Ways of eating idlis

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 During my trip down South, I had the opportunity to watch common people enjoy traditional southern foods. Idlis are one such popular food items that can be consumed anytime of the day. They can be had during breakfast, lunch, or dinner or anytime in between.  Idlis are traditionally South Indian delicacies. They are rice and lentil cakes that are steamed. They are usually salty but in Mauritius, you will find sweet varities as well in small shops and restaurants there.  Idlis are healthy food items and are a good source of carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats. They have minerals and vitamins and have the goodness of fermented foods too. They are served with sambhar (curry made of dal) and chutney (coconut, tomato or the like). Some also savour them with yoghurt, ghee (clarified butter) or spice mix (podi).  Idli pizza A modern twist to idli dish has been as idli masala (idlis usually small-sized covered with spices), idli fry (idlis usually small-sized that are...
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Sleep direction: sleep quality and prosperity!

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 We sleep wherever our bed direction is and most people do not think about the sleep direction. That is in which direction our head or feet are? But there are some directions that are considered good and others that are considered unlucky. This is what religious beliefs and some ancient practices such as Feng-shui state. But is there any scientific basis for all this?

Feng-shui and sleep direction

Feng-shui originates from ancient China. It believes that space designing has a lot to do with health. The basis is on the 4 directions (North, South, East, and West) and 5 nature elements namely, air, earth, fire, water, and space. It believes that night sleep quality depends on direction of sleep. Hence, they feel that southward direction of head is good. They also say that keep beds away from windows and doors to allow chi (energy) flow. They recommend bed on the opposite of door to the bedroom. The bed should be against the wall and not in the middle of the room. Do not clutter your bedroom. Keep bookshelves away from bed. There should be no electronics in the room. Color of walls also matter in this practice. 

Read here: Sleep positions and sleep quality

Science and sleep direction

The above directions have no evidence and are not backed by proper studies. Missouri university did a sleep study and found that those who sleep east-west direction have less REM sleep. REM sleep is healthier. And some state that earth is a huge and weak magnet. Also our body is a magnet. The head is North pole. Hence keeping head in North direction can have negative effects on the sleep since like poles repel each other. And one gets up feeling exhausted. So place head southward. But no.proper studies in this direction.

Sleep direction and quality (Source: The Bedding Planet)

Hence if your sleep is disturbed, seek proper help from a medical person. Rule out respiratory, cardiac, gut or other problems in the body. Aim for a dark room, good temperature of room, and quality bed and if body is good sleep will be sound. Remove stress and sleep pattern would improve. 

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