Anuradha Sridharan

A blog reader asked me to share my thoughts on Ensure Diabetes Care drink.  The plethora of drinks available for diabetics these days can be mind boggling. Now why is there a separate category of drinks? Are the nutrition needs different for diabetics as compared to non-diabetics? If so, can the different nutrition needs be fulfilled from real, natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, pulses, grains, nuts and seeds? I'll share my thoughts on these questions in a separate post. Let's look at the ingredients of Ensure Diabetes Care drink. I searched for it on Amazon but couldn't find it in their product images. Got this image from Flipkart. First and foremost, if any brand says "Sugar free", make sure to check for any caveat. In this case, the brand has mentioned that Sugar(Sucrose) is 0. But wait, check the ingredients list and you will see "fructose" mentioned. Fructose is another form of sugar and consumers are not made aware of the quantity of fructos...

My current desk setup. I have been playing "musical chair" the whole of 2020, shifting my workplace across different rooms and desks. For the past couple of months, there wasn't a desk available either. I tried to focus, working out of the sofa in the living room and moving around with my laptop whenever someone switches on the TV. I could hardly focus and the main topic of my "complaints" was that I don't have any space or time to do deep work. This reflects in the less number of blog posts written in the past 2 months. No, I don't work for any employer presently but I love to invest time in projects that are of self-interest (food and nutrition research, blogposts, courses, reading etc).  My bandwidth became limited because of family related responsibilities in the past 2 months. And it is going to become even more limited in the next 4-5 months. Before other family commitments take up my time and attention, I decided to secure a corner for myself, whe...

 Over the past few months, I have observed that I complain quite a bit about various issues. I haven't outpoured many of these complaints in public forums (blog, social media). Mostly, husband bore the brunt of my complaints sessions🙂 I'm glad at least I had the awareness that the rate of my complaining has increased. Being the analytical person I am, I initially thought I should keep count of the number of complaints in a day and then gradually decrease the count. But it was just too overwhelming to keep track and I discontinued it. One conscious practice I'm trying to follow these days is to be aware whenever I get into complaining mode either with myself or with someone else. While I'm aware, I observe my thoughts and words. Just the fact that I'm being aware makes me more conscious and helps me pause and reflect. I wouldn't say that I have put an end to this addictive habit, but the rate of complaining/cribbing has come down.  Lack of gratitude is usually s...

 One major positive change that I made in 2020 is to have an early dinner before 7PM. I have mentioned this in a few posts but I believe this one needs a separate post in itself.  Until last year, I used to finish my dinner by 8PM on most days. I slowly shifted the timings to 7:30, 7:15 and now 7PM. This shift by just an hour has made a huge difference in my life in multiple ways. (1) I automatically feel sleepy by 9:30-10PM  (2) Since there is a good 3-hour gap between the time I finish my dinner and the time I go to bed, the food I eat gets digested easily (3) My stomach feels light when I wake up the next morning (4) Bowel movements are regular  (4) Sleep quality is much better (5) I start to feel hungry by 8:30-9AM and my stomach is ready to eat a proper breakfast (6) I have lost a few inches around my tummy. These were quite stubborn inches, by the way :-) And people with PCOD would know how hard it is to lose weight around the tummy (7) My mind feels fresh and ...

A few days back, I stumbled upon a speech by Tamil Actor Satyaraj. It was just a small clip, a few seconds from his speech. Wish I could get hold of the entire speech. I'm translating what he spoke in Tamil "In life, if we want to be happy, we have to stop doing two things (1) Stop worrying about what other people think of you (2) Stop trying to change how other people should behave" This was such a powerful statement. As I pondered over it, I realized that I have reduced the first thought pattern to a large extent over the years, which has brought in a lot of peace. But I also realized that I get caught in the second thought pattern more often. Not just that, but I try to take it even further - Trying to change not just how people should behave but also change the different situations I encounter. Yeah, wishful thinking! Life throws unexpected situations at us. They can neither be predicted nor be molded in a way we want them to unfold. Complete acceptance is the solutio...

Yesterday, this thought flashed in my mind while I was pondering over certain things - " Be a generalist student and a specialist teacher ". There's this classic debate that's been going on for decades - "Should I be a generalist or a specialist?". I've been gravitating more towards being a generalist, as I'm curious to learn about a wide range of subjects. I'm yet to read the popular book "Range" by David Epstein that talks about the benefits of taking a generalist approach. It's on my reading list and I hope to get to it soon. Why do I prefer to be a generalist?  Life is too short to go deep into just one single area of interest. As you grow older, your interests start to change When there is curiosity, it is best to ignite it by reading about the subject, researching and talking to people about the same. By being interested in multiple subjects, you can cross-reference the ideas from each other. Sustaining interest levels on a s...

  Apart from  laziness  and  lack of consistency , the third challenge that most of us face when it comes to achieving our health goals is Procrastination . Imagine this situation - you woke up at 7 AM, made yourself a nice, hot cup of coffee. Your mind tells you that you need to head for a brisk walk. But you are too occupied with scrolling through the social media feed that you tell yourself - "I'll step out around 9 AM". 9 AM comes and you are in the kitchen making breakfast. The brisk walk reminder triggers in your head and you tell yourself - "There's so much work to do now. I can't step out for a walk. Maybe, I'll go in the evening".  It is 4 PM. You do want to finish that brisk walk but one of these three situations pan out. It is lightly drizzling. And your family demands some hot bajjis for an evening snack.  It has been a tiring day and you just want to lie down and scroll through the Instagram feed It is still too hot and you don't wan...