We all would have known about the health benefits of consuming pomegranate fruit. The benefits are that it prevents inflammation, has anticancer properties, supports heart health plus others benefits like it supports brain health etc. How many of us have known about the health benefits of consuming pomegranate peel? Surprised!! It is worthy to note that pomegranate peels have proteins, fibres, potassium, phenolic compounds etc. Pomegranate peel must be sun dried and made into powder and then it can be added to our diet. Consuming pomegranate peel would provide us with these superb benefits. Supports heart health: It is believed that the presence of antioxidants in pomegranate peel would lower our bad cholesterol levels. In addition, oxidative stress would also get reduced. By this, our heart health would get boosted. Regular intake of peel would support the control of blood pressure and help in better blood circulation. Calms down cough and sore throat: There are anti-bacterial as well as anti-inflammatory compounds present in the pomegranate peel. Intake of this peel would relieve cold, cough symptoms etc. We would also get some relief from throat infections also. It is good to mix pomegranate peel powder with warm water for gargling. Helps digestion and gut health: The presence of fibres and anti-inflammatory compounds in pomegranate peel would lower bloating, stomach infections etc. The bowel movements would be regular and constipation would be avoided. Our gut health would get better. Promotes detoxification: The antioxidant content in this peel would flush toxins out of the body. This would boost the functions of the liver as well as kidneys. Therefore, a small dose mixed with warm water could be consumed everyday for health. Good for skin and ageing issue: It is superb to note that consuming pomegranate peel would protect our skin from harmful UV radiations from the sun plus from pollution and premature ageing etc. Prevents hearing loss: The antioxidants in pomegranate peel would prevent hearing loss in us. It is known that oxidative stress is an important reason for age based hearing loss. It is highly necessary that we must have good hearing ability for the sake of our lives to be normal. Prevents cancer: It must be taken into note that similar to pomegranate fruit its peel also would help us to avoid cancers like oral, prostate, liver cancerers etc. The presence of punicalagin or a polyphenol with anticancer properties is responsible for the anticancer effect of the pomegranate peel.

It is natural that we all enjoy the monsoon because of the fact that it provides huge relief from hot scorching weather. Bitter fact is that if you think monsoon weather provides only happiness for us then you might be wrong. More humidity in the monsoon would result in the growth of bacteria and mosquitoes etc. This would further lead to bacterial infections and diseases etc. Pregnant mothers would have poor immunity levels in them and due to that they would get affected with illness easily in the monsoon weather. There are few monsoon infections and every pregnant mother must know about these without fail. Dengue: When a pregnant mother gets dengue fever( caused due to a bite of Aedes Aegypti mosquito) then her platelet count would decrease and she could get dehydration and early labour etc. Malaria: Pregnant women could get issues like severe anaemia and low birth weight etc due to malaria.  Bite of female anopheles mosquito would cause malaria. Leptospirosis: Organ related complications and miscarriage etc would occur when a pregnant mother gets affected by leptospirosis. It is due to the bacteria leptospira. Typhoid: Salmonella typhi is the cause for typhoid fever in us. Truth is that especially in the monsoon only typhoid spread occurs more. Pregnant mothers could get high fever and pregnancy complications due to typhoid.  Hepatitis A.E: Unfiltered water or faulty cooking methods etc could transmit these viruses. When a pregnant woman gets affected by Hepatitis E then foetal loss and liver failure etc would occur. Gastroenteritis: Pregnant mothers` overall health would get affected by gastroenteritis or stomach flu. Fungal, parasitic and bacterial infections could lead to gastroenteritis. Dehydration and nutrient loss could take place. Fungal infections: Hormonal changes in the pregnancy time could lead to skin infections especially during monsoons. How can a pregnant woman protect herself from these infections? Pregnant women could avoid monsoon illnesses like flu, cold and respiratory issues etc by following personal hygiene practices. Pregnant women must eat only washed fruits and vegetables etc. They could get food borne diseases like diarrhoea and food popoisoning etc by intake of unhygienic foods and unwashed fruits and veggies etc. It is necessary to consume immune boosting foods like fruits that are rich in vitamin C and green vegetables. It is possible to boost immunity during an emergency when a pregnant mother drinks water and stays hydrated.

Many of us would feel totally surprised if we come to know that there is a direct relation between poor kidney health and our eyes!! Yes, it`s true!! For our lives to be healthy and normal, it is a must that we must have good kidney health. Just like our heart, lungs, liver etc, kidneys are also vital organs in us. Various factors for kidney damage or kidney failure in us could be due to high blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes,  presence of autoimmune diseases, infections etc. The windows to our overall health are our eyes. Point is that certain symptoms in our eyes would indicate damage to our vital organs. The fact is that symptoms that occur in the eyes or ocular symptoms would appear early in us and they would be the first external signs associated with our kidney damage. Especially in those with chronic conditions like high BP and diabetes etc, eye symptoms would be related to underlying kidney issues. That our kidneys are not functioning well would be shown by these eye based symptoms. Please take care. Puffy eyes in the morning: When kidneys don`t function properly or kidney dysfunction, then protein would leak into the urine. This condition is termed as proteinuria. It is an indication of damaged kidney filters or glomeruli. Truth is this is common in early kidney disease. Blurred vision: Persons with diabetes or high BP would have blurred vision if they have kidney disease in them. The blood vessels present in our retina would get damaged due to high blood sugar level leading to diabetic retinopathy and high BP would result in hypertensive retinopathy. By these, we could get vision based issues in us. Dry or itchy eyes: Waste products would get built up in the blood and this is termed as uremia. Tear production would get reduced due to this build up and would lead to inflammation of conjunctiva. The eyes would become dry and itchy. Dryness would become more severe in more advanced stages. Reddish or bloodshot eyes: Tiny blood vessels present in the eyes would get inflamed because of the uremia condition. This would make the eyes appear reddish or bloodshot. It is worthy to note here that some kidney conditions are associated with auto-immmmune issues like vasculitis etc resulting in redness in the eyes, pain in the eyes etc. Vision loss or changes in vision etc: We must never ignore our sudden loss of vision or changes in our vision. The vision issues in kidney patients can be because of artery occlusion or hypertensive crisis etc. There are also possibilities of vision issues due to dialysis complications also.

Do you know that in urban India CAD or Coronary Artery Disease is prevalent and it ranges from 7% to 13%? Your heart health depends on various factors among which some are visible and others are invisible. One most common issue that affects our heart is CAD or coronary artery disease. Not many of us know the fact that issues such as CAD are solely caused by high cholesterol levels. Point is that exercises and regular checkups are suggested by the doctors for the sake of heart health. It is believed that knowing multiple factors that could lead to CAD would allow for a more comprehensive approach for its prevention and management etc. What is CAD? A disorder that affects the vessels that are responsible for supplying blood to the heart is CAD. Plaque build up would cause arteries to get blocked and this can lead to heart attack, heart failure, abnormal heartbeats or arrhythmia etc in us. Many would feel chest discomfort or pain that comes and goes in intervals with a predictable pattern. This is one common symptom of CAD. Shortness of breath is another symptom. Lesser known reasons for getting CAD are Atherosclerosis: It is noteworthy that the important cause for getting CAD is atherosclerosis. This is a gradual build up of plaque and it would block artery leading improper blood flow. Truth is that the plaque build up would even start from childhood also. Diabetes or insulin resistance: There are more chances of getting CAD if the person has high blood sugar levels or diabetes. Fact is that elevated blood sugar levels would damage the blood vessels permanently. Moreover, plaque formation would get accelerated. High blood pressure or hypertension: It must be noted that high BP would exert force against the walls of arteries. As a result, a small injury would be created in the linings of arteries. By this, plaque would be formed and arteries would get hardened. The elasticity of arteries would reduce over time and due to this bringing more blood to heart becomes difficult. There would be more stress on the heart due to high BP. Please take care. Tobacco or smoking: Inner lining of the artery would get injured due to harmful chemicals from smsmoking. It is true that chemicals would result in the cholesterol deposits that stick to the arteries. Oxygen supply would be reduced by smoking, elevates heart rate and increases BP.

The month of June every year is observed as the Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness month is known. The main objective behind this is to increase awareness about Alzheimer’s disease or AD and dementia etc and encourage brain health foods among people. What is Alzheimer’s disease? A progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking cells and affects a person’s ability to carry out even easy activities is Alzheimer’s disease or AD. The shocking piece of information is that AD is responsible for 70% to 80% of dementia cases. The 3 important stages of AD are early or mild stage, middle or moderate stage and late or severe stage. There are various causes for getting affected by AD and these are age, genetics, lifestyle, environmental factors etc. Frequently overlooked health issues in us that can result in cognitive decline are Hearing loss: There are chances of increased cognitive workload and social isolation when we do not treat hearing loss in us. These two could lead to dementia in us. It is worthy to note here that regular hearing tests coupled with hearing aid use would improve long term cognitive function. Type 2 diabetes: The progression of dementia in us would become faster or accelerated if we have high levels of blood sugar in us. It must be taken into note that high blood sugar would affect our brain blood vessels and cause inflammation. Cognitive functions in us can be protected by a combination of healthy eating, exercises, medication etc. So, please be careful. High blood pressure or hypertension: There are high possibilities of cognitive decline if we have high or uncontrolled blood pressure or BP. The high BP would stress the blood vessels in our brain leading to restricted blood flow. This could further lead to vascular dementia and AD. So, please take care. Depression: These days many of us have this depression issue and it could be due to several reasons. Bitter fact is that if left untreated then we could have cognitive decline. Sleep apnea: The sleep apnea issue often gets overlooked and it can also lead to cognitive decline in us. It is noteworthy that having sound or deep sleep plays a huge role in memory and cognitive function in us. It is believed that early diagnosis and treatment using CPAP therapy or lifestyle adjustments etc would improve our sleep quality and cognitive function. Obesity & metabolic syndrome: We could get brain shrhrinkage and cognitive decline due to inflammation from obesity, insulin resistance and vascular problems. Our brain health would become better if we exercise and achieve a healthy body weight and this would lower the chances of dementia etc.