcate healthy eating habits in childhood. It will help them stick with these eating patterns and avoid developing chronic diseases as a child or as an adult.
Healthy, shiny and strong hair not only contributes to good looks, but it is a sign of healthy and nourished you. Although it is easy to get carried away with the “so-called” best and natural products marketed to make your locks look healthy and shiny, one thing which you cannot ignore when it comes to healthy hair is the importance of proper nutrition. Nutrition is one of the most important things to keep your hair at their best.
A healthy diet is beneficial not just for your internal body but your external body (hair and skin) as well. A right diet which includes the key nutrients ensures hair growth, prevents breakage and moisturizes your hair.
It has also been observed that the texture and speed of hair growth are based on genetics, gender, age, hormones. Besides, nutrient deficiency like anorexia, anaemia, zinc deficiency and hormonal fluctuations like menopause, polycystic ovaries, thyroid disease also affects hair health.
Here are a few of the nutrients that can make your mane healthy:
Protein
Hair’s structure is made of hardened proteins called keratin. Insufficient protein can lower down the generation of this important building block thereby slowing down the hair growth and making your hair weak. Include a high-protein for better hair health.
Biotin
Biotin is a nutrient that has been responsible to promote hair growth. Biotin interacts with cell enzymes to produce amino acids. These are the compounds that form the most important proteins Deficiency of biotin can lead to hair loss. Carrots, almonds, walnuts and cauliflower are some of the natural sources of biotin. If you are considering taking supplements, you can talk to the expert nutritionists at 8 Fitness Tips for a recommendation.
Iron
Iron found in red blood cells is responsible for providing nourishing oxygen to the hair follicles. Even when the iron level in the blood looks normal, there can still be a chance of deficiency of ferritin. Ferritin stores iron and supplies it to the body when it needs it. Deficiency of ferritin can slow or even stop the hair growth and can also cause hair to fall. Eat iron-rich foods to keep the supply of the nutrient sufficient in the body.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
The cell membranes of your scalp’s skin contain Omega-3 Fatty Acids. It is also found in the natural oils that the scalp and hair produce, to stay hydrated. Sufficient supply of these essential fatty acids can prevent dryness of the scalp and help in hair growth. Incorporate flax seeds, walnuts, soybeans or fatty fish in your diet to ensure a healthy dose of omega-3s.
B Vitamins
Vitamin B6, B12 and folate produce red blood cells which carry oxygen and nutrients to the cells in the scalp and hair follicles. Deficiency of B vitamins can make your hair prone to breakage and loss while slowing down the growth. Beans, chicken, oatmeal and low-fat dairy foods are good sources of B vitamins.
Vitamins C
This essential nutrient does a couple of things to help promote healthy hair: Vitamin C helps absorb iron. It’s also used to form collagen, a structural fibre that makes up the connective tissue in the body, which hair follicles require for optimal growth.
Zinc
Zinc helps strengthen your hair follicles and prevent hair loss, by binding its proteins. It also plays a role in your oil glands functioning properly, which protects your locks from dryness and dandruff. Shellfish, like oysters, crab, lobster, clams and mussels all have high zinc content. Sunflower seeds, peanuts, pine nuts, beef, lamb, pork and cereals with whole grains and bran are some other zinc-rich foods to choose from.
These minerals assist the body in repairing damaged hair and strengthening hair follicles. You need every strand you have, so eat foods rich in these minerals to keep your stylist in the business.
The next time you admire your mane in the mirror, give these healthy hair nutrition essentials a big thank you. And if you’re looking to improve your hair, evaluate your eating habits to see what might be lacking; the advice of an expert nutritionist can also help.
Call 8 Fitness Tips for all your nutrition related queries!
DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE!
Does that sound familiar to you? Probably not!
But it will certainly sound way more familiar when you will know that this is the scientific name for WATER.
Water is an important component of the human body. The body of a normal adult human being contains nearly 70% water. From maintaining a normal body temperature, keeping the digestion smooth or carrying essential nutrients to the parts of the body, water is responsible for every process happening inside. Besides, the magical liquid also forms the basis of blood, digestive juices, urine and perspiration.
Water has been included in the various dietary and weight loss regimes and makes up a very important part of a balanced diet. It helps to shed those extra kilos to achieve perfect body weight. Here is why drinking enough water is important to maintain a healthy weight and body:
Water reduces fatigue and increases energy
Drinking enough fluids is important when working out or exercising. Drinking water improves the body’s metabolism process which in turn is associated with a positive impact on the energy level. Besides, drinking water also helps in better focus and concentrate and keeping the brain alert.
Water maintains the balance of body fluids
Since the larger part of the human body consists of water, it helps in the smooth functioning of these bodily fluids including digestion, absorption, blood circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of body temperature. Besides, when the body is low on fluids, the brain triggers the body’s thirst mechanism.
Water let the body absorb the essential nutrients
Water breaks down the food and helps dissolve vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients to deliver the vitamin components to the rest of your body for use.
Water wards off many disorders
Drinking water reduces the risk of kidney stones and urinary tract infections (UTI) by getting rid of waste through sweat and urination. Besides, it can help prevent certain medical conditions including constipation, exercise-induced asthma, hypertension etc. Water also helps in reducing the risk of cystitis by keeping the bladder clear of bacteria.
Water keeps the skin and hair healthy
An adequate amount of water intake helps in keeping the skin hydrated. It may also promote collagen production. It moisturizes the skin, keeps it looking fresh, soft, smooth and glowing. Water is the best anti-ageing treatment which also maintains the skin’s texture and appearance.
So, drink plenty of it to complete your healthy diet goal and improve overall health. Go ahead and drink up your glass now!
First thing first – Mindful Eating is not a diet!
Food makes up your body. It is the reason why your body exists. So, besides what you eat, how you eat also plays a crucial role in the making of your body.
In today’s fast-paced world, where everyone is in a hurry and multi-tasking, being mindful, a Buddhist practice of being fully present and sensing without judging, connects you with the environment around you.
Similarly, mindful eating makes you fully aware of the eating experience and your thoughts and feelings about food. It helps in slowing down the eating process and savours every bite. When we pay attention to what we eat, it tastes better and more satisfying.
Understanding hunger, craving and fullness cues
Hunger can be deceiving. Many people may misunderstand the body’s sign of being hungry. You eat and still not satisfied, you don’t eat for a long time and still don’t feel hungry. Mindful eating encourages you to explore and understand the difference in advance of a meal and prevent unnecessary food intake. It may help you in cutting down on your food cravings.
When you pay more attention to the feeling of fullness or focus more on the flavours, you become aware that you have had enough.
Weight loss/ Fitness Goal
Weight loss can be another one of the benefits of mindful eating. It has been observed that when people start feeding actual hunger cues, they’re likely to lose weight.
Mindful eating can also help you change unhealthy eating habits. It can also help curb binge eating, emotional eating and hedonic eating. Because when you eat mindfully, you are not just sitting down and eating. You pay attention to your patterns around food, when you eat, where you eat and why you eat.
Other benefits
Mindful eating can be used as a tool to recognize and change your eating behaviours and thereby develop other benefits as well.
Mindful eating does not restrict any type of food and so allows you to have a wider variety of food on your menu.
Practising mindful eating can aid good digestion, reduce overeating, enhance the flavours of food and improve your psychological relationship with food.
How to practice mindful eating
Here are some tips that can help you practice mindful eating:
Come to the table with an appetite.
Take at least 15min to sit down and enjoy your meal.
Avoid distractions whilst eating.
Do not rush. Schedule time to eat your meal when you have adequate time.
Always sit and eat.
Eat everything on a plate or bowl even if it has come in a packet.
Make efforts to chew your food thoroughly and consciously.
Savour and taste your food using all your senses – look, feel, smell and taste.
We eat to nourish our body and provide nutrition to facilitate optimal functioning. Paying attention to what and how we are eating makes you feel better both physically and psychologically.
When it comes to fitness, healthy body or weight loss, we give due importance to diet and exercise. However, we often tend to overlook the importance of good quality sleep.
Sleep plays a crucial role in maintaining both – healthy body and healthy mind. The quality of your sleep affects how you feel physically and mentally. The way you feel while you’re awake depends on what happens while you’re sleeping.
During sleep, your body is working to support healthy brain functioning and maintains your physical well-being. When you are sleep-deprived, it becomes difficult for the brain to function efficiently. This affects your ability to concentrate, think, and process.
Different age groups require a different amount of sleep. Like most adults require between 7 to 9 hours of nightly sleep. Whereas children and teenagers need more sleep and so do the kids below 5 years of age.
How much sleep should you take in a day?
According to the National Sleep Foundation guidelines, the recommended amount of sleep that must be practised by people of different age group is:
Category Hours of Sleep
New Borns 14-17 hours
Infant 12-15 hours
Preschool Kids 10-13 hours
School-Age Kids 9-11 hours
Teens 8-10 hours
Adults 7-9 hours
Senior Adults 7-8 hours
Why is sleep important for the human body?
Sound sleeping has many benefits on both physical and mental well-being. Here are a few reasons why good sleep is important.
Insufficient sleep can cause weight gain
Insufficient sleep is one of the significant risk factors for obesity. This school of thought is said to be backed by numerous factors, including hormones and motivation to exercise. So, if you are trying to lose weight, it is crucial to get good quality sleep.
Sleep deprivation tends to increase calories intake
Lack of sleep is believed to affect the daily fluctuations in appetite hormones and cause poor appetite regulation. It increases levels of the appetite-stimulating hormone called ghrelin and reduces the levels of the appetite-suppressing hormone known as leptin.
Therefore, people who take a good amount of sleep, as required by their body, tend to consume fewer calories as compared to those who don’t.
Sleep can enhance athletic performance
In various studies, players taking adequate sleep have shown to improve many aspects of athletic and physical performance like better speed, concentration, accuracy, reaction time and alertness.
Sleep keeps heart health in check
A healthy heart should get sufficient amount of sleep each night. Insufficient sleep can worsen blood pressure and cholesterol which are the major risk factors affecting the health of your heart.
The duration and quality of sleep are believed to drive chronic diseases, including heart disease and strokes.
Poor sleep affects metabolism
Poor sleeping habits are linked to causing adverse effects on metabolism in the general population. Sleep deprivation can alter the glucose metabolism and hormones involved in regulating the process.
The metabolic system will be out of balance in sleep-deprived people, which will eventually affect the dietary choices they make.
Body repairs itself during sleep
Sleep is a time when the body is hard at work repairing damage caused by stress, ultraviolet rays, and other harmful exposure. The body produces more protein molecules, (the building blocks of the human body) during sleep allowing itself to repair the damage.
The bottom line
Along with nutrition and exercise, good sleep is one of the pillars of health. Many factors prevent us from receiving enough sleep viz work schedules, day-to-day stress, a disruptive bedroom environment or medical conditions. A healthy diet and positive lifestyle habits can help ensure an adequate amount of sleep.
There were times when carbohydrates were considered as fitness, health and weight loss enemies. And then with so much information around and trends changing from day to day; one day they are healthy, the next they aren’t.
So, how do you know what to believe and what to not?
There is one fact that remains unchanged throughout is that our body needs all the nutrients in our diet. And protein, fats, and carbohydrates being a part of the major macronutrients, they are equally essential for our body to stay healthy and active.
When we talk about carbs, they are a much larger food group that goes beyond bread and pizzas.
Carbohydrates are the sugars, starches and fibres found in fruits, grains, vegetables and milk products, often maligned in trendy diets. The dietary fibres are also a type of carbohydrate found in foods such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. They are necessary to maintain a normal weight and healthy heart and to keep your digestive system regular.
The body uses carbohydrates to produce glucose which is the fuel that gives you energy and helps keep everything going.
So if we jump to the conclusion, carbohydrates are important for a healthy body and weight loss both. Let’s dig deeper and learn more about the myths surrounding carbohydrates.
Carbs make you fat
Yes, carbs are fattening. And if you are on to consuming calorie-dense foods like potato chips and soda, you will become fat. But carbohydrates are beyond soda and chips.
Instead, foods with complex carbs like whole-wheat bread, beans, and fruits contain more fibre and have lots of other nutrients which are important for maintaining a healthy weight.
Our bodies don’t need carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are of various types. Glucose, a type of carbohydrate, is important for the functioning of kidneys, liver, brain and every organ system in the body. The body uses glucose for energy and stores excess glucose as glycogen. This glycogen is used by the body during fasting or exercising.
This is the reason that the body needs glucose.
Low-carb diet is the best way to lose weight
With low-carb diets, people see fast results and therefore these diets have become popular. However, according to many pieces of research, long-term low-carb diets are not sustainable.
Low-carb diet cut out large groups of vegetables, fruits and grains which deprives the body of getting enough vital nutrients to manage the weight effectively.
On the contrary, low-carb diets can increase the risk of micronutrient deficiencies and constipation due to their low fibre content.
Fruits are high in carbs and should be avoided
Fruits are important as part of a healthy diet. Fruits contain fibre, which helps with weight control and digestive health, as well as many vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Fruit contains carbohydrates in the form of natural sugar, which is much different than processed sugars. Processed sugar is what contributes to weight gain and increases the risk of chronic diseases.
Thanks to on-and-off diets trends, the fruit has also gotten bad media. People often say that fruit has too much sugar in it. Yet, along with a natural form of sugar, called fructose, the fruit is full of nutrients that our bodies need.
Eating more fruits and vegetables have a lower risk of developing diabetes, along with other chronic diseases.
Carbohydrates are difficult to digest
Although certain categories of food are higher in fibre can make the digestive system’s work hard, all carbs do not fall under this category and therefore should not stop you from consuming them regularly.
Foods that have a higher content of insoluble fibre are more difficult to digest and can cause an upset stomach.
However, soluble fibres that are found in whole grains, bananas, and certain vegetables like cucumbers, can the digestive system back on track.
So, after clarifying these misconceptions around carbohydrates, jumping to the conclusion that carbohydrates are important for a healthy body would not be wrong.
We just need to know the carbs which are essential for our body like whole grains, fruits, and beans and are great ways to meet fibre, vitamin and mineral needs and maintain a healthy body.
Ever since the coronavirus pandemic began, strong immunity and good health have been on top of everyone’s list. Since there was no cure for the disease, maintaining a proper healthy and fit lifestyle was the only way to fight against it.
This was the time when centuries-old wisdom of Ayurveda was reintroduced in everyone’s life for strengthening the immunity and avoiding getting sick. And, with clinical trials and research, Ayurveda got a global level recognition in the fight against COVID-19.
What is Ayurveda?
Developed more than 5000 years ago, Ayurveda is one of the world’s oldest holistic healing methods. In our country, it has been one of the methods of treating various diseases since ancient times.
The literal meaning of Ayurveda is “knowledge of life”. The concept of this healing method is based on the balance between mind, body, and soul. Although the treatment is intended towards curing specific health issues, the main objective of Ayurveda is to maintain good overall health and well-being.
History of Ayurveda
The historical roots of this alternative medicine system come from the Indian subcontinent which has been recorded to be more than 5,000 years old. If we dig deep into the origin of this holistic healing methodology, Ayurved is believed to come from Dhanvantari, the physician to the gods in Hindu mythology.
Ayurved has its mention in Sanskrit, in the four sacred Vedas: the Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sam Veda, and Atharva Veda. The earliest concepts were set out in the portion of the Atharvaveda.
The Vedas are rich in magical practices for the treatment of diseases. It recommends numerous herbs for the treatment of fever (takman), cough, constipation, diarrhoea, dropsy (generalized oedema), seizures, tumours, and skin diseases (including leprosy).
Dhanvantari, who introduced Ayurveda to the world, is today worshipped as the patron God of all branches of medical science. Ayurved was further popularised, taught and handed down generations by his disciples. Among those, Sushruta, the ancient Indian surgeon famous for his pioneering operations and techniques, was foremost.
The rishis were given this knowledge of Ayurveda to make them learn to stay physically and emotionally healthy to pursue their deeper spiritual goals.
Future of Ayurveda
The world’s oldest recorded system of healthcare has influenced many other systems of medicine within and outside India. These include Traditional Chinese Medicine, Siddha, Unani along with various types of massage therapy.
Moreover, the coronavirus pandemic has also reminded the world of the importance of good health and strong and resilient immune systems. While effective and curative medicines are indispensable in fighting such aggressive viruses, the best defence lies within our bodies. And therefore, the world is witnessing a rebirth of this ancient system of health promotion, disease prevention and treatment.
Besides, people outside of India are also showing interest in the resurgence of indigenous knowledge that has transformative potential to heal mental and physical ailments.
Overall, Ayurveda has great potential to be revived for modern applications all over the world, particularly if more research is done on it.
Benefits of Ayurveda
Ayurveda offers extensive therapies and remedies for the young, old, sick, healthy, and everyone in between. Some of the primary benefits that the consistent use of Ayurveda offer are:
Preventive Care – The best way to combat disease is to stay well in the first place. By adapting the diets and lifestyles according to the body’s unique constitutions, helps in maintaining good health and staying disease-free.
Improved Quality of Life – Ayurveda is a choice of lifestyle, which when adopted in its entirety, brings a wave of general well-being to your daily life. Exercising, having an active lifestyle, adequate sun exposure, appropriate treatments and emotional well-being helps to cleanse the mind and spirit.
Stress-Free Life – With the right diet and lifestyle, Ayurveda alleviates stress. Waking up early before the sun rises is said to provide peace of mind. Meditation helps you stay relaxed and reduces stress hormones. Having herbal beverages that have stress-reducing properties will keep the mind calm and reduce anxiety.
Balanced Hormones – Ayurveda helps in keeping the hormones balanced leaving a powerful effect on many of our bodies’ basic processes. From regulating hunger to influencing our reproductive systems, balanced hormones help in keeping the mood, weight and sleeping patterns in check.
Success of Ayurved in dealing with Lifestyle Challenges
While the conventional treatment methods treat specific symptoms with quick results, Ayurveda works on the theory that all disorders, whether physical or mental, result from an imbalance of physical and psychological elements in the body. Therefore, according to ayurvedic practitioners, effective treatment lies only in a holistic approach.
The holistic approach of Ayurveda targeted toward complete physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being makes this science a wonderful option in lifestyle challenges.
Ayurveda for Mental Health
Ayurveda offers a holistic approach to mental health that integrates the mind, body and soul. It has proven to produce significant results as a complementary treatment method in disorders such as depression, anxiety and OCD.
This alternative medicine system recommends traditional dietary and lifestyle habits along with yogic exercises and herbal treatment. It offers a complex array of therapeutic techniques and natural medicines to restore balance and harmony.
Ayurveda for Immunity
There are various aspects which cause low immunity in the body including stress, poor mental health, overuse of antibiotics, metabolic disorders, lifestyle (lack of exercise) and poor diet.
According to the science of ayurveda, the body’s overall capacity can be strengthened through good nutrition, a healthy lifestyle, proper sleep, and adequate exercise.
Ayurveda advises consuming pure herbs as well as polyherbal compositions. These immunomodulatory preparations help in enhancing the body’s natural ability to overcome infections. Besides, these drugs are also said to have additional health benefits, such as rejuvenation, anti-stress, promotes intelligence, memory, and cognitive wellness, and promotes vigour, vitality, and positive health.
In nutshell
Ayurveda calls for complete harmony of the body with the elements of nature and the surrounding environment for a stress-free and healthy life. It does not merely deal with medical science but its scope goes much beyond the universe of conventional science.
Your progress toward balance and health is proportional to how well you stick to the guidelines of diet and lifestyle.