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Showing posts from July, 2021

Milk in Nepal and India: the difference!

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 I have observed that whenever milk ferments when I am in India, the paneer or cottage cheese does not come out easily. Even if I boil it and add lime juice to it, the cheese formed is quite little and more powdery than cheesy.  But when the same happens in Nepal, the cheese formation is immediate, dense and cheesy. I do not have to do more efforts to get cottage cheese out of the milk in Nepal. What is the reason? I checked internet and found some factors that can affect the quality and amount of cheese  1. Freedom from pathogenic bacteria - Good cheese forms of milk is free from pathogenic bacteria. Differences between Nepali vs Indian panipuri  2. Different milk quality with different amounts of fats and proteins  3. Ultra-pasteurization can destroy vital enzymes and bacteria that are required for cheese formation  4. If temperature of milk is less when it ferments, cheese formation will be less.  5. If milk is rancid, it means it's fats are also br...

Types of breads available in the world based on ingredients

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Bread is made of wheat. There are different types of reads available in the market. The goodness of these varies. Let us have a look at the types of breads available in the world markets. These types are based on the ingredients used in making bread  1. Regular white bread-This is made of refined wheat flour. The flour is made of wheat that is stripped of its nutrients and fiber. Some of these breads are fortified with vitamins A and D in line with national food product fortification programs.  Read here:  How to tackle insomnia?  2. Whole wheat bread-In this, the flour used is made from whole wheat. The bran, germ, and endosperm all three parts of the whole wheat grain are present in the flour used to make this type of bread. Hence it is healthy and nutritious. Its fiber content is more and so are the vitamins and minerals. It is wholesome.  3. Brown bread- Brown bread is a general term used for brown colored bread. But if need not necessarily be made of whole ...

Galapagos islands giant tortoises and the bacterial resistance in them!!!

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 Worldwide antibiotic resistance has shown a tremendous surge. The covid pandemic has led to more of this due to irrational use of antibiotics for this new and unknown viral disease. At the same time, scientists have found that it is spreading also to wildlife. The Galapagos tortoises who are in close contact with human settlements on the islands have also demonstrated a rise in antibiotics resistant bacteria in their body.  The study on Galapagos tortoises Researchers attached to Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF), the Saint Louis Zoo Institute for Conservation Medicine (ICM), the Animal Health Research Center (INIA-CISA), the Complutense University, and the European University of Madrid, with the staff from the Galapagos National Park Directorate (GNPD) conducted a study on the giant tortoises of the Galapagos islands. It was part of the Galapagos Tortoise Movement Ecology Program (GTMEP).  They analyzed fecal samples of 270 tortoises from the famous islands. They were bas...

What is immune age? How to determine it? What is the benefit of knowing it?

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 We usually talk about chronological age. But there is another new type of age that doctors on Stanford 1000 Immunomes Project are able to determine. It is called immune age and it has fairly good predictive capacity of aging. The study Researchers on Stanford 1000 Immunomes Project assessed 50 inflammatory markers called cytokines in blood of volunteers and linked it with aging, inflammation, body fraility, and chronic illnesses. Gene activation and immune responses were also carried out in the collected cells.  They also estimated these in adults over 60 years, over 65 years, and in centenarians. They used artificial intelligence (AI) called deep neural network to estimate the immune age or iAge. Immune age metric (Source: Live Science)  How to tackle insomnia naturally?  Findings They found that the most important cytokine was CXCL9. This cytokine level predicts body and cardiovascular health and was also a strong predictor of immune age. When genes for CXCL9 was ...

Natural ways to tackle insomnia

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 Almost all of us have experienced inability to sleep or insomnia at some time in our life. There are multiple reasons for it. It may occur for a short while due to some problems of life or become chronic if problem persists or treatment is not taken for it.  Doctors prescribe drugs for insomnia. It helps but as long as the drug is taken. If the root cause is not rectified, the insomnia could do a comeback once the medicines are stopped. Additionally, drugs also have their own issues of mild to severe side effects. Hence it is best and in the interest of the patient over the lo g term to try ways to tackle insomnia with our resort to medications.  The best way to deal with insomnia is to weed out the root cause of it. The reason of worry, tension, or anxiety should be removed in order to get a sound sleep. But this is not always possible. So the next step is to try out natural ways to get an adequate amount of proper sleep.  1. Some people are unable to get sleep in ...