Atmos for royal atmosphere, literally!

The rising levels of pollution and resulting climate changes have been prime concerns for all since long. India wasn’t behind in the race towards contributing to the level of daily poison. And then the controversial Odd Even happened (in Delhi) to combat pollution.

As conscious citizens, husband and I took careful measures to minimize pollution, because every contribution matters. Husband humbly drove his CNG fitted car to cut down air pollution and I planted saplings in my residential colony to improve air quality.  During Diwali we refrained from crackers and discouraged others as well. In spite of being proactive and aware with outdoor pollution, we could not escape the negatives while indoors. And the reason was our ignorance for indoor pollution which is 5 times as much the outside effluence. As the realization dawned upon us, we scratched our grey matter figuring out how to fight indoor pollution:

The scratching of grey matter further polluted the indoor air but cleared our rational. We immediately bought snake plants which are known to clean indoor pollution commendably. This is one of the plants that releases oxygen at night and filters all toxin from air. Ah! We felt our mission was accomplished. We proudly owned and placed this plant in every room of the house. Several other indoor plants help control pollution, besides emitting positive energy and decorating the place naturally. Go for happy greens J

And then my mind raced to the scented sticks which my mother in law lit up for pooja every day. “Don’t they cause pollution?” I asked myself. Several researches have proved the toxic effect of agarbattis and scented sticks. But who bells the cat, was the question. How dare would I challenge the religious beliefs of my own mom in law. I faked headaches and gradually shifted the agarbatti holder outdoors under the holy basil tree. Though I added toxin to outdoor air, atleast the indoor air would be clean, and I patted my back.

Did you know your footwear also bring in dust and trash indoors? Besides the negative energy ofcourse.  Hence many Indian families practice leaving footwear outside their house to avoid bringing in dust and pollutants. You can call me superstitious, but I leave footwear outside my bedroom. I do this to ensure the room is clean sans dust and negative energy. (I am talking too much on energy. No it causes no pollution but does impact the vibes of the air, if you believe in it)

To keep indoor air clean, people have retorted to air-purifiers. Though I find these puny and over hyped, I may want to give it a try. Who knows it might as well just work.

Ignorance is bliss, but not always. It’s not good to ignore your ceiling fan and carpet that lie neglected, collecting dust since eternity. It is advisable to clean these un-noticed assets at-least once a month, if not weekly. Invisible dust in your carpet and the thin layer of grime on the fan easily makes way to your nasal passage and even contaminates your food. Let the mattress, pillows and doormats soak some sunlight so that they remain free of moisture and germs. Now you see that Vitamin D is not only good for us but for home too :-) 

Often unnoticed and under-estimated, the LPG gas in kitchen or freshly painted furniture also releases toxins in the air, strong enough to trigger migraine or breathing trouble. The best possible solution is to check the cylinders for leakage and use paints less toxic pollutants or VOC content. Chemicals in paint have been found to react with forming smog that triggers respiratory disorders. So much for beauty of our homes!

Last but not the least; we can paint our homes with Asian Paint Royale Atmos. Didn’t see Deepika Padukone swear by Royale Paints? Take a look here-

Precisely, Royale Atmos is a paint that reduces harmful air pollutants and makes the air cleaner. The activated carbon technology absorbs various foul smells & makes the air fresher. Thus, for the first time, Asian Paints presents a paint that not only looks good, but also helps purify air and improve the air quality inside your home. You can even wash your walls before the autumn cleansing ritual without spoiling the paint. Certainly gets brownie points for wash-ability and durability. 

What’s better than purifying your home in the colors of your own choice! Let’s make a pure choice for clean, fresh and pure indoor air.  Let’s make it happen with #RoyaleAtmos. Visit https://www.asianpaints.com/atmos for cleaner details.


Picture credits- Free images from Pixabay

10 strict NO's for empty stomach

Often food and lifestyle define you and your personality. Eating right and at the right time has been the secret of good health. While there are several things you are advised to refrain from post meals, there are various other things you should also refrain from on empty stomach. Surprised? Don’t be. We will tell you what not to do on empty stomach so that you remain in good state of health and avert unwanted consequences.

1.       Drinking coffee/tea on empty stomach? Think again

 Addiction to bed tea or coffee shot for energy is not new but you need to stop doing that right away. Coffee is high on caffeine which if taken empty stomach causes heartburn and severe digestive problems. Consumed over a longer duration may lead to stomach ulcers, acid reflux or irritable bowel movement. The same goes for tea that erodes the lining of intestines and causes acidity and indigestion. In case you cannot do without your morning beverage, have breakfast along, add creamer to coffee or replace your normal tea with green tea.
   
2.       Never take medicines if you haven’t eaten anything

This piece of advice has been passed on through many generations. Apart from the pills recommended on empty stomach, all others are advised to be consumed only after eating something. This is because empty stomach lining is exposed to reactions from medicines that cause nausea, constipation, vomiting and intestinal bleeding besides reducing the effect of the medicines. To reduce the negative effects of pills on empty stomach, you can replace water with milk.    

3.       No food in stomach? Skip spicy food

Spices are good for metabolism but certainly not good until you have something in your tummy. Spices, especially chillies are pungent in nature which trigger indigestion and upset the stomach lining. It is hence important to mix something with spices to avoid such reactions. Perhaps something like bread can be consumed along.

4.       Alcohol is a big NO-NO

Haven’t we all seen people binging while boozing? Well, that’s because alcohol should NEVER be taken if you are empty stomach even if your last meal was three hours ago. One simple reason behind the same is that alcohol absorption rate in your body will be high and at the same time the breakdown of alcohol will be even slower. This takes a toll on your liver, heart, kidneys and needless to mention, a major hangover that follows. Advisable to eat and layer your stomach before you booze.

5.       Don’t go shopping on empty stomach


Hungry body is low on energy and glucose. To replenish it, your body demands food, especially sweets or those high on calories. Since your ability to concentrate and making decisions gets negatively impacted, you end up buying unhealthy food or junk that would instantly satisfy your hunger. Because the need of your stomach gets converted to stress, your brain sends wrong signals to your body leading to an overload of unwanted items in your cart, even in non food stores.

6.       Intense workout

The need for those flat abs and toned muscles make you work harder on your body. But have you been working out on empty stomach in morning or evening? That’s all wrong! Your body starts running low on energy during workout and lowers your performance. Also, working out hungry may cause loss of muscle instead of fat. The logic is low glycogen levels which burns muscles if you demand too much from your body while exercising. You hence need to fuel yourself before hitting the gym. Banana or fibrous salads are the most recommended foods before you work out.


7.       Avoid citrus fruits or juices

Ah, we know how a warm glass of lemon and honey in morning has been treated as a mantra to lose belly fat. Little did you all know that lemon will not harm your stomach since it is diluted in water. Citrus fruits should be avoided when you haven’t eaten, since fiber and fructose slow down your digestion, irritate stomach and cause acidity. Just like lemon, you can dilute the fruits in water to reduce the acidic level or else totally avoid till you eat something.

8.       Never sleep empty stomach

 Did you know that low glucose prevents from us from sleeping and lack of sleep triggers your hunger? Hence the next day you end up hogging more, because of increased hunger hormones. That’s one reason you should never sleep hungry. Secondly, it causes mood swings and stress. Good enough reason for you to not skip meals now? An alternative to eating is consuming milk with honey that keeps you full and helps you sleep better.

9.       Say no to chewing gums

 Can something as simple as chewing gums on empty gut, adversely affect your body? Yes, it can! Always remember, empty stomach is prone to attack on the soft stomach lining. When you chew gums, the digestive juices produced with saliva creates an acidic effect on stomach lining leading to gastritis. The sweetening effects of gum effects your food habits and leads to addiction of junk, instead of natural healthy food. Hence,  it is advisable to chew gums for not more than 10 minutes even if you are full.


10.   Dodge raw vegetables

Yes agreed, one should eat healthy and salads or raw vegetables are good source of vitamins. We know diet conscious ones often do that. We are sorry, you would be surprised that you had been doing that wrong. Consuming raw veggies on empty stomach causes an overload of coarse fiber which causes abdominal pain and accumulation of gas in intestines.

We hope the above tips proves to be useful and helps you to be healthy. In a busy and hectic lifestyle, we tend to ignore these little things that eventually harm our body in the long run. All you need is a little bit of precaution and willingness. 

What happens when you skip meals?

A shapely sexy figure and flat abs is a dream that every girl sees. They work out, give up junk and follow healthy diet. Do all girls do that? No, they don’t. In an attempt to lose weight or inches quickly, often many people are seen fasting. Little did they know that skipping meals is no time saver and can pose bigger problems than they imagined. When skipping meals becomes a habit or a part of a dieting plan, it has serious long-term implications on the body like development of some chronic conditions or even gaining weight instead of losing.

Here are scary things that might happen if you skip meals regularly:

Low glucose level: Your blood glucose level rise after meals. It remains constant if you don’t exercise (hence recommended to work out if you want to control the level). A long gap of fasting causes your blood glucose level to fall, leaving you feel sleepy, tired and exhausted. Mind you, glucose is the source of energy for blood.

Low metabolism: Low glucose means low metabolism. Its simple. A low metabolism leads to dip in energy, imbalance in body and metal activity and improper eating patterns as you tend to eat more the next time.

Poor performance. As scary as low metabolism sounds, equally scary is poor performance. Not only you become physically slow but also mentally you are unable to concentrate and make quick decisions. Hampers your professional and personal life majorly!

Overweight:  Those who skip meals to reduce weight, rather tend to gain weight. If you eat less number of times you typically should, your brain signals you to eat more when you get food loading your body with calories which are not required at that moment. This leads to slow digestion and bloating of stomach. Ouch!

May lead to diabetes or excess calories: Ignoring the hunger pangs of your body will drain all glucose of your body leading to low level of energy and high stress. It’s your body’s natural tendency to hog sweets or junk food to replenish the loss of glucose. This also happens when stress level is hgh. So, this leads to excess of sugar or calories in your blood. So much for skipping meals yeah?

Acidity: You may experience acid reflux or nausea if your stomach is empty for too long. An old long habit of staying hungry may cause heartburn, acidity or dry cough. Skipping meals gets scarier hence.

Brain drain. The brain’s exclusive fuel, glucose, is compromised within four to six hours if you have not eaten. That’s because the glucose stored in the liver as glycogen, runs out during this time period. The liver is like a traffic cop for blood sugar. When blood glucose dips too low, the liver converts glycogen into glucose and releases it into the blood. But if its glycogen has been depleted, the body turns to less efficient fuelling methods resulting which you start to feel anxiety, depression, have mood swings or always hungry.

Bad breath: Your tongue produces saliva as you chew food. Long breaks of skipping meals make your tongue dry and create a breeding ground for bacteria, hence causing bad breath. Remember, the same happens when you fall ill?

 

Few tips to stay healthy and lose weight without skipping meals.

      

1. Eat small frequent meals instead of one large meal. Recommended to eat in an interval of every 2-3 hours
2. Include fruits, veggies and whole grains in your food. Chuck junk for good. Replace refined/processed sweets with natural sweeteners like dates or fruits.
3. Water intake should be 8-10 glasses every day.
4. Drink water before meals, not during meals. Avoid drinking water immediately after meals.
5. Exercise daily for atleast 30 minutes. Hitting the gym is not possible we understand. So go for brisk walk, ditch the elevators and take stairs or exercise indoors.

Image courtesy- Pixabay