Anuradha Sridharan

"Take charge", "Take responsibility", "Be self disciplined" - these phrases have so much power that they make a tremendous difference in our lives, especially when it comes to our health. Whenever my Yoga teacher goes for a vacation, I usually end up relaxing and skipping my practice. I would wake up late and do my household work without any hurry. Once the classes resume, I would realize how my stamina levels have dropped drastically. The first 3-4 days after a break would be so tough and challenging. This used to be the routine in the past 4 years. When we got a break in Jul, I decided I would practice Yoga by myself at home. Though I did practice a bit, it wasn't intense and I wasn't pushing myself. Then a friend and I decided that we would practice together in the same place and at the same time as our Yoga class. We have been practicing regularly for the past 3 weeks and also been pushing ourselves (though not as much as our Yoga...

Someone had posed me this question - " Not everything that was done in 80's and 90's is good too. If it was, India would not be a diabetes/cholesterol hub today. Isnt it? ” This question came up as a comment to one of my posts as I keep referring back to 80s and the good practices followed with respect to home cooking. Whoever asked this, thanks. It’s an interesting question that got me thinking. First of all, avoiding junk and eating healthy, home cooked food is definitely NOT the ONLY contributor to good health, though it plays an important role. There are so many other factors that need to be considered - physical activity, exercise, emotional wellbeing, keeping one’s mind active and engaged, environmental factors such as air we breathe, water we drink etc. Speaking from my experience, if I am stressed about something, then the negative effects of that stress outweighs all my other regular healthy habits like eating home cooked food, avoiding junk, doing Y...

Over the past few years, there has been a tremendous increase in interest around habit forming products from a technology perspective. Loads of literature are available on this topic - be it books, blogposts, podcasts, courses etc. Given that it is one of my favourite subjects, I keep track of literature around the same. Two of my favourite books on this topic are Nir Eyal’s Hooked and Charles Duhigg’s The power of Habit. Now, why I’m talking of “habits” in the context of biscuits? Having a cup of chai (or coffee) every morning and evening is a habit for most of us. We also like to have a couple of biscuits to go with the chai. Parle-G biscuits used to be our default choice for many years, before the health-conscious behaviour took over and made us shift to Marie biscuits. Over the past decade, the digestive biscuits have successfully created a “ perception ” of healthier option over regular Marie biscuits. Let’s take the case of McVities Digestive biscuits. With a tag...

The reason why I studied marketing and consumer behavior with so much interest 8 years back seems to become clear now. When education blends with your passion/purpose, it feels like magic.  Over the last few days, my social media feed is flooded with updates from food bloggers on this newly launched Fortune Vivo diabetes care oil. No one cared to explain what the oil is made of, how it manages diabetes, how it regulates blood sugar etc. The copy just sounded like they were being instructed to include these key phrases - “clinically proven”, “insulin sensitivity”, “manage sugar levels”, “regulate blood sugar”.  So I went to the store this morning as I was really curious to know what this miracle oil is made of: As you can see, it is a mixture of “ physically refined rice bran oil (80%) and filtered sesame oil (20%) ”. The pack also states “ Patent applied ” on its front side, to sound as though it is a revolutionary innovation.  Surprised how clever ...

Wanted to SEO this post, so the title. But it is not a review of the product, rather my arguments on why we don't need such products in the first place. What is superstition? Believing in something blindly, without questioning. Many of us tend to believe whatever the advertisements claim. It’s worse when a TV ad talks about nutrition. I have been asked by family elders to give Complan/Horlicks everyday to my daughter because the ads say “taller, stronger, sharper”. Isn’t this superstition too? If it was TV for the previous generation, what’s the equivalent for our generation? Yes, social media. Who spreads such tall claims? Yes, the “so-called” influencers. Whatever respect I have had for food bloggers is declining rapidly with each passing day. Sometimes, I just want to unfollow all of them but then a thought pops up - “If I don’t follow, how would I know about the latest launches of packaged food brands, so that I can write about the healthier, environment-friendly alter...

Recently, I came across an ad where a film celebrity was promoting green tea to reduce belly fat. I wondered “Is it that simple?” - Drink 2-3 cups of green tea everyday and the belly fat just melts away! Wish it could be true. But the reality is exactly the opposite. It is a huge challenge to reduce belly fat. It can take a minimum of a year to 3 years to see a substantial reduction. Let me say that upfront before proceeding further. When we were born, we had flat tummies. Even during our childhood days, we had washboard abs. Sadly I can’t say the same about today’s kids though. Bad food habits, lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyle and stress have caused the fat to get accumulated in our abdomen. This didn’t happen overnight. It took us at least 2-3 years before we realized that our jeans need an upgrade. If you are genetically prone to accumulating fat around your waist or you have hormonal issues like PCOD, then the fat builds up faster and it is even more harder to get rid of ...

 Having looked at the sources of some of the essential minerals, let’s now focus on Vitamins. Although nature has blessed us with abundant vitamins and minerals in plants, it has become a fashion to pop a multi-vitamin pill, thereby creating a billion dollar industry in itself. It is my firm belief that our bodies absorb or process vitamins better when consumed from natural sources. Unless there is a critical deficiency, there is no need to rely on these pills. Understanding the plant sources and meal planning the right way will ensure you get your daily dose of vitamins. To begin with, let’s look at Vitamin A. As kids, the popular health advice that we often heard was “ Eat carrots, they are good for your eyes ”. So much so that carrots have become synonymous with Vitamin A. Vitamin A is not only essential for your eyes but also for better immunity and cardio-vascular disease prevention. Our body gets Vitamin-A from a source of phyto-nutrients found in plants called carotenoi...

As I had written sometime back, migraine and I go a long way. While reading up about migraine, I learned that increasing magnesium intake can reduce migraine attacks. So I started researching about the importance of magnesium and its sources. Though we all understand that calcium and iron are important for our physical wellbeing, there are other minerals that are equally important for various body functions. Essential minerals that our body requires are divided into major minerals (macrominerals) and trace minerals (microminerals). Magnesium falls under the category of major minerals. Magnesium helps - to maintain the normal functioning of nerves and muscles - to keep the bones strong - to maintain a steady heart rate - to improve immunity - to regulate blood glucose levels - to prevent and manage lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease - in the production of energy and protein synthesis - in regulating body temperature - in the treatment of migrain...

There have been hardly a few times in my life so far, when I spent my late evenings doing data analysis on issues that are important to me. This PDF " Indian Food Composition Tables - 2017 " is giving me sleepless nights :-) I decided to research on this latest “super-food” that is imported, has a lot of “food-miles” and a lot expensive. I switched on FoodFood channel after a long time at my in-laws place and the chef is making a “quinoa” pulao. I went to a supermarket and what do I see adorning the shelves there - yes, you guessed it right - “Quinoa”. This pseudo-grain has become such a rage in the last couple of years among the health and fit community of urban India. Most popular food bloggers have atleast one recipe using quinoa in their respective blogs/Instagram pictures. “ Why this Kolaveri ” towards quinoa - I don’t know about the nation but I certainly wanted to know ;-) When I googled to find out what’s so special about quinoa, most of the websites talk ab...

Thanks for the encouraging response to my earlier post on calcium from plant-based sources. I’m truly honored and grateful for your lovely comments and feedback. This week, I did a similar analysis on iron-rich foods using the data available in " Indian Food Composition Tables - 2017 ". Iron is an essential mineral that is required for the making of red blood cells, which are responsible for carrying oxygen in the body. Deficiency of iron leads to fatigue, tiredness and anemia. Usually, iron supplements are prescribed for toddlers, girls in their teenage years and pregnant women. The iron requirement for women is more than that of men because of the blood loss during their monthly period. I remember taking "iron tonic" as I was anemic while growing up. It used to taste so bad with a metallic after-taste. I hated taking iron tablets during pregnancy. I only wish I had known this list of iron-rich foods earlier. Better late than never. And I hope it helps other...