Anuradha Sridharan

The video version of this article if you prefer to listen :-)   A few days back, I had mentioned that I maintain a happiness journal in one of my posts on Instagram. I got a DM asking me to share more about it. I'm sure you would have heard of the "gratitude journal" and how the habit of maintaining a gratitude journal keeps us more at peace. This happiness journal is similar but slightly different from a gratitude journal. I was reading an article written by Mark Manson titled " The disease of more " on his blog. In this article, he mentions about a survey conducted by psychologists. One of the survey question was " On a scale of 1-10, how happy are you at this moment? " Most of them gave a response of 7, which implies that no one is fully happy or fully unhappy all the time. Things are pretty much fine but they could always be better. So our minds always tell us to chase towards a perfect 10. This constant chasing is what he describes a...

A few days back, I had posted a picture of my lunch plate on Instagram, where there was some A2B ribbon pakoda (deep-fried snack) along with veggies, sambhar and rice. There were a few DMs asking why I'm eating A2B snacks since they are made with palmolein oil. Earlier this week, I had shared that I use pressure cookers extensively and that I don't see any issues in using them. There were a few responses to that Insta story saying that pressure cooking is unhealthy and one should cook the rice in an open pot and drain the starch. There has been quite an increase in the awareness/interest levels (confusion too) on healthy eating and a continuous search towards finding healthy foods and healthier ways of cooking. Sometimes, I wonder if we have reached a point where we have become obsessed about eating healthy. My belief is this - "If I eat healthy 80-90% of the time, I'm okay with it. I love to travel, go out to restaurants once a week, relish on bhel pur...

Recently, I was talking to a friend's wife who is a gynecologist. One of the points she told me - "We are seeing quite a number of miscarriages in the past 2-3 years. This percentage has definitely spiked up as compared to what it used to be 10 years back. Earlier, we used to advise women not to smoke or consume alcohol. Given the current eating habits, I should add a big list of items under "not to eat" category for pregnant women......" This conversation is the trigger point of this new series of blog posts that I plan to write pertaining to pregnancy. I'll be sharing my understanding of various nutritional needs during pregnancy and how best to meet them through real, natural foods. Will also be writing about the plethora of mother-specific health(?) drinks available in the market these days. If there are any other topics/questions you want me to address, please do comment below. The first topic I'm focusing today is on folic acid. Wh...

A few days back, I heard this statement from a family member - "cucumber vaangaradhu illa, avarakku pidikaadhu. pagarkkai, kovakkai sugar ku nalladhunu solraa, aana avarakku indha kai ellam pidikkaadhu. adhanala vaangaradhilla" ("I don't buy cucumber because he(husband) doesn't like it. I have heard that bittergourd, ivygourd are good for controlling sugar but since he doesn't like it, I don't buy it"). Both of them have diabetes and high blood pressure, but she does not/cannot make any lifestyle changes JUST BECAUSE her husband is not onboard.  Women play such a significant role in a family. When we lead by example, family members follow. In some families, it might take time but sooner or later, they will be ready to embrace change. There is no need to nag or shout from the top of our lungs. Our actions would speak for themselves, our habits would influence/inspire others in our family, especially the husband and children. Elders in the...

I had shared a personal " 10 year health transformation " journey post on Instagram yesterday, primarily focusing on how I'm managing PCOD. I had asked women facing PCOD issues to reach out to me if they have any questions or would like to share their concerns. What I didn't expect was the number of messages I would end up receiving. Within a span of 12 hours, I received around 35 DMs from women in their 20s and 30s. PCOS/PCOD is affecting many women in India and the number keeps growing at an alarming rate. I had written this article " 10 habits to keep PCOD under control " in Jan 2016. Since it is close to 4 years now, I wanted to write a follow up post, addressing a few more habits that have helped me in keeping PCOD in check. Disclaimer :  I'm neither a gynecologist nor a dietitian. This is purely based on my experience. Do consult your doctor if you are making any major changes. 1.Adopt the right mindset We generally tend to igno...