10 Tips To Help Trim The Sodium When Dining Out

1)  Ask lot of questions to learn as much as you can about the preparation of each food; even a baked potato may be rolled in salt before cooking. Ask about spices, rubs, marinades and finishing sauces, all of which can be loaded with sodium.

2) Frequent locally-owned restaurants where most foods are cooked to order. It may be easier for such restaurants to accommodate requests for less salt.

3)  Skip the sauce on your entree, or ask that it be served on the side, For taste without all the sodium, just dip your fork into the sauce, then use it to spear your food. (This helps control calories and fat as well as sodium).

4)   Pass on casseroles and stick to basic foods that are grilled, baked, or roasted.

5)   Salsa and ketchup may be low in calories and fat but high in sodium, so use them sparingly.

6)   Taste your food before salting and use the salt shaker sparingly.

7)   Bring along your own low sodium spice mix, food.

8)   Round out your meal  with simply prepared fruits and vegetables, which are naturally low in sodium. Ask for steamed vegetables with no sauce, and use a squeeze of lemon to brighten the flavor.

9) Go easy on the cheese, olives, deli meat and croutons in your salad, and ask for salad dressings on the side.

10)   Order sorbet or fruit for dessert.

Tips For Eating Low Sodium at Home

While this might not be the advice many of us are looking for, eating out only once a week, for the sake  of your wallet and your health.

 

“When  you eat out, you tend to eat more calories and have less control over the ingredients, “ So why not get back into the kitchen, preparing more fresh foods, fewer processed foods, and slash the sodium by using flavorful ingredients.

Few high-flavor, low sodium ingredients are roasted garlic, caramelized onion, fresh herbs, citrus, wine, fruit juices and homemade chicken stock.

When fruits and vegetables are in peak season, they taste delicious without any additions, so taste the tomato before you automatically add the salt. And whenever you do need salt, add it

at the end of cooking so you can taste it.

Avoid buying processed foods at the grocery store, but when you do, check labels to select the ones that contain the least sodium. Food likely to be highest in sodium include :

 

Canned foods (Other than fruits)

Frozen entrees and Pizzas

Frozen vegetables with sauces

Soups

Deli, cured and processed meats (like ham, hot dogs and sausages)

Crackers, chips and nuts

Pickles

Instant puddings

Some breads, cookies, cakes and cereals.

 

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 Health- Nov-2012

Stress equal to smoking five cigarettes a day

Here’s why should take up meditation, soak in long baths, and unwind with relaxing walks: being chronically stressed out has been found to be as dangerous as smoking five cigarettes a day.

A new research from Columbia University Medical Centre in the US has found that people who said they felt anxious were 27% more likely to suffer a heart attack.

Researchers analysed data from six studies involving nearly 120,000 people. In the studies, subjects had been asked about their perceived stressload with questions such as, “How stressed to you feel?” and “How often are you stressed?”

Subjects were tracked for 14 years, with researchers tabulating the number of heart attacks that occurred during that time frame.

“These findings are significant because they are applicable to nearly everyone,” says study author Safiya Richardson.

“The key takeaway is that how people feel is important for their heart health, so anything they can do to reduce stress may improve their heart health in the future.”

The study was published this week in The American Journal of Cardiology.

Relax News

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Hindustan Times-City-LifeStyle

23/12/2012

EYE FLOATERS

Some of you might have encountered tiny specks or strands floating in front of you but just can’t get rid of them? This might most probably be……….FLOATERS!

You might find it especially common when looking directly at a light background, or when feeling light-headed. The perception of floaters is medically known as myodesopia.

Floaters are those tiny spots, specks, flecks and ‘cobwebs” that drift aimlessly around in your field of vision. Sometimes you may momentarily confuse them with dust or tiny insects floating across in front of the eye.

Your eye is filled with a jelly like substances called “vitreous Gel” . Light entering the eye, has to pass through this gel to reach the retina. In childhood and adulthood, the vitreous has a gel-like consistency. Any eye condition in which the clarity of the vitreous humor is altered can produce the symptom of eye floaters. As one gets older, changes normally begin within the vitreous humor. The vitreous jelly naturally undergoes some liquefaction, resulting in small pockets of more liquid vitreous lying within the firmer gel. This is called vitreous syneresis. The boundary between each liquid pocket and the gel may be noticeable to the person as one or more eye floaters. In addition , it is normal for the collagen fibers that are within the vitreous to become thickened and denser with age, resulting in the eye floaters. Any person who is over the age of 50 will have these changes within their eyes. However, the degree of eye floaters produced by these typical changes will vary from person to person.

Each of these strands casts a small shadow onto the surface of the retina, and these shadows may be perceived by you as eye floaters. As the eye moves from side to side or up and down, these strands, deposits, or pockets also shift in position within the eye, making the shadows move and appear to float or undulate.

You may see the floaters as spots, straight and curved lines, strings, or “O” or “C” shaped blobs. You may see it as a single floater while others may think they see hundreds. The lines may be thick or thin, and they sometimes appear to be branched. To most people, they appear grey and darker in color than the background. The density of different eye floaters will vary within an individual eye. Eye floaters may be more noticeable under certain lighting conditions and be more apparent when looking at a bright sky. Floaters are rarely seen in situations with reduced illumination.

Like fingerprints, no two people have exactly identical patterns of eye floaters. If you have eye floaters in both eyes, the pattern of the eye floaters in each eye will be different. In any eye that has eye floaters, that pattern of eye floaters may also change over time.

Usually floaters are harmless, though they are annoying. Everyone experiences them from time to time and they cause no ill effects.

Though your floaters are harmless, the following changes in your floater should alarm you in having immediate medical attention. Floaters in front of the eyes are normally clearly visible when looking into a light background. However, if they start becoming visible in every background, if they suddenly Increase in Number and Size, and are Accompanied   by Photopsia (perception of flashes of light), it is vital that immediate medical advice is sought. This could be an early sign of retinal detachment, which is a serious blindness disorder. In such situations a prompt retinal evaluation is needed, wherein they try to detect any retinal breaks or holes which may lead to retinal detachment. If holes are detected and are treated with laser, retinal detachment can be prevented.

But if you ignore these alarming symptoms and wait till your vision falls, you might have developed retinal detachment. A major surgery is needed to re attach the retina, which has poor prognosis.

Most of the times, the floaters are due to normal aging chances of eye. Sometimes they can be seen in children especially in high myopes (with high minus glasses). Floaters in these children can be harmless, if not associated with retinal tears. Regular retinal evaluation is necessary.

Most eye floaters decrease in size and darkness with time. Some of this is due to actual absorption of the floater through the natural processes within the eye. Eye floaters may also shift in position within the eye, resulting in less of a shadow effect. In addition, the nerves within the brain adapt  to and often become used to the presence of eye floaters, ignoring them in a manner similar to the way a person only notices the feeling of shoes on their feet when they think about it. Eye floaters eventually tend to become less bothersome.

Eye floaters cannot be removed with medication or other means. Most will fade over time and become less annoying or noticeable.

There are a large number of abnormalities in the eyes that may also cause the symptoms of eye floaters. Any cellular material within the vitreous may cause eye floaters. Red blood cells as a result of hemorrhage and white blood cells as a result of inflammation are common types of cellular material Causing eye floaters. Hemorrhage into the vitreous may be a result of injury, diabetic retinopathy, a retinal tear through a blood vessel, or eye surgery. Inflammation in the vitreous may be caused by uveitis, injury, infection, or eye surgery.

To conclude, if you are above 50 years of age or if you are wearing minus glasses, there are high chances of you seeing floaters. If you have floaters, do not think and worry too much about them. But beware of warning signs and get immediate retinal advice in such situation. Don’t take medications which are falsely given to dissolve them. There is no medicine to dissolve them.

Dr. Murali Mohan Gurram,

MS, DNB, FRCS (Glassgow), FRVS, FICO (Germany), MNAMS, FAGE, MIMSA, PGDCA,

Associate professor,

Department of Ophthalmology,

Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences,

Narkatpally,

Nalgonda District,

Andhra Pradesh.

 Thanks,

Health-Nov-2012

Jeevan Blood Bank

No.18, Besant Road, Chennai Tamilnadu

F.O.R. Ortho Hospital

200 ft Road, Chennai Tamilnadu-600099

Sivasundar Hospital

9, New 28 1st Cross Street, Shashtri Nagar, Chennai Tamilnadu-600020

Music Therapy

Music Therapy can ameliorate physical and emotional distress

It can improve distress caused by pain, decrease muscle tension and promote relaxation, decrease anxiety, improve chemotherapy-related nausea and emesis, and improve overall mood.

It can help manage postoperative nausea and vomiting.

It reduces pain intensity levels and opioid requirements.

Music has significant effect on anxiety, perception of hospitalization or procedure, relaxation and stress levels in brain tumour patients undergoing surgery.

Music therapy in treatment areas and hospital rooms may help to improve  mood and decrease  anxiety in cancer patients.

Source : Medinews

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Health-Nov-2012