2 glasses of milk a day!

I distinctly remember, when I was a little kid and everyone around me scoffed " drink 2 glasses of milk a day, or else you wont grow tall!!"..... and I wondered why??? I would hide under the table, behind the cupboard and did just about anything to escape drinking that yucky glass of milk!!
of course that stage passed and I didnt grow over 5 ft tall and then I heard the name of osteoporosis and that sent a shiver down my spine! then I told myself , thats only when I grow old, am sure it wont happen to me. But there had to be something better in store for me. I met a wonderful lady who told me milk isnt yuck but healthy.

I still remember my first meeting with her at my neighbour's place. I expected to see a hep young woman, and what did I see. a simple lady, with beautiful locks of curly hair left open, a chubby face like mine and a million dollar smile! and the first thing she told me was that calcium deficiency is high in Indians! .... so drink 2 glasses of milk daily.

my interaction with her began when I took my dear friend to her and she diagnosed her with osteomalacia!! gosh what was that!! soft bones which were extrememly painful!! I dont want that...........so I told myself drink 2 glasses of milk everyday......

over the years my doc, has become an aunty to me.......I no longer call her dr! she is one of the finest human beings I have ever met. simple, down to earth, and very affectionate! I no longer dread drinking milk.......I love it........and I hope to be healthy all my life as long as I listen to her!! ......which I do very faithfully!

To this wonderful lady who is not just my dr......but also a very dear aunty, a great guide and my BIGGEST critic..........love u loads and loads and loads......
cheers to the 2 glasses of milk!

DO YOU EAT RIGHT?

Everytime I meet my friend’s who are working women, they complain about their food habits. They either don’t have time to eat, or eat junk food. Most of them complain that they don’t have time to eat. Those who live alone, don’t even bother cooking for themselves. They just grab a bite of whatever they find and that is invariably junk food. As a result of these bad eating habits they are all obese and were facing different kinds of health problems.
My urge to find a solution to this problem of working women took me to the office of Mrs Dharini Krishnan, a dietician who is the president of the Indian dietitics association. Dharini has done her bit of research on the diet of working women and has classified these working women into 3 classes-


1) School teachers- school teachers work from 8 to 3. They leave home as early as 7 in the morning. They therefore don’t have time to cook in the morning. They prepare the food at night and only boil rice or make chapathi’s in the morning. They grab a cup of coffee in the morning and head to work without having breakfast. They carry a tiffin with them. But they are hungry by about 11 and that is when they head to the canteen to eat a samosa or a puff and gulp another coffee. They have lunch at school and once they get home at 3 or 4 PM have a heavy snack. They cook dinner late, have a heavy dinner and go to bed directly. Eating a heavy dinner is not good according to Dharini and it is even worse to go to bed right after a heavy dinner.


2) The next category of working women are those who work 8 to 6 and travel far to reach their offices. These women too don’t have time to cook in the morning and leave home after having a cup of tea or coffee. They carry a small meal with them. But their mid morning snack is often an acidity causing samosa or a puff. They again get home and have a late dinner which is bad for health.


3) The last category of working women are those of work against the biological clock in BPO’s. according to Dharini these women have the worst life style ever. They leave for work at 8 in the night an return at 8 in the morning. To keep themselves awake all night they gulp several cups of tea and coffee. Since these are all young women who work in BPO’s, and they are earning big money every night is a party. Somebody or the other is treating the rest. So they have all junk food like pizza’s, burgers, cokes etc. they come home in the morning and sleep. They wake up at 2 in the afternoon and eat lunch. Again in the evening they are snacking before having dinner and heading to work. These women are prone to gaining weight easily.

According to Dharini, she has patients who have gained 6 to 10 kilos in a span of a few weeks because of wrong eating habits. She has a few useful tips to offer these working women-

1) DO NOT skip breakfast. It has been proved that those who skip breakfast have lower levels of performance at work place. Make sure you have a healthy breakfast. Even if you don’t have time make sure you have at least a cup of multi grain porridge or oats.
2) The mid morning snack should consists of fruits and vegetables or sprouts. If you are allergic to fruits, have a tomato cucumber salad or sprouted greens. NO samosa’s and puffs.
3) Lunch should be wholesome and consist of a cereal, 2 vegetables, rice and a gravy.
4) Limit the tea and coffee intake. Too much of caffeine is bad for health. Have tender coconut, butter milk etc instead of that.
5) Dinner should be light and consist of roti’s and vegetables. Those who can’t eat roti’s should have red rice or daliya.
6) NO junk food everyday. NO eating out everyday. Eating out once in a way is fine. But everyday, no way, you are ruining your health.

All you working ladies, if you think you can do away with eating junk just because you are working and have no time to cook, you are wrong. These little tips should help you improve and your eating habits and your health in turn.

HOW SAFE ARE BEAUTY PARLOURS


Guncha was all excited about her brother’s wedding. She was the groom’s sister and wanted to look as pretty as can be. She went to the parlour and had a facial, waxing, and her eyebrows done. The next morning when she woke up , her eyes were hurting. When she looked in the mirror her eyes were red and swollen. She had contracted some infection in the parlour.

Teena was very happy that day. She was 16 and her mother had finally given her permission to go wax. She had her arms and legs waxed and was all ready to sport a mini skirt and sleeveless top. But to her dismay her skin broke out into small red follicular cysts, which were itchy. She was rushed to the dermatologist who confirmed that she had an allergy following the wax.

Puja was getting married in a couple of days. She had her mehendi function in a day’s time and wanted to look beautiful. She went to the parlour and had a special facial done and applied a unique face pack which was to enhance her complexion. But a few minutes after applying the face pack her skin began to burn. When it was taken off her cheeks had all got burnt. She found it difficult to cover up these burnt cheeks even at her wedding.

These are just a few cases of infections contracted at beauty parlours. We all go to the parlours thinking we will come back looking pretty but how beautiful are these beauty parlours? Hygiene is a very important factor. We should make sure we go to a hygienic beauty parlour and take all precautions before we say yes to any of those fancy treatments they offer.

Though branded parlours keep customer safety and hygiene in mind, your friendly neighbourhood parlour may not be all that friendly to your skin. The Potential problem areas include hair brushes, scissors, wax spatulas, hair colouring brushes, waxing strips and tweezing threads.

The most common forms of infections that one can contract in beauty parlours are –

Folliculitis- Waxing indeed gives you flawless skin, but an improper wax can leave you with painful follicular pustules and a bikini area wax can cause fungal infection.
Threading rashes- one must ensure that proper linen thread is used and the portion of the thread touching the beautician’s mouth does not touch the skin.
Facials allergies- post facial people break out into rashes, and even have a problem of skin peeling. Make sure you use good products and not sub standard ones.

BEAUTY PARLOUR SYNDROME

Beauty Parlour Syndrome was first reported in the early 1990s. An American neurologist identified five patients who suffered a stroke due to prolonged deformation of their necks. However, further research was slow to develop until 1997 when a report in The Lancet detailed how a 42-year old woman had a stroke after the dissection of her right internal carotid artery during a hair wash. Her head had been extended backwards for about five minutes and afterwards she felt numb and experienced slurred speech. On this occasion doctors recommended that hairdressers should use a cushion so that the head is not overextended.
The Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Liverpool explains: “It is not due to pressure on the artery cutting off the blood supply to the brain, but is much more likely to be caused by a small tear in the lining of the vertebral arteries which run from the back of the neck up into the base of the brain. Clots could form on the rough, irregular torn area, break off and be swept upstream into the brain to cause a stroke.” For a person to experience a stroke in this case they would have to be predisposed to arterial damage and this is difficult to identify in patients.
The beauty parlour therefore apart from making you prettier puts you at a risk of several infections and problems. So the next time you are heading to the parlour to beautify yourself, remember to visit a hygienic parlour, because that little parlour down your lane may not be particularly hygienic. Take all the precautions to use products of standard and not stuff you are allergic to. A good parlour which uses hygienic products can beautify you, but a substandard one can destroy your looks. So beware!

has she got it all?

HAS SHE GOT IT ALL???

I distinctly remember my doctor friend saying it with great pride in one of her lectures to the public “oh! We women are super women. We can do just about everything…. Therefore our health is most important.” The term super women hit me and I began wondering, how much does this imply to women today.

As I browse through the morning’s newspaper, I read the headlines on the first page with great pride… “ Indira Nooyi takes over as CEO of Pepsi group.” , “ Kiran Bedi selected to head a mission in the UN”, “ Lata Mangeshkar wins award”, “ Anju bobby George wins a gold medal”… and so on. Indeed a matter of pride that women have excelled in all fields. But what do I read on the second page..” Father rapes daughter”, “ women strangled to death by husband over dowry”,…how agonizing that these women have to pay a price for their lives.
It is such an irony that in today’s world, where women have excelled even where men haven’t they still they have to prove themselves time and again. Going back in history, there was a time, when people said women have to stay home, cook, take care of their house and children. But as times changed the woman began to come out of her shell. Of course history gives us examples of super women like Raziya sultana, Rani Lakshmi Bai, and in the later times Sarojini Naidu, VIjaylakshmi Pandit, Indira Gandhi and many more. But these were just the lucky few who got to go out and work.

Even as time progressed and with the spread of western education, women were permitted to work in very limited areas. People thought that women could either be teachers or doctors. Who ever thought that a woman would be an IPS officer until Kiran Bedi created history by becoming the first woman police officer. Women slowly started making strides in every field. From MBA’s to chartered accountants, from doctors to engineers, teachers, professors, and even politicians, women have made place for themselves in just about every field.

I take great pride in saying that today’s woman is indeed a superwoman. After all can men juggle so many roles? If a man can manage one relation that is with his wife, and of course earn his daily living it is an achievement in itself for him. Dr Sukanya Srinivasan says “ a man can manage only one relation, he either gets along with his mother or with his wife! But look at us women, we juggle so many roles, we are experts at multi tasking, we are no doubt super women.”

A woman has so many roles to play. At home she is a wife, a mother , a daughter in law , and she manages to play each role beautifully. She completes her tasks at home and heads to her work place where she has deadlines to meet and the most male chauvinistic boss to deal with. And yet she manages… with a smile on her face! What more do u need to prove that she is a super woman.

Mrs. Jigyasa Giri, grand daughter in law of ex president V.V Giri, kathak dancer and author of award winning cookbook “ cooking at home with pedatha” says “ I believe it is a reality that women have become super women. But I also believe that all of humanity has become large. Life has become large… extra large.”

I always believe all women irrespective of whether they are working women or housewives are superwomen. I agree with Dr Mythili Venkateswaran, professor of business communication , SP Jain institute of management , Mumbai that “ mothers are the best managers even without doing an MBA”. Have you ever woken up in the morning and found that you don’t have toothpaste to use, or that your bottle of shampoo is empty? No way. So good are the procurement and management skills of your mother. As Dr Mythili says “ women haven’t become super women, they have always been super women. What we lack in physical being, we make up emotionally and in other ways. So we are super women all the way.”


The women set examples for each other and provide solutions to problems they faced at home and at work. They sure seemed to have done it all — from striking a work-life balance and breaking into male-dominated professions to dealing with the powers and perils of being a woman boss! As women become leaders worldwide, they still fight various battles at work and at home, from gender prejudice to glass ceilings. But the joint effort of corporate organizations, women and their families can perhaps help make this journey of women's advancement a little smoother.

At the end of the day if you are still wondering if the concept of a super woman is a myth or a reality… wake up? It is indeed a reality. Because she's got it all! The perfect job, an enviable pay cheque and a happy, supportive family — she's really the super-woman!