Month: April 2020

Pros and Cons of Lockdown-More pros than cons

There are more pros of coronavirus lockdown than cons. Use this Covid-19 lockdown period to your advantage.

Well, I need not repeat that almost one third of inhabited world is under lockdown due to Covid-19 or coronavirus outbreak. It is considered the most effective way to prevent the deadly disease in the current scenario, as there is no cure or vaccine for it. However, does that mean the world has come to a standstill? Of course, all non-essential activities have come to a standstill,but there are many things we can do and enjoy the lockdown period in addition to keeping ourselves safe within our homes.

Should lockdown be extended?

That is something the government has to decide, depending on the overall situation of the country and state. As lockdown is a preventive measure and not a cure, any government cannot extend it beyond a limit because it will have serious economic impact on the state.

Is lockdown good?

In the past one month, we have seen some of the positive impacts of lockdown on our lives as well as the lives of animals. Rivers and ponds are cleaner and clearer than what we have ever seen. Many types of birds that had almost disappeared from urban skies are now easily visible in cities and towns under lockdown due to clear sky and no pollution.

Holy river Ganga before and during lockdown

Pros of lockdown

  • Less pollution, clear sky and fresh oxygen freely available
  • Almost no crime or criminal activities reported
  • Covid-19 spread can be curbed effectively
  • We get ample time to spend with our families
  • Those who can work from home don’t have to spend/waste time in traffic
  • Time to reconnect with old friends and colleagues
  • Time for hobbies that can be pursued at home such as painting, writing, paper-art, sketching etc. How about mastering Magic Tricks?
  • Exercise and eat healthy food
  • and more

Exercise, eat healthy and burn fat

This brings me to my favourite topic of staying healthy by natural methods. As mentioned above that you get fresh air during lockdown, why not develop the habit of waking up early and breath in fresh air which is not available during normal times? If you have some open space, then put it to the best use. Perform yoga or do any other type of exercise daily in the morning. You’ll notice the difference within a few days. In fact, this will help you develop good and healthy habits that you can continue even after lockdown is lifted. As fat eating healthy is concerned, you can rely on Noom App to choose what to eat and what to avoid.

Meditate or enjoy your me-time

During our hectic schedules, we hardly get time to introspect and spend some time with ourselves. Lockdown or even quarantine period is the perfect time to enjoy your me-time. If you are unable to concentrate or focus your mind, then try some online meditation guide. You need not be perfect or try to achieve the meditation state of those who practice it regularly or have achieved some degree of mastery. All you need is some time to think about yourself, it doesn’t matter how you achieve that.

Pets need your time too

If you have a pet,then what better time to spend with it than now. Use lockdown period to strengthen the bond between you and your pet. Play with them and pamper them in whatever way you can,within the lockdown limitations. How about teaching your dog some new tricks such as stacking rings?

Experiment with cooking during lockdown

Whether your are a health freak or a foodie, this is the time to experiment with your cooking skills. As most cooking ingredients and eatables are available even during lockdown, cooking should not be a challenge. In fact,this time can be utilised to learn some new cooking methods such as metabolic cooking , which will teach you how and what to cook for overall better health, weight loss and cardiovascular health.

Fun with fashion

As you cannot buy new clothes or apparels during lockdown, why not try to look for something in your wardrobe, and give it a makeover? Not only will you be able to spend a lot of time experimenting with your fashion sense, you’ll also come up with something original and unique. Do not forget to give it a try.

Try Gardening to use Lockdown period

If you are fortunate enough to have a garden, some open space or even a balcony, you can try gardening and transform your open space. Gardening is a way to spend time with nature, which we must do even during normal times. It helps you appreciate the abundance of nature. If you are interested in cultivating plants, aquaculture in your open space or even combining both of them, the Aquaponics will definitely excite you. Give it a try and learn the secrets of organic farming with Aquaponics 4 you

Organic Farming and Aquaponics for you

Cons of Lockdown

  • Huge impact on economy, which can push it to recession
  • Heavy loss for business owners. Small businesses can even close down
  • Daily wagers are the hardest hit finding it difficult to make both ends meet.
  • Boredom for those staying at home.
  • No travel or outdoor activities.
  • Those suffering from other illnesses ( Not Covid-19) are ignored.
Unreported Truth About Covid-19 and Lockdowns

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Immunity Meaning-Does Honey Improve Immunity?

Honey can be a great immunity booster food if combined with lemon and ginger. Read about immunity meaning and how to boost it.

In recent times or Coronavirus times or Covid-19 times whatever you’d like to say, a lot has been told and advised about immunity. So, what exactly is immunity? We’ll take a look at immunity meaning and how to test if your immune system is in perfect shape. Additionally, we’ll try to explore some natural immunity booster foods and their health benefits.

Immunity meaning

No, it is not just about preventing coronavirus or Covid-19, there is more to it. Your body has a natural defense system that protects it from external bacterial attacks. To understand it better, just imagine you are walking and suddenly dusty wind blows, your eyes close instantly to protect them from the dust. Probably you also cover your face to stop dust from entering your eyes, nose and mouth. This happens instantly due to our in-built defense mechanism, which gets activated as soon any danger is anticipated.

Immune System

The same thing happens at cellular level as well. When an external harmful microorganism enters your body, your immune system swings into action and fights back to prevent that external or alien bacteria or virus. This is where the strength of your immune cells or protective layer comes into play. This is called your immunity. The stronger your immunity, the better your virus fighting capability. Common cold and cough, allergy or many common ailments are often a result of weak immune cells. Which means they try to fight virus that cause the ailment, but that virus overpowers the immune cells, and you fall sick. Medication boosts your immune system and kills the external virus, and you recover. In case of fighting coronavirus, currently we do not have effective and powerful medicines to kill it, therefore prevention is the only way.

What is herd immunity

It will not be out of context to mention that ‘herd immunity’ has become a topic of discussion during Covid-19 times. It is often cited as one solution to this pandemic that has ravaged many countries across the world. When a person is infected with some type of virus, his/her immune system develops antibodies to protect him/her from the same type of virus in future. This makes the person immune to that disease. When a large number of people are vaccinated or develop antibodies (meaning, they cannot be infected any more by that disease), the virus stops spreading. This is called herd immunity.

How herd immunity works

Look at it this way. For example, someone is infected with coronavirus, but everyone around him is immune to it, due to antibodies already present in their body. Obviously, coronavirus will not be able to infect anyone around him due to this type of immunity in the community, therefore the disease cannot spread further. Makes sense? Read more.

Immunity Test

In the current scenario i.e outbreak of Covid-19, immunity testing kits for corona-virus is the most talked about subject among health workers. At present, antibody test is studied and is said to be holding the clue to Covid -19 exposure. However, I’d again like to mention that immunity is not just for coronavirus prevention or cure, you must have strong immunity to prevent various other common ailments. The sooner you start eating immunity booster foods, the better.

Immunity Booster Foods

While there are many packaged immunity booster foods available on the market, we’ll focus on a few thing or food items that can boost your immunity naturally and effortlessly. Also these items are usually already available in our kitchen.

Ginger

Ginger health benefits

Being an important herb used in Ayurvedic medicines, the health benefits of ginger are many. From curing common cold and cough to boosting immunity if consumed regularly, ginger does it all. Here we’ll focus on its immune boosting capablities. Ginger has strong anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. If you have any type of chronic inflammation, then your immune system will become weak gradually. Ginger helps you combat inflammation naturally, which results in strong immunity.

Ginger TEA

Ginger can be consumed in any form such as adding it to your vegetables or curries, drinking ginger tea regularly or even taking ginger shots if you wish. My favorite and I believe the easiest way to consume ginger regularly is to drink ginger tea.

Ginger WaTEr

Another important and easy way to reap the benefits of ginger is to consume it in the form of ginger water. Making ginger water at home is easy. However care should be taken that you do not consume more ginger water than what is recommended. Once a day is fine, but more than that can be counter-productive unless recommended by a certified medical professional.

Honey

Honey lemon water for weight loss and immunity

Honey is said to be a divine food as per Indian mythological scriptures. This is a nonperishable food item full of innumerable health benefits. Immunity boosting is just one of them. Honey and lemon water also helps you burn fat if you drink every morning on an empty stomach. Honey’s anti-bacterial properties make it a strong immunity booster food.

Honey lemon water for immunity

Lemon is full of Vitamin C, and when your combine it with honey, it becomes a tasty and powerful drink offering your many health benefits such as weight loss, better digestion, instant energy boost, wound healing, glowing skin and more. It goes without saying that presence of Vitamin C makes is a good immunity booster. Read detailed health benefits of Honey lemon water

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Beating boredom and healthy eating during Coronavirus lockdown

Coronavirus lockdown 2020 is good for prevention of the virus. At the same time, it is challenging for those who want to beat boredom. Learn tips for healthy eating habits during lockdown.

While coronavirus lockdown is keeping people indoors in all affected cities and countries across the world, it is important to keep ourselves safe and healthy while spending time at home. Though lockdown saves us from the deadly coronavirus, its side-effects can be seen in the form of other issues resulting from sedantary lifestyle and not physical activities. Most hard hit are the ones who are obese or overweight. We can definitely offset this effect by developing healthy eating habit during coronavirus lockdown, instead of craving for junk food, which in not available anyway.

Covid-19 Lockdown Hyderabad India

Beat the boredom and side-effects of lockdown

Boredom, irritation, stress, loneliness and even symptoms of depression in some cases are some of the visible side-effects of lockdown. However, I must say that these are the symptoms of those who have not explored their creativity, which can be in various fields. Painting, reading books, offering online tuition, working from home to make money are some of the best ways to beat the effects of lockdown. If your city is under lockdown, then now is the time to be creative and innovative using whatever resources you have at home.

Healthy eating for weight loss

What better time to try losing weight as you do not have the option of junk food or eating out. Experiment with homemade food and recipes that you have never tried before. You’ll be amazed to know that your kitchen already has many ingredients that can be used for your healthy eating plan. You can also take the help of Noom App, which offers thousands of food options to choose from. I’d like to remind you if you don’t know that Noom is not a food delivery services. It only gives you healthy eating options so that you can make an informed choice if weight loss is on your mind. Read Noom FAQs.

Click Here for Noom Pricing!

Healthy eating on a budget

The moment you hear about healthy eating, what comes naturally to mind is that it must be expensive. That is not true if know what are healthy alternatives to popular and expensive options. That is where Noom app comes in handy. In fact, Noom can often give you better, healthier and tastier food options than what you usually eat. Of course sometimes, healthy eating can be expensive in certain cases or circumstances, but often healthy eating on a budget is easier than we assume.

Use this guide for grocery shopping during lockdown-stay fit

Immunity booster plan

Coronavirus outbreak has made people aware of the importance of strong immunity. There are a lot of food items that can help you boost your immunity and become stronger. Though

Immunity booster recipes and food

Curd

Curds as immunity booster-can be eaten every day

While popping pills to boost your immunity is fine, you make curd or yogurt part of your daily meal. The live active culture in yogurt keeps your digestion in good shape and helps it keep your intestinal tract healthy and strong. In fact, eating approximately 200 grams of yogurt daily boosts your immunity as effectively as pill. This has been proven by researchers at the University of Vienna in Austria. Read the full report.

Ginger and Garlic

Ginger and garlic are used in almost all types of Indian vegetables and non-vegetable food items. These two herbs have many medicinal properties, due to which they are often found in various types of ayurvedic medicines. You can include them in your diet and enjoy their health benefits. Ginger can be added in tea or eaten raw, if you wish. Similarly one of two cloves of garlic either or slightly roasted, can work wonders for your overall immunity. In addition to being immunity boosters, these two herb offer many other health benefits such as good cardiovascular health.

Ginger-helps your fight virus

Dark Chocolate for Strong Immunity

This must be a good news for you if you are a chocolate lover. Cacao present in dark chocolate is known to have immunity boosting properties. This has also been proven by a research team at Loma Linda University’s School of Allied Health Professions. Read the full report

Give Yoga A Try

I must say that Yoga is favourite way to maintain good health. Here I’d like to remind you that Yoga is not just a set of asanas or postures, it is a way of life. It teaches you how to strike a perfect balance in your eating, working and sleeping habits. If you eat a balanced diet, work with full concentration and sleep properly, then your immunity will naturally be strong.

Yoga made easy if you are ready

Good sleep, Pranayam or simply deep breathing and nutritious food are highly recommended for boosting immunity naturally. As during lockdown, you cannot make an excuse of lack of time, this is the perfect time to make yoga part of your life no matter where you are. In fact, that is also one of the reasons that I like yoga. All you need is an open space and a yoga mat, and you are good to go. No equipment, no props, rigorous activities but still more beneficial than most other exercise plans.

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Coronavirus-Does Ayurveda offer Coronavirus cure or vaccine?

Lighting candles at 9 PM for 9 minutes to fight coronavirus collectively or using Ayurveda to boost immunity or both. Read about coronavirus vaccine development and possible cure related updates.

When Coronavirus seems to have gone of control of even superpowers like the US, the world sees a glimmer of hope from Ayurveda, which often has natural cure for many diseases. Can Ayurveda offer any effective Coronavirus cure in near future? Can Ayurvedic methods cure or prevent COVID-19? Lets take a look at COVID-19 and currently popular and effective treatment approach.

Coronavirus Outbreak Origin

When we look back at how Coronavirus outbreak spread from Wuhan in China to Europe and across the world, we conclude that Coronavirus came to humans from bats or pangolins. Though nothing is clear yet, this seems to be widely accepted reason or origin of Coronavirus in humans.

Coronavirus vaccine or cure-Need of the hour

Many Coronavirus Vaccines are in trial phase

While the medical professionals across the world are facing the biggest challenge of their lives, researchers, pharma companies and scientists are working in tandem to find a cure for coronavirus as fast as possible. A vaccine, a device or anything that can offset or neutralise the effect of coronavirus can prove to be a boon for the world. However, scientists and experts say that clinical trials, safety approvals and many other processes take at least 18 months before a vaccine is made available to general public. Currently there are 20 coronavirus vaccines are in development.

Potential Corona Vaccine-Tested on Mice

Researchers at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have tested a vaccine on mice. Their findings are encouraging because their vaccine generates enough antibodies which can neutralize the virus. However, human clinical trials have not been done yet as US Food and Drug Administration approval is required for that. The team expects to start the trial in a few months as soon FDA approval is obtained. Read full report.

Coronavirus vaccine testing team at work

Human trial of Vaccine-Seattle

A few volunteers have come forward for experimental trial of the vaccine on them as this is what they believe is an opportunity to do something for the society in current Covid-19 outbreak situation. However, as mentioned above, the results of this vaccine can be seen not less than 18 months from now. Here is what the first volunteer, the study’s first participant of Seattle said.

” We all feel so helpless. This is an amazing opportunity for me to do something,” , Jennifer Haller, 43 “ Read the full report

Ayurvedic Remedy by Baba Ramdev is Misleading

In a promotional video by Patanjali, the Indian Guru claimed that Ashwagandha doesn’t allow blending of Corona protein with human protein. The efficacy of this remedy is questionable as Baba did not provide any evidence. Read the full report.

Corona Prevention by Boosting Immunity

As there is no cure for Coronavirus right now, Ayurvedic experts recommend that anything that boosts immunity can be used to prevent this virus as well. Just like wearing a mask or washing your hands quite often can protect you externally, immunity boosters can help you internally.

Boosting immunity is the only way right now to prevent coronavirus

Helpful Ayurvedic Tips by Baba Ramdev

Giloy and Tulsi concoction with black pepper, turmeric and ginger works wonders for boosting immunity and preventing all types of viruses. Though nothing can be said for sure about how effective it is for coronavirus (due to lack of data), there is no harm in using it. Read more about it

Popular Yoga Methods to Boost Immunity . Try these at home during lockdwon.

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