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The Right Way to Lift for Fat Loss

Body composition is much better controlled by our diet than that of exercise. We can’t outwork or out train a bad diet. But certainly we need to know about EPOC, or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. Certain forms of exercise cause to burn more calories after workout is over, when combined with a right dieting, can lead to appreciable fat loss.

When it comes to weights, lifting heavy, in addition to preserving muscle while dieting, ends up burning more calories (through EPOC) than high-rep training low weight training.

One of the studies done showed there was a significant difference in EPOC for heavy and light weight lifters. Below are some highlights:

  • Twenty minutes after the workout, the heavy weights group exhibited almost double the EPOC of the light weights group.
  • Forty-five to sixty minutes after the workout, the EPOC of the heavy weights group was more than twice the EPOC of the light weights group.
  • And 105-120 minutes after the workout, the EPOC of the heavy weights group was about three times the EPOC of the light weights group.

Lifting heavy while dieting ends up burning more calories than doing high reps of light or lighter weights. It also means you’ll retain more muscle. Retaining muscle and losing fat is the best approach to lose body weight.

~Praveen Jada

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Remember that there can only be ‘One Person at Top’

I have learnt that it is not possible for most of the people to be the topmost guy in the job or field they are passionate about or anything they want to achieve. Because there is only one Olympic champion gold medalist or only one CEO for a company or only one 1st ranker in any exam. Similarly, it is only 1% of the total population that reaches the top coveted place.

As someone said, ‘Aim for the stars, you might land on the Moon’ , Our ambition must be to reach the top and become the best. We can become the best version of ourselves today itself. How? By working on ourselves and doing something that we love giving our best effort ever. Working on ourselves to become the best version of ourselves must be a daily practice.

Practice may not make a us perfect but practice would definitely make us to progress, improve, develop, grow to be better than before.

As Les Brown said “It doesn’t matter who you are at the end of the journey, what matters is who you become in the journey”.

So keep pushing, keep moving forward, keep learning, keep growing, keep making progress, keep taking small steps towards your goal. You may not become the best person in your field, however you can be the best version of yourself ever ‘for today’ and that is more important. Self-improvement and self-development is key here. Do not compare with others but compare yourself with who you are last day, last week, last month and last year and do your best to be a better version of yourself today.

We need to keep working on ourselves and try to be better than the last time. Do a bit more than the last time. Become a better version than the previous self.

The hardest project you will ever handle in your life is YOU, try to MASTER YOURSELF

~Praveen Jada

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After Covid – Embrace the Change and Take the Responsibility

Companies and systems which are in crisis today are those who did not move on from industrial age. This is the age of information and service. Today a company or a person could thrive if they are doing meaningful work, if they are contributing, if they believe that they are serving others along with themselves, if they feel fulfilled.

We are in a crisis called Covid. It could be a natural calamity but for sure we humans took the credit to make it a man made disaster. Today the crisis is in our head. But you can change your experience by changing the way you perceive this crisis. We must assume that it is our responsibility to protect ourselves and not vaccine, only then our approach towards everything changes for better.

Virus is real but the question is how healthy are we. Why are we so scared of virus. What are we doing to rescue ourselves. We have time for everything else but why do we not spend any time to fortify our physical and mental health. We must work on ourselves and strengthen our core daily so that we can stop depending on external factors.

Our success depends on how healthy we are mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically. Based on the resources at one’s disposal, we need to use every means possible for our well being. Be it consuming nutritious food, supplements, exercising, meditating, sleeping well, only watch listen and read stuff that serves us, keeping negativity off, we can do a lot to keep ourselves fit and healthy to fight of most of the infections naturally using our amazing weapon called ‘Immune System’.

This is the time for metamorphosis. To turn yourself from an immature form to a mature form. Consider yourself a caterpillar , and this crisis is like the cocoon around it. Until you grow and become strong enough to break the cocoon around you , you cannot turn into a butterfly.

People are worried about the monthly salary, loan payment, pension, insurance etc., because they have locked in themselves when things were going well. Many people are stressed now. 

Let’s strive to introspect and find our passion. Then turn it into our work. Meaningful work survives and thrives. The kind of work that matters not only to you but adds value to other’s lives .

One need not give up their current job and vocation for pursuing ones worthy causes. One step a day and one brick a day will move an inch closer to our goal. This is enough to keep us going till we reach the right kind of momentum. Once momentum is attained, things start rolling and we can pick up the pace.

~Praveen Jada

*Do read the Disclaimer

What Happens to Our Body When We Stop Working Out

When we do not exercise for a period of time, there are a multitude of physiological markers that reveal themselves indicating a reduction of fitness level.Our

The human body (whether we exercise or not) is a sensitive system and an amazing adaptive machine. Physiological changes like strength, fitness or endurance that are developed through training, dwindles as we stop working out or even reduce the effort/ load. Our body and brain’s primary motive is to keep us safe, alive and conserve as much energy as possible for our future survival. Since there is no external stimuli and stress, they body has no need to either maintain the muscle or to keep the energy reserves at the cellular level. Remember that our muscle consumes the highest amount of energy and nutrients for its maintenance, hence our body would prefer to lose the muscle if it is not used enough. Hence it also implies that having optimum muscle indicates a healthy state, longevity, better metabolism and energy balance in our body.

How quick a person de-conditions depends on factors like current fitness, age, diet and nutrition, lifestyle etc,. Experts say that two to eight months of not exercising at all will reduce our fitness level to as if we never exercised before. Speed, endurance, and strength can decrease by 25 to 30 percent within two to three weeks.

Many signs of deconditioning may not be visible to a naked eye, but factors like losing muscle and accumulating fat is common. A sizable decrease in muscle mass, capillary size, reduction in bone density; flexibility, overall blood flow and energy production are all side effects of not working out.

The Anaerobic system

Our body may hang onto strength gains (Anaerobic) longer than endurance(aerobic) gains, however stopping lifting weights will gradually lead to a loss of lean muscle mass, muscular strength, endurance, and neuromuscular training adaptations. As muscle fibers realize they don’t need to store energy, they will store less glycogen which leads to something called atrophy (or the shrinking of muscle fibers),

The Aerobic system

Aerobic and endurance fitness reduce a lot faster than muscle mass. It affects the performance factors.

Heart stroke volume (the amount of blood pumped out of the heart to the body) reduces, the size of mitochondria (the power plants within a cell, linked to fitness health) reduce by almost 50 percent, resting heart rate increases, cardiac output reduces, and VO2 max(the maximum volume of oxygen an athlete can use a gold standard of physical fitness) decreases about one percent a day, Lactate threshold(how hard and long we can work out until our muscles tell us to stop) begins to drop, endurance capability with is the ability to perform at higher intensities would fall down.

The Brain

Both aerobic (cardio) and anaerobic (strength training) training can give a boost to the neurotransmitter brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which promotes neurogenesis (growth of new brain cells) and enhances connections between existing ones.

This makes exercise an important part of maintaining cognitive function, we may feel a little cloudy or not as ‘on’ after weeks of not working out.

The Sleep

Because exercise places both metabolic (or energetic) and mechanical stress on our muscle tissue, it can help promote good sleep,

A lack of exercise could lead to higher levels of energy in the body and reduce the need for deep sleep, which could lead to restlessness and disturbed sleep patterns.

~Praveen Jada

*Do read the Disclaimer

Cancer and Metabolic Diseases are a Result of Excess

A lot of experts say that majority of the metabolic diseases like diabetes, heart ailments, brain disorders, obesity, high BP and even cancers are caused because of excess. The root cause is excess of energy in the system because of which system goes into energy imbalance.

Cellular growth and multiplication happens when you have good amount of nutrients (especially macro-nutrients like carbohydrates and fats) in the bloodstream. So if our system is constantly induced with a flux of nutrients in the form of food, there is a possibility of cellular overgrowth which could result in cancer or lead to other metabolic diseases.

When nutrition is absent during fasting the cells need to survive on their own and also they need to use internal energy to survive. Now there is no possibility of cellular multiplication or over growth rather the system would use the cellular organelles and stored nutrients to survive the fasting period. During this phase the system uses up the stored nutrients but also clean up the dead cells, weak cellular molecules, other metabolic gunk for producing energy. This results in autophagy which is the core benefit of fasting.

When you are restricting the external energy, body learns to use the stored energy and also cleans up the gunk formed during metabolism. When you go on fasting you will have counter regulatory hormone surge, you will have fatty acid oxidation, you consumed stored glycogen. Cancer cells or malignant cells survive in the presence of excess nutrients especially when there is a constant flow of glucose in the blood. In the absence of glucose these cancer cell do not  the thrive.

When your body is malfunctioning, this excess energy or nutrients will allow the bad cells to multiply. This also lead to storage of fat, inflammation, imbalance lipid profile, clogging of arteries, fatty liver, fatty pancreas, increase in visceral fat which is the main cause of many metabolic diseases.

Read more about Intermittent fasting

~Praveen Jada

*Do read the Disclaimer

Are you Ready to be a Champion? Then Read This

Why are majority of us are being grossly exploited by Social media companies, food industry, entertainment industry, news channels, cosmetics industry, advertising and marketing and so on. Have we become dumb or numb to our Supernormal Stimuli on a daily basis and falling prey to our evolutionary instincts.

I am no different than anyone out there as I myself am unconsciously been and being programmed by various vested interests. I keep trying my best to be curious, critical and conscious of my thoughts, feelings, emotions, behaviors, choices and decisions I make. I started to believe that anything and anyone can influence our mind. So we need to be careful about what we read, what we listen to, what we watch, what we eat to be in self-control. Everything and anything that we feel through our sensory organs like eyes, ears, skin, nose, tongue can influence our sub-conscious mind directly or indirectly.

“IF WE DO NOT HAVE A CLEAR AGENDA FOR OURSELVES, WE WILL UNCONSCIOUSLY RUN OTHER’S AGENDAS“

“IF WE DO NOT PROGRAM OUR MIND CONSCIOUSLY, WE WILL BE PROGRAMMED AND RUN PROGRAMS FOR OTHERS“

“ARE YOU LIVIING IN THIS WORLD OR THE WORLD IS LIVING IN YOU”

When I say ‘We’, I mean it is including me. I am writing this because I have been there and done that. Since a long time I am trying to pull myself out these cobwebs.

Below are some of the things we do mindlessly these days:

  • We indulge ourselves with processed foods, junk foods, sugary foods and drinks, alcohol and smoking that give instant gratification. We know that it makes us miserable in an hour and most probably later we might even repent for unable to resist the temptation, yet we do it.
  • We find our sense of entertainment and enjoyment in video games, binge watching online content, browsing through social networks for others approval.
  • We spend our productive time at home watching addictive and mind numbing shows on Netflix, Prime and TV. We keep falling prey to the AI algorithms of various platforms like YouTube or Facebook and addictively keep watching online content. Unconsciously we lose quality time with family or compromise sleep or health.
  • We find sense of reward and satisfaction in buying stuff we don’t need with money we don’t have to show to the people who don’t care about us.
  • We don’t give a damn about our amazing engine called our body. We do not stimulate it with enough physical activity, we do not feed it with high quality nutritious food, we do not give it enough rest to recover. Yet we keep pushing it, use it and abuse it with our habits.
  • We get programmed by media and movies to exercise and build bodies to show-off or impress others then to do it for lifelong health and well being.
  • We compromise on the values like health, wellbeing, relationships, making a difference in others lives, helping and caring for others.
  • Due to constant bombardment of information and ads from various sources of media, we assume our self-worth and value with spending money on material things like cars, mobiles, watches, expensive clothes, jewelry etc.
  • We go on a vacation two times an year to compensate for all the missed out time with the family.
  • Most importantly. We live of life of mediocrity and complacency. Just doing what everybody does and approve of, just by following the path of the masses. Whether it is achieving optimum health and fitness or choosing a profession that you love or pursuing your passion or leading a disciplined lifestyle or living a life of commitment that not only serves us but also others – The easiest route to take is to say ‘I do not deserve it’ and just give up. Many people develop ‘What’s the use’ attitude. Some people develop ‘It is not worth the effort’ attitude.
  • We fight to death to support our limitations, our laziness and procrastination. When someone tries to lift us up and try to motivate us that we can do it, we twist it, turn it and manipulate it so that it would be convenient for us be where we are. Many times we don’t realize that when we say “We cannot do something, it because we do not want to do it”.

If we want to create an impact and be a leader in something, we must do the OPPOSITE of what everyone else is doing. If not always, we need to try to be different at least some times.

Just few examples below: (Worth trying out once in while at least)

  • While they go to see the newest movie or go on partying, YOU spend time joyfully with your family or play with your kids in an open area or spend time on yourself.
  • When others are glued to TVs watching endless news and sport tournaments, binge watch on Netflix and Prime, YOU head to bed early, so you can get a jump start on the next day, to work on yourself, to get a sense of achievement and bestow a true reward to your brain.
  • When others choose to eat junk foods and sugary treats, you stick to your healthy eating habits as YOU would not care the short term pleasures for long term vitality.
  • While others do not stand by their words, when it comes to diet, health, exercise, personal relationships, you keep your promise not only to others but also to yourself. Have high integrity. Do what you say and say what you do.
  • While they go to bed late at night and wake up late in the morning, YOU choose to plan to sleep early and wake up early so that you could start your day with an intention and sense of achievement by doing activities like exercising, meditation, reading, praying etc.
  • While other people listen to FM radio on their way to job while hating and cursing traffic, YOU listen to audiobooks, podcasts, motivational content and fill your head with knowledge.

People will call you boring, tell you work too hard when there is no need, may be try to shame you when you fail, try to say something is wrong with you, try to criticize you for being different and for not acting like them, they try to trivialize your progress and achievements saying they are insignificant and does not matter.

They try to bring you to their level saying WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS, WHAT IS THE USE, HOW DOES IT MATTER, NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU DO, WHEN WILL YOU BEHAVE NORMALLY, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, WE WILL SEE WHAT CAN YOU DO, YOU ARE NOT LIVING A LIFE, IT IS NOT WORTH IT, YOU ARE WASTING LIFE. Basically people try to rub off and impose their own limitations, failures and discrepancies on you.

But really,

  • Your great work ethic makes them uncomfortable.
  • You remind themselves when they gave up easily at the slightest discomfort.
  • You remind themselves when they did not show-up after determining to do it..
  • You remind themselves of their inability to live a life worth struggling for.
  • You remind themselves of their laziness and procrastinating attitude.
  • You remind themselves of their self limiting mindset when they know that they themselves can do much better if they care to try hard.
  • You remind themselves of their inconsistencies and broken commitments.
  • You remind themselves that they are not living up their true potential.
  • They demotivate you because you are moving out of the tribe. They show their frustration and anger as you move to a higher standard than they are.
  • Your discipline and self-control to do the things that matter to you will make others guilty in their hearts.

I BELIEVE THAT IT’S SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF. BUT DO NOT CONFRONT, TRY NOT TO DEFEND YOURSELF OR JUSTIFY YOURSELF. JUST SHOW COMPASSION AND HUMBLY MOVE ON. IF POSSIBLE TAKE THEM WITH YOU

Remember,

  • When they say what’s the need to work out so intensely and regularly , they want to do it themselves but don’t have the will to do it.
  • When they say what’s the need to be so disciplined in eating healthy diet, they want to do it themselves but do not have the self-control to stick to a plan.
  • When they say you are not living a life by not partying or watching movies or a cricket match, they wish they had the power let go of the habits that are not serving best interests but they can’t.
  • When they say why are you working when everybody is relaxing, they wish they could pursue their passion like you but unable to do because of their negative attitude.
  • When they demotivate you and they are already demotivated.
  • When they say you can’t make a difference and create a positive impact, they are too comfortable in their mediocrity to take those small steps which lets them to progress and develop.
  • When they hate you, they hate themselves for not doing the things you are doing.
  • When they say no, they say no to their own strengths and capabilities.

As years pass by, I truly hope and believe that the only difference between me and others will be those LITTLE INSIGNIFICANT THINGS I do daily.

  • The little extra effort I put to wake up early,
  • The little extra effort I put in to workout,
  • The little extra effort I put to prepare a healthy meal,
  • The little extra effort to plan to go to bed on time,
  • The little extra compassion I show when dealing with people who do not believe in me and mock me,
  • The little extra time I spend to learn daily,
  • The little extra time I commit to help and guide others towards wellbeing,
  • The little extra effort I put in to play with kid when I myself am exhausted,
  • The little extra patience I show to listen and talk to my wife when I myself am worn-out and exhausted at the end of the day.

I believe it is that LITTLE EXTRA EFFORT when applied on ORDINARY ACTIVITIES consistently over a time , might lead to some EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS some day. I wait and watch with patience.

I SINCERELY THANK ALL THE GREAT ACHIEVERS, EXPERTS AND MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS WHO HELPED ME INDIRECTLY IN COMING UP WITH THIS ARTICLE. THIS IS A COLLECTION OF WISDOM, EXPERIENCE, THOUGHTS AND IDEAS DERIVED FROM WITNESSING, WATCHING AND READING INSPIRATIONAL LEADERS.

~Praveen Jada

*Do read the Disclaimer

Passion – It is the Willingness to Suffer

We generally associate passion with intense love towards something or motivation to do something.

Our limbic brain is home to our emotions like love, hate and also our passion. But what is passion and what do we actually mean when we say we are passionate.

Turns out the word passion goes back to the Latin words ‘passio’ meaning ‘suffering’ or ‘enduring’ . This means when we are passionate about something, the object of our passion makes us suffer and make us go through pain. This also means when we are passionate about something, we are willing to go through the hardships and struggle in the process of attaining it.

For example, when someone is passionate about educating poor children, they initially go through a lot of hurdles, doubts, worries. They struggle to keep going in spite of lack of resources and lack of perspective of how it is going to work out. Yet they continue to pursue it relentlessly sustaining the stress and suffering in this process.

~Praveen Jada

*Do read the Disclaimer

Gall-Stones – Potential Causes, Helpful Foods and Supplements

Bile is a fluid made in the liver and concentrated in the gallbladder. It helps extract nutrients from food like fat-soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids. 

Gallstones are majorly 2 types.

  • Cholesterol gallstones. The most common type of gallstone, called a cholesterol gallstone, often appears yellow in color.
  • Pigment gallstones. These dark brown or black stones form when your bile contains too much bilirubin.

This situation isn’t really caused be consuming too much cholesterol. The high-fat diet causing gall stones is not true either.

The real cause may be that the liver might not be producing enough bile to prevent gall stones (cholesterol stones) from forming. The way you form stones is by having super concentrated amounts of cholesterol, as well as having a bile deficiency. Optimum bile keeps cholesterol from forming a stone, and it disposes of excess cholesterol.

Bile is made in the liver and is stored in the gallbladder. Bile helps you dissolve fats in your diet. A low bile situation is actually a symptom of something else.

To help dissolve the stones, you can try to improve liver functioning and increase your bile by pinpointing what’s causing the low bile situation and correcting your diet.

Indirect causes of a bile deficiency: 

  • High levels of estrogen – pregnancy, birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy
  • High levels of cortisol (stress hormone) – stress, medication type cortisol 
  • High levels of insulin – pre-diabetes, diabetes, consuming too much sugar, carbs, frequent eating 
  • Low-fat diets – saturated fats trigger the release of bile 
  • Fatty liver – comes from high levels of insulin
  • Antacids – decrease the acid and the triggering effect of bile

Foods for gallstones:

  • Bitter gourd
  • Lady Finger
  • Beetroot
  • Cruciferous vegetables – Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower
  • Lemons and limes

A few potentially helpful supplements for gallstones:

  • Choline
  • Bile salts
  • Omega-3 fatty acids (must be high in DHA and EPA)
  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin E
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Milk thistle

References:

7 Natural Remedies to Relieve Gallbladder Pain – Healthline

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321026

~Praveen Jada

*Do read the Disclaimer

The Disconnection Syndrome – What Makes Us to Be Auto-Pilot Mode

Excerpts taken from Dr. David Perlmutter, MD ‘s Disconnection Syndrome .

“We walk around with our heads down, fixated on our devices, avoiding ideas that differ from our own, while confronting constant messages telling us what to do (eat more, buy more, post more, be ‘liked’ more).”

They go on to say,

“Participating in our modern consumerist existence is physically changing our brains. How, exactly? It is cutting off access to the highly evolved part of the brain that lets us see the big picture and make well-thought-out decisions. Simultaneously, it is strengthening the pathways that make us impulsive, anxious, fearful, and constantly craving a quick fix.”

There are two brain areas, the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, that must be in balance if we are to function well in our lives.

The large prefrontal cortex, sitting just inside the front of our skulls, is the most recently evolved part of the brain. The doctors say, “It is credited with higher-order brain functions such as:

  • Our ability to plan for the future.
  • Express empathy.
  • See things from the point of view of another.
  • Make thoughtful decisions.
  • Engage in positive social behavior.

Basically, all the things that make us human.

“The amygdala is the control center of the threat-response and threat-interpretation system. It modulates our memories of threatening events, real or perceived. The amygdala helps record real or perceived threats as well as other emotion-filled experiences so that we can recognize similar events in the future.”

The amygdala is part of the older brain, or Limbic brain. It’s part of our mammalian heritage and reacts instantly to keep us alive at times of danger. But problems occur when the amygdala operates without the guidance of our prefrontal cortex, as too often happens in our modern world. “But here’s the important lesson,” the doctors note. “The circuit in the amygdala can be hacked or altered even in an otherwise healthy brain. And when its tinkered with, big problems ensue.”

Our brains are literally being rewired in ways that are not in our best interests. “This rewiring leads us to spend our time and money on things that do not bring us long-term happiness,” say the doctors. “It leaves us constantly unsatisfied. And that’s exactly where corporate interests want us to be because it leads to higher profits.”

The disconnection syndrome, they say, leads us to mindless activity, loneliness, chronic inflammation, instant gratification, narcissism, poor relationships, chronic stress, impulsivity, and anxiety. It can also contribute to panic when we’re addressing a problem frightening as a world-wide pandemic.

~Praveen Jada

*Do read the Disclaimer

What are We Really Feeling Bad About During COVID Lockdown

For the first time in the recorded human history we are grieving together , the whole world. We are grieving the loss of way of life. We are unable to do the things we were doing few months back. We are angered and frustrated as we are missing certain lifestyle. We are unable to meet our social needs. We went into denial then got frustrated, anger, depression,  anxiety, helplessness and finally forced acceptance of reality.

But what is the important thing that this epidemic is reminding us, do we love ourselves enough to invest in ourselves, prepare ourselves, work on ourselves to create a system in us to fight these indefinite battles yet to be fought in the future. Can we give our bodies what it needs to ensure our survival.

The fact that we fear the virus and get nervous even when we hear the word virus is like sending direct signals to our body that you cannot fight against the virus. You are not confident that your body could fight the virus. This itself reduces the strength of your immune system.

This happens because we know what we have been doing , what we have been feeding our bodies and how we squander our time purposelessly.

It has been proven again and again that simple lifestyle changes in terms of diet, nutrition, supplementation, exercise, rest, stress management and a strong belief that you body now has the natural power to fight the disease/infection because you gave all the right things to body .

So strengthen your innerself . No one can rescue you better than yourself.

https://youtu.be/zwiS37SYE6k

~Praveen Jada

*Do read the Disclaimer

Collagen: Foods and Supplements

Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body. Our body produces collagen naturally however, the rate at which our body generates collagen deteriorates as we age.

It is the major component of connective tissues that make up several body parts, including tendons, ligaments, cartilage, skin, and other connective tissues . Humans have mainly Types I, II and III. Type I exists mainly in skin, tendon, vasculature, organs, and bone. Type II is in cartilage, and Type III is in reticular fibers (thin branching fibers in connective tissue).

Based on our needs and lifestyle, we can choose either to have a diet rich in collagen or consume collagen protein supplements.

Foods rich in collagen or support collagen generation by our body:

  • Fish
  • Chicken
  • Egg whites
  • Citrus fruits
  • Red and yellow vegetables
  • Garlic
  • Leafy greens
  • Cashews
  • Beans
  • Avocados
  • Soy
  • Herbs high in collagen (Chinese knotweed, horsetail, gynostemma)
  • Herbs that help to produce collagen (gotukola, bala, ashwagandha)

Supplements:

Collagen type I and III is generally available in the form of powder. It is sourced from bovines or fish. This is good for joints, tendons, ligaments, hair, nails, skin, gut health.

Collagen type II is generally available in the form of a capsule or tablet. It is sourced from chicken strontium or bovines. This is good for joint cartilage health. Generally these tablets come in combination with Glucosamine, Chondroitin and Hyaluronic Acid for better efficiency.

Collagen is best absorbed by our body on the presence of vitamin C. So many collagen supplements have added vitamin C in them.

Who can benefit from collagen supplements

  • People take either one of the above forms or a combination of all forms of collagen based on the their needs and health conditions.
  • People suffering from joint ailments like arthritis, osteoporosis, rheumatoid joint conditions can benefit from taking collagen Type 2 supplement.
  • People who went through a joint surgery or had a joint injury can benefit from taking collagen supplements. It could help you recover and heal faster.
  • Athletes who train hard for events which put a lot of stress on joints can use collagen to support joint health.
  • People who have gut/stomach issues can improve the gut health and lining.

References:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325344#bone-loss-prevention

https://www.everydayhealth.com/skin-beauty/potential-health-benefits-of-collagen-and-thing-it-cant-do/

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/collagen

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/do-collagen-supplements-work

~Praveen Jada

*Do read the Disclaimer

Creatine Monohydrate – Supplement

  • Creatine is the same as a substance made by your body that is found mostly in the muscles. It helps to provide energy to the muscles.
  • Creatine is a natural supplement used to boost athletic performance .
  • It’s not only safe but also one of the world’s most popular and effective supplements for building muscle and strength.

Benefits:

  • Creatine provides additional ATP energy, which improves high-intensity exercise performance.
  • Creatine can stimulate several key biological processes that lead to increased muscle growth and size.
  • During high intensity workouts creatine supports strength, ballistic power, sprint ability, muscle endurance, resistance to fatigue.
  • It may help fight certain neurological and muscular diseases.
  • Can support brain function.
  • One of the safe and effective supplements out in the market.

References:

Creatine Monohydrate Oral Powder

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-benefits-of-creatine#TOC_TITLE_HDR_6

https://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/a19515624/creatine-side-effects-what-it-is-what-it-does/

~Praveen Jada

*Do read the Disclaimer

Reasons for Having Physical Activity During an Pandemic

  1. Physical activity has positive effect on immune functions. When we are physically active, our muscles produce compounds that improve functioning of the immune system and reduce inflammation, thus strengthening our biological response to fight the infection. Exercise makes body release endorphins which are feel good hormones which keeps the mood positive and high for several hours. Moderately intense physical activity, such as walking, has the best impact, but extreme vigorous exercise, like running a marathon, temporarily reduces immune function. Regular exercise would enhance the overall function of our organs and brings hormonal balance in our body.
  2. Physical activity is effective for both preventing and treating heart diseases, metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes, high BP, high triglycerides, insulin resistance, all of which increase the risk of severe illness and death among those infected with coronavirus. So, people who are suffering from various lifestyle and metabolic diseases could benefit the most by having regular physical activity.
  3. Being physically active has important mental health benefits. Exercise helps in relieving stress and shows improvement in the cases of depression and anxiety. Many researches proved that exercise is as effective as medications in treating mental disorders. So being active every day can be a partial antidote to the stress of the pandemic. For people already feeling distress, being active is as effective as medications and psychotherapy.
  4. Stress triggers sympathetic nervous system which takes us in fight or flight mode. In this state our body releases cortisol – the stress hormone. Cortisol suppresses our immune system and reduces our body’s ability to fight infections. Thus, psychological stress worsens the underlying biological processes of an infection. The most effective strategies for improving cortisol balance is physical activity and meditation. Older adults tend to have disrupted cortisol physiology and weaker immune systems, and physical activity may be particularly important for this large population to fight infections.

~Praveen Jada

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Basics of Intermittent Fasting and Time Restricted Feeding (TEF)

  • Intermittent fasting is not a diet, it is a lifestyle and a specific way of eating. Rules are simple, you eat in a time window and you don’t eat (expect water) rest of the time.
  • Though our ancestors may not have done fasting at their will , ancient hunter-gatherers didn’t have the convenience of food accessibility that we enjoy today. Due to which they might have to stay fasted until they go hunt or gather something to eat. As a result, humans evolved to be able to function without food for extended periods of time.
  • In fact, fasting from time to time is more natural than always eating 3–4 (or more) meals per day. This way different systems of our body get enough rest and time to repair.
  • Fasting makes our bodies fat adaptive, means our body learns to derive energy by burning fat reserves.
  • Fasting is also often done for religious or spiritual reasons, including in Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism.

Methods

There is 16/8 Intermittent fasting method in which you would eat within 8 hours and stay fasted for 16 hours by only drinking water. Another methods is 18/6, means fasting for 18 hours and feeding window for 6 hours. Same applies for other fasting methods like 20/4 or One meal a day (OMAD).

In fact even you can choose your own way of fasting which is more convenient to you and sustainable like 12/12 or 14/10 or 15/9. There is no hard and fast rule for feeding and fasting windows. However many researchers claim that health benefits of fasting starts after 16 to 18 hours fast depending on the body type and conditioning a person has.

Diet and Nutrition

Intermittent fasting doesn’t specify which foods you should eat but rather when you should eat them.

Coming to the topic of diet and nutrition when doing Intermittent fasting, you have to ensure that you are consuming enough calories and nutrition during your eating window. As you are compressing 3 or 2 meals into a narrow band of time (like 8 hours or 6 or hours), you need to focus on nutrient dense foods and hit the required calories.

Do remember that, for losing weight you have to be in calorie deficit (energy from food we eat must be less than energy we spend by various activities). For muscle gain or build body, you have to be in calorie surplus (energy from food must be greater than we expend).

It is possible to gain muscle even while doing intermittent fasting, however it is difficult to do as you have to consume the entire bodybuilding specific diet in the small feeding window. If you are looking to build muscle, IF is not a recommended option though muscle development is possible during IF.

Refer Foods to consider during feeding window

Benefits

Refer Benefits of IF or TEF

Safety of Fasting

Fasting is generally safe for majority of population. However, below categories of people must avoid fasting.

  • Children and teens under age 18.
  • Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
  • Those with a history of eating disorders.

People suffering from Diabetes, Kidney diseases, Liver diseases, using certain medications need to be extra cautious if they wish to do fasting. They need do fasting only under strict medical supervision.

~Praveen Jada

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Inflammation: The Key Factor that Explains Vulnerability to Severe COVID

Excerpts taken from this article from weforum.org

Cytokines, a key player in the immune response, can help stop viruses reproducing. Yet when too many are produced at once, this causes inflammation which can severely damage the lungs.

The severity of COVID-19 can vary hugely. In some it causes no symptoms at all and in others it’s life threatening, with some people particularly vulnerable to its very severe impacts.

The virus disproportionately affects men and people who are older and who have conditions such as diabetes and obesity. In the UK and other western countries, ethnic minorities have also been disproportionately affected.

Specifically, we’re seeing that the risks associated with diabetes, obesity, age and sex are all related to the immune system functioning irregularly when confronted by the virus.

Inflammation can go too far

A common feature for many patients that get severe COVID is serious lung damage caused by an overly vigorous immune response. This is characterised by the creation of lots of inflammatory products called cytokines – the so-called cytokine storm.

Cytokines can be really powerful tools in the immune response: they can stop viruses reproducing, for example. However, some cytokine actions – such as helping bring in other immune cells to fight an infection or enhancing the ability of these recruited cells to get across blood vessels – can cause real damage if they are not controlled. This is exactly what happens in a cytokine storm.

Many white blood cells create cytokines, but specialised cells called monocytes and macrophages seem to be some of the biggest culprits in generating cytokine storms. When properly controlled, these cells are a force for good that can detect and destroy threats, clear and repair damaged tissue, and bring in other immune cells to help.

However, in severe COVID the way monocytes and macrophages work misfires. And this is particularly true in patients with diabetes and obesity.

Glucose fuels damage

Diabetes, if not controlled well, can result in high levels of glucose in the body. A recent study showed that, in COVID, macrophages and monocytes respond to high levels of glucose with worrying consequences.

The virus that causes COVID, SARS-CoV-2, needs a target to latch onto in order to invade our cells. Its choice is a protein on the cell surface called ACE2. Glucose increases the levels of ACE2 present on macrophages and monocytes, helping the virus infect the very cells that should be helping to kill it.

Once the virus is safely inside these cells, it causes them to start making lots of inflammatory cytokines – effectively kick-starting the cytokine storm. And the higher the levels of glucose, the more successful the virus is at replicating inside the cells – essentially the glucose fuels the virus.

But the virus isn’t done yet. It also causes the virally infected immune cells to make products that are very damaging to the lung, such as reactive oxygen species. And on top of this, the virus reduces the ability of other immune cells – lymphocytes – to kill it.

Obesity also causes high levels of glucose in the body and, similar to diabetes, affects macrophage and monocyte activation. Research has shown that macrophages from obese individuals are an ideal place for SARS-CoV-2 to thrive.

Other risks tied to inflammation

The same sort of inflammatory profile that diabetes and obesity cause is also seen in some older people (those over 60 years). This is due to a phenomenon known as inflammageing.

Inflammageing is characterised by having high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. It’s influenced by a number of factors, including genetics, the microbiome (the bacteria, viruses and other microbes that live inside and on you) and obesity.

Many older people also have fewer lymphocytes – the very cells that can specifically target and destroy viruses. This all means that for some older people, their immune system is not only poorly equipped to fight off an infection, but it is also more likely to lead to a damaging immune response. Having fewer lymphocytes also means vaccines may not work as well, which is crucial to consider when planning a future COVID vaccine campaign.

Another puzzle that has been worrying researchers is why men seem so much more vulnerable to COVID. One reason is that cells in men seem to be more readily infected by SARS-CoV-2 than women. The ACE2 receptor that the virus uses to latch onto and infect cells is expressed much more highly in men than women. Men also have higher levels of an enzyme called TMPRSS2 that promotes the ability of the virus to enter the cells. Women also tended to have a more robust T cell response, which is needed for effective virus killing. However, increased age and having a higher body mass index reversed the protective immune effect in women.

~Praveen Jada

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