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Showing posts from August, 2022

Food companies and their misleading labels

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Food is for nutrition and to provide the body with energy and vital nutrients. Names of foods help us to know what the likely ingredients might be in it. But often, we notice that food names are misleading. They can fool a person into buying only to realize that it did not meet their expectations and imagination. For instance, take the example of samosa. An ideal samosa is refined wheat flour (maida) wrap with mashed potatoes and boiled peas inside. And when we say paneer samosa (cottage cheese stuffed fried dumplings), the picture that comes to our mind is of a wrap of refined wheat flour dough with paneer inside. But to your disappointment, you will find that these samosas are nothing but the normal samosas with mashed potatoes with or without boiled peas and just 1 small piece of cottage cheese at one corner!!! If we talk about rusks, most of these are made of refined wheat flour or maida which is not healthy. Maida is stripped of all the vital nutrients such as fiber, vitamins,

10 different types of colorful tea in the world!

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 We do know black tea, green tea, and milk tea. But are you aware that there is more to tea than just these three colors? There is a whole lot of colorful teas available in different parts of the world. Some are varieties of the same tree plants but other colored teas are from different plants. Thus, those are not true teas but are infusions or concoctions or tisane. Below is a summary of these colorful tea types. 1. Black tea- This is the tea from the regular tea plant or Camellia sinensis. The tea leaves are processed by drying and oxidation and curled and twisted to form this tea powder. This is without milk or sugar. When milk is added it is milk tea.  2. Green tea- We are a aware of this tea thanks to the celebrity endorsement of it for weight loss. If is made from the same tea plant, Camellia sinensis. But the tea leaves are semi-oxidized. The processing is different and if yields green solution on brewing.  3. White tea- This also comes from tea plant, Camellia sinensis. But the

Vitamin B12 deficiency: 9 symptoms and signs for diagnosis

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 The body requires a lot of different kinds of food components to keep functioning normally. Often, one or more vital nutrients fall short of the requirements and this leads to certain symptoms and signs. Vitamin B12 is an essential vitamin that the body needs. Its deficiency is common especially in the older age group and in people on plant based foods. But the condition remains undiagnosed. What are the symptoms and signs of Vitamin B12 deficiency that should make one suspect the condition? Vitamin B12 deficiency in the USA Vitamin B12 is an essential vitamin that the body requires for energy production, DNA synthesis, and also for proper brain and nervous system function. Humans procure it from the daily foods. Yet the deficiency is common at all ages. But the absorption of this vitamin decreases with age. Therefore, deficiency of this vital nutrient is more often seen in the older age group. In the USA and in the UK, deficiency of vitamin B12 is found in 20% of those over the age o