• Start your day with a wholesome breakfast consisting of oatmeal or whole grain or multi grain cereals. Cereals like whole grain and its products like wheat bread, chapatti, jowar, bajra, nachni, riceflakes, puffed rice, oat bran, corn flakes can be consumed.
• Avoid foods containing egg yolks e.g. mayonnaise, cakes, sauces etc. Egg white is permitted.
• Avoid fat containing foods like cakes, pastries, mayonnaise, butter, sauces, creams, fried food and snacks, fast food, canned and packaged food items.
• Lean white meat like fish and chicken can be consumed. All organ meat (kidney, liver, brain), shellfish, prawns, lobsters, fish roe, shrimps, pork, beef, ham should be avoided. Include seafood as part of your diet.
• Use only skimmed milk (i.e. without cream) and milk products from skimmed milk e.g. curd, paneer etc. Avoid whole milk, cream, cheese, whole milk curd and sweets made with concentrated milk e.g. gulab jamun, mava, barfi, etc. Instead consume low calorie low sugar desserts like custards, jellies, kheer etc. using skimmed milk only.
• Groundnuts and cashew nuts to be avoided. All other nuts and dry fruits can be consumed in limited quantities. Walnuts help to lower cholesterol.
• Increase the intake of fibre in the diet by consuming plenty of whole cereals, pulses especially sprouts, vegetables, fruits.
• Consume Flaxseeds regularly as each tablespoon of ground flaxseed contain about 1.8 grams of plant omega-3s.
• Green leafy vegetables like palak, methi etc should be consumed on a daily basis. Other vegetables like tomatoes, lady's finger, gourds can be consumed. Raw vegetables in the form of salad should be consumed daily.
• Fruits, whenever possible should be consumed with the skin. E.g. apples, guava, pear, peach. Sweet lime, orange, papaya, watermelon can also be consumed. Eat at least two-three fruits per day. Whole fruits are more advisable than fruit juice.
• Use not more than 3 teaspoon of oil per day for cooking. While cooking avoid saturated fats like ghee, butter, margarine and instead use combination of oils e.g. combination of groundnut and sunflower oil. Rice bran oil is also a good option.
• Use cooking methods like baking, boiling, broiling, grilling, steaming etc. Avoid frying.
• A non-stick frying pan will help you keep down the amount of cooking oil needed.
• Unsaturated Fats Protect the Heart: We all need a little fat in our diet -- about 25% to 35% of our daily calories. But the type of fat matters. Unsaturated fats -- like those found in canola, olive, and safflower oils -- help lower LDL "bad" cholesterol levels and may help raise HDL "good" cholesterol. Saturated fats -- like those found in butter and palm oil -- and Trans fats raise LDL cholesterol. Even good fats have calories, so eat in moderation.
• In soups do not use butter or cream.
• Do not smoke or use tobacco, pan masala or gutka.
• Avoid alcohol consumption.
• Drink 10-12 glasses of water per day.
• Do not feast or fast.
• Reduce the amount of sugar intake. Avoid sugar in tea and coffee.
• While eating right is important, the amount of food you eat is a deciding factor to achieve lower cholesterol numbers. Eat five to six small meals every two to three hours.
• Most importantly Exercise regularly. Yoga and meditation helps reduce stress. Relaxing is necessary for a healthy mind, body and soul.
• Maintain your weight, reducing weight helps in controlling cholesterol and its complications.
• Eat small frequent meals to achieve a better metabolic rate. On an average keep the rule as: Small scanty frequent meals, with salads and fruits and nuts. Eat every 3 hours quantity to be consumed about the size of your fist.
• If you eat out often then remember to: Choose broiled, baked, steamed, and grilled foods -- not fried. Get sauces on the side. Practice portion control by asking for half your meal to be boxed up before it's brought out.

• Eat high-fibre foods.
• Cereals and Whole grains- oats, maize, barley, jowar, bajra, whole wheat and brown rice.
• Pulses and Legumes- kidney beans (rajma), all pulses (with skin), dried beans, peas, sprouts.
• Vegetables- Raw vegetables in form of salads. Green leafy vegetables, potatoes and carrots with skin.
• Whole fresh fruits-with the skin on e.g. apples, grapes, peaches, pear, guava, chickoo.
• Include Anjeer [Figs] and black raisins in your diet.
• Soak 3 to 4 dry figs and 10 to 12 desiccated dry black raisins and it overnight and to be consumed next day morning including the water in which it has been soaked.
• Prunes, kiwis help relieve constipation.
• High fibre foods should be started in small amounts initially. The amount can be increased as tolerance is acquired.
• Drink plenty of fluids. Have at least 8-10 glasses of plain water. Supplement with fruit and vegetable juices, soups, buttermilk and green tea.
• Eat small meals throughout the day, rather than 3 large, heavy meals.
• Chew food very well and take at least 20 minutes to finish your meal.
• Exercise helps keep the gut healthy and encourages motility and bowel movement. Thus regular exercise for at least 30 minutes is essential.
• A Dietary Fibre Supplement May Be Helpful e.g. psyllium husk (Isabgul).
• Flax meal can be purchased already ground. Or, you can buy the seeds and grind them yourself. Flax meal is a good source of natural fibre and health-promoting Omega-3 fatty acids. It can be stirred into or sprinkled on foods.

Foods to AVOID include:

• All simple or refined carbohydrates (white bread, pasta, cookies, cakes, crackers, maida etc.) The label should say that the bread contains whole wheat flour. Some manufacturers artificially colour bread brown to make it look more wholesome.
• Processed foods, deep-fried foods, fast foods, and junk food. Soft drinks, alcohol, coffee, sweets, chocolates, soda, caffeinated drinks.
• Red meat and dairy products like cheese, etc.
• Bran should not be sifted from the flour as it has fibre.
• Stay away from over-the-counter laxatives.

• Cereals like whole grain and its products like wheat bread, chapatti, jowar, bajra, nachni, riceflakes, puffed rice, oat bran and corn flakes can be consumed. Avoid rice, but if you so desire choose brown rice in very limited quantities. Avoid sabudana and its products. Maida and its products like white bread, naan, pizza base, roomali roti, biscuits etc. should be strictly avoided.
• Whole pulses like moong, matki, rajma, channa etc. can be consumed. All kinds of dals can be eaten, whole pulses with their skin and sprouts are more beneficial.
• Skimmed milk (i.e. without cream) and products made of skimmed milk e.g. curd, paneer, buttermilk etc. can be taken.
• All organ meats, red meat, pork, ham, bacon, shellfish like prawns, lobsters etc. to be avoided. Lean cuts of meat (white meat), fish and chicken (after removing the fat) can be consumed in limited quantities. Egg white can be consumed. Avoid frying. The recommended cooking methods for non-vegetarian items is baking, grilling or roasting.
• Green leafy vegetables like palak, methi etc. should be consumed on a daily basis. Other vegetables like tomatoes, cabbage, lady's finger, gourds etc. can be consumed. Raw vegetables in the form of salads should be consumed daily. Fruits and sprouts can be added to the salads. Avoid vegetables like potatoes, raw bananas, suran, kand, arbi, sweet potato.
• Fruits like orange, sweet lime, guava, apple, pear, peach, papaya can be eaten. Avoid fruits like mango, bananas, chickoo, pineapple, custard apple, grapes, sugar cane and all fruit juices.
• Foods like dal water, soups, buttermilk, salads etc. can be consumed.
• Avoid sugar, jaggery, honey, all sweets like ladoos, barfi, chocolates, cakes, pastries, ice creams etc.
• Avoid salty, processed and fried foods like chips, wafers, farsans like sev, puri, samosa, wada. Do not use ready to make soup packets, tinned foods, papad, pickle.
• Avoid coconut, groundnut and other dry fruits.
• Avoid rich gravies, cream soups, jellies, jams, sherbets and cold drinks.
• Avoid butter, ghee, cheese, margarine, cream, lard, tallow and other fats.
• Avoid alcoholic drinks.
• Do not smoke or use tobacco, pan masala or gutka.
• Use only 3 tsp oil per day. Oils like groundnut oil, mustard oil, til oil, olive oil, rice bran oil etc. are good for cooking.
• Drink 10-12 glasses of water per day.
• Do not feast or fast.
• Restrict tea or coffee. Avoid sugar.
• While eating right is important, the amount of food you eat is a deciding factor to achieve lower cholesterol numbers. Eat five to six small meals every two to three hours.
• Most importantly Exercise regularly. Yoga and meditation help reduce stress. Relaxing is necessary for a healthy mind, body and soul.
• Maintain your weight, reducing weight helps in controlling diabetes and other complications.
• Tip: Do not neglect any wounds. Bring them to the notice of your physician.

What your children eat can profoundly affect their health as adults. Childhood is the time to teach them to make healthy choices. Kids model your actions much more than they follow your spoken advice, especially if they are teenagers. So use this opportunity to get the whole family exercising regularly and eating sensibly.

Here are some specific things you can do to help get your kids back on track:

• Encourage exercise every day, for at least 15 to 30 minutes.
• Plan active family outings such as bicycling, walking, hiking and swimming.
• Limit television, computer and video game time to one hour per day.
• Switch to low-fat or non-fat milk and reduced-fat cheese and yogurts.
• Drink water instead of soda or juice.
• Limit fried and high-fat foods.
• Eat at least five servings each day of fruits and vegetables.
• Serve fruits and vegetables as snacks instead of cookies, chips or ice cream.
• Avoid high-fat sauces, salad dressings and spreads (such as butter or mayonnaise).
• Limit your family eats in restaurants. When eating out, choose lower-fat items, such as a grilled chicken sandwich instead of a burger, a salad instead of fries, or pasta with tomato sauce instead of pepperoni pizza.
• Avoid foods that contain colour, preservative or MSG.
• Avoid packed potatoes chips, crisps ready to eat noodles. Attractive advertisements charm the child and sway the parents to give in to their demands

Being overweight during childhood increases the risk of health problems later in life. That being said, however, you should never severely cut back your child's calories. Even children who are overweight need three well-balanced meals and one or two nutritious snacks each day. They need to have enough energy to learn, play and grow to their full potential.

Parents are an ideal example for the child. If you follow healthy food habits your child will adapt the same. For e.g. Sit along with your child and eat the same healthy food.

Never put your children on a fad diet. These diets may not have the important nutrients children need to develop.

If you don't eat healthy, the chances that your kids will eat healthy are small — no matter what advice you give them. So practice what you preach to your children.

Lastly as parents please remember: "If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them, and half as much money." The best thing that you give to your child is time.

PREVENTING MIGRAINES

Migraines can be debilitating. The severe, throbbing headaches are typically accompanied by nausea, vomiting or loss of appetite. Many migraine sufferers also develop blurred or distorted vision, or see pulsating lights or dark spots. Most migraines last from 4 to 12 hours, but they can last much longer.

Migraines can be triggered by certain activities, food or smells. Emotions or stress can trigger migraines, too. And women often find that migraines occur or worsen around their menstrual periods.

Not all migraines can be prevented. But if you can identify your headache triggers and avoid them, this may help reduce how often you have migraines and how badly they hurt.

Common migraine triggers include:

• Sun or heat
• Stress or relief from stress. (Some people get their migraines when they are home relaxing after a stressful day or week).
• Lack of sleep
• Caffeine
• Cheese
• Chocolate
• Anything stale, dried, fermented, salted, smoked or pickled for example - stale and non-fresh meats and liver.
• Chinese food
• Alcohol
• Nuts especially peanuts
• Hormonal imbalance
• Travelling
• Changes in weather or altitude.
• Overuse of pain medications.

Even if you avoid all triggers, you'll probably still experience an occasional migraine. And many people have frequent and severe migraines no matter how well they avoid triggers.
Eat everything in moderation. Especially avoid sudden drastic changes in your diet, such as suddenly cutting out all caffeine or suddenly eating large amounts of peppermint. Whatever it may be, ease into it and eat a well balanced diet. Adopt lifestyle changes.

Once a headache or migraine symptoms begin, it helps to:

• Rest in a quiet, darkened room.
• Drink fluids to avoid dehydration (especially if you have vomited).
• tay away from self-induced vomiting in an attempt to relieve migraine headaches - It can lead to erosion of the oesophageal lining and lead to long-term damage to the throat. Frequent vomiting may also erode the enamel of your teeth.

In some cases of Urticaria (Hives) we know what causes or induces them but there are many cases where we have no clue as to its exact causation. Other than the allergic agents there can be other causes which trigger the urticaria/hives namely stress, hormonal imbalance, exercises or temperature related causes etc.

Hives may appear within minutes or several hours after ingestion of the food depending on its rate of absorption.

Here are the most common triggers/allergens which are known to cause urticaria/hives:

• Eggs.
• Certain Dals eg. Foods made from Chana dal, Urad dal
• Certain Non-veg diets - Fish, shellfish, prawns, sea-food, Crab meat, Lobsters, chicken etc.
• Synthetic and natural food additives and artificially-flavoured/coloured food items.
• Nuts e.g. peanuts.
• Fermented foods eg. Idli, dosa etc.
• Chocolates.
• Alcohol.
• Milk and milk products, e.g. Cheese.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS:

• Exposure to pollen.
• Dust.
• Animal dander.
• Fungi.
• Sudden change in temperature.
• Exposure to extreme cold or heat.

OTHER FACTORS:

Hives may also occur as a reaction to some medicines or drugs, such as NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), used to treat pain, ACE inhibitors, used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure) ,chemical dyes, colours, creams or ointments etc.

You may not be allergic to all but may be to a few of the ones listed above, by avoiding certain of these in your diet you may check whether you are allergic to any of them. If you know you are allergic to certain food items it is better to avoid the same till you're instructed by your physician.

All allergies are overreaction of immune system to certain substances.

Following Allergy prevention tips will go a long way in avoiding allergies:

• AVOID CERTAIN FOODS - Once it is known that certain food items cause allergic reaction, you should avoid eating those food items.
• DO NOT consume food which is refrigerated.
• AVOID curd, cold drinks, cold juices, ice creams, chocolates, sugarcane juices, nuts etc.
• FRUITS WHICH CAN BE CONSUMED - Apple, Pomegranate, Papaya, Chikoo.
• AVOID OTHER FRUITS like banana, oranges, sweet lime, grapes, watermelon, sitafal, coconut water etc.
• AVOID EATING FOOD that contains colour or preservative. Avoid food containing monosodium glutamate [ajinomotto].
• Wear a face mask - Use a mask when vacuum cleaning or any other activity where you are likely to expose allergens that might cause you problems. For example gardening exposes to pollens.
• Keep your car clean – Make sure that your car is clean from inside. Dust mites and allergens easily get collected in the interiors of cars.
• Wash Bed sheets and linens - Make sure that your linens are well-washed preferably in hot water. This helps in getting rid of allergens if any.
• Minimize clutter - Keep your closets and drawers neat and clean. Don't let dust and allergens collect on these places. Get rid of unnecessary items from home. If possible avoid carpet on flooring where dust mites find their heaven.
• Avoid smoking or passive smoking - Some people are allergic to cigarette smoke. If you are one of them then ensure that you don't stay longer in any smoking area. Maintain a smoke free environment.
• Avoid animal dander - Animal dander is one of the very big causes of allergy. If you are allergic then remove pets from home. You will feel relief within days.
• Avoid mosquito repellents – These are known to cause allergies in children and adults.
• Avoid soft toys as they can gather a lot of dust. [Children are generally possessive about them and even want to hug them while sleeping].