Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Sugar facts

How bad is sugar? Any home in India will have sugar products. Every nutritionist suggests the importance of having more vegetables and fruits in your diet. But sugar, which is so cherished by adults and children alike, is not just unhealthy but can also be toxic. The latest researches are proving this.


Mothers shower love on their children by baking them cakes, cookies, giving them sweet lemonade on a hot summer day. Robert Lustig M.D, has researched on the subject and has evidence to prove that sugar is pure poison. Of course, his research is being criticized a lot. After all, sugar is a multi billion industry.


Sugar means sucrose- beet and cane sugar, white or brown sugar- high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is part of all the aerated drinks. It is less expensive than refined sugar. But the two sweeteners have pretty much similar biological effects. Both of them are equally bad, poisonous and deadly. High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), as it is most commonly consumed, is 55 percent fructose, and the remaining 45 percent is nearly all glucose. Luc Tappy, a researcher at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland who is considered by biochemists who study fructose to be the world’s foremost authority on the subject, said there was “not the single hint” that HFCS was more deleterious than other sources of sugar.


Consuming sugar(fructose and glucose)means more work for the liver than if you consumed the same number of calories of starch (glucose). If you take that sugar in liquid form —soda or fruit juices - the fructose and glucose will hit the liver more quickly than if you consume them, say, in an apple (or several apples, to get what researchers would call the equivalent dose of sugar). The speed with which the liver has to do its work will also affect how it metabolizes the fructose and glucose. This is why fruit is far superior choice than sugar.

The question, then, isn’t whether high-fructose corn syrup is worse than sugar; it’s what do they do to us, and
how do they do it? The conventional wisdom has long been that the worst that can be said about sugars of any kind is that they cause tooth decay and represent “empty calories” that we eat in excess because they taste so good. By this logic, sugar-sweetened beverages (or HFCS-sweetened beverages,as the Sugar Association
prefers they are called) are bad for us not because there’s anything particularly toxic about the sugar they contain but just because people consume too many of them.

Refined sugar and HFCS don’t come with any protein,vitamins, minerals, antioxidants or fiber, and so they either displace other more nutritious elements of our diet or are eaten over and above what we need to sustain our bodies and this is why we get fatter. Whether the empty-calories argument is true, it’s certainly convenient.
It allows everyone to assign blame for obesity and, by extension, diabetes — two conditions so intimately linked
that some authorities have taken to calling them “diabesity” —to overeating of all foods, or under-exercising, because a calorie is a calorie.

“This isn’t about demonizing any industry,”as Michelle Obama said about her Let’s Move program to combat the epidemic of childhood obesity. Instead it’s about getting us —or our children —to move more and eat less, reduce our portion sizes, cut back on snacks.

Dr. Lustig’s argument, however, is not about the consumption of empty calories and biochemists have made the same case previously,though not so publicly. It is that sugar has unique characteristics, specifically in the way the human body metabolizes the fructose in it, that may make it singularly harmful, at least if consumed in sufficient quantities.

The phrase Lustig uses when he describes this concept is “isocaloric but not isometabolic.” This means we can eat 100 calories of glucose (from a potato or bread or other starch) or 100 calories of sugar (half glucose and half fructose), and they will be metabolized differently and have a different effect on the body. The calories are the same, but the metabolic consequences are quite different. The fructose component of sugar and HFCS is metabolized primarily by the liver, while the glucose from sugar and starches is metabolized by every cell in the body.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Gurutwakarshan

‎'In Sanskrit, the word for gravity is Gurutwakarshan. The earth holds us towards itself by the force of gravity. Without this attraction or love, we would have no base or foundation. Similarly, Gurutva is the basis of our life.
The Guru is the guiding light – removing the darkness of ignorance....'

- Sri Sri



Q: I often wonder why God has made us so complicated. Firstly we are given mind that wanders and then we tame it. Why not bestow us with a tamed mind.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why are you are so lazy that you don't want to do anything?
Nature wants you to do something, take some responsibility.
This is like asking, ‘Why you are making a jigsaw puzzle? Just get it readymade, fixed all at once.’ The jigsaw puzzle is for you to play with, fix and make something out of it. Life is like that. It's a game, a play. And the mind is the biggest game player.

Love

These lines are not mine but this is the best definition of Love.

"Love is not a choice. It happens to us for reasons we do not know consciously. It is an epiphany. Lucky are those who love not the beloved".

Fallen in love with the person who said this.

School, College friends

Few days back, I had blogged about my college friend, Jassi who was visiting me. This is the blog post.
Below are some of my old pictures with my school and college friends. You see Jassi on extreme left. It was my 18th Birthday and we had all worn blue saris (that was the theme).


Below is my friend Nidhi. We studied together from class 1 to class 10. 


With Nidhi and Gina


Nidhi and Cherry


Nidhi


This was school farewell party (like a prom night). And our school tradition was that all girls wore saris (probably first time of our life) and we also did a kind of ramp walk (only there was no ramp, but a school auditorium).


My hostel room picture- my fashion design days in Delhi.


Old pictures of my mom and me

Here are some old pictures of mom and me. Picture below is in Vrindavan garden. I was 15 year old then.

This picture is in Goa.



My Sunday so far

Sunday morning started with meditation. After that I had a business meeting (Yes, even on Sunday). That explains the business suit. But immediately after that, I had to leave for a movie. The only way to transform the business look and soften it a bit, was to add a dash of pink and change my shoes. So here is the look.






I saw Agneepath. It is a gory movie with lots of violence. I am a person who likes chick flicks and romantic movies. But, this movie is getting rave reviews. Every actor has enacted so well. Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra look fabulous. Sanjay Dutt is scary. Rishi Kapoor portrays his character so well. Till date he is such versatile actor. The songs, costumes and direction of the movie is brilliant. Despite the fact that it is a violent movie, I would say, it is still worth watching.



I saw it in Director's cut. For people who are not from delhi, this is how the Director's Cut looks like. It is a gold class theatre with a chic lounge outside.




Saturday, January 28, 2012

My paisley Scarf

This is what I wore for a cute dinner date.

Special mention to my scarf. If you are looking for fabulous scarf, stole, muffler, shawl, pashmina, etc. buy it from:
Kashmir Shawl Emporium,
94, MM Janpath, New Delhi, India.
It is opposite Mc Donald.
Their email id is: kshawl@vsnl.com
They are the biggest wholesaler, retailer, exporter of these from India.








Me and my sister

After the previous post, showing our childhood pictures of me and my sister, here are some more. Not childhood pictures but rewind to few years back- after she had moved to US. Some of our precious moments together.

Below is a picture, when I landed in Peoria. It is at the airport.


In her apartment.






These are our pictures of our Lake Tahoe trip where we did camping and lots of water sports.





Pictures below are of Chicago.






Bahai temple, Chicago.



Me and my sister- our childhood pictures

My childhood pictures and memories would never be complete without reference to a person with whom I have been closest to- my sister. She is eight years younger to me. We were/are very close. I can bully her, share secrets with her, confide in her, advice her, seek her advice, count on her, etc etc etc.

After reading this blog, my sister wrote me a following email. I thought, I should share it on the blog too. Love you too my dearest.
Just read your blog - u r shooooo cute!! Love u - always and forever - umaah!
I was looking at those pictures, reading your blog and commenting within myself -
Bully - yes, for sure. But then, u have also always lifted me up/carried me up high too (literally in that pic and that pic is so symbolic of life as well:))
And I've always told u - "You are the wind beneath my wings"




In the above picture, we were in freezing cold water and she was clinging on to me, tugging on to me. In the process, she almost made me fall and for one and only time, got a whack from me for doing that. So this picture became historic memory for us.