History has been a witness of mankind’s search for the elixir of youth since the records of civilisation are available. It is a thirst which can never be quenched. No one has been able to decode it, because they feel it is a unique and complex phenomenon.
But let’s know how some valuable tips can help you feel rejuvenated and young. Here are five essential tips by Lavleen Kaur, Co-founder and head dietitian at Diet Insight, Chandigarh. These tips will help you maintain your physical well-being. If followed regularly, these can prove to show great results. Read through the following points, try and follow them, and stay young!
Caffeine Intake: Caffeine in itself is not a villain. It is a naturally occurring stimulant, found in tea, coffee, and cacao plant. When caffeine is taken in an herbal, healthy and controlled form, it has immense benefits. As an example, if you make a kadha (a herbal concoction) with ginger, tulsi, saunf etc, and then add milk and tea, it is a healthy infusion of good stimulants for your body. In a similar manner, for the ones who are fond of coffee, they can enjoy it in the form of black coffee.
It works as an excellent liver cleanser along with several other benefits. Then why is caffeine intake frowned upon is a question everyone would wonder! The answer lies in our intake patterns and quantity. We consume it after meals between meals, on an empty stomach just after getting up in the morning or even before going to sleep. Hence, in such cases the polyphenols and tannins found in tea and coffee inhibit iron absorption in our body which leads to hindrance in body’s oxygen supply. The reason being that it is this iron in our body/bloodstream which is very important for oxygen supply.
Our body needs good oxygen supply for our skin to remain healthy which is prevented by the intake of caffeine. When we take caffeine excessively, it disturbs the whole system of our body. It is best to have your cuppa in between 4-5 in the evening, so as not to disturb any meal. And also restrict your intake to a couple of cups.
Breathing Exercises: You’d probably agree that breathing is even more important than eating, drinking or sleeping. One can go days without doing any of these and still be alive but that is not the case with breathing. Breathing correctly is the key to life. We breathe more than 20,000 times in a day, without even realising. If we do not breathe properly, we are probably ageing ourselves faster. Inhaling and exhaling properly leads to proper circulation of nutrients through the cells of our body and it also helps in maintaining a good supply of oxygen throughout. We are well aware about the importance of a good oxygen supply in our body for healthy skin. Do not fret! It is better late than never.
It is general conception that when we take a deep breath, we generally expand our chest, contract our diaphragm, and suck our tummy in, and it is this technique which would tell us that we are breathing wrong. A deep breath would mean, breathing into the abdomen, leading to the expansion of tummy, and then letting the breath come upwards and exhale. Breathing exercises must be carried out every day, for proper communication between our body cells, and keeping the body rejuvenated. It does not take very long, a few minutes on an average to exercise our breathing. During that short time, concentrate on your breath, and realise how it connects your mind, body and soul, which will reflect in your skin.
Cold Shower: This a very interesting tip which not a lot of people know. The first and foremost benefit of a cold shower is that our blood circulation gets better when we take a cold shower. When cold water hits our body the blood rushes towards our organs. It is the natural response of our body. This rushing of blood gives a radiant glow to our skin. It also keeps problems like hypertension, varicose veins and hardening arteries at bay. Have you ever observed how fresh we are after those cold showers? It feels as if all the senses of our body have been awakened with a jolt!
Cold shower keeps our skin clear and radiant. Warm water opens up the pores of our skin. Open pores are an easy place for dust and oil to accumulate in them and clogging them, which leads to acne, pimples, blemishes etc. Warm water also drains off all the natural oils from our skin, leaving it wanting and dry. On the other hand, cold water closes our skin pores, which keeps the skin fresh and glowing. Cold water also constricts our blood vessels, taking care of minor swelling and puffy eyes. It also keeps the natural oils of our skin intact, and that keeps the skin naturally healthy. In countries, where it is bitter cold, showering in room temperature water would not be advisable. For them, the best way is to keep the water temperature as low as possible i.e., to an extent where you can feel your skin retaining its moisture and not getting dry. That will be an indication that it is the ideal temperature for you.
Maintaining PAINS (Positive Attitude In Negative Situations): Now that is a fancy term, isn’t it! But is it really practical? Human body is entwined with the mind. If the mind is negative, or is under constant stress, then no technique to stay healthy, fit and young would eventually work. PAINS is one technique to keep our mind positive, tuning our body along with it. Achieving a positive attitude in a negative situation is not as easy as it sounds though. A negative situation elicits a negative response from our mind. We start thinking of all possible negative scenarios and results of that situation. The key is, to shorten the duration of negative thoughts as much as possible. As we keep on shortening the duration of negative thoughts, we gradually reach a point wherein every negative situation we start looking for turns into ‘lessons to be learnt’, or we think of the probable positive resulting scenarios to it.
Shifting our mindset towards thinking that everything is possible leads to opening up new avenues of positive opportunities. One of the major things which affects our stress levels is worrying over things which are out of our control. As an example, if the flight we are due to catch, gets delayed, instead of worrying about it we could think of what to do about the situation. We can think of changes we need to make or steps we need to take to accommodate our requirements and time instead of worrying about a delayed flight, which is out of our control. Also, in negative situations, we need to have compassion for our self. More often than not, we tend to think of how a certain situation presents us in front of others. Instead, we must think how it is affecting us. Prioritising our own mental health helps a long way in having a Positive Attitude In Negative Situations.
Raw Alkaline Rich Diet: There are two kinds of diets- an alkaline rich diet and an acidic rich diet. An acidic rich diet is the one with PH levels between 0-7 for example, excessive caffeine, or even dried fruits and nuts. Alkaline rich diet is usually in raw form. It includes foods like fruits, vegetables etc. We can change the acidic nature of dried fruits and nuts to alkaline by consuming them in a soaked form. In our body, only two things are acidic, namely our stomach and urine. Rest, most of the body is alkaline. That is why, consuming more than 80% alkaline rich diet is recommended for achieving a higher state of mental wellbeing. To achieve that, include vegetable juices, fruits, raw/steamed vegetables, salads, soaked nuts and seeds etc. Black cumin in particular proves very helpful in controlling acne, which is basically a result of alkaline-acidic imbalance in our body. In the same way, Kesar infused water acts as a blood purifier and helps bring a glow to your skin.
More importantly, understand which foods make your body and mind happy. By happy, it does not imply to momentary happiness, but the food which suits the composition and nature of your body, and keeps it stable, with a good digestion and metabolism. You must have noticed that when we eat refined and junk food, we feel a spike in our happy hormones for a very short duration of time, but after that our body witnesses problems like bloating, indigestion, constipation etc, which is generally accompanied with mood swings etc. all these definitely not the indicators of a happy body. Hence, find the happy foods for your body, be it consuming fruit after getting up in the morning, or having salads before meals or drinking some warm milk before going to bed, and keep you body happy and glowing.
Keep your heart happy and young, and your body will follow suit!