The new food mantra of the 21st century

With the changing phase of the society, the concept of healthy and nutritious eating has been replaced by a new food mantra called JUNK FOOD. This new concept of quick, delicious and elegant meal easily available at every corner of the street has engulfed people of every age and race, little children being the brand new entrants. The so called street food is not only popular in India, but people from across the world are seemed to be a hard core fan of it.

If you love to eat pizza, burger, fries, noodles, hot-dog, and other such meals on daily basis, then beware! You are creating havoc for yourself. It does not matter from which outlet you but it from, but the impact that it leaves on your body is sickeningly harmful. It is rich in carbohydrate, fat and sodium that increase obesity, which in turn leads to various other fatal diseases.  However, consumption of such food occasionally will have minimal effects on your health.

On the other hand main stream food course like: chapatti, rice, lentils, fresh fruits and vegetables are rich in protein vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, which will not only give you a healthy body, but will increase the resistant power of your body system to fight against harmful diseases like, cancer, diabetes, heart diseases, blood sugar, blood pressure, etc.

It is not a new revelation that Junk Food like, cheeseburger, chips, pasta and others are detrimental to human health. But the most surprising fact about it is that, in spite of knowing that junk food does not contain the nutrients necessary for living a healthy lifestyle, people have not clogged its consumption. It might be due to lack of proper information about its impact on the body, or might be some other reason unknown.

Here are some facts about fast food and its toxic effects responsible for causing fatal blow.

• Junk food lowers down your energy level as it does not contain proper nutrition like, protein, vitamin or carbohydrate. Thus, after its consumption your blood sugar may drop down suddenly leaving you fatigue and cranky.
• May cause obesity that will virtually lead to other illnesses like high blood pressure, diabetes, excessive weight gain, arthritis, cardiovascular diseases causing heart attack and stroke. It may also lead to kidney disorder. Not only this, it might also affect your mind causing fatigue, loss of memory, lack of concentration, etc. 

•   Junk Food may also have adverse effect on your liver and heart. Excessive consumption of sodium and fat present in fast food may increase the cholesterol level by causing dysfunction of the heart and liver.
•     Too much of refined sugar and carbohydrates in street food can also lead to the occurrence of diabetes.
•   It may also cause other problems like mood swing, constipation, tiredness, laziness, dizziness, etc., as it lacks protein and other vitals minerals necessary for a healthy living. 

Flaunt a unique Hair makeover on the D-Day!

Gone are the days when the Indian Brides had to grow their hair long for their D-Day to flaunt the look of a traditional Indian bride with a designer bun.  Today, the modern brides prefer to get a chic and trendy hairstyle on that very special occasion even by cutting their hair short or indulging in new hair trends like loose hair, half ties, side ponytail, and many more. 

Indian weddings are probably the most outstanding examples of extravagance. Each one of us wants to look the best on this special occasion. The hairstyle of the brides on this special day is also unique and striking. While the exotic hair trend of the brides in North India generally consists of a bun covered with a customary veil of red and golden dupatta, the brides in the south wears a plait decorated with flowers and other knick-knacks. A voluminous bun on the top of the head, partly adorned with jewelry and hairpins are a ‘wow’ on the big day. Huge buns fully compliment the Indian wedding attire. Nevertheless, today, a number of Indian brides choose to cut their hair short or let loose their hair flow over their shoulder to portray an elegant look, which is not common for daily wear.  

Here are some fascinating hair makeovers that our modern Indian brides would like to flaunt on the big day.

•  Although short hair can give a very stylish look to a bride, yet the hair dresser must try to give a feminine touch to her look by working on the front side of the hair more than on the back or on the sides.  A plait or a ponytail on the back can make all the difference.
•  Different hairstyle on different occasions of the wedding ceremony will enable the bride to show the unusual traits of her personality on each day.
•  Color your hair to give a beautiful shiny tone to it on the bridal day. Confused which to choose? Well, hair experts believes that dark colors like, chocolate brown or  deep brown color with a reddish tone best suits the Asian palette.  Use of fine foil around the parting and the face line with 2-3 shades lighter than her natural color can also provide a beautiful look to the bride.

 Accessorizing the hair on the d-day with flowers and other contemporary hair accessories can enliven your hair and wedding outfit. Use of accessories provides a feminine and flourishing touch to the bridal hairdo.

     

Whatever might be the hairstyle, most important thing that one should remember is that the bride must feel confidences in all the styles that would bring out the beautiful and glamorous personality of hers on the happy day. 

Bindi: A fashion statement or a wedlock symbol?

Bindi, although originated as a facial adornment on the forehead, yet it has become a mandatory practice for the women in India to wear it as heir wedlock symbol. A red dot on the forehead of a woman not only signifies her marital status, but also guarantees her sanctity and a position in the society. 

Be it men, women or vamps on television screens, a mark on the centre of their forehead has always remained a predominant factor of Indian facial adornment. Using the forehead as a canvas, this body art form has not limited itself to young girls and women.  If we take a close look at our past, we can see that even the males belonging to royal and high classes along with those belonging from the priestly families sported a mark between the two eyebrows.  Even in the 21^st century, men who claim themselves as priests are seen portraying such marks on the forehead as well as on the other parts of their body.

But here, our concern does not lie on discussing the fact whether such signs represent rituals and customs? So, taking you directly to the point let me tell you that, although ‘Bindis’ are the most striking and charming face decorating elements, yet in some regions of India, like, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar or Orissa, it is mandatory for women to wear it as their wedlock symbol.

In our country, the gracious ceremony of tying the nuptial knot remains incomplete without the color red. From wedding attire to jewelry, red color holds a firm place in the weddings of North India. Hence, a red bindi between the two eyebrows of the Indian brides is said to be the symbol of love, which they would share with the members of their new family. Some also believes on the myth that, in Aryan society the groom used to put his blood on the forehead of the bride to declare themselves as legally wedded husband and wife.

However, with evolution of time, ‘Bindi’ too has undergone many changes and has become a fashion statement for many. It has gone experimental in the recent decades never like before.  From its red hued powdered form to multi colored sticker bindi, today it is available in several shapes and sizes along with different shades and designs.  Ornamented bindis available in precious and semi precious stones are popular among the women during festivals and celebrations.

Do you remember the big bindi on the forehead of singer Usha Uthup?  The “kaw” shaped bindi, which has become her style icon for years, is her expression of love for the city of Kolkata. 

The Indian television industry too played a vital role in providing the body decorating item a new look. Beginning from Mandira Bedi’s ‘Shanti’ (a reverse arrow shaped bindi) till Neena Gupta’s ‘Saans’, where the title logo of the serial portrays a red dot underlined with a black line, it became a fashion statement and a symbol of modern women.  While Ekta Kapoor gave an entirely new identity to the adornment by using the traditional round bindis for good homemakers, while all kind of question marks and triangle shapes are indicative of evil and vamps.

Today, bindi signifies different meaning to different people. While for some it is a fashion statement, for Indian brides, it is a symbolic of their married life. 

Shifting tradition of Arrange Marriages with the emergence of Matrimonial Sites!

Unlike in the West, where marriage is subjected to one’s own choice; in India, it is considered as an enduring unification between two families rather than two individuals. 

Indian Matrimonial Sites have taken the forefront in getting a perfect match for you, leading to cultural union.

 When we, the Indians, speak of Arrange marriage, we generally tend to think of a marriage, where a perfect match has been arranged by some dhoti-claded pundits or by a match maker known by our family.  But, with the evolution of matrimonial sites, the concept of traditional arrange marriage has changed immensely, and a new concept of online marriage has set its foothold.

Arranged Marriages in India: An overview                                                                    

Although the practice of finding a suitable match for an eligible boy or a girl has changed with the advent of newspapers, magazines or marriage websites, yet in some parts of India, parents or the elders still take the lead in finding an apt groom or a bride. However, unlike primitive times, today the children have to have their consent for their chosen partner so that they can live happily with each other post marriage.

In our country, when a marriage is finalized by the parents or the elders, they consider a myriad of details like, caste, the family background of the bride or the groom, educational and social status, economic backdrop of the family, lifestyle and culture, look and appearance of the couple, if the horoscope of the duo matches, and many more. In some cases, even casual background verification of the individuals is performed with the help of common friends and relatives. Such checking can provide a clear picture about the character, habits, nature or any prior affairs of an individual.  After a successful screening process, the acceptance comes from both the families and an enduring relationship is established between them.

Both the prospective bride and the groom are allowed to spend   some quality time with each other pre wedding, so that a successful arrange marriage can work out between the two .

Stand of Indian Matrimonial Sites in Shaping the Social Custom:

No doubt, the structure of extended family has become fragile over the decades paving the way for nuclear family. This has led to the lack of social connections which was hugely provided by the members of a joint family. Social networks are considered as a strong medium for the parents of the prospective couple in finding a suitable soul mate for their offspring.  However, with the prevalence of the nuclear family concept in the urban India, the traditional way of hunting for eligible bride and groom has undergone a change. People now-a-days prefer to seek the help of matrimonial advertisements in newspapers, marriage bureau, online marriage registration, Swayamvar on television, etc.

With the progress in information technology, online matrimonial services have made it much easier for the parents to find a suitable spouse for their kids. Many community and free matrimonial websites too have emerged for the convenience of the Indian families, which assures to find a perfect match within a week.  This has probably granted the ‘veto power’ to the marriageable candidate on any proposal introduced by their parents.

Superiority of Green Tea over other Beverages

Green Tea, which is found to have myriads of benefits over your hair, skin face and health is said to have its positive impact over other beverages as well. The green tea liquor is considered far better than coffee or wine by the experts due to its remedial measures.

Here are some facts about the herbal drink-

·         Superiority over Coffee:

No doubt, Coffee is one of the most popular drinksacross the globe. In the morning it works as a great energy booster, while in work it gets you going without failure. Although like Green Tea, Coffee too is a source of anti-oxidants and exhibits some health benefits, yet in comparison to Green Tea, Coffee assumes a place just beside it.

Research have proved that like Green too Coffee too has some positive impact in curbing incurables diseases like diabetes or heart disease, but too much of caffeine present in it can make one nervous. It might also cause bad breath and could be responsible for yellowish teeth. It might also affect you internally besides harming your physical appearance.

On the other hand, Green Tea is considered much healthier drink over coffee in spite of the presence of caffeine in it, but at a lesser amount. Hence, the chances of physical disorders on consumption of Green tea are much thinner. It is not responsible for your restless nights. However, you can also purchase decaffeinated Green Tea from the market in case you want to avoid caffeine totally.

  

·         Green Tea Vs. Wine:

Guys, you will be surprised to know the fact that like Green Tea, alcoholic beverages such as wine, too contains potent polyphenol called ‘Resveratrol’, which is considered effective in reducing the harmful effect of unsaturated fat, drinking and smoking. People across the world also drink wine, as it is believed to contain strong anti-ageing properties. However, all these properties are also present in Green Tea, but the best thing about it is , it does not contain alcohol like wine and is cheaper than wine. 

HEALING GREEN

Recent studies have proved that Green Tea extract enormously contains natural antioxidant that prevents the free radicals from harming the body by increasing health hazards. Studies have shown that excessive exposure to sun, dust and other environmental pollution upsurges the free radicals in the blood to cause damage to the tissues. But the antioxidant present in Green Tea heals you from all health related issues promoting your well-being. If you are a chain smoker or an addicted alcoholic, regular consumption of green tea can minimize the risk of health threats caused by these substances and free radicals in your blood cells.

It is seen that now a days even the health consultants, generally known as doctors advise their patients especially to those suffering from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, blood sugar and other such risky diseases to consume green tea on regular basis.

Green tea for Heart Patients

Diabetes, Heart Disease, Blood Pressure have now become common disorders found in every household. Hence, the market is also buzzing with myriads of medicated products that claim to provide relief to a person suffering from the above ailments. But are they really fruitful?  So instead of taking a risk of using such products, the most natural and safest way to fight such health conditions is consumption of green tea 4-5 times a day. Yes, drinking it like water per day can help in maintaining the cholesterol and triglycerides level in heart patients, thereby reducing the chances of heart attacks and strokes. Its regular consumption can speed up the function of the endothelial cells found in blood vessels and can minimize the chances of cardiovascular diseases by preventing clogging of arteries.

It is also found to be a viable option for people with high blood sugar, as it has the capacity to regulate the glucose level in your body and the sugar level in your blood.  Green Tea is also found to have soothing effect in reducing body fat and smoking.  Evidences show that the Nation like Japan, where 60% of the people smoke, has lesser chances of death due to heart stroke or heart attack as they consume green tea 5 times a day.

Green Tea for Cancer Patients

By now we all must be aware of the fact the Green Tea is rich in antioxidant and can control the excessive formation of free radicals in your body. Hence, apart from inhibiting heart diseases, the Polyphenols, Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) that it contains, hinders the growth of the enzyme responsible for causing cancerous cells in your body.

Very recently, doctors have identified Green Tea as an effective treatment to fight against breast as well as prostate cancer. However, it should be kept in mind that green tea can act effectively only in newly diagnosed cancer patients.

A natural remedy for Constipation

Constipation is one of the common problems that each one of us has to deal with at some point or the other. Although the reason for its cause generally remains unknown, but medical science give us a hint that it is caused by some kind of disorder in the intestines.

Green Tea which is known to contain a number of medicinal effects can be used as a natural solution to overcome constipation. Green Tea is known to release some kind of bacteria inside your body, which are good enough to encourage the regularity of bowel. Reports also reveal that Green Tea is beneficial in improving your digestive system and increases body resistance against internal and external infection. It is also believed that regular consumption of Green Tea can reduce the unwanted odor from human excrete.

 

Apart from the above reasons why one should take Green Tea, some additional benefits of Green tea includes:

·         Helpful in reducing weight

·         Improves metabolism by increasing energy level

·         Strengthens body muscles

·         Provides re-hydration benefits to the body

·         Improves brain functions and increases memory power

·         Prevents premature ageing

·         Protections against cold and flu.